Businessmirror october 30, 2017

BMReports

Data-privacy law to boost PHL cybersecurity sector

By Oliver Samson Correspondent

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HE Data Privacy Act of 2012 would generate increase in the demand for information security, information-technology (IT) security experts observed.

An unidentified information-technology (IT) staff checks a web site for reports of a security breach. Experts believe a five-year-old law has become more relevant and could boost awareness on IT security. NONIE REYES

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These experts believe the law would open the door to the sector wider, as it requires private and public organizations in the country that collect and store personally identifiable information to safeguard these sensitive data.

The compliance by organizations with the Data Privacy Act ,in effect, would boost Continued on A2

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A broader look at today’s business n

Monday, October 30, 2017 Vol. 13 No. 19

‘MSMEs need WTO help to gain from global trade’

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

he Philippines is urging the World Trade Organization (WTO) to create a body that would focus on how micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), particularly those in developing countries, can participate in and benefit from global trade.

896,839 The number of MSMEs in the Philippines, according to the 2015 data of the Philippine Statistics Authority

The country’s statement concerning its priorities for the 11th W TO Minister ia l Conference (MC11), a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror, was delivered by Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo Jr. during the Continued on A16

CAB iterates air talks with four nations in 2018

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News flash: ‘3rd’ joint venture guidelines Alberto C. Agra

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n the same way that there is no single law or regulation governing all public-private partnership (PPP) modalities in the country, there are also no universal joint-venture (JV) guidelines that must be followed by all government agencies.

On October 2 this columnist contrasted two JV frameworks.

These are the 2013 JV Guidelines issued by the National Economic and Development Authority (2013 Neda JV Guidelines), which covers government-owned and -controlled corporations, government instrumentalities, government corporate entities (GCEs), state universities and colleges and government financing institutions (GFIs); and the template PPP and JV ordinances for local government units (LGUs) developed by this columnist.

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PIMENTEL: BUSINESS MUST CONTINUE DURING ASEAN GAB

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HE air-services regulator iterated consultations with at least four countries, including India, would be held next year.

A Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) official said the CAB is looking at updating the air-services agreements with India, which was last updated more than a decade ago.

CAB Executive Director Carmelo L. Arcilla said in a chance interview that the Philippine air panel plans to meet with its counter parts from India, Papua New Guinea, Japan and Canada to sign new agreements on air services.

Arcilla did not elaborate. In April the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation said it sees direct flights in the India-Philippines market likely to resume by 2018.

India and the Philippines last held air-services negotiations in 2005, when the two countries agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding that will allow Filipino carriers to operate seven flights per week to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.

The same entitlement was awarded to Indian carriers, which can operate seven flights per week “on each city pair” between the two countries. The first agreement was signed in 1949.

The bilateral agreement with Papua New Guinea, on the other hand, allows Philippine carriers to fly to Port Moresby with a limited capacity of 600 seats. The two nations conducted negotiations for more liberal air-traffic

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By Butch Fernandez

B Workers paint on pieces of Christmas decorations to be installed along Roxas Boulevard where man-sized letters spelling ”ASEAN“ are installed. The Philippine government, host of the meetings of the Asean, has embarked on a flurry of preparatory activities for the Asean summit in November. ALYSA SALEN

Poll: Most have little fear of robots taking jobs

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ASHINGTON—Most Americans believe their jobs, and the jobs of those they live with, are safe from automation—at least for the next decade, according to an Associated Press (AP)-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.

And more than half think automation could make their work easier or more efficient in the future.

The findings suggest that, while Americans express concern about how automation technology might cause some other people Continued on A16

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ANKING and other business activities won’t be disrupted, even as the Philippines rolls out the red carpet for the three-day hosting of the Asean meeting next week, Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III said over the weekend.

Pimentel conveyed the assurance last Sunday that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has committed to help the business sector and the country “by keeping essential offices open during the Asean holidays” from November 13 to 15.

The Senate leader commended BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr.’s announcement last Friday that the BSP’s Philippine Payments and Settlements System (PhilPass) and cash-servicing units would remain open during the Asean holidays.

P i mente l proposed ea rl ier that the BSP considers doing the banking sector, the business sector and the country a big help by keeping the BSP’s check-clearing system up and running during the Asean summit.

According to the Senate President, “this is a positive development because it does not make sense for banking and business operations nationwide to be essentially paralyzed just because there is a threeday holiday in the nation’s capital; the Philippines, after all, is not just Metro Manila.”

Pimentel pointed out Espenilla’s directive, together with the decision by banks and the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to remain open during the Asean holidays, would ensure that, “the country will be open for business, not just open for Asean.”

At the same time, the Senate

n japan 0.4540 n UK 68.1015 n HK 6.6314 n CHINA 7.7882 n singapore 37.8556 n australia 39.6336 n EU 60.2834 n SAUDI arabia 13.7968

Continued on A2

Source: BSP (27 October 2017 )

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A2 Monday, October 30, 2017

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Data-privacy law to boost PHL cybersecurity sector Continued from A1

the IT security industry as it compels them to take protective technical measures to safeguard data, according to Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team President Lito Averia.

Fellow IT security expert Angel T. Redoble shares Averia’s observation. Redoble, who is also president of nonprofit group Philippine Institute of Cyber Security Professionals, said the Data Privacy Act would benefit the industry as triggers increase in the demand for data protection.

“Now that there’s a law that requires organizations to protect data, the IT security industry in the country foresees more growth,” he said.

Redoble noted that securing data has long been a responsibility among organizations engaged in collecting and storing personally identifiable information.

Dominic Lucenario, one of the software developers at the Filipino and homegrown Pandora Security Labs Inc., also said that with the data-privacy law in place the local

Lawmaker. . .

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claims could potentially wipe out an insurance company’s business.

It is only the United States where commercial property and liability insurers are required to offer businesses terrorism insurance because of its Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA). The TRIA, a mechanism whereby the US government shares in the losses in case of claims, was adopted in 2002 after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Published reports show insurance losses from 9/11 have amounted to $43.6 billion (in 2015 dollars).

This developed as Siao urged

Cab. . .

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rights in 2013, but Port Moresby junked Manila’s request due to unused capacities.

Currently, Philippine Airlines (PAL) flies to Port Moresby from Manila two times a week.

The Philippines and Japan

demand for IT security would grow.

Controls

ACCORDING to Lucenario, the firm’s development of an enterprise firewall this year is timely since the Data Privacy Act is being implemented aggressively by the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

To give an idea, securing a network may cost up to $1 million, a Kaspersky Lab executive told the BusinessMirror in a recent email interview.

Protecting a network may cost a small organization in the Philippines some $1,000 while a big one $1 million, said Slyvia Ng, general manager at Kaspersky Lab Southeast Asia.

The figures were based on the joint study conducted by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International that engaged some 4,000 business representatives from 25 countries in a survey in 2016.

The cost of damage could be bigger than the amount of money invested by an organization in safeguarding its IT infrastructure when compromised, Ng added.

“The cost of damage can get

bigger when the breach remains unnoticed for a long period of time,” she said.

An organization’s extent of vulnerability would determine the cost that entails the application and implementation of the right security measures, Redoble pointed out.

“The cost involved in securing a network depends on the risk level of a particular organization,” he said. “But there are compensating controls that are not expensive.”

Dangers

LUCENARIO and fellow software developers at Pandora Security Labs mentioned in an interview that their company offers network security to organizations at a lower cost than their counterparts do.

The company offers its own security software together with the technical skill and manpower involved in securing network, like monitoring, assessment and the response to block threats to data.

Pandora Security Labs’s security software and pool of technical skills are on board health care, retail, manufacturing and logistics sectors, said Isaac Sabas, its CEO.

According to Averia, personally identifiable information includes the name, address and birthday of a person. “Basically, your name, birthday, address and telephone number taken together could identify you,” Averia said.

When personally identifiable information is compromised, the person to whom these sensitive data belong runs the risk of identity theft, Averia warned.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) data leak prior the 2016 national and local polls is an example of major data breach, he said.

“The general theory was personally identifiable information belonging to the registered voters might have been used for identity theft,” Averia added. “That’s the basic danger when persona l ly identif iable infor mation is compromised.”

THE Comelec data breach last year, which put personal information of 55 million registered voters at risk, made the decision-makers realized the extent of damage when the network is

compromised, he pointed out.

Prior to the hacking, the decision-makers used to take for granted information-security issues that technical and competent people had long been trying to make them understand, Averia said.

When a person’s personal and sensitive data are leaked, somebody may use the “credentials or personally identifiable information” in his favor, he explained.

“Persons of ill will can use the data in committing fraud. It happened and there have been [many] cases.”

Averia recalled a new boardexam passer who had fallen victim to identity theft after posting on social media his new identification card, which contains personally identifiable information.

“The information in the identification card were used in applying for loan,” he said.

Personally identifiable information can also be employed by somebody to unauthorized use of a bank account, according to Averia.

However, doing so entails a more complex than using the information in applying for a loan, he added. the DOT as a department store/ shopping mall.

He underscored that the minimum Philippine safety standards must comply with globally recognized standards. “This role of regulation and enforcing minimum standards cannot be left to local government units because there would be disparities from place to place and the standards regime would become nebulous that way,” Siao said.

He added that the regulatory framework may also include a classification and ranking system that distinguishes between different operational scales, but sets a common core of standards.

“A rapid-response protocol must also be part of the regulatory

Breach

the Department Tourism (DOT) to regulate and enforce minimum standards on safety and security at theme parks, including the adventure sports, extreme sports and other sports tourism destinations in the country. Siao is the vice chairman of the House Committee on Tourism.

He cited several “fatal accidents” involving domestic and foreign tourists while zip lining, parasailing, river rafting and skydiving, among others.

“Safety and security of our tourists must be assured. If the DOT does not have the personnel, it can certainly accredit competent and professional firms that can conduct the safety and security checks on its behalf.”

As of October, the DOT lists 14 accredited adventure and ecotourism facilities around the country, such as LazerXtreme (National Capital Region), Sabang X Zipline Adventure Tour Corp. (Mimaropa) and Wind and Wave Davao (Davao region). The DOT has also accredited nine tourism-recreation facilities, which include Kidzania Manila (NCR), Chocolate Hills Adventure Park (Central Visayas), and RMM Zipline and Ecotourism Resort (Soccsksargen).

In his explanatory note on HB 6424, Siao said: “Safety must be the no. 1 priority of the operators of amusement or theme parks and adventure or extreme sports facilities.

With the advent of the information age and the popularity of virtual

games, amusement and sports activities have become hard-core games to test the physical limits and imagination of the players, patrons, clients and other sports enthusiasts. And because the amusement parks and adventure sports industries are highly dynamic, the operators continue to reinvent these enterprises.”

He cited the Enchanted Kingdom as “world-renowned theme park” that continues to innovate its establishment, turning it into an “integrated destination with a complete package for different groups that includes swimming, comfortable lodging, food and beverage, shopping, exhibits, and conventions.” Curiously, Enchanted Kingdom is accredited by

last updated their air-traffic agreement in 2013. Traffic rights between the Manila and Narita were increased to 400 flights per week between from its 119 flightcontract.

The two parties also agreed to allow 14 weekly flights between Manila and Haneda.

Currently, all 14 coefficients

for the coveted Manila-Haneda route are held by PAL. Cebu Pacific and Philippines AirAsia have expressed their desire to also mount flights between the two cities.

Flight entitlements between the Philippines and Canada were doubled in 2014, when the Canadian and Filipino air panels agreed to increase the coefficients from

seven weekly flights to 14 flights per week.

Increasing coefficients—measured by the number of flights or seats—allow local and foreign carriers to mount more flights between two or more points, thereby generating more traffic and revenues from travel and tourism.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

According to Averia, an individual’s personally identifiable information can also be used by another to apply for a counterfeit credit card.

Freebies

PUBLIC organizations engaged in the collection and storage of personally identifiable information of private individuals includes government agencies like the Comelec, Social Security System and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Averia explained.

On the other hand, private organizations that collect and store similar data include banks, hospitals and others, he added.

“It is now required that when a public or private organization collect data, there must be disclosure of the purpose of such collection,” he said. “The organization has to secure the consent of the person in collecting them.”

Averia mentioned events where organizers or sponsors are collecting personally identifiable information from guests in exchange of freebies, token gifts or promises of gains. To be continued system, so that when accidents occur there are accredited, properly trained, highly experienced emergency personnel and units in place that will swiftly spring into action following a set of priorities and performance benchmarks,” he stressed.

He urged the House Committee on Games and Amusements to prioritize HB 6424 with the coming of the holiday season, a peak time of the year when the public goes to amusement parks and similar entertainment facilities.

In September a police officer died in a zip-line accident in Laguna. In Cebu in January a South Korean tourist died after his parachute line attached to a speedboat snapped.

PIMENTEL: BUSINESS MUST CONTINUE DURING ASEAN GAB Continued from A1

President affirmed that “if there are steps that can be taken to minimize the disruptions in the lives and the livelihoods of our countrymen, then, by all means, let’s do what has to be done.”

He noted that, while November

Poll. . .

Continued from A16

those with degrees to say it’s very likely automation will cost them or someone in their household a job.

That is in line with studies that have found that lower-skilled work is more likely to be automated.

Among the poll’s other findings: ■ Americans vastly prefer dealing with people, rather than machines, when they order food at a restaurant. But in most other settings, many don’t particularly care. Seventy percent of respondents said they preferred ordering food from a person. Nineteen percent said it made no difference.

Just 10 percent said they preferred self-service. But at a supermarket checkout line, roughly half preferred the self-service option or had no preference. That may partly explain why the small automated restaurant chain Eatsa, which sold food without cashiers or waiters, had to close 5 of its 7 restaurants last week.

■ Most Americans still aren’t using the latest technologies, some of which could introduce groundbreaking automation in

13 to 15 have been declared special nonworking holidays in Metro Manila, Pampanga and Bulacan as these areas would be most affected by Asean events, the Metro Manila Council earlier announced suspension of classes would be extended on November 16 and 17. the future. Uber, for example, is testing self-driving cars, which could over time eliminate work for its drivers, as well as taxi drivers. Yet, just a quarter of Americans use Uber or Lyft, the survey found. And barely 30 percent use a voice-activated personal assistant, such as Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa. Just 29 percent at least occasionally pay for goods or services with their phones, rather than with cash or credit cards.

■ The likelihood of whether someone has used online services and other technology tends to breaks down along educational lines. For example, 63 percent of Americans with at least a college degree have purchased goods or services online, while just 34 percent without a degree have.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,038 adults was conducted from August 17 to 21 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probabilitybased AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods and were later interviewed online, by phone or in person. AP

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The Nation BusinessMirror

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, October 30, 2017 A3

New AFP chief spells out priorities Comelec moves bids deadline for P21.3-M ewly installed Armed Forces (AFP) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. supplies to November 6 Rey Leonardo Guerrero last

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

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he Commission on Elections (Comelec) has called for an early submission of bids for registration forms and supplies with an approved budget of P21.3 million.

“In view of the urgency to deliver the goods, in connection to the resumption of continuing registration of voters, this Bids and Awards Committee [BAC] deemed it necessary to adjust the Submission and Opening of Bids scheduled on November 10 to November 6,” the BAC said in its Bid Bulletin.

This means the deadline for the submission of bids is on or before 9 a.m. of November 6 at the BAC Secretariat Office at the seventh floor of the Palacio del Gobernador Building, Intramuros, Manila.

On the other hand, the BAC said the Opening of bids is set at 10 a.m. of the same day at the Comelec headquarters.

Earlier, the Comelec opened the bidding process for the supply of 2,625,000

sets of Application Form for Registration; 1,575,000 sets of Application Form for Trasfer/ Transfer with Reactivation; 577,500 sets of Application Form for Reactivation of Registration Records; 603,750 sets of Application Form for Change/ Correction of Entries/Inclusion of Records in the Book of Voters; 153,143 sets of Supplementary Data for PWD/SCs/ICC; and 761,250 sets of Certification for Registration of Applicant whose name is not found in the NLRDV. Also in the bid project are 5,796 boxes of Continuous Forms; and 3,150 pieces of Pearl 350 Printer Ribbon.

The adjustment on the submission dates of bids comes after the Comelec en banc ordered the setting of the resumption of the registration of voters from November 6 to 30.

The registration period is for the May 14, 2018, barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.

This precludes the supposed voter-registration period for the May 13, 2019, midterm polls originally set from December 4 to September 29, 2018.

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By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

Sunday assured the Commander in Chief that the military is ready to end all threats to the country’s peace and security.

“The priorities in the area of peace and security are clear: Finish the remaining terrorist groups, neutralize the communist insurgency threat and support law enforcement against lawless armed groups,” Guerrero said.

The chief of staff assumed his position as the top military chief last Thursday, less than a week after the termination of combat operations in Marawi City.

Guerrero also said the AFP must continue with its reform programs, improve capability and revisit warfighting doctrines in light of new “battlefield environments.”

“We will aggressively implement our modernization program and fasttrack the procurement of advanced weapons systems that provide costeffective and precise target engagement, long-range and high-endurance unmanned systems, and modern air and naval platforms,” he added.

The chief of staff also wanted to refine internal processes, includ-

ing improvements on services and transparency and accountability of transactions.

“My gratitude knows no bounds, and I think that the best way to show it to our President and our countrymen is to serve our country with selfless dedication and to lead the AFP with purpose,” he said.

Military public affairs office chief Col. Edgard A. Arevalo said the chief of staff has the experience and the current operational tempo of the AFP to lead the task in ending all security threats.

“Lt. Gen. Guerrero welcomes his new responsibilities with strong momentum from his leadership of the Eastern Mindanao Command, a similarly tall order given the area’s susceptibility to terror threats and insurgency,” Arevalo said.

As former commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, Guerrero worked to dismantle New People’s Army’s guerrilla fronts that are concentrated in the Davao re-

LT. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero

gion, Caraga region and Northern Mindanao.

He has also been tasked to prevent the spread of violence and terrorism in his area of responsibility, especially during the Marawi siege by the Islamic State-Maute.

Meanwhile, a mid-ranking Army officer has earned the ire of stakeholders in Mindanao for his alleged penchant of “soliciting” support from them.

Officials from various private and cause-oriented groups refused to identify the official, but said he has the rank of lieutenant colonel.

“This officer is fast earning the moniker “sir PR” from stakeholders who are already losing patience with him for his ways of soliciting support for various activities,” one official said.

“While soliciting support for worthy activities is good, this officer does not care going directly to principals to seek such...putting the stakeholders on the spot,” the source added, citing instances when the officer would ask for favors at the expense of his colleagues and displaced Marawi residents.

The groups were concerned that the officer may drag the military organization down in a bad light for his “unprofessionalism.”

“We doubt if his superiors are aware of what he is doing. For sure, they will not allow such conduct of their subordinates,” they said.

“While we are all out in supporting the AFP as an organization, this officer’s ways only discourage stakeholders from doing more for the troops,” they added.

Economy

A4 Monday, October 30, 2017 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

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DOLE bridging program yields minimal gains­–study

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

espite millions poured into the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES), a study showed it had minimal impact on the education and employability of its beneficiaries.

The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (Pids) said this was based on the findings of a study conducted by Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a nonprofit policy research organization.

PIDS said Emily Beam, associate professor at Vermont University and lead researcher of the IPA study,

disclosed that while SPES costs the government P3,561 per beneficiary, the amount increases when the cost of dropouts and those who do not get employed are factored in.

“The DOLE spends P222,600 per student that drops out given that 1.6 in every 100 beneficiaries of the program are prevented from dropping

out of school in a given year,” Beam said in a PIDS statement.

She added that for every 100 SPES beneficiaries, only 3.9 are employed, at a cost of P91,318 per eventual job found.

According to Beam, the SPES does not increase enrollment in schools or improve college-graduation rate because enrollment rate is at 95 percent. She added that SPES applicants will enroll in school regardless if they are chosen to receive SPES or not.

She noted that SPES increases enrollment for males, who are at a higher risk of dropping out from school. During the course of the study, it was observed that only a third of SPES beneficiaries were men.

Pids said Beam pointed out that lower-income students may benefit more from SPES than out of school youths. With this, Pids said, the study recommended the improvement of the targeting system for SPES to maximize program effectiveness.

“Among those not enrolled, the most common reason was financial in nature. There wasn’t a case where not having benefited from SPES was the reason for dropping out,” Beam said.

“Male students from poorer families and high-school students get greatest educational benefits from SPES. Refining the program targeting through adjustments in the screening criteria or outreach methods may help SPES reach those who benefit the most,” she added.

In terms of the impact of the SPES on employability of beneficiaries, Pids said the study showed minimal gains.

According to Beam, SPES participants are not being given “meaningful” jobs that could enhance their skills and employability in the future.

In addition, it was noted that participation in the SPES does not affect students’ self-esteem or self-reported life skills in the medium run.

DENR urges mining firms to protect PHL biodiversity

“Nearly all SPES participants are engaged in office work in local government units, doing tasks, such as answering phones, surveying, encoding and organizing and filing, with some doing purely make-work tasks, such as maintaining the orderliness of the office,” Beam said.

Citing the study, Pids said the SPES may be more effective as a work program rather than an education program in the medium term. However, it cautioned that costs of implementing such program remain high.

It also recommended for program implementers to resolve payment delays to help students use earnings to fund their education.

According to the study, less than half of the beneficiaries received their salary within one month after participating in the SPES, with some still waiting for their payment nine months after their employment ended.

Implementers must also explore ways for students to gain meaning-

Passage of bill granting benefits to all senior citizens pushed

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

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FLAME-TEMPLED babbler. File photo

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

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@jonlmayuga

ining companies should help protect and conserve the country’s rich biodiversity, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

Environment Undersecretary Rodolfo C. Garcia made the statement during an interview at the sidelines of a weeklong international wildlife conference hosted by the Philippines on Saturday.

The country’s hosting was lauded as a success by organizers, with the increased protection for 34 species which have been uplisted or put in the list of Appendices for stronger protection under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, or CMS. Also called the Bonn Convention, the CMS aims to protect migratory species and their habitats among the signatories. The Philippines is one of 124 signatories to the international wildlife treaty, being a host to a good number of migratory birds that migrate through East Asia-Australian Flyway. It also hosts a number of endangered marine wildlife, including whale sharks or butanding, and the wedgefish, another shark species whose global population is on the decline.

According to Garcia, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu is keen on protecting the country’s biodiversity given its benefits.

At the same time, Cimatu also believes that mining can help spur economic development, if done properly.

“But we have to strike a balance [in mining] with the other things that have to be considered. Other than the economic benefit,

we have to consider the effects to the environment. Those are the things we have been looking up—by the DENR and other advisory bodies. It should not be ‘go into this one, and let go of the other one,’” Garcia said.

Garcia added striking a balance between the environment, biodiversity and economic benefits of mining is high up in the agenda of the advisory bodies, like the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC).

The MICC earlier recommended the lifting of the open-pit mining ban for select ores by environmental advocate Regina Paz L. Lopez during her short stint as DENR chief.

DENR Administrative Order 2017-10 bans prospective open-pit mining for gold, copper, silver and complex ores, to prevent the massive destruction of the country’s forests and protect the country’s freshwater source.

Open-pit mines involved the scraping of forests to dig mineral ores near the surface. In the process, it creates a huge cone-like hole.

Lopez cited three major reasons open-pit mining should not be allowed. Citing the socalled legacy mines, which include at least 14 abandoned open-pit mines, she said openpits become a “perpetual financial liability” of the government, they pose a grave danger to communities and take away the economic potential of the area.

Environmentalists say the open-pit mining method is the most destructive method of extracting minerals because it destroys entire terrestrial or forest ecosystems which results in the extinction of in situ or site-endemic species of plant and animals.

However, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) said biodiversity conservation

and protection is already part of the environmental-impact assessment conducted by mining companies. The environmental-impact assessment statement details the potential adverse impact to the environment, as well as the species of plant and animals to be affected.

“Biodiversity is already considered by mining companies in coming up with their environmental-impact statement. There is also a plan to restore the area’s productivity, including the biodiversity found therein,” COMP Executive Director Ronald S. Recidoro said.

Recidoro said the open-pit mining ban “unfairly highlights” the mines that were done irresponsibly before the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 was enacted. He added under the current law, measures have been put in place to ensure that abandoned mines will be rehabilitated, citing the ongoing rehabilitation of the Canatuan mines in Zamboanga del Norte and the gold mine of the Rapu-rapu Polymetallic Project on the island of Rapu-Rapu in Albay province.

DENR Biodivesity Management Bureau (BMB) Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim said they will develop a sustainability plan for biodiversity in mining areas in coordination with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

This, she said, aims to compel mining companies to do biodiversity assessment together with the BMB and its various conservation partners, particularly if the company intends to operate in an area that is considered a key biodiversity area.

She said that despite the environmental-impact studies being conducted by mining companies, it is also imperative that an in-depth study be conducted “to make sure that the information on the studies is complete.”

ful skills from their work experience as SPES beneficiaries. Directly providing students with life-skills training or job-search training may be low cost and more successful, the study suggested.

Pids said the SPES is an employment bridging program of the DOLE that aims to augment the income of poor but deserving students, out of school youths (OSYs), or dependents of displaced workers who intend to finish education.

It said employment lasts for 20 to 52 working days during school break. It is open to all qualified high school, college or vocational/technical students, and OSYs. The Pids added that the Public Service Employment Offices facilitates the matching, with the DOLE providing 40-percent wage subsidy to employers. In 2016 the government spent P700 million and provided jobs to over 200,000 beneficiaries.

he chairman of the House Committee on Population and Family Relations has vowed to pass a substitute bill widening the coverage of a law for senior citizens next month.

Rep. Sol C. Aragones of the Third District of Laguna, the panel chairman, said the government should now redefine the term “indigent senior citizens” to help more elderlies in the country.

“We will approve a substitute bill [granting universal social pension to senior citizens] when we resume session in November,” Aragones said. The session is expected to resume on November 20.

She added the senior citizens should receive pension whether they are indigent.

Party-list Rep. Rodel M. Batocabe of Ako Bicol, one of the authors of House Bill (HB) 5038, said their proposal seeks to grant universal social pension to senior citizens.

To provide and sustainable coverage, he added this bill proposes a minimum of P500 to all senior citizens, subject to review every two years, taking into consideration such factors as inflation and availability of funds.

The lawmaker, citing 2010 data, said older persons aged 60 years and over account for 6.23 million, or 6.7 percent, of the total population.

“Life expectancy at birth has risen from 55 years in the early 1950s, to around 69 years today, while an individual reaching the age of 60 today can expect to live for another 17 years.

This increase in life expectancy, coupled with reductions in fertility rates, translates to an ageing population,” he said.

Batocabe added the Philippines Statistics Authority’s population projections showed that the number of Filipinos over the age of 60 is set to nearly triple in the next 30 years, from 7.6 million in 2015 to 22.6 million in 2045.

Over the same period, he said the proportion of the total population over the age of 60 will double from 7.5 to 15.9 percent.

“Despite constitutionally mandated social security for senior citizens, not all older people receive financial support from children. When they do, it is often inadequate to cover basic needs, such as health expenditures,” he said.

Under HB 5038, all senior citizens shall be entitled to a monthly stipend amounting to a minimum of P500 to augment the daily subsistence and other medical needs of senior citizens, subject to a review every two years by Congress, in consultation with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSW). Provided that such senior citizen does not receive any pension from the Government

Service Insurance System, the Social Security System, and other public or private social protections system.

Redefining ‘seniors’

Another measure, HB 886 of Rep. Angelina Tan of the Fourth District of Quezon, also seeks to amend the Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010.

Presently, Tan said Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, only refers to senior citizen as any elderly “who is frail, sickly or with disability and without pension or permanent source of income, compensation or financial assistance from his or her relatives to support his or her basic needs.”

Tan, citing the 1987 Constitution, said “the State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development, which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all the people at affordable cost. There shall be priority for the needs of the underprivileged, sick, elderly, disabled, women and children. The State shall endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers.”

She added the Constitution also provides that “the family has the duty to care for its elderly members but the State may also do so through just programs of social security.”

The lawmaker said the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 provides an array of benefits, privileges, and assistance to senior citizens, such as 20-percent discount and exemption from the value-added tax, if applicable, on the sale of some goods and services death and benefit assistance, educational assistance, free medical and dental services and exemption from training fees for socioeconomic programs, among others.

The law also grants indigent senior citizens additional privileges, such as free vaccines, social pension and mandatory Philippine Health Insurance Corp. coverage, she added. “[However] an indigent senior citizen is defined under the law as any elderly who is frail, sickly or with disability, and without pension or permanent source of income, compensation or financial assistance from his or her relatives to support his or her basic needs,” she said.

“The said definition excludes senior citizens who are not sick or disabled and who have pension or other sources of income but who are nonetheless in dire need of additional government assistance in the face of steep price of basic commodities and medical services,” Tan said.

Under Tan’s bill, senior citizen refers to any elderly who is without pension, permanent source of income or compensation to support the senior citizen’s basic needs, as determined by the DSWD in consultation with the National Coordinating and Monitoring Board.

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, October 30, 2017

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Brazil meat exports to PHL seen rising in 2018

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

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@jearcalas

hipments of Brazilian meat products to the Philippines could hit a record high in 2018 due to the strong demand for poultry products, according to Brazillian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) Vice President of Market Ricardo Santin.

Brazil expects to resume the export of meat products to the Philippines next month after a team from the Department of Agriculture (DA) inspected Brazilian meat plants.

“The Brazilian exporters are prepared to supply the demand of Philippine market with quality products. If all the [processes] end by November, we hope to return the exports in the same level as before,” Santin told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail.

“Actually, we expect [shipments] to increase. In 2016 we exported 37,200 metric tons [MT]. We believe sales [in 2018] would be better than last year,” he added.

Santin said he and his group expect that the four-month import ban on Brazil meat imports would be lifted by the Philippine government in November. “It’s important to highlight: Brazil has invested even more in developing hard controls to guarantee quality production.”

In an interview with reporters on October 26, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the DA inspection team has already recommended the lifting of the import ban on Brazil.

However, Piñol said he could not yet issue the order to resume the importation of Brazilian meat products.

“A recommendation has already been made to lift the ban, but we have to go through the process. We have to convene a body which has to come up with the decision on the lifting,” he said.

Industry sources told the BusinessMirror that the DA inspected 13 foreign meat establishments (FMEs) in Brazil from September 18 to 29. The inspection was conducted by two teams to fast-track the process.

Sources privy to the matter set the meat inspectors will consolidate their report and present it before the accreditation review board (ARB). The ARB will deliberate on the consolidated report and will make a final recommendation to Piñol.

The final decision on Brazilian meat imports could be issued around the third week of November, according to sources.

In August Piñol issued Memorandum Order (MO) 32, dated July 31, which authorized the temporary suspension of the accreditation of all Brazilian FMEs. Piñol made the issuance following the discovery of the existence of salmonella in some shipments.

“According to Memorandum Circular 9-2008-5, Series of 2008, entitled ‘Microbiological limits for assessment of microbiological quality fresh, chilled and frozen meat’, microbiological limits for salmonella spp. must be absent in 25 grams sample,” Piñol said in MO 32.

“A total of 246 out of 492 container vans were sampled and subjected to laboratory analysis from March 1 to June 30, wherein samples from 18 containers [7 percent] tested positive for salmonella spp.,” MO 32 read.

Earlier, the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) told the BusinessMirror that the government’s decision to ban meat imports from Brazil could cause the retail price of some processed-meat products to go up by as much as 15 percent.

Pampi also noted that the ban on Brazil contributed to the expected hike of meat products in this holiday season, as the Latin American country is one of the Philippines’s biggest source of raw materials.

Seafood fans hope for return of Maine shrimp next year

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ORTLAND, Maine—Seafood lovers might see the return of Maine shrimp to fish-market counters and restaurants next year if interstate regulators decide the critter’s population is strong enough.

The Maine shrimp fishery has been shut down since 2013, and a moratorium has been extended every year since. The regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has said the shrimp are “considered at record low levels,” suffering from poor reproduction and warming oceans.

An arm of the commission is set to vote on November 29 on whether the shrimp have recovered enough to withstand the return of commercial fishing. They were a popular winter seafood item in New England and beyond before the shutdown.

The closure of the fishery has also been an economic hit to some Maine fishermen, who relied on the shrimp for a source of income in the winter. But it’s difficult to say if the commission is leaning toward reopening the fishery, said Max Appelman, a fishery management plan coordinator for the Atlantic States.

“The vibe is that industry, communities in the Gulf of Maine are really hoping for a fishery to open up this year,” Appelman said. “But it’s just as much up in the air as it was the last few years.”

The shrimp are mostly associated with Maine, but were they also brought to shore in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The shrimp have been mostly unavailable to US consumers since the shutdown, though they are also harvested by Canadian fishermen.

If the fishery does reopen next year, it will be subject to new restrictions designed to keep it from bottoming out again.

Regulators have approved changes in the way Maine shrimp are harvested, including a requirement that trawlers use new gear to minimize the catch of small shrimp, penalties for states that exceed quotas, maximum fishing-season lengths and a new state-by-state allocation program. The commission granted final approval to the new rules on October 19. AP

“The country ban on Brazilian meats and [mechanically deboned meat (MDM)] has become very disappointing, but we have to respect [sanitary and phytosanitary] concerns of our DA for the protection of domestic livestock and poultry,” Pampi Executive Director Francisco Buencamino told the BusinessMirror in an earlier interview.

“The ban has caused a partial vacuum on supply of our raw materials. But we are hoping a resolution will be reached very soon,” Buencamino added.

Brazil is the Philippines’s top source of beef imports and among the top sources of raw materials, particularly MDM. Data from the ABPA showed that Brazil’s poultry meat exports to the Philippines in January to July expanded by 35 percent to 32,339 MT, from 23,954 MT a year ago.

Brazil’s pork exports to the Philippines during the seven-month period reached 2,045 MT, 66.5 percent higher than the 1,228 MT recorded last year.

In 2016 the Philippines bought 37,625 MT of poultry meat from Brazil, up by almost 6 percent from 40,001 MT recorded in 2015, according to ABPA data.

APBA data also showed that Philippine pork imports from Brazil tripled to 3,263 MT last year.

Last year Brazil exported 55,581.853 MT of meat and meat products to the Philippines, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry’s data. The figure was 5.86 percent higher than the 52,505.429 MT recorded in 2015.

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Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

Monday, October 30, 2017

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Ethanol imports seen growing by 8.3% in 2018

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

T

@jearcalas

he country’s ethanol imports next year could increase by 8.3 percent to 325 million liters (ML), from the estimated 300 ML this year, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report.

The Gain report, which was prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila, noted that despite an expected hike in output, local ethanol production would still be insufficient to meet the domestic demand for bioethanol in 2018.

“Overall ethanol imports are expected to increase modestly through 2018 due to inadequate domestic production and increased gasoline consumption,” the Gain report read.

“Increasing motor-vehicle sales, accelerating construction activities, a growing population and continued expansion of the Philippine economy, all translate to increased fuel consumption in the next three to five years,” it added.

The Gain report projected the Philippine ethanol production

next year would increase by 2.19 percent to 280 ML, from the expected output of 274 ML this year.

The report added that the country’s aggregate ethanol production capacity next year would expand by 23.29 percent to 397 ML, from this year’s 322 ML. “Output in 2018 is expected to slightly grow, but capacity utilization should decline from the 2017 level as production is constrained by marketing and distribution infrastructure limitations,” the report read.

“Two additional ethanol plants with a combined 75-ML capacity are expected to operate in 2018, bringing total capacity to 397 ML,” it added.

However, the Ga in report noted that the country’s capacity utilization next year would drop to 71 percent, from this year’s

Cooperatives—the key to success in agriculture (2)

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was reminded of this topic by the excellent BusinessMirror report written by Michael M. Alunan “Why poverty prevails despite robust growth.” His analysis is important: “If farmers produce volume and more variety, it means cheaper prices and more choices for consumers. Unless farmers are empowered and organized complete with all logistical support of his own, the middleman-trader will always meddle with the imperfections of the market.”

In August I wrote about the need to create more cooperatives, being firmly of the opinion that competitive farming, mechanization of farms, applying the latest technologies, focusing on high-value crops, excluding the middleman by creating effective supply-chains, etc., can only happen if farmers are getting together, developing a social form of business that relies on a sense of community.

Over 20 million people in Germany are members of cooperatives, organizations that work according to the motto: “What one person cannot accomplish alone can be accomplished by many.”

This enables them to establish enterprises they would not be able to finance alone.

I firmly believe that cooperatives are the key to success in agriculture in the Philippines. The Philippines has a long history in creating cooperatives, but only a few cooperatives are successful. What are the reasons early cooperatives failed? n Incompetent management; n Lack of proper understanding of the principles, practices and true aims and purposes of cooperatives; n Improper use of credits by the borrowers who, instead of using the money for production, spent it on nonessentials; n Defective securities; n Inadequate character and moral responsibility in handling the other fellows’ money; and n Lack of adequate safeguards against unscrupulous officers who took advantage of their position to benefit themselves.

Henry J. Schumacher

europe Beat As I said in my previous columns: “Heavy public and private investments into agriculture will allow the consolidation of farmland as farm consolidation is of great importance.

The best models of Philippine cooperatives should be copies and cascaded. The adoption of advanced farming technologies can only be achieved by management systems that can focus on competitive land sizes, good research and development, in coordination with existing research institutes in the country, supported by increased extension service to be provided by the government.”

If cooperatives are the key for the future of agriculture and having examples of very successful cooperatives, isn’t it high time that the government and the private sector got together to jointly find solutions to cascade the successful cooperatives throughout the country? There are many options for cooperatives, from farming to food production, from finance to marketing and sales. Cooperatives can be main players in creating and driving agri-food supply and value chains.

Allow me to finish with the last paragraph of Alunan’s BusinessMirror report: “We cannot simply leave the imperfect market to the machinations of Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand,’ which could legitimately be pickpocketing the wallets of the helpless farmers and, thus, also contribute to why farmers remain shackled in poverty.”

Cooperatives will not allow the pickpocketing of the wallets of the farmers, if we see to it that they are managed by people with experience and integrity.

Comments are welcome; contact me via e-mail Schumacher@ mcasia.org.

AN ethanol plant in Nevada,Iowa

Luke Sharrett/Bloombergc

85 percent.

For this year, the Gain report projected that the country’s total ethanol imports would settle at 300 ML, 15.38 percent higher than the 260 ML a year ago.

The Gain report added that the country’s local ethanol production this year could increase by 19.13 percent to 274 ML, from 230 ML recorded last year.

“By 2017, while three more

plants are expected to operate, and production likely to again increase from the previous year, output share relative to consumption will remain fairly flat,” it read.

“Reaching the 10-percent mandate using locally produced ethanol is not expected in at least the medium term [three to five years],” it added.

The Gain report said the in-

crease in the number of alcohol plants shifting to fuel ethanol production would continue in the next three to five years.

“As mentioned in the previous annual report, the increase in the number of distilleries is the result of potable alcohol plants shifting to fuel ethanol production. The shift is cheaper compared to building a new facility, and the adjustments take only

two to three months, according to industry,” it read.

“The trend explains the shift from cane to molasses as the primary feedstock used. This trend is likely to continue in the medium term,” it added.

Philippine aggregate ethanol production this year is estimated to reach 322 ML, 14.18 percent higher than last year’s 282 ML, as another distillery with a 40ML capacity is expected to start operations.

With the hike in aggregate capacity production, the country’s capacity utilization would be around 85 percent, up from 83 percent last year, according to the Gain report.

Philippine ethanol imports last year declined 16.4 percent to 260 ML, from 311 ML in 2015, due to increased local production.

“Imports from the US, however, increased 35 percent to 241 ML in 2016, from 178 ML in 2015. The US maintained its dominance, accounting for 93 percent of total ethanol imports in 2016, increasing its share from 57 percent in 2015,” the report read.

“According to US Census data, the Philippines was the fifth-largest market for US ethanol in 2016, with sales reaching 218 ML valued at $103 million,” it added.

The Philippines also sources its ethanol from Australia and South Korea.

Trust, transparency issues to drive food-buying trends in 2018–report

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ood manufacturers and exporters should strive for full disclosure and transparency as trust becomes an increasing major buying concern, according to a new report that identifies major global food and drink trends emerging next year.

Mintel’s “Global Food & Drink Trends 2018” report has identified trust as among the key trends that “reflect overarching 2018 consumer themes” and that will have an impact on consumers, manufacturers and retailers across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Americas in 2018.

The report notes how many consumers worldwide distrust regulator y systems, manufacturers and even their fellow humans, a misgiving compounded by produc t rec a l l s, sc a nd a l s and suspicion about the ethical practices of companies.

“In our new post-truth reality, consumers require complete and total transparency from food and drink companies,” stressed the report.

The widespread distrust has in-

creased the need to be forthcoming about ingredients, production processes and supply chains. “This places pressure on manufacturers to offer thorough and honest disclosures about how, where, when and by whom food and drink is grown, harvested, made and/or sold,” said the report.

The need to reassure buyers of the safety and trustworthiness of food and drink has led to increased use of natural, as well as ethical and environmental, claims in global food and drink launches.

Natural product claims, such as “no additives/preservatives,” “organic” and “GMO-free” are increasingly widely used. Similarly, ethical and environmental claims, such as environmentally friendly packaging, as well as animal and human welfare, claims are on the rise.

The report observed that buyers are more likely to go for products that spell out on the pack how manufacturers celebrate heritage and support local farmers. It also suggested that brands consider linking to local or domestic supply or production as a way to reassure

shoppers of the trustworthiness or purity of the products’ origins.

“The various claims serve a singular purpose: to help consumers feel more confident about the safety and purity of the food and drink that they purchase,” the report said.

Conversely, a lack of honesty can also damage trust as consumers say they feel cheated when a company is not clear about the high sugar content of its products, according to Mintel research.

Technology also can be used to reassure consumers, such as by allowing them to scan barcodes or QR codes on packages to learn more about the environment and treatment of animals.

Earlier this month, the Foreign Buyers Association of the Ph i l ippines (Fobap) st ressed the importance of Filipino small and medium enterprises (SMEs) transforming themselves into ethical factories.

Fobap’s Nandie Aguilar said during a talk with SMEs that social compliance “has now become a global standard and minimum requirement, and another measure

of factory performance.”

An ethical or socially compliant factory, Aguilar explained, is one that maintains safe working conditions, respects human rights and runs operations “with no negative impact on the environment.”

Robert M. Young, Fobap chairman and president, confirmed that foreign buyers are increasingly checking if goods are produced in ethical factories.

Foreign importers are now asking for a “seal of good housekeeping” and will source only from factories that meet their countries’ requirements, as well as international codes of conduct that promote the human rights of workers.

Products from noncompliant and nontransparent factories won’t be permitted to enter the importing country, he said. “We have many buyers coming over, and I would say 50 percent of them are not pushing through with the orders” primarily because many Filipino factories are not keen to be fully transparent and give a full disclosure of their processes. Philexport News & Features

Iraq’s vast marshes, reborn after Saddam, are in peril again

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H A BAISH, Iraq—In the southern marshlands of Iraq, Firas Fadl steers his boat through tunnels of towering reeds, past floating villages and half-submerged water buffaloes in a unique region that seems a world apart from the rest of the arid Middle East.

The marshes, a lush remnant of the cradle of civilization , were reborn after the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein when residents dismantled dams he had built a decade earlier to drain the area in order root out Shiite rebels. But now, the largest wetlands in the Middle East are imperiled again, by government mismanagement and new upstream projects.

Fadl, at 26, is too young to remember the death and rebirth of the marshes, but he has seen their steady decline in recent years as he has struggled to make a living by fishing the brackish waters. Upstream electrical dams and irrigation projects have reduced the flow of freshwater, allowing saltwater from the Persian Gulf to seep in.

“The situation is good, it’s just the water is bad,” he said. “Ever since 2012, the water hasn’t been fresh.”

Farming and sewage runoff have depleted fishing stocks, forcing some fishermen to resort to using car batteries and chemicals. The flares of nearby oil wells light up the night sky, but the sweltering, humid region remains mired in poverty.

Facing a lack of employment options, hundreds of young men from the area took up arms in the fight against the Islamic State group, joining state-sanctioned Shiite militias. Posters honoring the fallen crowd traffic circles along the roads leading to the wetlands and line the walls inside a monument honoring those killed by Saddam a generation earlier.

The overwhelmingly Shiite region rose up against Saddam’s Sunnidominated government in 1991, after his crushing defeat in the Gulf War, and the rebels took cover in the marshes as they battled his forces. The government responded by

deliberately draining 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 square miles) of wetlands, turning the area to desert and displacing half a million people.

Andrew Whitley, a former Human Rights Watch researcher who interviewed survivors at the time, described the draining of the marshes as a “large-scale crime against humanity.”

Iraqis who lived through that era

speak of a paradise lost.

“The marshes were a state outside of Saddam’s control. The resources were a great boon,” recalls Fadel Duwaish, 84, who was displaced in the 1990s and only returned in 2003.

“The marshes contained a wealth of fish, the wealth of raising water buffalo. You could turn the reeds into paper. All of the marsh was a treasure.” AP

In this September 11 photo, a young man drives a boat through a tunnel of towering reeds, in the marsh of Chabaish, Iraq. AP Photo/Susannah George

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DOJ expected to drop Ventura as hazing death-case respondent

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HE Department of Justice (DOJ) is expected to drop Aegis Juris fraternity member Marc Anthony Ventura as one of the respondents in criminal cases filed in connection with the fatal hazing of University of Santo Tomas law freshman Horacio Castillo III. Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II said Ventura will be dropped as a respondent in the charges of murder, hazing and obstruction of justice after he submitted a tell-all affidavit to the DOJ last week.

The charges were filed by Castillo’s parents and the Manila Police District against 37 individuals.

“Ventura will be dropped as a respondent,” Aguirre said. “That would be a consequence of his being a state witness.” The DOJ earlier

placed Ventura under the witnessprotection program (WPP) after he turned himself to the DOJ and submitted his six-page affidavit where he named 23 frat brothers involved in initiation rites on Castillo in their library on September 17.

Aguirre said Ventura’s testimony is enough to prosecute the other respondents even without a corroborating statement from another witness. ”For you to be qualified under

WPP, you should not appear to be the most guilty. And he is not the most guilty upon our assessment,” he explained. “We don’t know if there will be more witnesses. But even if we only have him, his testimony is already strong enough.”

In his affidavit, Ventura said the 23 members of their fraternity were all present during Castillo’s initiation rites held in their library before dawn on September 17.

Ventura, a member of the fraternity who participated in the hazing but now under the WPP, gave up new names: Edric Pilapil, Zach Abulencia, Daniel Ragos, Dave Felix, Sam Cagalingan, Alex Cairo, Luis Kapulong, Kim Cyrill Roque and Ged Villanueva.

He also confirmed the participation of their fraternity president Arvin Balag, master initiator Axel Munro Hipe and a dozen other members already charged before the DOJ. These members were Ralph Trangia, Oliver John Audrey Onofre, Mhin Wei Chan, Daniel

Hans Matthew Rodrigo, Karl Matthew Villanueva, Joshua Joriel Macabali, Marcelino Bagtang, Zimon Padro, Jose Miguel Salamat, Leo Lalusis, Alex Bose and Robin Ramos.

According to the witness, the initiation rites started at 2 a.m.

He said they required Castillo to do some stretching before proceeding with the rites. Ventura said frat members then started the hazing by punching Castillo’s arms.

He added they then used spatulas in tapping Castillo’s arms before hitting him with paddles. Castillo collapsed at around 5 a.m. after getting hit with the paddle the fourth time.

He said they then decided to summon another member who has medical background, John Paul Solano, to help revive Castillo who still had pulse at that time. When Solano’s efforts proved futile, they decided to bring him to the Chinese General Hospital, where the neophyte was declared dead on arrival. Joel R. San Juan

QC Council asks DTI to put up Go Negosyo Center in City Hall

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O provide the city’s entrepreneurs a onestop shop for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), the local government of Quezon City is urging the Department of Trade

and Industry (DTI) to put up a Go Negosyo Center within the City Hall compound in an effort to provide the city’s entrepreneurs a one-stop-shop for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME).

City Resolution 7150-2017 authored by Councilor Estrella Valmocina emphasizes the need to establish a Go Negosyo Center within the City Hall compound to promote ease of doing busi-

ness, facilitate access to basic services, as well as make the procedural steps to start and maintain a business simpler and more accessible to the public. Alladin S. Diega

Monday, October 30, 2017

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AseanMonday

Monday, October 30, 2017 • Editor: Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

Thai king’s 5-day funeral, yearlong mourning ends

In this October 27 photo, participants march in religious rituals to move the ashes of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, following a royal cremation ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand’s new king led a royal merit-making ceremony for his late father’s relics last Saturday, the fourth day of an elaborate five-day funeral. AP

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ANGKOK—The yearlong mourning period and elaborate five-day funeral rites for Thailand’s king of seven decades officially end last Sunday when his relics and ashes are enshrined in the royal palace and two temples.

At the ceremony at Bangkok’s Grand Palace, broadcast live nationwide and led by new King Maha Vajiralongkorn, King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s relics were escorted to Chakri Maha Prasad Throne Hall, where he used to host dinners, receptions and receive the credentials of foreign ambassadors.

There, the golden urn of Rama IX—as the king of the Chakri dynasty in known—will be interned in the Heavenly Abode, joining the relics of kings Rama IV, V, VI, VII and VIII. Later last Sunday, in the final act of the funeral ceremony, the king’s ashes will be transferred in the palanquin made of golden teak from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to two royal temples: Wat Rajabophit and Wat Bovoranives.

Bhumibol had stayed at Bovoranives during his 15-day ordination in 1956. It’s the center for the Theravada Buddhist Dhammayutika order, established by Rama IV with the emphasis on discipline and monastic practices.

The king was cremated last Thursday following his death on October 13, 2016, at age 88. His passing sparked a national outpouring of grief for a monarch who was regarded by many Thais as a father figure. Yet, it also ushered in a sense of uncertainty for Thais who had grown used to Bhumibol serving as a unifying presence in a country regularly beset by political upheaval.

Starting October 30, the black-and-white cloth that has adorned buildings for a year must be taken down as the mourning period ends, the prime minister’s office was quoted as saying. It encouraged the public to continue to dress in subdued colors, the Bangkok Post reported. AP

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Indonesia court upholds seizure of fishing vessel

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AKARTA, Indonesia—Indonesia says it has won a twoyear court battle that confirms the legality of the government’s seizure of a Thai vessel linked to human trafficking and illegal fishing in Indonesian waters.

Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Susi Pudjiastuti said the “monumental” ruling from a court in Aceh province shows that governments can win in the fight against cross-border crime.

Pudjiastuti said in a statement this week the ministry plans to make the refrigerated cargo ship, Silver Sea 2, part of a museum to teach the public about illegal fishing.

The ship was seized by Indonesia’s navy in August 2015, amid a crackdown on illegal fishing, and after an Associated Press investigation showed its links to human trafficking in the fishing industry.

Several months before its capture, the ship and Thai fishing trawlers had abruptly left an island in remote eastern Indonesia, where the Thai fishing industry held trafficked crew members captive, to escape a government crackdown on illegal fishing.

The AP, which was investigating slavery on fishing vessels, subsequently identified where the cargo ship had fled using

satellite images from US-based Digital Globe that became evidence in the Indonesian government’s court case.

Pudjiastuti said the vessel’s violations included intentionally turning off electronic systems that allowed the ship’s location to be tracked by maritime authorities and other vessels.

DNA testing was used to prove that the $1.5 million of fish onboard was from Indonesian waters.

When identified in the Digital Globe satellite images, the Silver Sea 2 was in Papua New Guinea waters, receiving illegal Indonesian catch from two fishing trawlers in a process known as transshipment.

It was captured by an Indonesian navy vessel off the island of Sumatra after returning to Indonesian waters. The Thai captain was detained, and a probe launched into suspected human trafficking, transporting illegal fish and off-loading the catch at sea.

The Pulitzer-prize winning AP investigation resulted in the freeing of more than 2,000 men from Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Lao PDR, more than a dozen arrests, the changing of US legislation and lawsuits.

However, the global seafood industry continues to be plagued by illegal fishing and labor abuses at sea. AP

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AseanMonday BusinessMirror

Monday, October 30, 2017 A9

Hyundai to support Asean confab delegates

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YUNDAI Asia Resources Inc. (Hari), the official Philippine distributor of Hyundai vehicles, announced that it will support the mobility needs of the delegates to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) 50 Summit and the Asean Business and Investment Summit (Abis) two highly anticipated global meets slated to happen in Manila this November.

Hyundai, on its 50th year as a leading global brand, supports the Asean road map of “Prosperity for All” as “Official Mobility Partner,” the company said in a statement.

From November 12 to 15, Hari will deploy 50 units of the 14-seat luxury van H350 to serve the transport needs of the Asean 50 and Abis delegates, the company said.

“It is significant that the Asean and Hyundai coincide in celebrating 50 years of their respective journeys toward sustainability and shared prosperity,” Hari President and CEO Maria Fe Perez-Agudo said.

“It is even more significant that our paths should converge in the Philippines. It is a double honor to be part of this historic meeting of

influential minds.”

Founded on December 29, 1967, Hyundai Motor Co. (HMC) has established itself as a brand that redefines the concept of mobility through customer-driven innovation in products and services, and in vision for building a better world for all.

The presence of Hyundai in Asean 50 also signifies the Korean automotive giant’s confidence in the buoyant investment climate in the Asean and in the Philippines as a gateway to regional expansion.

Agudo furthered that HMC’s increased investments and philanthropic work in the country through Hari can serve as a case study for Hyundai’s interest to grow its presence and influence in Asean.

Executives of Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. pose between Hyundai luxury vans the company said will meet the transport needs of the delegates of the Asean meeting and Asean Business and Investment Summit in Manila.

“As the official distributor of Hyundai trucks and buses, we contribute to the success of local enterprises by introducing world-class commercial vehicles to the local business community,” she added.

“By investing in the Hyundai Assembly Center, Hyundai recognizes

the rewards of fast-tracking consumer access to our vehicles while spurring the development of the local parts manufacturing sector into an indispensable player in the regional automotive chain. And our partnership with the Asean Centre for Biodiversity puts Hyundai at the

forefront of biodiversity conservation in Asean.”

Taking on the mobility needs of the Asean 50 and Abis is as challenging, as it is momentous for the Hyundai brand. Hari is out to beat its own record, taking pride in legacy experience of mobility

partnership with high-level international forums, such as the 45th Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors (May 2012) and of the Asean Finance Ministers Investments Seminar and World Economic Forum East Asia (May 2014).

The Regions

A10 Monday, October 30, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

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MinDA asks construction players to help rebuild Marawi

By Manuel T. Cayon

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@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—The government’s socioeconomic planning body for Mindanao has appealed for a more active role of construction players in the rebuilding of war-battered Central Mindanao city of Marawi.

program, part of the larger Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-MalaysiaPhilippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) corridor.

The government has shifted to the rehabilitation mode for Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur, after President Duterte declared it liberated from control of the Isis-linked Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups. A subsequent military evaluation also declared it safe for residents to return.

With estimates of rehabilitation ranging from P40 billion to P400 billion, Alonto said the construction may be linked to accessing funds from China, which has maintained its friendly overture to the Duterte administration.

“The larger MinDA initiative is a strategy that can link us to China’s multibillion-dollar trade economic Silk Road project. Coincidentally, China is also an active development partner of BIMP-Eaga for the past few years,” Alonto said.

The MinDA said the Asean+6 Construction Forum gathered delegates from the 10 memberstates, as well as other development partners from China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand.

The forum aimed at helping implement the Master Plan on Asean Connectivity 2025, a framework for seamless and comprehensive connectivity and integration among the Asean countries.

Datu Abul Khayr Alonto, chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), issued the appeal when he spoke at last week’s Construction Forum organized by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) +6 in Parañaque City.

He cited “the urgency of rebuilding the Islamic city of Marawi” when he urged the construction industry players “to be the government’s partners in the reconstruction of the city.”

Alonto said providing the necessary infrastructure is “one of the agency’s priorities for the longterm development plan of Marawi to promote and sustain economic activities in the formerly conflictaffected areas of Mindanao.”

Infrastructure would be “an area that construction players can take part in,” he said.

MinDA has a program called Mindanao Development Corridors that oversees the construction of infrastructure projects along key areas in this southern Philippine island, and its link with other government agencies would allow it to “review, endorse and facilitate inclusion in the national investment program and budget interconnectivity projects like roads, bridges, ports and airports in Mindanao.”

“It is our hope that our construction leaders in the country and the rest of the Asean can help us deliver interventions that are also responsive to the context and aspirations of the Bangsamoro, especially to the short-term and long-term needs of Marawi City,” he added.

Alonto said these interventions will be implemented through the Bangsamoro Economic Corridor strategy, an addition to the MinDA

Quezon government employees conduct 2-day study tour on biodiversity

Bello hands out P93-M DOLE livelihood-assistance checks to marginalized Bulakenyos

By John A. Bello Correspondent

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ALER, Aurora—Various local government personnel from the different municipalities of Quezon province went on a two-day study tour and learning experience on October 23 and 24 to learn about biodiversity, wildlife management and renewable energy.

The event, dubbed as “Knowledge networking, and learning exchange on renewable energy, biodiversity and wildlife management,” was spearheaded by Tanggol Kalikasan (TK), a public-interest environmental law organization, backstopped by the United Nations Democracy Fund, that aims to create community awareness and action for renewable energy in the country.

The participants—composed of representatives from various offices of municipal environment and natural resources, agriculture and disaster rescue and management from 20 municipalities of Quezon and from the city governments of Tayabas and Lucena—underwent a lecture and forum on renewable energy, biodiversity and wildlife management.

The participants came from Lucban, Mauban, Real, Infanta, San Antonio, Dolores, Sariaya, Tiaong, Pagbilao and Atimonan, among others.

The activity was led by Engr. Roberto Verzola of the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology who discussed renewable energy.

Lawyer Maria Generosa Mislang, TK executive director, tackled various laws on biodiversity, the Wildlife Act and the Renewable Energy Act. Fr. Warren Puno of Our Lady of the Angels Parish in in Atimonan, Quezon started the program on the first day with a prayer at the Function Hall of La Patricia Hotel and Restaurant, where the participants were billeted.

Estacio Lim Jr., project manager of TK CCARE project, helped oversee the overall program activity.

Verzola talked about the status of the electricity-sector situation in the country and cited the baseload power plants that are usually coalfired power plants that emit greenhouse gases and toxic pollutants. He said baseload plants do not have a flexible output, have marginal cost higher than solar and wind-power plants, and whose role will become less important in the future.

By Catherine Joy L. Maglalang Correspondent

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A LOLOS CIT Y, Bu lacan—Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, Bu lacan Gov. Wi l hemino SyAlvarado and Vice Gov. Daniel Fernando led the distribution of P93,865,200 livelihood-assistance checks to 5,391 marginalized Bulakenyos at the Bulacan Capitol Gym in this city.

The provincial government of Bulacan, through its Public Employment Service Office (Peso) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Bulacan Field Office, facilitated the distribution of livelihood assistance.

They were joined by DOLE Regional Director Ana Dione; Technical Support and Services Division for Employment and Welfare’s Alejandro Inza Cruz; DOLE Bulacan Field Office’s May Lynn Gozun; Bureau Directors Dominique Tutay; Ma. Karina Trayvilla for Local Employment and Workers with Special Concerns; Financial Management Service Director Warren Miclat; Rep. Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado of the First District of Bulacan; Peso Provincial Manager Elizabeth Alonzo and other local officials.

The Barangay Training and Employment Coordinators from different parts of the province were in full force to lend their assistance during the distribution of livelihood assistance.

D ione sa id t he l ive l i hood checks distributed will be intended for various Negosyo sa Kariton (Negokart) projects and starter kits of covered beneficiaries. “ The livelihood checks are geared toward benefiting 3,941 marginalized individuals from the nine identified resettlement sites in the municipalities of Pandi, Norzagaray, Bocaue, Balagtas and City of San Jose del Monte, and 750 individuals from all over the province,” Dione said.

At least P1 million worth of Kabuhayan Starter Kits on either a start-up or enhanced grocery

retailing store of grocery items were distributed to 200 individuals.

Dione said the beneficiaries who received their Negokarts and starter kits during the event have all undergone an Entrepreneurship Development Training (EDT).

“The provincial Peso and Dole Bulacan Field Office facilitated the distribution of goods to our livelihood recipient and, likewise, provided them EDT to ensure the proper management and operations of their businesses,” Dione added.

The provision of livelihood assistance was sourced from the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program otherwise known as “Dileep.”

Jerry Borja, the information officer of DOLE in Central Luzon, said P5 million worth of livelihood in form of dry goods and Negokarts projects were distributed during the activity.

Of the total livelihood items and goods, P2 million worth were distributed to 100 members and ambulant vendors for the “Pandesalang Bayan” and Negokarts project.

A not her P2 mi l lion wor t h of Kabuhayan Starter Kits on beauty care, massage therapy, ga r ments-m a k ing , c a r pent r y and lutong ulam, among others, were distributed to some 400 individuals.

A side f rom t he l ivel i hood distr ibution, Bel lo ser ved as guest of honor in the inauguration of the Provincial Livelihood Training Center that will be m a n aged by t he Bu l ac a n Provincial Peso.

PRECIOUS STRAWBERRIES The good news is there are now fresh strawberries at the Baguio City Market. The bad news is they cost P400 a kilo.

MAU VICTA

Yolanda anniversary to pay tribute to French saint

By Elmer Recuerdo Correspondent

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ACLOBA N CI T Y—W hen Leyte province remembers the fourth anniversary of Supertyphoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) on November 8, one highlight of the day will be the unveiling of a life-size statue of a sixthcentury bishop in France who later became a saint.

Saint Medard of Noyon, born a French noble, is the patron saint for protection against bad weather. His feast day is celebrated every June 8.

Leyte Vice Gov. Carlo Loreto said a proposal has been made to put submerged images of Saint Medard along the eastern coast of the province where the storm surge happened that resulted to the death of over 6,000 people on November 8, 2013.

“We hope that, with Saint Medard across the province, we can

have a stronger hold of our inner self and against bad weather,” Loreto told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

Loreto said a team of divers will arrive before the end of October to look for an ideal site to put the image of the saint.

Proposed areas for the project are the coastal towns of Palo, Tanauan, and Tolosa, among the most devastated areas of Leyte, aside from this city during the typhoon.

Saint Medard, born around 456 in Salency, became a priest in 490 and was consecrated Bishop of Vermand in 530. He is known for his piety and generosity. Legend has it that when Saint Medard was a child, he was sheltered from the rain by an eagle hovering over him.

After a year of serving as the Bishop of Vermand, he transferred the See to Noyons to be able to defend it more from the invasion of the Huns and the Vandals.

Loreto said the people of the province can easily relate to Saint Medard because of what they experienced during the aftermath of the strong typhoon.

“What we have seen during the Yolanda was when you have no food, no house, with your relatives missing and many of your friends dead, the strength of character and the strength of spirit is what remains,” he said.

He added that while many natural disasters are unavoidable, the impact of Yolanda to the people could have been lessened if they had been more caring of the environment.

“Yolanda and other catastrophes showed us that they cripple our source of livelihood. The poor are the most affected,” he said.

“We hope this will create a better awareness in protecting our environment and compassion for the poor through the installation of Saint Medard,” Loreto added.

Bizarre Kalinga cemetery keeps memories of dead alive

By Liza Agoot

Philippine News Agency

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ABUK CITY, Kalinga—A peculiar cemetery in a village here is serving two purposes—a resting place for the dead and a tourist attraction for the living.

From the usual white-rectangular tomb we see in cemeteries, colorful niches shaped like a ship, chopper, dove, cake, shoes, plane, bible, horse, a Church, van and other images are on a cemetery beside a highway here that catch the attention of the public passing by Barangay Nambaran.

“These are not displays. They are real burial grounds with corpses the families thought of making based on what their loved ones did or enjoyed when they were alive,” a resident in the area said. The images depict the wishes, dreams, aspirations, likes, profession and favorite things owned by the deceased during their lifetime, keeping their good and happy memories alive.

The latest design constructed, a guitar, is that of the tomb of Jimboy Layugan, 23, a native of the place who died in a vehicular accident in August.

His brother Jimwel said Jimboy, as a small child, loved a guitar. He used to play with the broom acting out as if he was playing a guitar. He was 23 when he got one which he saved up for years.

After he had it, he played it, singing different tunes early in the morning.

Their family decided to make a guitar on top of his tomb.

Jimboy’s tomb is beside his grandfather that has a horse, which Jimwel said was decided on by his family because of his liking for the “Red Horse” alcoholic drink.

The plane design is on the tomb of a 92-year-old woman who died in 2015.

According to residents in the area, prior to her death, the woman wished to ride a plane that would bring her to their home village in the upland Barangay of Tulgao in Tinglayan, Kalinga. Her desire to ride an airplane came from stories of her grandchildren who were able to ride an airplane in their trips abroad. Her dream did not materialize due to financial constraints.

But her wishes did not fall on deaf ears. After she died, the family decided to have an airplane-design niche.

Mayor Ferdinand Tubban said the cemetery was established in 2016 on a government lot, a pasture land in the village, for the residents.

He said Tabuk, then still a municipality, has come up with an ordinance prohibiting the burial of the dead on their backyard, a tradition in the Cordillera.

He added that placing designs is not a violation of the culture, but gives happiness to the family for fulfilling the wishes of a departed loved one.

Others use it to remember the good memories of the deceased.

Tubban said the cemetery is located about 20 minutes from Bulanao, the city’s center toward the direction of Tuguegarao from the intersection.

The first design was a van because the person buried was fond of travellng.

Kagawad Vicente, a village councilor, said the families of the first ones buried there also planned to make designs based on the wishes of their loved ones, but the cost prevented them.

“This is expensive as the cost depends on the design. The village did not plan to make the cemetery an attraction because the designs were made by the families to give happiness to their loved ones,” he said.

Also catching attention is the dove.

The person buried there took care of doves. The shoe is the symbol of a precious gift received by the deceased from his grandchild.

There is also a niche with the cycle and hammer of the New People’s Army etched, the diseased being a member of the NPA. There is also the fighting-cock mural on the niche of a person who loved to take care of fighting cocks.

There is also a niche that looks like a Church; the deceased was a catechist during his lifetime.

Another has the Volkswagen design for one who loved cars. Also, getting attention in the cemetery is the rice terraces where a farmer is buried.

There is also a rifle-shaped tomb for a former soldier.

Passersby often stop to take a selfie or simply photograph the different niche designs, providing fun and enjoyment for the living. With Jesse Magguiya

The Regions BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BFAR official denies defying prosecutor’s order

Leyte okays ₧7.3-B investment program

By Elmer V. Recuerdo | Correspondent

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ACLOBAN CITY­—The Leyte Provincial Board unanimously approved the P7.3-billion 2018 Annual Investment Plan (AIP), where over half of the amount is allocated for economic services aimed at reducing poverty incidence in the province to a single digit in 2022.

By Orly Guirao | Correspondent

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AN FERNANDO CITY, La Union—“We did not defy or ignore any order by the Pangasinan provincial prosecutor’s office,” thus said Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Regional Director Nestor Domenden to clarify claims of fishermen in Dagupan City that he had refused to release fishing paraphernalia seized by the maritime police.

“It’s not true that we’re making it hard for the fishermen on the case, and it’s not also true that our office had not been extending aid to small fishers.”­

—Domenden In a letter to the BusinessMirror, Domenden said while the Pangasinan provincial prosecutor dismissed the illegal-fishing charges against the fishermen on March 21, the same fiscal, however, resolved that the authority to release the confiscated fishing gadgets belongs to the adjudication committee of the BFAR central office.

Domenden said an administrative case had been filed by the BFAR against the owner of the fishing boats and the fishermen for unauthorized fishing in municipal waters using fine-mesh nets, in violation of Republic Act 8550.

The BFAR official said the fishing gadgets seized by the maritime police were turned over to the agency’s office in Dagupan, which used the items as part of evidence in the filing of the administrative case.

He said the fishermen and the boat owner were notified about the case and that being administrative in nature, a prehearing conference was called to inform the fishers of their liabilities.

For violating the fisheries law, Domenden said the fishermen would be penalized P50,000. However, during the conference, the accused fishermen appealed to have the penalty reduced to P20,000.

The fishermen were advised they needed to execute an affidavit supporting their appeal for penalty reduction which, Domenden said, would be the basis of the BFAR adjudicating body to settle the administrative case.

Ironically, the fishermen have not as yet submitted their joint affidavit, Domenden said, adding should the accused fail to avail themselves of the settlement offer, the BFAR adjudication body will proceed to formally conduct the hearing of the administrative case.

“It’s not true that we’re making it hard for the fishermen on the case, and it’s not also true that our office had not been extending aid to small fishers,” Domenden noted in his letter to the BusinessMirror.

WELCOME LANDMARK A staff from the municipal engineering office of Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya, takes a close look at a tilapia-fish figure mounted on a fountain in front of the town hall. The welcome landmark symbolizes the town’s enormous freshwater-fish industry. LEONARDO PERANTE II

Quezon water district still studying JVA with private companies for facilities upgrade

By John A. Bello | Correspondent

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UCENA CIT Y—The Quezon Metropolitan Water District (QMWD), which supplies potable water for Pagbilao town and the two cities of Lucena and Tayabas, is still in the process of evaluating joint-venture agreement (JVA) with Primewater Corp. and other private companies designed to upgrade its facilities and serve better its more than 45,000 concessionaires.

Lawyer Vicente Joyas, chairman of the board of directors of QMWD, gave the assurance that the water agency has not yet accepted any JVA with Primewater Corp. or any private firm in an effort to end speculations that it was already “bought” or “sold out” to the latter.

Joyas called a news conference last Monday at the Queen Margarette Hotel in the city poblacion here to clarify the issues surrounding the alleged deal with Primewater Corp., stressing the board has not yet approved the deal and the privatization of the water agency.

He was seated beside QMWD General Manager Enrico Pasumbal, Assistant

General Manager Lino Constantino and Production Manager Raymund Oliver to answer questions from local media practitioners.

“We are not selling QMWD. No one is buying it because it is not for sale, and the board has not approved its privatization,” Joyas said at the start of the news conference. He added the board has not yet accepted any JVA with Primewater, but is still evaluating unsolicited proposals.

“It is painful to hear news that we had been sold and that we look very interested in money,” Joyas said, adding he never talked alone with private entities, but always with his comembers in the board of directors, the policy-making body of QMWD. Joyas, former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, said any agreement will have to go through the process of evaluation by the Commission on Audit, the Local Water Utilities Administration, guidelines by the National Economic Development Authority, the Government Corporate Counsel, and will face the Swiss challenge.

A Swiss challenge is a process in

Tech company donated thousands

of meals for displaced families in Marawi

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AMSUNG Electronics Philippines Corp. employees recently participated in a meal-packing event for the benefit of the families affected by the Marawi siege. The program was an initiative under Love and Care, the annual employee volunteer program for the tech giant’s subsidiaries in the Southeast Asia and Oceania region.

Launched in 2015, Love and Care began with an outreach activity at the Pann Pyo Let Monastic School in Myanmar. Over 50 Samsung employees from the region helped out in the first run. In 2016 60 employees taught over 2,000 children in a follow-up activity under the volunteer program in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

This year Samsung Philippines began spearheading Love and Care initiatives in the country. On October 13 the company led a rehabilitation program for the Ipo Watershed, helping more than 12 million residents of Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces who depend on the reservoir for freshwater.

On October 20 Samsung Philippines teamed up with Rise Against Hunger (R AH), a global nonprofit organization that aims to end worldwide hunger by mobilizing resources

Monday, October 30, 2017 A11

to provide nutritious food and other life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable. The nonprofit’s Philippine arm currently counts Marawi among its beneficiaries. Samsung Philippines’s top executives joined the employees in packing hundreds of boxes of meals, enough to feed over thousands of Filipino families.

“From protecting natural resources to making quality education accessible, we at Samsung are constantly finding ways to help out our local communities.” said Kevin Lee, Samsung Philippines’ president and CEO. “Even if the seige is over, its residents are in need of help. Major structures and institutions are reduced to rubble, making it hard for families to sustain themselves,” Samsung Philippines’ Head of Corporate Citizenship Twyla David added. “With malnutrition posing a great health threat to evacuees, RAH took the initiative to reach out to Marawi’s citizens, providing nutritious meals to help them recover. We are honored to work with RAH Philippines in this endeavor.”

This is the second time that Samsung Philippines partnered with RAH for its corporate citizenship efforts.

In July employee volunteers prepared

22,000 meals for Gota de Leche Manila, a nonprofit organization that addresses the needs of malnourished mothers and children.

“October is World Hunger Action Month, and the theme for this year is ‘Migrants and Refugees.’ Over 200,000 citizens have been displaced since the war began in Marawi. Residents have taken refuge in evacuation centers in the municipality of Saguiaran,” RAH Philippines Executive Director Jomar Fleras said. “We are grateful for Samsung’s continued support in our humanitarian endeavors. We were moved by the hard work and energy of the volunteers. We are looking forward to more partnerships with them.”

Samsung Philippines will launch more Love and Care programs in the next few months, centered on the environment, community and health and quality education.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions.

public procurement when a public authority, which has received an unsolicited bid for a project, publishes details of the bid and invites third parties to match or exceed it.

Joyas added in case the Primewater proposal is considered by the QMWD board of directors, it will be challenged by other private entities.

Joyas added the main problem of QMWD is that its water supply could not meet the demand from its evergrowing number of water concessionaires. He said the 15 water wells the water agency has developed are not enough, so they are thinking of options to upgrade and modernize their facilities, management and operation.

He assured the media that any proposal and water- rate increase will still be up for the board for consideration and decision, and any JVA will be subject to rigorous negotiation.

“A rate increase is not enough to address our concerns in the QMWD so we are considering options and alternative solutions for our water consumers,” he said.

House Tourism Committee to attend World Travel Mart

By Charles R. Pepito | Correspondent

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HE House Committee on Tourism chaired

by Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez of the Fourth District of Leyte is slated to attend the World Travel Market (WTM) in London from November 6 to 8.

This was learned from Rep. Erico Aristotle C. Aumentado of the Second District of Bohol, who said he and six other committee vice chairmen will be joined by representatives of the Department of Tourism. The latter will market the Philippines’s attractions and destinations.

Aumentado said the Philippines stands to gain from the WTM web site that says “business contracts between exhibitors and travel professionals, key industry buyers, journalists, digital influencers, students and tourism ministers.”

Last year over three days, the global event generated more than £2.8 billion as almost 5,000 exhibiting destinations, technology and private-sector companies found, and networked with 51,000 attendees—in under just one roof.

Industry leaders are also expected to discuss trends, issues and innovations in the travel industry.

From the speakers’ inputs and their team’s observations and firsthand information from fellow attendees, Aumentado said their committee will craft necessary legislations to rev and enhance the Philippines’s tourism industry.

“Our AIP in the province is primarily an anti-poverty budget. This is anchored on our flagship program, which is Leyte EconoMICS,” Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla told the BusinessMirror. “We are targeting to lower poverty incidence to a single digit by 2022.”

AIP constitutes the indicative yearly expenditure requirements of the province for programs, projects and activities, consisting of the annual capital expenditure and the regular operating requirements.

Based on the AIP proposal submitted to the provincial board, P4 billion or 54 percent of the total budget will be earmarked for economic services, P1.9 billion or 27 percent for social services, P1.3 billion or 18 percent for general public services and P100 million for school-education fund.

Leyte Vice Gov. Carlo Loreto said the economic services component will mean a direct pump priming for the marginalized farmers and fishers in the form of agriculture implements, planting materials and interventions at the barangay level.

“This is a very pro-poor investment,” Loreto said. “The concept is very different from the usual. We are using a bottom-up budgeting.”

“You improve the livelihood and opportunities of the people on the ground so that when they improve, the economy improves, as well,” he said.

Poverty incidence in Leyte stood at 23.6 percent in 2015. The original Leyte EconoMICS program of the province targets to lower poverty incidence to 15 percent by 2022.

But Petilla said lowering the poverty incidence further to a single digit is possible by sustaining an investment program that will directly benefit the poor.

Leyte EconoMICS is the implementation of the Marshall Plan of the province that was drawn after the devastation of Supertyphoon Yolanda.

It targets far-flung communities where the highest poverty incidence occurs, all of which were former strongholds of insurgents in the province.

Under the program, farmer-beneficiaries are grouped into associations and undergo a 16-week seasonlong training on high-value vegetable production as an initial step. This is followed by various interventions in livestock, fisheries and nonagriculture skills training to empower them to become active members of the community.

The program adopts a holistic and community-based approach to alleviate poverty, making these poor farmer-beneficiaries productive and skilled in agriculture mainstreamed with social services, disaster-risk reduction, environment and solid-waste management, and infrastructure-support facilities.

Petilla said the budget to finance the AIP will be sourced from the general fund of the province, 20 percent of its annual internal revenue allotment, school-education fund.

He added additional funds will be sourced from national programs like the Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces (CMGP) Fund of the Department of Interior and Local Government. CMGP, formerly known as Kalsada program, have funds for road repair, rehabilitation and improvement.

Petilla said some of the projects under the AIP could be funded through the rehabilitation fund of the different national government agencies as part of their rehabilitation program.

Green Monday BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, October 30, 2017

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

China’s new antipollution push could cool its growth engine

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“Oceans, our allies against climate change. How marine ecosystems help preserve our world.” FAO

World campaign to clean torrents of plastic dumped in the oceans

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OME—With 30 countries from Kenya to Indonesia and from Canada to Brazil involved in the world campaign to beat pollution by countering the torrents of plastic trash that are degrading oceans and endangering the life they sustain, the United Nations (UN) has strengthened its massive efforts to clean up the seas, which are the Earth’s main buffer against climate change.

The 30 countries—all members of the UN Env ironment Programme’s (Unep) #CleanSeas campaign—account for about 40 percent of the world’s coastlines—they are drawing up laws, establishing marine reser ves, banning plastic bags and gathering up the waste choking their beaches and reefs.

The populous nations of East and Southeast Asia account for most of the plastic trash entering the global oceans, Unep reports, adding that in order to address this menace at its source, Indonesia has pledged to reduce its generation of plastic trash by 70 percent by 2030, while the Philippines plans new laws targeting single-use plastics.

Human addiction to plastic bags

Humanity’s unhealthy addiction to throwaway plastic bags is a particular target, the UN environment agency warns, while informing that countries—including Kenya, France, Jordan, Madagascar and the Maldives—have committed to banning plastic bags or restricting consumers to reusable versions for which they have to pay.

“Legislation to press companies and citizens to change their wasteful habits is often part of broader government strategies to foster responsible production and consumption—a key step in the global shift toward sustainable development.”

According to the Unep, Belgium and Brazil, for instance, are both working on national action plans to curb marine pollution.

Costa Rica has embarked on a five-year strategy to improve waste management that includes a push to reduce the use of plastics.

8 billion tons of plastic...a year

The f low of pollution means detritus—such as drink bottles and flip-flops and tiny plastic fragments, including microbeads used in cosmetics—are concentrating in the oceans and washing up on the most remote shorelines, from deserted Pacific islets to the Arctic Circle, the UN specialized body informs.

“Humans have already dumped billions of tons of plastic, and we are adding it to the ocean at a rate of 8 million tons a year,”

5 trillion The number of pieces of plastics, weighing more than 260,000 tons currently floating in the oceans the Unep warns, adding that as well as endangering fish, birds and other creatures who mistake it for food or become entangled in it, plastic waste has also entered the human food chain with health consequences that are not yet fully understood.

It also harms tourist destinations and provides breeding grounds for mosquitoes carrying diseases, including dengue and Zika.

T he #C lea nSea s c a mpa ig n aims to “turn the tide on plastic” by inspiring action from governments, businesses and individuals on ocean pollution.

Pollution is the theme of the 2017 United Nations Environment Assembly, which is meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, from December 4 to 6.

Main buffer against climate change

Another UN agency reminds that while it is well known that forests, especially rain forests, are key allies in the fight against climate change as they absorb greenhouse-gas emissions, oceans are the earth’s main buffer against it.

In fact, about 25 percent of the greenhouse gases that people emit actually gets absorbed by the oceans, as does over 90 percent of the extra heat produced by humaninduced climate change, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports.

“However, oceans are also one of the most affected by it.”

According to the Rome-based UN agency, human activities are resulting in acidification and increasing water temperatures that are changing our oceans and the plant and animal life within them.

More plastic than fish?

The UN estimates that there will be more plastic than fish in the

ocean by 2050—with over 5 trillion pieces of plastic weighing more than 260,000 tons currently floating in the world’s oceans.

Meanwhile, harmful fishing subsidies that contribute to overfishing are estimated to be as high as $35 billion.

Coral reefs and coastal environments in tropical regions, including mangroves and salt marshes, are in particular danger, the UN food and agriculture agency warns.

“These ecosystems store much of the carbon, which then remains in the oceans for hundreds of years, and are thus one of our ‘allies’ against climate change.”

However, since the 1940s, over 30 percent of mangroves, close to 25 percent of salt marshes and over 30 percent of seagrass meadows have been lost.

“Right when we need them the most, we are losing these crucial ecosystems.”

FAO’s key facts about the oceans:

n The ocean has it all: from mi-

croscopic life to the largest animal that has ever lived on earth, from the colorless to the iridescent, from the frozen to the boiling and from the sunlit to the mysterious dark of the deepest parts of the planet. n The ocean is the largest ecosystem on earth and provides 99 percent of the living space for life.

It is a fascinating, but often little explored place. n The ocean affects people in many different ways. It provides an important source of food and other natural resources. It influences the climate and weather, provides space for recreation and gives inspiration for stories, artwork and music. n The list of benefits people get from the ocean is almost endless. But people are also affecting the ocean. n Overfishing is reducing fish populations, threatening the supply of nutritious food and changing marine food webs. n Waste is found in massive floating garbage patches and plastics have been found from the arctic to the bottom of the deepest places in the ocean. n Climate change and its related impacts, such as ocean acidification, are affecting the survival of some marine species. n Coastal development is destroying and degrading important marine habitats. Even recreation is known to impact marine habitats and species. n People need a clean and healthy ocean to support their own health and survival, even if they don’t live anywhere near it. n It would be good to also remember that humankind managed to survive over millions and millions of years...without plastic!

FAO’s 5 ways how oceans help fight climate change and its effects:

1. Trapping carbon: Mangroves, coral reefs, salt marshes and sea-grasses make up just 1 percent of the ocean’s seabed, but

they contain between 50 percent and 70 percent of the carbon stored in the oceans.

Like forests, marine ecosystems take greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and trap them, some of it for thousands of years. As such, these ecosystems are known as “blue carbon sinks.”

2. Reducing coastal erosion: Overtime, waves carry away sediment from the shore. When this happens more quickly or forcefully, for example, because of large storms, it has the potential of causing major damage to homes and coastal infrastructure.

Seagrasses may look like our grass fields on land, but they are actua l ly f lower ing plants that live in the sa lt y env ironments of the seaf loor and help hold sed iment in pl ace. Sa lt marshes, mangroves and cora l reefs a lso help in slow ing erosion and protecting shorelines.

3. Protecting marine life and biodiversity: Coral reefs occupy less than 0.1 percent of the world’s ocean surface, yet they provide a home for at least 25 percent of all marine biodiversity. Often popular tourist attractions, coral reefs are the least secret of the ocean’s secret weapons.

They draw people in to observe the wealth of marine life that they host.

However, coral reefs are delicate ecosystems that are increasingly strained by human activity.

Careless tourism, water pollution, overfishing, rising temperature and acidity are all damaging these ecosystems, sometimes beyond repair.

4 . For m i ng ba r r ie rs to storms: Mangroves, salt-tolerant shrubs or small trees that grow in saline water of coastal areas, create barriers to destructive waves and hold sediments in place with their underwater root systems.

This protects coastal communities in times of cyclones or other tropical storms.

In fact, scientists concluded that mangroves could have reduced the damages caused by the 2008 Nargis cyclone in Myanmar, where parts of the coastline had lost up to 50 percent of its mangrove cover.

5. Slowing down destructive waves: Salt marshes are coastal wetlands that are flooded and drained by saltwater brought in by the tides. Salt marshes are well known for protecting the coast from soil erosion.

However, they are also an effective defense against storm surges and devastating waves.

Saltmarshes can reduce wave sizes by up to 20 percent.

As the waves move through and around these marshes, the vegetation quells the force of the water and buffers the effects of these waves on coastal communities, FAO reports, adding that once viewed as wastelands, salt marshes can rival tropical rain forests in terms of biologically productive habitats, as they serve as nurseries and refuges for a wide variety of marine life. IPS

E I J I N G —T h r o u g h t h e past four decades, China has achieved breathtaking economic growth at the cost of smoggy skies, fetid streams and lakes of dying fish.

Now China is undertaking one of its most extensive efforts yet to crack down on corporate polluters, an effort that could be felt economically and in world markets.

Cities across China have stepped up sending squads of inspectors to steel mills, coal-fired power plants and other businesses, and ordered offenders to clean up their operations or risk being shut down.

On August 21 environmental authorities ordered more than two dozen cities in northern China, including many main steel production centers, to reduce air pollution by 15 percent this winter.

Even tougher measures will be coming, Li Ganjie, China’s minister for environmental protection, said last Monday at a news conference held in conjunction with the Communist Party congress, a twice-per-decade event at which the party selects new leaders to tackle its problems.

The campaign, which started two years ago but picked up speed in recent months, is so broad that it is starting to affect markets.

Some economists have begun to warn of a possible modest slowing of the entire Chinese economy this winter. Officials sought last Monday to reassure the Chinese public and businesses that the pollution crackdown would help clean up the country without disrupting growth.

“It is impossible that such efforts will not have any impact on enter prises,” Li said. “But in the long run, and from the macro perspective, the impact will be minimal.”

Pollution figures strongly into the broader debate over the cost, of growth in China. Chinese officials are under pressure to keep the economy revving to provide good jobs for its young people and for rural residents moving into cities, among others.

But stimulating growth has compounded China’s debt problems, added to its pollution woes and created other complications that Beijing must address.

If successful, the antipollution campaign could produce bluer skies and cleaner water across China, with potential health benefits for the country’s 1.3 billion people.

“For those areas that have suffered ecological damage, their leaders and cadres will be held responsible for life,” said Yang Weimin, deputy director of the Communist Party’s Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs. “Our people will be able to see stars at night and hear birds chirp.”

But the effort could have a cost, as well. Economists at Société Générale, a French bank, predicted in a recent research note that environmental restrictions could shave two-tenths of a percent off economic growth.

“Modestly slower growth will be a necessary sacrifice for maintaining social stability over the medium term,” it said.

Global prices for iron ore, a crucial material for making steel, have slumped in part on expectations that many Chinese steel

Visitors to a park gesture at each other near chimneys spewing smoke in Beijing in this December 12, 2015, photo. AP/Ng Han Guan

mills will have to close temporarily this winter. China is so important to the global economy that a campaign against pollution here could affect economies around the world, particularly iron-ore exporters. Economists in Australia are already starting to become concerned.

Australia “ is absolutely dependent on China—that’s true of iron-ore prices, but it’s also true of Australia’s national income,” said Chris Richardson, the chief Australia economist for Deloitte, the global accounting firm.

Although China now leads the world in its installations of solar and wind power, it still relies on coal to generate three-quarters of its electricity. Electricity use by households is rising, as more Chinese consumers buy air-conditioners and adopt the trappings of middle-class life.

Turning off electricity to residential customers to reduce pollution is politically unrealistic.

That means steeper cuts may be necessary for industrial users.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the government-affiliated China Passenger Car Association, said in a telephone interview that the government had been inexorably tightening pollution standards. T he countr y’s top priority has been shifting away from maximizing economic output and toward environmental protection, and companies must adapt, he said.

“Auto companies have adequate profits,” he said. “They can withstand it, but their production schedules may be affected.”

The pollution effort’s impact on global markets is uncertain, and last Monday Chinese officials said they might be overreacting. Li Xinchuang, deputy chairman of the government-affiliated China Steel Association, said Chinese production could continue undiminished if the industry simply closed excess, outdated steel foundries that pollute more.

Christine Loh, who was undersecretary for the environment for Hong Kong until the summer and worked closely with mainland officials, said that China had considerable potential for environmental cleanup without harming the economy.

“The new economy continues to thrive, while the old economy cleans up,” she wrote in an e-mail.

“So, the overall picture should not be seen too negatively.”

China’s track record on nationally mandated campaigns has been mixed. Told to maximize economic output, local officials have sometimes faked statistics, most recently in a few economically depressed areas of northeastern China.

President Xi Jinping endorsed the environmental effort in his work report at the start of the party congress. “Clear waters and lush mountains are as valuable as gold and silver,” he said.

Beyond maximizing economic output, Xi said his country needed to address a new dilemma, and one that implies greater attention to environmental protection, “ between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life.”

New York Times News Service

Biodiversity Monday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Monday, October 30, 2017 A13

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

Artificial-reef projects: Are we doing it right?

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

W

@jonlmayuga

m a ke a r t i f ic i a l reefs u n necess a r y. “Current data and study show that the cost of putting up artificial reefs and coral transplantation is higher compared to implementing existing laws to protect our seas and marine resources,” Cinches added.

Cinches said every intervention for coral recovery should not happen in isolation in the overall protection of the country’s marine resources, fisheries and coastal ecosystems, and should be backed up with a robust and sound science.

He added that current and future inter ventions should also consider the impacts of climate change, increased oceans acidity and warming waters, such as additional stress that could make previous inter vention invalid or inappropriate.

ith less than 1 percent of the country’s corals in excellent condition, the Philippines, one of the world’s top fish producers, is currently experiencing dwindling fish catch.

In several occasions, the Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), had declared fishing moratorium or fish ban to allow the remaining fish stock to replenish fishing grounds.

Scientists have blamed the massive destruction of the country’s corals to a number of reasons. The destructive fishing methods—like the use of trawls, dynamite or cyanide—have been identified as major causes of coral-reef destruction.

The Philippines has approximately 27,000 square kilometers of coral reefs. Over the years, however, coral reefs began to vanish.

Destructive fishing methods and overfishing all contribute to the massive destruction of the country’s once-healthy coral reefs.

The sorry state of the country’s corals got the attention it deserved with a budget of P500 million allocated for coral-reef rehabilitation last year. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) decided to revisit its ongoing program on the rehabilitation of the country’s damaged marine ecosystems.

Coral reefs

Corals or coral reefs are habitatbuilding species. Along with seagrass and mangroves, coral reefs provide very important ecological and economic functions.

T he World Wide Fu nd for Nature (W WF) said the latest estimates suggest that corals provide close to $30 billion revenues each year from fisheries, tourism, coastal protection, as source of medical advances and intrinsic value.

In fisheries alone, an estimated 1 billion people are dependent on coral reefs for food and income from fishing, according to the WWF. Healthy reefs can yield around 15 tons of fish and other seafood per square kilometer each year, it added.

Artificial reefs

The Implementing Rules and Regulation of Republic Act 8550, or the Fisheries Code of the Philippines as amended by Republic Act 10654, define artificial reefs as any structure of natural or manmade materials placed on a body of water to serve as shelter and habitat, a source of food, breeding areas for fishery species and shoreline protection.

Installation of artificial-reef modules in the Philippines began in the 1970s.

Tens of thousands have been installed in various parts of the country to provide the ecological functions that were lost with the destruction of coral reefs.

Today, many local government units (LGUs), the private sector and non-governmental organizations continue to engage in artificial-reef projects as part of coastal resource-management programs, basically, to increase fish catch.

A huge amount of investment has been poured in various coral-reef rehabilitation projects, ranging from the installation of modules through the transplantation of corals, or natural rock formations.

In fishing communities, artificial-reef projects have succeeded in increasing fish catch, as artificial reefs act like fish-aggregating device that recruits fish from other areas, hence, increasing fish density in a particular area.

Second look

Vincent Hilomen, executive director of the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) Coastal and Marine Division, has a reservation in the wisdom of artificial-reef projects.

Hilomen said it entails a huge cost if the proponent of the project wishes to do it right, including the maintenance and protection against overfishing.

“Before, we thought that the project [artificial reef] is effective. Lately, however, we realized that it is being used to establish fishing grounds where fishermen go fishing, so it is useless,” Hilomen told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview.

He added t hat, instead of recommending the installation of artificial-reef modules, the DENR-BMB’s Coastal Marine Division is encouraging investment in projects that will remove the threat to coral reefs, such as destructive fishing, ocean pollution and overfishing.

“Fish-aggregating device or aggregator, is not bad per se, as long as there are enough fish, and people will not resort to overfishing,” he added.

But if the fish stock is a lready depleted and the fishermen will continue to catch fish, reef fishes in the area may become extinct, thereby causing an ecolog ica l imba lance.

An artificial reef installed by Hinatuan Mining Corp. and partners in Barangay Talavera, Hinatuan Island, Surigao del Norte. Hinatuan Mining Corp.

R eef f i shes a re benef ic i a l to corals as they feed on algae that cover corals. Without reef fishes, the algae can suffocate and kill corals.

Fish aggregator

Experts believe that because of the depleting fish catch, the installation of modules to create artificial reefs will provide the ecological functions, mainly for young fish to feed on and for protection against predators.

With the continued destruction of what remains of the country’s coral reefs, artificial reefs have become a necessity in many areas, as they also attract bigger fish that prey on small fish.

Artificial-reef projects, however, should be done properly, as there have been reports of negative effects as a result of several projects.

Best alternatives

Gregg Yan, an environmentalist and founder of Best Alternatives Campaign, which has published several international studies on fish, said the best way to conserve coral reefs is to protect the remaining reefs. “ T he gover n ment , coa st a l communities and all concerned players must better invest their time and resources in preventing the further deterioration of our coastal resources,” he said.

The Best Alternatives Campaign, a movement to promote modern and practical conservation solutions, recognizes that some reefs need a hand to recover from decades of degradation faster, Yan added.

Artificial-reef modules like reef blocks and metal barricades can serve as “hard points” or points of attachment for marine life.

“The key is to let corals, sponges, sea anemones and algae grow naturally,” he explained.

Community managed

For h is pa r t, Fer n a ndo Hicap, nationa l chair man of the Pambansang Lakas ng K ilusang

Artificial-reef guidelines Mamama la k aya ng Pi lipinas, welcomes the installation of artificia l reefs, loca l ly know n as payao, especia lly in the cr itica l mar ine habitat and coasta l areas, recognizing the degrading marine biodiversity “ due to the g o v e r n m e nt ’s d e v e l o p m e nt ag gression projects.”

In his response to the BusinessMirror e-mailed questions, Hicap asserted that local fishing communities or established fishing cooperatives should be the one to manage the artificial reefs instead of LGUs or private stakeholders, which may take advantage of the program.

He said LGUs and their partners have the tendency to declare traditional fishing grounds off-limits to small fishermen while failing to stop commercial fishing activities.

“Installation of artificial reefs will not guarantee complete rehabilitation of degrading marine resources, especially if corporate activities in coastal areas like land reclamation, mining and unlimited fishing expedition of giant commercial fishing fleets, among others, still prevail. Payao installation should be accompanied with planting and restoring the damaged mangroves, seagrasses and other havens of marine species,” he added.

Case by case

Paolo B. Pagaduan, a project manager at WWF and a communication expert at the Center for Philippine Biodiversity Journalism, said that, in general, an artificial reef is not necessary.

However, in some cases like the coral recruitment in El Nido, Palawan, due to the 1987 El Niño, the installation of artificial reefs was recommended. The best option for the government, considering the massive destruction of coral reefs, is to address the reasons the reefs are degraded. “ That is why we often recommend using the resources for artificial reefs into proper coastal-resources management,

wh ic h i nc ludes l aw en force ment,” he pointed out.

Pagaduan added that artificial reefs are often used as fish aggregators, a practice assailed by conservation experts for giving a wrong impression of the real state of the fish population or the health of the marine ecosystem.

“Fish aggregators tend to attract fish and, therefore, make it easier for the fisherfolk to c atc h t hem, cont r ibut i ng to overfishing,” he said.

Marine-protected areas

T he DENR-BMB is bank ing on the success of the protected area system in nursing back to life the countr y’s degraded mar ine ecosystems.

Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim, interviewed by the BusinessMirror on October 18, said that as much as possible, artificial-reef projects should be avoided, especially if it is not meant for conservation of the marine environment.

She added that, unlike natural coral-reefs, artificial reefs are not resilient and are easily destroyed by strong ocean current, or in the event of strong typhoons.

Instead of spending money in coral-reef rehabilitation, the government is taking a different path by investing in the protection and conservation, and establishing a network of marine-protected areas (MPAs), she added.

Science-based actions

Vince Cinches, oceans campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said that instead of venturing in artificial-reef projects, all resources should be directed at the protection of remaining coral reef in the country and in eliminating the causes of its degradation, including overfishing, unsustainable land-based and coastal development, reclamation, deforestation, land use and land conversion.

He added a sc ience - ba sed mec h a n i sm a l low i ng a nd f ac i l it at i n g re c o v e r y o f c o r a l re e f s s hou l d b e p u r s u e d t o

Lim reminded the proponents of future artificial-reef projects to consult experts and follow the guidelines formulated for the pur pose.

“There is already a joint memorandum order setting the guideline for artificial reefs. It is also best to consult experts before starting artificial-reef projects,” Lim said.

The Joint Memorandum Order 2000-01 of the DENR, Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of National Defense requires special permits and, prior to such application, must seek technical assistance from the DENR and DA-BFAR. A proposed management operation plan is also a requirement.

The site of the artificial-reef projects, under the guideline, should not be less than 1 kilometer away from existing natural reefs, if any, and 500 meters from existing artificial reefs.

The site should also be near alternative food sources, such as seagrass beds, and must be constr ucted on a f lat barren area of relatively good visibility, and at depth protected from wave action.

The artificial reef should also be installed outside navigational sea lanes, navigational sea routes of local fishermen.

Concrete block or culverts and limestone or rocks must be used.

Previously, some materials used include old tires and junk vehicles, or seacrafts.

However, because of their potent i a l adverse i mpac t a s they may cause mar ine pol lution, a moratorium on their use was ordered in effect pending f ur ther studies.

Lim said that, whenever possible, LGUs, the private sector and coastal communities should actively play a role in biodiversity protection and conservation, and refrain from their destructive activities that undermine the food-production capacity of their coastal and marine resources.

Asia’s youth asked to initiate more conservation moves

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

D

AVAO C I T Y—T he net work of conservation centers for various birds of prey in Asia has appealed to the region’s youths and students to initiate more efforts to improve the biodiversity in the region.

“More so of the well-being of the human race, not only of the raptors and other endangered species,” said Tor u Yamaza k i, the president of A sian R aptor

R e s e a rc h a n d C o n s e r v at i o n Net work (A R RCN).

Yamazaki said the conservation of the environment “is deeply intertwined with the conservation of the endangered species and, more important, on the conservation of the human race.”

“We cannot deny that the destruction of the environment has been progressing,” he added, although he cited this city as an exemption, “ because we can see so much greener y and obvious manifestations of a healthy environment.”

Overa l l, though, he said the progression in the destroyed env ironment has posed difficu lt y in the conser vation effor ts across the reg ion, “ because we cannot move f ur ther, or initiate other conser vation effor ts if the env ironment is continuously ravaged.”

The ARRCN is holding here its 10th biennial conference, after it was founded in its first conference in December 1998 in Shiga, Japan.

Dennis Salvador, executive director of the Philippine Eagle

Foundation (PEF), said Filipinos “should lobby w ith their political leaders and let their local leaders make the moves in initiating the conser vation of their environment.”

PEF President Felicia Atienza welcomed here last Thursday the delegates of the 10th ARRCN conference, citing the importance of the gathering in sharing the progress also in the various conservation programs of their respective raptors.

The PEF has recognized the limited attention given to all

raptors, which many species are in the brink of extinction. The Philippines has only its Philippine Eagle with a dedicated conser vation program but 30 other raptors species remained unattended to.

The PEF said other countries in Asia have respective conservation centers for different species of raptors. The ARRCN conference is commonly the venue for “exchange information concerning raptors among its members and enable member-networks to compile a database on raptors,

especially on the status of resident Asian raptors.”

A lso among the objectives of the ARRCN is to “coordinate research on migrator y species, as well as widespread species and conduct training programs, and promote the value and conser vation of raptors through education and public awareness and providing training to local residents on raptor research.”

As of October 2012, the ARRCN has listed 232 renowned individuals and four organizations in 30 countries.

A14 Monday, October 30, 2017 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Age of crying ‘wolf!’

A

shepherd boy repeatedly tricks nearby villagers into thinking wolves are attacking his flock. When a wolf actually does appear, and the boy again calls for help, the villagers believe that it is another fake alarm, and the sheep were eaten by the wolf. In later English-language versions, the wolf also eats the boy.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a tale from a collection of stories known now as Aesop’s Fables, written in ancient Greece. At the end of the original Greek version is the moral: “This shows how liars are rewarded: even if they tell the truth, no one believes them”.

What is missing from the original fable is any commentary on why the boy acted the way he did. Should we assume that he was simply a pathological liar incapable of being truthful? Was this all just a prank that got out of hand? Maybe the boy had a psychological problem from not being breast-fed long enough, or from eating too much junk food.

Looking at this situation in the context of modern events, the boy might have explained that this was the only way that he could get the villagers to accept the dangerous reality of wolf attacks.

Notice the “crying wolf” from Earth Day 1970. “It is already too late to avoid mass starvation”—Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day. “By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate that there won’t be any more crude oil”—Ecologist Kenneth Watt.

These statements might be dismissed simply as mistakes, but these words came from recognized scientists and experts in their fields. The villagers assumed the boy knew what he was talking about because he was an experienced shepherd who had expertise on wolves attacking sheep.

Samuel Croxall was an 18th-century British writer and translator, particularly noted for his edition of Aesop’s Fables, which popularized these stories in the English language. At the end of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Croxall wrote: “When we are alarmed with imaginary dangers in respect of the public, till the cry grows quite stale and threadbare, how can it be expected we should know when to guard ourselves against real ones?” Welcome to the 21st century Mr. Croxall.

Virtually every global-warming model published in the past 20 years has been completely inaccurate as to extent, results and/or timing. So, now, we are facing climate change. The global climate has always changed, and believing that man can change that fact is far from certain. Yet, brad Johnson, executive director of Climate Hawks Vote, said on September 1, “Global warming is here.

Put public officials who reject science in jail”. Galileo heard something similar from the Roman Inquisition and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

This past May, President Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao. It was and is perfectly justified and critically important to question the rationale for that decision and to caution against any abuses. One week later a noted local pundit wrote: “Martial Law throughout the country is coming.”

If asked today, that columnist would probably say that, because he wrote those words, Duterte did not declare martial law nationwide. If the wolf had not eaten the boy, he would have probably said, “I told you a wolf attack was coming.”

Reflection for All Saints’/Souls’ Day Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

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ovember 1 and 2 are two feast days in the calendar of the Church. The first one is the celebration of All Saints’ Day, when we celebrate the great Communion of Saints.

On this day, we remember the holy ones who have been canonized and those who were not. Pope Gregory III designated this day for honoring the saints.

The other day, November 2, is a day for remembering those who have passed on. The tradition started in the seventh century when Odilo of Cluny designated a day to pray and give alms for those in purgatory.

The celebration of All Souls’ Day spread throughout the Church by

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the 10th century.

As Catholics, we are obliged to attend Mass on All Saints’ Day, to praise God and honor the lives of the saints.

We remember our patron saints, most especially. The following day, All Souls’ Day, we pray for the souls in purgatory, and we remember our

Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

legally speaking

A

lthough now moot and academic by virtue of President Duterte’s acceptance of Chairman Juan Andres D. Bautista’s resignation “effective immediately,” the public has the right to know the substance of the Article of Impeachment against the former Commission on Election (Comelec) chairman.

“Article 1, in that over a period of time in 2016, the following documents and information pertaining to bank accounts, funds, businesses, corporations and financial transactions involving the respondent and/or members of his family were gathered by respondent Bautista’s wife, Mrs. Patricia Cruz-Bautista: Bank accounts a. Luzon Development Bank (LDB) Accounts—Thirty separate accounts in LDB in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, totaling P227,701,053, and five separate accounts in LDB Makati City totaling P101,519,909. b. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Accounts— A Foreign Currency Account and Peso Account with RCBC, totaling $12,778.30/P257,931.60. c. Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) totaling HK$948,358.97 Real properties—at least 14 Foreign investments and properties Cruz-Bautista also discovered doc u ment s est abl i sh i ng t he existence of the following foreign

companies in locales known to be offshore banking hot spots and which Bautista apparently did not declare in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN): a. Bauman Enterprises Limited—a company established in the British Virgin Islands on September 29, 2010. This is the trustee company that Respondent Bautista set up with the Bank of Singapore. b. Mantova International Limited—a company established in Brunei Darussalam on April 26, 2011. c. Mega Achieve Inc.—a company established in Anguila on July 15, 2014.

Article 2, in that among the documents mentioned above—as there are more—were several checks and commission sheets from a private law firm, Divina & Uy Law Offices.

The documents show that Bautista procured the services of this law firm or referred clients to the latter, in order to profit from or in consideration of his position in the government, including the Comelec. What is worthy to note is that, among the

own dead by visiting their graves and praying for them. It is good practice for Catholics to attend Mass also on this day, to light candles for the dead, give alms and to do good.

Today it is also the perfect time to think about our own life, and our death. We are all going to leave this earth one day, and it is only right to make our years count. Do we deny the inevitability of death by spending our days as if we have forever?

But many wise men have reminded us that death is but a continuation of our eternal existence, and so we must not fear it nor deny it.

The poet Khalil Gibran wrote the following lines about death: “For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? / And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?/Only when you drink from the river of silence

clients that Bautista would refer to the law firm are government clients, such as Smartmatic, Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Company (Baseco) and United Coconut Planters Bank—government entities that Respondent Bautista constantly dealt with while in Comelec and as Presidential Commission on Good Government Chairman, and which are clear indications of graft and corrupt practices and his betrayal of public trust reposed on him and his culpable violation of the fundamental law of the land. Bautista knowingly allowed his office including his influence as the Comelec chairman, to be used for private gains and profits including his own.

Article 3, that SALN Bautista submitted in 2016, considering the information and documents obtained, was grossly undeclared or substantial properties, as both personal and real, were not included therein, in violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019, otherwise known as the “Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practice Act.” Moreover, based on documents and information obtained Bautista’s total and declared assets in his 2016 SALN are grossly below his true and correct assets that are under his name, as Bautista’s net assets as found and disclosed by his wife as stated in the foregoing far exceed the total assets, including the liabilities, he declared in his 2016 SALN. Respondent Bautista’s accumulated income and assets are manifestly disproportionate and may not be reasonably explained and justified even by his Salary Grade 31. Respondent Bautista has to be made to account for how he was able to accumulate such a sub-

shall you indeed sing./And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb./And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”

In this sense, death is a kind of freedom, and a communion with our Creator. It is not something to be feared, but something to prepare for and look forward to. Our final destination, to where all of us shall go one day, is a special place for our soul to finally dance freely, beautifully. nnn

My sincere congratulations to the winners of the October 14, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Officesponsored race in San Lazaro: No Regret (KB Abobo), Speedmatic (MM Gonzales) and Exaggeration (RG Fernandez) who all finished at 1:29; Xia’s Best (JA Guce) and Near & Dear (CP Henson), who clocked in at 1:30; and Shelltex Magic (Pat R. Dilema), who reached the finish at 1:30.

stantial amount of wealth in such a short period of time.

By his nondeclaration of these substantial amounts of wealth, Bautista clearly had the malicious and fraudulent intent to hide these huge assets from public view and scrutiny.

More important, it is in violation of his positive duty under the law and the Constitution to render and submit an account of his wealth in keeping with the principle of transparency and full public disclosure and the state policy of “maintain[ing] honesty and integrity in the public service” in accordance with the sacred doctrine that a public office is a public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution and acts of massive graft and corruption.

Article 4, in that between March 20 and 27, 2016, or before the May 2016 election, a massive personal-data breach involving the Comelec web site and/or dataprocessing system happened, exposing to the recesses of the dark web the sensitive personal information of more or less 50 million registered voters based here and abroad; subsequently, the National Privacy Commission, in a pioneering proceeding under the new Data Privacy Act, RA 10173, found serious omissions on his part, in that Bautista, as the Head of Agency, and despite knowledge of the serious weakness of the Comelec’s data-processing system, failed to implement reasonable and appropriate measures to protect personal data against human dangers, such as, but not limited to, unlawful access, fraudulent misuse, unlawful See “Kapunan,” A15

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Understanding privacy and intimacy

News flash: ‘3rd’ joint-venture guidelines

By Alberto Agra

PPP Lead

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

I

recently attended the Asia Pacific Data Privacy Forum, which featured a powerhouse of speakers headed by Deputy Commissioner Yeong Zee Kin of the Personal Data Privacy Commission of Singapore. Yeong said the perceived objective of privacy policies of keeping information secret is misleading.

More than just keeping data confidential or preventing security breaches, data-privacy law seeks to build a reputation of trust for companies that gather and process data. At the same time, since there is an accompanying cost in processing data, companies must get some benefit out of it.

Hence, while lawyers are often designated as data-protection officers (DPOs), Yeong said they must learn not to become stumbling blocks when it comes to the use of data in this era of digital economy.

The law must be complied with as much as the rights of data subjects must be respected. But, as datagathering processes become exponentially easier and technologically accessible, DPOs must be pragmatic and realistic in a sense that businesses they represent must be given the flexibility to make optimal use of data processed.

More important, DPOs must also understand that their role is not so much complete protection as it is to make full use of available resources to mitigate risks.

In the same forum, Simon Chesterman, dean of the School of Law at the National University of Singapore, further expounded on the ideal role of DPOs; that is, to never stop the flow of data but to allow owners of personal data to dictate how to use it. This is the same position held by our National Privacy Commission, as stated in its mission.

From the historical mind-set of privacy, there has been a shift in how we value data; nowadays, it is priceless. Therefore, a breach in data privacy constitutes a loss that cannot be easily equated to monetary figure. Yahoo discovered this in 2013 and 2014 when more than a billion user accounts were hacked; the amount in damages was several million dollars, but its reputation suffered beyond measure. Among the stolen data were names, passwords, e-mails, telephone numbers, and dates of birth. Users of other social sites also fell victim—360 million in MySpace, 167 million in LinkedIn and 145 million in eBay. Another speaker in that forum, Arum Sundar, recipient of the IT Excellence Award 2017 by the Ministry for Law and Parliamentary Affairs of Singapore, discussed the value of data analytics. According to Sundar, there is a pattern in everything—including falling in love! There is truth in this proposition inasmuch as I have seen people in the same profession, field or industry, or persons with similar interests, sports and hobbies, get attracted to each other.

Sundar boldly asked the participants if meeting the love of their lives were a matter of destiny or algorithm. He presented underlying correlations that determine compatibility and eventual intimacy between partners, including the breadth of nose, length of earlobe and lung volume, which can somehow drive potential partners

Kapunan. . .

continued from A14

destruction, alteration and contamination; x x x Moreover, Bautista failed to designate an individual accountable for the organization’s compliance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012, either by appointing a dataprotection officer or by designat-

From the historical mind-set of privacy, there has been a shift in how we value data; nowadays, it is priceless. Therefore, a breach in data privacy constitutes a loss that cannot be easily equated to monetary figure. Yahoo discovered this in 2013 and 2014 when more than a billion user accounts were hacked; the amount in damages was several million dollars, but its reputation suffered beyond measure. to be in harmony. Sundar further said that people of our generation (born before the nineties) see God as the master of the universe and that religion makes them understand how the world works.

The millennials of today, however, see data as the biggest influencer of events, and that algorithm helps them understand the world. In business, these predictive analyses of data do not conclude causality but establish correlation that can help companies strategize toward a certain direction. Big data helps, but we must be able to understand what they mean. One of our presenters during our PAL strategic meeting said, “The best data is useless without knowing what it means.”

For a partially old-fashioned but a pragmatic believer like me, I say that perhaps the biggest and most important data is found in the Bible. Though His Word has been subjected to different interpretation from all kinds of people—clergy, priests and pastors— the most valuable takeaway from reading His message is captured in the phrase, “it is what it is.” In the Bible, John 1:1-4 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him, all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” These simple yet complicated introductory passages to the Gospel offer a different perspective of why things happen and how things will unfold.

Regardless of belief and generation, I believe we can strike a balance in our quest to evaluate the past, understand the present and somehow predict the future. For privacy policies in business or intimacy essentials in relationships to produce a sense of trust, applying the generational distinction of Sundar, for most millenials, they use a process called data analytics; for some old-timers, they pursue a practice called Bible Study. ing another employee or official to take over that role; after affording the respondents’ due process, the National Power Corp. concluded in its ruling, dated December 28, 2016, that: “It is quite clear from the foregoing that there was very little to no awareness on the part of Comelec Chairman Bautista regarding his accountability toward handling personal data. There is no documentation that shows that

Monday, October 30, 2017 A15

Continued from A1

T

his template ordinance is now the official template of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) under Memorandum Circular 2016—120 (DILG MC).

Some 100 LGUs have already adopted their respective PPP and JV ordinances.

There could be more JV frameworks. Both frameworks were not intended to be the only ones. The 2013 Neda JV Guidelines itself listed the arrangements excepted from its breadth, i.e., (1) transactions of GFIs in the ordinary course of business as part of their normal and ordinary banking, financial or portfolio-management

operations; (2) JV activities of GCEs in the exercise of their primary mandate to dispose government assets or properties; and (3) JV activities or undertakings of the LGUs. One such GCE excepted from said Guidelines is the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA). As opined by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, the BCDA

falls under the second cluster. Thus, the BCDA may use the Neda JV Guidelines or apply the 2008 Neda JV Guidelines, write its own or pattern its guidelines from the template ordinance annexed to the DILG MC. On September 13, the BCDA issued its own procedures for its JVs. A perusal of the same will reveal that the BCDA lifted from all possible options. Contrasted from the 2013 Neda JV Guidelines, there is no Neda approval regardless of the total contribution of the GCE. The BCDA Guidelines is the same as the template ordinance as to this aspect.

What is unique to the BCDA Guidelines is the right given to the original proponent insofar as countering proposals of challengers, if any. It provides for a right to outbid. Under the 2013 Neda JV Guidelines, the original proponent is given the option to submit a second/ better financial offer. Distinguished from the 2008 Neda JV Guidelines, the template ordinance and buildoperate-transfer law, the original

proponent is given the right to match. The BCDA Guidelines, like the 2008 Neda JV Guidelines and template ordinance, also has less or no red tape or regulatory approvals.

The 2013 Neda JV Guidelines and the BCDA Guidelines, however, only confer upon the private-sector proponent (PSP), who submits the unsolicited proposal, original proponent status, that will exclude from consideration by the GCE all proposals for the same project, after negotiations is completed. Under the 2008 Neda JV Guidelines and template ordinance, the PSP becomes the original proponent after issuance of the certificate of acceptance, which is the end of stage 1 of the three-stage process.

A trend has been set. This columnist extends his appreciation to the BCDA, led by its President and CEO Vince Dizon, for being innovative, for not being run-of-the-mill and for being promotive of JVs. We need more of this type of GCE and public servant-leader.

The need for certification of compilation services Alfredo J. Non

DEBIT CREDIT

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here is a historical note in the development of Accounting practice in the Philippines that is relevant to this subject on certificate of compilation services. I started in the certified public accountant (CPA) profession in 1968 after my graduation from college at the University of the East.

I was involved in the public practice sector rendering attest services (external audit work) for clients of SGV. At that time, most of the external auditors were involved in the preparation of their client’s financial statements and notes. In most cases, it was mainly due to the delays in the client’s year-end closing, including the preparation of financial statements and notes that affect the external auditors’ timetable and deadline for submission of the financial statement package to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Security Exchange Commission. There was a conflict, true. But nobody cared. It was a very convenient arrangement where the external auditors met their deadlines and were able to perform additional service to the clients for

which additional fees were charged.

As we moved on, we saw a significant development in the accounting profession and, as the local practice became international in character, the accounting practice became more and more complicated.

Then also, the business community started experiencing financial irregularities or fraud (the earliest I remember in the Philippines was the Dewey Dee and the Harry Stonehill cases). The implementation of the floating exchange-rate system in the mid-1970s brought about new issues in accounting and reporting.

The Accounting Standards Council came into being in 1981 followed by a wave of new and more complicated developments. Then, other massive and unexpected financial irregularities appeared in the landscape,

with most of it being blamed on the external auditors. The question always was—Why did the auditors not discover it?

This brought about the first major change in dealing with public awareness on the responsibility of the external auditors. The public was told that the financial statements and the Notes thereto are the responsibility of the management, and the external auditors are only responsible for the audit report attached to the financial statements. This resulted in two significant developments: 1. The introduction of the Management Responsibility Statement signed by two responsible members of management, which is required to accompany every financial statement and notes thereto.

This Statement emphasizes that management is responsible for the preparation of the financial statement and notes thereto.

2. The amendment in the wording of the auditors’ report to emphasize the delineation of responsibilities between the management and the auditors. So, from the usual two-paragraph standard auditors’ report, it has evolved into one with a standard five paragraphs containing the following: a. Opinion on the identified financial statements; b. Basis of opinion; c. Key audit matters;

Teachers help shape our nation

By Edeline U. Soliven

d. Responsibilities of management and those charged with governance for the financial statements; and. e. Auditor’s responsibility for the audit of the financial statements.

These changes, plus the adoption of an International Code of Ethics, made it clear that the previous practice of external auditors also preparing financial statements and notes for the client will no longer be tolerated.

It was also clear that, if management is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and notes thereto, they should also be equipped with the same knowledge, competence and proficiency with respect to accounting principles and standards. They do not have to be CPAs themselves but, they can employ qualified CPAs or contract third-party CPAs to do the required compliance services.

Thus, the need for the certification of CPAs involved in compilation services.

Alfredo J. Non is the officer in charge of the Energy Regulatory Commission. He was a partner of the SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. He is a Certified Public Accountant.

This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa.secretariat.@gmail.com

ental growth is a characteristic unique in human beings. Man never learns to be contented because, in the natural order of things, he would always want more. Wanting more is a state of mind, a product of constant learning and experience.

However, if the mind has undergone “appropriate” learning, it will grow into something disciplined and useful. This is where education comes to play. With the constant desire of man to be better, or to have more, education is indispensable. Education triggers a chain of reaction in human development.

Once the mind is stretched by a new idea, it transforms itself into acts that may make or break a person, or even entire societies. From these

acts, new ideas develop that are once again fed into the mind and, eventually, trigger a chain of reaction. This becomes a cycle.

The cycle also means that each person has a role to play to make the whole system work. The chain of reaction is, likewise, a caveat for people to perform their respective roles with utmost understanding of the outcome.

For example, parents, first and foremost, take part in educating their children in the comfort of their home.

This is elementary. The things that people learn at home as young children substantially affect how they would learn or look at things outside their home.

Society is tasked with the development of schools suitable to the demands of growing minds. With adequate support from the government, schools have to accommodate all

students wanting and willing to learn.

Churches, in their own right, also provide a form of education and guidance to their followers. This necessitates utmost care and consideration in the teachings available to the public.

Central to this chain of reaction is the student-teacher relationship.

Children spend more than enough time in an educational institution to get sufficient knowledge required throughout their life.

The interaction between a student and a teacher helps shape the way the student thinks and reacts to issues or events. The teacher helps mold the moral fiber of the student by showing him or her what is right and wrong. In school, the student is exposed to all possible sources of ideas. This is the very reason teaching should be done with caution.

This is because the mind constantly

yearns for more knowledge. It is never satisfied. In this regard, the student would always want more from the school or from his or her teachers. If something goes wrong, the results would be devastating. The greatest as well as the most evil mind the world has known were all products of either perfect or faulty learning.

Education as an interplay of several factors must be properly introduced to an individual. The key players—parents, society and school as an institution—must all do their part in order to produce well-balanced, morally upright and educated youth on whom this country will depend. In this aspect, it is right to say teachers shape the nation by the way they educate the Filipino youth.

there were continuous efforts to increase the level of protection of personal data that was in Comelec custody, or what other steps were taken to achieve adherence to dataprotection standards, as required by the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

“His serious and grave omission as head of agency in relation to the “Comeleak”—now said to be the second worst data breach in digital history after that of Mexico’s data

breach of the records of 90 million voters—constitute betrayal of public trust.

“By his conduct, Bautista has undermined the integrity of his office, brought disrepute on the Comelec and committed graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayed the public trust.

“By so flouting justice and the Rule of Law, he has committed an

unforgivable outrage against the Filipino people to whom he must answer under the Constitution.

“Indeed, by such conduct, Bautista warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the Republic of the Philippines.

“Adopted 137 in the affirmative, 75 in the negative and two in

abstention by the House of Representatives, 17th Congress of the the Republic of the Philippines, on or around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11.”

Private citizen Bautista must now submit to the Filipino people in the proper forum his response to these serious charges. To claim, as he does, that these charges are “ridiculous”—is, to borrow his words—ridiculous!

M

The author is Teacher 3 at Santa Teresita National High School in Santa Teresita, Cagayan.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A16 Monday, October 30, 2017

Lawmaker wants theme parks to insure clients vs terrorism

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

A

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

LAWMAKER has filed a bill to institutionalize safety measures and secure insurance to cover clients of theme parks or extreme sports facilities.

This includes indemnifying clients who are injured or die due to natural calamities like a flood, or terrorist attacks.

In a statement, United Nationalist Alliance-Iligan City Rep. Frederick W. Siao said he has filed House Bill (HB) 6424, or the Leisure and Adventure Extreme Sports Safety and Insurance Act. The bill requires

theme parks, adventure or extreme sports facilities to secure general liability insurance coverage for all their customers.

Penalties range from P100,000 to P500,000 on the first violation

14

The number of adventure and ecotourism facilities accredited by the DOT as of October and between P400,000 to P1 million on subsequent violations. It was unclear, however, if the lawmaker wants the insurance policy made a prerequisite before local government units issue business permits to the theme-park/

sports-facilities operator.

In his bill, the lawmaker said such venues or facilities secure insurance that covers injury, illness or death suffered by the client due to the following: “malicious and negligent act of another person, including the operator, the organizer or sponsor or any of its staff or employee; defective facility or amenity...; and force majeure, which includes earthquake, typhoon, flood, fire, war, terrorist attack or other unforeseen event, the happening or consequence of which may not be prevented or avoided.”

Insurance experts around the world have classified terrorism insurance as a complicated product, mainly because terrorist attacks are difficult to predict, and a payout on See “Lawmaker,” A2

Poll: Most have little fear of robots taking jobs Continued from a1

to lose jobs, they are less worried about its effect on themselves.Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they thought it unlikely that they or someone in their household will be replaced at work by automation within the next 10 years, the survey found. A nearly identical proportion—56 percent—said they consider it at least somewhat likely that their job will be improved by automation. Many think, for example, that such technology has made jobs safer.

The poll’s key findings echo those of other recent surveys.

The Pew Research Center found in a survey released earlier this month that 70 percent of Americans believe it unlikely that they will lose their jobs to automation.

Those assessments may well prove accurate, according to recent analyses that foresee far fewer job losses resulting from automation compared with studies several years ago that had suggested that up to half of US jobs could be replaced over the next two decades.

A report released this month by the education company Pearson, Oxford University and the Nesta Foundation found that just 1 in 5 workers are in occupations that will likely shrink by 2030.

Still, the AP-NORC sur vey found that many Americans worry about the effects of new technologies on their daily lives and the job market. Three-quarters of respondents said they think it at least somewhat likely that “people will be more isolated from one another.”

And most say robots have cost jobs in factories—a view supported by academic research and data showing that factories are now producing more with fewer employees. Three-quarters foresee at least some likelihood that many retail workers will be replaced by automation.

A wide gap also exists in how people with different levels of education respond to such questions. Americans without college degrees are twice as likely as See “Poll,” A2

online at the bricks-and-mortar Visitors at a shopping mall in Bonifacio Global City browse the Internet using their smartphones.

Globe Telecom said its subscribers, even those without credit cards, could use their mobile phones for cashless transactions. A mobile wallet is built into Globe’s GCash service, and merchants only need to scan a QR code on the phone to complete a transaction, Globe said in a statement. GCash is a mobile money service of Mynt, Globe’s financial-technology start-up, which recently forged a strategic partnership with Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Financial. NONIE REYES

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ONLY 22% OF ADULTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA HAVE FULL-TIME JOBS–GALLUP

By Cai U. Ordinario

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@cuo_bm

ess than a third of working adults in Southeast A sia, which includes the Philippines, are employed full time, according to United States-based research firm Gallup Inc. In its “State of the Global Workplace” report, Gallup said only 22 percent of working adults in the region are employed. However, Gallup said the figure rises to 42 percent among those with at least four years of higher education. “[The] findings on Southeast Asia also underscore the critical importance of widespread access to a high-quality education to help the region’s large youth populations navigate and benefit from the rapid changes taking place in their countries,” Gallup said.

Data also showed that only 39 percent of businesses in Southeast Asia were registered formally. Gallup said many of the other businesses were involved in subsistencelevel activities, such as smallscale farming.

“Southeast Asia needs rapid expansion of its formal-sector economies to achieve growth in the number of good jobs.

The growth will depend largely on how well existing businesses can harness the energy and enthusiasm seen in much of the region through people-centered management,” Gallup said.

Gallup recommended that Southeast Asian countries need to maximize their limited education resources by making “self-discovery and strengths development key curricular goals.”

It added that this will allow students to identify the areas they are most interested in and most likely to contribute their “economic energy.”

Globally, Gallup said its surveys from 2014 through 2016 indicate that 32 percent

“Southeast Asia needs rapid expansion of its formal-sector economies to achieve growth in the number of good jobs.”

of working-age adults across 155 countries are employed full time for an employer—an important measure of the availability of good jobs.

Worldwide, the percentage of adults who work full time for an employer and are engaged at work—they are highly involved in and e nt hu s i a s t ic a b out t he i r work and workplace—is just 15 percent.

Though engagement levels vary considerably by country and region, Gallup said in no country does the proportion of the employed residents who are engaged in their job exceed about 4 in 10.

“Since 2015 economic frustrations have likely contributed to a rise in nationalism and growing resentment toward immigrants, particularly in the US and Europe,” Gallup said.

Gallup added the report presents a wealth of data about employees in 155 countries, assessing how ef fect ively e mplo ye r s a nd cou nt r ie s around the world are cultivating the human capital in their work forces.

Gallup aims to optimize workplaces for economic and human development, their goal is to provide leaders and organizations with analytics, advice and data-driven solutions that reflect the attitudes and behaviors of employees around the world.

‘MSMEs need WTO help to gain from global trade’ Continued from A1

informal ministerial meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, on October 9 and 10.

“The Philippines, together with the friends of MSMEs, is seeking appropriate arrangements within the existing framework of the WTO and relevant committees, such as the establishment of a working group under the General Council that will be mandated to consider how the multilateral trading system can impact and benefit MSMEs, with particular consideration given to the needs and interests of developing and least-developed countries,” Rodolfo said.

He added the creation of a working group on MSMEs would ensure that discussions on how the international market may affect and benefit the MSMEs around the globe will be sustained.

Rodolfo joined more than 30 ministers from WTO membercountries in the informal ministerial meeting, which was held in preparation for MC11 in December in Argentina.

“On MSMEs, recalling the Preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement and to make trade truly inclusive, at the very least, members need to sus-

tain discussion on how to enhance the participation of MSMEs in the international market and how to ensure that competition among the MSMEs remains fair by also having a conversation on comparable definition of enterprise size,” he said.

Rodolfo pointed out that there could be competition even among MSMEs across the globe, as they may differ in terms of their enterprise size. Thus, he noted, that the level of support that should be given to MSMEs must based on their respective country’s level of development.

“The Philippines places great importance on the role of MSMEs in promoting inclusive growth. We need to have a discussion to ensure that, even among MSMEs, competition needs to be fair, and discussing comparable definition of enterprise size can facilitate this,” he said.

“Now, even among similarly sized MSMEs support system and resources vary from country to country. And, hence, due consideration should be given to the development level of countries,” Rodolfo added.

The trade official said the challenge of creating an inclusive global market for MSMEs is not only im-

portant but also “urgent.”

“As the MC11 chairman said, we cannot stand still. We need to constantly move forward—even if one step at a time,” Rodolfo added.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Atuthority (PSA) showed that, in 2015, there are about 900,914 establishments in the Philippines.

Of this figure, 99.5 percent, or about 896,839 businesses are considered to be MSMEs, while the remaining 0.5 percent, or 4,075, are large enterprises.

In August the Department of Trade and Industry said it is eyeing to allocate at least P1.38 billion for MSME development.

Working groups are established

by WTO Ministers to study specific key trade issues, including policies and reforms, in relation to the development of the economies of the member-countries.

At present, there are five WTO working groups, which study various trade issues: relationship between trade and investment; interaction between trade and competition policy; government procurement; effects of trade on debt and finance; and relationship between trade and transfer of technology.

The purpose of the two-day informal ministerial meeting, which took place two months ahead of MC11, was to identify priorities and common ground in the positions of WTO members, according to MC11 Chairman Susana Malcorra.

“The atmosphere at the meeting was positive and constructive, and most of the 37 participating delegations undertook to make every effort to enable the WTO to reach decisions in Buenos Aires in December that strengthen the multilateral trading system. Over the two days of discussions, the main areas of interest that could become agenda items for MC11 were identified,” Malcorra said in a statement.

“Agricultural trade reform, the prohibition of fisheries subsidies and the regulation of trade in services were common topics of interest. In addition, it was stressed that the WTO agenda needed to be adapted to reflect the challenges of the 21st-century trade agenda, and include topics, such as MSMEs, investment facilitation and e-commerce, which should be addressed in the work undertaken after the meeting in Buenos Aires,” she added.

Malcorra said the ministers left the Marrakesh meeting “firmly resolved” to continue supporting the negotiations so that MC11 reaffirms both the centrality and relevance of the rules-based international trading system and the WTO’s key role as the forum for determining the rules regulating the system.

However, after the informal ministeral meeting, WTO Director General Roberto Azevêdo said there are “some promising issues on the table but, in all areas, there is still a lot of work to do.”

“If ministers want to see a successful outcome in Buenos Aires, something more is going to have to happen in the coming days and weeks,” he said.

“We need to see an approach where everyone is prepared to make some kind of contribution.

We can’t be in a position where members insist on a particular outcome and expect everyone else to accept that. This is dangerous, as one size doesn’t always work for all,” he added.

Azevêdo said WTO membercountries should prioritize the agreements that they think could be passed during MC11.