Businessmirror September 03, 2018

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Monday, September 3, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 324

Pork from China, 5 others banned

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

Medal Tally As of 7 p.m.

Country

G

S B Total

1 China

132 92 65

289

2 Japan

75 56 74

205

3Republicofkorea

49 58 70

177

4 INDONESIA

31 24 43

98

5 Uzbekistan

21 24 25

70

6 IR IRAN

20 20 22

62

7 chinese taipei

17 19 31

67

8 India

15 24 30

69

9 KAZAKHSTAN

15 17 44

76

10 DPR KOREA

12 12 13

37

11 BAHRAIN

12

7

26

12 thailand

11 16 46

73

13 Hongkong,china

8

18 20

46

14 MALAYSIA

7

13 16

36

15 Qatar

6

4

3

13

16 MONGOLIA

5

9 11

25

7

17 VIETNAM

4

16 18

38

18 SINGAPORE

4

4 14

22

19 PHILIPPINES

4

2 15

21

20 UAE

3

5

5

14

21 Kuwait

3

1

2

6

22 Kyrgyzstan

2

6 12

20

M

@jearcalas

ANILA has strengthened its border security to prevent the entry of the fatal African Swine Fever (ASF) disease, which is wreaking havoc on China’s hog industry and could spread to Asian countries any time.

The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) issued a technical advisory outlining the measures being conducted by the Department of Agriculture (DA) in relation to the current ASF outbreak in South Africa, Europe, Russia and

now in China.

“Historically, the country is free from African Swine Fever,” the BAI, an attached agency of DA, said.

“Thus, incursion of the disease in the Philippines will result in great economic loss due to direct

The rapid onset of African Swine Fever in China, and its detection in areas more than 1,000 kilometers apart within the country, could mean the deadly pig virus may spread to other Asian countries anytime.”—UN Food and Agriculture Organization

and indirect damages to the industry,” it added.

The country ranks eighth in the world in terms of pork volume production and number of breeding sows, according to BAI. See “Pork,” A2

I.M.F.: RATE HIKES WON’T SLOW PHL ECONOMY

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

T

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s (BSP) decision to aggressively raise interest rates by a total of 100 basis points in a span of a few months will not dampen demand and pull down economic growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

“We don’t see any significant impact of higher interest rates on near-term growth,” IMF Resident Representative to the Philippines Yongzheng Yang told the BusinessMirror in response to a query.

While concerns on the growth trajectory came after the BSP decided to raise its main policy rate for three consecutive meetings, the IMF expressed belief that monetary tightening will actually bode well for the local economy dynamics of the country.

“In fact, a tighter monetary policy may play a stabilizing role, particularly as it helps anchor inflation expectations and support confidence in consumption and

@BNicolasBM

See “Duterte,” A12

PESO exchange rates n US 53.4340

private investment,” Yang said.

The BSP raised its main rate by a total of 100 basis points this year— first in May and in June by 25 basis points each and in August by 50 basis points—on the back of rising inflationary pressures in the country.

Inflation averaged 4.5 percent in the first seven months of the year, data showed.

For August the BSP forecast inflation to rise to 5.9 percent, from the previous month’s 5.7 percent, with a range of 5.5-6.2 percent.

“Higher price of rice and key food items due to weather disturbances and supply disruptions, increase in gasoline and LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] prices, and slight upward adjustment in electricity rates in Meralco-serviced areas contributed to upward price pressures in August,” the BSP said.

“Meanwhile, lower diesel and kerosene prices, as well as modestly appreciated peso, could partly temper price pressures this month,” it added.

See “IMF,” A2

SteelAsia tops 1 MMT of rebars on infra spree

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

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Duterte meeting Netanyahu RESIDENT Duterte is set to meet Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to discuss bilateral cooperation on areas of economic development, trade and investments, labor, defense and security, and law enforcement.

This visit is marked as historic because this is the first-ever visit of a Filipino president in the 61 years of diplomatic relations with Israel.

After the President’s visit to Israel, which ends on September 5, he will immediately go to visit Jordan until September 8.

2016 ejap journalism awards

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

S

workers install steel bars at a construction site along Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City. Strong demand from both public and private construction projects has sent the production soaring to 1 million metric tons of rebars at the largest steel maker, SteelAsia, in the first half. NONOY LACZA

TRONG demand from both private and public construction projects has driven the country’s largest steel manufacturer to hit a record-high production of 1 million metric tons (MT) of rebars for the first semester.

SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. recorded a total production of 1.023 MMT from its six operating plants for the first half of the year. This was almost 11 percent higher from its 925,503 metric-ton output during the same period last year.The firm’s Bulacan mill produced the highest volume Continued on A2

n japan 0.4815 n UK 69.5283 n HK 6.8080 n CHINA 7.8074 n singapore 39.0771 n australia 38.8091 n EU 62.3735 n SAUDI arabia 14.2475

Source: BSP (31 August 2018 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, September 3, 2018

Equalization fund for federal regions a must–Con-com

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE Consultative Committee (Con-com) is standing pat on keeping the equalization fund in its draft federal Charter to help regions become economically viable and sustainable, even though the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the fund will be an “added fiscal burden” to the national government.

In its presentation last week before the Economic Development Cluster and Con-com, the DBM said it supports in principle the shift from unitary to a federal form of government but also raised concerns on the proposed federal Charter.

Con-com Spokesman Conrado I. Generoso disputed the DBM’s claim. He said the equalization fund will not be an added fiscal burden because the fund is actually within the regional expenditures of the national government.

“That is not an added fiscal burden because that is already part of what you are spending in the regions,” Generoso told the BusinessMirror.

Since some regions might need financial assistance, especially during the transition, the Con-com decided to have an equalization fund equivalent to 3 percent of the annual General Appropriations Act. The fund will be administered by a 15-man Federal Intergovernmental Commission based on the regions’ need, but with priority to those that require financial support.

However, the DBM pointed out in its presentation—a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror —that the equalization fund “effectively defeats the purpose of local autonomy granted to them, and burdens the national government for additional fiscal transfer to regional governments.”

Moreover, the DBM said the fund “may no longer be needed with

Pork. . .

Continued from A1

Twin ban orders

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol on Friday signed two memorandum orders (MO), which seek to control the entry and movement of pig products in the country, as these food items are carriers of ASF. MO 22 ordered the ban on the use of catering food waste/leftovers from international and domestic airports and seaports as swine swill feed throughout the country.

“The risk of introduction of potentially infectious disease pathogens, such as African Swine Fever and foot-and-mouth diseaase through catering food waste/ leftovers collected from international and domestic airports and seaports that are used for swill feeding poses a grave threat to the local swine industry,” Piñol said in MO 22, a copy of which was given to reporters over the weekend.

“Animal disease pathogens are quite resistant to high and low temperatures in meat-based food preparations, thus, swill feeding is considered to be one important route of disease introduction in the country,” Piñol added.

Under MO 22, Piñol also directed the veterinary quarantine officers assigned across veterinary quarantine stations to “oversee and monitor”that domestic and international airports and seaports “follow proper disinfection and disposal of catering food waste and leftovers including catering garbage.”

On the other hand, MO 23 imposed a temporary blanket ban on the importation of domestic and wild pigs, and their products, including pork meat and semen from Latvia,

a good revenue-sharing formula in place.”

Temporary fund only

“Should the equalization fund be pursued, it should be temporary, and/or provided as needed,” the DBM said in its presentation.

Thus, the department suggested that Con-com promote an equalization fund, which is provided when “extraordinary circumstances warrant and that there should be definition of these circumstances in the draft Constitution and the formula or bases to be used for allocating it.

Con-com member Atty. Susan U ba lde- Ordinar io ag reed the DBM that the fund is just temporary, as she stressed that not all regions will be given an equalization fund, as those regions who need it will get a share of it. “[The] equalization fund is not something permanent, nor is it going to be given to everybody,” she told the BusinessMirror. However, Ubalde-Ordinario pointed out that many regions are not yet capable of immediately developing.

Aside from the equalization fund, the DBM noted that giving multiple financing support —such as the revenue share of the federated regions (FRs), the equalization fund, and additional funding from the federal government (FG)—to the federated regions will weaken the capability of the latter to develop fiscal autonomy.

Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and China.

Furthermore, under MO 23, Piñol immediately suspended the processing and evaluation of the application and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances to pork products coming from the six banned countries.

The government’s veterinary quarantine officers and inspectors will also confiscate and stop all shipments of pork products coming from the six countries at all major ports.

The government will also confiscate “all meat and meat products brought in by arriving passengers,” from the six banned countries, according to MO 23.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the ASF is not transmissible to humans, but would result in 100-percent fatality in swine population.

‘Could spread to rest of Asia anytime’

However, the FAO warned that the ASF, which has spread in at least four cities in China, could spread to Asian countries anytime.

“The rapid onset of African Swine Fever in China, and its detection in areas more than 1,000 kilometers apart within the country, could mean the deadly pig virus may spread to other Asian countries anytime,” the United Nations’s FAO said in a news release on August 28.

Based on the series of reports submitted

by Beijing to the World Organisation for Animal Health, about 38,235 hogs across five areas have been susceptible to ASF as of August 31.

Of the total population, about 37,650 hogs have been culled by the Chinese government to contain the virus. China reported its fifth ASF outbreak on August 31 with 459 hogs affected by the disease.

The DBM, meanwhile, suggested limiting transfers to the FRs to basically the tax shares from the Federal Government. “The additional support weakens local autonomy as it promotes fiscal dependence on the FG, removing the concept of hard fiscal ceilings to the FRs,” the DBM said, adding that the article of the draft federal Charter on fiscal powers and financial administration lacks a section to further firm up fiscal autonomy by providing for the nonrecourse to the FG for debt burden and other financial crises issues.

For her part, however, UbaldeOrdinario said the Con-com’s proposed fiscal design and the assignment of powers for FRs in the draft Charter should enable the regional governments to generate their own revenues. Thus, the regions should instead become more independent rather than be fiscally dependent on the FG.

Cost of the shift

Last Wednesday the National Economic and Development Authority said that the cost of the shift to federalism could cost the national government an additional P243.5 billion annually. The estimate is double the initial estimates made by experts on the true cost of shifting to federalism.

The DBM also had a slide on bureaucracy expansion, where it also suggested to the Committee to “rethink the size of the FG and FR bureaucracy to reduce overhead costs.”

According to the department, the increase in the number of senators from 24 to 36, of congressmen from 287 to 400, the increase to four Supreme Courts and the proposed setup of six Constitutional Commissions will “substantially increase the cost for personnel services [PS] in the FG, as well as

the budget for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses and Capital Outlays.”

The DBM said the number of senators, for instance, will create 312 additional positions for technical support, which will raise PS alone from P561 million to P842 million.

Still, the Con-com has said that the shift to federalism will not result in a bloated bureaucracy. “If you bring down the personnel staffing [of the national government to the regional governments], the national bureaucracy will shrink,” Ubalde-Ordinario said.

The budget department also wants Con-com to remove the Philippine Competition Commission among the list of constitutional commissions, noting that PCC is simply a regulatory body over private firms and corporations. “ The regulation of the private actors [e.g., business entities] need not be a constitutional commission, which functions as a check on the government’s policies of human resources, financial management election of officials,” the DBM said.

Generoso, however, defended the Committee’s decision to elevate PCC as an independent constitutional commission, stressing the need to ensure “it does not become a political tool of any administration.”

The proposed sharing of total government revenues is twothirds for the FG and one third for FRs. Based on 2017 data, total FG funds will amount to P2.2 trillion, while the total for FRs is P1.1 trillion.

The Con-com’s draft also said the FRs will have a share of not less than 50 percent of all collected income taxes, excise taxes, value-added taxes and customs duties—the top revenue sources of the central government. The other 50 percent will go to the FG.

Should the equalization fund be pursued, it should be temporary, and/or provided as needed.”—DBM presentation paper ‘Highly contagious’

BAI said the ASF is a “highly contagious hemorrhagic” disease of domestic and wild pigs of all ages.

“The disease is characterized by high fever, loss of appetite, hemorrhages in the skin and internal organs, and death, which follows between 2to10 days on the average,” it said. “Mortality can be as high as 100 percent,” it added.

However, even if ASF is not considered as a zoonotic disease, the BAI said it encourages swine raisers “to strengthen and strictly implement farm biosecurity measures.”

“The public is enjoined to support the government’s efforts by reporting to veterinary authorities any unusual pig mortalities, pork-smuggling activities or meat items hand-carried by travelers coming from affected countries,” the BAI added.

Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc. President Edwin G. Chen said the government must intensify its efforts in monitoring and hindering the entry of smuggled pork products in the country.

“We need to be vigilant against smuggling due to recent outbreaks of ASF in China,” Chen told the BusinessMirror via SMS. “Even processed pork products had virus found on them,” Chen added.

Simeon S. Amurao Jr. of the BAI told the BusinessMirror that the government will impose an immediate temporary blanket importation ban on trade partners that would have an ASF outbreak.

However, Amurao cautioned that the imposition of temporary importation bans on pig products could cause global pork prices to shoot up.

“We are closely monitoring the spread of the ASF in China, as well as in Europe,” Amurao said

in an interview.

“In fact, we are paying close attention to Germany because its neighboring countries have already reported an ASF outbreak. If Germany gets hit by ASF then we have to ban them even if it is one of our biggest sources of pork imports,” Amurao added.

If Germany gets banned, according to Amurao, prices of pork exports of the United States and Canada, which are top porkexporting countries, could increase.

Pig products

The FAO urged countries to be more vigilant with the movement of pig products within their territories, as these could serve as carriers of the ASF virus.

“The movement of pig products can spread diseases quickly and, as in this case of African Swine Fever, it’s likely that the movement of such products, rather than live pigs, has caused the spread of the virus to other parts of China,” FAO Chief Veterinarian Juan Lubroth was quoted as saying in a press release.

The FAO explained that the ASF virus is“very hardy,” as it could survive for “long periods in very cold and very hot weather,” and can even survive in dried or cured pork products.

In fact, South Korea confirmed last week that some pork products brought in by returning travelers from China tested positive for ASF. A report by The Korea Times said the “a virus gene of the disease was found in two processed pork products that were brought in and voluntarily reported by two travelers who visited Shenyang, China.”

There is no effective vaccine yet to protect swine from the disease, according to the FAO.

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SteelAsia tops 1 MMT of rebars on infra spree Continued from A1

of rebars at 271,329 MT, followed by Davao Works in Davao City at 257,032 MT and Calaca Works in Batangas at 255,147 MT. The Bulacan mill supplies rebars to infrastructure projects in Metro Manila and Northern Luzon.

“We are fortunate to be able to ride on the current infrastructure boom.

With sustained economic growth, we believe that SteelAsia, along with the whole steel industry, will also continue to grow and serve more customers,” SteelAsia President and CEO Benjamin O. Yao said.

The steel company also has a second manufacturing facility in Meycauayan, Bulacan; Cebu Works in Carcar, Cebu; and a second Mindanao mill in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental. Yao added the construction of SteelAsia’s seventh plant, in Compostela, Cebu, is now underway.

He disclosed the firm is keen on breaking ground for two more mills this year—in Central and Southern Luzon.

“We are deliberately bringing our plants closer to our customers. That way, we can give our customers the best price and service with just-intime delivery and at the same time,

Solons. . .

Continued from A12

In a radio interview over the weekend, Escudero said the Duterte administration missed an opportunity to put rice tariffs in place via an executive order when Congress was in recess from August 16 to 27, as hinted earlier by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The shift from quantitative restrictions (QR), or caps on rice imports, to a tariffication system, had been cited by Duterte in his third State of the Nation Address on July 23 among priority legislation. The House version has hurdled committee approval but the Senate version still lags. In a recent dialogue between Speaker Arroyo and the economic managers, the matter of fast-tracking the shift to rice tariffication was listed as an inflationbusting option, and the issuance of an executive order so as to hasten this was raised. The Executive is authorized to issue such an EO if Congress is in recess, as in fact it was, from August 16 to 27.

Escudero also noted that the government is empowered to set rice price ceilings during a calamity, adding that the Department of Trade and Industry, acting as an enforcement arm, can impose fines against “violating traders taking advantage of a crisis sutuation.”

Escudero, however, cited reports reaching his office that Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol and NFA Administrator Jason T. Aquino also “do not see eye to eye.” Aquino, according to Escudero, may have overreached. “He is primarily responsible; but he prioritized paying debts instead of buying supply for buffer stock, which was explicitly appropriated for that purpose.”

As it is, Escudero added, “Aquino will stay in his post until replaced...the problem is that all of us would suffer.”

The senator suggested that Piñol and Aquino “should sit down and solve the problem” sooner, noting reports that allowing “undervalued” rice imports to be sold at much higher prices could be deemed as akin to “economic sabotage.”

He added:“The profit is too much. During the calamity rice was sold at P65 to P70 per kilo but we have yet to hear NFA action.” On the other hand, Escudero said the Duterte administration’s economic managers “will only come in if [there’s a need] to borrow for rice imports, if there is a shortage.”

IMF. . .

Continued from A1

The IMF resident representative said inflation’s exceeding the 2 to 4 percent target range of the government is likely transitory and will normalize next year.

“Barring any unforeseen developments, we expect average inflation to fall back to the 2 to 4 percent range in 2019, albeit likely at the upper half of the band,” Yang told the BusinessMirror.

Yang also reiterated their stand in their last press release in July, that, at this stage, the IMF supports the tightening

help create more jobs for our people in the countryside,” Yao explained.

SteelAsia is investing over P100 billion in the next five years to accelerate its capacity through more upstream facilities with the putting up of new integrated steelmaking plants using recycling technologies.

This will also include the expansion of its midstream and downstream products that will allow the country to produce basic steel-based materials, such as pipes, tools and machinery parts.

“These investments are focused on basic sectors to substitute imports and create linkages to support infrastructure development and downward industries,” Yao said. The country’s total steel imports last year reportedly amounted to $4 billion.

The SteelAsia chief added the firm’s move to invest in regions is part of efforts to spur growth and employment generation in the countryside. “Furthermore, as an archipelago, we are regionalizing to create logistic savings and bring down the cost of steel, and to spur regional economic activities and job creation,” he said.

But, Escudero explained, this involves a “balancing act.”

“We need to balance [it] as we cannot just flood the market with imported rice if there is enough local supply,” the senator said, adding that, as for the weevilinfested rice, “it is best to let NFA eat it.”

Poor farms infra Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon blamed the latest rice shortage on “poor agriculture infrastructure that stymied the growth of the agriculture sector.”

“The government should take a closer look at the state of agriculture infrastructure in the country, if it wants to enhance agricultural productivity in order to prevent rice shortage and stop unscrupulous traders from taking advantage of the situation,” said Drilon.

He found it “unfortunate that the Philippines, considered an agricultural country, has no sufficient rice on the table, which is a staple food of millions of Filipinos.”

He added: “Why did it happen? Because our farmers do not get the support they need in terms of infrastructure, resulting in low harvest each year. We must therefore provide them infrastructure that can boost their production.”

Drilon pressed the Duterte administration to include in its “Build, Build, Build” program more infrastructure support for the agriculture sector.

He cited as much-needed infrastructure the construction of the P11.2-billion Jalaur River Multi-purpose Project Phase II (JRMP II). The signing of the contract for the construction of the project, between the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and the project’s contractor, Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd., is scheduled for September 3, 2018 (9 a.m.) at the National Irrigation Office in Quezon City.

“The contract signing for one of the biggest agricultural undertakings will bring us closer to our goal of improving agricultural production and stimulating agri-industrial activities,” said Drilon, noting that the JRMP II will enhance agricultural productivity and prevent shortages of agricultural products, particularly rice, in the future. According to him, the project will contribute to the country’s rice production target of 7.6 percent, as it will increase annual production of rice to 300,000 metric tons from 140,000 in Iloilo.

The project will provide year-round irrigation to 31,840 hectares of farm lots in the province, he added.

moves from the BSP, as well as potential hikes, although the pace of tightening “should depend on evolving domestic and external conditions.”

BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. recently said they believe the economy has further space should they decide to tighten rates further and that the economy can absorb higher interest rates.

The country’s gross domestic product growth for the second quarter of the year slowed to 6 percent.

The BSP will have its next monetary policy meeting on September 27. This will be the sixth monetary policy meeting of the BSP for the year.

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, September 3, 2018 A3

DepEd vows more classrooms despite cuts in proposed budget

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By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco | Correspondent

ESPITE the cuts in the proposed budget for 2019, the Department of Education (DepEd) assured that public schools nationwide will continue to have additional classrooms as part of its commitment to catch up in providing more basic education inputs.

Education Secretar y Leonor M. Briones said the DepEd is set to deliver 81,630 classrooms,

which are cur rent ly in var ious stages of implementation, until the end of December 2019.

T his was also affirmed by D e pE d o f f i c i a l s d u r i n g t h e seventh-hour deliberation of its proposed 2019 budget by the House of Representatives’s Committee on Appropriations on August 28.

In its original budget proposal, the DepEd allocated 47,000 new classrooms as part of its Basic Education Facilities program.

However, the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) National Expenditure Program (NEP) reflected a significant reduction with 4,110 new classrooms instead.

Administrative Service Undersecretary Alain Pascua explained, “It’s to give breather to the DepEd and the DPWH [Department of

Public Works and Highways] on the number of constructions that we are now doing.

“By the end of December 2019, we will have about 80,000 new c l assrooms bu i lt, whic h w i l l come from the allocations and programs and projects that have started since 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018,” Pascua added.

“That’s the rationale provided to us.”

Briones noted that the situation “gives breathing space to the department” in responding to the needs and expectations of the public.

For her part, DepEd FinanceBudget and Performance Monitoring Undersecretary Annalyn M. Sevilla said that the “breath-

ing space” will enable programs like the Basic Education Facilities to be “implementation-ready” come 2019.

Concer n s a rose when t he DepEd stated that the reduction in the proposed allocation for new classrooms may result in an average of 10 and a minimum of two classrooms to be allocated per district.

Of the 81,630 classrooms currently being delivered until the end of 2019, 60,149 classrooms are ongoing construction; 12,059 are under procurement; 7,052 are for procurement; and, 2,369 have been built from July to August 2018.

On top of these, 22,133 classrooms were constructed from July

2016 to June 2018. “ I n o u r p r o p o s e d 47, 0 0 0 classrooms for 2019, it equates to t he requ ired nu mber of classrooms for the estimated enrollees, but it also has to be implementation-ready. And we have a fund that we can tap for preparator y activities like ‘predet a i led eng ineer ing ,’ wh ic h means cleaning up of necessar y preliminar y works, such as design, costing and validation. Once it goes to the NEP, you immediately go to procurement,” Sev i l la said. “So this breathing time is for us to do those things, so when we request for next year, that is why it is called cash-based, so it can be implementation-ready.”

A4 Monday, September 3, 2018 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

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Value of PHL construction projects down 12.1%

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

he total value of construction projects in the Philippines declined by 12.1 percent on an annual basis as residential condominium construction slowed in 2017, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

PSA data showed that total private construction value dropped to P333.2 billion in 2017, from P378.9 billion in 2016. This, despite a 2.7-percent increase in the total number of construction projects last year.

Data from the PSA showed that the value of residential condominium construction projects fell by 41.8 percent to P44.07 billion in 2017, from P75.67 billion in 2016.

The number of these projects also contracted by 34.9 percent to 114 projects in 2017, from 175 projects in 2016.

“Total value of construction refers to the sum of the cost of building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and others. The value is derived from the approved building permit and represents the estimated value of the building or structure when completed,” the PSA said.

The contraction in the number and value of residential condominiums also affected the growth of residential constructions in general.

PSA data showed the value of residential constructions contracted 12.5 percent in 2017 to P164.15 billion, from P187.6 billion in 2016.

The number of projects also declined by 1.9 percent to 110,942 in 2017, from 113,097 in 2016.

The majority, or over 70 percent, of these residential condominium projects are in Metro Manila. Out of the 114 projects, around 80 are located in the National Capital Region.

Of the total amount of residential condominium projects, around P35.3 billion is allocated for projects in Metro Manila.

The bulk of the projects are in the Fourth District of Metro Manila, which includes Las Piñas, Makati, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Pasay, Pateros and Taguig.

Half of the residential condominium projects in Metro Manila are in the Fourth District, which amounts to P23.26 billion in 2017.

The data provides updates to the

Govt again asks S. Korea to cut tariff on bananas

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

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IN this August 2017 file photo, construction workers install reinforcing steel in a condominium building along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City. The Philippine Statistics Authority said the total value of construction projects dropped by 12.1 percent as fewer residential condominium buildings were built last year.

2017 Quarterly Special Releases on construction statistics. The sources of updates are additional approved building permits collected after

cut-off dates because of data collection constraints.

Construction statistics are obtained from approved building

permits covering proposed projects to be constructed in all cities/ municipalities of the country in a specific period.

MOA with Israel to cut recruitment fees for Filipino caregivers–Bello

DPWH to tap 4,000 engineers for massive infra push

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

S

lashing the recruitment fees for Filipino caregivers is one of the salient points of a new memorandum of agreement (MOA) that the Philippines may sign with Israel this week, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said the government is negotiating to bring down the fees for Filipino caregivers to just P2,000. He said this is a “significant” reduction since currently, recruitment fees for Filipino caregivers in Israel range between P8,000 and P12,000.

Employers in Israel have been pushing for lower recruitment fees to allow more Israeli nationals to hire Filipino caregivers.

Bello also welcomed this possibility since overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Israel get a monthly salary of $1,350 to $1,500.

The new proposed MOA, Bello said, will contain provisions of their landmark bilateral agreement with Kuwait for household service workers (HSWs).

“It will contain parts about their remuneration, hours of work and hours of sleep. It will contain the template we used in Kuwait,” Bello told reporters in a press briefing last week.

However, it will exclude the mandatory escrow provision of the Kuwait accord for foreign recruitment agencies, which was temporarily suspended by the DOLE. Bello said he is optimistic the MOA will be signed during President Duterte’s visit to Israel from September 2 to 8 as the draft is already completed.

“We are just finalizing the implementing rules and regulations [IRR],” Bello said.

He said the remaining “stumbling block” in the IRR is the effectivity of the termination of Filipino caregivers.

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

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he Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is employing some 4,000 engineers to boost the implementation of infrastructure projects under the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program.

As the lead agency that implements the BBB program, the DPWH is seeking to intensify efforts to usher the Philippines into the so-called golden age of infrastructure.

Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said the DPWH has received the go-signal from the Department of Budget and Management to hire more engineers to buttress the agency’s expertise and capacity.

“The BBB program is all systems go. We’ve gotten the approval from the DBM to hire as many as 4,000 engineers to further strengthen the capability of this department, which is the engineering arm of government,” he said in a forum hosted recently by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines.

Villar’s agency leads the BBB team composed of the economic managers of the current administration.

Touted as the government’s “most ambitious infrastructure plan,” the BBB program lists more or less 70 priority infrastructure projects that are seen to solve the infrastructure crisis that the Philippines faces today.

The new infrastructure thrust was borne out of Duterte’s policy to hike infrastructure spending and develop crucial infrastructure, such as roads, rails and ports.

The Philippines is in the midst of ushering the country into the socalled golden age of Infrastructure, with President Duterte issuing a policy on increased infrastructure spending throughout his term.

His mandate is to increase the budget for infrastructure development to as much as 7 percent of the country’s GDP from a mere 2.9 percent.

he government has once again appealed to South Korea to reduce its import duty on Philippine banana, according to Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez.

In a recent dialogue with South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyunchong, Lopez put forward the Philippine position that Seoul slash tariff on Manila’s banana exports, which are currently slapped with a 30-percent duty. In June the country sought a preferential trade agreement with the East Asian economy to cut import duties on fruits to 5 percent. “[We] renewed request to lower tariff on our banana exports for greater market access in South Korea. [We had an] open discussion, and we are considering options on a better process moving forward, either bilateral trade through a preferential trading arrangement or under Asean-Korea,” Lopez said in a text message to reporters.

The Philippines, as a memberstate of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has a freetrade agreement with South Korea through the Asean-Korea FTA. The two economies are also negotiating parties in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP is viewed as one avenue the Philippines can make use of to access the South Korean market at preferential rates. Lopez admitted it will be crucial to secure preferential market access to South Korea now that export competition in this country is beginning to tighten.

Bananas coming from Central American countries are slowly gaining market share in South Korea through an FTA. “We are still [the] largest supplier of banana to South Korea [with a share of] over 85 percent, but other countries [are] trying to increase supply,” Lopez said.

The Philippines last year exported 376,659.4 metric tons (MT) of bananas, valued at $176.55 million, to South Korea, according to data from the Philippines Statistics Authority.

South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Han Dong-man disclosed earlier that Philippine bananas’ share in the South Korean market has declined to 80 percent from 90 percent due to the influx of produce coming from Central American countries, which have lower tariffs.

“With the free-trade agreement with South Korea and Central America, we are importing more bananas from Ecuador and other Central American countries,” he said.

Earlier, the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) urged the government to expedite the forging of an FTA with Seoul that would allow Philippine banana exports to enter South Korea at lower tariffs, and ensure that the country would not lose the East Asian market.

The PBGEA issued the statement after South Korea signed an FTA that allows five Central American nations to export bananas at lower tariffs.

“The Philippines could lose South Korea as a top export destination for locally produced bananas three years from now unless tariffs are removed on this agricultural product to enable it to evenly compete with other banana exports entering this lucrative market,” the PBGEA said.

“Cheap banana imports from Central America have started to eat into the share of Philippine bananas in the Korean market, and these could totally push us out of the picture by 2022 unless we get the same zero-tariff treatment as they do,” PBGEA Executive Director Stephen Antig said.

Based on the estimates of the PBGEA, losing the South Korean market would result in the country foregoing close to $300 million in export revenues, with the government losing P6.5 billion in local and national tax revenues.

The Regions BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Monday, September 3, 2018

DOT-accredited resorts have no STPs–Boracay stakeholders T

A5

Court affirms dismissal of Palawan officials in Malampaya Fund mess

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

T

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

HE release of a list of the first batch of resorts allowed to accept bookings when Boracay Island reopens was met with a lot of skepticism as claims of ineptness and “politicking” were hurled against the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

This developed as Tourism Secretary Bernadette FatimaRomulo Puyat sought to allay fears of stakeholders they may never get on the list of compliant resorts in time for the island’s reopening.

“This is just the first batch of resorts.

Processing of their papers are continuing, and will continue even after October 26,” Romulo Puyat said. The Department of Tourism (DOT) has said it will be announcing the names of accredited resorts every Friday. (See, “25 Boracay resorts allowed to reopen on October 26,” in the BusinessMirror online, August 31, 2018.)

The BusinessMirror received unconfirmed reports that many of those in the first batch of accredited resorts still have no completed sewage-treatment plants (STPs). An executive of an establishment not among the first 25 allowed to book guests beginning October 26 said: “Why did the DOT accredit

those resorts when their STPs have not yet been completed?”

“How can [the DOT] say they are compliant?” added the executive who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal. The person also claimed “politics” behind the DENR’s move to approve the first 25 accommodations as compliant.

“All of those on the list got their STPs from Boracay Tubi. But they are squeezing those who got their STPs from Boracay Water,” the person told the BusinessMirror over the weekend.

Last May Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu signed a memorandum of agreement with the Boracay Tubi System Inc. (BTSI) President James G. Molina for the latter to provide STPs to its customers. BTSI is owned by MacroAsia Poperties Development Corp. Before the MOA, Cimatu issued a separate memorandum circular requiring all resorts on the island to have individual

STPs or clustered STPs, depending on the number of rooms.

Boracay Island Water Co. (BIWC) General Manager Mike Santos confirmed that “except for some four small ones, all [those on the first 25 list of compliant resorts] are BTSI customers/converts.”

The Ayala-led BIWC has a total STP capacity of 11.4 million liters a day compared to BTSI’s capacity of only 0.500 million liters a day, according to data provided by the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

For her part, Romulo Puyat said: “We appreciate our stakeholders raising these concerns and will discuss these with our partner agencies the DENR and DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government].”

“Our ground teams will coordinate with stakeholders regarding their concerns,” she added. “Informatively, DOT accreditation is processed after stakeholders comply with the DILG and DENR permits and clearances.”

Meanwhile, an executive of a beachfront resort who declined to be identified on fears their papers would get stuck in processing, questioned the manner by which DENR representatives have been going about implementing their agency’s own requirements. He noted DENR representatives came to their resort and gave them three different measurements on the easement. As per the easement rule, a resort has to leave a 30-meter beach area free, before their establishment

can build.

“We got measured three times in the last few weeks for the 25+5 easement—all [with] different results!” the resort executive said. “First measurement, we were deemed fully compliant as we had an existing 25+5 compliant certification. The second measurement, the entire pool plus a portion of the restaurant would have to be removed, because the old 25+5 line has been disregarded. The new line is the ‘cadastral survey’ line,” the executive said, expressing frustration. “In the third measurement, they used some unknown basis; affected are posts and a wall less than a meter.”

A resort owner along Station 2 also revealed the difficulty of getting their papers processed.

“We applied early, and we followed up on our papers daily. Then they lost our papers and we had to resubmit them,” the owner said. “They promised to fast-track our application but when we followed up today, Saturday, the one-stop shop was [only open] half day and there’s no work tomorrow [Sunday].”

He emphasized that the resort only needed to be inspected “but they don’t even have the people to do that.”

“They said they were understaffed!

It’s so chaotic at the one-stop shop; people are losing their patience.”

The one-stop shop at the CityMall has been extended to September 15 to accommodate other applicants seeking to resume their operations.

HE Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the dismissal of 18 officials and employees of the Provincial Government of Palawan involved in the anomalous use of the province’s share in the Malampaya Fund amounting to P2.57 billion.

The CA’s Special 17th Division denied the petition filed by officials and employees seeking the reversal of the Ombudsman’s decision issued on November 21, 2014, which found them administratively liable and dismissed from the service.

The Ombudsman also ordered the cancellation of their eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, perpetual disqualification from holding public office and bar them from taking civil-service examinations.

Covered by the Ombudsman’s ruling were: Renato Abrina, engineer IV; Rolando Bonoan Jr., Sangguniang Panlalawigan member; Bayani Buenaventura, engineer III; Manuela Cabiguen, assistant provincial engineer-administration/inspectorate team leader; Orlando Colobong, provincial accountant; Ronelo del Socorro, senior technical audit specialist; Ferdinand Dilig, provincial general; Pedro Gatinga Jr., engineer IV; Edwin Iglesia, state auditor II; Romeo Llacuna, Engineer III; Samuel Madamba II, former provincial planning and development coordinator; Luis Marcaida, provincial budget officer; Alfredo Padua, engineer

IV/chief quality control division, Tommy Panes, engineer II; Rosario Pascual-Abacial, engineer II; Pepe Martinez Patacsil, engineer IV; Federico Rubio Jr., assistant provincial engineer-operation/ inspectorate team leader; Bernard Zambales, engineer III and Elena Rodriguez, former provincial legal officer.

In a 33-page decision penned by Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez, the CA upheld the Ombudsman’s ruling against all the respondents except for Rodriguez.

The CA held that the Ombudsman’s November 21, 2014, consolidated decision exonerating Rodriguez from administrative accountability is final and “unappealable” due to the failure of complainant Commission on Audit (COA) Chairman Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan to appeal the dismissal of the charges.

“Given the finality of the consolidated decision with respect to Elena, the September 13, 2016, order reversing the decision and penalizing Elena [Rodriguez] for grave misconduct, serious dishonest and gross neglect of duty is erroneous,” the CA said.

The appellate court did not give merit to the claim of respondents that the investigation of the Ombudsman was premature since under COA’s Rules and Regulation on Settlement of Accounts, an audit report should be followed by notices of disallowances (NDs), which may be appealed within six months. Joel R. San Juan

The World BusinessMirror

A6 Monday, September 3, 2018 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Trump’s Asia summit snub a ‘big mistake’

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resident Donald J. Trump will skip two major summits in Asia in November, a move that could stoke concerns in the region about the United States’s reliability as a counterweight to China.

The White House said on Friday that Vice President Mike Pence would travel to Singapore for an 18-nation summit hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), before heading to Papua New Guinea for an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering. The Apec summit is normally attended by 21 leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

The decision removes a potential avenue for Trump to meet with Xi as a trade war between the US and China deepens. The United States is leaning toward a fresh round of tariffs against Chinese imports, this time for $200 billion in goods, in what would mark a significant escalation. Xi and Trump

are expected to attend the Group of 20 summit in Argentina later in November, though.

Trump’s absence is also likely to fuel concerns among Asian leaders who want the US to push back against China’s increasing economic and military might.

‘Nonstarter’

Trump administration officials have been promoting a new “IndoPacific” strategy to bolster its commitment to the fast-growing region, after Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and questioned the cost of security alliances with Japan and South Korea.

“His absence would doubtlessly solidify the impression that America has essentially abandoned its

traditional presence in the Asia Pacific, not to mention the nonstarter Indo-Pacific,” said Oh Ei Sun, senior adviser for international affairs at the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute in Kuala Lumpur.

“Not a good move when trying to show the region how important the Indo-Pacific strategy is,” Conor Cronin, research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said on Twitter. Walter Lohman, director of the Asian Studies Center at the conservative Heritage Foundation, simply tweeted, “Mistake.”

Symbolism matters

Without Trump, Xi will have more space to advocate for Chinese trade and development projects, such as his ambitious “Belt and Road” initiative. Xi was the first leader to confirm his attendance to the Apec meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where he also plans to host his own summit with Pacific leaders.

“Symbolism matters. The Chinese have made gains when his predecessors have not attended,” tweeted author and commentator Gordon Chang.

Although US leaders have attended the events in recent years, missing them isn’t without precedent.

In 2007 then US President George W. Bush drew flak for rescheduling a planned meeting with Asean leaders in Singapore.

Former President Barack Obama, whose administration announced a pivot in military and diplomatic resources to Asia, skipped the October 2013 Apec meeting in Indonesia while the federal government faced a shutdown crisis.

Obama’s absence that year was seen as a gift to China, whose officials emphasized their interest in the region to countries in attendance. Similarly, in November, a large Chinese contingent is expected in Port Moresby to promote Belt and Road.

Allies put their best face on Trump’s decision. Newly installed Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters during a trip to Jakarta on Saturday that Trump’s decision to tend to matters at home was understandable, adding that Pence “speaks with the authority of the president.”

Morrison invited Trump to visit Australia as part of his Asian swing

during a “very warm” phone call after becoming prime minister in August, local media reported. His predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, also invited Trump to Australia.

After midterms

The Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Pence’s visit to the Southeast Asian city-state, noting in a statement that it would be his first as vice president.

The Asian summits come days after midterm Congressional elections, which may determine Trump’s ability to withstand investigations into Russian campaign interference and election-season payments to alleged mistresses. While Democratic leaders have largely avoided talking about impeaching Trump, Republican losses in the House or the Senate would greatly increase the risk of congressional action.

Still, Trump plans to visit Paris on November 11 for a commemoration of the armistice ending World War I, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement on Friday. On the same trip, he’ll visit Ireland “to renew the deep and historic ties between our two nations,” Sanders added. During

McCain ends 81-year journey with burial at Naval Academy

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ASHINGTON — John McCain is being laid to rest at the US Naval Academy after a five-day procession that served as a final call to arms for a nation he warned could lose its civility and sense of shared purpose.

The private ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland, was as carefully planned as the rest of McCain’s farewell tour, which began in Arizona after he died on August 25 from brain cancer and stretched to Washington.

On Saturday speeches by his daughter Meghan and two former presidents—Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama— remembered McCain as a patriot who could bridge painful rivalries. But even as their remarks made clear their admiration for him, they represented a repudiation of President Donald J. Trump’s brand of toughtalking, divisive politics.

“So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured outrage,” Obama said. “It’s a politics that pretends to be brave and tough but in fact is born in fear. John called on

The family of Sen. John McCain, Republican-Arizona, follows as his casket is carried during the recessional at the end of a memorial service at Washington National Cathedral in Washington on September 1. McCain died on August 25, from brain cancer at age 81. AP

us to be bigger than that. He called on us to be better than that.”

McCain was gone, said Bush, who called his 2000 rival for the GOP presidential nomination a friend.

“John’s voice will always come as

a whisper over our shoulder—we are better than this, America is better than this,” Bush said.

But it was Meghan McCain’s emotional remarks that most bluntly rebuked Trump, who had

mocked her father for getting captured in Vietnam. At the pulpit of the spectacular cathedral, with Trump’s daughter Ivanka in the audience, McCain’s daughter delivered a broadside against the

uninvited president.

“The America of John McCain,” she declared with a steely stare, “has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”

The audience of Washington’s military, civilian and other leaders burst into applause.

With that, McCain’s family, including his 106-year-old mother, Roberta, is escorting his remains to Annapolis on Sunday.

McCain’s choice of burial location was as deliberate as the other details of his procession. He picked the historic site overlooking the Severn River over the grandeur of Arlington National Cemetery, where his father and grandfather, both admirals, are buried. Chuck Larson, McCain’s beloved friend from their Class of 1958, had reserved four plots at the storied cemetery—two for McCain and himself, and two for their wives, now widows. Larson died in 2014, and McCain wrote in his recent memoir that he wanted to be buried next to his friend, “near where it began.”

Trump was to remain in Washington. He spent Saturday tweeting and golfing in Virginia. AP

China-Africa trade deficit prominent at conference

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EIJING—African leaders will likely press their Chinese hosts at a conference this week to help narrow their trade deficits with Beijing by shifting more manufacturing to their continent, the chief executive of the biggest African bank said.

China has passed Europe and the United States as the biggest trading partner of most African countries.

Most run large deficits with Beijing, exporting minerals and buying Chinese-manufactured goods.

“The question of the trade imbalance is one that I think will be placed firmly on the table by the African delegates,” the chief executive of South Africa’s Standard Bank Group, Sim Tshabalala, told reporters.

China’s commercial presence in Africa has prompted complaints in some countries that the continent gets too little from the relationship.

Africa is a major target of Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative to build ports, highways and other trade-related infrastructure, but some critics in Tanzania, Kenya and other countries say they leave hosts with too much debt.

“I would expect African leaders to put on the table the opportunity

that arises from building the African continent’s manufacturing capability in a way that is in the best interests of the African continent but benefits china, as well,” Tshabalala said Saturday.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, opening on Monday, brings together leaders from China and more than 50 African countries.

Dozens of African leaders have met with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the conference.

The participants are looking for ways to “advance common growth and development,” said South Africa’s foreign minister, Lindiwe Sisulu.

Some Chinese manufacturers are expanding to Africa but the bulk of Chinese investment goes into mining or construction of roads and other infrastructure. A state-owned automaker, BAIC Group, announced plans this year to start producing electric cars in South Africa.

As Chinese manufacturers move to making higher-value products, “the slack that is produced as a consequence can be taken up by African economies,” according to Tshabalala.

Standard Bank represents the biggest Chinese investment in Africa

to date, after state-owned Industrial and Commerce Bank of China Ltd. agreed in 2007 to buy 20 percent of the African lender for $5.5 billion.

Since then, the two banks say they have collaborated on channeling billions of dollars of Chinese investment into Africa.

Some 300 companies account for the majority of China’s business activity in Africa, but the region also has some 30,000 smaller Chinese firms that are of growing importance, said Francois Gamet, head of Standard Bank Group’s Asian operation.

Asked about concerns over Africa’s rising debts to China, the banks said those still are relatively small and most countries can repay them.

“The reality is that Chinese debt as a percentage of total African debt is still relatively small,” said Kenny Fihla, Standard Bank’s chief executive for corporate banking.

Governments in the region have “fiscal discipline,” said Tshabalala.

“Wars, pestilence, violence and conflict have declined,” he said. “We are quite comfortable that most of these countries have both the ability and the willingness to meet their obligations.” AP

his trip to South America to attend the Group of 20 meeting, he’ll also travel to Colombia, she said.

After the US withdrawal from the TPP, trade ministers from the 11 remaining participant nations—Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam—signed a new agreement in Chile on March 8.

Collin Koh Swee Lean, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said recent efforts by American officials in the region should help offset Trump’s absence. Among them: Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced $300 million in regional security funding at an Asean meeting earlier this month, and the US military is currently among nine nations participating annual Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training exercises in Singapore.

“The US will still be regarded and expected to remain committed and engaged with the region, and there’ll still be significant efforts of regional countries to keep the US presence in the region as the China shadow looms in the background,” Koh said.

Bloomberg News

Trump visits golf course while Washington mourns McCain

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TERLING, Virginia—For President Donald J. Trump, it was just like any other Saturday.

As political dignitaries gathered in Washington to memorialize Sen. John McCain, the president tweeted familiar grievances and headed to the golf course.

McCain’s family had made clear the president was not welcome at the funeral for the six-term senator and decorated war veteran at the Washington National Cathedral. Seated in the pews were three former presidents, a host of lawmakers, and top officials from around the world.

Speakers at the service did not mention Trump by name but repeatedly drew contrasts between McCain’s record of service and the divisive politics of the day.

The White House did not answer questions about whether Trump played golf or if he watched the service from afar.

Dressed in a white polo shirt and baseball hat, Trump left the White House in the morning as the late senator’s daughter, Meghan McCain, delivered an emotional address that served as a direct rebuke of Trump and his policies.

The tributes still underway, the presidential motorcade whisked him to Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.

Throughout the day, Trump tweeted gripes about trade talks with Canada and the justice department. By midafternoon he had not named McCain, who had been an infuriating foil in a longrunning feud that did not end with the senator’s illness and death. Earlier in the week, Trump drew sharp rebukes for offering a terse statement about McCain’s death under pressure following two days of near-silence.

The feelings of many at the memorial were quite clear. Meghan McCain drew applause when she said, “The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”

As the memorial service unfolded, some Trump allies jumped to his defense. “@realDonaldTrump ran for @POTUS ONE time and WON! Some people will never recover from that,” tweeted Katrina Pierson, an adviser to Trump’s reelection campaign.

Trump has frequented his golf courses in Virginia, New Jersey and Florida throughout his presidency, though the White House often will not say if he plays.

Trump repeatedly blistered President Barack Obama during the 2016 campaign for golfing, telling cheering supporters that, as president, he’d be far too busy working for them.

“I’m not gonna have time to go play golf,” he would shout. AP

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Panganiban thumbs down abolition of food agency

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas & Cai U. Ordinario @cuo_bm

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ontrary to the sentiment of his fellow lawmakers and economists, the chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food is not keen on abolishing the National Food Authority (NFA).

Rep. Jose T. Panganiban of Anac-IP party-list said in a radio interview on Sunday that the food agency is “vital” in regulating rice imports after the quantitative restriction (QR) on the staple is converted into tariffs.

“Since we are nearing the passage of the Rice Tariffication Act, which would mean free importation by traders, what would NFA do? They will be a purely regulatory agency,” Panganiban said.

Under the House of Representatives-approved House Bill (HB) 7735, or the Revised Agricultural Tariffication Bill, Panganiban said the NFA would continue to issue import permits in a post-QR regime.

“This is our staple, so we cannot fully liberalize [the rice industry].

We would still need the licensing function and accreditation function of the NFA,” he said. “The quota allocations would be scrapped. But we cannot remove the licensing and accreditation function of the NFA.” Amid calls for the resignation of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol and NFA Administrator Jason Y. Aquino, Panganiban said the two need not resign.

“When it comes to Secretary Piñol, he is doing his job well. When it comes to NFA Administrator Aquino, I think [he] just lacked proper coordination with the NFA Council,” he added.

In fact, Panganiban said one of the bills that his committee is currently reviewing seeks to review and strengthen the role of the NFA

in a post-QR regime.

“The law creating the NFA was passed in 1972. So, that law is not anymore adaptive to the needs of our times now,” he said. “That is why there is a need to revisit that law.”

Rice imports

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said the government must import rice immediately to boost supply and arrest the continuous spike in prices.

“Right now, the more important thing is to be able to import rice and make it arrive before October,” Arroyo said in an ambush interview, following the inauguration of the school building for the Aeta community in Porac, Pampanga on Friday.

Panganiban said the depletion of the NFA’s rice buffer stock could be attributed to the “misunderstanding” between its management and the NFA Council.

“When the NFA Council approved the importation it was too late already as the imports were scheduled to arrive by June. And what the council overlooked was that June is typhoon season and it is what we are experiencing right now, [NFA] cannot unload the shipments,” he added.

For mer A g r ic u lt u re C h ief

William Dar said the timing of the arrival of the country’s rice imports is crucial in ensuring that the supply and prices are stable.

“The timing of the decision to import is very important. It is the importation of rice and the positioning of the imports [that are crucial],” Dar, InangLupa Movement Inc. president, said in a radio interview on Sunday.

“We had a problem with that [this year]. Our importation was late. And due to the perceived lack of NFA supply, prices went up,” Dar added.

Dar pointed out that it is important that the NFA Council, the highest policy-making body of the NFA, make an “informed” decision, which, he said, should be based on historical data.

“It cannot be just guesses. Using the historical performance of our agriculture sector and our current population, the shortfall in our local production is around 5 to 8 percent,” he said. “ You should consider that.

Even the minimum level should be planned for importation before the start of the year. You should make the decision before the start of the year so that you have to figure out when will the imports arrive and position the stocks carefully,” he added.

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, September 3, 2018

A7

Americans are grilling more steaks for Labor Day

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hen Americans feel like they’ve got more money, they like to treat themselves. That means there could be plenty of steaks on the grill this year for Labor Day. A buzzing economy and low unemployment in the United States is a boon for beef, typically considered a premium meat. Gains for the cattle herd means retail prices have fallen.

Combine that with grocer discounts for the holiday, and steaks and burgers could be the cheapest they’ve been in years, attracting demand.

Meanwhile, other meats are in the doldrums. There are record supplies of chicken and pork in the US, and even with prices at multiyear lows, it’s more than most people care to eat. Companies including Tyson Foods Inc. and Sanderson Farms Inc. have recently said that bargains on beef were hurting poultry.

“Margins for retailers are great, and consumers are back into beef now that prices are better,” said Will Sawyer, an economist at Greenwood Village, Colorado-based CoBank.

“Chicken, which had been the recession special for so long, is having to take a back seat to the more pricey protein.”

Americans are hungry for burgers and steaks partly because they’ve been deprived. A drought caused ranchers to reduce herds to a sixdecade low in 2014, and beef prices shot up to an all-time high. The meat was so expensive it forced consumers to cut back, with consumption

declining to the lowest since the 1970s. Now, even with cheaper prices and bigger supplies, demand still hasn’t bounced back to where it was before the recession, Sawyer said. That means there’s still plenty of room for increased buying.

Beef consumption will rise 1.4 percent this year to 57.7 pounds on a per-capita basis, the US Department of Agriculture said this month. Demand will grow to 58.7 pounds next year, the agency estimates.

Hedge funds are taking note. As of August 28, investors had a cattle net-long position of 62,165 futures and options, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data published on Friday. While that’s down slightly from a week earlier, the holding—which measures the difference between bets on a price increase and wagers on a decline—has more than doubled since the end of June.

The gains for demand mean retailers are making good margins, and that’s allowing them to slash prices for fancier cuts of meat, according to Gary Morrison, who tracks the market for commodity researcher Urner Barry.

In more good news for Labor Day grillers, ample supplies of chicken and pork means those prices are also falling. The US holiday will be celebrated Monday.

One thing carnivores should watch out for: There could be increased volatility ahead for the hog market. Bloomberg News

Green Monday BusinessMirror

A8 Monday, September 3, 2018

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

Have we learned the lessons from Ondoy?

O

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

n August 13, after several days of heavy rains that flooded many parts of Metro Manila, residents, particularly those living in the so-called West Zone, experienced water-service interruption because of the increased water turbidity in Ipo Dam.

The flooding prompted Secretary Roy A. Cimatu of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to suspend all quarrying operations in Rizal province pending investigation.

On the other hand, Metropolitan Water works and Sewerage System (M WSS) Ad ministrator Reynaldo Velasco called for the implementation of an integrated sustainable watershedmanagement program.

The countr y’s environment chief believed that the overflowing of the Marikina River was connected to the environmental degradation owing to quarrying operations in Rizal province, particularly in San Mateo and Rodriguez towns, as the main culprit.

One of the major tributaries of the Pasig River, the overflowing of the heavily silted Marikina River is one of the major causes of flooding in Metro Manila, particularly Marikina City.

Reminiscent of Ondoy

R eminiscent of what hap pened during the onslaught of Tropical Depression Ondoy (international code name Ketsana), the heavy rains caused Marikina River to overf low.

O n d o y, w h i c h s t r u c k t h e Philippines on September 28, 20 09, c aught Met ro Ma n i l a, ironically the seat of power in the Philippines, ill prepared for a monstrous devastation.

According to the then-National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), Ondoy claimed the lives of 710 people, mostly living in Marikina City. Thirty-seven others went missing and were presumed dead.

Damage

The damage to agriculture, infrastructure and private property reached a whopping $1.09 billion.

The tragedy exposed the country’s vulnerabilities to the worst impacts of climate change. It exposed the country to the many problems that led to such disaster—from the poor weather-forecasting system, lack of capacity of the country’s weather bureau, the degradation of the environment, particularly the Upper Marikina River Basin and, most of all, the

poor disaster risk-reduction and management plans, or the lack of it, which include the lack of appropriate rescue equipment and inadequate number of people comprising emergency-response team with proper training to do rescue, relief and retrieval operations.

Besides the Philippines, Ketsana also affected China, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Thailand.

Lessons learned

While the Philippines will remember Ondoy as one of the worst natural calamities in recent history, many have changed since then.

L oca l gover nment u nits (LGUs), such as Marikina City, have since been enhancing their adaptive capacity and improving their disaster risk-reduction and management plans.

During the recent floods, there were minimum casualties and the evacuation of affected communities was a lot faster, with better evacuation centers put up within a few hours before the decision to start the evacuation.

Other LGUs have already adopted various climate-change mitigation and adaptation measures since then, proof of the heightened awareness of the people about the vulnerabilities of the Philippines to the impacts of climate change.

Several laws were passed in recognition of the fact that climate change is real.

After Ondoy, Republic Act (RA) 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, was enacted into law. The NDCC was subsequently replaced by the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.

The following year, President Benigno S. Aquino III upgraded the status of the Marikina Watershed Reservation and renamed it the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape from a mere reservation into a “protected landscape.” Presidential Proclamation 296 also placed its management under the DENR. In 2012 R A 10174 established the People’s Survival Fund, with a seed fund of P1 billion, to provide long-term financing to projects dedicated to climate-change

Ipo dam WWF-Philippines

mitigation and adaptation, and enhancing the capacities of highly vulnerable communities.

Long-term solution

On the recent water turbidity, Maynilad Water Services Inc. was quick to issue advisories to its customers on the water-service interruption while it moves to fix the problem. The private water concessionaire, which directly draws water from Angat Dam, also deployed water tanks to distribute water to its affected customers as water pressure is reduced to avoid dirty water from flowing out of the tap.

For its part, the MWSS was looking forward to a long-term solution to the problem—a sustainable integrated watershed-management program, in the wake of the increased water turbidity in Ipo dam.

“Recognizing the importance of watersheds in supporting the water supply of Metro Manila and adjoining provinces, MWSS needs to come up with an integrated approach toward sustainable management and protection of the watersheds,” MWSS’s Velasco said in a statement e-mailed to the BusinessMirror on August 13.

“In the long-term, we are thinking of a Corporate Forestry Watershed Legacy Program to encourage the adoption by various corporations and other entities of thousands of hectares of denuded portions of Ipo Dam geared toward the integrated watershed-management plan to reforest, maintain favorable environmental conditions and to improve the quality and amount of potable water supply to our constituents,” Velasco added.

According to Velasco, the three MWSS concessionaires—Maynilad, Manila Water and Bulacan Bulk Water—can initially adopt 50,000 hectares each at Ipo as part of the Corporate Forestry Watershed Legacy Program.

He added that the water concessionaires can also encourage their mother companies, such as the MVP Group of Cos., Ayala Corp. and San Miguel Corp., to

be part of the Annual Million Tree Challenge, as well as adopt a proper management, protection and nurturing of trees in the critical watersheds.

Lessons unlearned

In a n i nt e r v i e w c o n d u c t e d through Messenger on August 26 and 27, Paolo Pagaduan, director at the Center for Philippine Biodiversity Journalism, pointed out that while some lessons were learned after Ondoy, there are still more important lessons that even the media has failed to absorb.

“Media has been effective at telling the story of what is happening but not very effective on why it happened. Take the case of the dams affecting the Marikina River. Since Ondoy, our experts have already explained that there are no dams that open to release water into Marikina River that result in massive flooding. The dams often associated are Wawa Dam in Rodriquez, Rizal, and the La Mesa Dam in Quezon City. Wawa dam is no longer operational and just continues to spill without floodgates to control it,” Pagaduan explained.

“Media should highlight this in their reports. If we just continue to report what is happening and not why it is happening, then we tend not to focus on solving the problems before they happen.

Rather, we should focus on what we should do during and after the event,” he said.

Environmental degradation

An environmental advocate working for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in a five-year project at the Ipo Watershed, Pagaduan believes there are several causes of the flooding, which leads to the conclusion that there is failure to address the environmental degradation happening in the country.

The Ipo watershed project, whic h involves reforestat ion around the water reservoir, part of the all-important Angat-IpoLa Mesa watershed, has so far resulted in the planting of over

40,000 trees, in partnership with the private sector, which provides financing and logistical support.

However, around 100 Bantay Gubat (Forest Guards) in the area were found to have no means of financial support because of delay in the release of their measly allowance compared to the gargantuan task of protecting one of the most important sources of water for more than 12 million people in the country’s capital region.

“During Ondoy, I was trapped on the roof of our 2-story house.

My observation was that the waters were very turbid. [It’s] very brown. Meaning, a lot of soil was washed into the rivers. This is mainly due to deforestation and destructive land conversion in the higher areas in the Marikina Watershed in Rodriquez and Antipolo, Rizal,” Pagaduan, also the water focal-point person of W WF-Philippines, said.

“Less trees means less soil protection,” he said.

“More impervious surfaces also greatly contribute to run-off or flooding, since the water was no longer absorbed by the soil and rocks below,” he added.

Effects of climate change

At the same time, Pagaduan said the two practices alone are not the only causes of the floods.

First, he said climate change is very much part of the flooding, since stronger typhoons occur due to the heating of oceans.

“Ondoy and the habagat [southwest monsoon] events have been dumping so much water in the watersheds that cities were not designed for, since they were beyond projections of flooding from way back,” Pagaduan said.

Second, he said most of the country’s cities are built along flood plains, which are still part of the river. “ This puts us constantly in harm’s way every time the river swells. The bulk of Metro Manila lies in the f lood plains of the Pasig River and the river delta of Manila Bay. Historically, these

areas have been f looding because they are still part of the river systems. Solving this would require massive relocation or massive infrastructure to the tune of what The Netherlands have done to prevent f looding in their country,” he explained.

According to Pagaduan, the national government should put flood prevention on top of its priority list.

He said land subsidence also plays a very important role in the flooding, especially in the Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela area.

Last, congestion of waterways and other drainage systems is a major cause of flooding, he added.

“Illegal structures and solid wastes like single-use plastics have clogged our waterways, preventing floodwaters from flowing quickly out to Manila Bay. Illegal settlers and structures are problems for the LGUs to solve,” he said.

No-to-plastics campaign

W W F-Ph i l ippines recent ly launched its #AyokoNgPlastik (I don’t like plastic) campaign to help raise awareness on the problems of single-use plastics, such as straws and plastic bags, and help convince both consumers and producers to use better alternative for their products and service.

“What can we do to prevent it?

First is to better understand why it floods. This is not simply because there are illegal loggers or illegal quarries in Rizal. It goes beyond that,” Pagaduan said, adding that these two factors are easy targets, but addressing them alone will not solve the problem.

Educating the people

“This is where media can come in. Educate the people about the issue to create a clamor for changes in how we have been addressing these problems. Explain how single-use plastics make flooding worse. How inihaw [charcoalgrilled] foods drive illegal charcoal making in our watersheds, causing massive deforestation, especially in the Upper Marikina Watershed. Hopefully, this clamor can force our policy-makers to act on the issues armed with the correct information,” he explained.

Pagaduan noted that water and watersheds do not follow geopolitical boundaries, hence, addressing these problems will require an integ rated watershed-management system that will put all these information together so all stakeholders can work on it together rather than in silos per city or province.

“What happens upstream will affect the downstream areas.

When we throw away our trash in the rivers, nature will find a way to throw it back to us. There is no way. We only have one country; one planet. We need to work together to solve this problem,” he urged.

Impacts of El Niño to intensify as climate warms, new study finds W

ASHINGTON—When an El Niño or its opposite, La Niña, forms in the future, it’s likely to cause more intense impacts over many land regions— amplifying changes to temperature, precipitation and wildfire risk—due to the warming climate.

These are the findings of a new study led by the National Center for At m o s p h e r i c R e s e a rc h ( N C A R ) a n d p u b l i s h e d i n G e o p hy s i c a l R e s e a rc h Le t te r s, a j o u r n a l o f t h e Am e r i c a n Geophysical Union (AGU).

The researchers found, for example, that the increased wildfire danger in the southwestern United States associated with La Niña events would become more acute, the AGU news release said.

Conversely, the cooler and wetter weather in the same region associated with El Niño events would likely become

even cooler and even wetter in the future, enhancing associated flood risks.

“The cycling between El Niño and La Niña is responsible for some of the weather whiplash we get from year to year, par ticularly in the western US,” said NCAR scientist John Fasullo, who led the study. “What we find when we look at model simulations of the future is that the whiplash is likely to get more severe.”

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, which is NCAR’s sponsor, and by the US Department of Energy. Study coauthors are Bette OttoBliesner, also of NCAR, and Samantha Stevenson, of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

El Niño events are charac terized by warmer-than-average sea-sur face temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific

Ocean. La Niña events, on the other hand, are defined by cooler-than-average waters in the same region. These phenomena can influence weather patterns globally, with far-reaching consequences, including changes to crop yields, fire risk and the heating and cooling demands of homes, workplaces and other buildings.

The impacts of El Niño and La Niña are particularly pronounced over North America’s southern tier, South America and Australia.

For example, El Niño events tend to cause cooler, wetter weather over t h e s o u t h e r n U S b u t h o t t e r, d r i e r weather across most of Australia and South America.

Climate-model simulations have been divided in their portrayal of how climate change will influence the sea surfacetemperature changes associated with El

Niño and La Niña events.

For this study, the scientists were able to remove this effect and look at what the impact of individual events of a given magnitude would be.

The research team relied on two extensive sets of simulations, one created using the NCAR-based Community Earth System Model (CESM) and one created using the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Earth System Model.

Each model was run dozens of times with slightly different starting conditions.

Taken together, the large number of model simulations allowed the scientists to distinguish impacts linked to El Niño and La Niña from those caused by the natural chaos in the climate system.

The scientists looked at how the impacts in the present climate that are tied to a given unit of variability, for example, 1

degree Celsius of sea surface-temperature increase during El Niño or decrease during La Niña, compared to the impacts of that same variation at the end of this century.

I n a d d i t i o n to te m p e rat u re a n d precipitation, the scientists were able to look at changes to wildfire danger, b e c a u s e C ES M i n c l u d e s a w i l d f i r e m o d e l. Th i s c o m p o n e n t t a ke s i n t o a c c o u n t t h e b i o m a s s av a i l a b l e f o r burning, along with the influences of temperature and moisture.

The result was that these impacts became more severe in key land regions.

“These simulations show that the continuous rising of global mean t e m p e r a t u re w i l l l e a ve re g i o n s o f the US—including California—more v u l n e ra b l e to s e ve re d ro u g ht s a n d widespread wildfires in the future, especially during La Niña years,” said

Ming Cai, a program officer in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funded the research.

For example, seasonal heat extremes in the southern half of the US during a La Niña, like the one that occurred in 2011, would be about 30-percent greater if the La Niña occurred at the end of the century.

That warming would be in addition to the expected background warming of the climate system.

“We can’t say from this study whether more or fewer El Niños will form in the future—or whether the El Niños that do form will be stronger or weaker,” Fasullo said. “But we can say that an El Niño that forms in the future is likely to have more influence over our weather than if the same El Niño formed today.”

American Geophysical Union

Biodiversity Monday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Monday, September 3, 2018

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

Manila to host Asean Biodiversity Heroes forum

‘Higher fines urged vs smuggling of Philippine marine resources’

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Asean Biodiversity Heroes (from left) Sophea Chinn of Cambodia, Alex Waisimon of Indonesia and Dr. Angel C. Alcala of the Philippines will share their respective stories on environment protection and conservation at a forum in Makati City on September 4 and 5. ACB

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

T

@jonlmayuga

he Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) will hold the Asean Biodiversity Heroes Regional Forum in Manila on September 4 and 5.

T he for um w il l be conducted at a hote l i n Ma k at i C it y, i n col l aborat ion w it h t he Biod iversit y Management Bureau of t he De pa r t ment of Env i ronment a nd Nat u ra l R esou rces (DENR) and w ith suppor t from t he Eu ropea n Un ion.

T he e vent w i l l foc u s on t he shar ing of stor ies of conser vat ion by some of t he A sea n Bio d iversit y Heroes f rom Ca mbo d i a , Indonesi a a nd t he Ph i lippi nes, accord i ng to a n AC B s t ate me nt re le a s e d t h rou g h t he DENR .

This is the second leg of the forum. The first leg was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on March 26 and 27. It featured the heroes from Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

The forum will be attended by representatives of various academic institutions in the Philippines, young professionals from different sectors, representatives from the media, participants from the Asean member-states (AMS), nongovernment organizations and government agencies.

The sharing of the heroes’ stories is aimed at inspiring people, especially the youth, in saving the environment and for other sectors in society to learn how they can also help in biodiversity conservation.

A mong those who w ill speak in the forum is Sophea Chinn, a young biodiversit y informat ion s pec i a l i st who s pa rked interest in w ildlife research in Cambodia.

Chinn recalled that his interest in wildlife research was further enhanced, when, as a young boy in the 1990s, he observed that birds were being killed for food by the people in his community.

He took up Biolog y at the R o y a l Un i v e r s it y o f Ph no m Penh, followed by Management Infor mation System at Setec University and a master’s degree in Biodiversity Conservation.

Currently, the young conservationist is an official at the Research and Biodiversity and Ecosystem Assessment Office, a core component of the Department of Biodiversity in Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment.

Asean Biodiversity Hero Alex Waisimon from Indonesia is an indigenous leader who protects Papua’s forest for future generations. Papua province is known for its dense rain forests that are home to diverse wildlife.

T he prov incial capital, Jayapura, is where the R hepang Muaif A rea can be found. T his area is categorized as an Important Bird A rea as it is the haven of five endangered species, and is also know n as the home of the Cenderawasih, or the birds of paradise.

Sadly, the area has the same concerns as other biodiversityrich places: illegal hunting and

illegal logging. It is due to these concerns that Waisimon returned to the area with the noble vision to provide livelihood in his community. With this objective, he developed a sustainable ecotourism program that features the birds of paradise.

Dr. A ngel C. A lcala, an educator and a mar ine biologist w ith remarkable contribution to Ph i l ippi ne biolog ic a l sc iences, will share his experience and insights.

A lca la was dec lared a Nationa l Scientist by President Benigno S. Aquino III through Malacañang Proclamation 782 on June 6, 2014.

T hrough h is resea rc h a nd f ie ldwork , A lc a l a h a s added 50 new species of amphibians and repti les, which prov ided international conser vationists t he basis to establish conservation prog rams on Philippine ver tebrate biod iversit y.

The National Scientist was the person behind the establishment of the Philippines’s first no-take marine reser ve, the Sumilon Marine Reserve.

Mar ine reser ves a l low the growth of marine biodiversity, such as various fish species, as well as movement of adult fish to fishing areas, which increases the fish yields of fishers.

After the establishment of the Sumilon Marine Reserve in 1974, Alcala proceeded to establish several other no-take marine reserves, such as the Apo Marine Reserve in 1982.

He also strengthened the management of approximately 60 notake marine reserves.

Recognized during the 50th Anniversary of the Asean on August 8, 2017, in Manila, the Asean Biodiversity Heroes are 10 outstanding individuals who were chosen for their notable actions in biodiversity conservation.

T he 10 A sean Biodiversit y Heroes 2017 are Eyad Samhan of Brunei Darussalam; Chinn of Cambodia; Waisimon of Indonesia; Nitsavanh Louangkhot Pravongviengkham of Lao PDR; Prof. Zakri Abdul Hamid of Malaysia; Dr. Maung Maung Kyi of Myanmar; Alcala of the Philippines; Prof. Leo Tan Wee Hin of Singapore; Dr. Nonn Panitvong of Thailand; and Prof. Dr. Dang Huy Huynh of Vietnam.

T he ACB ser ves as the Secretariat of the Search for the Asean Biodiversity Heroes. The heroes were selected by the ACB Governing Board, representing the A MS. The Asean Biodiversity Heroes Regional Forum Series is part of the “Biodiversity Conservation and Management for Protected A reas in A sean,” a project that is implemented by the ACB in collaboration with the European Union.

The project seeks to improve the management of protected areas in the Asean region; develop and mobilize knowledge and scientific basis for biodive r s it y con s e r v at ion ; m a i n stream biodiversity into the education system; and strengthen the regional capacities.

A9

ome 1,800 pieces of live hard and soft corals, and three giant clams worth around $54,000 (P2.7 million) were confiscated by the Philippines’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) from a suspected smuggler in August, the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) said, citing news reports.

The hard corals were identified by the National Fisheries Research Development Institute as under the order Scleractinia, while the clams were under the order Tridacna, which is on the list of endangered species of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

The incident was viral online following a Facebook post in July

by Romina Lim, who found the “exported” Tubipora and Heliopora corals from the Philippines in a gift shop in Long Beach, Washington.

“Labels say these were ‘rare’ and exported all the way from the Philippines. These corals were extracted from our reefs then sold in the US for less than P2,000 [$37.50]). The same gift shop was selling bottled shark pups for around P800 [$15],” said Lim in her social media account as quoted

by ACB in its news release.

“Corals are worth much more alive in coral reefs than dead displayed at your houses,” she added.

Lim is a Marine Science student at the University of the Philippines.

The viral social-media post resulted in the collaboration between NBI and US Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate the sources of smuggled corals and

other marine products from the Philippines into the US. “I was deeply saddened and worried at the same time when I heard about this. It is really unfortunate that some people are still not aware of the values of biodiversity; or if they are, then it is even more disappointing to know that they would still trade these natural resources without considering the harmful impacts of this illegal activity to the environment,” said Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim, executive director of the ACB.

Higher fines for environmental offenders

The confiscation of the smuggled marine resources reminded the biodiversity advocates of the need for stronger enforcement of environment laws.

The Department of Environment and Natura l Resources (DENR) has been pushing for a stronger enforcement of environmental laws by seeking higher penalties to offenders.

In its consultation-workshops, titled “Ecosystem Resource Valuation in Support to Environmental Law Enforcement,” Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said it is imperative to impose higher fines for the commission of any

violation against the country’s environmental laws if the country is to really curb environmental offenses, such as illegal wildlife trade and smuggling, ACB said.

During this year’s Earth Day celebration on April 22, Cimatu reiterated this call and urged the public to “stop tolerating env ironment a l abuse a nd to instead take part in the strict enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.”

According to the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, no person or corporation shall “gather, possess, sell or export ordinary precious and semi-precious corals, whether raw or in processed form, except for scientific or research purposes.”

Violation would result in imprisonment from six months to two years and a fine from P2,000 to P20,000. This law was amended through Republic Act 10654, or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998. It states that no person or corporation shall “gather, possess, commercially transport, sell or export ordinary, semi-precious and precious corals, whether raw or in processed form, except for scientific or research purposes.”

Violation would result in an “administrative fine equivalent to eight times the value of the corals gathered, possessed, commercially transported, sold, or exported, or the amount of P500,000 to P10 million, whichever is higher, and forfeiture of the subject corals.”

Interconnected marine biodiversity in Asean

The Philippines is located at the apex of the Coral Triangle, which, according to the Asian Development Bank, is “one the most diverse marine ecoregions on Earth.”

The Asean region shelters a third of the world’s coastal and marine habitats, including coral reefs, mangroves, estuaries, sandy and rocky beaches, seagrass and

Young men engage in traditional fishing method in Coron, Palawan. It is estimated that close to 500 million people will be living in or near coastal and marine areas in Southeast Asia by 2050. Asean Centre for Biodiversity

seaweed beds and other soft bottom communities.

“These habitats and their resident species provide various forms of ecosystem services. They provide breeding, nursing and feeding grounds for marine plants and animals, food [fish, invertebrates, and seaweeds], and resources important to livelihoods of coastal communities,” said ACB’s Lim. “There are various estimates of the monetary value of coastal habitats in the region,” said Dr. Sheila Vergara, director of the Biodiversity Information Management unit and the resident marine biologist of the ACB. “Coral reefs generate and may constitute a significant percentage of national economies, where such habitats occur in large scale and where industries, such as coral reef-related tourism, fisheries, live animal [fish], aquarium and shell-craft industries thrive,” Vergara added.

Coral reef-related tourism relies on water and habitat quality, the type and quality of services offered, and accessibility factors, she noted.

The estimated ecosystem service value for coastal protection and maintenance of fisheries is about $62,400 per square kilometer per year. It is estimated that the total potential sustainable annual economic net benefits per square kilometer of healthy coral reefs in Asean ranges from $23,100 to $270,000 arising from fisheries, shoreline protection, tourism, recreation, and aesthetic values, ACB said in its news release.

Services that remain difficult to quantify include nutrient cycling, buffering storms, climate resilience and carbon sequestration; although tools are now being developed for this purpose.

Overexploitation of coastal and marine resources undermines marine biodiversity health.

“Str icter laws on env ironmental crimes must be imposed because exploiting marine resources is not a simple offense.

It may jeopardize the livelihood source of the millions of people who depend on these resources.

By 2050, it is projected that about 500 million people in the Asean region will live near coastal and marine areas,” Lim said.

“If you take resources from within our marine areas, you may as well have taken it from your neighboring countries because of the interconnectivity of our oceans, where larvae of corals, shellfish and other marine resources move and disperse ac ros s p ol it ic a l b ou nd a r ies.

Thus, there is a need for better cooperation within our region to address issues on trafficking of marine resources and illegal fishing,” Lim explained.

Environmental groups fight back vs. corporate lawsuits

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ISMARCK, North Dakota—Twenty environmental and civil liberties groups are fighting back against lawsuits they believe are aimed at limiting free speech and silencing critics.

Th e “ P ro te c t t h e P ro t e s t ” t a s k force announced last Tuesday targets what are known as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), which use legal action and the threat of financial risk to deter people and groups from speaking out against something they oppose.

“We know from our own experience that this legal bullying tac tic will work if it’s not shut down,” said Katie Redford, cofounder and direc tor of Ear thRights International.

The effor t is to include billboard a d ve r t i s e m e n t s, t r a i n i n g s e s s i o n s for journalists and nonprofits, panel

discussions and rallies outside the corporate offices of companies the groups believe use such lawsuits.

Rallies are planned next week in San Francisco, New York City and Dallas. Dallas is the base for Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the company that built the Dakota Access oil pipeline and sued Greenpeace, Earth First and BankTrack for up to $1 billion for allegedly working to undermine the $3.8-billion project to move North Dakota oil to a shipping point in Illinois.

G re e n p e a ce a n d t h e Ce nte r fo r Constitutional Rights, which also is involved in helping defend against that lawsuit, are among the Protect the Protest participants.

Spokesmen for ETP did not immediately respond to a request for comment last Tuesday.

The company’s lawsuit filed a year

ago alleges the environmental groups disseminated false and misleading information about the project and interfered with its construction.

ETP maintains that the groups’ actions interfered with its business, facilitated crimes and acts of terrorism, incited violence, targeted financial institutions that backed the project, and violated defamation and racketeering laws.

The groups maintained the lawsuit was an attack on free speech.

US District Judge Billy Roy Wilson this summer dismissed both BankTrack and Earth First as defendants. He said ETP failed to make a case that Earth First is an entity that can be sued, and that BankTrack’s actions in imploring banks not to fund the pipeline did not amount to radical ecoterrorism.

Ear thRights International helped defend BankTrack, assistance that Redford said exemplifies the type of collective effort the task force will bring.

Wilson also ordered ETP to clarify its claims against Greenpeace, and has given that group until September 4 to file its response to ETP’s amended complaint.

Greenpeace USA Executive Director Annie Leonard last Tuesday said a $300-million lawsuit filed against the group by the Canadian timber industry over its forest-protection advocacy is another example of the type of lawsuits the task force hopes to battle.

“A healthy democracy is a precondition for a healthy environment, and we can’t have a healthy democracy without informed, engaged public dissent,” she said. AP

A10 Monday, September 3, 2018 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

How is the economy?

I

t is hard to get a reasonable assessment of how the Philippine economy is performing. The reality is that all the analysis, no matter the source, are slanted and prejudiced.

Data can be used almost any way especially for a political agenda.

“Look how great the government is doing” and “Why is the government handling the economy so badly” are two sides of the same coin.

Part of the reason is that the economy could always be worse, or it could always be better.

There is no single factor or particular group of factors that gives a completely accurate picture. The person evaluating the economy must choose what information to look at and which to ignore. “He has such beautiful eyes,” says the crush. “True,” says the friend, “but the way those ears stick out, he might fly away in a strong wind.” So, is he handsome?

Comparing the Philippines to another country has benefits but creates distortions. Yet, if we can bring the statistics down to fair comparisons, we might learn something even if it is—“we will all die; just not all at the same time.”

We hear much about the external debt of the Philippines. What the commentators seem to forget to mention is that by a slight margin, the majority of that foreign debt is from the private sector.

Businesses will borrow at the best terms and conditions—including currency exchange rates—possible. They want to be profitable and to stay in business.

But Thailand’s economy collapsed in 1997 and Turkey’s in 2018 because the government did everything possible to get its corporations to borrow outside the country to expand and to show a “great” improvement in the economic growth. That was all artificial and a disaster.

That has not happened in the Philippines during the 21st century.

Another factor, when looking at debt load, is how much money you have in the bank. Two families have the same net income of P100,000 per month. One is paying P2,000 per month on their credit-card debt; the other is paying P15,000.

The first family’s credit-card debt is from eating at fine restaurants. The other is paying off the charges for kitchen appliances for their newly opened ice-cream store.

The second family has enough in cash reserves to cover the price of the appliances. But they built that reserve for emergencies and as working capital for their business. The same goes for countries.

One contributing factor behind Thailand’s 1997 catastrophe was that they spent 35 percent of their foreign reserves to prop up the currency to pay the foreign debt. Turkey is in the same situation with its currency reserves down 12 percent in 2018.

International financial institution Morgan Stanley looked at the emerging market countries in terms of how long would each last with the money they have in the bank—foreign currency reserves—against all their external funding needs.

If Turkey had to rely on its reserves, they have less than five months of cash. Argentina has only six months and Malaysia and South Africa could last one year. The Philippines is No. 6 after Thailand, Russia and South Korea with 3.8 years of cash in the bank.

The Philippine economy was not able to make 4 percent annual growth the “new normal” until the government’s fiscal condition was put in order during the early-2000s. We have extra money in the bank and our income is increasing. It could be better and it could be worse.

But the trend is positive and our current financial condition is secure.

Honored by our female athletes Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

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rom August 18th to September 2nd, the Philippine team participated in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia. We sent 272 athletes to the games this year, which happens every four years. Back here at home we have been receiving reports that our women athletes have been grabbing majority of the medals for the Philippines. We congratulate all the winners, men and women alike, for bringing honor to the country.

As of this writing, the Philippines is ranked 19th with a total of 21 medals in the 2018 Asian Games.

One of our favorite athletes, Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, returned home with a gold medal for the weightlifting competition. Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go also captured gold

Constitutional Succession 101

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In case of serious illness of the President, the public shall be informed of the state of his health. The members of the Cabinet in charge of national security and foreign relations and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines shall not be denied access to the President during such illness (Section 12, Article VII).

Rule 1. Succession under Section 7, Article VII Section 7 states that the President-Elect and the Vice PresidentElect shall assume office at the beginning of their terms which shall, under Section 4, be at noon on the 30th day of June next following the day of the election.

The Vice President shall act as President: (1) If the President-Elect fails to qualify, until the PresidentElect shall have qualified; and (2) If a President shall not have been chosen, until a President shall have been chosen and qualified. But if at the beginning of the President’s term, the President-Elect shall have died or shall have become permanently disabled, the Vice President shall become President.

Where no President and Vice President (1) shall have been chosen; or (2) shall have qualified; or (3) where both shall have died or become permanently disabled, the President of the Senate or, in case of his inability, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall act

But if the Acting President should die, or is permanently disabled, or resigns, Congress shall, by law, provide who shall serve as President and he shall then serve as President until the President or the Vice President shall have been elected and qualified, and he shall be subject to the same restrictions of powers and disqualifications as the Acting President. In this last situation when the Acting President dies, etc., it is understood that the latter is the Speaker of the House of Representatives for if he were the Senate President, said Speaker takes over until the President or the Vice President shall have been elected and qualified.

Rule 3. If there should be a vacancy in the Office of the Vice President Should a vacancy (not mere absence) occur in the Office of the Vice President during the term for which he was elected, the President shall nominate a Vice President from among the Members of the Senate and House of Representatives who shall assume office upon confirmation by a majority vote of the Members of both Houses of the

Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

Since 2005

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medals in the individual golf and team golf events. Margielyn Didal, the 19-year-old professional skateboarder, got the gold in skateboarding, while 22-year-old Kiyomi Watanabe shined in judo as she managed

to win a silver. The other female awardees are Margarita Ochoa (silver medal in ju-jitsu), Agatha Pauline Wong (bronze in wushu), Divine Wally (bronze in wushu), Cherry Mae Regalado (bronze in pencak silat), and Junna Tsukii (bronze in karate). Our female team for taekwondo composed of Janna Oliva, Juvenile Crisostomo and Rinna Babanto also brought home a bronze medal.

Despite the victories, we know there is a sad story in this. This time Diaz was vocal about the lack of support for athletes, but we all know that many other Philippine athletes suffer the same fate. In one interview she said that the demands from the athletes are high and not commensurate to the support that they receive.

When even an Olympic medalist like her is not spared from the unfortunate situation, what more for the rest of our athletes?

We know that many of our athletes come from poor families. For

legally speaking

here is conventional wisdom in the adage “if it aint broke, don’t fix it!” The Rules on succession to the Presidency (and Vice Presidency) are clearly laid down in Article VII of the 1987 Constitution. All scenarios are covered: death, permanent disability, inability, removal from office (i.e., impeachment), resignation and failure to qualify. as President until a President or a Vice President shall have been chosen and qualified. And in case of death, permanent disability, or inability of the officials aforementioned (the Senate President or Speaker of the House of Representatives), Congress shall, by law, provide for the manner in which one who is to act as President shall be selected until a President or a Vice President shall have qualified.

Rule 2. Succession under Section 8, Article VII During the President’s incumbency, he may die or suffer from permanent disability, or is removed from office (by impeachment) or he resigns in any of which cases, the Vice President shall become the President to serve the unexpired term, or if any of said cases should also apply to the Vice President, the President of the Senate or, in case of his inability, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall then act as President until a President or Vice President shall have been elected and qualified.

example Didal, child of a sidewalk vendor and a carpenter, still managed to excel at her sport (skateboarding) despite their economic situation. Fueled by the dream of lifting their families out of poverty, many of our athletes devote their lives to practice and discipline. The least that the government could do is support them by providing their needs so they could practice and compete well. This seems to be a simple thing, but apparently it is very hard to deliver. nnn

E v eryone i s i n v i t e d t o AB5TR AKT, an art exhibit by Hermes Alegre, Salvador Ching, Buds Convocar, Aner Sebastian and yours truly. The show will run at The Saturday Group Gallery, Shangri-La Mall, Fourth Floor, East Wing from September 8 to 21. There will be an Artists Reception on September 8 at 6 p.m. I hope you can find the time to visit the exhibit.

Congress, voting separately (Section 9, Article VII) Rule 4. Special election to fill up vacancies in the Offices of President and Vice President Congress shall, at 10 o’clock in the morning of the third day after the vacancy in the offices of the President and Vice President occurs, convene in accordance with its rules without need of a call and within seven days, enact a law calling for a special election to elect a President and a Vice President to be held not earlier than 45 days nor later than 60 days from the time of such call. The bill calling such special election shall be deemed certified under paragraph 2, Section 26, Article VI of the Constitution and shall become law upon its approval on third reading by Congress. Appropriations for the special election shall be charged against any current appropriations and shall be exempt from the requirements of paragraph 4, Section 25, Article VI of the Constitution. The convening of Congress cannot be suspended nor the special election postponed. No special election shall be called if the vacancy occurs within 18 months before the date of the next presidential election (Section 10, Article VII) Rule 5. In case the President is unable to discharge the duties of his office Section 11 of Article VII states in detail the rules as to when the Vice President shall assume the powers and duties of the President because of the latter’s inability to discharge the powers and duties of his office.

It will be Congress that shall determine whether or not the President suffers from such incapacity or See “Kapunan,” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The value of public financial management

Standard of discipline Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

Luzvi Pangan Chatto

DEBIT CREDIT

T

he chairman of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), Mr. Ian Carruthers, recently visited the Philippines to promote the whole system approach to public financial management (PFM) as well as encourage the Commission on Audit (COA) to share its good practices in developing accounting and reporting systems aligned with international standards.

Mr. Carruthers discussed developments in PFM and updates on the International Public Sector Accounting Standards at a forum in COA that was jointly held by the COA and the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy. IPSASB Deputy Director Ross Smith also gave updates on IPSAS while BOA Chairman Joel L. TanTorres shared developments in the Philippine public accounting sector.

Around 150 COA officials and employees, representatives from the BOA, and some members of the board of directors of the Government Association of Certified Public Accountants, Philippine Association for Government Budget Administration Inc., and Philippine Association of Local Government Accountants participated in the event.

Mr. Carruthers said the whole system-approach framework to PFM is a holistic model that complements existing assessment tools and provides checks and balances in every system, as well as synthesis of ideas and key elements to work together to make PFM more effective. The whole system-approach framework provides leaders, managers and donors with a model of PFM outlining the necessary measures and controls to promote wise spending, tackle corruption and contribute to economic growth and long-term stability.

He further emphasized the need for integrity, respect for the rule of law, accountability and transparency at all levels of governance that the whole system approach supports.

He noted a unique aspect of public service, which is the goal of achieving intended outcomes while acting in public interest all the time.

Mr. Carruthers also observed that the COA has many good practices in promulgating accounting standards,

rules and regulations that need to be shared. He shared that the IPSASB has held roundtable discussions with various stakeholders to get inputs to the Board’s 2019-2023 Strategy and Work Plan. He said they have interacted with around 300 representatives in the Manila leg of the roundtable discussions held at the Asian Development Bank headquarters on May 29 and 30, 2018.

There was also a discussion on the IPSASB 2019-2023 Strategy and Work Plan, including developments in public sector financial instruments projects and update on IPSAS 28-30 (IFRS convergence). Under its proposed Five-Year Strategy and Work Plan, the IPSASB aims to continue strengthening PFM globally through increasing adoption of accrual-based IPSAS. This Strategic Objective will be delivered through two main areas of activity, both of which have a public interest focus: (1) developing IPSAS and other highquality financial reporting guidance for the public sector, and (2) raising awareness of IPSAS and the benefits of accrual adoption.

Clearly, the Philippines through the COA is promoting the PFM and the use of IPSAS toward enhancing the country’s public financial management system.

Luzvi Pangan Chatto is Director IV and heads the Accounting Systems Development and Other Services Office under the Government Accountancy Sector of the Commission on Audit.

The column’s coauthor, Eliza Cahayag Cabalfin, is chief administrative officer of the Public Information Office under the Office of the Chairman of the Commission on Audit.

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.

McCain extolled by two rivals who shun a third

By Peter Baker

New York Times News Service

W

ASHINGTON — He drove them crazy. He berated them on the way to the White House and badgered them once they got there. He stood by them when he thought they were right and tore at their heels when he was convinced they were wrong.

And when it came time to depart this world, John McCain wanted them to tell his story.

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the two men who thwarted McCain’s ambitions to become commander in chief, stood one after the other before the nation’s elite at Washington National Cathedral on Saturday to honor the man they beat.

While neither former president made explicit mention of President Donald J. Trump, who left the White House as the service began to go to his golf course in Virginia—uninvited and unwelcome at the funeral—their tributes to the senator could hardly be heard without the unspoken contrast to the current occupant of the Oval Office.

“So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse, can

seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insult, in phony controversies and manufactured outrage,” Obama said. “It’s a politics that pretends to be brave, but in fact is born of fear. John called us to be bigger than that. He called us to be better than that.”

Bush praised McCain, who died last weekend at 81, for his “courage and decency,” an exemplar of the grand American values of standing up for the oppressed and against bigotry. “John’s voice will always come as a whisper over our shoulder—we are better than this, America is better than this,” Bush said.

Political figures from both parties came to bid farewell to John Sidney McCain III, son and grandson of admirals, naval aviator, tortured prisoner, congressman, sixterm senator, two-time presidential candidate, patriot, maverick, reformer, warrior, curmudgeon, father, husband and, finally, in death, American icon.

Meghan McCain, one of the senator’s daughters, offered a powerful, emotional remembrance that also seemed like a defiant cri de coeur against Trump, declaring: “The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”

I

am quite amazed as to how the Special Task Force of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) conducts street-clearing operations over the past few months. Complemented by media coverage of major networks and a British blogger that goes by the name of Gadget Addict, the Task Force has been dealing with a barrage of all kinds of difficult people, from the arrogant rich to the defenseless poor, from an argumentative prosecutor to a wisecracking street vendor, from a threatening policeman to a sarcastic yet humorous tricycle driver.

What I find admirable, however, is the conduct of the commander of the Task Force, retired Armed Forces of the Philippines officer Edison “Bong” Nebrija, a member of Philippine Military Academy Class 1991.

After serving 20 years in the Navy, Nebrija leads this small MMDA unit created purposely to clear roads of illegally parked vehicles, dismantle all kinds of obstruction in the sidewalks and apprehend irresponsible drivers, especially those who disobey the simplest traffic regulation—driving with a valid license. Bong leads by example and encourages everyone to observe common courtesy and traffic discipline. He says, “If we have a common standard of discipline, that’s the brighter Manila and that’s the brighter Philippines.” In the many videos shared online, I always find Nebrija patiently explaining to pompous and raucous drivers. Nebrija’s way of disciplining these violators is undoubtedly courageous. He has received quite a few threats.

On the other hand, what I find appalling in the videos posted online is the number of Filipinos utterly disrespecting the traffic enforcement team of Nebrija. They argue with, shout at and mock our law enforcers. I have had my own share of encounters with all kinds of law enforcers. But I always make it a point to either ask them to swiftly issue me a ticket whenever warranted or ask for leniency by letting me go without a ticket.

I never disrespected any of them, since I too was a law enforcer at one point. In the Bible, Romans 13:1-2 says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. God has established the authorities that exist. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” Considering that a large majority of the Filipino

Monday, September 3, 2018 A11

Would it be a pipe dream if all Filipino drivers will obey traffic rules, not out of fear from the MMDA but due to their spiritual belief and civic duty to respect authorities? Our common standard of discipline is not what the law says but what our conscience tells us to do. And I am sure most of us know it already. population are believers and Bible readers, obeying duly constituted authorities should come as second nature. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, there was a breakdown in discipline in the country principally due to the gradual erosion of trust in some government agencies. I think it will take one colossal cultural transformation, if not a major spiritual upheaval, for Filipinos to again respect, not fear, those men enforcing the law.

When it comes to imposing discipline in the army, sergeants are the enforcers in any unit. In Latin, sergeant is serviens, which means “one who serves.” One sergeant who I worked with was a certain Sgt. Bacalso. He played a significant role in leading, training, caring for and motivating soldiers in our infantry battalion in Bataan. He walks the talk by doing all the things he demands from our soldiers— wakes up early, wears the uniform with pride, keeps himself fit and, most of all, follows my orders. He was my “big stick.” All of my men feared him. In the Bible, Romans 13:3-4 says, “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in

UN global goals: Taiwan can help

By Jaushieh Joseph Wu

we have achieved include alleviating poverty, zero hunger, reducing the percentage of low-income households to under 2 percent, cutting the maternal mortality rate to just 11.6 per 100,000 people and under-five child mortality rate to just 2.4 per 1,000, and improving our literacy rate to 98.7 percent. All of these are well above UN SDG standards.

Taiwan also provides development assistance to other countries.

Through the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF), Taiwan’s official development assistance organization, we have launched various programs in the Pacific, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. These programs aim to help countries in these regions to achieve clean

neither addresses the issue of representation of Taiwan and its people in the UN system, nor defines the relationship between Taiwan and China. Many UN member-states have challenged the so-called oneChina principle. It is wrong for the UN, an organization created to serve all of humankind, to unilaterally define Taiwan’s status.

Article 1 of the UN Charter proclaims that the purposes of the organization are to “achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural and humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights.” At this critical juncture when humankind is facing multiple challenges, global cooperation that includes all countries, all stakeholders and all people is ever more important. By excluding a willing and able partner like Taiwan, the UN not only violates the fundamental human rights of Taiwan’s 23 million people but also greatly harms human welfare. To ensure the UN remains relevant to all people, the organization should stand up to external pressures and open its doors to Taiwan.

the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall reassume the powers and duties of his office. Meanwhile, should a majority of all the Members of the Cabinet transmit within five days to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Congress shall decide the issue.

For that purpose, the Congress shall convene, if it is not in session, within 48 hours, in accordance with its rules and without need of call.

If the Congress, within 10 days after receipt of the last written declaration, or if not in session, within 12 days after it is required to assemble,

determines by a two-thirds vote of both Houses, voting separately, that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall act as President; otherwise, the President shall continue exercising the powers and duties of his office.

Rule 6. Should the President suffer from Serious Illness In case of serious illness of the President, the public shall be informed of the state of his health.

The members of the Cabinet in charge of national security and foreign relations and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines shall not be denied access to the President during such illness (Section 12, Article VII).

The above clear rules on succession to the Presidency (and Vice Presidency) in the 1987 Constitution should end the concern that confusion, chaos and anarchy will prevail should President Rodrigo Duterte

suffer serious illness or “coma” permanently or temporarily disabling him from the full and effective discharge of his duties. Likewise, an important “Ople Proposal“ (of then Senator Blas Ople, one of the then Con-con delegates) inserted into the 1987 Constitution requires that the public shall be informed of the state of health of the President should be suffer from serious illness. This Constitutional provision appears to be a reaction to the Marcos regime where speculations on then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos’s serious illness was also rampant.

We wish our President Duterte good health and long life. And when a stream of speculation/rumor/fake news rear its ugly head to the effect that the President is in a “coma” or is undergoing or will be getting secret medical treatment in China, Israel, Russia—chop it off!

Not the President’s head, but the ugly rumors.

T

he 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted at the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, set bold goals to shift the world onto a sustainable, resilient path. Here was also pledged the formation of a revitalized Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, including all countries, all stakeholders and all people, such that no one would be left behind.

Kapunan. . .

continued from A10

inability should there be a conflict on it between the President and the majority of the Members of his Cabinet. Thus: Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Whenever a majority of all the Members of the Cabinet transmit to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,

For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

energy, food security, food safety, sustainable agriculture, better education, health and well-being for all age groups, and disaster reduction and adaptation. TaiwanICDF also works with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to assist countries in Central Asia and Central and Eastern Europe to develop market economies and a green economy.

While Taiwan’s valuable contributions have been widely acclaimed around the globe, the UN continues to ignore what Taiwan can offer. Taiwan’s tourists, experts and professionals are denied entry into UN premises simply because the UN does not accept the Republic of China (Taiwan) passport, which is recognized by almost every country in the world. The UN has refused to accredit Taiwan’s journalists covering its meetings and activities, yet the work of such people is in the interests of the people of Taiwan and the world.

We are extremely disappointed that the UN continues to misuse 1971’s General Assembly Resolution 2758 (XXVI) to justify Taiwan’s exclusion and isolation. As we have pointed out before, this resolution

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Despite such a pledge, Taiwan’s 23 million people have been left out of this global effort. This violates the principle of universality upon which the UN was founded and deprives Taiwan as well as the international community of opportunities to work together for the common good.

Taiwan, though not being allowed to participate in the UN’s meetings, activities and mechanisms, has never shirked its duties as a responsible stakeholder. In line with the Agenda’s recommendation, Taiwan has released its first Voluntary National Review last year, detailing our whole-of-government approach to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The concrete results

authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason.

They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” I say that Col. Nebrija, Sgt. Bacalso and the other servant leaders in government service are agents of kindness to those who do good. We need not fear them. We need more of them.

Yet discipline is easier said than done. History tells us that fear is the foundation of discipline. Without fear, people will not follow their leaders. But do we really need a big stick to make us follow the law or basic traffic rules?

The obvious yet costly solution to our urban traffic congestion is more roads and less cars. The lasting yet inexpensive solution lies within each road user in the country—discipline. But must we replicate Nebrija’s task force to impose disciplinary measures to the millions of people using our roads and sidewalks?

In the Bible, Romans 13:5 tells us, “Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.” Would it be a pipe dream if all Filipino drivers will obey traffic rules, not out of fear from the MMDA but due to their spiritual belief and civic duty to respect authorities? Our common standard of discipline is not what the law says but what our conscience tells us to do. And I am sure most of us know it already.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, September 3, 2018

Solons blame NFA, poor farm infra; DU30 warns rice traders

P

By Butch Fernandez & Bernadette D. Nicolas

@butchfBM @BNicolasBM

RESIDENT Duterte on Sunday warned rice traders not to force his hand into resorting to emergency measures to boost rice supply, as senators urged him to take to task both the Department of Agriculture and the National Food Authority (NFA) for bungling the rice supply situation.

Shortly after delivering his departure statement for his landmark visits to Israel and Jordan, the President once again threatened that he will not hesitate to ask the police to raid warehouses of rice hoarders, whom Malacañang earlier blamed for the increase in rice prices.

“Now, I’m just warning the traders...Do not force me to resort to emergency measures. Because if you do that and time is very limited, I will not allow Filipinos to go hungry,” Duterte said in a press briefing.

He added: “If I see any hoarding, I will not hesitate to exercise

the powers of the President and I will ask the military and the police to raid your warehouses, bodegas.

And I will just get your—subject of course to just compensation. I can do that and if, I said, you force me, I will.”

Asked on his take on calls for resignation for Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol and NFA officials to resign for alleged incompetence on the rice situation, the President sounded more forgiving, however: “Maybe the laws are weak or unenforceable.

All we have to do is to improve on those laws, not necessarily fire people.”

He added, “You know, all officials including me our bound by laws on the matter—rice, whatever it is.

There are laws to be followed.”

He also said he does not favor legalizing smuggled rice as it will be “destructive to the economy.”

“Smuggled rice unrestrained, that would promote disorder in this country,” he said, adding that it’s better to allow the importation of rice, and then sell this at a price

that Filipinos can afford.

“We can lose but not allow smuggling in this country,” he said.

The President’s statements came on the heels of the NFA Council’s move to approve the immediate importation of 32,000 metric tons (MT) of rice by the private sector via the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme to ease the tightness in rice supply in Zamboanga City, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

It also comes after lawmakers filed a resolution to look into the reported price manipulation by rice traders and into the reported weevil infestation of the rice imported from Thailand and Vietnam.

Take them to task

In the view of Sen. Francis G. Escudero, both the DA and the NFA should be “called to task” by President Duterte for seriously bungling the rice supply situation, as seen from government’s utter failure to ensure enough cheap rice in the market to stabilize prices.

See “Solons,” A2

‘Upgrade by RAM credit rater boosts PHL appeal to investor’

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

T

HE latest upgrade by one notch to “gBBB2[pi]” or “BBB” equivalent from Southeast Asia’s leading credit rater, Malaysia-based RAM Ratings Services Berhad (RAM), sustains the country’s positive credit rating momentum, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said.

The credit rating upgrade from RAM, said Dominguez, “keeps the Philippines

on a positive credit rating momentum, solidifying our key message to investors and other international stakeholders that reform-oriented leadership under the Duterte administration boosts economic competitiveness as a result of sustained reforms to maintain fiscal stability and discipline while pursuing an aggressive state spending program that fuels high—and inclusive—growth over the medium term.”

He added that the implementation of the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law,

TROUGH OF TYPHOON “JEBI” AFFECTING SOUTHERN LUZON AND VISAYAS as of 4:00 am - September 2, 2018

starting in January this year, puts in place a steady revenue stream, enabling the government to sustain its programs and the economy’s investment-led growth.

In a report it released last week, RAM announced that it upgraded the Philippines’s global credit rating by one notch to gBBB2(pi), or BBB equivalent, a notch above the minimum investment grade.

It said the upgrade was on the back of the country’s sustained growth momentum, a persistent uptrend in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, and continuous progress in the government’s economic

reform program. RAM also raised the Philippines’s regional and Malaysia national ratings to AA3, three notches away from the highest rating of Triple A, citing the country’s “superior capacity to meet its financial obligations.”

Under RAM’s definitions, a global rating reflects a country’s perceived creditworthiness compared with countries from around the globe, while a regional rating shows comparison vis-a-vis other Southeast Asian countries.

It pointed out that “the government’s ambitious infrastructure program is broadly on track,” given that “out of 75 flagship projects, 35 projects had been approved by the authority as of June 2018 compared to 18 a year ago.”

It also cited growth in FDI, the rate of which is among the fastest in the region, with Net FDI inflows amounting to $4.8 billion as of May 2018, up by 49.0 percent year-on-year, from $3.3 billion.

RAM also expressed confidence that the moderation of the Philippines’s economic growth to 6.0 percent in the second quarter still kept the economy among the fastest-growing among emerging markets in Asia.

“The credit rating upgrades from RAM are an acknowledgment of sound governance on both the financial and monetary fronts. The BSP will continue to be a pillar of strength for the economy by remaining committed to its price and financial stability mandates, as well as by pursuing additional reforms to make the financial system even more inclusive and responsive to the needs of consumers and investors,” said Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. Meanwhile, the national government reported that its outstanding debt stood at P7.043 trillion as of endJuly 2018, due to net availments on both domestic and foreign obligations.

Of the total stock, 34.68 percent were sourced externally while 65.32 percent were borrowed domestically.

The government’s outstanding debt for July posted a slight uptick of 0.4 percent from the previous month’s level of P7.016 trillion. Year-on-year (YoY), this posted an expansion of 10.3 percent coming from P6.385 trillion in 2017.

The country’s domestic debt amounted to P4.600 trillion, 0.5 percent higher than the end-June 2018 level of P4.579 trillion. Year-on-year, this posted an 11percent increase from P4.146 trillion.

External debt amounted to P2.443 trillion for July this year, 0.20 percent higher compared to the end-June 2018 level of P2.437 trillion. Year-on-year, this showed a 9.1-percent increase coming from P2.238 trillion last year.

Total government-guaranteed obligations reached P483.90 billion, decreasing by 0.90 percent month-onmonth from P488.16 billion. Year-onyear, this also showed a contraction of 2.3 percent coming from P495.13 billion in July 2017.

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GO WANTS TO EXPAND ‘MALASAKIT CENTERS’ TO HELP AILING POOR

SAP Bong Go checks on a child confined in a public hospital.

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PECIAL Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher Lawrence “Bong” T. Go wants to strengthen and expand the Malasakit Center program in order to make quality medical care available to more Filipinos.

The Malasakit Center is the onestop shop program of President Duterte to hasten the delivery of medical services and give poor patients access to free medicines.

In his State of the Nation Address on July 23, the President said Go was “instrumental in arriving at the right decision through proper consultation” when he decided to put up Malasakit Centers.

Under the program, patients are assisted in availing themselves of the services and financial assistance provided by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Pooled together, the assistance can reduce the patients’ medical bill—including medicines—to a more affordable amount or, at times, to zero.

Currently, there are five Malasakit Centers in the Philippines, three in the Visayas: the Vicente Sotto Memorial Center in Cebu City, the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City and the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City; one in Davao City and another in the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila.

In an interview during his visit to fire victims in Mandaluyong past midnight on August 30, Go said that the government plans to put up additional Centers so more people can benefit

Duterte. . .

Continued from A1

The Jordan visit of the President is also the first by a Philippine President.

In his departure statement before embarking on weeklong official visits to two countries, the President also said he shall seek to fully maximize economic cooperation and realize trade potential with both Israel and Jordan.

At least 13 to 15 bilateral privatesector agreements are expected to be signed during the Israel trip, according to Philippine Ambassador to Israel Nathaniel Imperial.

“A business delegation from different sectors of the Philippine economy will be there in order to explore the diverse trade and investment opportunities that make Jordan and Israel more tempting to offer,” President Duterte said. “Of course, we will invite their business leaders to look at our own rich market potential.”

Imperial said a bilateral labor agreement for caregivers is also expected to be signed.

“This hopefully will ensure that the exploitative placement fees that are being charged to our workers would be substantially reduced, if not eliminated. It will be a government-togovernment agreement. So private recruitment agencies will no longer be involved in the recruitment process,” Imperial said.

Noting that there are about 28,000 Filipinos in Israel and 48,000

from the program.

“May programa iyong gobyerno.

Ito po ’yung gusto ko palawakin o palakasin ‘yung Malasakit Center, kasi alam ko napakaraming nangangailangan ng medisina at saka libreng gamot” [The government has a program. I want to expand and strengthen the Malasakit Center because I know a lot of people need medical services and free medicines],” he said.

“Sabi nga ‘nung isa doon hindi na raw niya ma-sustain iyong pagpapagamot.

Nakakalungkot, so tutulungan po naming lahat, hanggang sa kaya namin itulong [As one person was telling me, he couldn’t sustain his medication. That’s unfortunate, so we will help everyone to the best of our abilities],” he added.

“Let’s say PCSO may limit ’yung [subsidy], hanggang dulo, ’yun na iyong Malasakit doon na kami talagang tutulong hanggang sa kaya, kung kayang maging zero bill. After PhilHealth, after DSWD, after PCSO, then sa dulo kung magkano iyong maiwan na bill iyon ang sasagutin [Let us say, the PCSO has a limit in its subsidy. When the patient reaches the end of that, the Malasakit Center will help until the bill reaches zero. After PhilHealth, then DSWD, then PCSO, then after all the subsidies are availed of, the patient will only shoulder the little that is left in the bill],” he said.

Go said Malasakit Centers will be put up in September in key areas like Bacolod, Dumaguete and Palawan to name a few. Another one will be put up in Maguindanao soon.

He also said the President has also allotted a P100-million monthly subsidy to the PGH to help it give free medical services to more people.

Filipinos in Jordan, Duterte said “there’s a volatile situation there and we have to be sure that our citizens are fully protected.”

Moreover, in his trip to Jordan and in his meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah II, Duterte said he is looking forward to discussing ways of advancing cooperation in the key areas of improving defense and security, sustaining growth, addressing transnational crime, intensifying trade and investments and enhancing labor cooperation.

“With more than 2 million Filipinos [working] in that region, I intend to emphasize the great importance that the Philippines attaches to maintaining peace and stability in the region,” he said.

During the official visits, the President is also scheduled to meet the Filipino communities in Israel and Jordan.

“In my meeting with the Filipino communities, I shall renew my pledge to do my utmost to bring the change we desire in our country, in ourselves as a people. I will ask them to continue to be our partners for growth, progress and change,” he said.

On Monday (September 3) the President is also scheduled to visit Yad Vashem—“The World Holocaust.”

On Tuesday the President is set to meet Israel President Reuven Rivlin. Before departing to Jordan on Wednesday, the President is set to participate in a wreath-laying event at Open Doors Monument at Holocaust Memorial Park.