Businessmirror september 09, 2016

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Before reaching Miqat, street clothes must be exchanged for sacred garb (shown at right)

Hajj sacredness

500 km 500 miles

• Cut and dye nails • Perfume on body (not clothes), but women must not use perfumes at all

Mina** Spend first night of hajj in tent city in desert outside Mecca

• Men shave head (or cut hair), trim beard

Men's

Day 3: Over 2 to 3 days, pilgrims cast stones at pillars representing temptations of Satan

OMAN YEMEN

• Shower

Finish

Mina

lf

Ihram ritual

Walk around Kabbah stone seven times

Walk another seven times around Kabbah

Gu

Mecca

Pilgrims show their state of sacredness (called ihram) by performing a cleansing ritual and wearing special clothes

Mecca

an

Riyadh

Mohammad’s birthplace

Miqat*

Mecca

SAUDI ARABIA Sea

He offered no evidence to support the allegations. Iran’s supreme leader on Monday said Saudi Arabian authorities “murdered” Muslim pilgrims who were injured during last year’s hajj stampede.

The September 2015 stampede and crush of pilgrims killed at least 2,426 people, according to an Associated Press count. Tehran has said 464 of the dead were Iranian and blamed the catastrophe on Saudi mismanagement of the annual pilgrimage. Khamenei has also blamed Saudi Arabia for an earlier crane collapse in Mecca that killed 111 people, and said the kingdom’s rulers had “reduced the hajj to a religious-tourist trip” while accusing Iran of “politicizing” the pilgrimage. AP

Start

d Re

‘T

he heartless and murderous Saudis locked up the injured with the dead in containers— instead of providing medical treatment and helping them or at least quenching their thirst. They murdered them.”— Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a statement on his web site marking the anniversary of the disaster.

If they are able, all Muslims are expected to make a pilgrimage to the Islamic holy sites at least once. Major steps in the hajj:

IRAN

EGYPT i rs Pe

The hajj

IRAQ

The five-day ritual runs September 10-15

Twopiece garment

Ihram clothing • Pilgrim in Ihram must not wear anything sewn • Garment usually white

Women's Robe covers from head to feet

• Only slippers that expose feet are allowed

Plain of Arafat

Day 2: Pray from Muzdalifa noon to sunset; Stay overnight, fit people praying, climb gathering mountain stones

* A sacred area around Mecca **Mina, Plain of Arafat, Muzdalifa are in the desert just outside Mecca Source: Islamic Information Center, The World’s Religions, Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, Encyclopaedia of the Orient, islamiccity.com Graphic: Staff, Tribune News Service

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Friday, September 9, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 335

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To improve poor cell-phone signal and slow internet speed

NTC seeks ₧1-M fine a day vs ‘erring’ telcos

INSIDE

T

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

he National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has urged Congress to increase from P200 to P1 million a day the amount of fine against “erring” telecommunication companies (telcos).

Fun at the 6th Philippine International Motor Show

NTC Commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba, during the deliberations of the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) and its attached agencies’ 2017 proposed

P3.5-billion budget on Wednesday, said a heavy penalty against telcos will address poor signal and slow internet connection in the Philippines.

The NTC is one of the attached agen-

₧200/day

The amount of fine under the 1936 Public Service Law against service providers, including telcos, which the NTC seeks to amend.

cies of the newly created DICT. Sought for comment, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. Spokesman Ramon R. Isberto said his group, including mobile-services providers Smart and Sun, will review the issue.

“We are deferring comment for now Continued on A2

Lopez orders audit of NGP’s ₧25-B spending in last 5 years

E

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

nvironment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez said on Thursday she had ordered an audit of the National Greening Program (NGP), despite its successful implementation over the past five years.

Lopez, an environmental advocate, earlier said she is continuing the program and would use it to promote social entrepreneurship among the poor.

However, Lopez said she is “unhappy” The additional budget sought with the program’s output and wants its for the implementation of an six-year implementa- expanded NGP tion go through an audit. The NGP aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares of land across the country from 2010 to 2016.

“I am doing an audit of the NGP. I am not happy at all with the NGP. Where’s the money?” Lopez told the BusinessMirror in a brief telephone interview.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) chief is holding dialogues with various civil-society organizations (CSOs) and communitybased groups to get inputs on how the agency could help them through its various program, particularly the huge-budgeted NGP. For next year, the DENR is seeking a P9.4-billion

₧9.4B

See “Lopez,” A2

Motoring

DUTERTE CAN’T AFFORD TO PICK A FIGHT WITH U.S.

E2-E3

isuzu batangas city inaugurated

DSWD BRIEFING Sen. Cynthia A. Villar (right), chairman of the Senate panel on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, questions Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Maria Lourdes Turalde-Jarabe during the Department of Social Welfare and Development briefing on its poverty reduction, health and other programs at the Senate on Thursday. ROY DOMINGO

Senate panel eyes lifting ban on govt-built power plants Motoring

E1

S

By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

ENATORS are discussing options to lift existing restrictions that prohibit the government from spending for the construction of additional power plants.

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, confirmed that a technical working group is currently studying the possibility of allowing the government to

PESO exchange rates n US 46.5540

build new plants to ensure continuous power supply. Gatchalian issued that the statement amid recent reports the Luzon grid went on red alert due to low supply.

Asked if this will require the passage of remedial legislation, Gatchalian told reporters he was not ruling out such a possibility.

“Maybe,” he said, adding that the members of the committee are inclined toward that direction.

See “Power plants,” A2

GATCHALIAN: “One of the options being considered is to allow government again to build power plants. ”

F

rom trade dependence to money from workers abroad, President Duterte can hardly afford to pick a fight with the US given his country’s ties to the world’s largest economy.

Mr. Duterte made headlines this week for all the wrong reasons. In his debut on the international stage and just days before he was due to meet US President Barack Obama The total amount of the at a regional summit in Lao PDR, President Duterte US-Philippines bilateral made offensive comments trade in 2015 aimed at the US leader that prompted Washington to cancel the meeting.

While Mr. Duterte made a swift apology and the two leaders met informally on Wednesday, investors and analysts are left wondering if there’s been any long-term damage to relations between the US and its former colony.

Whatever the fallout, it’s clear from the economic data that the US is too important a partner for the Philippines to alienate just as the Southeast Asian nation sheds its reputation as the “Sick Man of Asia.”

“The link between the two countries is quite sizable,” said

$18B

See “Duterte,” A2

n japan 0.4577 n UK 62.0984 n HK 6.0026 n CHINA 6.9891 n singapore 34.5818 n australia 35.7162 n EU 52.3314 n SAUDI arabia 12.4164

Source: BSP (8 September 2016 )

A2 Friday, September 9, 2016

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NTC seeks ₧1-M fine a day vs ‘erring’ telcos Continued from A1

to allow us time to study the matter,” he said when sought for comment by the BusinessMirror. Globe officials, on the other hand, were unavailable for comment.

Cordoba added: “We really need the help of Congress here in amending the law on penalties because when we asked the Neda [National Economic Development Authority], this P200 a day in 1936 is equivalent to P1,000,076 in the present day. If the penalty is this huge, we’re sure that the telecommunication companies will step up.”

The Public Service Act imposed a “measly” P200 per day on violations committed by telcos.

“Without a new law, all we can do now is shame campaign, where they publish the quality of service that telcos have been providing based on their equipment. There is a pending legislation on this filed last Congress, so we are hoping that this will

Lopez. . .

Continued from A1

budget for the implementation of an Expanded NGP. Lopez had repeatedly vowed to use the NGP’s budget to help the poor, including mineworkers affected by suspension orders issued by the DENR to several mining companies.

So far, 10 mining companies had been suspended, affecting close to 10,000 mine workers.

Lopez had said she wants the affected mine workers to be NGP partners.

She also told the BusinessMirror that she is bringing in “good people” in the next few weeks as part of the plan to to rid the DENR of “corrupt and incompetent” people.

Without elaborating, Lopez said she wants to double the impact of the NGP, for more people to benefit twice as much from every peso the Duterte administration will spend under her watch.

Director Ricardo Calderon of the Forest Management Bureau, who acts as the concurrent national coordinator of the NGP, is not available for interview. He

see through,” Cordoba added.

“We do the test on a monthly basis, and we publish it in newspapers and tri-media.

So, instead of implementing the P200 penalty, we do the shame game,” he said.

According to Cordoba, neighboring countries, like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Myanmar and Afghanistan, are investing on their telecommunication infrastructures, while the Philippines has not spent a single centavo to improve it.

“In the Philippines, if you would ask us how much the government spends on telco infrastructure, the answer is zero,” he said.

The Philippines has the second-slowest average download speed among 22 Asian countries with 3.6 megabytes per second (mbps), next to Afghanistan with 2.52 mbps.

The Philippines, with 3.6 mbps, lags behind Lao PDR (4.0 mbps), Indonesia (4.1 mbps), Myanmar (4.9 mbps), Brunei Darussalam (4.9 mbps), Malaysia (5.5 mbps) and

also declined to accept calls or respond to text messages.

Now on its sixth and final year of implementation, the NGP is close to achieving its overall target in terms of hectarage.

The Aquino administration had spent over P25 billion in the last five years. This year, P8.2 billion has been allotted for its implementation.

The successful implementation of the program was credited by the Aquino administration for reversing the trend on environmental degradation.

In April last year, former Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje said the country’s forest cover grew by over a million, and that through the program, the government has generated more than 2 million jobs benefiting 318,000 individuals.

The NGP, he added, has accomplished 82 percent more than the reforestation efforts of the country in the past 25 years.

Former President Benigno S. Aquino III signed Executive Order 193 on November 12, expanding the coverage of the NGP to cover the remaining 7.1 million hectares of open, degraded and denuded forests from 2016 to 2028, aligned with the Revised Forestry Master Plan, with climate-change impact among the vital considerations.

Cambodia (5.7 mbps).

Requirements

Meanwhile, Cordoba told lawmakers strict requirements from local government units (LGUs) have contributed to bad services of these telcos. “One of the reasons we’re having problems is that we’re having problems with some of the LGUs, some LGUs asked for 32 permits before they allow telco to build cell sites, while we only give one,” he said.

For his part, Information Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima urged LGUs to simplify the requirements for telcos.

“It’s really the LGUs. Three days should be enough for the LGUs to issue a permit,” said Salalima.

Inadequate budget

Liber al Party Rep. Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar said it is unfortunate that the newly created DICT will be unable to

Duterte. . .

Continued from A1

Gundy Cahyadi, an economist with DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore. “It’s an important trading partner, but, beyond that, there are multiple business ties of all sorts.”

The Philippine economy has expanded more than 6 percent since the third quarter last year, fueled by a young and growing population that’s helped to prop up domestic consumption as global growth wanes.

The following charts show how US trade and investment has helped to underpin that growth story.

Remittances and Filipinos abroad

There were more than 10 million Filipinos living abroad in 2013, according to the most recent official data, and cash that they send home is a major source of foreign-currency earnings for the country.

The US is by far the favored destination, attracting about 35 percent of all Filipinos living overseas.

Remittances amount to about 10 percent of Philippines’s GDP. Filipinos sent $25.8 billion in cash to their home country in 2015, with 31 percent of that coming from those living in the

fulfill its mandate, if given the grossly inadequate budget earmarked in the proposed 2017 appropriations.

He said the P2.9-billion allocation for DICT’s total expenditure next year is barely enough to run a bureau.

“A budget of P2.9 billion is obviously insufficient for [a] supposedly independent department expected to operate full-blast next year,” Evardone, one of the principal authors of the law creating DICT, said.

He said the Congress created a standalone department, separate from the Department of Transportation, to speed up the development of information and communications technology in the country.

Among DICT’s priority projects are to provide free Wi-Fi in public places and provide public access to Internet in remote barangays where there is poor or no mobile phone signal or network services available.

“Why give a minuscule budget for a department given an awesome mandate? Bil-

lions of dollars are needed to roll out infra projects to upgrade Internet access and speed,” Evardone said.

The lawmaker also said that DICT is tasked to implement e-governance, ensure high-tech connectivity between agencies, and accelerate delivery of the government services.

Evardone, also chairman of Committee on Bank, said the DICT is also tasked to monitor cyber-security and cybercrime cases. “In fact, the magnitude of the cybercrime problem is bigger than the extent of illegal drugs,” he said.

“What do we expect to accomplish with a pauper’s budget? Meanwhile, another department received a more than P100billion increase in its budget next year despite its underspending every year,” Evardone said. He also called on Congress to increase the DICT budget to a reasonable amount that will enable it to perform its intended functions. With Lorenz S. Marasigan

US, according to data from the central bank.

Trade links

The U.S. is the Philippines’s second-largest trade partner after China. Exports and imports between the two countries have increased 23 percent since 2010 to reach $18 billion last year.

The Philippines runs a trade surplus with the US and exports mainly electrical machinery and textiles to the country.

Foreign investment

The U.S. was the fourth-largest foreign investor in the Philippines last year after the Netherlands, Japan and South Korea, according to data from Philippine Statistics Authority. Investment in the Philippines is being held back by restrictions that cap foreign ownership at 40 percent in many industries.

Call centers

The local business-process outsourcing industry—such as call centers—is dominated

by US companies, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., American Express Co. and Accenture Plc. With many global businesses looking to set up back-office operations in cheaper locations, the Philippines benefits because of a large supply of college-educated and Englishlanguage workers. Bloomberg News

Power plants. . .

Continued from A1

“One of the options being considered is to allow government again to build power plants,” Gatchalian said. “That’s one of the remedial things that we’re thinking.”

For instance, the senator said if it is shown that investors are not interested on putting up new power plants, “the government can come in to fill the gap to ensure we have continuous supply of electricity.”

Gatchalian said it was easy for government to invest for the construction of power plants before the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, or Republic Act (RA) 9136.

“It used to be allowed, but now no more. That is in the law. So, we are thinking of allowing the government again,” the senator added. “In cases of shortage of supply the government can build power plants.”

Nonetheless, Gatchalian allayed concerns over the red alert issued early this week for the Luzon Grid, saying they have been informed this was due to “thinning reserves,” which was reported at the last hearing of the energy committee.

In reviewing the power situation, Gatchalian said “one of the things we found out is that the power industry has been deregulated.”

He explained this means that actual power outages must first occur before new investments in power plants are made because “investors want to make sure there is actual demand.”

“So, that’s one thing that we want to correct, so that even when there are no brownouts, yet, investments are already being made to ensure steady supply,” Gatchalian said in an interview with Senate reporters.

The senator said they are looking for a formula to address this concern.

For example, he says, “If I am an investor building a power plant now, how can I be sure that three years from now the demand is sustained?”

Gatchalian said this is the prevailing situation in the power sector: investors are waiting for power outages to occur to confirm that there is a demand.

“That’s what happening right now in Luzon and that’s what we want to correct because the energy sector is addressing problems in piecemeal fashion,” the senator said. “We want to make sure that long-term investments are made in terms of supply.”

A document by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) recommending amendments to RA 9136 cited the law’s flaw is characterizing the power generation sector “as not a public-utility operation.”

“As a result of this categorization, the generation company does not have to secure franchise to operate,” the TUCP document said. The group added that hence, placing power generation “outside the jurisdiction of the ERC [Energy Regulatory Commission] is fraught with dangers.”

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Friday, September 9, 2016 A3

DTI eyes more perks for firms undertaking R&D activities T

By Catherine N. Pillas

c_pillas29

he Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it is mulling over the grant of additional incentives to companies that will undertake more research and development (R&D) activities.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez also said “modernizing” incentives under the present administration does not only mean extending the income-tax holiday (ITH) period.

“The government needs to modernize our fiscal incentives. For example, in other countries, they have ITH of more than five years up to 10 years. They even have triple deduction in R&D expenses,” Lopez added.

The Board of Investments (BOI) currently allows qualified companies to enjoy ITH from four to eight years, depending on the whether the project is conferred a “pioneer” status.

Lopez said changing the country’s incentives regime would also entail setting metrics to track performance.

“I’m not saying the ITH period should be longer. [ITH] is still relevant, but make it performance-based and time-bound.

Perhaps, look into all those that will promote R&D,” he said.

The DTI chief said the government could look into offering the net operating loss carry-over (Nolco) deduction and other tax deductions.

A company that registered a net operating loss is entitled to offset a given

year’s loss against the succeeding year’s income, subject to conditions. Companies may avail themselves of this once it gets the nod of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The BOI currently allows Nolco deductions for companies importing spare parts.

The rationalization of fiscal incentives has always been a contentious matter for lawmakers and government agencies.

For one, the DTI and the Department of Finance (DOF) could not agree on how to change the incentive scheme.

In the 16th Congress, the DTI has drafted a “consolidated bill” containing the “replacement incentive packages” for the BOI and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority—the country’s two major investment-promotion agencies.

The bill, however, was shelved as both the DTI and the DOF failed to come up with a consensus on its salient provisions.

In the 17th Congress, Lopez said he is ready to work with the DOF to come up with an “effective” set of fiscal incentives.

“Hopefully, we can direct the incentives to industries, which we want to promote, to make the Philippines a more attractive investment destination,” he added.

Private-sector help needed to fund SDGs, UNDP says

By Cai U. Ordinario

T

@cuo_bm

he United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said countries cannot afford the total cost of $5 trillion to $7 trillion needed to implement programs aimed at meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

During the launch of the SDGs online portal of the UNDP and the Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE), UNDP Philippine Country Director Titon Mitra said the cost of meeting the SDGs dwarfs even the financial capability of official development assistance (ODA) donors.

Mitra said the only way to obtain sufficient financing is through partnerships with the private sector. He urged private sector players to also explore inclusive businesses.

“The private sector already has a privileged position in the partnership. Whether through trade, manufacturing, investment or innovation, companies that employ market-based solutions to global challenges can—and, in fact, are—providing opportunities for millions of people to lift themselves out of poverty,” he said.

Mitra said the launch of the UNDP and PBE SDGs online portal is “a step toward the right direction.” The online portal aims to inspire businesses to take action.

Through the portal, Philippine companies can provide data and other information on their initiatives that contribute to the SDGs. It allows companies to share information on project/initiative description and context of the issue it addresses, innovative approaches employed, key outputs and outcomes/impact, and potential for scale up and resources needed.

The information collected through the online portal will be analyzed, aggregated and published by the PBE and the UNDP in a report, titled “Philippine Business Contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals,” set to be released in the first quarter of 2017.

The UNDP said the online portal and the

$7 trillion

The total amount needed by countries to attain development goals report—the first in the Philippines—aim to institutionalize a mechanism through which the contributions to sustainable development of private companies, regardless of size, portfolio and industry, can be systematically documented and recognized.

These platforms, the UNDP said, will also allow exchange of ideas on replicating and accelerating best practices that provide innovative solutions to development challenges.

“The SDGs is a comprehensive framework of the short- and medium-term must-haves for our society to continue to flourish. The winners of the future will be those that can create business models that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs,” PBE Executive Director Bonar Laureto said.

The SDGs or Global Goals is a set of 17 socioeconomic goals that 193 United Nation member-countries, like the Philippines, committed to meet by 2030.

The goals are composed of around 169 targets and over 300 global indicators. The SDGs were adopted in September 2015.

The Global Goals aim to end poverty and hunger; promote universal health; education for all and lifelong learning; achieve gender equality; sustainable water management; ensure sustainable energy for all; decent work for all; resilient infrastructure; and reduce income inequality between and among countries.

The goals also include create sustainable cities; ensure sustainable consumption and production; take action against climate change; conserve and sustainably use oceans and marine resources; reduce biodiversity loss; achieve peaceful and inclusive societies; and revitalize global partnership for development.

Cement imported from Vietnam was unloaded at the Polloc Port in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao last year. Philippine Economic Zone Authority photo

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King’s kidneys still not functioning properly

B

ANGKOK—King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s kidneys are still not functioning properly, but infections plaguing the 88-year-old monarch have eased, Thailand’s royal palace announced on Wednesday.

An announcement said the king is receiving continuous renal-replacement therapy, a treatment for critically ill patients with acute kidney failure. It said Bhumibol is still producing insufficient urine.

The medical bulletin said an infection, which the palace described last week as “severe,” had decreased and there was less liquid in his lungs.

The king, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, has been hospitalized for much of the past decade. Because Bhumibol has been king since 1946, there is great concern about his eventual succession by 64-year-old Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, who has not earned the same respect as his father.

While he is a constitutional monarch with no formal political role, Bhumibol has generally been regarded as Thailand’s unifying figure. However, as his health has deteriorated, his participation in public affairs has sharply declined in recent years.

Concern about succession has been entwined with Thailand’s political turmoil in the past decade, as royalists have sought to ensure that they control the process, instead of certain politicians, whose fealty to the monarchy they doubt.

On the first day of trading after the initial announcement last Friday of the king’s kidney dysfunction, the Thai stock market saw a major drop, reflecting the general uncertainty. AP

Obama puts South China Sea back on agenda at Asean leaders’ summit

V

IENTIANE, Lao PDR—President Barack Obama put the longsimmering dispute in the South China Sea front and center on the agenda at a regional summit on Thursday, as it became clear that most of the other leaders gathered in the Laotian capital were going to let China off with a mild rebuke over its territorial expansion in the resource-rich waters.

“We will continue to work to ensure that disputes are resolved peacefully, including in the South China Sea,” Obama said in his opening remarks at a meeting with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

He said an international arbitration ruling on July 12 against China was “binding” and “helped to clarify maritime rights in the region.”

Asean will hold a separate summit later on Thursday with other world powers, including China and the US. The summit is expected to let China off with a muted reprimand over its expansionist activities in South China Sea, according to a draft of their joint statement to be released on Thursday.

The mild language in the statement, despite growing frustrations in the region over China’s claims, is a reflection of Beijing’s diplomatic, economic and military clout within Asean, which forms the core of the East Asia Summit that also includes the US, China, Russia, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The US has repeatedly expressed concern over Beijing’s actions in the resource-rich sea. Obama brought that up again.

Referring to the arbitration panel’s ruling that invalidated China’s claims, Obama said: “I realize this raises tensions, but I also look forward to discussing how we can constructively move forward together to lower tensions and promote diplomacy and regional stability.”

China went to great lengths to

We will continue to work to ensure that disputes are resolved peacefully, including in the South China Sea.”—Obama block any references in the statement to land reclamation, militarization or loss of trust, lobbying for the document to avoid mention of recent activities or the need to respect legal processes, said a senior Obama administration official.

Though Beijing recently announced a $600-million aid package to ally Cambodia, China was unable to get it to block the statement, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss diplomatic discussions.

Instead, Cambodia opposed including an explicit mention of the UN tribunal’s ruling, the official said.

“We reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and security and freedom of navigation in and over-flight in the South China Sea,” the draft said.

“Several leaders remained seriously concerned over recent developments in the South China Sea.... We

This combination of September 3 photos provided by the Philippine government shows what it says are surveillance pictures of Chinese coast guard ships and barges at the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. China has built seven such islands in the disputed, resource-rich sea, alarming neighbors and rival claimants, including the Philippines. Philippine government via AP

stressed the importance for the parties concerned to resolve their disputes by peaceful means, in accordance with universally recognized principles of international laws,” it said.

The statement also made no reference to the land reclamation activities

by China, which has turned shoals and coral reefs into seven man-made islands and built airstrips capable of handling military aircraft on three of them. Asean leaders at their earlier summit on Tuesday expressed concern over China’s island-building.

The Asean leaders had also said that their summit “took note of the concerns expressed by some leaders on the land reclamations and escalation of activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region.”

The use of the phrase “some leaders” in the two statements underscores the fundamental problem Asean and the wider East Asia Summit has in dealing with China—not all

Southeast Asia issues a nonrebuke to China

V

IENTIANE, Lao PDR—A summit of Southeast Asian countries issued a mild rebuke of China on Wednesday over its expansionist activities in the disputed South China Sea, and indirectly urged it to show restraint and not raise tensions.

In a victory for Beijing’s diplomatic, economic and military clout, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) couldn’t even get all of its 10 members to agree that China was responsible for building islands in the disputed and resource-rich sea.

A statement issued at the end of the Asean summit said in regard to the South China Sea, “We remain seriously concerned over recent and ongoing developments,” without elaborating. It did not mention China by name.

The statement said the summit “took note of the concerns expressed by some leaders on the land reclamations and escalation of activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region.”

China has recently developed shoals and coral reefs into seven islands with massive land-reclamation work. Some of the islands have airstrips capable of handling military aircraft.

The use of the phrase “some leaders” in the statement underscores the fundamental problem Asean has had in dealing with China—not all of its members are willing to scold it.

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Friday, September 9, 2016 A5

its members are willing to scold Beijing. Cambodia, for example, remains firmly in China’s camp, as is Laos to a large extent, preventing any robust statement from the consensus-bound Asean group.

The issue of ownership of territories in the South China Sea has come to dominate Asean summits in recent years. China claims virtually the entire sea as its own, citing historical reasons. That has pitted it against the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, all members of Asean, which have overlapping claims.

On Wednesday the Philippines released what it says are surveillance pictures of Chinese coast guard ships and barges at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, an apparent attempt to publicize its concerns before Asean leaders met with Chinese Premier Li Kequiang in Vientiane.

The Philippines is concerned that China may plan to turn the shoal into another man-made island. But

Like Hawaiian seafood?

Here’s who’s catching it

H

ONOLULU—Around 700 undocumented foreign workers, mostly from impoverished Southeast Asian and Pacific island-nations, work on Hawaii’s commercial fishing fleet, the country’s fifth-highest grossing fishery. They catch prized ahi tuna, mahimahi and other seafood at some of the country’s finest restaurants, markets and hotels. They do not have visas and cannot enter the country, staying confined to their boats for sometimes years at a time—all with the blessing of highranking federal lawmakers and officials.

An Associated Press investigation found instances of human trafficking, active tuberculosis and low food supplies.

How did they get to Hawaii?

ChinESE Premier Li Keqiang (fifth from left) links hands with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) during the 19th AseanChina summit, a parallel summit in the ongoing 28th and 29th Asean Summits at National Convention Center in Vientiane, Lao PDR, on September 7. Asean leaders (from left) Myanmar Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, President Duterte, Brunei Darussalam Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. AP

Cambodia remains firmly in China’s camp, as is Laos to a large extent, preventing any robust statement from the consensus-bound group.

The issue of ownership of territories in the South China Sea has come to dominate Asean summit meetings in recent years. China

claims virtually the entire sea as its own, citing historical reasons.

That has pitted it against the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, all members of Asean.

On July 12 an international arbitration tribunal ruled against China’s

claims, saying they were illegal. It also rebuked China for forcibly preventing Filipinos from fishing in their traditional areas.

Beijing has rejected the ruling and continued its activities. The Asean statement made no mention of the tribunal. AP

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China has not done anything to alter the circumstances surrounding the shoal.

“What I can tell you is that the situation in waters near Huangyan Island remains unchanged and China hasn’t made any new moves,” Hua said in Beijing, using the shoal’s Chinese name.

“We should be highly alert against the mischief-making intentions of people who spread such groundless information in such situations.”

New Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has taken a more conciliatory approach to China than his predecessor, and has said he would not raise the dispute in an adversarial manner that might upset Beijing.

The US military has also expressed concern over the possibility that China might turn Scarborough into another island, something that would give Beijing’s forces greater control over a swath of the South China Sea used as a passageway to the Taiwan Strait. AP

The workers are mostly experienced fishermen from Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and the tiny Pacific island-nation of Kiribati. They are not permitted to fly into Hawaii because they do not have visas. Instead, they are hopscotched thousands of miles by plane through several countries until reaching Pacific island-nations, Panama or even Mexico. From there, they are put on boats for the long trip to Honolulu.

How much are they paid?

The fishermen earn anywhere from $350 a month up to around $1,500 a month, depending on their boat and the bonuses they may be given. Most take home $500 to $600 a month. They work shifts as long as 22 hours with few breaks, and are typically at sea three weeks each month.

Some salaries break down to as little as 70 cents an hour; for many boat owners,

bait and ice cost more than crew salaries.

The fishermen catch about $110 million worth of seafood annually.

Why can’t they leave their boats?

The men are not allowed to set foot on shore because they are undocumented, nonimmigrants without visas.

They have not technically entered the country and have no paperwork granting them access even onto the docks.

They are, by law, detained by their boat captains who hold onto their passports.

In rare cases, boat owners can request passes from federal authorities to take the fishermen ashore for things such as medical care. Though the men are not technically allowed to leave their vessels, security guards turn a blind eye when they go onto the docks, but no farther, to see friends.

Who oversees this system and how it is legal?

Officials from US Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard monitor the use of foreign labor in Hawaii’s commercial fishing fleet, made up of about 140 boats. The federal agencies have no authority to set wages, but they do intervene when fishermen say their salaries are late or complain about other problems. The US Attorney’s office says the system is legal.

A loophole in federal regulations pushed by lawmakers, including late Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, allows foreign men to work on the fleet. Fishermen were initially allowed to fly to Hawaii, but that ended after the September 11 attacks. AP

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Friday, September 9, 2016 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

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Referendum a big hurdle to peace in Colombia

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OGOTÁ, Colombia—It’s been heralded as a historic peace deal to end Latin America’s longestrunning conflict. But there is a major hurdle the deal still needs to clear: a national referendum on October 2 in which Colombians will get the chance to make their voices heard.

It’s bound to be a bitter fight.

Supporters and opponents of the peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are even haggling over what is on the ballot. Opponents say the question being posed to Colombians is purposefully misleading, since it doesn’t even mention the FARC and asks voters whether they support a “lasting and stable peace.” They’ve appealed to the constitutional court to block the vote. Polls taken before the accord was reached last month in Cuba showed anywhere between an 11- and 35-point advantage in support of the agreement.

But the government isn’t taking victory for granted. In an unusual move criticized as unfair and undemocratic by the opposition, President Juan Manuel Santos has asked his

entire Cabinet to fan out across the country to carry out what he calls a “pedagogy for peace,” explaining the 297-page accord to Colombians.

It’s a tough sell. Most Colombians loathe the FARC and have deep reservations about the accord. Particularly irksome are a provision sparing rebel leaders accused of major humanrights abuses jail time and one guaranteeing them 10 seats in congress.

“There’s not going to be true peace,” said Marlon Perez, a 22-yearold studying in Bogota to be a sommelier. Like many Colombian youth, he is ambivalent about the deal with the FARC and is unsure how he’ll vote. But he is leaning toward casting a “yes” ballot.

“It’s better to have an incomplete peace than to be killing each other every day,” Perez said.

Santos says concessions were necessary to persuade the guerrillas to turn over their weapons after 52 years of combat. He calls the deal the best his government could strike with a recalcitrant rebel movement that is impossible to defeat militarily and whose 7,000 fighters wield enough firepower to cause damage and take lives across large swaths of the country.

But the opposition, led by ex-President Alvaro Uribe, argues that the government is appeasing the FARC and setting a bad example that powerful criminal gangs will seize on.

Under the banner of “civil resistance,” Uribe, a former mentor to Santos turned archrival, has led a campaign that has collected over 1 million signatures opposing the accord.

This week a giant bus painted with phrases like “No to the FARC in power” and “No to impunity for the terrorists” began making its way around the country in an Urbeled caravan.

“It’s not about signing for the sake of signing,” said Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, who narrowly lost the presidency to Santos and is coordinating the “no” campaign.

Further enraging opponents was a vote on Wednesday by the Council of the State, the top administrative court, nullifying the 2013 reelection of the semi-autonomous Insp. Gen.

Alejandro Ordoñez, one of the fiercest critics of the accord.

“They’ve just fulfilled the first pact of Havana: the departure of the inspector general,” a defiant Ordoñez said upon learning of his removal.

“The legitimacy of the referendum doesn’t depend solely on winning a majority but also on respecting the rules and controls.”

The outcome of the referendum will be binding for Santos. He was not required to call for a vote to ratify the accord. But he promised to do so, against the wishes of the FARC and even many allies, when the peace process kicked off in 2012. At the time, he told Colombians that negotiations would last months and support for his effort was running high.

Four years later, Colombians’ patience with the guerrillas has worn thin and many question whether Santos’s political capital would have been better spent buffering a wobbly economy from the collapse in commodity prices.

Some opponents are trying to frame the vote as a referendum on Santos, whose approval rating in a May poll by Gallup plummeted to 21 percent, the lowest since he took office in 2010. In July it rebounded slightly.

Slackening enthusiasm could dampen turnout. That is important because for the results to be valid it

must be endorsed by at least 13 percent of all registered voters, or about 4.5 million votes.

Turnout in Colombian elections is even lower than it is in the US and a 2003 referendum on political reforms promoted by Uribe, then near the apex of his popularity, failed to cross the threshold then in place.

The government’s worst nightmare is a Brexit-like defeat. An intense media blitz and almost daily events by famous actors and artists expressing support for the accord seeks to prevent such a scenario.

“The consequences of a loss would be catastrophic,” Humberto de la Calle, the government’s chief negotiator, said in announcing the deal.

But just winning might not be enough for Santos given the rough road ahead fulfilling the accord’s ambitious agenda of agrarian reform and development in areas long neglected by the state. One reason why the government was rushing to conclude talks was an approaching deadline for the government to pass legislation raising taxes next year to pay for peace.

“If the vote is tight, Uribe can claim victory,” said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. “If the plebiscite reveals a very sharply polarized society after a bitter campaign it will make it harder to implement the accord.” AP

Nepal government criticized for not stopping child marriages

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ATHMANDU, Nepal—Traditional practices, poverty, last year’s massive earthquake and Nepal’s ongoing political instability mean child marriages remain a serious problem in the country, where 10 percent of the girls marry before they are 15, even though the government says it is making progress to combat the problem, rights groups say.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said government indifference means it has not taken the concrete steps needed to achieve the goal of completely stopping the practice in Nepal, which has the third-highest rate of such marriages in Asia after Bangladesh and India.

Nepalese government officials, however, said the Himalayan nation has made significant progress in stopping child marriage and has new policies and laws to address the issue, including a new law that says both men and women have to be 20 before they can legally marry.

But child-rights groups say the earthquake that killed thousands and made millions homeless, plus the country’s ongoing political instability, is making the situation worse in one of the poorest nations in the world.

A report released by Human Rights Watch on Thursday said the government has not done enough to end the practice of child marriage, adding there was little evidence of the government working effectively to try to prevent child marriage or mitigate the harm that married children experience.

The report “Our Time to Sing and Play” said that, although child marriage has been illegal in Nepal since 1963, researchers found that “police rarely act to prevent child marriage or bring charges, and almost never do so unless a complaint is filed.

Government officials often officially register child marriages, even though child marriage is a crime.”

The report said a majority of the children who marry young were from Nepal’s Dalit or indigenous communities, reflecting the greater prevalence of child marriage in marginalized and lower-caste communities. It said poverty, lack of access to education, child labor, social pressures and dowry practices were among the factors driving child marriage.

The last survey by the government in 2011 found that 41 percent

The brother of Zarah, a pregnant 14-year-old who died after she was set on fire in her husband’s home, sits with other mourners at her funeral in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 10. Zarah was allegedly tortured and set on fire by her husband’s family as revenge for a marriage deal that fell through. Abuse of women and girls remains a widespread problem in the country. AP

of girls married before the age of 18. According to United Nations’ Children’s Fund, the UN’s child protection agency, 37 percent of girls married before the age of 18 and 10 percent were married before the age of 15.

Sunmaya Tamang, now 23, married when she was 14 and gave birth to a boy the next year.

“I was not aware there are laws that say we cannot marry young.

Nobody told us or tried to stop us,” said Tamang, adding that marrying at that age meant she was not able to finish her schooling and was forced to work in a carpet factory to support her family. She now works cleaning houses in Kathmandu to help her family.

“If I was able to complete school, I would have a better job, better life,” she said. She would not say if her parents forced her into the early marriage. Many such marriages are arranged by parents who try to find

suitable grooms when their daughters are still very young.

It is rare for a girl to complain to the authorities even if they know their marriage is illegal, fearing that would get their parents in trouble.

And even if they do, police are reluctant to act, said Rashmila Shakya of Child Workers In Nepal, a children’s rights organization.

“Police and authorities give least priority to child-marriage cases because it is just accepted reality for them,” Shakya said.

The earthquake that struck in April last year not only killed about 9,000 people, but also made nearly 4 million people homeless, which according to Shakya has made the situation worse. “Families in the earthquake-hit areas are desperate. They want to marry off their daughters so they have one less mouth to feed,” Shakya said, adding no surveys have been carried out to find out how prevalent that

is, but the number is believed to be significant.

Pol it ic a l i n s t a b i l it y — t he ninth government in 10 years took power last month—and ethnic troubles, which mean a Constitution that was adopted last year is still not fully enforced because minority groups oppose it, also deflect attention from the problem.

Shakya said as the country, politicians and bureaucrats struggle with one crisis after another, protection of children’s rights does not get the priority it deserves.

Government officials deny the charges and say the country is making good progress.

Dr. Kiran Rupakhetee at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, said that includes changing the legal age of marriage to 20 for both men and women as part of a government policy to end child marriage. Earlier, exceptions were allowed for marriages after the age of

18 if there was parental consent but now there are no exceptions.

Violators can be jailed for three years and fined 10,000 rupees ($95), which is more than the monthly salary for many people.

“For the first time child marriage is protected by the constitution, which says it is illegal,” said Rupakhetee, adding the government this year also adopted a national strategy plan to end child marriages.

He said the National Demographic Health Survey done in 2001 showed that 40 percent of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 were married. Similar surveys showed the figure dropping to 32.2 percent in 2006 and to 28.8 percent in 2011.

The strategy plan calls for fighting child marriages by empowering girls, providing them with better education, making families and communities more aware of the laws, and implementing the laws and policies. AP

Clinton pressed on e-mails; Trump defends praise of Putin

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onald Trump sought to allay voter concerns about his temperament on Wednesday, as Hillary Clinton tried to assure Americans that her mistakes in handling national security email should not undercut their trust in her capacity to lead the nation.

26,000

The number of unreported sexual assaults in the military, according to Trump.

In a scrappy prelude to their upcoming debates, the rival presidential nominees appeared back to back at an NBC News town hall in New York, highlighting contrasts on turmoil in the Middle East and other matters of concern to the in-person military audience.

Trump renewed his praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Republican, who has wavered on whether he would commit to defending North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies under attack by Russia, argued that Putin was more effective than President Barack Obama and that the Russian leader’s compliments of Trump would not affect their relationship.

“The fact that he calls me brilliant or whatever he calls me is going to have zero impact,” Trump said. “If he says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him.…

Now it’s a very different system, and I don’t happen to like the system. But certainly in that system he’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader.”

Trump also stood by his 2013 comment on Twitter about the frequency of sexual assault in the military: “26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military—only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?” “It is a correct tweet,” Trump said when Matt Lauer, the Today show anchor who moderated the forum, asked about it. “There are many people that think that that’s absolutely correct.”

Tr u m p w a s i m m e d i a t e l y slammed on social media for defending the tweet. Asked whether the solution was to keep women from serving in the military, Trump said no.

Trump also stood by his inaccurate claims that he opposed US military intervention in Iraq and Libya, and he defended his comment that he understands the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group better than US generals do.

“Under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble,” Trump said. “They have been reduced to a point where it’s embarrassing to our country.”

The IS never would have gained power in Syria and Iraq if the US had occupied Iraq’s oil fields at the end of the Iraq war, he argued.

“We spend $3 trillion, we lose thousands and thousands of lives, and then, Matt, what happens is we get nothing,” Trump said. “It used to be to the victor belong the spoils.

Now, there was no victor there, believe me. There was no victor. But I always said take the oil.”

Asked how that could be done, Trump said: “You would leave a certain group behind, and you would take various sections where they have the oil.” Los Angeles Times/TNS

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Friday, September 9, 2016

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China exports cushioned by weaker yuan Economist takeaways

Iran: Too early to discuss freeze of oil output in Algiers meet

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t will be too early for Iran to discuss freezing crude output when global producers meet later this month in Algiers, according to an official from the Persian Gulf nation’s state-oil company.

Iran will be ready to decide on capping production once output reaches the level it was before international sanctions were imposed on the country, Mohsen Ghamsari, director for international affairs at state-run National Iranian Oil Co., said in an interview in Singapore on Thursday.

That’s “slightly” above 4 million barrels a day, which may be achieved by the end of 2016 or early next year, he said. The nation is currently pumping about 3.8 million barrels daily.

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) members, including Saudi Arabia, and producers outside the group, such as Russia, will have to contend with Iran’s insistence that it’ll keep boosting supplies until it hits its target.

The gathering is aimed at reaching an agreement to cap output in a joint effort to prop up crude prices amid a global glut. A previous proposal fell through in April when Saudi Arabia insisted that Iran take part even though the country was pumping less than it did before the sanctions.

Oil at $40 to $50 a barrel is “reasonable” and the market is in “stable condition,” Ghamsari said. National Iranian Oil Co. can survive with those prices because its production cost is less than $10 a barrel, he said.

The nation aims to export 2.2 million barrels a day of crude in 2016 and is expected to reach presanctions levels of 2.35 million daily next year.

“Don’t expect anything of substance to be agreed on output at the Algiers meeting,” said Victor Shum, Singapore-based vice president at industry consultant IHS Inc. “It will be a nonevent and any attempts to manage output won’t happen. It will be a dud but that’s not a surprise.”

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up 1.4 percent at $48.65 a barrel by 1:05 p.m. Singapore time on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

West Texas Intermediate, the US marker, was 1.6 percent higher at $46.21 a barrel in New York.

Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s top two crude-oil producers, this week pledged to cooperate to stabilize global markets, while failing to announce any specific measures to bolster prices.

Producers that destabilized oil markets have the greatest responsibility to steady them, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said last month, according to the Shana news service, without identifying any such countries.

The nation will support any measures to revive prices “while preserving its national interests” to regain market share, Mehr news agency cited Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia as saying this month.

Crude has gained about 10 percent since Opec said in August that it would hold talks in Algiers later this month. Producers have been discussing proposals to limit output after a glut cut prices by more than half from two years earlier.

While Opec adopted a Saudi-led policy allowing members to raise output to protect market share from higher-cost producers in 2014, Iran’s supplies were constrained until this year. Bloomberg News

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China port Bloomberg News

hina’s exporters were cushioned by a weaker yuan last month, while imports rose for the first time since 2014 as property and infrastructure continued to help prop up growth and stronger demand signaled that the expansion may continue to stabilize.

Key points

Overseas shipments slipped 2.8

percent in US dollars in August from a year earlier, but increased

$52.05B The amount of trade surplus of China, which is narrower than economists forecasts for $58.85 billion 5.9 percent in yuan terms—the sixth straight rise as a weaker currency boosts receipts. Imports rose 1.5 percent in dollar terms—the first increase since late 2014—and climbed 10.8 percent in yuan terms.

The trade surplus was $52.05 billion, narrower than economists forecasts for $58.85 billion in a Bloomberg survey.

Big picture

Even as it confronts rising wages, a shrinking work force and intensifying competition from lower-cost nations, China is still eating up a larger chunk of a shrinking international trade market, while a weaker yuan is helping boost receipts. But with global demand remaining tepid, there’s still few signs of a trade-led acceleration, leaving policy-makers on guard and the economy increasingly reliant on services and consumption.

“Strong property sales and a major push by Beijing to keep expanding infrastructure construction have increased demand for industrial goods and upstream commodities,” said Victor Shih, a professor at the University of California at San Diego who studies China’s politics and finance.

“China’s economy is increasingly a wagon pulled by the two horses of property and infrastructure.”

“It may look better at the surface, but China’s trade engine is still sputtering,” said Frederic Neumann, cohead of Asian economic research at HSBC Holdings Plc. in Hong Kong. “Exports in dollar terms continued to contract in August, highlighting the broader global trade malaise. Even the new iPhone, a big boost to Asian electronics shipments in the past, has done little to lift Chinese exports.”

“It’s not getting much worse,” Zhu Haibin, chief China economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Hong Kong, said of trade in a Bloomberg Television interview. “The structural issues from global trade weakness will continue to face China and other countries.”

“Improvement in exports and imports points to stronger external and domestic demand” and add to expectations that growth may further stabilize, Fielding Chen, an economist at Bloomberg Intelligence in Hong Kong, wrote in a report.

The details

Exports were little changed to the US, Japan and the European Union (EU), while those to Russia climbed.

Imports from the US slipped, while they increased 13.2 percent from Japan and 12.7 percent from the EU. Crude oil imports rose to 32.85 million tons, or about 7.77 million barrels a day, the fastest pace since April. Coal imports jumped to 26.6 million tons, the most since December 2014. Bloomberg News

Japan’s econ grew more than thought in Q2 German lawmaker sees flexibility on migration in Brexit bargain

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apan’s economy expanded more than the government initially reported for the second quarter, helped by an upward revision in capital spending, private inventories and public investment.

GDP expanded by an annualized 0.7 percent in the three months that ended on June 30, more than the initial reading of 0.2 percent, according to revised data from the Cabinet Office released on Thursday.

The median estimate of economists was for 0.2-percent growth.

Measured quarter on quarter, GDP rose 0.2 percent, compared with a preliminary figure of 0 percent (estimate 0 percent).

Business spending declined 0.1 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, less than a preliminary 0.4-percent drop (estimate minus 0.4 percent).

Private inventories contributed 0.1 percentage points to GDP, compared with a preliminary reading of 0. They contributed the most to the GDP revision. All four components of inventories were revised upward, with materials and supplies contributing the most. Public investment’s contribution was revised to 2.6 percent, from an initial reading of 2.3 percent.

The report comes before this month’s closely watched Bank of Japan (BOJ) meeting, at which the board will conduct a comprehensive review of monetary policy and decide whether it should expand easing.

The upward growth revision is good news for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda as they seek to revive the economy and spur inflation.

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Inside the Osaka Machine Tool Co. manufacturing plant. Bloomberg News

While a ¥28-trillion ($271-billion) economic stimulus package approved by the Cabinet may help drive domestic demand, the yen’s resurgence this year is hurting exporters and corporate profits, posing risks to the economy.

“My first impression is that it’s not as bad as expected after capital investment, which had been expected to go down further, was revised up,” Atsushi Takeda, an economist at Itochu Corp. in Tokyo, said of the GDP revision. “But it doesn’t change the fact that the economy lacks strength and can’t get out of a holding pattern.”

“The nominal economy is actually recovering and that’s what today’s GDP numbers confirm,” Jesper Koll, head of the Japan unit of Wisdomtree Investments Inc., said

in a Bloomberg Television interview on Thursday. Even so, “there’s not a lot of gusto yet there,” he said, pointing to spending that continues to lag behind income gains.

Private consumption increased 0.2-percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, matching a preliminary 0.2-percent gain (estimate plus 0.2 percent). The GDP deflator rose 0.7 percent from a year earlier. Separately, Japan’s July current-account surplus was ¥1.94 trillion (estimate of ¥2.07 trillion).

In yen terms, exports were down 15.7 percent year-over-year while imports were down 26 percent. In key sectors, auto exports were down 11.5 percent, ship-making was down 52.9 percent and metals were down 21.7 percent. Bloomberg News

he European Union (EU) should ease its demand for the United Kingdom to allow the free movement of workers in return for post-Brexit market access because that would help keep Britain tied to Europe, a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party said.

Norbert Roettgen, head of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee, took a more accommodating stance than Merkel, who signed up to the decision of EU governments that the so-called four freedoms—capital, goods, services and labor—aren’t negotiable.

While Roettgen doesn’t speak for the government, his comments reflect a view among many policy-makers in Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union that it’s in Germany’s interest to maintain strong business ties with the UK. “We should think out of the box, not only black or white,” Roettgen said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Berlin.

“We should be flexible as Europeans” to keep relations with the UK “as close as possible,” he said.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s ambition to seize control over Britain’s migration policy in response to Brexit supporters has raised the prospect of being shut out of the EU’s single market. Free movement of workers between EU member-countries— the core element that drove the immigration debate in the UK before the exit referendum in June—is a political rather than an economic project and should be negotiable, Roettgen said.

“We can separate that,” he said. A condition would be to accept EU rules and their legal enforcement by the bloc’s institutions, he said.

UK partnership

Merkel is sticking to her position that accepting freedom of movement is essential for Britain to participate in the single market once out of the EU, Steffen Seibert, the chancellor’s chief spokesman, told reporters on Wednesday.

“The decision of the 27 remaining EU member-states at the end of June remains—and that is that the condition for participation in the single market is the adherence of all four freedoms,” Seibert said.

Roettgen’s comments elaborated on a paper he coauthored with France’s Jean Pisani-Ferry and economists Andre Sapir, Paul Tucker and Guntram B. Wolff that lays out a proposal of a “continental partnership” between the EU and the UK. Such a partnership would grant Britain some control over labor mobility while preserving free movement of capital, goods and services, the paper said. As a non-EU member, the UK would still have to adhere to regulations set out by the EU overseers of the single market.

“The price the Britons would have to pay is that they would be inside this market, but they would have in the end to take the rules decided by others because they have withdrawn,” Roettgen said.

‘Big damage’

He said the UK’s decision to leave caused “big damage” and May’s government should take as long as it needs before triggering Article 50 of the EU that sets out a two-year process of exit negotiations.

“They should take the time they want to take—they should prepare,” said Roettgen, a former environment minister under Merkel. “I think they aren’t really sufficiently prepared up to now.”

Bloomberg News

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Friday, September 9, 2016

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For women carrying firearms

Fashion market for concealed guns growing

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TLANTA—Does this gun make me look fat?

For decades, women have had few choices when it comes to the clothing they can wear to hide that they’re carrying a firearm. They could wear baggy T-shirts or coats, or put it in a purse and hope it didn’t get swiped or that they didn’t have trouble getting it out in an emergency.

Enter holsters, corsets, camisoles and other clothing designed to be flattering, feminine—and functional—for the pistol-packin’ mama crowd.

“I don’t want to dress in tactical gear and camo all the time. I love tactical clothing for the range. It’s comfortable. I don’t want to ruin my everyday clothing,” said Marilyn Smolenski, who in 2012 created Nickel and Lace, a company that caters to women who want to carry a firearm concealed but don’t want to trade in their femininity. “But I don’t want to wear it to the grocery store.”

Smolenski started her company right around the time when Chicago city laws changed and she could again legally carry a firearm. When that happened, she struggled to find something that didn’t make her look frumpy and didn’t broadcast that she was packing heat.

Most of the clothing was geared to men—coats with hidden pockets, or holsters that tuck neatly inside a waistband. But until the last few years, those weren’t always great options for women who don’t wear belts as frequently and are more likely than men to wear form-fitting clothing, making it difficult to hide the fact they’re carrying a firearm.

“When you put a man’s holster on a woman’s body it sticks out. It doesn’t hug the body,” said Carrie Lightfoot, founder and owner of The Well Armed Woman in Scottsdale, Arizona, which does everything, from providing firearms instruction to women to selling a variety of concealed carry clothing.

One of her company’s first missions was to design and produce a holster that recognized the differences in body types and clothing styles between men and women.

Women’s waists tend to be shorter, providing less room to withdraw a gun from a holster.

Hips and chests can get in the way, too, she said.

Lightfoot and Smolenski said that some manufacturers tended to “shrink it and pink it”—thinking that taking gear produced for men and making it smaller and brightly colored would satisfy female customers.

They and their counterparts emphasize they are driven first by function and safety before aesthetics come into the equation.

“Women need to know they can carry effectively,” Lightfoot said.

“I think the key is finding a way to carry it so you can be comfortable and move through your day

The number of dealers around the US selling women’s clothing that conceal firearms

Marilyn Smolenski uses a mock gun to demonstrate how to pull a handgun out of an undergarment she designs for concealed gun at her home in Park Ridge, Illinois. Interest in clothing that allow women to carry a firearm concealed is rising. Pioneers in the industry say they allow women to avoid looking frumpy and still carry a firearm safely and effectively. AP/Tae-Gyun Kim

without being poked and having a big hunk of metal in your pants and not be able to sit at work.”

Both also are advocates for providing women with information and guidance on ways to feel secure and be safe.

For Smolenski, that goal has led

to the creation of the annual Firearms and Fashion Show, which includes seminars on personal safety.

Her company actually got its start with a line of jewelry—from necklaces that can be pulled away easily and then used as a weapon to “chopsticks” that can both be used

2 years after cease-fire, weary Ukraine still at war

A Ukrainian sniper, who gave his name only as Corporal, takes his position in the village of Marinka, near Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. More than 9,500 people have been killed in the fighting that began in April 2014, according to United Nations figures, but despite the carnage or the weariness of those inflicting it, there’s little expectation it will actually stop anytime soon. AP/Max Black

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ARINKA, Ukraine—The gray-bearded officer’s summar y of the war in eastern Ukraine is terse with weariness.

“We stand in place. We shoot over there, they shoot back from over there,” Mykhailo Gaiduk said. “It’s just burning up time.”

The area that Gaiduk calls “over there” is territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists, where a rebel using the nom de guerre of Chester agrees: “Everybody is tired of this pointless war.”

A cease-fire signed two years ago was supposed to have ended the fighting. So was a cease-fire last year.

A temporary truce called for the beginning of the new school year on

September 1 briefly tamped down the fighting—the Ukrainian side reported only one soldier and one rebel were killed on Tuesday. But that relative calm is clearly fragile; Ukraine also claimed rebels fired some 90 mortar rounds at troops outside the city of Mariupol, one of the war’s tensest areas.

According to United Nations figures, more than 9,500 people have been killed in the fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that began in April 2014, after Ukraine’s Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by street protests and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.

The region, which is also known as Donbass, for ms U k raine’s Ru ssi a n- s pea k i ng i ndu st r i a l

heartland and many local residents on both sides of the front line are deeply distrustful of the new Ukrainian government’s Western-leaning policies. However, an all-out war didn’t break out there until after the arrival of a large number of troops and heavy weaponry, chiefly believed to be Russian supplies.

Despite the carnage and the weariness of those inf licting it, there’s little expectation it will actually stop anytime soon.

Ukraine says it will propose making the start-of-school cease-fire permanent at a meeting of conflict negotiators on Wednesday in Minsk, Belarus. But the word “Minsk” has become nearly synonymous with broken promises and dashed hopes.

The Minsk Protocol of September 2014, signed by Ukraine, Russia and rebel representatives, called for an end to the fighting.

That agreement frayed so fast that five months later a new round of negotiations—this time including France and Germany—were held in Minsk.

Although the agreement coming from that meeting had a firmer grip and saw both sides pull back heavy weaponry from the front lines for a time, other provisions weren’t met; attacks resumed and escalated.

Under the Minsk agreements, t he t wo rebe l- cont rol led re gions—which call themselves the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics—are to remain part of Ukraine, which disappointed many who sought absor ption

into Russia or outright independence. But although remaining part of Ukraine, they are to have some powers devolved to them and Ukraine is to conduct regional elections.

However, Ukraine says it will not call elections there until it is allowed full return of control of the Ukraine-Russia border, a concession the rebels are unwilling to give.

The leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, which relies heavily on support from Russia, says straight out that the stalemate is in his interest.

“Time works for us. The Minsk agreement is our great diplomatic victory, the guarantee of our independent status .... The Minsk agreement tied Kiev’s hands, and we were given the opportunity to become stronger,” Alexander Zakharchenko recently told journalists.

And in a way it may work in Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s interest, too, analyst Vadim Karasyov says.

“War is profitable for both sides. The separatists make money. And Poroshenko can attribute all the problems of [Ukraine’s] economy to the war,” he said.

As awful as the full-scale war was, some on Ukraine’s front lines found it preferable to the seemingly endless grind of today’s smaller clashes.

“In 2014 we suffered losses, but we won, we went ahead. We squeezed them, we beat them, they were afraid of us,” a Ukrainian sniper who gave his name only as Corporal said. “Now we’re bearing the same losses, but standing still.” AP

to hold up hair and then be wielded against an attacker.

For Anna Taylor, the founder and CEO of Dene Adams Llc.—named after her grandfather, who first taught her to respect firearms and handle them safely—the road to creating a line of concealed carry

clothing began at around the time she became a single mom and the safety of the family rested on her shoulders. When she got her first concealed carry permit in 2013, she went through seven different holsters.

“Some were hard and uncomfortable. Some of them I’d have to take off and set down when I went to the bathroom and I was afraid I would go off and leave it just like I’ve left my phone behind before. Others, belly-band types with a print so bad you could see the grip or outline of the gun through my clothes,” Adams said. “So when I went out in public, I felt like I had these awkward arms always trying to hide this thing.”

Her first design involved a mousepad and a postpartem corset to create a soft holster. She was able to carry the kids around, nurse, give the kids baths—even jump on the trampoline—“and I could forget that it was there.” With her last $200, she found a manufacturer willing to do a small run. Flash forward three years and she now has products on shelves at nearly 100 dealers around the country.

She has expanded into safety and training and is now a National Rifle Association pistol and rifle instructor. She even has a few men who buy her products—including, she said, air marshals, who gravitate to the snug, comfortable designs.

“We have options that don’t have lace. We have solid black,” she said. AP

Aleppo bombed as US, Russia plan Syria talks

B

EIRUT—An air strike near the site of a suspected gas attack in Syria killed at least 10 civilians on Wednesday, as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed to meet this week for extended discussions on ending the five-year-old civil war.

Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been conducting air strikes to bolster his forces for nearly a year. The United States supports rebels fighting to overthrow Assad and has called on him to step down.

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to negotiate a settlement on the sidelines of the Group-of-20 (G-20) conference in China on Monday. Obama acknowledged “gaps of trust” between the rival powers following months of negotiations between their top diplomats.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov and Kerry would meet on Thursday and Friday in Geneva to work out the remaining details of a possible deal, following a phone call between the two. But US officials indicated the earliest talks could happen is Friday.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in London Kerry would not be making another attempt with Lavrov if there were no prospects for success, but he added: “We’re a long way from getting there.”

Moscow warned that Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria was complicating peace efforts, underscoring that the operation has not

been sanctioned by the UN Security Council or the Syrian government.

Turkey’s actions “could further complicate the military and political situation in Syria, which is dire as it is” and jeopardize international efforts to reach a peace deal, it added.

Turkey pushed into northern Syria two weeks ago to expel the Islamic State group from its border and halt a northward advance

by Syrian Kurdish forces, which Ankara sees as an extension of an outlawed Kurdish separatist group inside its own borders.

Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said Turkey would like to create a no-fly zone over the area to repatriate Syrian refugees.

The air strike on Wednesday devastated the al-Sukkari neighborhood in the divided city of Aleppo.

Video from the local branch of the Syrian Civil Defense searchand-rescue organization showed residents yelling for help as first responders dug victims out of the rubble. At least half a block appeared to be destroyed.

Medical workers said the opposition-controlled neighborhood was hit on Tuesday with chlorine gas, though the report could not be independently verified. They said they treated at least 70 people for breathing difficulties. A 13-year-old girl and a 29-year-old man died from further complications on Wednesday.

Mohammed Abu Jaafar, head of a forensic department in the rebelheld part of Aleppo, said the teenager had died of suffocation and respiratory burns. AP

news@businessmirror.com.ph

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Mexican finance chief who played a key role in Trump visit resigns

M

EXICO CITY—As a handsome young politician named Enrique Peña Nieto ascended at lightning speed from state legislator to president of Mexico, Luis Videgaray was never far from his side.

An MIT-trained economist and one-time investment banker, Videgaray was Peña Nieto’s presidential campaign manager, secretary of finance and closest confidant. With his soft voice and glasses, he was viewed by many as the brains of the operation, the “viceroy” running the show from behind the scenes.

“He was the president’s most trusted adviser,” political analyst Alejandro Hope said. “He has been his intellectual crutch for years.”

So it was a great shock when Peña Nieto abruptly called a news conference on Wednesday to announce that he had accepted Videgaray’s resignation from his Cabinet.

The president named Jose Antonio Meade, who previously served as finance minister under former President Felipe Calderon, as Videgaray’s successor.

The sudden move has fueled furious speculation in Mexico, with some suggesting that Videgaray stepped down because of the controversial economic reforms he has pushed, and others blaming his role in another exceedingly unpopular political event: Donald Trump’s visit to Mexico.

Videgaray was a leading advocate for the Trump visit last week, believing it would send a signal of stability to the economic markets, a key priority for the Mexican government after two ratings agencies lowered their outlooks on Mexico from “stable” to “negative.”

But the meeting was widely panned.

An overwhelming number of Mexicans say their opinion of Peña Nieto went down after he met with the Republican presidential candidate who has put attacking Mexican immigrants and criticizing trade deals at the center of his campaign.

If the Mexican president’s poll numbers were the first casualty, Videgaray may have been the second.

Videgaray’s resignation “confirms that the decision to invite and receive Donald Trump was a historic error,” financial analyst Raul Feliz said in a radio interview on Wednesday.

Many are questioning what Peña Nieto will do without his closest adviser.

Without Videgaray, the presi-

dent’s office “is leaderless,” wrote former Foreign Secretary Jorge Castañeda on Twitter. “Who is going to govern?”

Indeed, Videgaray has been an essential part of Peña Nieto’s team since the two met in the early 2000s.

At the time, Videgaray was an investment banker. He asked to sit down with Peña Nieto, then a local legislator in the state of Mexico, for help changing some banking regulations.

When Peña Nieto was elected governor of the state of Mexico, he tapped Videgaray as his finance minister. He named Videgaray to the same post in the federal government, after he won the presidency in 2012, reclaiming the office for the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

Videgaray, who has been described as more of a technocrat than a savvy political operative, was the architect of some of Peña Nieto’s signature reforms, including changes that allow private investment in Mexico’s state-owned oil and gas sectors and a series of tax hikes.

The tax increases were unpopular with many Mexicans and put Peña Nieto at odds with the business community. The energy reforms were less successful than they could have been because they coincided with a dramatic drop in the price of oil.

“Videgaray has had a tough run,” said Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington. “In the short term, there was pain, and we’re still waiting for the reward.”

Wilson said he thinks Videgaray was right to shape a contingency plan for a possible Trump victory, given Trump’s threat to exit the North American Free Trade Agreement and levy a 35-percent tariff on products imported from Mexico.

“Eighty percent of Mexico’s exports go to the United States,” Wilson said. “If that is put at risk by the election in November, Mexico absolutely must be creating a strategy to minimize any harm. It absolutely makes sense to have open, clear lines of communication. The question is whether or not an invitation to both candidates was the best way to go about it.”

Peña Nieto extended invitations to meet to Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, about to two weeks ago. According to Mexican media reports, he did so at the urging of Videgaray, and without consulting other Cabinet members.

Los Angeles Times/TNS

Hanjin Shipping’s collapse puts 11,000 workers in Busan at risk

Inside Hanjin Shipping terminal Bloomberg News

A

group of companies in South Korea’s port city of Busan said about 11,000 jobs are at risk if the troubled container line Hanjin Shipping Co. isn’t rescued.

With no Hanjin ship berthing at its terminal in Busan, the world’s fifth-busiest port, the city’s shipping industry is headed for a crisis, said Lee Seung Kyu, chairman of Busan Port Development Association.

About 1,000 tractor drivers are unemployed, and many contractors may be forced to shut down their businesses, said Choi Chul Hee, a port executive.

Hanjin handles about 50 percent of the facility’s container volume, he said, dealing a blow to an industry that accounts for 30 percent of

600B won

The amount the government estimates that is needed to cover unpaid costs, like fuel, and to unload cargo from its stranded ships the city’s economy.

“The lost volume will find its way to China, and Busan will lose its competitiveness,” Choi said.

“The economy of Busan will be hit if Hanjin Shipping fails.”

Some companies that provide services to Hanjin Shipping and their workers haven’t been paid a total 42 billion won ($39 million), while about 10 percent of the 10,000 workers at the port haven’t received their wages for about three to four months, according to Kim Young Deuk, president of Eastern Marine Service Co. and also the head of Busan Marine Industry Association. Hanjin Shipping declined to comment.

About 110 workers hired by Hanjin’s contractors got letters terminating their employment by the end of this month, said Song Deuk Hwan, a union leader at Busan’s new port with about 200 members.

“This is only the start,” he said.

“The big concern is what will happen now. If nothing is done, more

Maldives police raid newsroom briefs after documentary broadcast

C

OLOMBO, Sri Lanka—The police in the Maldives have raided the office of one of the country’s leading news web sites shortly after a television documentary was broadcast that accused the country’s president of corruption, money laundering and misrule.

Zaheena Rasheed, editor of Maldives Independent, said on Thursday that her offices were raided by the police who produced a court warrant over an alleged “conspiracy to topple the government.”

The police took away the security camera recordings and the computer hard drives in the raid on Wednesday.

“Given that it came just hours after the Al Jazeera documentary was broadcast, it was aimed at harassing us,” Rasheed said.

Rasheed was among those interviewed for the documentary aired by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network. She said she left the country ahead of the broadcast after receiving repeated threats of prosecution under the country’s tough defamation law.

“Investigating reports of incitement to violence. Buildings

checked under court warrant, one among them housing Maldives Independent,” Maldives police said in a tweet.

The Al Jazeera documentary alleges that President Yameen Abdul Gayoom and his now estranged former deputy Ahmed Adeeb were involved in corrupt deals involving islands and lagoons allocated for tourist resort development.

The president’s office said in a statement that the documentary was defamatory based on interviews given by people who themselves are wanted for corruption investigations and by political opponents who have said they want to overthrow a legitimate government.

It said the producers did not follow the best practices in reporting and had not given the government an opportunity to respond.

The Maldives, a South Asian archipelago known for its luxury tourist resorts, have been rocked by political turmoil in recent years, and last month its parliament passed a law that criminalizes defamation and allows for jail

Friday, September 9, 2016 A9

terms and steep fines for media outlets, journalists and socialmedia users.

Maldives became a multiparty democracy in 2008 after decades of autocratic rule, but Gayoom has taken a stranglehold on power since his election in 2013. He is accused of manipulating the judiciary, police and bureaucracy to concentrate power and stifle the opposition.

At least four senior politicians—a for mer president, a former vice president, a former defense minister and a political party leader are among those who have been given lengthy jail terms after trials criticized for a lack of due process.

The government is also accused of failing to investigate the case of a journalist went missing two years ago and is suspected to have been abducted. Also two media outlets have been shut down this year which critics say is the result of government pressure.

Adeeb, Gayoom’s former deputy, is also in prison after being convicted of plotting to kill the president. AP

people will lose their jobs and more people won’t get paid.”

Hanjin Group, the parent headed

by Chairman Cho Yang Ho, said on Tuesday it will inject 100 billion won ($92 million) to revive the company while the court weighs all options.

T he gover nment estimates it needs more than 600 billion won to cover unpaid costs, like fuel, and to unload cargo from its stranded ships.

Wearing red bandannas and waving white placards, about 50 0 a ng r y sh ippi ng workers from Korea’s southeastern industrial city of Busan converged in front of Korean Air Lines Co. headquarters in downtown Seoul on Wednesday.

Their rally cry: “Save Hanjin!

Save Busan!” Korean Air is Hanjin Shipping’s biggest shareholder.

Bloomberg News

E.U.’S TUSK TELLS U.K.’S MAY: START BREXIT TALKS SOON

german authorities seize large cocaine shipment from brazil

LONDON—European Union (EU) leader Donald Tusk is urging Britain to hurry up and get on with finalizing its divorce from the bloc.

Tusk, president of the EU’s governing council, is meeting Prime Minister Theresa May in London on Thursday for talks about the fallout from Britain’s June vote to leave the EU. Ahead of the meeting, Tusk told May that “the ball is now in your court” to start negotiations. He said the process should begin “as soon as possible.”

May has signaled that she is in no rush to trigger the formal two-year round of exit talks with the other 27 members of the EU. She said on Wednesday that her government would “think through the issues in a sober and considered way” and “will not take decisions until we are ready.” AP

BERLIN—German port authorities say they’ve seized €2 million ($2.3 million) in cocaine packed among industrial machinery being shipped from Brazil.

The Hamburg customs office said on Thursday that 10 kilograms of extremely pure cocaine would likely have been cut by dealers and turned into about 30 kg for sale on the streets.

It was discovered last week and the ship has been seized to be thoroughly searched in case more drugs are hidden elsewhere.

The cocaine was packed tightly into 1-kilogram bundles and hidden behind a panel on one of some 30 construction vehicles on board.

Authorities say they’re still investigating to try to determine who was behind the smuggling attempt. The ship’s final destination was Antwerp, Belgium. AP

judge: e.u.-canada air-passenger deal infringes on people’s rights

BRUSSELS—A European Union (EU) judge says an EU agreement to exchange air-passenger information with Canada to combat terrorism should be revised, because parts of it would infringe on people’s rights. Advocate General Paolo Mengozzi said in a legal opinion published on Wednesday that the deal signed in 2014 should not enter force in its current form.

The agreement was referred to the EU’s Court of Justice by the European Parliament over privacy concerns.

Under it, Canadian authorities would have access to the data of European travelers, like contact details, credit card and other personal information.

Mengozzi said parts of the agreement go beyond what is strictly necessary to prevent serious crime. Such legal opinions are not binding but they are respected by the EU court in most rulings. AP

british official criticizes u.n. peacekeepers for sexual abuse LONDON—British Defense Minister Michael Fallon says sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers must be eliminated.

Fallon addressed the opening session on Thursday of a UN conference on increasing peacekeeping contributions and improving the performance of the troops who participate. Defense ministers from 80 countries are attending, including US Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

Fallon says the UN needs to improve planning for peacekeeping, get more troop contributions and improve their performance. Fallon cites “shocking examples of poor performance” by peacekeepers. He didn’t give details but said he was referring to cases of sexual abuse and exploitation by some peacekeeping troops. AP

A10 Friday, September 9, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Problem: Too many cars

I

t is good to see that the administration is discussing multiple options to solve the debilitating traffic problem. While the government is doing what it can to fast-track these projects, it will take several years before these projects are completed.

In the meantime, people will have to go through the daily grind and be stuck in traffic, more so when these projects commence construction. This means more lost productivity, more hours spent in traffic and more missed economic opportunities.

Unfortunately, even with emergency powers, there are no quick fixes to the traffic problem. However, certain things can be done in the meantime to mitigate traffic, and these can be implemented for the long term.

Everyone knows that traffic congestion is caused by too many vehicles occupying the same stretches of roads, leading to saturation and slow movement.

The increase in traffic has always coincided with the rapid growth of car sales.

In 2015 alone, car dealers reported sales of 300,000 units. That’s 300,000 additional units occupying the same amount of roads on a daily basis.

However, increased car sales did not necessarily mean more new car owners.

Seventy percent of Filipinos living in Metro Manila still use public transportation as their primary means of reaching their destination. Yet, in contrast to private car owners, the 70 percent of public transportation users only occupy 30 percent of the total road space. Since the problem lies with the increasing number of private vehicles on roads, the only sensible thing to do is to limit, if not curtail, the use of private vehicles.

One such way of doing so is the implementation of road-congestion pricing. Also known in other countries as electronic road pricing (ERP), this is a scheme where private vehicles using heavily congested roads, especially during peak hours, are charged for their use. Used mainly for roads that enter a city’s central business district and downtown areas, the scheme regulates road use, which, then, reduces congestion. A combination of cameras, sensors and electronic devices installed inside private vehicles monitor and charge for the usage of private vehicles when they enter these roads.

First proposed in Hong Kong in 1983, it was later implemented in Singapore in 1998 and in London in 2003, both with positive results. After its implementation, the Singaporean Land Transport Authority reported a drop of 25,000 vehicles during peak hours, while London reported a drop of 60,000 vehicles the year following implementation. Following such successes, other cities have been following suit in its implementation, despite public protests.

Implementing such a system for Metro Manila has been proposed for some time. Critics, however, argue that implementing such a system without a viable alternative can cause more harm than good. The only alternative would be taking city buses or shuttles, both of which offer comparably uncomfortable rides.

A holistic implementation of ERP, which includes park-and-ride schemes and more premium point-to-point bus services, in the meantime, would make traffic work better in Metro Manila.

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Preparations James Jimenez

spox

W

ith the 2016 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections almost certainly shelved for the time being, elections are quickly fading from the minds of most people.

That luxury, however, isn’t something the Commission on Elections (Comelec) can afford to indulge in.

Apart from the fact that the barangay elections are likely to be held in 2017 anyway, the end of 2016 heralds the start of the preparation cycle for the 2019 mid-term elections, three years down the road.

And there’s a lot to do.

Perhaps, the most pressing is the question of the automated election system. For the past three automated elections, the Comelec’s adoption of election technology has always been preceded by a recommendation from the Comelec Advisory Council. The council evaluates available technologies and provides the Comelec with its opinion on what would be best suited for use in the coming

elections. Prior to 2016, the Council manifested the desire to explore the use of alternate technologies.

Coupled with the Comelec’s oftrepeated assurances of willingness to work with local talent to develop homegrown election solutions, it is likely that for 2019, the idea of finding alternatives to optical markreader machines might gain even more traction.

In the meantime, the Comelec still has ownership of the more than 80,000 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines that were not refurbished in time for the 2016 polls.

In 2015 the prevailing notion was that doing preventive maintenance

The 2016 elections showed, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that the Internet is a potent tool for swaying heart and minds—if not to convince people to change their candidate choices, then certainly to undermine the credibility of the election system. on the old PCOS would be a priority activity for the Comelec well in advance of the 2019 polls, such that the Comelec would only have to acquire a relatively small number of machines to account for the increased voting population.

Another area of preparation that can use an early start is campaignspending monitoring. Despite having made great strides in ensuring that campaign expenditures are properly documented and (to a limited extent) tracked, the Comelec’s Campaign Finance Office remains unequipped to look into campaign spending for online campaign-related activities.

The 2016 elections showed, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that the Internet is a potent tool for

swaying heart and minds—if not to convince people to change their candidate choices, then certainly to undermine the credibility of the election system. That the “netizens” behind the claims of cheating and vote manipulation were partisan is beyond question. Thus, for many, this opens up a new area for potential regulation: the use of the Internet for partisan political activities.

There are many other preparatory activities that can be started as we enter the tail end of 2016. We can start seriously looking at amending the Omnibus Election Code, for instance, to determine which rules remain relevant and which ones have to be consigned to the dustbin of history; we can revisit campaign rules in the light of our experiences in previous elections, when the campaigns treated those rules more like suggestions, than binding codes of conduct; and we can go out and preach the message of electoral democracy to the young ones who have not yet heard it, and to those who—in these parlous times—seem to have forgotten all about it.

James Arthur B. Jimenez is director of the Commission on Elections’s Education and Information Department.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Does tourism lead to more crimes?

In silence and in peace Tito Genova Valiente

Rosalina Palanca-Tan and Len Patrick Dominic Garces

EAGLE WATCH

O

N July 28 the Department of Tourism (DOT) confirmed that the Philippines will host the Miss Universe 2016, the 65th edition of the international beauty pageant, months after the crowning of Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach as Miss Universe 2015. The pageant, which will be held on January 30, 2017, marks the third time the country has hosted the pageant, the first two being held in 1974 and 1994. Supporting activities surrounding the main pageant are slated to take place in Cebu, with organizers aiming to promote the region as the emerging international hub in the Philippines outside of Metro Manila. As such, the entire event is expected to serve as a major springboard of Philippine tourism, given the substantial domestic and international tourist traffic that the event is projected to attract.

The tourism industry in the Philippines has expanded rapidly in recent years, due primarily to intensified marketing of the country’s rich geographical and biological diversity and its historical and cultural heritage. In 2000 to 2010, the tourism sector consistently made substantial contribution to the Philippine economy, averaging about 5.8 percent of GDP on an annual basis. Over the succeeding five years, tourism’s contribution to GDP further expanded year by year, from 6.8 percent in 2011, to 8.2 percent in 2015. Recent data from the DOT indicate that international tourist arrivals for the first half of 2016 totaled 2,978,438, a 13.7-percent climb from last year’s count of 2,619,625. The increase in estimated visitors’ receipts was even greater at 14.7 percent. During January to June, international tourists brought in P127.37 billion, compared to only P111.05 billion in the same period in 2015.

With its extensive forward and backward linkages—transport, hotel and restaurant, wholesale and retail trade, banking and finance, construction, food processing, agriculture and livestock, and manufacturing, etc.,—the tourism industry promises to have a highincome generating potential that can spur growth of local economies and the national economy as a whole.

However, the sector is associated with negative externalities, such as environmental degradation and crimes. These are social costs that are shouldered by residents of the tourist destinations, and which must be addressed appropriately if the government is to continue its tourismled development policy that is aimed at effectively and sustainably raising people’s welfare with income and quality of life components.

Using data from 16 regions in the country for the years 2009 to 2011, we looked into the crime externality of tourism in the Philippines.

Several theories in economics and psychology suggest a positive link between tourism and crime. Tourists are “suitable crime targets” as they carry money and valuable objects, on a holiday mood and, hence, tend to be less prudent, and are perceived to be “safer” targets since they rarely report crime to the police. Some tourism activities may also arise from the demand for illegal goods and services, as in the case of sex tourism and tourism for substance abuse, a phenomenon that is also suspected to prevail in the country. Likewise, there are studies that suggest a negative relation between tourism and crime.

There are two possible explanations for a negative link. First, visitors increase demand for goods and services, which can lead to increase in wages and employment for lowskilled workers. And second, a place that is frequented by tourists is likely to experience and undergo modernization and development programs, which can make the area less conducive to criminal activity.

Thus, the effect of tourism on crime may be ambiguous, depending on the relative strengths of the positive and negative effects.

In our study, we differentiated between foreign and overseas Filipino tourists. We focused only on the three types of crimes that are most likely to involve tourists, i.e., crimes against persons, robbery and theft (taking personal property belonging to another without consent). Our analysis reveals that foreign tourist arrivals is positively associated with robbery and theft, while overseas Filipino tourist arrivals is negatively related with robbery.

Our estimates indicate that an increase in foreign tourists of 1,000 translates into an increase in robbery cases of four per 10,000,000 population. For the National Capital Region (NCR), where population is roughly 12 million, 1,000 more foreign tourists translates into five more robbery cases. The magnitude of the effect of foreign tourism in the theft equation is about double that in the robbery equation; an increase in foreign tourists of 1,000 translates into an increase in the incidence of theft of eight per 10,000,000 population (or 10 additional theft cases in the case of NCR). Overseas Filipino arrivals, on the other hand, is significantly and negatively correlated with robbery. For every 1,000 increase in overseas Filipino tourists, incidence of robbery cases falls by three per 1,000,000 population.

Again, taking NCR as an example, 1,000 additional overseas Filipino tourists is associated with 36 less robbery cases.

It, therefore, appears that robbers and thieves distinguish between overseas Filipinos and foreign travelers, with foreigners considered to be more “suitable” targets associated with a lower propensity to report a crime and more material possessions. These results are also reflective of overseas Filipino tourists’ knowledge and awareness of the conditions in different areas of the Philippines and their decisions to choose the relatively more developed and safer regions. Potential offenders, aware of these traits of overseas Filipino tourists, may be labeling these tourists as “less suitable targets” and are, thus, not “motivated” to pursue crimes in areas frequented by this type of tourists.

Our findings suggest that efforts in abating the tourism sector’s crime externality must take into consideration the demographics of tourist flows. As our study also provides strong statistical evidence for the negative relationship between crime and the police force efficiency, it is recommended that this potential deterrent factor be put to maximum use in areas where they are most essential, i.e., the areas frequented by foreign tourists. Thus, in light of the upcoming Miss Universe pageant and the consequent tourist influx, the best maneuver in preventing any untoward activities is a conspicuous and effective security force.

Dr. Rosalina Palanca-Tan is professor of Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, while Mr. Len Patrick Dominic Garces is instructor of Economics and Mathematics, also at the Ateneo de Manila.

annotations

I

wish I have the privilege to tell you who are these people.

For three days now, I have been with these intellectuals. I know that label has been discredited but this group of priests, nun and academics fulfill the requirements of what makes an intellectual. When they talk, you listen in awe and with respect. They do not talk to impress; they impress because they are talking about intensely personal things like what they had done to foster knowledge of other religions.

We are in this forum that focuses on knowledge, justice and spirituality. The idea of the gathering is to find ways toward justice and solidarity. In another time and another place, the conference would have resulted to a surplus of motherhood statements.

But this is the third day and I refuse to shut the sounds off.

When a speaker is at the lectern, my eyes are closed but my heart is open. Perhaps, I can even change that claim and echo what one Filipino participant, a teacher of English literature, suggests that I try to listen with my eyes and look with my ears.

The same speaker was apologetic

Friday, September 9, 2016 A11

about his place dominated by priests and Bible scholars. But the same person proceeded to talk about a poem that asks people to be still and be quiet for a few seconds, a few minutes. In that space of stillness, peace will certainly prevail.

I am at a loss at how I can capture what is happening in this forum.

But a Catholic priest from Myanmar states matter-of-factly that dialogues need not happen with words. The participants, more interested in articulation than being cynical, asked him how they could do this “dialogue in silence.”

The priest reminded us of many significant instances where this gathering takes place. A dialogue in silence is not an esoteric matter.

For example, when a man visits his mother, sick and unconscious in the hospital, the young man/son does not really talk.

He does not even attempt to wake his mother up so they could talk. The son sits by the bed, and the mother remains sleeping. In

Armed Forces of the Filipino people Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

R

ewind to 1987: It was a year after the Edsa Revolution.

It was the year when my fellow academy graduates and I were called to active duty. Sometime in August of 1987, a few military units that participated in a failed coup were “exiled” and retrained.

One of these units was the 14th Infantry Battalion. After a retraining program, which included reorientation of values, such as loyalty and patriotism, the Army redeployed the 14th Infantry Battalion from Nueva Ecija to Samar, said to be the most New People’s Army (NPA)infested province at that time. On October 8, 1987, 14 brave souls went on patrol somewhere in the hinterlands of Motiong, Western Samar.

Sensing danger upon approaching Barangay Capaysagan, then-1st Lieutenant (1LT) Apolinario Aquino Jr., the Alpha Company commander and the patrol leader for this particular contingent, decided to break up his already small patrol force into two teams. He led one team straight into the heart of the barangay, while the other team, led by a 21-year old fresh academy graduate, took a vantage position on a hill adjacent to the barangay. In a matter of minutes, the team of 1LT Aquino was engaged by NPA rebels in a firefight.

Despite not knowing the strength of the opposition and his unfamiliarity with the terrain, Aquino’s team still held its ground. The NPA rebels gradually disengaged from the firefight and withdrew from the houses where they were positioned, not knowing the other half of the Army patrol was waiting. Result: three NPA rebels killed, assorted firearms recovered and, most important, the revolutionary taxes collected by the NPA on that day were returned to the people. Were it not for Aquino’s instinct and courage, the Army patrol could have incurred casualties, perhaps, including an academy graduate who just entered the Army a mere five months earlier.

Fast forward to 2015: After 28 years, the patrol leader in the person of now Col. Apolinario Aquino Jr. (Ret.) was reunited with the leader of the other team on that fateful day in the person of yours truly. When he visited my office in

March 2015 for some assistance, he asked me if I still remember him.

I replied, “Of course, sir, you are the reason I am still on Earth.” I told myself that you simply don’t forget the faces of people who practically saved your life. As we talked about our good old days in the Army, I gradually realized that my first ever combat encounter in the Army was led by a patriot who dared to do something different.

The Army is full of living patriots.

It is but fitting for all of us to salute them, not literally, but in a way that they feel honored and recognized.

In July 2015 Congress passed Republic Act 10664, which declares the last week of August as the Armed Forces of the Filipino People week. In a privilege speech, Partylist Rep. Gary Alejano of Magdalo emphasized the need for all of us to honor our soldiers in whatever way possible. Hon. Alejano noticed that Americans look at their servicemen with much respect and dignity as they say “Thank you for your service” every time they meet men and women in uniform. When I was in the US, I have seen some Americans even take the opportunity to offer their seats/places in public buses, movie houses and restaurants to military servicemen. I think it was during the dark days of martial law, when trust was replaced by fear and respect was converted to disdain for our soldiers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. But the image of the Filipino soldier is slowly getting better.

Fast forward to today: Only a

those few minutes, the son has already communicated his presence to his mother.

Perhaps, the son has held the hands of his mother. Perhaps, the son did gaze intently at his mother.

The good priest, to further make his point, speaks about how a newly born baby looks at its mother. They are in dialog, this priest from Myanmar who speaks of his country under military rule for decades.

As I write this, I am looking to waking up early. We are all going to this mountain resort. Up there, we will sit around and discuss how we can teach in universities—even in high schools and elementary schools —the way to peace. The Filipino professor earlier mentioned his exercise he based on a Pablo Neruda poem where, in a count of 12, we will teach the young students to sit still and do nothing. Perhaps, the real lesson is really to teach each other to be still and do nothing. That is peace.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

few days ago, 15 Army soldiers were killed as the Army continues to fight the Abu Sayyaf Group in Jolo and Basilan. More already fell in combat in the past; inevitably and unfortunately, more will follow suit in the future. As I pay tribute to Col. Aquino and to others like him who have served in the military, I will always remember the words of Col. Jessep, the US Marine colonel in the movie A Few Good Men, portrayed by actor Jack Nicholson, in response to a rather irritating question during cross examination. “We [in the military] use words like honor, code and loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it.”

In his own little way, President Duterte has honored our soldiers as he has visited military camps and hospitals, the most visits ever done by any Philippine president in his first 100 days. As we live in peace and remain secure in our homes, let us not forget to pay tribute to our men and women in the military. So, to all of my former comrade-in-arms, especially to Col. Jun Aquino, my father, my brother, and my mistahs in Philippine Military Academy Hinirang Class of 1987—Mabuhay po kayong lahat at maraming salamat po!

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

Why U.S. Congress needs to vote again on Zika

I

n the two months since Congress last failed to do anything about Zika, scientists have been busy uncovering disturbing new details about the virus. Now back in Washington, lawmakers have again rejected a bill to fund the Zika fight —a failure Congress must reverse before its monthlong session is over.

Since June, hundreds more Americans have been infected, including 35 bitten by virus-bearing mosquitoes in Florida. Several more babies have been delivered with Zika-related birth defects in the US (and many more in Puerto Rico, where US officials have declared a public-health emergency). About a third of babies whose mothers are infected early in pregnancy develop problems from microcephaly to blindness, deafness, seizures and a tendency to inconsolable crying. And while Zika seems relatively benign in adults, a small number of victims suffer the nervous system disorder GuillainBarré syndrome.

Scientists now believe that pregnancy may greatly prolong a Zika infection by enabling the germ to travel repeatedly between the mother and the baby. And even babies who seem

Mila de Mier, of Key West, Florida, stands outside the Florida Mosquito Control District Office as she demonstrates against using genetically modified mosquitoes to control the Aedes aegypti mosquito, on August 24, in Marathon, Florida. Using genetically modified mosquitoes has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. AP

normal at birth, but whose mothers were infected with Zika late in pregnancy, can suffer serious developmental problems later on. Some public-health experts are comparing Zika to German measles and thalidomide.

Once a fetus is infected, Zika infiltrates the stem cells that generate neurons, keeping them from growing, multiplying and differentiating. Studies indicate the possibility that Zika could invade adult brains in a similar way,

targeting pockets of neural progenitor cells that are critical to learning and memory.

On the bright side, a promising vaccine containing a gene fragment similar to one in the virus is being tested in Puerto Rico. And researchers have identified two existing drugs that might protect human brain cells from Zika. But progress on all fronts—not just drug development but mosquito eradication, diagnostic testing and research to understand all of Zika’s effects—will be delayed without adequate federal funding. The money that the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have lifted from other parts of their budgets will run out this month.

The legislation that failed on Tuesday was voted down by Democrats for good reason: It contained dealkilling partisan provisions, including one that would forbid any funding for women’s health from going to Planned Parenthood.

Anything that could jeopardize passage of this legislation needs to be stripped from the bill. Zika is too serious, and too dangerous, for politics as usual. Bloomberg View

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

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CURSING PRESIDENT, SPIKE IN KILLINGS ALARM U.S. CHAMBER T

he American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (AmCham) is alarmed that President Duterte’s intemperate language and the rising incidence of killings in the Philippines could adversely affect the interest of American businesses planning to invest in the country.

AmCham Philippines, the oldest American Chamber established abroad, said on Thursday it is harboring “growing concerns over developments that could harm the long-standing optimism of American business to invest in the Philippines.”

The foreign chamber pointed out that societal values “may be weakening in the current environment.”

“In addition, traditionally excellent bilateral relations between the United States and the Philippines have recently been strained by language from Philippine leaders,” the statement said.

This sentiment comes in the wake of President Duterte’s inflammatory remarks against United States President Barack Obama earlier this week, before departing for the Asean Summit in Lao PDR. The hot-tempered Chief Executive, when asked by a reporter if he has prepared a line of communication in addressing the issue of human rights in front of foreign leaders, said: “I am not beholden to anybody. Iyong mga kolumnista diyan na [Those columnists who say], ‘Wait until he meets.... ’ Who is he? I am a President of the sovereign state, and we have long ceased to be a colony. I do not have any master, except the Filipino people. Nobody but nobody.”

The remark instigated backlash in local and international media, prompting Obama to cancel a scheduled bilateral meeting with Mr. Duterte at the sidelines of the summit.

This marks the second time that President Duterte railed against the US officials. Early in August, the President used antigay slur against United States Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg for the latter’s condemnation of his rape joke during the campaign period.

The President has also threatened to cut off diplomatic ties with the Western power.

Additionally, while the prevalence of illegal drugs poses a serious threat to the country, the commensurate number of killings happening during the antidrug campaign is harming the country’s image in the international front, AmCham said.

“The increased number of killings during the heightened antidrug campaign is harming the country’s image, as portrayed by international media, and some investors are now asking whether this campaign reduces the rule of law,” the statement said.

“Although statements of regret soon followed, such words and their international policy also create investor concern. AmCham has always been optimistic about the Philippines and committed to strengthen bilateral trade, investment and cultural ties. We remain hopeful that these ties will become even stronger in the months and years ahead and are committed to working with the Philippine government and people to continually improve them,” the chamber said. Catherine N. Pillas

Friday, September 9, 2016

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL not equipped vs economic crime

T

By Catherine N. Pillas

@c_pillas29

he Philippines is one of the leastequipped countries in the world to respond to economic crimes, according to the PricewaterhouseCooper’s (PwC) Global Economic Crime Survey.

Consultancy firm PwC Consulting Services Philippines Co. Ltd. said on Thursday the Philippines ranks fourth among 115 countries, with the least confidence in its law-enforcement units to combat economic crime. The survey identified economic crime as a broad term that includes cybercrime, antitrust, accounting fraud, espionage, etc.

“Fifty-eight percent of Philippine respondent-companies said we are not adequately resourced to combat economic crime. Only three companies exhibited even less confidence: Kenya, South Africa and Turkey,” PwC Managing Principal Benjamin Azada said in a news briefing.

This insight was shown in a Philippine-specific report culled from the broader Global Economic Crime (GEC) Survey conducted by PwC International. The survey, however, was conducted before the Bangladesh bank cyber heist that placed the Philippines front and center of the global scandal.

For the Philippines, 88 companies from the sectors of manufacturing, financial services, business-process outsourcing and general services were surveyed. Majority of the individual respondents were board members or directors.

Specifically on cybercrime, Philippine respondents showed similar lack of trust in local law enforcement: 52 percent believe local enforcers (National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police) don’t have the required skills, while 58 percent believe the same agencies don’t have the resources.

This perceived inadequacy is troubling as significant economic losses

are incurred due to economic crime, the GEC survey showed.

Azada said among Southeast Asia respondent-companies, 32 percent have lost more than $100,000 due to economic crime, while 11 percent lost more than $1 million.

By industry, the most susceptible to economic crime in the Philippines is financial services, followed by stateowned agencies, and the retail and consumer industry.

As the survey was conducted before the Bangladesh bank heist, Philippine companies identified “asset misappropriation” as the most pressing economic crime likely to happen to them in the next two years, followed by bribery and corruption; cybercrime rounded the top 3. This perception may soon change, with more companies likely to identify cybercrime as a looming threat attendant to the advancement of technology across industries.

“In my personal opinion, I think it’s still asset misappropriation for the Philippines—the traditional theft is still the most prevalent, but cybercrime is definitely becoming bigger and bigger, especially as Internet business and e-commerce spreads,” Azada said.

Moreover, in the absence of resources and know-how from local law enforcement, the private sector takes it upon themselves to respond to the threats, especially on antimoney laundering.

“When it comes to these crimes, it appears local companies intended to do much better. More Philippine companies plan to implement antimoney laundering and counterterrorist financing measures in the next 24 months,” Azada said.

“The bigger focus should be on what individual companies should do now, regardless of government regulations, to protect themselves. That means putting in comprehensive governance risk and control system, instituting a culture of compliance, like implementing whistle-blowing programs,” he added.

Study cites cyber attack as among top economic crimes besetting PHL companies Meanwhile, with digitization, local and foreign businesses are becoming more susceptible to economic fraud, particularly cyber attack, according to the latest PwC report.

PwC said 36 percent of 6,337 global respondents from 115 countries said they have experienced economic crime over the last two years.

In the Philippines, with 88 company-participants, 20 percent reported such in the last 24 months. “The survey shows that as market conditions evolve, so does the threats that accompany them,” PwC Philippines Chairman and Senior Partner Alex Cabrera said.

W hile asset misappropriation, known as the traditional theft or white-collar crime, is still the most prevalent one, cybercrime is becoming a larger threat to Philippine companies.

“This really picked up in the rankings, particularly as e-commerce or Internet [based] or mobile payments become much more prevalent,” Azada noted. With reports from Roderick L. Abad/ Contributor

Airlines target 2017 for transfer to Clark

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@Pulitika2010 Special to the BusinessMirror

M

AGNUM (SkyJet) Air Inc., the aviation concern of the Tieng family’s Solar Group, is buying a new plane to beef up its fleet and respond to the growing number of tourists to key destinations in the country.

This developed as SkyJet COO Joaquin Po told the BusinessMirror that the current airtraffic congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) is a challenge to the expansion of many carriers.

“We’re happy with our routes, but we want to expand and add other destinations. Unfortunately, because of the air-traffic congestion, it’s limiting our growth,” Po said.

He explained that “before, our aircraft could do five turnarounds, now we can do only three. With the last leg, we already get tense because we might not make it back [to Manila].”

Although the airline flies to the prime tourism destinations of Basco, Batanes; Busuanga (Coron), Palawan; and Caticlan (Boracay), Aklan, these still do not have night-rated airports, “so we have to deal with sunrise and sunset limitations.”

He added that the carrier is willing to move its flights to the Clark International Airport (CIA), “provided other airlines be made to transfer there, too.”

The SkyJet executive believes that the carrier will lose its edge as a convenient mode of transport for tourists if they move their flights to Clark, while its rivals going to the same destinations will remain in Manila, flying out of the Naia.

For instance, SkyJet offers its passengers the convenience to fly directly to Caticlan—only 15 minutes by pumpboat to the popular resort island of Boracay—instead of flying to Kalibo, about two to three hours by bus from Caticlan. The flight to Caticlan takes just 25 minutes from Manila, instead of the usual 45 minutes to an hour, on turboprops used by other carriers.

A longtime aviation executive, Po noted, though, that even if SkyJet and other carriers transfer some of its flights to Clark, as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has been pressing them to do, “even Clark airport officials say they are not ready. Clark can only accommodate five flights an hour, and has limited facilities, such as the small passenger terminal. The infrastructure is not ready to accommodate the transfer of flights from the Naia.”

Other aviation sources confirm Po’s observation, saying that the “earliest we can transfer is in 2017.” Philippine Airlines (PAL), for one, has already committed to the DOTr to move some of its flights to Clark. However, a PAL source said the earliest they can transfer some flights is “before

the end of the year.” Earlier, PAL announced it was studying the possibility of flying to Inchon, South Korea, from Clark.

Another industry source added, “we will need more time [to transfer our flights to Clark], as we don’t have people [staff] there.” The aviation sources, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak on their respective airlines’ behalf, stressed that the DOTr, though, wants the transfers to Clark to happen by the 100th day of the Duterte administration, or by October 14, 2016, “to show that the agency has some accomplishments.”

At present, the CIA can only accommodate 4.8 million passengers annually. The Naia, on the other hand, can accommodate 30 million passengers annually, and 42 flights per hour.

Meanwhile, SkyJet will be buying another plane, a British Aerospace 146-200, a 96-seater jet that can do short takeoffs and landings in the limited runways of the country. This brings to three the total fleet of SkyJet, which already uses two BAe 146100s, seating 80 passengers each.

BAe jets are favored by the UK Ministry of Defence, which even buys second-hand 146-200s for its Royal Air Force.

While he declined to say how much the Solar Group would be spending to buy the BAe 146200 from a Peruvian company, a check on the Internet shows second-hand units cost at least $4.5 million (P218.5 million).

The third plane, which will arrive by the end of October 2016, will enable SkyJet to increase the number of its frequencies to its destinations: daily to Basco, two times a day to Busuanga (gateway to Coron) and three times a day to Caticlan (gateway to Boracay). “We want to add more frequencies to our destinations to support the growing number of tourists,” Po said.

Basco received an historic number of visitors in 2015 at 25,382, surging by some 684 percent. Of the arrivals, 1,083 were foreigners with the rest, domestic tourists.

While no recent data is available, Coron received as many as 100,000 visitors in 2012. Its arrivals dipped slightly when it was hit by Supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013, but published reports indicated that its arrivals are now back on track, recording 400 domestic and foreign visitors a day as of the first quarter in 2015.

The world-famous Boracay Island, which is fed by the Caticlan airport, registered 1.56 million tourists, of which, some 770,000 were foreigners and around 748,000 were domestic travelers.

The Department of Tourism targets visitor arrivals in Boracay to reach 1.7 million in 2016.

A boutique airline set up in 2012 by dentist Joel Mendoza, SkyJet was bought by the Solar Group in January 2014. It has a license to operate as a domestic and international carrier.