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Wednesday, September 21, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 347
D.T.I., D.O.F. NOW IN AGREEMENT I.T.H. CRITICAL TO ATTRACT INVESTMENTS
Govt opts to keep income-tax holiday
INSIDE
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edge building certification system launched
property
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By Catherine N. Pillas
@c_pillas29
he Duterte administration will pursue the rationalization of fiscal incentives, although the incometax holiday (ITH)—the most coveted of them all—will not be touched, as requested by local and foreign investors.
Sixinch brings Karim Rashid
LOPEZ: “If you look at the DOF proposal, the ITH is no longer there.”
This is after the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Finance (DOF) finally agreed that the removal of See “Income tax,” A2
BMReports
Government forms unit to clear Christmas lanes as December nears
property
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Strengthening brand identity through ‘third places’
property
Duterte admin looking at illegal parking as cause of traffic woes By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco | Correspondent
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Conclusion
HE no-nonsense clearing of obstructions along the Mabuhay or Christmas lanes is still in full-blast, in an effort to decongest the designated alternate routes for motorists who want to avoid the monstrous traffic on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa). The intensified clearing operations are still ongoing, with a total of 1,006 illegally parked vehicles towed since July this year. The operations are being spearheaded by the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (I-ACT), composed of the Metropolitan Manila Development Continued on A2
PESO exchange rates n US 47.8680
THE parking lot at the Mall of Asia in front of the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. ROY DOMINGO
P25.00 nationwide | 5 sections 32 pages | 7 days a weekt
MORE NATIONS WILLING TO EXTEND O.D.A.TO PHL
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By Cai U. Ordinario
@cuo_bm
he robust economic growth of the Philippines in recent years has made it eligible to borrow from Scandinavian and other Asia-Pacific countries, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). Ne d a D e put y D i rector General for Investment Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan told the BusinessMirror that the country The amount of grant provided h a s “g radu ated to a by the Norwegian Agency for level of investment and Development Cooperation for trade” that made it eligible to obtain official two projects development assistance (ODA) loans from these countries. The Scandinavian countries include Norway, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands. New Zealand, an ODA partner that for years has provided mostly grants to the country, is now open to extending loans. “I can only speak for those who came to visit us in the last six months. They’ve expressed strong interest to participate in major infrastructure. When I say trade and investments, this includes opportunities for their companies to participate,” Tungpalan said. He said the Philippines’s future engagement with these countries will no longer be on a per-project basis but on a multi-year ODA program. “We like predictability, so we know where financing will be coming from,” Tungpalan said. While some of these countries, like the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium, have no ongoing projects in the Philippines, Norway and New Zealand have existing grant projects as of December 2015. Norway, through the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, is financing two grant projects worth $1.43 million. These projects include the Improvement of the Flood Forecasting and Warning System for Magat Dam and Downstream Communities and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission. The flood forecasting and warning system is being undertaken with the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, while the project on the Bangsamoro is being done with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process. Meanwhile, New Zealand, through the New Zealand Agency for International Development, is financing four grant projects worth $10.88 million. These grant projects include the Philippines-NZ Dairy Project, with the National Dairy Authority; and Restoring Agricultural Livelihoods in Conflict-affected Areas, with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
$1.43M
See “ODA,” A2
n japan 0.4697 n UK 62.3672 n HK 6.1708 n CHINA 7.1779 n singapore 35.1583 n australia 36.0590 n EU 53.4925 n SAUDI arabia 12.7668
Source: BSP (20 September 2016 )
BMReports BusinessMirror
A2 Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Duterte admin looking at illegal parking as cause of traffic woes Continued from A1
Authority (MMDA), the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) and the Department of Transportation (DoTr). The DoTr’s Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and Land Transportation Office (LTO) are also looped in in the operations. “More than the policies, there’s really no major [or new initiative]…what you have now is strict enforcement,” MMDA General Manager Tim Orbos said. “There is now a conscious effort to enforce the laws not just on roads, also on parking and even [for] illegal vendors [in line with] sidewalk clearing. Doon kami nagsamasama sa enforcement [It is in these areas where we unite in enforcement].”
Interagency
ACCORDING to Orbos, two teams each from the MMDA’s Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group, Parking Discipline Group and Task Force Anti-Illegal Terminal, together with their counterparts, were initially deployed to clear streets, particularly the 21 routes of the Mabuhay Lanes, of ambulant vendors and road obstructions. The latter includes illegally parked vehicles. Orbos added that MMDA personnel are also handing out leaflets and flyers to remind motorists and the concerned residents that the alternate routes for Edsa should be free of any form of road obstructions from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. All illegally parked motor vehicles on Edsa and secondary streets of Mabuhay or Christmas Lanes will be towed away and violators will be apprehended and slapped with corresponding fines and penalties. Illegal selling of ambulant vendors with their karitons (push carts) along Edsa will no longer be allowed. Orbos said
ODA. . .
Continued from A1
The list also includes the project Restoring Agricultural Livelihoods in typhoonaffected areas with the Food and Agriculture Organization and Project ReBUILD with the United Nations Development Program and Climate Change Commission. While the Philippines does not have an ongoing project financed by the Belgian government, this is not the first time that the country has engaged with the government of Belgium for an infrastructure project. In 2009 the Neda Board approved the P18.5-billion Laguna de Bay Rehabilitation Project, which involves the dredging of Laguna Lake navigational lane and the entire 8-kilometer stretch of the Napindan Channel and developing a transport system, including the
the MMDA can confiscate the products of these vendors if they receive a refusal to cooperate. He noted there are existing laws relative to the local government units that apply to these situations. Mabuhay or Christmas Lanes are alternate routes motorists could use during the holiday season from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The MMDA has said the clearing of Mabuhay Lanes is part of its efforts to alleviate the Metro’s worsening traffic situation.
the rules].” Pangilinan added that they are now very strict with the implementation of the one-side parking. So far, after implementing the new scheme, traffic flow has improved, he claims.
Pay parking
FOLLOWING the standoff over the clearing of Mabuhay Lanes between MMDA personnel and the PNP-Highway Patrol Group in the city last year, the local government of San Juan has started to implement one-sided parking in the Greenhills area, San Juan’s shopping hub. The conflict started in November last year, when members of the MMDA Clearing Team were forced to back down and returned motorcycles they towed after the city government stopped them from continuing towing operations. “We have an existing ordinance [Ordinance 40, Series of 1998] that was passed during the administration of then-Mayor Jinggoy E. Estrada declaring certain streets as pay-parking zones,” Mayor Guia Gomez said. Walter Pangilinan, officer in charge of the Traffic and Parking Management OfficeGreenhills, said that after a series of meetings with the MMDA, it has been agreed that they will implement the one-sided parallel parking instead of the previous diagonal parking. “Actually bawal naman po talaga magpark sa kabilang side—isang side lang po ang allowed,” Pangilinan told the BusinessMirror. “Kaso minsan may mga pasaway na mga may-ari ng sasakyan na nagpapa-park doon [It’s really prohibited to park on that side but there are car owners who violate
GOMEZ said they are always supportive of national programs, but maintained that public vehicles also pass through some streets in Barangay Greenhills that are considered pay-parking zones. Gomez added that city officials must also adhere to what’s best for the city and their constituents. “We would, of course, see to it that interagency programs such as this [MMDA clearing operations] will be addressed,” she added. She said some of the MMDA-designated Mabuhay Lanes cover some of those pay-parking zones. “Inasmuch as we would like to allow them to clear Annapolis and Connecticut streets and Club Filipino Avenue, we have to amend first our ordinance,” Gomez said. “The vehicles parked along the said streets are legal as far as the local law is concerned.” Gomez was referring to the P30 parking charge for the first three hours and an additional P10 for every succeeding hour. But this move limits the moving traffic on the four-lane street to two lanes. She, however, assured that the city government “is seriously considering to revisit our old traffic and parking resolutions and ordinances.” On September 19 MMDA personnel towed vehicles along F. Manalo Street up to A. Bonifacio Street. Motor vehicles that will be hauled by tow trucks during clearing operations will be brought to the LTO/I-ACT impounding area in Tarlac. T he pena lt y for il lega l park ing is P3,000.
development of Laguna Ferry Systems and service repair centers. About P15.3 billion of the total project cost shall be funded by the Belgian government’s Super Subsidy Facility, while commercial loans coming from Belgian banks based on partial prepayment guarantees offered by the Belgian Export Credit Agency will be tapped for the remaining P3.2 billion. However, the project was eventually canceled by the Philippine government. The Belgian contractor for the project, meanwhile, filed a $6 billion worth law suit against the Philippine government and won the case. Based on the ODA Act of 1996, ODA can be a loan or loan and grant that aims to promote sustainable social and economic development and welfare of the Philippines and must contain a grant element of at least 25 percent. ODA loans and grants are contracted with governments of foreign countries
with whom the Philippines has diplomatic, trade relations or bilateral agreements or are members of the United Nations, their agencies and international or multilateral lending institutions. Earlier, the Neda confirmed that it is currently in talks with the Netherlands to craft the P250 million worth Manila Bay master plan. Tungpalan said the Netherlands has already sent a scoping mission for the project and is exploring a possible engagement with the private sector for the master plan. He said the creation of a comprehensive master plan will coordinate national and local government efforts in developing the Manila Bay area. It will take into consideration economic, ecologic and social development in the Manila Bay region. Documents obtained from the Neda showed that the project, to be titled Manila Bay Development Master Plan, will be undertaken between 2017 and 2019.
Standoff
Income tax. . . Continued from A1
ITH would be a deal breaker for new investments. “It’s really the ITH that has an impact on revenues, but the DOF has already accepted this; they know that the ITH is a deciding factor of investors for them to come here. So the DOF is okay with the ITH,” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said. This will be the new thrust of the government in overhauling the administration of tax perks. “If you look at their [DOF] proposal, the ITH is no longer there,” Lopez pointed out. He said the DTI is now open to even extending the ITH period, currently at up to eight years. In the DOF’s tax-reform package presented to the House of Representatives last week, the ITH was, indeed, not listed among the fiscal incentives that will be rationalized. The rationalization of fiscal incentives was identified as an “offsetting measure” to recoup foregone revenues from the proposal to reduce corporate-income tax.
5% gross tax option
Under the new rationalization measure, the incentives targeted to be changed include the 5-percent gross income earned (GIE) tax rate given by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and other investment promotion agencies (IPAs). This is being eyed to be replaced by a reduced corporate-income tax of 15 percent. However, Lopez said this 5 percent on GIE perk may just be capped, as it is one of the “perpetual” fiscal incentives offered by IPAs that are probably adding to the revenue leak. “We want to make the perpetual incentives to be time-bound,” the DTI chief said, adding that the special 5-percent rate on GIE may be capped at an availment period of 25 years. Lopez maintained that proposals on other incentives aside from the ITH are still under discussion.
Additional perks
To firm up a more attractive fiscal-incentive package, however, there may be additional incentives needed. Double deductability, the net operating loss carry-over and accelerated depreciation are among these additional perks being looked at. The DTI secretary said these additional perks may be given to encourage certain activities, like more spending on research and development, or to encourage large companies to buy from small and medium enterprises. The move to rationalize incentives has been introduced in every Congress for nearly a decade now. The DTI and the DOF have long debated on ways to balance the DOF’s goal of robust revenue collection through streamlining of fiscal perks and the DTI’s duty to attract more investments through the offering of competitive fiscal-incentive package.
Tax amnesty
MEANWHILE, a general tax-amnesty bill expanding the tax base has been filed in the Senate by Minority Leader Ralph G. Recto aiming to lure untaxed individuals, or those with outstanding liabilities, to settle their tax dues and avoid criminal charges. Under Senate Bill 920, Recto explains the tax amnesty can be a prelude to the taxreform plan the Duterte administration is set to pursue, saying the bill “will give taxpayers with arrears an opportunity to come up with a clean slate and begin paying the correct taxes.” “A tax-forgiveness program would allow many people to surface and put their tax papers in order without fear of prosecution,” he said. According to Recto, “law-abiding citizens would have stepped forward a long time ago if not for complexity of the current tax system,” citing for instance “small businessmen and self-employed professionals” who, he said, “find the bureaucratic hurdle too high, too often or too costly to comply with.” Moreover, Recto noted another factor discouraging law-abiding and hardworking taxpayers in arrears is that they are worried their voluntary offer to settle past dues, instead of being met with understanding, “will be reciprocated with severe penalties.” Recto asserted that the bill’s provision for immunity from civil, criminal and administrative penalties to be granted to erring taxpayers will also “encourage those operating in the underground economy to legitimize their business operations.” The senator noted that the bill further provides that the tax amnesty will “cover all national internal-revenue taxes for the taxable year 2015 and prior years, with or without tax assessments.” He, however, clarified the amnesty bill
www.businessmirror.com.ph would not cover those with pending cases involving “unexplained or unlawfully acquired wealth,” or under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Persons charged with violating the antimoney-laundering law will also not be allowed to apply for amnesty, the senator said. Recto added that also on the negative list are “withholding agents with respect to their withholding tax liability, those with pending cases falling under the jurisdiction of the Presidential Commission on Good Government.
New tax-reform package
The House Committee on Ways and Means on Tuesday directed the DOF to submit immediately its tax-reform package to Congress to avoid delay in the approval of a measure lowering personal-income tax (PIT) rates. Liberal Party Rep. Dakila Carlo E. Cua of Quirino, the panel chairman, said the DOF should submit its version of the bill reducing individual income-tax rates this week, otherwise, the lower chamber will move forward and concentrate on measures filed by lawmakers. “Hopefully, they will submit it before our next meeting on Tuesday. We will not wait forever, if they will not pass their draft bill on PIT, we will move forward and create a TWG [technical working group] to consolidate all the proposals filed before the lower chamber,” he said. According to Cua, the TWG’s consolidated measure will be the lower chamber’s “new platform” if the DOF will not submit its version. “We will wait for [DOF version] until this week, I want to give the DOF a chance to put their version of the reform but if they don’t submit it on time...we will not wait for them,” he said. Deputy Speaker and Liberal Party Rep. Romero S. Quimbo of Marikina City said lowering individual income-tax rates is actually long overdue, saying the income-tax should be adjusted considering that the P500,000 amounts to P1.1 million today. In the current setup, Quimbo said those earning P10,000 or less per month pay 5-percent income tax, while those with yearly earnings of P500,000 and above pay 32-percent income tax. He said since the government is eyeing a radical overhaul of the income-tax structure, the government will better achieve its aspiration for social justice by giving the lowto middle-income earners a higher incometax exemption. Quimbo is the author of a measure restructuring individual-income taxes by pushing the tax-exemption level to P300,000, and increasing the highest tax bracket to P10,000,000. Quimbo, citing data, said the Philippines has 9,495,547 tax filers with annual income of P300,000 and below. For his part, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrik Chua, during the same hearing, said the DOF will submit its version of bill lowering PIT rates before the end of September. According to Chua, the proposals of Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco and Act Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio are in line with the DOF’s proposal based on the revenue lost and design, respectively. Nineteen bills were filed reducing the income tax imposed on individuals by amending the National Internal Revenue Code. On the other hand, six bills were filed restructuring the income tax imposed both individuals and corporations. Earlier, the DOF said the proposal lowering PIT may cause the government to lose revenues totaling as much P179 billion. Tiangco’s House Bill 411 seeks to exempt from income tax all those earning P360,000 annually, and give the low- and middleincome earners, an adjusted, restructed and revised income-tax bracket that will approximate current consumer prices, which will, to a certain extent, increase their real purchasing power. The lowering PIT and consumption tax rates are among those of the proposed comprehensive tax-reform packages of the DOF, which include corporate income tax, property tax and capital income tax. The finance department seeks to adjust personal income-tax brackets to correct “income creeping.” “[The government will] reduce PIT maximum rate to 25 percent over time [from the current 32 percent], except for the highest income earners to maintain progressivity and shift to a modified gross system to simplify PIT system,” the DOF said. Among the offsetting measures for PIT and consumption tax are the expansion of value-added tax base by limiting exemptions to raw food and other necessities; increase excise tax on all petroleum products and index to inflation; levy a tax on sugary products and index to inflation; relax bank secrecy for fraud cases; and include tax evasion as a predicate crime to money laundering. With Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz, Butch Fernandez
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Colanggo claims de Lima received monthly bribes
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By Rene Acosta
@reneacostaBM
ORMER Justice Secretary and now Sen. Leila M. de Lima received a monthly payoff of at least P3 million since 2013, a drug lord and leader of prisoners at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City claimed on Tuesday in courtroom-like proceedings before the House Committee on Justice. Herbert Colanggo, who heads the biggest group of convicted drug lords held at the country’s biggest jail facility, said de Lima began receiving drugs money from him in October 2013 through her security aide he identified as a certain “Jonel Sanchez.” Colanggo was presented by Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II as one of the witnesses against de Lima’s alleged involvement in illegal drugs in a hearing that resembles a courtroom proceedings, which the senator had earlier branded as “a sham and kangaroo proceedings.” Aguirre was to present five more other witnesses, including an agent
₧3M The amount given to Sen. Leila M. de Lima as bribe on a monthly basis, according to a leader of NBP inmates
and a former deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation. Colanggo, former chairman of the maximum-security compound at the jail facility, also claimed that Franklin Jesus Bucayu also received
a monthly drugs payoff of at least P1.2 million a month during his term as director of the Bureau of Corrections. Bucayu has been subpoenaed by the House committee to appear in its next hearing, along with other former jail officials, but Aguirre said Bucayu has been in hiding, reportedly for fear of his life, although he was able to talk to the former director. The drug lord alleged that sometime or in the second week of January 2014, he was able to talk to de Lima through Sanchez’s phone, wherein he even told the secretary about the drugs money that he was giving to her through Sanchez. Colanggo dropped the number of de Lima’s mobile-phone number, which a certification from the Department of Justice confirmed the subscriber number was assigned to the former justice secretary. When asked about how he was able to get or have de Lima’s number, the witness claimed it was through Sanchez’s phone, but when the committee asked him about de Lima’s security aide’s number, he said he was not familiar, but his talent manager knew it. House Deputy Speaker Gwen Garcia confirmed that the number mentioned by Colanggo was, indeed, de Lima’s mobile-phone number, as it was on her cellular telephone’s list
of contact numbers. Colanggo, an aspiring professional singer who has been holding what he claimed an “Araneta-like” concert at the NBP, also claimed he had been bringing in trucks-full of beer at the jail facility, selling it to the other inmates. He said he was earning about P3 million for the beer in can he brings in, with P1 million being given to de Lima. Colanggo said that every time he holds a concert at the NBP, at least five trucks were entering the facility, carrying the concert equipment. He said he was able to do it because it has the permission of de Lima. The concert was confirmed by another witness, former police chief Inspector Rodolfo Magleo, who also confirmed the closeness of another convict and drug lord Jaybee Sebastian to the former justice secretary. Sebastian, according to Magleo and Colanggo, was the biggest contributor of de Lima among the drug lords. Magleo claimed that Sebastian even gave de Lima at least P10 million to cause the transfer of the infamous “Bilibid 19”, Building 14 of the NBP, from Building 19. This allowed Sebastian to consolidate and take control of the drugs business at the NBP.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 A3
P5.44-billion REGISTERED INVESTMENTS IN RESORTS, HOTELS IN jan-july 2016 By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
Special to the BusinessMirror
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HE growth in the local tourism industry continues to be robust with the increasing investments in hotels, resorts and restaurants. Data from the Board of Investments (BOI) showed some P5.44-billion registered investments in accommodation and food-service activities with 936 rooms from January to July 2016. Said investments exceeded the P3.66 billion registered in the entire 2015, covering 938 rooms and nine villas. In a text message to the BusinessMirror, Frederick M. Alegre, spokesman and assistant secretary of the Department of Tourism (DOT), welcomed the expanding investments in the country’s accommodations sector. “The continued investments in hotels and accommodations, and the improving peace-and-order situation show the robust growth of the tourism sector,” he said. “It is also an expression of confidence in the Philippines as a safe haven for investments, and an attractive destination for foreign and domestic tourists,” Alegre added. Among the registered investments in the first seven months of 2016 are four new hotel operators located in various destinations in the country. They are Mercure Hotel (499 rooms) in Malate, owned by Century Peak Property Development Inc., which is scheduled to open in 2018; The Funny Lion Inn (32 rooms), in Coron, Palawan, by Hacienda El Sol Development Corp., which opened in February 2016; Aeon Towers (143 rooms) in Bajada, Davao City, by the FTC Group of Cos., slated to open
in October 2017; and the Carmen Hotel (45 rooms) in Naga City, by Guevent Investments Development Corp., which opened recently. Also among the registered investors is the Philippine Hoteliers International Center for Hospitality Education Inc., which is establishing the Integrated Hospitality and Management School and Training Hotel with 125 rooms and will accommodate 1,000 students. The training facility is scheduled to open in August 2017. Whiterock Waterpark and Beach Hotel Inc. also expanded its existing property in Subic, Zambales, adding 92 rooms, which opened in April 2016. Among the investors, Mercure Hotel’s owner, Century Peak Property, is 2.25 percent owned by Chinese businessmen, while the Hotel Management School of Philippine Hoteliers is 40 percent owned by Thai investors. The rest of the registered investors for the period are 100-percent Filipino-owned establishments. Century Peak Property, an affiliate of listed firm Century Peak Metals Corp., registered the largest amount of investments at P3.3 billion. Mercure is a brand of the international hotel chain Accor Group. When open, the Mercure Malate property will be the second Mercure hotel in the country. In a related development, the DOT launched on Monday its Philippine Tourism Showroom, which showcases various sites and destinations of the regions through audiovisual productions and video presentations. The showroom also displays regional brochures, local products, and offers tour packages.
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PhilMech eyes hike in level of farm mechanization to boost rice output By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
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@jearcalas
he Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will encourage more farmers to use agricultural equipment, such as rice transplanters, to fast-track the attainment of the rice self-sufficiency goal.
The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), an attached agency of the DA, said the government wants to increase the level of mechanization to 3 horsepower per hectare (hp/ha) by the end of this year. “Increasing farm-mechanization level to at least 3 hp/ha this year could be attained, especially in the rice and corn sectors,” PhilMech Ex-
ecutive Director Dionio G. Alvindia told the BusinessMirror. “As for other crops, I cannot give any figure at the moment, as we are still currently developing their mechanization. For example, for the high-value crops, it’s hard to give an estimate, as we only started introducing to them modern postharvest technologies and equipment,” Alvindia added. PhilMech said mechanization
3 hp/ha The level of farm mechanization being targeted by the DA
level refers to the amount of machine power used over the size of land covered for farming. Alvindia noted that one of the challenges confronting the DA is the fact that some Filipino farmers continue to make use of traditional planting methods despite the availability of farm equipment. For instance, Alvindia said only 1 percent of Filipino rice farmers in the country use mechanical rice transplanters. This means that most rice farmers continue to plant rice manually. PhilMech said a mechanical transplanter plants seeds in consistent
optimal distances across a rice field. According to Alvindia, it takes at least 20 men one whole day to plant rice seedlings over a hectare of land. In contrast, only five workers using mechanical transplanters would get the job done. For example, in a 1 hectare of land, at least 250,000 planting hills can be made via manual labor. With the use of a mechanical transplanter, at least 300,000 planting hills can be created, Alvindia said. The increase in planting hills, he said, would translate into at least 1.5 to 2 tons per hectare (t/ha) of rice output. “Imagine if you add that additional t/ha to our current average of production of 3.9 t/ha for rice, then our rice productivity average would be at least 5 t/ha using mechanical rice transplanters,” he said. “It’s really about their mind-set. We have to show them what are the economic advantages and benefits
of using machines,” he added. The DA has distributed a total of 257 mechanical rice transplanters, including riding types, from 2011 to 2015, according to the agency’s 2015 annual report. But when it comes to other farm machinery, such as tractors and harvesters, Filipino rice farmers use them to their fullest capacities, Alvindia said. The Philippine agriculture sectors’ level of mechanization is only at 1.23 hp/ha, according to PhilMech’s latest data, which was surveyed in 2011. Rice and corn sectors had the highest level of farm power at 2.31 hp/ha. The Philippines’s level of farm power lags behind those of its neighboring countries: Japan (7 hp/ha), South Korea (4.11 hp/ha), China (4.10 hp/ha) and Vietnam (1.56 hp/ha). Alvindia said the DA would like to increase the level of agricultural
mechanization to 4 hp/ha during the term of President Duterte. “It would really depend on the programs of the DA, especially if they would introduce new farm technologies. If they will have the budget to purchase various equipment, then it will really increase,” Alvindia said. He added that the PhilMech plans to intensify its awareness campaign on the use of farm machines, particularly rice transplanters. PhilMech will also continue to enhance the current available technologies in farming and develop new ones to further improve the productivity of crops in the country. “Increasing the agriculture’s level of mechanization level would mean lesser production costs for farmers and increased productivity per hectare. Our strategy really is to introduce effective mechanization in the production process of crops,” he said.
Saudi Arabian Airlines plane isolated in Naia after false distress call—Miaa By Recto Mercene @rectomercene
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Saudi A rabi a n A irl ines Flight SV872 from Riyadh was reported to have been hijacked some 20 miles away from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), when the pilot activated a device within the cockpit telling ground air-traffic controllers that the plane is under threat. Manila Internatioal Airport Authority (Miaa) chief Ed Monreal said the air-traffic controllers at the Naia were alerted by “a distress call and a code transmitted to the tower, which I will not divulge.” He said the code was activated twice, first by the pilot and second when air-traffic controllers asked the pilot for verification and activated the code again. Monreal said it was then that air-
traffic controllers informed the airport authorities of the situation. “We immediately convened the crisis-management team, comprised of the Miaa, the Philippine National Police [PNP] Aviation Security Group [Avsegroup] and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines [Caap] and other related agencies,” he said, to assess the situation. The plane landed at 3:39 p.m. with 410 passengers, aside from the pilot and copilot and eight crew members. Monreal said, according to protocol, the pilot was directed to proceed to a remote location at the Naia “to prevent any collateral damage.” However, upon landing, the pilot called the tower again to tell them that there was a mistake. Caap chief, Director General Jim Syjiongco, was assigned at the control tower to monitor the situation, while the Miaa Manager and
The Aviation Security Group kept watch over the Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight SV872, which was on standby at an isolated area in the Naia Terminal 1. ALYSA SALEN
the Avsegroup Director Mao Aplasca remained at the site of the aircraft, a B777, near runway 06. Monreal said, “We will not tolerate such mistake and for the sake of security, since terrorism is rampant, we were compelled to place the aircraft and the passengers to an isolated area of the airport.” The Miaa chief said all of the security forces of the airport convened at the aircraft to try to protect the passengers for any eventuality. Eventually, the passengers were allowed to disembark at about 4:30 p.m. and Monreal said “all would be subjected to a fine-tooth comb to make sure that any prospective suspect would not
be able to blend in with the passengers and slip through police cordon.” Monreal said there is protocol to observe regarding the fielding of bomb-sniffing dogs inside the aircraft “but we will break protocol if we know there’s something amiss, adding that the K-9 would be let loose inside the airplane once all the passengers and crew have disembark. He said all pieces of luggage and hand-carried items would be left behind near the airplane, where they would be subjected to strict inspection, while the passengers would be brought to the Naia building where they will undergo screening, following immigration procedures.
All f lights at the Naia continue to operate despite the momentary disruptions. Although runway operations continued Monreal said two flights were diverted on the pilots volition upon being informed of the ongoing hijack situation at the Naia. Monreal gave this information during a press conference at 4:15 p.m. to give the media the latest developments. Air-traffic controllers at the Naia were reported to have been alarmed when the radar screen “bloomed” and aural and visual signals went off, according to an airport insider who does not want to be identified because they
is not allowed to do so. The air controllers then alerted the airport authorities, especially the Avsegroup, who then alerted the Miaa, Caap and other agencies. Former air-traffic controller and Caap Deputy Director Willy Borja confirmed that the radar screen would light up to show the call sign of Saudi Airlines, with a number 7500, indicating that the plane is being hijacked. “This would be accompanied by a loud sound,” Borja added. Vehicular traffic piled up on the road leading to the Naia 1 and Naia 2 as armed policemen inspected every vehicle, asking the drivers to roll down their windows for identification.
₧5.44-billion registered investments in resorts, hotels in Jan-July 2016 Continued from a3 Tourism Undersecretaries Katherine Chloe S. de Castro and Alma Rita Jimenez led the simple ceremonies in the DOT main office in Makati City. Educators, students and industry practitioners also attended the event, which coincided with the celebration of Tourism Month, a DOT news statement said. Aimed at promoting domestic tourism, the display will run up to March with a different region to be featured every two weeks. The showroom is open to the public
and offers select products and services at the most affordable prices. These include Marikina bags and shoes, knotted rosaries, fashion accessories, delicacies and others. As part of the DOT ’s inclusive agenda, the showroom will promote participating micro, small to medium enterprises and hopes to empower the supply communities in the countryside. Products and services from the National Capital Region will be featured from September 19 to 30. The showroom will be open on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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AseanWednesday BusinessMirror
Editor: Max V. de Leon • Wednesday, September 21, 2016 A5
Vietnam set to delay vote on TPP
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ietnam is set to delay ratifying a massive United States-led Pacific trade pact until next year, as anxiety rises over the fate of the deal in Congress with America’s presidential election campaign exacerbating an antifree-trade mood.
Ha Ngoc Chien, head of a parliamentary committee, suggested the National Assembly hold off on a vote on the 12-nation deal during the next session starting October 20, “because many countries in the world haven’t approved it so we shouldn’t take the lead,” according to the National Assembly web site. The deal is not currently on the agenda for parliament’s fall agenda. Some Sout hea st A si a n nations have expressed concern about the outlook for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), given the populist mood in the US ahead of the election in November and a brief window for Congress to pass the deal before the new president takes office. Vietnam, while fully supportive of the deal, usually operates cautiously on the global stage. “This is typical of the Vietnamese,” said Vu Tu Thanh, chief Vietnam representative of the US-Asean Business Council. “They don’t want to stick their head out for anything unless it is completely safe.” Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said during a US visit last month that US credibility was on the line over the pact. Economists have said Vietnam’s emerging economy would be one of the biggest beneficiaries among TPP nations from its ratification and implementation.
US pivot
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has indicated it plans to pass the TPP during the parliamentary session starting next week. Malaysia’s Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed said in May the country is drafting amendments to comply with TPP commitments that will be presented to parliament by the first half of 2017. The deal would represent nearly 40 percent of global
economic output worth $30 trillion. It doesn’t currently include China, which is pushing a 16-country pact that aims to unify a market of more than 3 billion people and is seen as a counterweight to TPP. The TPP has been a centerpiece of US President Barack Obama’s economic and military rebalancing to Asia. The World Bank estimates the pact could raise GDP by an average 1.1 percent in member-countries by 2030.
Congressional unease
The agreement goes beyond typical trade deals that mostly focus on reducing tariffs and highlights stricter safeguards for patents and a more level playing field for companies that compete with governmentbacked businesses. Obama last week ramped up his campaign to persuade Congress to pass the TPP. He invited a bipartisan group of politicians and business leaders to the White House for an Oval Office meeting on the deal, which congressional leaders say is unlikely to get a vote this year. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has vowed to scrap it altogether if he’s elected, and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton— pushed to the left on the accord during her primary campaign— has said she would at least seek to renegotiate it.
‘Over the line’
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, in New York for the United Nations General Assembly this week, told the Council on Foreign Relations there is no prospect of the pact being renegotiated and urged the US to get the deal “over the line.” “The region will not wait for you,” he said. “Asian countries are determined to grow and they
Indonesia’s Mitra sees return from Nissan tie-up
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T Mitra Pinasthika Mustika’s new president director is aiming to turn around the fortunes of an Indonesian auto company that’s been hurt by slowing vehicle sales and a disappointing partnership with Nissan Motor Co. Rudy Halim, who took over in May, said he wants to double after-tax profit margins by 2020 and increase the company’s market capitalization fivefold. Mitra Pinasthika’s share price tumbled 67 percent from its May 2013 listing through the end of last year, while net income was 285 billion rupiah ($22 million) in 2015, from 526 billion rupiah in 2013. “My promise to myself is in 18 months I will turn around the business back to at least the 2013 numbers, because we lost opportunities in 2014 and 2015,” Halim said in an interview in his office on Friday. The company, which sells and distributes Honda Motor Co. motorcycles and Nissan automobiles, will move to a multibrand car distribution model, he said, without giving further details. Indonesian car sales dropped 18 percent from 2013 to 2015 and
motorcycle sales fell 16 percent, according to industry association data, as a slowdown in economic growth deterred people from buying big-ticket items. Nissan was particularly hard hit with local consumers buying just 25,000 of the company’s cars last year, compared with 61,000 in 2013. Mitra Pinasthika reported 180 billion rupiah in net income for the first half, still 23 percent less than the same period in 2015, but improving from 52.5 billion rupiah recorded in the final six months of last year. The company’s share price is also recovering, jumping 50 percent since Halim took over on May 31. “Investors have been disappointed with falling earnings over the past two years and the partnership between the company and Nissan also failed to deliver the results that people were expecting,” said John Teja, a director at PT Ciptadana Securities in Jakarta. “The recent rally might have been fueled by some optimism on the economic recovery and expectations that the new management might be able to turn the company around.” Bloomberg News
realize to grow they need to remove trade barriers. This will happen with or without the United States.” In a speech in New York on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his country would spare no effort to get TPP through, “and we count on the US to do the same.” “Success or failure will sway the
direction of the global free-trade system, and the strategic environment in the Asia Pacific,” Abe said. Still, the rescheduling of Vietnam’s National Assembly vote on TPP wouldn’t necessarily be cause for alarm, said Tran Viet Thai, deputy director general of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam in Hanoi. Bloomberg News
This is typical of the Vietnamese. They don’t want to stick their head out for anything unless it is completely safe.” —US-Asean Business Council
The W
Business
A6 Wednesday, September 21, 2016 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
Syria cease-fire falters amid deadly strikes on aid convoy
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EIRUT—Syria’s cease-fire has faltered further after an aid convoy was hit by air strikes, with activists saying at least 12 people were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. The strikes late on Monday came just hours after the Syrian military declared the weeklong US-Russian brokered cease-fire had failed. The United States said it was prepared to extend the truce deal and Russia—after blaming rebels for the violations—suggested it could still be salvaged. It was not clear who was behind the attack, which sent a red fireball into the sky in the dead of night over a rural area in Aleppo province. Both Syrian and Russian aircraft operate over Syria, as well as the US-led coalition that is targeting the Islamic State group. United Nations officials said the UN and Red Crescent convoy was delivering assistance for 78,000 people in the town of Uram al-Kubra, west of the northern city of Aleppo. Initial estimates indicate that
about 18 of the 31 trucks in the convoy were hit, as well as the Red Crescent warehouse in the area.
Necessary measures
THE Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that tracks the civil war, said at least 12 were killed in the attack, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. The Syrian Civil Defense, the volunteer first responder group also known as the White Helmets, confirmed that casualty figure. Jan Egeland, humanitarian-aid coordinator in the office of the UN envoy for Syria, told The Associated Press in a text message that the convoy was “bombarded.” Egeland added, “It is outrageous that it was hit while offloading at warehouses.”
UN Humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien called on “all parties to the conflict, once again, to take all necessary measures to protect humanitarian actors, civilians and civilian infrastructure as required by international humanitarian law.” The convoy, part of a routine interagency dispatch operated by the Syrian Red Crescent, was hit in rural western Aleppo province. The White Helmets first responder group posted images of a number of vehicles on fire and a video of the attack showed huge balls of fire in a pitch black area, as ambulances arrive on the scene. A Red Crescent official in Syria confirmed the attack, but said no further information was available.
Brief respite
ELSEWHERE on Monday, at least 20 civilians, including a 1-yearold girl, were killed in fresh air str ikes on rebel-held A leppo city and the surrounding areas, according to the Observatory. And Russia said government positions in southwestern Aleppo came under attack from militant groups, including a massive barrage of rockets. With the weekold cease-fire under threat, both
Moscow and Washington indicated a desire to try and salvage the agreement that had brought a brief respite to at least some parts of the war-torn country. In the wake of the Syrian military declaration, US Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged that the first stage of the truce— which called for a week of calm and the delivery of humanitarian aid to several besieged communities—had never really come to fruition. Earlier in the day, Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that the truce was “holding but fragile.” The State Department said it was ready to work with Russia to strengthen the terms of the agreement and expand deliveries of humanitarian aid. Spokesman John Kirby said Russia, which is responsible for ensuring Syria’s compliance, should clarify the Syrian position.
Mutual accusations
A Russian Foreign Ministry statement late Monday night appeared to signal that the deal could still be salvaged, saying the failure by the rebels in Syria to respect the cease-fire threatens to thwart the agreement. AP
Miami’s Wynwood cleared of Zika; health officials look at Miami Beach
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IAMI—With health authorities declaring a win against Zika in Miami’s Wynwood arts district, their emphasis shifts to the remaining transmission zone on nearby Miami Beach, where residents have objected to the aerial pesticide spraying crediting with halting infections. No new cases of Zika have been reported in Wynwood since early August, and on Monday health officials declared it to be no longer a zone of active local transmission. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lifted a warning for pregnant women to stay out of Wynwood altogether, but continued to caution them about traveling to the city and surrounding areas out of concerns for catching the virus, which can cause serious birth defects. In nearby Miami Beach, health officials have broadened their declared zone of active local transmission. Florida Gov. Rick Scott and CDC officials attributed the drop-off in infections in Wynwood to aggressive aerial spraying with naled, an insecticide that targets adult mosquitoes, and street-level spraying with another pesticide that kills mosquito larvae. Scott said residents and business owners who kept their properties clear of standing water also helped. “We’re doing everything we can do to educate the public and have the same success in Miami Beach as we have in Wynwood,” Scott said. Wynwood was the first place on the US mainland where mosquitoes began transmitting Zika. Health officials say that over the past several weeks, mosquito control workers there have seen fewer of the insects, the main culprits in spreading the virus. “The message with Wynwood is it was a
huge success,” said Dr. Lyle Petersen of the CDC. “This outbreak would have kept going without the aerial spraying.” But despite months of public outreach and aggressive mosquito-control measures, including the removal of cylinder-shaped tropical plants that trap water where insects can breed, Florida health officials have continued to find Zika-carrying mosquitoes in Miami Beach. Miami Beach’s tall buildings and ocean breezes make aerial spraying of naled there more difficult than in Wynwood, Petersen said. Many residents there have objected to the aerial spraying despite assurances from health officials that they are using concentrations of the chemical that are safe for humans. The city’s infection zone has expanded from just South Beach to a 12-squarekilometer area encompassing most of the 11-km-long island, Scott’s office announced late Friday. A plane contracted by MiamiDade County mosquito-control officials sprayed naled over South Beach on Sunday. It was the city’s third aerial spraying. A fourth is scheduled on Saturday. Of 85 nontravel-related Zika cases in Florida residents, 31 were associated with Wynwood and 36 with Miami Beach, Florida Department of Health Spokesman Mara Gambineri said in an e-mail on Monday. Another 10 people who aren’t Florida residents also have contracted Zika in the state. Zika infections are mild for most people but can cause severe brain-related birth defects, including a dangerously small head, if women are infected during pregnancy. Local officials and business leaders joined Scott at a Wynwood art gallery to try and reassure residents and tourists fearful of Zika. AP
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Chinese film fest pushes for gender equality
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EIJING—In films, women and girls are much more likely to take off their clothes than male actors and to be scantily clad in the first place, studies show. Less than a third of speaking characters are female, and men outnumber women behind the camera by a ratio of five to one.
30
The total number of Chinese and international films about women’s rights, women’s achievements and gay women to be shown in more than 10 cities across China Campaigners are highlighting this gender inequality in film at the China Women’s Film Festival
that runs until Sunday in Beijing, arguing that the phenomenon distorts views of women and the world, and that the male-dominated film industry repeats the same mistakes out of habit. The nine-day festival features more than 30 Chinese and international films about women’s rights, women’s achievements and gay women, which are then slated to be shown in more than 10 cities across China. Festival Chairman Li Dan said the aim was to increase the representation of women in film at a time when Chinese audiences have apparently accepted gender inequality in movies. “Usually, people and audiences have the idea that female characters should be pretty, be looking for a good marriage or a rich man or a Mr. Right, and if the
will affect the type of films that are produced and raise awareness of gender inequality in film and society. He also hopes to attract tens of thousands of signatures from the public. The sponsors of the festival, which runs until Sunday, include the embassies of Holland, Norway, France, Sweden and Britain, and the European Union delegation.
Quarter In this September 17 photo, a participant walks past a banner for the China Women’s Film Festival during its opening ceremony in Beijing. Campaigners are highlighting gender inequality in film at the China Women’s Film Festival that runs until September 25 in Beijing. AP
movie follows that path it will have a good box office,” said Li, who works for Crossroads Center Beijing, a nonprofit working with marginalized groups and the festival organizer. “Very few movies have strong female roles and characters.”
Gap
HOLLY WOOD actresses have also spoken out about a lack of good roles for women and the gender pay gap, among them Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep, who starred in the festival ’s opening film Suffragette, about British women’s fight for the vote in the early 20th century.
In the last three years, a campaign has gradually been gaining ground to raise awareness of the unequal representation of men and women in movies based on the Bechdel Wallace test, which started out as a joke in a 1986 comic book. To pass the test, a film must have two female characters with names who talk to each other in the film about something other than men. Films that fail the test include Avatar, Slumdog Millionaire and The Jungle Book. Li said that at the end of the festival they plan to write an open letter signed by at least 50 celebrities to major Chinese film producers and cinema companies calling on them to use the test in the hope that it
OTHER independent film festivals have run into trouble from Chinese authorities, but Li said they did not choose films with politically sensitive topics, such as the recently loosened one-child policy. Although China’s constitution enshrines gender equality, some non-governmental groups promoting women’s rights have been closed over the last 18 months amid a more general crackdown on political activism. Ellen Tejle, who runs an arthouse cinema in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, launched t he “A-rate” c a mpa ig n t hree years ago to encourage producers, cinemas and the public to submit a film to the Bechdel Wallace gender bias test. At the China Women’s Film Festival, Tejle said that internationally, 7 percent of directors are women and women have 30 percent of the speaking roles—and this
hasn’t changed since the 1940s. Even Disney characters Mulan and Pocahontas, who are the protagonists of their respective films, speak for less than a quarter of the speaking time of all the characters, Tejle said. Women’s characters are often limited to mothers, wives, girlfriends and princesses and shown without jobs, while male roles are funny, strong and heroic, affecting the dreams that children have for their own lives, she said.
Commercial
IN China movies tended to portray the ruling Communist Party’s ideal of gender equality up until the 1990s, when the film industry went commercial with a view to making money. “Since then, the proportion of female roles has gone down, and sometimes if you remove their roles it wouldn’t affect the overall movie,” Li said. Debunking the idea that films w ith women in the lead role aren’t bankable, a study by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in Los Angeles found that they outgrossed films with a male lead: Among the top 100 grossing nonanimated films in North America of 2015, movies with female leads made on average $90 million, while those with male leads made $76 million. AP
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The World BusinessMirror
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
North Korea successfully ground-tests new rocket engine
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EOUL, South Korea—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a ground test of a new rocket engine and ordered a satellite launch preparation, state media said on Tuesday, an indication the country might soon conduct a prohibited longrange rocket launch.
The United Nations and others view the North’s space launch development project as a cover for tests of missile technology, as ballistic missiles and rockets in satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technology. North Korea is also openly working on developing
nuclear-armed missiles capable of striking the US mainland. Kim directed the ground test of a high-powered engine of a carrier rocket for a geo-stationary satellite at the Sohae Space Center in the country’s northwest, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim was quoted as ordering officials and scientists to complete preparations for a satellite launch as soon as possible, amid “the enemies’ harsh sanctions and moves to stifle” the North.
28,500
The total number of American soldiers stationed in South Korea Jeon Ha-kyu, a spokesman at South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said South Korea believes the test was for a new engine for a long-range missile. South Korean media speculated the North could conduct a long-range rocket launch around October 10, which is the 71st founding anniversary for the North’s ruling Workers’ Party.
Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test, prompting South Korean and US officials to vow to apply more sanctions and pressure on the North. The test explosion, the most powerful to date, was conducted on the 68th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s government. The North was already slapped with the toughest UN sanctions in t wo decades fol low ing its fourth nuclear test in January. Since late 2012, the North put two satellites into orbit with long-range rockets, each time inviting international sanctions and worldwide condemnation. North Korea has said it needs nuclear weapons and missiles to cope with US military threats. About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. AP
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Ex-roommate of Facebook founder now rabbi in Israel
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ERUSALEM—When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was launching a social-media revolution 12 years ago, one of his suitemates at Harvard University was pursuing a different status: becoming a rabbi in Israel. Arie Hasit finally achieved his dream this month when, after years studying Jewish texts and passing a final exam, he was ordained at the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem. For the last decade, the 33-year-old native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, has faced constant questions from peers and strangers about his life path and whether he missed an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a company that has grown into a $360-billion behemoth. Hasit admitted to occasionally wondering what might have been had he joined the tiny start-up that Zuckerberg and three other suitemates were working on. Zuckerberg’s net worth has been estimated by Forbes magazine at over $55 billion. In 2004 Hasit became Facebook’s fourth user, after Zuckerberg and cofounders Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz. As the site became popular at Harvard, Hasit said he approached them and offered to help. Hasit, a student of history and modern Hebrew with no interest in computer science, was gently rebuffed. “They were like, ‘Arie, we like you and you’re our friend,’ and that was definitely true, we’d continue to hang out socially, ‘but no, you don’t have anything to offer here,’” Hasit recalled.
In stride
HE took t hei r com ment s i n stride—and continued to ignore his parents’ urging that he study computer science. He was busy leading a Jewish prayer community on campus and writing for the
Harvard Political Review. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard at the end of that schoolyear and moved to Silicon Valley. Hasit graduated in 2005 with a double major in history and Near Eastern languages and civilizations. He wrote his thesis on Israeli hiphop. “The real question was, was he going to be the Israeli hip-hop professor or a rabbi?” said Zach Bercu, who studied at Harvard and met Hasit through the Jewish community. “I don’t think there was another route.” Just a year before he lived with Zuckerberg, Hasit was having trouble with the dorm lottery system, which allows students to request to live in the same building: Hasit said some friends backed out at the last minute. So he collected money from friends and published an enormous ad in the Harvard Crimson newspaper soliciting candidates. The paper called it “the most unabashedly desperate and intrepid” housing lottery move. Through the ad, he met a close friend, and through the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi, he met Zuckerberg. In Hasit’s junior year, the three decided to live together in a suite with four other men. Four of the seven would go on to found the social-networking giant.
Brief stardom
WHILE watching Facebook grow from a distance, Hasit immigrated to Israel after graduation and enlisted in the army, where he worked as a spokesman to foreign media. He never bragged about his famous college roommate, but word eventually got out. “People said, ‘You’re nuts. What happened to you?’” said Aliza Landes, a fellow American who served with Hasit. During her time in the military, Landes founded the Israeli army’s social-media desk. Hasit, she said, did not get involved. AP
Islamic State claiming attacks reflects influence obsession
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Zimbabwean actors are seen during a comedy scene from a show called State of the Nation on September 15. Zimbabwe’s comedy scene is booming as the country’s economy is tanking, and police are cracking down on growing antigovernment protests. At the recent State of the Nation show, even 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, widely accused of muzzling free speech, was a target. Insulting the president can attract a sentence of a year in jail in the Southern African nation. AP
In Zimbabwe, comedy thrives as country slowly falls apart
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AR AR E, Zimbabwe— Zimbabwe’s economy is falling apart, and police are cracking down on growing antigovernment protests. But the country’s comedy scene is booming. No subject seems taboo. Even 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, widely accused of muzzling free speech, is a target. Insulting the president can bring a one-year jail term in this southern African country. Nonetheless, the comedians carry on, becoming bolder as fears of speaking out begin to erode. In one skit at a show on Thursday called “State of the Nation,” an actor playing the first lady, 51-yearold Grace Mugabe, lays her stake to the presidency on hearing the news of the “death” of her husband, the world’s oldest head of state. “I deserve it. Were any of you cleaning his nappy and wiping the spit off his chin?” she says. She also talks up her own chances of winning elections. “We have always won, even when I was pushing the old man in a wheelbarrow,” she says, a reference to the real first lady’s comment at a pol it ica l ra l ly last year: “I will push President Mugabe in the wheelbarrow to bring him to work.”
Persistent rumors
NEAR the end, a fake Mugabe emerges, struggling to walk while scoffing at rumors of his demise. Some in the audience laugh. Others gasp. The real president has joked at the persistent rumors, telling reporters earlier this month: “It is true that I was dead. And I resurrected. As I always do.” The comedy show played to a packed audience in the capital, Harare. “State of the Nation” will be a twice-monthly show streaming live on Internet, said organizer Davis Guzha, director of Rooftop Promotions. “Comedy allows us to laugh but also to think about our problems at the same time,” said Sam Monro, or Comrade Fatso, a standup comedian who runs Zambezi News, a satirical social-media show on current affairs.
Heightened uncertainty
IN everyday life, the state of this once-prosperous country’s economy and politics is hardly a laughing matter. Government has failed to pay its close to 300,000 workers, including the military, on time since June. Industries are closing down, worsening unemployment where more than two-thirds of the population of 13 million survive on informal
work, according to the African Development Bank. People line up for hours at banks to access their money as currency woes deepen. The speculation over the health of Mugabe, this country’s only leader since independence from white minority rule in 1980, has only heightened the uncertainty. Near daily anti-government protests are often met with brute force by the police. Yet amid their troubles, Zimbabweans are still laughing at life and at themselves.
With risk
WHILE comedy shows attract an upper-class crowd, ordinary people flood social media with jokes, images and video selfies poking fun at the growing problems. “It has allowed Zimbabweans to deal with a lot of taboo issues,” Comrade Fatso told The Associated Press (AP) at his offices at Moto Republic, a structure of former shipping containers that houses dozens of artists. But the politically charged material comes with risk. A local actor, Silvanos Mudzvova, was arrested in April for trying to stage a play scripted on Mugabe’s statement that at least $15 billion had been looted from a diamond-rich region by
joint-venture companies mining there. On Thursday Mudzvova spoke to the AP from a hospital bed in Harare. “I was tortured,” he said. “Six men took me from my home on Tuesday night. They threatened to shoot my family before taking me away.” The actor, who is also an activist, said he was given electric shocks by men who demanded information on his activities.
Capital’s staple
OTHERS have been brought to court on insult charges for making and circulating jokes about the president. Still, comedy shows have become a staple in the capital. The Shoko Festival for comedy and music is set for later this month. “We are using comedy as a tool not just to inform but as information for action, using comedy to encourage young people to be active and to be part of movements that are changing our country for the better,” Comrade Fatso said. One of the growing number of young stand-up comedians is Nqobizitha Dube, or Q Boss, who last month took aim at Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko’s 19-month stay in a $400-a-night hotel suite amid Zimbabwe’s widespread poverty. AP
HICAGO—Islamic State (IS) militants rarely miss a chance, however tenuous the link, to claim at least partial credit for apparent terrorist attacks on US soil, from June’s deadly mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, to the stabbing of 10 people in a Minnesota shopping mall on Saturday. They’re eager to precisely because they apparently haven’t carried out carefully planned attacks here and because, in terrorism circles, your influence is often ranked by numbers of attacks, terrorism experts say. “If they can’t claim attacks, they can’t get recruits and can’t raise money,” according to Dan Byman, a senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Some militant groups, including al-Qaeda, are more reluctant about associating themselves with attackers unless it is clear they adhere to their core beliefs, Byman said. But Islamic State appears to be less discriminating, requiring little information about attackers, said Karen Greenberg, the director of the Fordham Law School’s Center on National Security in New York. “If they find out the person is Muslim—that alone might be enough for them to claim credit,” she said. Other groups may also pause to gauge whether an attack crossed certain lines of brutality, something that Byman said isn’t an issue for IS, whose calling card has been extreme violence. An Islamic State-run news agency claimed on Sunday that the attack at the Crossroads Center mall in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, was a “soldier of the Islamic State: who had heeded calls for attacks in nations in the US-led anti-IS coalition. But authorities say there’s no sign yet that the attacker, identified by
his father as Somali immigrant Dahir Adan, was radicalized or communicated with any terrorist group. The speed with which IS weighed in may also say something about a competition for recruits between the Middle East-based IS and the east Africa-based militant group al-Shabab, which has recruited Somali-Americans from Minnesota with some success in recent years, but has seen allegiances switching increasingly from al-Shabab to Islamic State, Greenberg said. No militant group has claimed credit for the weekend bombings in New York and New Jersey. A naturalized US citizen from Afghanistan who lived with his Muslim family was captured on Monday after being wounded in a gun battle with the police. IS has claimed at least partial credit for at least four attacks in the United States over the past two years, including the Minnesota one, according to the Center on National Security. Aside from Minnesota, the others are: n June 12 attack on the Orlando gay nightclub Pulse by an American-born Muslim Omar Mateen. IS claimed partial credit via one of its news services the day after he fatally shot 49 people, according to the center. During the attack, Mateen offered allegiance to Islamic State during a 911 call. n December 2, 2015, attack in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 people dead. The center said IS claimed credit days after news reports said alleged attackers Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik had pledged allegiance to Islamic States. n May 3, 2015, attack by two gunmen in Garland, Texas, during an exhibit of images of the Prophet Muhammad. IS claimed responsibility on Twitter and through its news services. AP
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For Obama, a swan song on global stage in final United Nations speech
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NITED NATIONS—Standing before the United Nations for the last time as president, Barack Obama will reassure foreign leaders that the world is better equipped to tackle its challenges than at almost any point in history despite a cascade of harrowing crises that seem devoid of viable solutions. Obama’s speech is always a focal point of the annual UN General Assembly, but his address on Tuesday also marks Obama’s swan song on the international stage. He stepped into his role eight years ago with sky-high expectations and has struggled to deliver when it comes to solving
global problems partially beyond America’s control. Ben R hodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said t he president was cog ni za nt of the fact that bright spots, such as economic growth and c l i m ate - c h a nge cooperat ion, are offset by the “great deal of
unease” in the world, including Syria’s civil war and concerns about Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine. “The way the president will approach this is trying to apply what we have done that’s worked in the last eight years as a template for how we deal with other crises,” Rhodes said. He cited diplomatic achievements on Iran and global warming and outreach to former US adversaries Cuba and Myanmar as illustrative of the approach Obama hoped would continue after he leaves office.
numerous breaches and air strikes hitting an aid convoy to a distressed part of Syria, which the US blamed on Syria or Russia. The setbacks were fresh indicators that even the most hard-fought diplomatic gambles have failed to lessen the violence in Syria for any lasting stretch of time. And hanging over the UN gathering was a weekend bombing a short subway ride away that New York’s mayor has declared an act of terror. Security in Manhattan, already high in light of the UN summit, was further tightened.
Indicators
Insufficient
YET, it will be hard for world leaders to look beyond the pressing problems that are shadowing this year’s UN confab. Just as Obama and fellow heads of state were gathering on Monday, Syria’s military declared the week-old cease-fire over following
DESPITE these concerns, the White House has cast Obama’s address as one of his final opportunities to define how his leadership has made the planet safer and more prosperous. Obama’s aides have focused on how the US has a fraction of the
troops in Iraq and Afghanistan than it had when Obama took office and how nations are finally poised to act in concert to reduce greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Obama’s other major priority at the UN this year is to force more aggressive action to mitigate the worst refugee crisis since World War II, stemming in large part from the Syria war. In addition to his speech, Obama on Tuesday planned to host a summit on refugees. The idea is for nations to show up with concrete commitments to accept and support more refugees, and Obama’s UN ambassador, Samantha Power, said the US told several nations that their initial offers were insufficient. The Obama administration has emphasized that a half-dozen other countries, including Germany and Jordan, are cohosting the summit, but it’s largely been a US-driven endeavor. AP
Colombia’s peacemaker gets hero’s welcome
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A R R A NQUILL A , Colombia—Younger Colombians knew almost nothing about Humberto de la Calle in 2012 when he was named the government’s chief peace negotiator for talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Many older Colombians were all but sure his mission to end a half-century of bloodshed would fail. Now the Bogota attorney is being roundly hailed as a hero over last month’s historic peace deal with the rebels. There’s even talk he could succeed President Juan Miguel Santos in the 2018 elections. Before the peace talks, de la Calle was best known for quitting as vice president in disgust after President Ernesto Samper was accused of winning the presidency in 1994 with millions of dollars of contributions from the Cali cocaine cartel. He all but disappeared from politics until Santos tapped him for the talks. De la Calle’s colleagues say it was his steady demeanor, ability to listen and deep legal understanding as an author of Colombia’s 1991 constitution that cinched a deal with the country’s biggest rebel group. It also helped that he knew the FARC up close, having sat across from chief rebel negotiator Ivan Marquez during another attempt at peace two decades earlier.
Seeds sown
IN the beginning, the two sides communicated in strident terms bred by a conflict that has killed more than 220,000 people and displaced more than 5 million. But as negotiations dragged on in Havana, the ice began breaking. While de la Calle says he never shared his beloved Cuban cigars with the rebels, the two all-male negotiating teams found common ground celebrating Colombia’s record-setting run in the 2014 World Cup. Then last year they attended together a private screening of a bigbudget, British-made nature film, Colombia: Wild Magic. “It was a moment where we finally realized we are all Colombian, including the guerrillas,” the 70-year-old de la Calle said in Barranquilla, during a stop on a national tour to promote the accord ahead of an October 2 referendum. The agreement paves the way for Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia members to lay down their weapons and enter politics. But many Colombians are outraged at provisions that spare
Counterculture
Bigger concessions
HARDER to broker was a detente with the peace process’ chief critic, conservative former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, but even people close to Uribe say de la Calle’s presence at the negotiating table prevented the government from making bigger concessions. “Humberto was the rock of the negotiations, respected by all sides,” said Bernard Aronson, who served as President Barack Obama’s envoy to the talks. “He brought a lawyer’s precision to the substance but also a political leader’s understanding of the larger context and public opinion.” AP
Report bares racial wage gap widest in nearly four decades
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ASHINGTON—As wages for A mer ican workers have stagnated for more than a generation, the income gap between black and white workers has widened, and discrimination is the main reason for the persisting disparity, according to a new report. The Economic Policy Institute also found that young black women are being hit the hardest. This gap remains even after controlling for factors, like education, experience or geography. The wage gap today is “worse now than it was 36 years ago,” said Valerie Wilson, director of the liberalleaning think tank’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy.
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The percentage of how much black men make compared to white men with the same education and experience and living in similar metropolitan areas and regions of the US
the guerrillas jail time as long as they confess their war crimes. Colombia’s political violence is personal for de la Calle. When he was just 6 months old, his parents hid him in a basket from Conservative Party gunmen who forced them off their small coffee farm. It was the late 1940s, a period of strife among political parties known as La Violencia that sowed the seeds of the armed conflict. THROUGH the four years of talks, de la Calle kept government negotiators on track through fatigue and extended periods away from their families as they lived together in a house provided by the Cuban government. At times, he said, he felt like he was in a reality show. “Sometimes, it was harder to reach consensus among the negotiators than it was with the FARC,” said Gen. Javier Florez, who negot i ated t he accord ’s cease-fire component. De la Calle said he was able to meet the FARC half way because of his earlier embrace of Nadaism, a counterculture movement combining avant-garde poetry, theater and literature that rejected Colombia’s social and political conservatism of the late 1950s. He also considers himself an agnostic in one of Latin America’s most-fervently Catholic nations. The low point of the talks was the FARC’s 2014 capture of an army general and the rebels killing of 12 sleeping soldiers a few months later, both crises that almost derailed talks. “He became an important mediator, dialoguing with a serene, respectful and cordial manner even in critical situations,” said a top FARC negotiator known by the alias Pastor Alape.
A9
A motorist, who would only give his name as Michael, attempts to pump gas at a fuel station experiencing a fuel outage in Atlanta on September 19. Gas prices spiked and drivers found “out-of-service” bags covering pumps as the gas shortage in the South rolled into the work week, raising fears that the disruptions could become more widespread. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order Monday aimed at preventing price gouging. AP
AAA research finds people waste money on premium gas
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E T ROI T—T he re i s no sense paying a premium for premium gasoline if your car is designed to run on regular, according to research by the automobile club AAA. Some drivers occasionally like to treat their cars to higher-octane fuel in the belief it boosts performance. But premium blends can cost around 50 cents a gallon more than regular. AAA says it’s just money out the tailpipe—lots of it. In a national survey on gasoline use, AAA said 16.5 million US drivers spent $2.1 billion they didn’t need to in the past year on premium gasoline. Many think premium means quality. But A A A researchers found that, while it has more octane, it didn’t increase horsepower or fuel economy, decrease emissions or clean engines any better than regular gas in cars that are designed by the manufacturer to run on 87 octane regular. “Drivers see the ‘premium’ name
at the pump and may assume the fuel is better for their vehicle,” said John Nielsen, AAA’s managing director of automotive engineering. However, if your owner’s manual specifically says to run your car on 93 octane premium or 89 octane midgrade gas, you should do it to make it perform optimally, according to the researchers. More luxury and performance brands are using turbocharging or supercharging to get better performance out of smaller engines, and those may require premium gas, Nielsen said. AAA researchers joined with the Automobile Club of Southern California to test V8, V6 and four-cylinder engines, coming up with the same results each time, Nielsen said. Seventy percent of US drivers own vehicles that require regular gas, while 16 percent are required to use premium fuel. The rest, about 14 percent, must use at least midgrade gas or have an alternative fuel, such as electricity, AAA said.
People also waste money on gasoline in another key way, according to AAA. Earlier this year the association studied fuel quality at a number of gas stations to see if some were better than others. Researchers found that brands that meet the industry’s “Top Tier” standards had better additives that prevented ash deposits on valves and cleaned engines better than non-Top Tier brands. And the Top Tier gasoline usually costs about the same as other brands, the association said. Researchers found that ash deposits could cause cars to hesitate, run rough and make the engines run less efficiently, Nielsen said. Generally, the major brands meet the Top Tier standards, including BP, Exxon, Mobil, Amoco and Shell. But lesser-known brands also are in there, such as Holiday, Costco and Kwik Star. Brands that sell Top Tier gasoline can be found at http://www. toptiergas.com/licensedbrands. AP
“For the most part, wages have been fairly flat since 2000, as have incomes and other economic measures,” Wilson said. “As we’ve seen this overall stagnation, those racial disparities have grown.” According to the report released on Tuesday, as of 2015, black men living in similar metropolitan areas and regions of the country make 22 percent less than white men with the same education and experience. For black women, the number is 34.2 percent less. Black women made 11.7 percent less than white women. Since 1979, median hourly wage growth has fallen short of productivity growth for all workers, regardless of race or gender. Meanwhile, wages for black men and women have grown more slowly than for whites—resulting in the wage gap remaining unchanged or expanding in the decades that followed. The report points to several reasons for the widening gap, while noting discrimination has consistently played a major role. Few black workers have the kinds of top-wage earning jobs that have seen the majority of growth during the studied period. The decline of unions—which have historically been helpful to black workers seeking income equality—has also contributed to the disparity. And the report concludes that having a college degree worsens the gap, counter to the idea that education is the key to a more equal society. While black male college graduates entering the work force in the 1980s had less than a 10-percent disadvantage compared to whites, by 2014, similarly educated black men started their first jobs at a deficit of roughly 18 percent. The report also found that growing earnings inequality has impacted young black collegeeducated men and women’s wage deterioration more in the years since the Great Recession than during any other period. “Education unquestionably enhances mobility and increases wages, but what it does not do as effectively is eliminate racial disparities,” Wilson said. “More education means higher wages, but it does not mean equal wages between blacks and whites as they ascend that ladder.” AP
A10 Wednesday, September 21, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso
Opinion BusinessMirror
editorial
Give Libor some competition
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n 2012 the London interbank offered rate—Libor —gained worldwide notoriety when it emerged that traders had conspired to manipulate this vital financial benchmark. Clearly, the system was broken and would have to be mended. Four years later, the repairs aren’t finished.
Given the stakes, regulators are right to tread carefully. That said, they need to start making progress—not so much toward mending Libor as toward creating an alternative. Libor is constructed by polling banks on the interest rates at which they can borrow, in various currencies and at various maturities. It has long played a crucial role in pricing credit and managing risk. Lenders use it to ensure that payments on mortgages and corporate loans rise and fall with their financing costs. Investors use it to make bets on changes in rates. It’s a benchmark for some $350 trillion in debt and derivatives, much of which will be around for decades. Regulators have concentrated on preventing banks from submitting false rates for the Libor calculation—with tougher penalties, clearer reporting guidelines and a new administrator. This has certainly made the system better. Yet, even the best-designed reforms can’t address the main problem: Banks simply don’t do much of the wholesale short-term borrowing that Libor is meant to track. During the second half of 2015, only about 30 percent of submissions for the key three-month US dollar rate were based on actual transactions. The rest is educated guesswork, allowing banks to engage in wishful thinking or follow the pack to avoid attracting attention. Not the best formula for a reliable benchmark. A group of regulators and market participants, led by the Federal Reserve, has been working on an alternative (a process in which Bloomberg Lp has participated). Ideally, it would rely on observable transactions that wouldn’t cease in a crisis (as interbank lending did in 2008). Among the most promising is so-called general-collateral repo, a market where borrowers, such as banks and hedge funds, get short-term loans against collateral such as US Treasury bonds. Hundreds of billions of dollars in such loans are made every day, and the quality of the collateral cushions the market against shocks. As things stand, though, the repo market isn’t ready for prime time, because nobody is gathering all the data needed to produce a benchmark rate. There’s also a chicken-and-egg problem. Investors won’t be interested in loans and securities tied to a new benchmark unless derivatives are available for hedging, and the necessary derivatives won’t be supplied until loans and securities have been issued. These obstacles can be overcome. The first step is to collect more data on the repo market, a move that’s overdue in any case. This would give regulators a better grasp of risk-taking in the financial system, as well as furnishing the basis for a new measure of borrowing costs. If a transparent and reliable repo rate can be established, gaining market acceptance will be easier. Despite its flaws, Libor retains advantages— not least, a user base built up over decades. Even so, financial markets and the customers that depend on them would be better served if it weren’t the only choice. Bloomberg Editorial Since 2005
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SSS salutes its institutional partners through Balikat ng Bayan Awards Susie G. Bugante
All About Social Security
T
he Balikat ng Bayan Awards, established in 1995, is annually given to companies, institutions and individuals who have contributed in a significant way in helping the Social Security System (SSS) achieve its mandate.
It is the SSS’s way of acknowledging the value of its partnerships with other sectors for their unwavering support to the programs of the SSS. The Balikat ng Bayan Award for the Top Employer is given to employers who, in a major way, have partnered with the SSS in promoting the welfare of their employees who are members of SSS. This year’s top employer for large accounts went to Knowles Electronics (Philippines), while the top employer award for medium account went to Sannovex Pharmaceutical distributor, and for small account, the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The Best Collection Partner
distinction is awarded to financial institutions that are consistently among the top with the highest collections; have the biggest volume of transactions and widest coverage. This year’s awardees are China Banking Corp. (commercial bank category); PNB Savings Bank (thrift bank category); Rang-ay Inc. (a rural bank), (rural bank category); CIS Bayad Center (non-OFW collecting partner); One Network Bank Inc. (Hall of Fame award, rural bank category); and Ventaja International Corp. (Hall of Fame award for OFW category). The Best Paying Partner is awarded to financial institutions that are exemplary in delivering SSS benefits to members. This year the Land Bank
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Given special citations as collecting and paying partners were RCBC Savings Bank, I-Remit Inc. and Philippine National Bank. Also recognized as media partners for print and broadcast, respectively, were the “Ang Inyong Lingkod” column of Dr. Hilda Ong and Buti Na Lang May SSS weekly radio program over dzIQ Radio Inquirer 990 kilohertz, hosted by Jupiter Torres. The circular Balikat ng Bayan plaque signifies the SSS’s vision of universal coverage and its commitment to its mandate to provide social-security protection to every Filipino. Within the circle are bas-relief figures of various SSS constituents. The map of the Philippines depicts the efforts of the SSS to bring its services closer to its members. The plaque was designed by noted sculptor Dr. Antonino Raymundo. Congratulations to all awardees! For more details on SSS programs, members can drop by the nearest SSS branch, visit the SSS web site (www.sss.gov.ph), or contact the SSS call center at 920-6446 to 55, which accepts calls from 7 a.m. on Monday all the way to 7 a.m. on Saturday. Susie G. Bugante is the vice president for public affairs and special events of the SSS. Send comments about this column to susiebugante.bmirror@gmail.com.
Investment principles of insurance companies
Founder
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of the Philippines and RCBC Savings Bank have the distinction of receiving the Balikat ng Bayan award as best paying partners. Another set of Balikat ng Bayan awards are given to the Best Media Partner for Radio, Television and Print for their contributions in the SSS’s pursuit to provide meaningful protection to our members. The awards went to PTV-4 for Best Media Partner for television and dzRBRadyo ng Bayan for radio. Special citations are also given to accredited program partneragents, financial institutions and media partners that are supporting the mission of the SSS. Special citations were given to the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the social-security coverage of their job order and contractual personnel. The Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Inc. was cited for being a model accredited partner-agent, while the Baganga Integrated Social Action Group was cited for being a model AlkanSSSya program partner. The Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute was recognized for its full subsidy program partnership with the SSS.
INSURANCE FORUM
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t has been said that the real challenge to the investment manager is to improve the financial position of a company relative to its competitors. With declining underwriting profit margins, profits from investments become the competitive edge. On the part of the investment manager, he has several factors to consider in making investment decisions. Among these are a) the insurance laws and regulations; b) tax laws; c) the financial position of the company; d) the liquidity requirements; and e) the market conditions. Taking these factors into consideration, he is tasked to come up with a viable investment strategy.
The liquidity requirement of an insurance company is an important element. Government bonds are considered as highly liquid. Liquidity can be met by considering the maturity schedule of bonds together with the cash flows. In a tight situation, liquidity can be met by having a credit line with the banks. Debts should be considered as a possible alternative whenever liquidity becomes an issue. Nonlife-insurance companies would generally have a higher liquidity requirement due to their short-term liabilities. In this case, claims payment would generally be covered
by current premiums. On the part of the regulator, it must ensure that the investment strategies of companies meet the twin goals of security and profitability. More important, insurance investments have three basic principles, which must be strictly adhered to: 1) diversification and dispersion; 2) maturity matching (matching the maturities of assets and liabilities); and 3) currency matching (to ensure that foreign currency risk is reduced). There are also “quantitative” regulations to be followed—the investment caps or ceilings. These
“maximum” levels of investments are justified on prudential grounds. Nonetheless, when the circumstance requires, companies may be allowed to exceed the prescribed ceilings under certain conditions and subject to prior authorization by the regulator. In making investment decisions, the Prudent-Person Principle is important. And the regulators should ensure the expertise of investment managers. Coming up with a portfolio mix is an important task. For example, the investment manager has to decide between equities and fixed-income securities. Real estate has always been noted for its lack of liquidity. In 2011 in the US, bonds dominated insurers’ $5-trillion investment portfolio, with a 70-percent allocation. Common stocks followed with 10.3 percent and direct mortgages were third at 6.4 percent. In fourth place, with a 4.5-percent allocation, was the so-called Schedule BA (or “other longterm invested assets”). As of 2013, US insurance companies have kept the overwhelming bulk of their investments in bonds (72.2 percent). This is followed by equities (10.5 percent), mortgage loans (7.1 percent), cash and short-term placements (4.1 percent), and real estate (0.7 percent). Notably, 5.4 percent is kept in Schedule BA, which would have a higher yield. Recent ly, consistent w it h
portfolio diversification, “alternative asset classes” are being considered. Historically, companies have relied on income-oriented assets. These would include bonds and commercial mortgages. The alternative asset classes would include hedge funds, private equity, investments in infrastructure, mineral rights and aircraft leases. This nontraditional investment category (NAIC) is classified in the US as “Schedule BA assets”. Of the nearly 4,500 insurance companies reporting investment data to the NAIC, about a fourth of them, or 1,163 companies, reported Schedule BA investments in 2010. Out of 368 groups reporting Schedule BA assets, the top 10 insurance groups or holding companies account for 62.7 percent of all Schedule BA holdings; the top 25 account for 80 percent. As one would expect, the list is dominated by the largest insurance groups. Berkshire Hathaway, at $54.5 billion, accounts for nearly a quarter (23.4 percent) of the entire industry’s $232.6 billion in Schedule BA assets. The three next largest groups account for 7.7 percent, 7.4 percent and 5.8 percent of all Schedule BA assets, with the rest holding less than 5 percent each.
Dennis B. Funa is currently the deputy insurance commissioner for Legal Services of the Insurance Commission. E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.
Opinion BusinessMirror
opinion@businessmirror.com.ph
European Union: Rising to the challenge
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This challenge we can only meet with a choral work, involving the public and the private sectors, the financial institutions and civil society. As European Union (EU) we are now setting an example. At a time of growing needs and shrinking resources, the EU has had to come up with new ways to make public funding stretch further. We have done so again this week. We presented an overall review of the EU budget that frees up an additional €6.3 billion in financing for priority areas by 2020, makes the use of the budget more flexible and cuts red tape for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and non-governmental organizations. Most important, we have extended one guarantee fund for job-creating investments in Europe, and we are launching a new one to foster growth and stability in our neighborhood and in Africa. T he I nvest ment Pl a n for Europe—or Juncker Plan as it is often known—and its European Fund for Strategic Investments have been a turning point in our collective response to the economic crisis. Faced with tough financial constraints, public funding was not going to be enough to boost the economy and create jobs for our people. There was no shortage of private cash available, but it needed to be released. Together with international financial institutions, the new fund has provided a guarantee to private investments in key sectors and directly supports our SMEs. We had used financial instruments before, but it had been more like dipping a toe in the water. This was jumping in at the deep end: a €16-billion guarantee from the EU’s budget, complemented by €5 billion of the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) capital, in turn, to trigger more than €315 billion of investment in Europe. The plan has proven to be a success story. In just one year it is expected to reach over 200,000 SMEs. Because it is a smart way of investing our funds, we are now committed to doubling the EFSI inside Europe, in terms of duration and financial capacity. For now, we are proposing to deliver at least half-a-trillion euros in mobilized investments in five years, with a bigger focus on sustainable investments and cross-border projects. And we can reach the goal of doubling the fund to €630 billion, even faster if member-states chip in. Just as important, we are applying the same principle outside our continent, launching a new External Investment Plan. If we look at Europe’s neighborhood, we can see regions with huge
potential that are being held back by war, poverty, lack of infrastructure and weak governance. Millions of young people are looking for better opportunities. In their quest to realize them, many risk their lives making perilous journeys to get to Europe. Others become easy targets for the propaganda of terrorist groups. The EU can disrupt these negative trends by stimulating growth and creating jobs in our wider region. European firms employ hundreds of thousands of people around the world, provide many with an opportunity to succeed in their home country; and contribute to addressing one of the root causes of migration. These investments are sound foreign policy. But for private firms to move to a new country or expand an existing activity, they need security and protection from financial and legal risks, as well as from instability. This is where the External Investment Plan comes in. Based on a €1.4-billion guarantee from the EU budget, it aims to leverage more than €40 billion in investment in our neighborhood. That is more than the EU currently invests in aid worldwide every year. And it could be doubled if our member-states match the EU budget contribution. The European Fund for Sustainable Development will guarantee private investors against the risk they face when they start a business in developing countries. This guarantee will not only promote single projects but also larger “investment windows” in strategic regions or sectors. A “one-stop shop” will encourage private and institutional investors, from both Europe and our partner-countries, to channel their proposals and to gather information on the incentives. The External Investment Plan will provide technical assistance to enhance the quality, the number and the sustainability of projects. The European Commission, the EIB and other international financial institutions—with the specialist advice of private operators— will work hand in hand to deliver a swift and business-oriented screening of projects. Federica Mogherini is High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/vice president of the European Commission; Kristalina Georgieva is vice president of the European Commission; and Jyrki Katainen is vice president of the European Commission.
Bonuses for everyone By Michael Schuman Bloomberg View
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Russians used to love Putin. Now? Meh.
By Federica Mogherini, Kristalina Georgieva & Jyrki Katainen
hallenging times call for us to rise to meet them with new thinking. With innovation. With vision. We have to foster our internal growth and the well-being of our citizens. And we have to cooperate with our neighboring countries to support their own growth, stability and well-being.
striking 5.2-percent rise in US household income last year, the largest increase since the last recession, is a rare bit of good news for the beleaguered American middle class. Still, we shouldn’t get too excited. That one-year improvement can’t compensate for the decades of near stagnation in middle-class welfare. The Federal Reserve figures that the average income of the bottom 95 percent of US households grew by less than 10 percent, in real terms, between 1989 and 2013. There’s no shortage of suggestions for how to address the problem, from adjusting tax rates to hiking the minimum wage to tearing up trade agreements. One possible solution that hasn’t been discussed much derives from a very capi-
talist concept: performance-based pay. The US is an overwhelmingly private economy, and the government can only do so much to relieve inequality. That means the shareholders and CEOs of corporate America are ultimately responsible for strengthening the middle class. Yet, in recent years, we’ve witnessed just the opposite. As capitalists binge on gargantuan bonuses and lavish share buybacks, they’ve been treating the employees who slave away for them as little more than costs to be controlled, leaving the average worker with crumbs. Somehow the seemingly irreconcilable differences between capital and labor have to be reconciled. Few principles are more central to the American free-enterprise system than the right of hard-working people to reap the fruits of their labor. By applying this ideal on a much wider scale, we can start to address
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 A11
Leonid Bershidsky
BLOOMBERG VIEW
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ussian President Vladimir Putin’s loyalists, the United Russia party, gained a massive, record majority in Sunday’s parliamentary election—but Russians have also shown that the high popularity ratings of United Russia and, by extension, Putin and his government are essentially fake: The turnout was lower than ever in the history of Russian federal elections.
According to preliminary results, United Russia has won 344 seats in the 450-strong State Duma, or lower house of parliament, a big improvement on the 238 it had gained at the previous election, in 2011. At the same time, it lost north of 5 million votes in absolute numbers. According to the Central Election Commission, the turnout reached 47.8 percent compared with 60.2 percent at the last election. In Moscow and Saint Petersburg, which officially account for 11.8 percent of the total population, the turnout was lower still— less than 30 percent. This is an important change. In 2011 widespread ballot-stuffing and fake absentee voting gave rise to major protests in Moscow: The capital’s middle class had skin in the game and did not take kindly to being swindled. The protests failed because of these same Muscovites’ aversion to the kind of violence that led to regime change in Ukraine in 2014. This year there will be no rallies and marches against the falsifications, which were demonstrably prevalent in Sunday’s election, too. Yet, the low turnout is a strong message in itself. In Central Asian dictatorships, people show up for “elections” for fear of being deemed disloyal, the way they did in
Soviet times. In Turkmenistan, for example, a 91-percent turnout was registered at the 2013 parliamentary election. By staying away, a majority of Russians have shown they have neither love for nor fear of the Putin regime. Even in Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, fewer people turned out than for the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election. “The system is wilting and closing in on itself,” political scientist Alexander Morozov wrote on Facebook. “Now, there’s clear sociological evidence of this.” Putin’s opponents who called on Russians to go and vote for opposition parties are dismayed: The same four tame parties—United Russia, the misnamed, opportunist Liberal Democratic Party, the Communists and vaguely center-left Fair Russia—have won seats. Yabloko, the best of the anti-Putin crop, got less than 2 percent, not even enough to continue receiving government financing, let alone get into parliament. Sergei Parkhomenko, a journalist, publisher and activist who had called on Putin opponents to vote and ensure some representation for liberals, raged on Facebook: This Duma has been chosen with
your lively participation. It turned out that you constitute a majority. You think you voted with your feet. But, in fact, you voted with your fat behinds, the ones on which you sat through yesterday. “That’s nothing but emotion,” Morozov countered. Indeed, the anti-Putin parties didn’t stand a chance for a multitude of reasons. They had splintered and squabbled, failing to agree on a common strategy. Some of their best candidates, such as anticorruption activist Alexei Navalny and former tech entrepreneur Ilya Ponomaryov, were unable to run because of past politically motivated convictions or trumpedup charges against them. Potential donors were scared off. The regime now controls—or has the ability to throttle—every media outlet with significant reach. Besides, there was widespread ballot-stuffing— often captured on video—and the same statistical anomalies in favor of United Russia that were seen in previous elections. Physicist Sergei Shpilkin, who has done this kind of analysis for previous ballots, too, found that United Russia’s results relative to turnout at specific polling stations do not follow the normal distribution, the way other parties’ results do. According to Shpilkin, various shenanigans have added 14 percentage points to United Russia’s result. In short, the election was not free or fair—and a majority of Russians, whether relatively happy with their life under Putin or strongly opposed to him, knew it wouldn’t be. By staying away, they showed a silent reluctance to be fooled. Putin has always prided himself on his majority support. His rule—or at least his understanding of it—has been based on love as much as fear. And Russians have mostly obliged by turning out in force for important votes. In 2006 the parliament
canceled legitimacy thresholds for elections—20 percent of the Duma, 50 percent for the presidential ballots—on the grounds that more than 50 percent of voters showed up every time. Now that it’s no longer so and the new parliament’s legitimacy looks questionable, the Kremlin is trying to put a positive spin on it. Putin’s Press Secretary Dmitri Peskov laid down the official line: Indeed, a higher turnout would have been welcome, but do not demean the significance of the turnout numbers we have now. They cannot be called low, you know that in the overwhelming majority of European countries turnouts are actually much lower and that reflects the reality, the proportion of the politically active population that traditionally takes part in the electoral process. The Kremlin’s troll army has been spreading this comparison on the social networks, though it is demonstrably inaccurate. In any major European country, a 48-percent turnout in a national election would be abnormally low. The Putin regime would probably be OK with voter apathy, but there are reasons to suspect that it faces a kind of passive aggression. There is no end in sight to Russia’s recession or the swollen law-enforcement agencies’ preying on business and the general populace. About a third of Russians believe the country is headed toward a dead end. A constitutional majority in the parliament gives Putin more power to tighten screws and eliminate remaining liberties, and he will probably use it; but he can hardly have peace of mind when a growing number of people dissociate themselves from his government, his goals and his farce of democracy. They only count on themselves, and they can hardly be expected to stand up for Putin if a strong rival emerges or if things get significantly worse economically.
People aren’t thinking straight about Bayer and Monsanto By Tyler Cowen | BloombergView ayer’s proposed purchase of Monsanto, the biggest deal of the year so far, has led to a heated public debate over economic concentration. Unfortunately, both sides are failing to identify the key issues behind the potential transaction. The good news is that the deal announced on September 14 would not increase market concentration by much. Bayer is primarily a pharmaceutical and health-care company, whereas Monsanto deals in crop chemicals and seeds. Since Bayer does make biotech products and agricultural chemicals, there is overlap in the markets for cottonseed and canola seeds. But what’s the actual problem from possibly limiting competition in those markets? There are many substitutes for cotton fabrics and canola oil (how many of us could pass a blind taste test for canola versus vegetable oil?). Critics who dislike Monsanto for its leading role in developing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and agricultural chemicals shouldn’t also be citing monopoly concerns as a reason to
oppose the merger—that combination of views doesn’t make sense. Let’s say, for instance, that the deal raised the price of GMOs due to monopoly power. Farmers would respond by using those seeds less, and presumably that should be welcome news to GMO opponents. It appears that some of the opposition to the deal can be traced to a dislike of the companies involved, especially Monsanto. If that becomes a consideration for US and European Union regulators, it will amount to a worrisome politicization of antitrust policy. Keep in mind that the proposed acquisition needs approval in about 30 different political jurisdictions, hardly a recipe for flexible adjustment to changing marketplace conditions. The shares of Monsanto have been trading well below the offer price, a sign that investors don’t expect the proposal to survive. Social media has given many companies popular reputations that make it harder to evaluate antitrust deals on an appropriately technocratic basis. That makes it more likely that popular companies will receive favorable treatment from governments, while unpopular ones face higher hurdles. Especially in
Europe, which has far more anti-GMO sentiment than the US, Monsanto is often vilified. Yet, running antitrust law by democratic opinion is hardly a good idea, given the complexity of the economic issues involved and the paucity of information before most voters. A significant portion of the electorate, for instance, fails to accept that GMOs have been adjudicated as safe by a wide variety of established experts. There is a silver lining to this whole mess, however, namely, that it may not matter much if the deal falls apart. What does Bayer hope to get for its $66-billion, $128-a-share offer? The company has argued that it will be able to eliminate some duplicated jobs and expenses; negotiate better deals with suppliers; and invest more funds in research and development. Maybe, but the broader reality is less cheery. There is a well-known academic literature, dating to the early 1990s, showing that acquiring firms usually decline in value after tender offers, especially after the biggest deals. Mergers do not seem to make companies more valuable or efficient. Why then do so many mergers and
acquisitions happen? Well, some of them do pay off (Google buying YouTube), but also many managers engage in empirebuilding by increasing the size of their companies, even at the expense of the shareholders. Another possibility is what economists call “winner’s curse,” namely, that the winner of an auction or contest or bidding war tends to be the person or institution most optimistic, and, in fact, overly optimistic, about the value at stake. Consistent with this view, Bayer’s shares are down since the merger became a media rumor on May 11. The whole Bayer-Monsanto case is a classic example of how a vociferous public debate can disguise or even reverse the true issues at stake. If Bayer fails to close the deal for Monsanto, Bayer shareholders may be the biggest winners. The biggest losers from a failed deal may be its opponents, who will spend the rest of their lives in a world where misguided judgments of corporate popularity have increasing sway over laws and regulations. That wouldn’t be good for anybody. However the deal turns out, it’s hard to see in the process of considering it a society that is making decisions rationally.
the yawning income gap in a businessfriendly way by aligning the interests of shareholders, management and workers. To be sure, there’s a fair bit of criticism of performance-based pay schemes, including bonuses and commissions. Studies show that financial incentives don’t necessarily make people work harder or better over the long term. Those who can’t compete may get left further behind. We should, though, see performancebased pay not as a bribe for good behavior or a motivational tool, but as fair compensation for a worker’s critical contribution to the greater corporation. We reward CEOs based on a company’s overall performance—its profitability, its share price and so on—so why not every employee? The root problem in today’s corporate governance is the implicit assumption
that only senior management and directors are responsible for a firm’s success. Profits depend no less critically on the workers flipping burgers, stocking shelves or mopping the floors. Without them, CEOs would have no companies to run, and shareholders would have no profits to pocket. When seen in that light, performance-based pay schemes don’t go far enough. According to consulting firm PayScale, senior management benefits much more from bonuses than the rank and file. In its most recent corporate survey, respondents said that 75 percent of directors and managers were given bonuses, while only 47 percent of eligible workers were. (And that’s excluding other employees who don’t even qualify for bonuses at these companies, so the actual percentage is likely even lower.) Such schemes should be extended
to all employees, from the CEO to the janitor. Hourly wage workers ought to be included, as well. Better yet, wage increases should be tied to overall corporate performance. If profits increase, so should pay for all employees. In that way, the average worker would share in the benefits brought to the company by fatter revenues, stronger productivity and breakthrough innovation—which all employees help to create. By adopting such schemes, companies would be helping themselves, too. A recent PayScale report reveals that top-performing companies— defined as those which are No. 1 in their industries and exceeded revenue expectations in 2015—are more likely to offer bonuses, pay incentives to teams, merit-based pay plans and stock options. Some doctrinaire capitalists may not approve of such reforms, since the rich would have to share a part of their re-
turns. But the consequences of not taking such steps are worse. A US economy expanding at a tepid 1.1 percent in the second quarter needs a healthier middle class to propel growth. If these trends continue, the business elite are practically inviting government to take intrusive action to close the gap between rich and poor, with higher taxes, mandated wage levels, heftier regulation and perhaps even worse. Frustrated workers are lashing out at Wall Street, trade, immigrants—anything or anyone they can blame for their plight. By more closely linking employee pay to corporate performance, managers can direct a company’s stakeholders towards a common goal that benefits all—more profitable, more competitive, more efficient businesses. Even the greediest of capitalists should be able to appreciate that.
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Filinvest allots over ₧10B for Mindanao expansion
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ilinvest Land Inc. (FLI) is set to invest an additional P5 billion in the next three years in Mindanao, as it expands its Futura Homes economic housing under the Spatial medium-rise building (MRB) portfolio with new projects in South Cotabato and Davao City. This is on top of the P4.7 billion worth of ongoing land development, including the One Oasis project in Cagayan de Oro, thus, granting Filinvest a 17 projectstrong foothold spread over seven towns and cities. Filinvest has recently acquired a 7.5-hectare site in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, and a 17-hectare site in Catalunan Grande, Davao City, for its economic-housing projects that cater to the market segment that can afford units worth P1.5 million and below. Both are targeted for launch within the
fourth quarter of the year. Filinvest has allocated a huge part of the development budget for two new MRB condo communities in Davao City—a 2-hectare site in Matina area and another 1.7-hectare site near Davao City Hall. “With the government’s renewed focus toward Mindanao, we expect the demand for affordable housing to grow, as new industries and investments arrive in Southern Mindanao [Region 11] and Soccsksargen [Region 12] areas. We would like FLI to be at the forefront to address this growing
demand for affordable housing, especially in Davao City and Koronadal City,” explained Tristan Las Marias, senior vice president and Cluster head for the Visayas and Mindanao. Centro Spatial, the 1.7-hectare midrise condominium enclave set to rise in the center of Davao City near City Hall, will have five eight-story, midrise buildings, and would boast of spacious units and complete amenities. Spatial communities provide a secure and very accessible home in an environment where over 65 percent is provided for open space and amenities, and is perfect for the budget-conscious, start-up families. The second MRB project that will rise on a 2-hectare site in Matina, Davao City, will, likewise, offer spacious units at affordable prices with large open spaces and activity areas. These new ventures now comprise Filinvest’s total of 24 residential buildings provided all over Mindanao. “We are excited with the very strong demand for affordable condominium units in Davao City. As Davao City emerges as the new political capital of the country, we expect the influx of investments to continu-
ously pour into Davao, particularly from our overseas Filipino workers looking for prime real-estate investments, and contribute to the growing demand for affordable condos in Davao. We also believe that the city has the right fundamentals to attract and sustain business investments, in spite of recent events,” Las Marias commented. FLI is one of the country’s leading full-range property developers, with almost 50 years in real estate and a diverse project portfolio spanning the archipelago. In Mindanao FLI offers a variety of living experiences, from gated communities to midrise condominiums and resortinspired residences. FLI is a subsidiary of the Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), which operates a 405-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Misamis Oriental. FDC also maintains two sugar mills and refineries in Cotabato and Davao. Filinvest will continue to be a catalyst of growth in the region, with more investments in the pipeline. With every endeavor, the company remains committed to enriching land and touching lives of Mindanaoans for generations to come.
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Puregold to open more stores down south By VG Cabuag
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@villygc
rocery-store operator Puregold Price Club Inc. will push for the establishment of more branches in Mindanao, as it tries to cover more areas in still many parts of the country. Antonio de los Santos, the company’s vice president for operations, said in a briefing with reporters that over the past two to three years, its branches in the southernmost part of the country have been limited to just two stores a year. “What we’re looking at is not the number but the areas. There are areas that, I think, are ripe for a Puregold store. What we’re looking for [are] right location[s],” de los Santos said at the company’s Kaindustriya conference on Tuesday. At the moment, the company only has about eight branches in Davao, including its most recent opening in Cotabato last week. De los Santos said the company does not have a branch in places like the cities of Iligan, Pagadian, Dipolog and Ozamiz, all of which are ripe to have a Puregold branch. For the year, de los Santos said it is on track to reach its 25 new store openings, and already opened half. The company is pushing for more branches in the Visayas and Mindanao, since over the past years it has focused in Metro Manila and Luzon. “When we open a branch, we look at demographics, we look at [the] economic footprint of the place, we look at how shoppers behave, and we tailor fit
13% The net income growth of Puregold Price Club in the first half
our strategy toward that,” he said. Puregold’s event this week is part of its effort to lure more businesses into its stores. Its Kaindustriya members, who enjoy some discounts and privileges in its stores, number to around 11,000 to 12,000, all of whom own a small eatery in their place, popularly known as a carinderia, or catering service. He said the company is just scratching the surface, as total network of food-related business in the country is around 120,000. For the first half of the year, the company’s net income grew 13 percent to P2.26 billion, from last year’s P2 billion. Revenues, meanwhile, rose 18 percent to P52.54 billion, from last year’s P44.6 billion. De los Santos said the company is targeting sales of about P90 billion this year, or about 11 percent to 12 percent from that of last year. “We’re on track to hit [P90 billion] because in the first half we’re 45 percent of the target, which is aligned on the movement of trade, wherein your last six months is stronger because of Christmas season,” he said.