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Friday, September 23, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 349

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ECOP SAYS MSMEs TO BEAR BRUNT OF INCREASING DAILY PAY BY P125

‘Wage hike would cost firms ₧166B’

INSIDE

the end of an era

LIfe

back to the future

Motoring

By Catherine N. Pillas

@c_pillas29

he Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) has warned that the proposed P125 across-the-board wage increase would force businesses to spend an additional P166 billion annually if it is approved by Congress.

In a position paper, Ecop said micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) would bear the brunt of the P125 hike in the daily pay of workers. “The implementation of the P125 across-the-board daily-wage increase would cost P972.4 million, which is the P125 multiplied by the

number of total employed workers. This would only cover direct costs,” the position paper read. Coupled with other costs, such as remuneration for time not worked, bonuses and gratuities, payments in kind, housing and others, the amount of additional expenses would balloon to P166 billion, Ecop said.

MB decides to keep policies unchanged By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is determined to exercise prudence in the face of volatile waters in the global economy, as it retained all monetary-policy settings in its September meeting on Thursday. BSP Governor and Chairman of the Monetary Board (MB) Amando M. Tetangco Jr. announced in a postpolicy meeting their decision to maintain interest rate on the overnight reverse repurchase facility (RRP) at 3 percent. “All corresponding interest rates on the overnight lending and deposit facilities were kept steady and the reserve requirement ratios remained unchanged,” the BSP said. Tetangco said their main considerations include a subdued and manageable inflation, solid growth expectations and slower global economic activity. “With these considerations, the MB believes that current monetarypolicy settings remain appropriate. At the same time, increased uncertainty over prospects for growth and monetary-policy action in major advanced economies warrant prudence in policy settings,”Tetangco said in a statement. Tetangco added that their latest forecast continues to indicate average inflation is likely to settle below their target range for 2016, and seen rising toward the midpoint of the target range in 2017 and 2018. In particular, BSP Deputy Governor for the Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo said they have

The number of wage and salaried workers in the formal sector in 2014 “Fifty-six percent of the total will be borne by MSMEs. If the additional labor cost of medium enterprises would be included, then the labor cost of MSMEs would be 63 percent of the P166 billion,” the group added. In providing its estimate, Ecop said it made use of Philippine Statistics Authority data, which showed that there were 7 million wage and salaried workers employed by Continued on A2

of legends and innovations

E3 FILE PHOTO

Motoring

social change Sports Sports SOCIAL BusinessMirror

CHANGE natIonaL Basketball association stars, including LeBron James, have not been shy about trying to promote social change.

By Cai U. Ordinario

HAPPIER THAN EVER A TLANTA—Jhonattan Vegas doesn’t have a realistic chance of claiming the $10-million FedEx Cup bonus even if he wins the Tour Championship. It’s having any chance at all that makes this season so remarkable. “Best year of my career so far,” Vegas said on Wednesday with as broad a smile as could be found at East Lake. “It’s just crazy to think of this from where we started.” Still vivid are memories of how uncertain his career felt a year ago. Vegas failed to keep his card, and then his season got even worse. With a chance to regain his card in the Web.com Tour Finals, he missed the cut in the final event. That left the 32-year-old from Venezuela with limited status. “I remember sitting down Friday afternoon after I missed the cut, not knowing where I could play,” Vegas said. He received a sponsor’s exemption to the Frys.com Open to start the season, opened with a 64 and tied for 10th to get into the next tournament in Las Vegas. In an oppositefield event in Mississippi, he tied for fourth. And then he broke through in a big way by winning the RBC Canadian Open in July, and he played well enough in the FedEx Cup playoffs to finish at No. 29 and get into the Tour Championship by a mere four points. All he wanted to do this year was finish in the top 125 and keep his card. Now, he is playing the Tour Championship and is assured of playing at least three majors next year, along with World Golf Championships in Mexico and Firestone. “One of the biggest accomplishments of my career,” Vegas said. For others, there is so much more to accomplish. The Tour Championship, which starts on Thursday, is the final stop of the FedEx Cup season that pays out $10 million to the winner in a finale that is up for grabs among the 30 players who made it to East Lake. Everyone has a mathematical chance to win the FedEx Cup, though it’s unlikely for Vegas. He would have to win, and Dustin Johnson would have to finish 28th. The focus is more on Johnson, the No. 1 seed, and the next four players behind him—Patrick Reed, Adam Scott, Jason Day and Paul Casey. They only have to win the Tour Championship to claim the prize no matter what anyone else does. Bill Haas at No. 25 in 2011 was the lowest seed to win the FedEx Cup. The last player to win the Tour Championship without claiming the FedEx Cup was Phil Mickelson in 2009. He wound up second in the FedEx Cup to Tiger Woods. Johnson and Day have their own competition going. Players will be voting on PGA Tour player of the year at the end of the week. Both have three victories, though Johnson has a big edge from his US Open title (Day’s biggest victory was The Player Championship). Johnson also is leading the money list and the Vardon Trophy for lowest adjusted scoring average. But if Day were to win this week, that might make the vote more complicated. Vegas is nowhere near that conversation. For him, just getting to East Lake was worth celebrating. With only past champion status, which he had at the start of the season, he could only count on getting into tournaments where most of the top players didn’t show up. It’s hard to plan a schedule. There is no continuity. And his confidence was lagging. It turned out to be the best thing for him. “Losing my card made me realize how much harder I had to work to get better,” Vegas said. “It led me to make a bunch of changes—important changes—that I wasn’t ready to make. But it forced me to do them.” Vegas was part of the next wave of impressive young players when he won the Bob Hope Classic in the second start of his rookie season in 2011. The following week, he was tied for the lead at Torrey Pines with eight

@cuo_bm

Jhonattan Vegas feels like $10 million even if he likely won’t win it.

holes to play and tied for third. Suddenly, he was playing in majors and World Golf Championships. Over time, he started going through the motions. He lost one year to surgery on his left shoulder. By the end of last season, he had plunged to No. 381 in the world ranking. “If I kept my card, that was my No. 1 goal,” Vegas said. “I knew I had limited starts. I would have about 15 events. So I knew that every week was a major for me. If you approach things that way, your preparation and everything around it is more important. Because you’re there to get it done. It puts it in a different perspective.” AP

Players received a memo from the National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Players Association, one that announced that the league and the union, “working together, have begun developing substantive ways for us to come together and take meaningful action.”

& Butch Fernandez

By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press

IAMI—National Basketball Association (NBA) players are being urged to reach out to league and union officials to try and come up with ways to create “positive change” in communities around the country, a move that comes in response to protests in other sports about racial oppression and other social matters. Players received a memo from the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) on Wednesday, one that announced that the league and the union, “working together, have begun developing substantive ways for us to come together and take meaningful action.” A copy of the memo was obtained by The Associated Press. It did not remind players of the NBA’s rule saying players must stand for the national anthem, something that some athletes in other pro sports have chosen not to do in recent weeks in acts of protest. “These ideas are based on the actions many of you have already taken or supported, including convening community conversations in NBA markets to engage young people, parents, community leaders and law enforcement in a candid dialogue,” read one excerpt of the memo, signed by both NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and union head Michele Roberts. They also said the game should continue bringing “people together and build bonds of trust in our communities.” The memo was sent on the same day that each player on the WNBA’s Indiana Fever roster took a knee and linked arms with a teammate during the playing of the national anthem that preceded the team’s playoff game with the Phoenix Mercury. “Well, we thought it was important to have a voice about something greater than basketball,” said Indiana’s Tamika Catchings, the longtime WNBA star who played her final game before retirement. It also came on the same day that Golden State Coach Steve Kerr said he expected NBA players to take some sort of stand on the issue. The NBA and its players already are involved with several social programs together, including ones promoting mentoring. In the NBA rule book, the wording of the policy related to the anthem is this: “Players, coaches and trainers are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or on the foul line during the playing of the National Anthem.” Protests during the playing of the anthem have been rare in the NBA, with perhaps the most famed example of one coming 20 years ago, when Denver’s Mahmoud AbdulRauf refused to stand for the anthem because he felt the flag symbolized oppression. He was suspended for a game in March 1996 over his stance. But NBA stars have not been shy about trying to promote social change, and LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony took the stage—at their own request—to begin the ESPY Awards broadcast this summer and spoke out about the wave of police shootings that created unrest around the nation in recent months. Their speech was referenced in the memo to players on Wednesday, with Silver and Roberts saying the four stars “spoke eloquently about the senseless acts of violence impacting our communities.” “I’m all for people speaking out against injustice,” said Kerr, who was 18 when his father—the president of American University in Beirut—was murdered. “Whatever form that takes, if it’s nonviolent and it leads to conversation, then I think that’s a good thing.” Oklahoma City General Manager Sam Presti said he would like to see Thunder players and staff continue standing for the anthem. He addressed the issue on Wednesday, less than a week after an unarmed black man was fatally shot by a white police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “Our players have the opportunity and ability to express themselves as people and we respect that above all,” Presti said, speaking before the NBA’s announcement was distributed. Presti said he was sure the league and the players would be “working in concert” to find common ground on the issue. “The NBA and the players’ union are usually ahead of these types of situations,” Presti said. Thunder guard Victor Oladipo told Complex Sports last week that he expected to see some NBA players taking a knee or acting in a similar fashion to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, soccer’s Megan Rapinoe and some National Football League players with regard to protests during the anthem. “Whatever you believe, believe in to the utmost,” Oladipo said. “But I think definitely, we’ll see a few guys in the NBA doing the same thing.”

Sports

All corresponding interest rates on the overnight lending and deposit facilities were kept steady and the reserve requirement ratios remained unchanged.”—BSP

Neda to craft national transportation plan ₧120M

the memo, cosigned by Commissioner adam silver, says the game should continue bringing “people together and build bonds of trust in our communities.”

| Friday, September 23, 2016 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

downgraded anew their inflation forecast for 2016 below the target range for the year. Guinigundo said they now expect inflation to hit 1.7 percent, from an earlier projection of 1.8 percent. The reasons behind the lowerthan-expected inflation average for the year include the lower actual August inflation rate, slower economic activity in the third quarter of the year as election spending wanes, and as the rainy season sets in and some delays in the expected powerrate adjustments. For 2017 and 2018, their inflation rate expectations remain unchanged at 2.9 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. For next year, the BSP said overall balance of risks surrounding the inflation outlook is tilted to the upside —with pending petitions for adjustments along with the proposed adjustments in excise-tax rates of petroleum products and the potential secondround effects on transport fares. “This actually increases the probability of the risks materializing coming from the increase in excise tax on fuels. And we expect some secondround effects on fuel prices but also on transport fare,” Guinigundo said. “It is very difficult at this point to talk about the impact, but our preliminary numbers indicate that, notwithstanding the adjustment in fuel prices and transport fare, the resulting inflation will still be within target,”he added. “After all, we don’t expect it to be approved or legislated by Congress until 2017. We have to consider the timing of the actual implementation of the increase in the excise tax,” he said.

@butchfBM

he National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said it will draft a Philippine Transportation System Master Plan to improve the country’s logistics system and boost economic growth in rural areas.

PESO exchange rates n US 47.8030

Documents obtained by the BusinessMirror indicated that the government will spend P120 million to complete the plan in two years. The plan will involve both urban and rural areas and not just Metro Manila. It will integrate various modes of transport, such as roads, railways, urban transport and airports nationwide. “[The plan will] establish a

The cost of preparing the transportation master plan

seamless multimodal logistics system in the country to ensure efficient and unimpeded flow of people, commodities, supplies and inputs

to tourism, agricultural production and industrial/economic zones,” the documents read. While the Neda will be the implementing agency for the project, it will closely coordinate with other agencies and the private sector. Specifically, the departments of Transportation, Public Works and Highways, and Trade and Industry will also be involved in crafting the national transportation plan.

The Neda said private-sector representatives, such as chambers of commerce and shipping and airline industry groups, would be asked to participate. “[The plan also aims to] create an economic corridor, where development benefits not only major cities but also rural areas and smaller towns, in line with the [new] administration’s policy direction to

n japan 0.4766 n UK 62.2825 n HK 6.1642 n CHINA 7.1712 n singapore 35.3285 n australia 36.4402 n EU 53.5059 n SAUDI arabia 12.7485

See “Neda,” A2

Source: BSP (22 September 2016 )

News BusinessMirror

A2 Friday, September 23, 2016

‘Wage hike would cost firms P166B’ Continued from A1

946,988 registered establishments in the formal sector in 2014. While the possible wage hike would only affect businesses in the formal sector, which employs 15 percent of the labor force, Ecop said its impact cannot be “understated,” as the sector contributes about 60 percent of gross value added. The group added that any changes in labor cost could affect both the decision of workers to enter the labor market and businesses. This, Ecop said, can impact commodity prices and, eventually, GDP. Ecop said implementing the proposed P125 wage hike could reduce 2017 GDP by 1 percentage point. “This could also result in unemployment loss of thousands, and bring full-year unemployment rate to 7.3 percent in 2017,” the paper read. Last week the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) were instructed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to start consultations on the across-the-board general wage increase in the private sector. The DOLE expects legislation on the wage increase to be filed in the 17th Congress. The RTWPBs are mandated by law to determine and fix the minimum-wage rates and structure applicable in a particular region. Labor groups have been asking Congress to approve proposals calling for a P125 across-the-board wage increase for almost a decade.

Neda. . .

Continued from A1

decentralize development away from highly urbanized areas,” the documents read. The Neda envisions the plan to provide guidance to the overall development of the Subic-ClarkManila-Batangas corridor and other similar corridors to become seamless logistics regions. The master plan will provide an analysis of the current logistics systems in the country and its problems. This will entail the review of existing studies, master plans and existing policies. It will also review present socioeconomic conditions; land use/regional development plans; logistics infrastructure; and analyze passenger and freight movement. The master plan will formulate baseline indicators, such as those on transport cost, travel time and environmental impact. This will help provide an assessment of the financial and economic viability of projects and programs. “[The plan will] consider the intermodality of transport network system in coordination with the industrial and area development plans to identify necessary programs, projects and policies,” the documents read. “ [I t w i l l a l s o] p r o m o t e subregional economic logistics cooperation and utilize the logistics system of the regions traversed by the logistics corridor for greater and more efficient connectivity,” it added.

Metro Manila traffic

H a r a ssed dai ly commuters are not likely to get early relief from proposed emergency powers being crafted by Congress to enable

government agencies concerned to quickly address Metro Manila’s crippling traffic gridlocks. “Unfortunately, there’s no specific date [for passage of emergency-powers bill] except that there are promising developments,” Sen. Grace Poe told reporters on Thursday when asked how soon commuters can expect to begin getting relief from the traffic mess. Poe, who chairs the Public Services Committee spearheading Senate hearings on the emergency-power proposal and eight other pending traffic-reduction bills, cited as an example the Ninoy Aquino International A ir port “connector road” that was opened to vehicular traffic yesterday. In addition, she said public works officials informed the committee that an ongoing east-bound commuter train project from Metro Manila to Antipolo is expected to be finished “by 2018.” The senator added: “We are now at 2016, so we’re looking at two years but there are other implementable traffic reduction projects similar to the airport connector road.” At the same time, Poe reported that the committee hearing affirmed that the implementation of traffic rules does not require emergency powers. S he added t he com m it tee hearing brought out the possibility of adopting the so-called telecommuting option, where employees can work at home to avoid traffic, but are hobbled by slow Internet connections. Poe suggested that the emergencypowers bill being crafted by Congress could cover and facilitate installation of additional cell sites all over the country to speed up Internet connections. That way, she added, workers need not commute to go to work as

they can do their work at home, effectively reducing traffic volume. This developed as the Senate Committee on Public Services concluded public hearings on the emergency powers sought by Malacañang to fix the country’s worsening traffic crisis and speed up key infrastructure projects, with the panel readying to craft a committee report of the measure to be submitted to plenary in November. In opening the third and final public hearing, Poe said the committee has approached “the last mile so it would be best to chart the remaining course so we can finish on schedule and endorse the bill for plenary debate.” “We will be having technical working groups [TWGs] unless something comes up that we need to call another hearing,” Poe said during the three-hour public hearing. She added the committee may conduct three TWG meetings to draft a committee report on the emergency-powers bill and specify locations of the projects. Congress will go on session break starting October 22 and will resume on November 7. Congress will go on holiday break on December 17 to January 15 next year. I n a st ate me nt , Po e s a id the emergency-powers bill may hurdle the Senate by December, given that the proposed P3.35trillion spending program for 2017 takes precedence.

Consolidation of bills

The House Committee on Transportation on Thursday approved the creation of a TWG that will consolidate 10 bills seeking to grant President Duterte emergency powers to address the traffic crisis. L ib er a l Pa r t y R e p. Ces a r Sarmiento of Catanduanes, the panel chairman, said the TWG

www.businessmirror.com.ph seeks to produce a substitute bill on emergency powers. “It has been moved and seconded that we create a TWG that will harmonize and consolidate all the proposals and come up with a substitute bill for consideration by the mother committee and then for consideration in the plenary debate,” Sarmiento said. “After October 7, that will be the time the TWG can meet and invite resource persons. Before the congressional break on October 22, we will meet and then present to the mother committee what we’ve agreed upon,” said Sarmiento, who will head the TWG. He added the TWG will be done with the substitute bill by November and be able to present the measure to the Committee on Transportation. Sarmiento said the bill will subsequently be referred to the Committee on Appropriations because of the funding component. The emergency-powers proposal has been included in the legislative agenda of the 17th Congress. Pursuant to Article VI, Section 23 (2) of the 1987 Constitution, Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez said House Bill 3 seeks to authorize the President to exercise emergency powers necessary and proper to effectively respond to the multiple problems caused by the worsening and debilitating land- and airtraffic crisis in the country. The DOTr has submitted its own draft emergency-powers bill and the list of sectoral projects that the agency will implement to address the traffic and congestion crisis. Citing the report of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the DOTr said the country loses P2.4 billion per day, or the equivalent of $51 million per day in potential income, as a result

of traffic-congestion problems and lost productivity.

Rights of urban poor

Party-list Rep. Tom Villarin of Akbayan reminded authorities that the welfare of the urban poor should not be sacrificed. “As much as we all want the traffic crisis to be solved, we must remember that the rights of the urban poor are just as important as other people’s right to free, fast and convenient travel,” Villarin said. Villarin added that the government is planning to construct various infrastructure projects next year, such as elevated highways and railway extensions to alleviate the traffic problem that has been hounding Metro Manila and other major cities. However, he said it is a reality that many of these proposed areas of construction are currently occupied by informal-settler families. “In these areas, the government can’t simply start construction without providing families with decent relocation,” Villarin added. “It’s also inhumane to simply throw them outside the cities. That’s why we need a good relocation program where that integrates the housing, livelihood and transportation needs for everyone, including the marginalized,” he added. Villarin is the principal author of House Bill 1613, which enacts in-city or near-city relocation of informal settlers, in order to provide them with access to jobs, mass transport and other public services. During his State of the Nation Address, President Duterte said authorities cannot conduct demolitions without proper relocation for families, who will be displaced. With a report from Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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Friday, September 23, 2016 A3

BIR revenue regulation sought to stem tourism investment losses

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@Pulitika2010 Special to the BusinessMirror

HE Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) is looking to launch more tourism enterprise zones (TEZs) to further expand the destination options of foreign and local travelers in the Philippines, and give more economic benefits to locals in those tourist spots.

However, the agency’s mandate is hamstrung by the lack of fiscal and nonfiscal incentives for potential locators, as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has yet to issue revenue regulations covering the extension of such incentives. In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Tieza Chief Operating Officer (COO) Guiller Asido said the tourism industry lost an estimated P232.33 billion in investments from 2013 to 2016, because investors could not get the incentives as promised to them by Republic Act 9353 (Tourism Act of 2009), which created the Tieza. Tieza’s proposed fiscal incentives for TEZ locators include a six-year tax holiday, which can be extended for another six years for locators undertaking expansion projects, tax- and duty-free importation of capital and transportation equipment and consumable goods, 5-percent gross income taxation, and the net operating loss carryover, and the tax- and duty-free importation of capital and transportation equipment and consumable goods. “Nonfiscal incentives are the employment of foreign nationals, the special investor’s resident visa, the lease of land

by foreign nationals, the social responsibility incentive and the nonrepatriation of investments,” according to the TEZ program brief from Tieza. In a separate interview, Tieza Assistant COO for TEZ Management Joy Bulauitan said, “There have been a lot of interest from the private sector to apply as a TEZ, but we cannot support them as yet since we still don’t have the fiscal incentives for them.” She added that they applied to be TEZs “in the hope that they will get the incentives [to expand their resorts and destinations] in the future. For now, it’s just an honor for them to be designated as TEZs.” Among the designated private TEZs are Ciudad de Victoria in Bulacan, Bravo Golf Resort in Dumaguete, Hijo Plantation in Davao, Queen’s Castle in Cebu and Resorts World in Parañaque. Tieza has also designated flagship TEZs, such as San Vicente in Palawan and Rizal Park in Manila. It has also identified other potential flagship TEZs, such as Bucas Grande in Surigao del Sur, Mount Samat Shrine in Bataan and South Palms in Panglao, Bohol. Flagship TEZs will be managed and

P232.33B

The tourism investment losses from 2013 to 2016, because investors could not get the incentives as promised to them by Republic Act 9353 (Tourism Act of 2009), which created Tieza

operated by Tieza. Those officially designated, such as San Vicente and Rizal Park, already have master plans that will govern their development. The identified flagship TEZs, on the other hand, are just in the process of crafting their master plans. These master-plan studies have already been bidded out and awarded to development planners. Formerly the Philippine Tourism Authority, Tieza is mandated to “designate,

regulate and supervise the TEZs established under the Act; develop, manage and supervise tourism infrastructure projects in the country; supervise and regulate the cultural, economic and environmentally sustainable development of TEZs toward the primary objective of encouraging investments therein; ensure strict compliance by the TEZ operator with the approved development plan;” among others. Tieza recently broke ground for its field office in San Vicente, which has “pristine natural attractions of forests, islands, coves and, most especially, its 14.7-kilometer shoreline, which is said to be the longest in the world,” Asido said. In a news statement, he added, “the TEZ benefits from its location at the convergence of transport networks. The completion of Itabiak Road, which leads to the Long Beach area, makes it easier to reach the TEZ from other towns in Palawan. The

pier at Barangay Poblacion is being upgraded, but another docking area will be constructed at the TEZ. Finally, the San Vicente Airport, once operational, will be the main entry point for most tourists and will make San Vicente a good weekend destination for Manila residents, since the flight is only one-and-a-half hours from Manila,” he added. Asido said the international airport in San Vicente is scheduled to be completed by December 2016. The flagship TEZ Program is a joint initiative of the Department of Tourism and Tieza to actively seek out sites with viable tourism potential, have them master planned and develop them into sustainable tourism destinations, as per the Philippine National Tourism Development Plan, to improve marketing competitiveness of the Philippine tourism product.

Airports authorities probe plane crew in Naia ‘hijacking’ Code 7500 S By Recto Mercene @rectomercene

audi Airlines Flight SV872 from Jeddah caused apprehension to airport authorities on Tuesday when the wide-bodied aircraft’s transponder sent distress Code 7500, indicating a potential hijacking, some 20 miles off the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) minutes before making a landing. Alarm sounds also rang at the radar consoles of the Manila Area Control, or ACC, and Manila Approach Center, or APP, the backbone units of Manila airtraffic control, according to Arminda Mendador, former ACC chief. The ACC and APP are units that form the backbone of air-control services at the Naia. Wanting to confirm their worst fear, the air controllers called back to the pilot: “Confirm squawk 7500.” The pilot of the B777 long-range twin engine jet plane repeated the Code 7500 message, triggering responses on the ground that set in motion a prepared scenario to deal with a potential hijacking incident, Mendador said. “Code 7500 is a silent code and if the pilot confirms it, there’s really no need for further communicate, even if he says he had committed a mistake,” she said. “Who knows if his subsequent actions were made under duress [and] what if a gun is pointed at [the pilot’s] head and the hijackers were dictating to him on what to say.” A “normal response” among airport authorities was set into motion as Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) General Manager Ed Monreal convened the Crisis Management Team to plot a course of action. The team is comprised of the Miaa, backed by its ambulances and medical team, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap), the National Police Aviation Security Group (Avsegroup) and other related agencies. Upon landing, however, the pilot told

A coded message sent via transponder between air-traffic control and airborne pilots, indicating a possible hijack

the Manila tower over two-way radio that his activation of code 7500 was purely a mistake. Air controllers, as part of the protocol on hijacking incidents, directed the pilot to park on a remote portion of the airport, a faraway distance from the passenger terminal. “The purpose is to avoid any collateral damage in case the hijacking is real and [that somebody may] intend to blow up the airplane while parked close to the building,” Mendador said. The claim of the pilot that the control tower did not reply despite 17 repeated calls under a Code 7500 scenario, air controllers are forbidden to communicate further with the pilot unless there is a demand from the supposed hijacker or if airport authorities intend to reply from such demand, she said. Mendador added that during her term, they conducted testing of the code on a Security forces surround the Saudi Arabian Airlines plane Flight SV872 from Jeddah as it arrives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airregular basis to make sure the device is port in Pasay City. The flight crew of the B777 passenger jet plane mistakenly pressed a hijack warning button as it approached Manila’s working. airport, causing airport officials to mobilize security personnel and isolate the jet after it landed, airport authorities said. MIAA Media Af“The one test I remember most was the fairs Division via AP Y2K, because we were afraid then than the planing passengers, according to Monreal. The Caap has started inquiry into the pilot in command has erroneously sent change of the computer programs would the secret signal for hijacking. Four years ago a Qatar Airlines taking incident. not work. But it worked,” Mendador said. “This was also confirmed by the pilot but off at the Naia made a similar mistake. “From our investigation, we have conFlight SV872 was carrying 410 passenhe also averred that his intention was to just The pilot inadvertently touched the code firmed that at about 100 nautical miles gers, many of whom attended the Hajj. It send a distress signal for no communication button, triggering visual and aural signals before touchdown the pilot-in-command, has 21 crewmembers, including the pilot [or Squawk 7600] since the Manila tower is at the ACC and APP. Capt. Nodal Baath [American citizen of and co-pilot. not responding [for 18 minutes] to their raDespite the pilots subsequent calls, Syrian descent with more than 20,000 flyThe Avsegroup took over the plane’s dio call upon their approach to the Philippine saying he made a mistake, he was asked ing hours], was with trainee and co-pilot, security upon landing and subjected the airspace. We have recommended to the Caap to turn back to the Naia to subject the Capt. Carl Clara Montens [Belgian citizen plane and the passengers to a thorough the conduct of further investigation on the plane, cargo and passengers to a thorough with more than 11,000 flying hours],” the inspection to ensure that a potential hilapses of the crew, ” Monreal said. jacker won’t escape amid the onrush of deinspection. Avsegroup said. It was reported that the

A4 Friday, September 23, 2016

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Unctad: Wealthy nations drag down global trade

ORLD output is seen to reach two-year lows, as developed countries’ economic and financial woes continue dragging down less-wealthy nations, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) said in its report.

The newly released annual trade and development report by the Unctad pointed to a dim outlook for the economies of the United States and the European Union due to a confluence of factors. The dark clouds hovering above theses economies can mean global growth to hit 2.3 percent for the year, lower than the 2.5 percent registered in 2014 and 2015. Economic output in the US, for example, is seen by the UN trade organ to peter down to 1.6 percent, as the momentum provided by a previously ag-

gressive monetary policy is dying down. Euro zone countries’ growth is muted as well, the Unctad report said, pinning the issue to the “more timid” use of monetary policy but “tight fiscal stances” in some countries. The report stated that a pickup in growth in the euro-zone area may possibly be reversed due to the uncertainty of the impact surrounding Brexit. The report called for revamped policy responses to counter the decline of advanced economies that are now affecting developing countries.

“Advanced economies can help kickstart sustainable global growth by combining proactive fiscal policy, including on infrastructure spending, with supportive monetary policy and redistributive measures too,” the report read. Redistributive policies include income policies, minimum-wage legislation, progressive taxation and welfareenhancing social programs tailored to local circumstances. In the case of the Philippines, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez noted the worldwide slowdown in trade has al-

ready impacted exports. Exports continued to slide in July 2016, dragging down total merchandise trade, given global economic recovery remains slow, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) reported this month. Government statisticians also reported that total revenue from trade fell from $12.2 billion in the previous year to $11.4 billion in July 2016. This is attributed to the 13-percent decline in exports and 1.7-percent decline in imports. Catherine N. Pillas

S&P affirms PHL credit rating amid ‘uncertainties’ By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

&P Global Ratings affirmed the country’s long-term sovereign credit rating as a triple B or BBB-rated economy, its outlook remaining “stable,” meaning its basic rating not likely moving over the next 12 to 18 months. “The ratings on the Philippines reflect our assessment of its lower middle-income economy and rising uncertainties surrounding the stability, predictability and accountability of its new government,” the S&P said. “Offsetting these weaknesses is the Philippines’s strong external position, which features rising foreign-exchange reserves and low and declining external debt,” it added. S&P pins its confidence on the strengths of the economy, particularly the strong household spending, company balance sheets, sound growth in jobs and income, inward remittance flows, and an adequately performing financial system. The ratings agency also believes the Duterte administration will “broadly continue” with the fiscal and economic development policies of the previous administration, but commented on the unorthodox governance of the newly elected chief executive and its potentially negative effect on the country and the economy. “The President has a strong

GORDIAN KNOT This September 22 photo shows (left frame) Sen. Richard J. Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, gesturing as he questions alleged assassin Edgar Matobato, as the Senate untangles the web of accusations that the extrajudicial killings in Davao were ordered by then-Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte. ROY DOMINGO

focus on improving law and order, which has allegedly resulted in numerous instances of extrajudicial killings since he came to power. We believe this could undermine respect for the rule of law and human rights, through the direct challenges it presents to the legitimacy of the judiciary, the media and other democratic institutions,” S&P said. “When combined with the President’s policy pronouncements elsewhere on foreign policy and national security, we believe that the stability and predictability of policy-making has diminished somewhat,” it added. This rising pressure on the Philippines’s institutional and gover-

nance settings have the potential to hamper the ability to develop and implement swift policy responses, especially in improving the country’s economic standing, according to S&P. While a higher rating was unlikely, S&P said they may raise the country’s standing if the new administration boosts investments and economic growth or improvements are seen in the policy environment leading to better and more effective governance measures. S&P warned the Philippines could reverse its more recent economic gains and possibly see its credit standing lower if the reform momentum stalls under the new administration.

Both the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of Finance welcomed the credit affirmation, while noting recent changes in the local and international scene. “The Philippines’s ability to keep its credit rating well within the investment-grade scale, which has transcended change in political leadership, is a testament that the country’s economic gains have been built from deeply rooted structural and sound policy reforms over the years,” BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said. Dominguez said S&P’s affirmation is good news for the country. However, he disagreed with the credit watcher on the matter of risks faced by the new adminis-

tration, particularly S&P’s assessment on the “somewhat diminished ” predictability of policymaking in the Philippines under President Duterte. “The Duterte administration is loud and clear in its message,” Dominguez said. “We want to achieve a kind of economic growth that is not only robust and sustainable, but one that actually lifts significantly more Filipinos out of poverty.” “If one is able to see through the noise created by negative headlines, he may have better and comprehensive u nderst a nd ing of the exciting, positive changes that are ahead of the Philippines,” he added.

PLDT targets 0.1M small business customers a year

LDT Inc. aims to get at least “a hundred thousand” new customers per year starting 2017, nearly nine years after the launch of its “SME Nation” strategy. PLDT Vice President Patrick Tang told the BusinessMirror the company only has 275,000 customers of the 834,000 micro businesses in the Philippines registered with the Department of Trade and Industry. “Right now, we have almost 200,000 of the micro [business] and 75,000 customers on the SME [small and medium enterprise] level,” Tang said. “We have long way to go if you combine both.” Tang balked at the view that the MSME market is saturated by the PLDT SME Nation platform. “We are not almost 70 percent market share,” he said. Tang said the company intends to increase market share with a product it recently launched. Tang referred to the firm’s upgraded

We are not almost 70percent market share.”—Tang

version of its Wi-Fi device. “Our target areas are really the ones without fixed-line connectivity,” Tang said. “W hile we are still doing both, this technology can help us reach the outskirts.” He claims the product can provide Internet connection speed of 42 megabytes per second. “Where we want to strengthen our position is in the outskirts—areas where we are not present or strong—because that’s where the MSMEs are sprouting. We want to make sure that we cover all areas now,” Tang said. “The potential [revenue] in these areas are huge and tremendous.” Lorenz S. Marasigan

AseanFriday

news@businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Friday, September 23, 2016 A5

Promises still unmet as Thailand tries to reform shrimp industry They don’t treat us like humans. They treat us like dogs.”—Win

IN this August 23, 2016, file photo, workers size shrimps at Thai Union factory in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. Facing international pressure for failing to stop human trafficking in its seafood sector, Thailand promised almost a year ago to compensate victims of slavery and industry leaders vowed to bring all fish processing in-house. Clearly some Thai seafood exporters have improved working conditions. One of the biggest, Thai Union, opened a large, clean peeling warehouse at its packing and exporting facility. The 1,200 workers get subsidized meals and opportunities for bonuses. AP

AMUT SAKHON, Thailand— Facing international pressure over human trafficking in its seafood sector, Thailand promised almost a year ago to compensate victims of slavery and industry leaders vowed to bring all fish processing in-house.

That hasn’t always happened. Instead, some formerly enslaved shrimp peelers have been deported. Shrimp peeling sheds are being inspected and authorized to keep operating.

The Associated Press (AP) found that, while some Thai companies that export shrimp to the US have given formerly entrapped workers better jobs in-house, others still use middlemen who employ laborers in

remote, guarded warehouses. Shed owners frequently break environmental, labor or safety laws. Seventy-five percent of the 109 inspected so far this year were cited for violations, and 24 were ordered to close. Human-rights and media reports documenting abuse in Thailand’s $7-billion annual seafood export industry have brought international pressure. Last year the AP reported on slavery inside the Gig Peeling shed outside Bangkok in Samut Sakhon, where more than 100 people were locked inside and forced to work 16 hours a day, ripping guts, heads and tails off shrimp that entered supply chains of most major US supermarkets and

With US Fed on hold, Southeast Asia is diverging on rate policy

ith the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) holding off on raising interest rates, Southeast Asian central banks are tipped to take divergent approaches to monetary policy. While Bank Indonesia is set to cut its policy rate on Thursday, according to most economists surveyed by Bloomberg, its Philippine counterpart is forecast to stand pat as it weighs possible future tightening to guard against price pressures from a rapidly growing economy. That’s against the backdrop of low US interest rates, which is bolstering investor appetite for higher-yielding emerging-market assets. “Other countries in the region, like Indonesia, would warrant more support from policy-makers, whether be it in the form of monetary or fiscal support,” said Eugenia Victorino, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. “That’s not the case for the Philippines.” The two countries face different growth risks: Bank Indonesia has been in easing mode since the beginning of the year, cutting rates four times to help counter sliding commodity prices; the Philippines is among the fastest-expanding economies in Asia, with gross domestic product climbing 7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier. Bank Indonesia last month kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 5.25 percent, but lowered the lending facility rate—the level at which commercial lenders can borrow from the central bank—by 100 basis points to 6 percent. With inflation undershooting the 3-percent to 5-percent

Other countries in the region, like Indonesia, would warrant more support from policy-makers, whether be it in the form of monetary or fiscal support.” —Victorino

target in August—coming in at 2.8 percent—policy-makers in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy have ample room to continue easing. All but three of the 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict Bank Indonesia will cut its seven-day reverse repurchase rate to 5 percent, from 5.25 percent on Thursday, with the rest expecting no change. “The justification to cut rates is there, given that inflation has surprised on the downside and it’s looking like it’s going to be benign for the rest of the year,” said Euben Paracuelles, an economist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Singapore. The Fed’s decision on Wednesday to postpone its rate increase gives emerging markets some reprieve by underpinning investor sentiment in high-yielding assets. Indonesia’s rupiah and the Philippine peso gained as much as 0.4 percent against the

dollar on Thursday. “The Fed’s holding off further action shows it can be a little bit more patient,” Amando Tetangco, governor of the Philippine central bank, said in a mobile-phone message. “For our markets this may mean that we could possibly see some slowing in the weakness of the peso in the near term until the next Fed meeting again. It may even encourage very short-term trades to squeeze some more juice from the carry.”

Turning hawkish

IN the Philippines, all 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to keep the policy rate at 3 percent. The central bank last lowered the rate in May as part of an overhaul of its framework. President Duterte, who took office in June, aims to boost growth to as much as 7 percent this year, underpinned by a ramp up in infrastructure spending and strong domestic demand. While headline inflation remains muted, slowing to 1.8 percent in August, the core measure picked up to 2 percent and may continue to rise, according to Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore. The central bank may begin tightening liquidity in coming months by increasing the volume of its term deposit facility auction, before raising its benchmark rate next year, he wrote in a note. “While Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas seems fairly comfortable with the current inflation trajectory, expect the monetary-policy bias to turn increasingly hawkish going into 2017,” he said. Bloomberg News

companies, including Red Lobster, Whole Foods and Wal-Mart. One of the workers, Tin Nyo Win, ran away and told police, who raided the factory and rescued the other workers, including his wife. This month the couple were deported to Myanmar after being held almost a year in a Thai government shelter. The government had said victims and witnesses of human trafficking could stay and work in Thailand for up to one year while their cases were investigated. This year the US State Department commended Thailand for reforms and removed it from a global humantrafficking blacklist. Those Thai reforms—on paper—include paying whistle-blowers like Win and providing victims compensation, education, employment and other assistance. But Win said he and his wife weren’t even given food sometimes. “They don’t treat us like humans. They treat us like dogs,” Win said hours before Thai authorities took them away. Authorities said that although the couple were victims of modern-day slavery, they had illegally entered Thailand to begin with. Nattamon Punbhochar at the Thai foreign ministry said the couple

never requested compensation and were deported in accordance with a memorandum of understanding Thailand has with Myanmar. Col. Prasert Siriphanapitat, Samut Sakhon deputy police commander, said five people, including a shed owner, have been charged in Win’s case. All are out on bail. Last year facing a boycott over abuses, major seafood groups and certifiers decided to protect workers by moving all labor in-house, banning outsourcing of shrimp pre-processing. Yet, dozens of pre-processing sheds continue to operate. Some are large factories, others nothing more than large garages. Labor advocates say there’s little oversight to ensure abuses aren’t occurring. The AP recently visited a handful of Samut Sakhon shrimp sheds buzzing with workers hand-peeling shrimp on residential streets or behind walls. “We’re following rules 100 percent,” said Boonchai Seafood Director Taweesak Suralertrungson. Documents at Boonchai show it processes shrimp for May Ao Food Co., one of Thailand’s leading exporters to the US. Though Boonchai’s operations passed a government inspection, the industry had vowed to eliminate middlemen. May Ao’s shrimp carries global industry certification that says “peeling and heading

of shrimp must occur in facilities owned by and completely controlled by” the processing plants. May Ao is also a member of the Thai Frozen Foods Association (TFFA), which promised “to eradicate third-party pre-processing.” May Ao and TFFA officials initially said all shrimp peeling is in-house before conceding that it wasn’t. TFFA President Poj Aramwattananont said May Ao’s factory is too small to handle all the labor, and that there’s nothing illegal about pre-processing in independent warehouses. “We are not 100-percent clean. You will always find some problems, but those are rare,” he said. Some Thai seafood exporters have improved working conditions. Thai Union opened a large, clean peeling warehouse where 1,200 workers get subsidized meals and opportunities for bonuses. “I have more rights. I like it,” said Thet Paing Oo, 23, a migrant from Myanmar. He said he spent six years working 15-hour shifts at shrimp sheds without a day off. Now his salary has increased and he gets one day off a week. Yu Wa, 35, also from Myanmar, teared up at memories of her previous shed, where she was locked inside and paid by the kilogram, not per day. “I am treated well and the boss is good,” she said. “It’s much better.” AP

The W

Business

A6 Friday, September 23, 2016 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

State of emergency declared in Charlotte

HARLOTTE, North Carolina— Protests turned violent for a second night in Charlotte after Tuesday’s fatal police shooting of a black man. Late on Wednesday, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency for the city and deployed the National Guard and State Highway Patrol troopers to assist local police. One person was shot at the protest and was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, the Medic agency said. The city initially reported that he died, but later retracted that, saying he was on life-support. City leaders appealed for calm and promised a thorough investigation of the shooting that triggered hours of violent protest and shut down Interstate 85 on Tuesday. But the unrest continued on Wednesday night, with police using tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who blocked the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets in the heart of uptown, then occupied the EpiCentre entertainment complex. Pockets of the city were on edge late

on Wednesday afternoon, with some uptow n businesses ap parently sending workers home early over uncertaint y about further protests. The Charlotte Chamber urged businesses in uptown and Universit y Cit y to “remove or chain dow n a l l tables, chairs, sig ns or planters.” At about 4:30 on Wednesday, a group of two dozen protesters stood in front of the Bank of America Tower at Trade and Tryon streets. They silently stood and held signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Stop Killing Us.” Andrew Monroe said the protest was organized informally by a group of black professionals. “What we want to do is show we’re

not dangerous,” he said. “We want to show the world it’s not thugs out here.” Monroe said black people deserve to be safe in the streets and don’t feel that way in the spate of recent police shootings. Across town at the University of North Ca rol ina- C ha rlotte, st udents gathered at the Union and laid down in protest. Earlier in the day, authorities said they were reviewing video from body and dashboard cameras from the deadly confrontation in University City. Despite demands by some activists for that footage to be publicly released, police said they would not do so during an active investigation. Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was fatally shot on Tuesday. The officer who shot him, Brentley Vinson, 26, is also black. Sixteen CharlotteMecklenburg police officers suffered minor injuries during the chaotic night. Word of the incident exploded on socia l media and drew nationa l attention in the wa ke of pol ice shoot i ngs of bl ac k men that led to protests from Ferg uson, Missour i, to Tu lsa, Ok la homa, and spaw ned t he Black Lives Matter movement. “This is a very difficult situation for everyone involved,” Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts said at a Wednesday news conference. “I’d like to ask people to wait until all

information is available.” She expressed the city’s condolences to Scott’s family and concern for the injured officers. The chain of events began around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, when police were conducting a search for someone who had an outstanding warrant at The Village at College Downs complex on Old Concord Road, CharlotteMecklenburg Police Department Chief Kerr Putney said. Scott was not the person they were looking for, but police saw him in his car in the apartment complex. They saw Scott get out of the car, then get back in, Putney said. They saw he had a handgun, approached the car and ordered him to drop the weapon. Despite the commands, he got out of the car with the gun as officers continued to tell him to drop the weapon, Putney said. Within seconds, Scott was shot. Authorities said Scott posed an imminent threat of danger. Police do not yet know definitively if Scott had raised his weapon, Putney said. But he said that a person’s gestures, aggressive behavior and other factors can also be inter preted as “ imminent threats” under North Carolina law. Police did not disclose how many times Scott was shot. A woman who identified herself as Scott’s daughter said on a

live-streamed video that Scott was unarmed, reading a book in his car and waiting for the school bus to drop off his son. The video, viewed more than half-a-million times, elevated the incident to a national stage within hours. Putney said no book was found at the scene. He said he did not know if the gun found near Scott was loaded. Some civil-rights activists and neighbors questioned the police account of the shooting on Wednesday, saying Scott was disabled and was waiting for his son’s school bus. Activists demanded answers from police and called on protesters to be peaceful. The chief said he wanted to dispel false rumors and get as many facts out to the public as he could in the midst of the ongoing investigations. “People are watching how we respond, how we react,” Putney said. “I’m optimistic that the results of our actions will be positive…but it’s time for the voices of the majority to stand up and be heard. It’s time to change the narrative, because I can tell you from the facts that the stories will be different as to how it’s been portrayed so far, especially through social media.” Scott’s mother, Vernita Walker of Charleston, said her son had seven children. “He was a family man…and he

was a likeable person. And he loved his wife and his children.” She said she had just talked with her son on the phone that day. At the shooting scene early on Wednesday morning, activists, residents and citizens gathered to support the family and raised questions about police officials’ accounts. Some witnesses said they believed the officer who shot Scott was a white man, not a black officer as police said. Several apartment residents who said they knew Scott and his family said he suffered brain damage from an accident that affected how he communicates. They said the brain damage left him unable to be in the sun, so he waited for his son’s elementary-school bus each day in his white truck in a shady part of the apartment parking lot. Yolanda Haskins, a 10 -year resident of the neighborhood, s a id her c h i ld re n pl ay w it h Scott’s and she would see Scott at the bus stop most afternoons. She said Scott and his wife and children had moved into the neighborhood over the summer and were living with relatives t here. “ T hey ’re just f r iend ly people,” Haskins said. She said she was late getting to the bus stop on Tuesday and when she arrived, the complex was f looded w ith police and emergency personnel. TNS

World

sMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Friday, September 23, 2016

HK leader defends move to scale back housing project

ong Kong’s leader, Leung Chun-ying, defended his decision to postpone two phases of a massive public-housing project in the city’s northern outskirts, as he sought to address allegations that the government made the decision to benefit rural landlords. “I would ask everyone to look at our decision and our work on these two sites against the background of what we’ve done for Hong Kong to ease the housing-shortage problem,” Leung told reporters at the government headquarters on Wednesday. “I want to be in charge of these projects because they are rare opportunities for Hong Kong to address in each of the situations the acute shortage of public housing.” Leung, who must decide soon whether to seek a second five-year term as Hong Kong’s chief executive, has spent much of his tenure struggling to subdue housing costs in the world’s least affordable market. The controversy risks opening the door for potential challengers to lead the city in a vote by a committee of electors next year. At the center of the dispute is Leung’s 2014 decision to scale back a public-housing project in the Yuen Long area to 4,300 units from 17,000 units amid concerns about the impact on local businesses. The move would spare a brownfield site from immediate development, while continuing construction o n a n a d j a ce nt g re e n a re a , d i s p l a c i n g residents from three communities.

‘Most serious scandal’

L e g i s lat o r - e l e ct E d d i e C h u , w h o s e campaign against rural corruption helped make him a top vote-getter in Hong Kong’s legislative election earlier this month, has alleged that the decision to scale back the development was made to appease rural landlords who operate businesses on the land.

Chu has received police protection after reporting death threats that he said probably stemmed from his crusade. “CY’s [Leung] reputation will definitely be hurt by Yuen Long,” Chu told Bloomberg on Tuesday, using the chief executive’s nickname. He described it as “the most serious scandal.” Six suspected members of local triad gangs, ages 19 to 53, were arrested in recent days on allegations of criminal intimidation in connection with the threats against Chu, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported on Thursday, citing police. Leung, whose approval rating fell to a record low this month, hasn’t said whether he’ll seek a second term. A panel of 1,200 electors dominated by Beijing loyalists is slated to meet in March to select a leader for the next five years. Leung was flanked at the briefing by top ministers involved in housing development, including Finance Secretary John Tsang, a potential rival for the chief executive’s job. Leung said he made the decision based on recommendations from the housing department after consulting local parties. Tsang heads a committee responsible for expanding Hong Kong’s supply of land for housing.

‘You always agree with your boss’

“I did not take part in any of the consultations with, or the lobbying of, anyone outside the government,” Leung said on Wednesday. Rising rents and prices should be arrested as a record number of new units under construction are completed over the next three or four years, he said. Tsang, who said in July he would be “willing” to run for chief executive, played down the potential of any rift between him and Leung over the project. “You always agree with your boss. No question about that,” Tsang said.

Bloomberg News

US firms lag in race to tap Africa’s growth potential

gnore Africa at your peril. That was the warning from political and business leaders who attended the second US-Africa Business Forum in New York on Wednesday and dismissed an economic slowdown in the world’s poorest continent as a temporary blip. They highlighted the potential of its expanding middle class, untapped mineral riches and uncultivated arable land. US President Barack Obama’s administration has reinforced the vision of an Africa on rise, spearheading a program to more than double access to power and extending a preferential trade accord by a decade to promote its fledgling manufacturing and agricultural industries. The message doesn’t appear to be getting through to many US companies. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for just 1 percent of

total US trade last year. While the numbers look a little better from the region’s perspective—5.6 percent of its trade was with the US—that’s dwarfed by China, which made up 19.4 percent. “We want Africa as a booming, g ro w i n g , t h r i v i n g m a r k e t ,” Obama told the forum. “We are making progress, but we are just scratching the surface. The fact is that despite significant growth, Africa’s entire GDP is just about

the GDP of France. There is still so much untapped potential.”

Investor sentiment

In vestor sentiment toward A f r ic a h a s sou red fol low i ng the end of a commodities boom that had underpinned a twodecade growth surge. In July t he I nter n at ion a l Monet a r y Fund forecast that sub-Saharan Africa’s economy would expand just 1.6 percent this year, down from 3.3 percent in 2015, and an annual average of 5.7 percent in the decade prior to that. Foreign direct investment into Africa fell to $71.3 billion last year, down from $88.5 billion in 2014, according to accounting firm EY. Africa is working hard to address barriers to trade and investment, by concluding regional free-trade accords, promoting democracy and resolving conflict, said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairman of the African Union Commission. Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari and Ivory Coast’s Alassane Ouattara were among the presidents who s a id t he y we lcome d fore ig n capital with open arms and were implementing policies to make their countries more attractive to investment.

Huge opportunities

“ There is a realization that A f r ic a need s t he world a nd the US, and the world needs Africa,” Bruce Cleaver, CEO of De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer that mainly operates in Africa, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at the forum. “As global growth stalls there are huge opportunities in Africa.” Household consumption in Africa is expected to grow 3.8 percent annually until 2025, when it will reach $2.1 trillion, McKinsey and Co. said in a research report released this month. It projected that the continent will have a bigger work force than India or China by 2034 and that urbanization will take place at the fastest pace of any region in the world. Besides the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade accord with Africa and the Power Africa program to boost electricity supplies, the US has sought to promote trade and investment through increasing support from the US ExportImport Bank, the US Trade and Development Agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corp. and the Millennium Challenge Corp. Bloomberg News

Friday, September 23, 2016

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Friday, September 23, 2016

Facebook CEO, wife to invest at least $3B to cure diseases

AN JOSE, California—Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, are investing at least $3 billion over the next decade to prevent, manage and cure diseases by the end of the century.

“By investing in science today, we hope to build a future in which all of our children can live long and rewarding lives,” Chan said in a speech on Wednesday at the University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) William J. Rutter Center. The investment marks the next major philanthropic effort for the couple, who announced in December that they planned to give away 99 percent of their wealth over their lifetime. They formed the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to advance human potential and promote equality that month, but have primarily focused on efforts meant to improve education. Chan, a pediatrician, said their foundation is contributing $600

99% The percentage of their wealth that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, have announced in December 2015 they plan to give away over their lifetime

million over the next 10 years for a biohub that will bring together scientists, engineers and

more from UCSF, UC Berkeley and Stanford University to help tackle major health problems. Located near UCSF Benioff C h i ld ren’s Hos pit a l , t he re search center will be led by biochemist Dr. Joseph DeR isi and Dr. Stephen Quake, a bioengineering and physics professor at Stanford. The center will be working on a map of the cells in the human body and an infectious-disease initiative meant to help develop tools to combat illnesses, such as HIV, Ebola and the Zika virus. Zuckerberg said they also want to focus on tools to help scientists achieve more breakthroughs, including artificial-intelligence software for brain imaging and machine learning to help analyze data about cancer genes. Their plan is to bring scientists and engineers together, build tools and technology and grow the movement to fund science, he said. “That doesn’t mean that no one will ever get sick, but it does mean that people should get sick a lot less,” Zuckerberg added. The couple also tapped Dr. Cori

Bargmann, a world-renowned neuroscientist at The Rockefeller University in New York, to lead their science initiative. Wednesday’s announcement included a star-studded audience and guests, including an appearance from Microsoft Cofounder and philanthropist Bill Gates. Calling their science initiative a bold and ambitious effort, Gates said Zuckerberg brings his risktaking and entrepreneurial spirit, while Chan contributes her experience as a pediatrician. “Their vision and generosity is really inspiring a whole new generation of philanthropists who will do amazing things,” Gates said. Structured as a limited liability company, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has invested millions of dollars in start-ups, such as Andela, which trains engineers in Africa, and most recently Byju, an Indian education-technology company that created an app that includes video lessons. Now their work in curing disease is only beginning. “My heart is full of hope and we’re all eager to get started,” Chan said. TNS

Senate rejects resolution blocking arms sale to Saudi

A S H I N G T O N —T h e Senate on Wednesday voted down a rare attempt to block an arms sale to Saudi Arabia, a key US counterterrorism partner but one that has fallen into disfavor with a number of lawmakers due to the kingdom’s involvement in the war in Yemen and lingering suspicions about its role in the September 11 attacks. Though senators voted 71-27 to table a resolution that would block the sale, the measure’s bipartisan backers, Sens. Rand Paul, Republican-Kentucky, and Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat-Connecticut, portrayed it as a partial success. They argued the vote sends a strong signal to Riyadh and to the Obama administration that a significant portion of Congress is unhappy with Saudi Arabia’s apparent negligence in preventing civilian casualties in its 18-month bombing campaign in Yemen, as well as its broader role in the fight against terrorism. “The very fact that we are voting on it today sends a very important message to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia that we are watching your actions closely and that the United States is not going to turn

a blind eye to the indiscriminate killing of men, women and children,” resolution cosponsor Sen. Al Franken, Democrat-Minnesota, said on the Senate floor. The proposed $1.15-billion weapons sale includes 153 Abrams tanks, 20 armored vehicles, more than 400 machine guns and more than 6,600 rounds of ammunition. Many of the tanks in the arms deal are to replace ones lost by Saudi Arabia in fighting along its border with Yemen. Under the Obama administration, the United States has sold roughly $100 billion worth of weapons and military equipment to Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia is fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who forced the recognized Yemeni government to flee the capital of Sana’a in early 2015. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human R ights estimates that 10,000 people have been killed in the fighting, including nearly 4,000 civilians. “We are arming the Saudis to fight an enemy, the Houthis, that we have not declared war against, and the Saudis are not using those items to fight our sworn

enemy, which we have declared war against, al-Qaeda,” Murphy said. “We’ve begged the Saudis to change their conduct. We’ve asked them to target al-Qaeda… but they haven’t listened.” Some opponents of the arms sale argue the United States is wrong to provide logistical and intelligence support to Riyadh in its bombing campaign, as the Yemeni conflict should be viewed as a civil war rather than the greater proxy war with Iran. “Internationalizing this conflict has been extremely unhelpful” for hopes of a quick end and limited civilian deaths, said Nadwa Al-Dawsari, nonresident senior fellow with the Project on Middle East Democracy, in a Monday conference call with reporters organized by humanitarian groups opposing the arms sale. Sen. Mike Lee, RepublicanUtah, another cosponsor of the resolution, said he was opposing the weapons deal on the grounds there was “no conclusive evidence” it would directly benefit US national security. “The fact that Saudi Arabia is an ally…is not in of itself a sufficient reason to endorse this particular

deal,” he said. Other arguments made by lawmakers against continued weapons support to Saudi Arabia include frustration with the kingdom’s financial support for the global spread of Wahhabism, an intolerant version of Islam that is seen as a theological building block for groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Supporters of the arms sale had comparatively little to say on Wednesday in defending Saudi Arabia’s conduct. Rather, noted security hawks— such as John McCain, RepublicanArizona; Lindsey Graham, Republican-South Carolina; and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republlican-Kentucky—cast the weapons package as an important symbolic gesture to a key regional partner in the broader fight against terrorism and Iran. “Blocking this sale of tanks will be interpreted by our Gulf partners, not just Saudi Arabia, as another sign that the United States of America is abandoning our commitment in the region and is an unreliable security partner,” said McCain, who chairs the powerful Armed Services Committee. “That’s what this vote is all about.” TNS

China travel data hint Rouhani raises Iran’s standing at capital outflow at UN as criticism grows at home T

or the first time in years, Iran is not the center of controversy at the United Nations. For President Hassan Rouhani, that counts as a win. The annual gathering of leaders used to be where the Islamic Republic was denounced as a pariah by Western powers for the antiSemitic tirades of Rouhani’s predecessor, Mahoud Ahmadinejad. But with a nuclear deal under his belt, a lower-key Rouhani is enjoying a degree of diplomatic cover as he met with UK, French, Canadian and Turkish counterparts. On the eve of his fourth address to the UN General Assembly, Rouhani’s team celebrated news that Boeing Co. received US approval to sell the first jetliners to Iran in almost 40 years. But eight months away from elections, critics blame him for a lackluster economy. Rouhani

had promised Iranians that a deal over its nuclear arsenal would usher in a new era of prosperity. “Rouhani has delivered the nuclear agreement, but there are no indications of the changes he promised during his past campaign,” said Alireza Nader, a senior analyst at Rand Corp. “Social and political repression is still high, and the economy has not improved dramatically and human-rights abuses continue unabated.” Rouhani’s arrival to New York comes after state visits to Venezuela, an ally whose economy is spiraling out of control, and Cuba, which has restored diplomatic ties with the US after five decades. For Rouhani, the UN gathering is a chance to present himself as a statesman on the world stage and appease nervous investors. “There are several major impediments to economic improvement,

such as low oil prices and the unwillingness of foreign investors to go into Iran, even with reassurances from the US,” Nader said. Compared to his predecessor, Rouhani has shown more affinity for working with Western powers, holding out the prospect of oil and retail business in a major Middle Eastern economy. He will address the UN on the same day as Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran’s most vocal critic, takes to the podium. It’s not that Western powers don’t have problems with Iran. It’s just that now they are pressing their cases privately. UK Pr ime Minister T heresa May raised the issue of British-Iranians detained in Iran against their will after Rouhani and his entourage, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, met her in New York. Bloomberg News

he explosive growth of spending overseas by Chinese tourists dwarfs the increase in the number of Chinese traveling abroad. The most likely reason? Disguised capital outflows. So says former US Treasury official Brad Setser, who drilled into the spending data provided by some of the most popular destinations for Chinese travelers. The nation’s tourism deficit—a measure of foreign-visitor expenditure in China minus what its citizens spend overseas—soared to $206 billion in the 12 months through June 30, up from $77 billion in 2013, the last year of the yuan’s one-way appreciation trajectory. While outbound tourism has grown decently—to about 120 million visitors last year from 98 million in 2013—that acceleration pales in comparison with the spending figures. Chinese tourists seem to be packing more than just sunscreen and cameras on vacation. The data discrepancy suggests they’re also shifting cash by buying homes while studying abroad, signing up for life-insurance products in Hong Kong, or opening deposit accounts to squirrel money offshore, Setser said. That’s bad news for the global economy. Bloomberg News

A10 Friday, September 23, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Nonalignment in a multipolar world

hose growing up in the last 60 years knew of two world powers: the United States and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—the Soviet Union. After the latter’s collapse in 1991, the US was widely believed to exercise sole hegemony in an emerging global economy.

Over the same period, several other countries, including a resurgent Russia, an emerging China and others, have become economic and military powers in their own right. These include nations that have traditionally aligned themselves with the superpowers and those considered to be newly industrialized economies. As the world becomes more globalized, trade continues to increase and the movement of technology and information between borders increases at a rapid rate, nations will continue to move toward “multipolarity”. The idea of a multipolar world and attempts at uniting smaller countries is nothing new. The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), established in 1955 at the conclusion of the Bandung Conference in Indonesia, whose goal was to create an organization of newly colonially independent nations also independent of the two major Cold War powers. The NAM was founded by leaders from five countries: Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Sukarno of Indonesia and Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia. Most of its early and current members were countries considered to be part of the “Third World”. NAM’s objective as an organization is simple: “To achieve the development goal of developing countries to attain sustained peoplecentered development and to enable developing countries to become equal partners in international relations.” A laudable objective given that most of the Third World was former colonies that suffered injustice under their colonial masters. Despite its past and present leaders and nation-members having ideologies that are both broad and diverse, at times at opposite ends, NAM is united in its quest for self-reliance and neocolonialism. Even long after the Cold War ended and into the 21st century, NAM still plays a role where member-nations gather and discuss issues pertinent to the Third World—mainly trade, economy and security. In recent years, the organization has come under criticism for being “irrelevant” and being a “talk shop organization”. This was reflected during the recent 17th NAM Summit on September 17 and 18, held in Margarita Island in Venezuela. Despite Venezuela’s expectations, only 12 heads of state, out of the 120 nation-members, attended, while leaders like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, skipped the event. While the same issues of inequality, poverty, national sovereignty and a more “inclusive” United Nations have been tackled; discussions, such as seeking the restructuring and purpose of NAM, were raised. True enough, the world has changed in the last 50 years, and member-nations have joined other economic and security pacts. In a multipolar and globalized world, where Russian engines power US Atlas rockets sending satellites to outer space, the struggle will be geopolitical and economic. For a country like the Philippines, nonalignment in a multipolar world means leveraging the advantages everyone can offer, not just China and the US. Since 2005

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Martial law James Jimenez

spox

sk anyone to identify the date martial law was declared and you’ll most likely be told September 21, 1972, even though the announcement was actually made two days later, on September 23, 44 years ago today. The Official Gazette, however, drawing from multiple sources, argues that Proclamation 1081, placing the entire country under martial law, was actually signed in the wee hours of September 23, 1972, a little over 16 hours before Ferdinand Marcos’s televised announcement. According to the Gazette, the antedating of Proclamation 1081, and the subsequent fetishization of September 21, was simply due to Marcos’s deep belief in numerology; martial law had to be declared on an auspicious date, and that was defined as a date that had to be divisible by 7, the number Marcos considered lucky. You can check out the entire Gazette article by pointing your browser to http://

www.gov.ph/featured/declaration-ofmartial-law/. Now I don’t consider myself as being particularly uninformed about Philippine political history. Nor have I been prevented in any way from finding this information on my own. So, the fact that I’ve just recently found this out, and many other things besides, about martial law, really underscores three things: how little I know about that crucial period in our nation’s life; and how central the government’s role is in ensuring that its citizens are given access to information crucial, among other things, for the cleareyed understanding of history; and how massively important it is for individuals like me to be curious about

In the wake of the suspension of preparation for the 2016 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, the Commission on Elections will be opening voter registration for everyone, in preparation for future elections—the earliest of which could be in October 2017, the rescheduled barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. the past, lest we find ourselves in a future that mirrors it. nnn

In the wake of the suspension of preparation for the 2016 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (Comelec), the Commission on Elections will be opening voter registration for everyone, in preparation for future elections—the earliest of which could be in October 2017, the rescheduled barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. Continuing voter registration is slated to begin on October 3, 2016, and will run until April 29, 2017. Applications for registration at the Office of the Election Officer (OEO)

will be received from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For this purpose, OEOs will be open from Monday to Saturday, including holidays, except on November 1; December 24, 25, 31; January 1, April 13 and 14, 2017. Apart from opening up on Saturdays and holidays for voter registration, the Comelec will also conduct satellite registration sorties into various localities—including residential villages, barangay halls, public or private schools, commercial establishment, detention centers, areas with indigenous communities and other public places within the district, city, or municipality. Unlike during the previous voterregistration period, registration centers will now accept not just applications for registration and reactivation, but also applications for transfer. As always, voters will also be able to apply for corrections to their records, change of name, reinstatement and inclusion in the list of voters. Approximately 2 million additional SK voters are expected to sign up this time around, along with about 3 million more barangay voters. James Arthur B. Jimenez is director of the Commission on Elections’s Education and Information Department.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Incentivizing traffic management

The mind magic of Martin Vopěnka Tito Genova Valiente

Alvin Ang

EAGLE WATCH

ast week the Asian Development Bank (ADB) hosted the Asian Transport Forum. A classmate in Japan attended the forum as an official of the government of Lao PDR. He told me that the forum was a good learning experience for him. When I asked him about his observation of the traffic in Metro Manila, he said technical solutions will not be enough, much of it is really political will. After our talk, I drove toward home with political will leaving a mark in my head. I thought we might just pull through with the traffic challenge we are in with an administration with much stronger political will than previous ones. Nearing 100 days in office, the new administration is still finding ways to respond to the traffic challenge. Much of the solutions seem dependent on having emergency powers. Getting emergency powers is a good response to a challenge of disaster proportions. But with various priorities and hearings in Congress right now, it will take more time before real solutions can be decided using said powers. Meanwhile, we are approaching the busiest season, which will mean more traffic. In the meantime, the government can actually implement some practical measures in preparation for the emergency powers. This can be done by working on the trafficmanagement aspects. It can be observed that traffic management in Metropolitan Manila cities is treated like an ordinary work hour. With the exception of major roads and those under the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), most cities’ enforcers start work at 7 a.m. and stop work at 5 p.m. The same goes with their offices in the city halls. Under normal circumstance, this is already unacceptable, what more under a disaster condition. Traffic management is a 24-hour, seven days-a-week task in Metro Manila. City traffic offices and enforcers should work on shifts. Furthermore, the enforcers are not fairly distributed across city roads. It is known that they congregate in places where they can issue more citation tickets. Every driver in Metro Manila knows that, instead of managing traffic, they look for traffic violations. This is because their incentives are based on the commissions they get from traffic citations and violations. This is also where most basic corruption is rampant and is happening in broad daylight. The imbalanced incentive structure is perpetuated by seemingly lack of traffic-management knowledge by those who become enforcers and by those who manage their city offices. A possible remedy in the future is to use the level of traffic as a measure in the rankings of local governments. In particular, the popular Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) under the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) can adopt one or two indicators on traffic and give more weights than other indicators. The advent of the traffic and GPS applications, such as Waze and Google Maps, can be helpful in determining indicators. For instance, Waze can provide on a monthly basis, which areas of a city is severely congested. A Metro Manila City,

Every driver in Metro Manila knows that instead of managing traffic, they look for traffic violations. This is because their incentives are based on the commissions they get from traffic citations and violations. This is also where most basic corruption is rampant and is happening in broad daylight. with the most congested roads, will get the lowest rank. Similarly, such measurement can be used to balance the existing incentive mechanisms based on traffic citations. A practical solution is to assign teams of enforcers in every major intersection of city road and make the traffic of that intersection their full responsibility. Their incentive commission on traffic citations will only be given to them if the traffic in their assigned location maintains a particular moving speed. If the enforcers concentrate on commissions and their location is marked by the GPS application as congested, they get no incentive commission. If their location is reflecting improvement in traffic flow consistently, then they do not only get the commission but a city traffic-free bonus. This means that the city traffic office need to have a broader, coordinated overall approach in addressing traffic challenges by making them fully responsible for their implementation. Apart from directing and managing traffic, they should also start removing obstructions on the road, such as parked vehicles, street constructions and diggings, illegal structures, among others. T hese traf f ic-management schemes must then be juxtaposed with other critical solutions, such as improvement in public transportation, road expansion and improvements, phasing out of old vehicles, restricting use of roads to only those vehicles paying road users tax as key activities. In the final analysis, it will all boil down to what my friend calls political will. Political will has cleansed obstructions in Divisoria, but has not been implemented in other key market areas in Metro Manila. Buses still line up both sides of Roxas Boulevard fronting Baclaran Church to get passengers. Political will that people want to see is consistent in implementation, regardless of time and day, and standard in execution, regardless of whether it is a major road.

annotations

artin Vopěnka is a Czech writer. If the ethnicity matters, it is not for ideological reason as I would find out, one evening, over beer and, later, whiskey. This Czech thing is both an act of self-effacement and self-mockery. “That is very Filipino,” I relayed to him. Martin finished a course in the university that has to do with math and physics. The two courses were easy for him because he had a father who was a physicist. Seeing the stunned look on my face, he explained that, under the Communist era, they were not allowed to choose the course. But he became a writer because, in literature, “I can create.” Having become interested in Martin, I went on an informal research, and discovered in the Internet a Morning Star review of one of Martin’s works. This one bears the title “The Fifth Dimension.” The main character is Jakub, a man who accepts the challenge to live in a total isolation somewhere on a remote plateau in Argentina. If he lasts through the challenge, he gets a big amount. The post says, “The Fifth Dimension is a troubling, comfortless and problematic book for a universe full of reasons.” That night, Martin asked me what is the happiest part of my growing up. I said, when I was a little boy in Ticao Island. I, of course, explained to him in details where the island is. “Do you still think about those happy days,” Martin asked me. I said

yes to his question. He then motioned with his right hand how things just continue on and on, Martin also thinks his happiest period was as a child. Those days never disappear. They continue on till the sad days of an old man. We agreed that the world provides a thread that connects all our

Forgive and forget Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

ore than a month ago, one my former law students who was an incumbent vice mayor and a three-term mayor in Pamplona, Cagayan, was gunned down by still-unidentified gunmen. Although he knew about the bounty for his death, he believed in his fate and in His plan. He was only 39 years old. In a homily I heard a few weeks back, the priest said that if the Lord could send us a text message, He would send us—“Where u na, lapit na me.” Based on the Gospel reading from the Book of Revelations, the priest said that all of us should always be ready for our inevitable death. The priest said one of the ways where we can prepare to meet our Maker is by forgiving others and asking for forgiveness.

Asking for forgiveness comes in three stages. We need to be aware of what we did, offer our sincerest apology in words or by deed, and then redeem ourselves whenever we have a chance. Saying you are sorry not knowing your offense is far from asking mercy. A servant leader as he is, President Duterte has opted to “forgive and forget” and allow the remains of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Most of the human-rights victims under martial law have been opposing this move inasmuch as the Marcoses have yet to ask for forgiveness and give an apology. In one conference I attended a few weeks ago, a lawyer-speaker said that an “apology” is not necessar-

ily an admission of liability; it is a cultural necessity to show sympathy for causing pain, suffering, or inconvenience. Apology means that you value the relationship more than your pride. An apology cannot undo what has been done, but it can help ease the pain and tension of the consequences. Only when we know our shortcomings that we can truly say we are sorry. Forgiving others is not as easy. As human beings, we have the tendency to hold grudges, at times perpetual. We want payback, revenge, or some kind of retribution against our offender and even up to the offender’s loved ones. Politically motivated killings, as in the likely case of the murder of Aaron Sampaga, will never end

If you don’t want refugees, invest in peace

ive credit to President Barack Obama: The pledges of aid the United States marshaled this week are a welcome counterpoint to the mostly hollow declaration on refugees the United Nations (UN) as a whole has issued. As badly as the money is needed, however, only peace can stem the surge of refugees that is swamping the world.

Friday, September 23, 2016 A11

More than 65 million people are now displaced—the highest number since the UN began keeping tabs. Conflicts have driven more than 21 million from their countries, mostly to their poor neighbors. Rich nations have admitted few refugees for resettlement—a scant 107,000 in 2015—and aid for those in sprawling camps has not kept up: Last year the UN’s refugee reported the

widest-ever gap between the funding it needed and that which it received. This week’s declaration merely kicks the can down the road until 2018, when global compacts to help both refugees and regular migrants are to be adopted. What’s needed, beyond new money for those stuck in camps and a greater willingness to resettle more people, is a system to process

asylum claims faster, and greater financial support for Turkey, Pakistan and Lebanon and other countries to help the millions of refugees they’re hosting attend school and get work. Ultimately, though, the way to solve the crisis is to end the conflicts that have created it. From 1999 to 2011, the world’s refugee population was largely stable. And, while the war in Syria has fueled much of the

ages, so that one age does not stop somewhere and a new one begins. The line from a happy childhood to a happier or bleaker adulthood is a line to infinity. Martin and I, we discovered, share many things in common. One of these is our fondness for cheese. We are also both in awe when literature refuses to be pegged or classified. When the night ended, Martin handed me a lovely gift—an autographed copy of his book, A Girl and a Sou. I have not read the entire book, but the first story has already taken my breath away. It is called “Sister Death.” The story takes us to the slow journey of Death across the wintry paths going to the mountains. Along the way, Death encounters a tiny bear cub, Death touches it as she consoles the small bear that things will be alright. Then She meets a mice and, having touched it, gently teased

it for its misguided energy and that the best thing really is to rest, to die. Death has always been pictured as on a travel, collecting bodies and releasing the soul. In the mind and magic of Martin, Death has become a nurturing big sister, solicitous now, softly mocking next. She is the gentlest soul in the universe and when she touches people and animals, she sees to give life to them. She is really giving Death to them, a peaceful end to a contract that Death sees as always fulfilled. Martin Vopěnka says for those who hide from Death, they see only darkness. For those who face Death, they see through her face and witness Eternity. I have to befriend Martin. He has the most exclusive ticket to eternity in a universe where everyone has a soul and black holes have reasons.

Forgiving others is not as easy. As human beings, we have the tendency to hold grudges, at times perpetual. We want payback, revenge, or some kind of retribution against our offender and even up to the offender’s loved ones.

this “forgive and forget” attitude, Swindoll used the travails of Joseph (sold as a slave, forgotten in a dungeon, and considered dead by his father) and his “forgetfulness” in the fact that Joseph named his first son as “Manasseh”, which means forget in Hebrew. But all these about forgiving and forgetting are premised on the act of asking for them. For me, the untimely demise of Aaron Sampaga a few weeks ago is a reminder that, inasmuch as life, or the end of it, is fleeting, we should learn to forgive as we ask to be forgiven. Thus, in preparation for our ultimate destination, we should apologize to all who we have offended, to the people we hurt in our workplace, past and present, to members of our family whose expectations we have failed and, most of all, to those who were close to our hearts at one point in our lives. If we are given a second chance, we should atone for our shortcomings and redeem what we can during our mortal lives here on earth. Some say the late President Marcos can still be forgiven, once it is asked by his heirs. The family left behind by Aaron—his wife, a toddler, an unborn child, and siblings—may also forgive and even forget, once it is asked by the wrongdoers. Justice will be served eventually, either by man or by God. Asking for forgiveness is never too late nor too early.

unless we take heed of the words in Ephesians 4:31-32, which say, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. In his book, Improving Your Serve, author Charles Swindoll even went further by saying that those who forgive should also forget by pondering on the depth of God’s mercy and on the one’s debts He graciously canceled. Most can easily claim that they can forgive but can never forget. It is a natural human tendency. Saying you are sorry is hard as it is. Forgiving others is harder. But forgetting is one of the hardest things any person can do. Swindoll says that forgiving without forgetting is “limited forgiveness”. Like conditional love, if one cannot let go freely, the burden remains. Forgetting entails refusing to keep score (1 Corinthians 13:5), being bigger than any offense (Psalms 119:165), and harboring no judgmental attitude (Matthew 7:1-5). In expounding

sharp increase since then, it is not the only cause, and some conflicts may be easier to solve than others. South Sudan, for instance, has been the world’s fourth-biggest source of refugees in the past two years. But that is in part because a UN peacekeeping force there has failed to do its job. Peace is never easy to achieve, to be sure. But consider some recent history: Myanmar, which has long

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

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

been a major source of refugees, has become a democracy, on a path to resolving its internal conflicts. And Colombia, with help from the US, Norway, Cuba and other countries, has brought an end to Latin America’s longest-running insurgency. That offers a way home for more than 7 million displaced Colombians and a beacon of hope for refugees everywhere. Bloomberg View