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Wednesday, September 28, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 354

THOSE EARNING P250,000 OR LESS A YEAR TO DUCK INCOME TAX

New PIT bill to cost govt ₧179B annually By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

INSIDE

orkers earning P250,000 or less a year will be exempted from paying personal-income tax (PIT) should the 17th Congress approve the first tranche of the Department of Finance’s (DOF) tax-reform package.

okada manila opens this year

property

CLINTON EXCELS IN DEBATE AS TRUMP TAKES THE‘BAIT’

₧1.45M

The fix tax to be paid by those earning over P5 million, plus 35 percent of the amount exceeding P5 million To make up for the estimated P179 billion in foregone revenues annually from lowering income-tax rates, the DOF is planning to expand the value-added tax (VAT) base by reducing the coverage of Continued on A2

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Amid hardships in jail, political prisoners seek hope under Duterte administration

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An ‘out-of-thebox’ solution for Manila’s housing woes

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump shakes hands with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, on Monday. AP/Matt Rourke

onald Trump had one job: Don’t take the bait. But he let Hillary Clinton get under his skin minutes into their first presidential debate on Monday night, first by her suggestion that he owed his success to his father’s money, and he only got more agitated as the primetime debate at Hofstra University wore on. Smiling, serene, egged on by each groan and grunt and interruption she goaded from her rival, Clinton provoked Trump again and again—over his refusal to release his tax returns, his years-long “racist lie” about President Barack Obama’s birthplace, his foreign-policy views and his treatment of women. Meanwhile, Trump drew some blood on the issue of trade, Continued on A12

Memorable moments in presidential debates The first televised debates of the presidential candidates began in 1960; a light look at some highlights:

Sept. 26, 1960

property

Urban Land Institute commends Seda Nuvali

Martial-Law victims wear “Never Again” headbands at a rally near the Presidential Palace to commemorate the 44th anniversary of the imposition of martial law by the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos on September 21 in Manila. The protesters are calling on President Duterte to release hundreds of political prisoners, and called on the people to “unite with all victims of human-rights violations and grave abuses during the dark days of the Marcos regime.” AP/Bullit Marquez By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

& Alladin S. Diega Correspondent

T property

John F. Kennedy vs. Vice President Richard Nixon Nixon wears no makeup, looks uneasy, perspires; Kennedy, in dark suit, appears calm, in control; debate is a turning point in campaign

Conclusion

HE 14-year military rule of President Ferdinand E. Marcos began when he issued Presidential Proclamation 1081 in 1972. It ended in 1986, when Marcos was ousted by an uprising known worldwide as People Power. According to Amnesty International’s (AI) report in 1981, over 50,000 people were arrested in the first three years of martial law. Almost all of those arrested, AI said, “were detained without charge or trial.”

The AI mission, which visited the Philippines in November and December 1975, found that 6,000 people were still detained nearly three years after then-President Marcos declared emergency rule. “The 1975 mission also found that 71 of the 107 prisoners interviewed alleged that they had been tortured,” the AI report said. According to Iglesia Filipina Independiente priest Dionito M. Cabillas, there are still 405 political detainees “languishing” in various jails, including the National Bilibid Prison (NBP). “They are living among ordinary criminals, while their arrest and incarceration is political in nature,”

Sept. 23, 1976

said Cabillas, who is also national coordinator of an organization of political prisoners and former political detainees called Selda. In September 2011 Selda and other organizations launched the Free All Political Prisoners (FAPPs) campaign to demand for the release of some 400 to 500 political prisoners in the country. But our demands were ignored by the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III, according to Cabillas.

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Court of Appeals (CA) has junked the bid of the government to immediately take possession of the 2.9-hectare property in Makati City that the state claimed is being illegally occupied by Sunvar Realty Development Corp., a developer owned by the Rufino and Prieto families, for more than 13 years already.

In a nine-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Jose C. Reyes Jr., the CA’s Fifth Division junked the application for the issuance of temporary restraining order and/ or a writ of preliminary injunction filed by the government and National Power Corp. through the Privatization Management Office (PMO). The injunction sought was intended to prohibit the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Makati City Branch 58 from further hearing the peti-

PESO exchange rates n US 48.2180

tion for injunction filed by Sunvar against the government. Sunvar filed the petition for injunction before the RTC Branch 58 in Makati, seeking to stop the execution of the decision rendered by the Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) in Makati City Branch 61 on June 10, 2015. In the said decision, the MTC granted the complaint for ejectment filed by the government against Sunvar and ordered the firm to vacate

Oct. 6, 1976 Jimmy Carter vs. President Ford Ford: “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration.” Carter: “I would like to see Mr. Ford convince the Polish-Americans and the Czech-Americans and the Hungarian-Americans (of that)”

Oct. 28, 1980

Aquino’s commitment

OF the 356 political prisoners in detention centers and jails around the Continued on A2

Prietos get to keep Mile Long, etc., for now By Joel R. San Juan

Jimmy Carter vs. President Ford Audio breakdown leaves candidates standing in silence for 27 minutes

the 2.9-hectare property located between De la Rosa and Arnaiz streets and parallel to Amorsolo Street in Legazpi Village. The MTC also directed Sunvar to pay the government back rentals as of May 2015, amounting to P478.2 million, with monthly rental of P3.2 million beginning June 2015, until it vacates the premises. The government elevated the issue before the CA, after the RTC in

Oct. 21, 1984

Ronald Reagan vs. President Carter Carter accuses Reagan of having campaigned against Medicare; Reagan, complaining of being misrepresented, says, “There you go again”

Walter Mondale vs. President Reagan Reagan: “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” (Mondale was 60; Reagan was 73)

Oct. 13, 1988 Michael Dukakis vs. Vice President George Bush Dukakis is asked whether, if his wife had been raped and killed, he would favor the death penalty for the killer Dukakis: “No, I don’t ... I’ve opposed the death penalty during all of my life.” Graphic: Tribune News Service Source: Public Broadcasting Service, Commission on Presidential Debates, Museum of Broadcast Communications

See “Mile Long,” A2

n japan 0.4806 n UK 62.5677 n HK 6.2179 n CHINA 7.2296 n singapore 35.4388 n australia 36.8193 n EU 54.2645 n SAUDI arabia 12.8592

Source: BSP (27 September 2016 )

A2 Wednesday, September 28, 2016

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Amid hardships in jail, political prisoners New PIT bill to cost seek hope under Duterte administration govt ₧179B annually Continued from A1

country in 2011, 78 were arrested under the Aquino administration, according to the Philippine Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights or Karapatan. Thirty-five of them are women, 10 are elderly and 43 are ill. Karapatan said the number of political prisoners have reached 557, 57 of them are from the Southern Tagalog region. Even as the Philippine government transitioned to the administration of President Duterte, consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) to the peace process remained in jail despite the Aquino administration’s declared commitment to work for their release. It would take a former mayor of Davao City to see through that commitment the Aquino administration failed to keep. Mr. Duterte has acknowledged the existence of political prisoners and promised to release them “through general amnesty.”

Longest time

ONE of the longest-held political prisoners is Juanito Itaas. Not high enough in the hierarchy of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) or the National Democratic Front (NDF), Itaas was not included as one of the CPP-NDF’s consultants to these group’s peace talks with the government of the

Mile Long. . . Continued from A1

Makati denied its petition seeking the dismissal of the petition for injunction filed by Sunvar. The petitioners insisted that the RTC in Makati should have dismissed Sunvar’s petition on the ground of forum shopping. By taking cognizance of Sunvar’s petition, the government said the RTC in Makati has caused the delay only in the final resolution of the case. “Private respondent’s continued possession, up to this day, without payment of rental or any other kind of consideration, is a blatant display of public respondent’s utter disregard of pe-

Republic of the Philippines (GRP). Itaas was arrested following the killing of US Col. James Rowe in 1989. According to Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) volunteer Bernardo B. Itucal Jr., the assassination of Rowe was perhaps an embarrassment to the US military. Hence, we find it difficult to secure his release, Itucal said. When he was killed, Rowe was assigned as the chief of the Army division of the Joint US Military Advisory Group (Jusmag), prov id ing counter insurgenc y training for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Rowe, one of only 34 American political prisoners to escape captivity during the Vietnam War, was credited with designing a military course based upon his experience as a prisoner of war. According to TFDP documents, Itaas was arrested four months after the killing of Rowe. Court documents said Itaas testified he was allegedly tortured by his captors on August 27 and 28, 1989, in Davao City. He testified that he “was blindfolded and a masking tape was placed on his mouth and that subsequently, he was hit and mauled while a cellophane was placed on his head thus, causing him to loss consciousness.”

Humanitarian ground

ACCORDING to Selda, because the government does not recognize the titioner’s rights over their property, which has caused losses to the government, not only in the hundreds of pesos but in the hundreds of millions of pesos. These earnings would have benefited many and not just one family,” the government said. However, the CA said the government failed to present arguments that would warrant the issuance of the TRO or a writ of preliminary injunction against the RTC in Makati. It also did not give credence to the government’s claim that its right to speedy disposition of the case has been violated. “In this case, petitioners failed to show that the petition for injunction, or the appeal filed by private respondents, is capricious, vexatious or oppressive.

including women, who are suffering from old age and various illnesses would be released. The second is on the ground of general amnesty, which would need the concurrence of Congress, Cabillas said.

nature of the arrest and incarceration, political detainees are treated as ordinary criminals. “It is only under the Duterte administration that the government finally recognizes the existence of political detainees,” Cabillas said. One of those who advocates are hopeful of release is Jose Ceriales. The 69-year-old prisoner is currently incarcerated in the NBP medium security compound. According to Cabillas, by their account, Ceriales is considered the only political detainee arrested during martial law, while the rest were arrested after 1986. Accused as a member of the NPA, Ceriales was convicted of multiple murder. He was supposed to be released along with other political detainees after the fall of Marcos, but his records were destroyed. “ The papers were eaten by white ants, not termites, we were told,” Cabillas said. “Until now, Ceriales is incarcerated and his only hope is to be released on humanitarian ground under the Duterte administration.” Cabillas’s hopes are pinned on the last meeting by members of the negotiating panels of the GRP and the NDF. He said they were told the peace negotiators agreed to they would work for the release of the political detainees on two grounds. First is on humanitarian ground where more than a hundred,

HOWEVER, Itucal, now 51, feels the military and the police did not really change from a state “apparatchik.” The violent nature of the state is still there, he explained citing the instance when the government of Corazon C. Aquino turned against the very group that helped her topple Marcos and end his military rule. Itucal also pointed to the war on drugs by the Duterte administration. While the current government’s efforts against the menace of drug abuse are commendable, “it should be very conscious in respecting the human rights of [suspected] drug pushers or users because we live in a society under the rule of law.” He noted that “during the Marcos regime, activists were also considered as a ‘menace’ to society.” Nonetheless, both he and Cabillas and the groups they represent are on “guarded optimism” that all political prisoners will be released from jail under the Duterte administration. Hopefully, Itucal said, Mr. Duterte will deliver on his promise. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to meet our comrades outside the prison cells. And soon.”

A reading of the various pleadings filed before the public respondent RTC shows that there are legitimate issues to be resolved in both the petition for injunction and appeal…,” the CA pointed out. Among the issues that the RTC should resolve, according to the CA, is the propriety of the MTC’s jurisdiction to hear the complaint for ejectment despite the existence of an arbitration clause in RA 876, or the arbitration law; the determination of reasonable compensation; whether or not private respondent was a builder in good faith; and the amount of reimbursement for improvements introduced, if proper. “Finally, we find petitioners’ arguments that they and even the Filipino people would suffer irreparable injury if possession of the subject property would not be given to them, to be without basis,” the CA said, It explained that since that the merits of the case are still on appeal, if petitioners would later get a favorable ruling, any damage petitioners may suffer can be easily subject to computation and can be fully compensated by damages. Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Stephen Cruz and Ramon Paul Hernando. In its complaint for ejectment, the government and the National Power Corp. (Napocor) accused Sunvar Realty Development Corp. of refusing to vacate the subject property despite the lapse of the ultimatum given to it. The said property is at present being leased out by Sunvar to the operators of Premier Cinema, Mile Long Arcade, Makati Creekside Building, The Gallery Building and Sunvar Plaza. Other portions of the subject property, however, remain as open spaces, profitably utilized as parking area for customers and guests. Based on the complaint, the government and Napocor coowned the subject property on an 80-20 percent sharing. On December 26, 1977, plaintiffs leased the property to the Technology Resource Center Foundation Inc. (TRCFI) for a period of 25 years, beginning January 1, 1978 until December 31, 2002, renewable for another 25 years upon mutual agreement of the parties.

Over the years the TRCFI subsequently leased a portion of the property located between De La Rosa Street and Arnaiz Avenue (formerly Pasay Road) to Sunvar Realty under a sublease agreement. In all the agreements between Sunvar and TRCFI, Sunvar agreed to return or surrender the subleased land, without any delay whatsoever, upon the termination or expiration of the sublease, contract or any renewal or extension when the agreements expired on December 31, 2002. During the period of its sublease, Sunvar put up commercial buildings and establishments and introduced several improvements on the property. Following a reorganization of the government, TRCFI was dissolved and was replaced by the Philippine Development Alternatives Foundation (PDAF), which assumed all the functions of TRCFI. On June 3, 2002, Napocor notified PDAF of its decision not to renew the contract of lease. For its part, the government informed PDAF, through a memorandum issued on June 13, 2002, of its decision not to renew the lease contract on the ground that both of them had earlier entered into an agreement to shorten PDAF’s corporate life and cause the transfer of its assets to the government for the purpose of selling it to raise much-needed funds. Subsequently, the government and Napocor transferred the subject property to PMO for disposition. On February 22, 2008, the government advised Sunvar to completely vacate the subject property within 30 days, or it will take legal action against before the court. Sunvar, however, refused to vacate, and continued to remain on the subject property. On February 3, 2009, respondent Sunvar received a final notice to vacate within 15 days. But when the date arrived, it again refused to vacate the property and continued to occupy it. On July 23, 2009, petitioners filed the complaint for unlawful detainer with the MTC in Makati, praying that Sunvar be ordered to vacate the subject property and to pay damages for the illegal use and lost income.

Vigilant tack

Continued from A1

its exemptions, such as scrapping the privileges granted to senior citizens and persons with disabilities. The DOF will also adjust excise ta xes imposed on petroleum and restructure the excise tax on automobiles except for buses, trucks, cargo vans, jeeps, jeepney substitutes and special purpose vehicles. Under the DOF bill, which was recently submitted to Congress and will be authored by House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman and Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua, the tax will be computed in accordance with and at the rates established in the two schedules. For 2018, the new tax brackets are: ■ t hose e a r n i ng not o ve r P250,000 will be exempted from paying tax; ■ those earning over P250,000 but not over P400,000 would pay a fixed tax 20 percent in excess of P250,000; ■ those earning over P400,000 but not over P800,000 would pay a fixed tax of P30,000 with an additional 25 percent of the amount over P400,000; ■ those earning over P800,000 but not over P2 million would pay an excess tax of P130,000 with an additional 30 percent of the amount exceeding P800,000; ■ those earning over P2 million but not over P5 million would pay a fixed tax of P490,000 with an additional 32 percent of the amount exceeding P2 million. ■ those earning over P5 million would pay a fixed tax of P1,450,500 with an additional 35 percent of the amount over P5 million. For 2019, the new tax brackets are: ■ t hose ea r ning not over P250,000 will be exempted from paying tax; ■ those earning over P250,000 but not over P400,000 would pay a fixed tax of 15 percent of the amount over P250,000; ■ those earning over P400,000 but not over P800,000 would pay a fixed tax of P22,500 with an additional 20 percent of the amount exceeding P400,000; ■ those earning over P800,000 but not over P2 million would pay an excess tax of P102,500 with an additional 25 percent of the amount exceeding P800,000; ■ those earning over P2 million but not over P5 million would pay a fixed tax of P402,500 with an additional 30 percent in excess of P2 million; and ■ those earning over P5 million would pay a fixed tax of P1,303,000 with an additional 35 percent of the amount exceeding P5 million. In the current setup, those earning P10,000 or less per month pay a 5-percent income tax while those with yearly earnings of P500,000 and above pay a 32-percent income tax. The measure will amend Sections 24, 31, 32, 34, 35, 79,106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 148 and Title VI of the RA 8424 of the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended.

Offsetting measures

Included as offsetting measures is the imposition of higher taxes on petroleum products and eliminating certain exemptions, including senior citizens, from VAT. The bill will repeal Section 4 of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 as well as Sections 32-A and 33-A of the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities. Section 4 of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 provide VAT exemption for medicines, professional fees of attending physicians in all private hospitals, land mass transit, airfare, seafare, and utilization of services in hotels, admission fees in theater and cinema houses,

funeral and burial services for the death of senior citizens. Sections 32-A and 33-A of the Magna Carta for Persons with disabilities provides tax incentives to the family of persons with disabilities. Under the bill, effective on January 1, 2017, excise tax will be imposed on: ■ Lubricating oils and greases, including but not limited to, base stock for lube oils and greases, high vacuum distillates, aromatic extracts, and other similar preparations, and additives for lubricating oils and greases, whether such additives are petroleum based or not, per liter and kilogram respectively, of volume capacity or weight, P10 (from P4.50); ■ Processed gas, per liter of volume capacity, P6 (from P0.05); ■ Waxes and petrolatum, per kilogram, P10 (from P3.50); ■ On denatured alcohol to be used for motive power, per liter of volume capacity, P6 (from P0.05): ■ Naphtha, regular gasoline and other similar products of distillation, per liter of volume capacity, P10 (from P4.35). ■ Leaded premium gasoline, per liter of volume capacity, P10 (from P5.35); unleaded premium gasoline, per liter of volume capacity, P10 (from P4.35); ■ Aviation turbo jet fuel, per liter of volume capacity, P10 (from P3.67); ■ Kerosene, per liter of volume capacity, P6 (from P0.00); ■ Diesel fuel oil, and on similar fuel oils having more or less the same generating power, per liter of volume capacity, P6 (from P0.00); ■ Liquefied petroleum gas, per liter, P6 (from P0.00); ■ Asphalts, per kilogram, P6 (from P0.56); and ■ Bunker f uel oi l, and on similar fuel oils having more or less the same generating power, per liter of volume capacity, P6 (from P0.00). The bill also said the tax rates shall be increased by 10 percent every year thereafter effective January 1, 2018 through revenue regulations issued by the secretary of Finance.

Zero VAT

Also, the DOF bill said the following sales by VAT-registered persons will be subject to zero-percent rate: ■ The sale and actual shipment of goods from the Philippines to a foreign country, irrespective of any shipping arrangement that may be agreed upon which may influence or determine the transfer of ow nership of the goods so exported and paid for in acceptable foreign currency or its equivalent in goods or services, and accounted for in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP); ■ The sale of goods, supplies, equipment and fuel to persons engaged in international shipping or international air transport operations; provided that the goods, supplies, equipment and fuel have been sold and used and used for international shipping and air transport operations; ■ Foreign Currency Denominated Sale; ■ Sales to persons or entities whose exemption under international agreements to which the Philippines is a signatory effectively subjects such sales to zero rate; ■ sale of gold to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; ■ direct exports by a registered export producer of exports products, or the sales of export products to another producer or to an export trader: The DOF is proposing to exempt from the VAT the following transactions: A . Sa le or i mpor t at ion of See “PIT bill,” A12

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Wednesday, September 28, 2016 A3

‘Retailers to benefit from scrapping of rice QR’

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas and Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@jearcalas @joveemarie

emoving the rice-import quota, which allowed the government to limit the volume of rice that would enter the Philippines, would not only benefit consumers but also retailers, according to industry groups. Jaime O. Magbanua, president of the Confederation of Grains Retailers Association of the Philippines Inc., said retailers could earn more if they would sell cheaper rice produced by neighboring Asean countries. “It’s possible that retailers could increase their profit margin, given that the rice produced in neighboring countries is cheaper than ours,” Magbanua said in an interview. He added that rice from Thailand and Vietnam would still be “way cheaper” than those produced locally even if the government would slap a 35-percent tariff on imports. “Ordinary retailers’ only concern is if they have rice to sell and whether their profit margin would be enough,” Magbanua said. Among the stakeholders in the rice sector, Philippine Confederation of Grains Association Inc. President Herculano Co said rice traders would be “least affected” by the removal of the rice quantitative restriction (QR). “The rice traders and retailers would be the least affected and may even benefit as their only concern is the marketing of rice,” Co said. He added that the government should just lift the QR on rice as it fell short on its promise to develop the agriculture sector and prepare rice farmers to be competitive in Asean. “If they want to extend the QR for two more years then the government should come up with a concrete plan on how they will help our Filipino rice farmers, such as providing better postharvest technologies, hybrid and stronger seeds, as well as free irrigation,” Co said. “Because if not, then better lift the QR because our friends from other agriculture sectors, such as hog raisers and poultry growers, are being compromised just to have it extended,” he added. Co and Magbanua said it is high time for the government to prioritize Filipino rice farmers as they would be hardest hit by the lifting of the QR on rice. “If the government can [help] other Philippine sectors, then why can’t they fund [programs] for our rice farmers? Programs and projects that would benefit rice farmers would be more than enough to encourage them to continue planting rice,” Magbanua said. Earlier, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the government should ask the World Trade Organization (WTO) to extend the rice QR for another two years to prepare rice farmers. The Department of Agriculture (DA) is all set to start consultations with stakeholders from the rice industry next week to determine whether they are amenable to removing the rice QR, according to Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo R. Serrano. According to the WTO General Council ruling released in July 2014, the Philippines should subject rice imports to ordinary customs duties right after the QR-waiver extension expires on June 30, 2017. Under the QR, rice imports within the minimum access volume (MAV) of 805,200 metric tons per year are slapped with a lower tariff of 35 percent, while imports in excess of the MAV are slapped a higher tariff of 50 percent. Serrano said the DA is willing to increase the volume of rice currently allowed to enter the country under MAV, should the government decide to renegotiate the extension of the rice import quota.

‘Retain rice QR’

A party-list lawmaker on Tuesday backed the plan of Piñol to extend the QR on rice for another two years. Party-list Rep. Tom Villarin of Akbayan told reporters in an interview that lifting the restrictions could lower rice prices but would hurt local farmers. “I was the one who’s pushing the DA to extend the QR and Piñol acknowledged it,” Villarin said. The lawmaker also asked the National Economic and Devel-

IMF backs Duterte’s plan to widen deficit

he International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it supported plans by President Duterte to boost spending and widen the budget deficit as it forecast faster economic growth in the Southeast Asian economy. Raising the fiscal gap to 3 percent of gross domestic product starting in 2017 would allow for higher infrastructure and social spending “while ensuring fiscal sustainability,” the Washington-based lender said in a statement on its web site. Economic growth is forecast to quicken to 6.7 percent in 2017 from an estimate of 6.4 percent this year, it said. Duterte’s government is asking lawmakers to approve a record budget for 2017, pledging higher spending on police, education and roads. While the Philippines is among the fastest-growing economies in the world this year, investors are starting to worry about Mr. Duterte’s antidrug war that’s left thousands of people dead since he took office in June, and his outbursts against the US and the United Nations. The peso slumped to a seven-year low on Tuesday and global funds have sold Philippine stocks for a 23rd straight day. S&P Global Ratings has warned that the Philippines’s sovereign credit rating may be under downward pressure if President Duterte’s commitment to reforms stall. The IMF said the new administration has the “opportunity to put the economy on a higher and more equitable growth path.” Authorities are also “well equipped to respond as needed with suitable policies should any risks materialize, particularly given the strong fundamentals and ample policy space,” it said. Bloomberg News

opment Authority (Neda) to explain its decision to push for the removal of the QR on rice. “For the longest time, we’ve been buying from other rice-producing countries. Are we now saying that we can compete with them?” Villarin said. The lawmaker said he has already filed House Resolution 392 that seeks to clarify the possible implications of lifting QR on rice in view of its impending removal next year. Villarin said Congress, through the Special

35 percent

The tariff rate slapped on rice imports within MAV Committee on Globalization and WTO, must “extensively study” the implication of the full liberalization of rice trade for small farmers,

ordinary consumers and the country’s strategic food-security goals. “The Neda and the DA must disclose to the public the policy adjustment the administration will make in order for the affected sectors to cope with the lifting of QR on rice,” he said. Villarin added the Tariff Commission and other appropriate agencies should also reveal how the current tariff and nontariff regimes for rice have fared in terms of providing actual protection to rice farmers.

A4 Wednesday, September 28, 2016

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DOT finally admits Chinese cancellations By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@Pulitika2010 Special to the BusinessMirror

FTER persistently denying that it had not received any reports of trip cancellations by Chinese tourists to the Philippines, the Department of Tourism (DOT) finally acknowledged that there has been a slowdown in visitor arrivals from China, after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague ruled on the territorial sea dispute between both countries.

The DOT made this admission as it announced the arrival of 2,300 Chinese tourists just for a day tour in Boracay, and who were onboard the Legend of the Seas. In a news statement, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said Chinese tourist arrivals “dropped slightly after the interna-

422,801

The number of Chinese tourists who visited the Philippines in January to July

tional tribunal ruling on the South China,” but it soon recovered and has grown in recent weeks. Latest data on visitor arrivals, however, do not reflect the growth slowdown in Chinese tourists, as the PCA ruling was issued only in July 12. In the first seven months of 2016, Chinese arrivals in the Philippines grew by 64 percent to 422,801. The cancellations of Chinese tourists started in July, resulting in over P20 million in losses for hotels and travel agents in Cebu, Bohol and Boracay, and were reported to last until October. (See “Sea-row ruling driving Chinese tourists away,” in the BusinessMirror, July 22, 2016.) In a document sent by a Chinese tour organizer to SPR Boracay Travel and Tours on July 28, and obtained by the BusinessMirror recently, the tour organizer said their customers cancelled their tour plans to the Philippines after the PCA ruling was issued, and demanded for refunds. “The indignant citizens have been requesting cancellation of tours to the Philippines. Since then, the tourists kept calling to travel, accusing the travel agency to the police, complaining to the tourist administration, occupying the travel agency to show their

dissatisfaction (sic). Some of our guests refused to pay for the travel agency or offer their passport even if they have already paid the deposit,” the document translated from Mandarin said. Because of the persistent complaints of its customers, the Chinese tour operator said it thought it was prudent to cancel its flight charters to Kalibo, as well as hotel bookings in the resort island of Boracay. One of the airlines affected was AirAsia Philippines. In a text message, airline Chairman Maan Hontiveros said: “Our scheduled flights are operating normally but the charters to Wenzhou and Wuxi were canceled for August.” She said the charterers canceled because “they are not very confident of filling the flights because of the South China Sea issue.” She added that she hoped the diplomatic differences between both countries would soon be ironed out “and these worries among Chinese tourists will begin dissipate and confidence is restored.” Tourism industry sources said, however, the cancellations from China are expected to continue until October. Meanwhile, the DOT put out all the stops in welcoming the 2,300 Chinese tourists who arrived in Boracay Island,

Aklan in September 24 from Xiamen, and were aboard the Legend of the Seas. The arrivals marked the first trip of an international cruise ship since the Duterte administration took office on July 1, said the agency, ushering in the celebration of the Philippines’s Tourism Week. Teo hailed the successful event, which she attributed to the “shared efforts” of stakeholders, including the tour organizers, DOT Regional Office 6 and the municipal administration of Malay, Aklan. “This event goes to show that our country remains a safe place to visit, despite travel warnings due to international politics and travel warnings,” she stressed. A colorful Ati-Atihan group performed as local DOT staff handed out handcrafted leis to the tourists, which included Chinese professionals, retirees and families with children. DOT officials, led by Assistant Secretary for Administration and Special Concerns Gwen Javier and Region 6 (Western Visayas) Director Helen Catalbas, greeted the visitors who landed at the Cagban Jetty Port. “We are pleased to note that a charter has been initiated by travel trade counterparts in China. This

underscores our continuing warm tourism and culture ties amid the ongoing territorial strife. This augurs well for our industry and as we pursue our National Cruise Tourism Strategy grounded on ports development and rehabilitation,” Javier said. A DOT source confirmed, however, that the Chinese tourists were only on a “day tour” and weren’t booked in any hotels. The DOT said the visitors swam in the island’s crystal-clear waters, while sunbathe on the white-sand beach, and the rest took in the sights in nearby islets. “We’re so happy to host and accord our visitors from China the best tourism experience in Western Visayas as a world-class tourist destination,” Catalbas said. She said two more Royal Caribbean cruise ships are due to arrive in October and November. Next to South Koreans, the Chinese are the largest group of tourists in Region 6. In 2015, some 184,000 Chinese visited Western Visayas, mainly to Boracay, while South Koreans numbered 331,269, according to the DOT. The Legend of the Seas first visited the Philippines in 2012, then, the country became part of its regular itineraries to Asia.

DENR: 20 operating mines face suspension for various violations By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

wenty operating mines are facing possible suspension for failing to meet environmental standards, Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez said on Tuesday. Lopez added that, based on the findings and recommendation of the mine audit teams that conducted the site visit and evaluation of the mining operations in August, the operating mines violated various mining and environmental laws. They are Libo Mining Corp.; AAMPIL Natural Resources Exploration and Development Corp.Parcel 1; AAMPHIL Natural Resources Exploration and Development Corp.-Parcel 28; Krominco Inc.; Carrascal Nickel Corp.; Marventures Mining and Development Corp.; Filminera Resources Corp.; Philippine Gold Processing and Refining Corp.; Strongbuilt Mining

Development Corp., Sinosteel Philippines H.Y. Corp.; Oriental Synergy Mining Corp.; Century Peak Corp.Rapid City Nickel Project; Century Peak Corp.-Casiguran Nickel Project, Oriental Vision Mining Philippines Corp.; CTP Construction and Mining Corp.; Agata Mining Ventures Inc.; Hinatuan Mining Corp.; Benguet Corp.; Lepanto Conslidated Mining Co.; OceanaGold Philippiness Inc.; Adarma Mining Resources Inc.; and SR Metals Inc. Lopez made the disclosure during a press conference at the DENR conference hall in Quezon City on Tuesday, where she announced the result of the mining audit. In effect, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has found only 10 mining companies fit to continue operation. During the press conference, Lopez showed photos of the mines, which she said was partly the basis why the audit teams recommended

Truth, service and the common good were the basis of our decisions.” —Lopez

their suspension orders. Since assuming as chief of the DENR, Lopez had already caused the suspension of 10 operating mines, including Zambales Diversified, Benguet Corp. Nickel, Eramin Minerals and Inl Archipelago in Zambales province; Berong Nickel and Citinickel in Palawan; and Ore Asia Mining in Bulacan. Other mining companies suspended in Mindanao are the Claver Mineral in Claver, Surigao del Norte, Emir Mineral and Mount Sinai in Homonhon Island, in Guiuan, Eastern Samar. “Truth, service and the common good were the basis of our decisions,” Lopez said. There are 41, not 40, metallic mines currently operating largescale mining in the Philippines. Environment Senior Undersecretary Leo L. Jasareno, the head of the audit team, said the DENR, through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), would start furnishing the companies copies of the audit reports, including a show-cause order, instructing them to take corrective measures or face suspension.

Lopez said mining companies that were slapped with suspension orders, including those facing the same fate, should “get their act together” and “fix things” to be allowed to continue doing business. Jasareno said the 10 operating mines allowed by the DENR to continue operation did not necessarily pass the mine audit criteria, which includes social, environmental and biodiversity considerations on top of the physical or technical aspect of mining, but committed minor violations or infractions that can be corrected. Nevertheless, Jasareno said the DENR would issue an order to the mining companies for them to institute corrective measures, or face possible suspension. They include Philex Mines, Rio Tuba in Luzon; Atlas and Tech Iron in the Visayas; Cagdinao, Taganito, Platinum Group Metals, Greenstone and Philsaga and Pacific Nickel Philippines in Mindanao. Of the 10, Philex mine is considered among mining companies that demonstrate best practices. However, an accidental leak from its tailings dam in Padcal mine in 2012 continue to haunt the company. Jasareno said Philex has to clean up its mess at the San Roque Dam, which affected the dam’s powerproduction capacity. According to Jasareno, the suspension of mining companies are expected to impact on the country’s gold and nickel output this year. For nickel, Jasareno said a 55.5percent reduction is expected in the

country’s total production value, representing a total of 18 million tons of nickel ore, as against 32 operating nickel mines produced in 2015. “For gold, we have not computed it yet. The production output may be significantly reduced,” he said. There will be no significant effect on copper production, Jasareno said. Lopez said she would meet with officials and representatives of mining companies facing possible suspensions, including those that “passed” but were found to have committed infractions. Lopez maintained that the audit teams did their job and said she is happy with the result of the audit. “The audits were conducted fairly,” she said, belying allegations made by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) that the mining audit was tainted because of the involvement of antimining group Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) and other civil-society organizations in the audit process. “The oceans are polluted, the rivers are silted. That’s the reason they [mining companies] failed the audit. And that’s the truth,” she said. Meanwhile, Lopez affirmed her commitment to the people in mining communities, saying they would be tapped to be partners of the government in the implementation of the National Greening Program (NGP). “They will be producing seedling and planting trees. They will produce the seeds and they will earn from it,” she said.

Jasareno added that in Zambales, those affected by the suspension are now benefitting from a project implemented by mining companies. He said the DENR would issue a directive to the mining companies to rehabilitate mined-out areas and make sure that the workers, in case of suspension, would not be affected. “Employees should do the rehabilitation. It would be part of an order to the mining companies,” Lopez said. Lopez added that she wanted the mining companies to “shape up” in line with President Duterte’s marching orders. The DENR chief said the suspension of mining operation would have no significant impact to the national economy. Mining’s contribution to the economy in terms of GDP remains below 1 percent. She also said in terms of taxes, the suspension of operating mines will not be strongly felt. “Eighty-two percent of the mining profit goes to the mining companies, and 18 percent goes to the national government and the local government. Very little goes to the community. That is unfair,” she said. The DENR chief wants mining companies operating in the Philippines to emulate mining companies operating in Canada and Australia. “Responsible mining is possible. We can do that. Actually, some companies are there already, but we need to be strict. The DENR must be very strict to ensure responsible mining,” Lopez said.

Lift foreign-ownership restrictions to spur competition in PHL—Balisacan By David Cagahastian

@davecaga

he Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on Wednesday asserted its mandate to promote competition in Philippine industries, and recommended the lifting of some restrictions on foreign ownership enjoyed by certain industries to benefit consumers. PCC Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan said the commission is not disheartened by the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Court of Appeals to stop it from reviewing the landmark telecommunications deal between PLDT, Globe Telecoms and San Miguel Corp.’s telecommunications companies for possible anticompetitive practices. Balisacan said the TRO is a “temporary setback,” and that it enjoys the full bac k ing of t he Duter te administration to pursue its mandate to stimulate competition in the various industries to force companies to be more efficient

and offer better services at cheaper costs. PCC Commissioner El Cid Butuyan, who is in charge of the litigation and investigation process at the commission, disclosed that, aside from the suspended review of the telecommunications deal among the industry giants, there are also preliminary investigations being conducted in the cement industry and the power industry for anticompetitive practices. The preliminary investigation in the power industry was brought about by a request from the Department of Energy (DOE) for the PCC’s help in determining whether there were anticompetitive practices, which happened in the power outages from July 25 to 29 this year; while the preliminary investigation for anticompetitive practices, in the cement industry was brought about by a complaint by a private individual who used to be a government official. Butuyan said the PCC will flex its muscle to fulfill its mandate, amid speculations that the newly created commission would merely fold against the weight of monopolies, duopolies, oligarchs and other combinations of businesses in restraint of free trade. “I think more important than having the fi-

nancial muscle to fulfill our mandate, it’s good to send the message that we’re here to stay and we’re not going anytime soon. We intend to exercise our enforcement power as mandated by law; we are an enforcement agency and not a mere paper-pushing agency,” Butuyan said. Aside from the preliminary investigations for anticompetitive practices in the cement and power industries, the PCC is also looking to dismantle some protectionist regulations issued by regulatory agencies, which have no legal or constitutional basis. Butuyan said many restrictions imposed by regulatory agencies have no rationale aside from “protecting the incumbents.” “What we’re looking at are some agency regulations which have no rationale but to protect the incumbents. Part of our task right now is looking for these low-hanging fruits at the agency level, which can be quickly repealed to allow more competition in certain industries,” he said. Balisacan said there should be another major wave of deregulation in the various industries in the economy, such as what happened in the 1990s when many industries, like the airline industry, the banking sector and the telecommunications industry, were deregulated.

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AseanWednesday BusinessMirror

FATF says Singapore has gaps to fill in money-laundering fight

ingapore can do more to address the moneylaundering risks posed by the country’s status as a global financial center, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said. While acknowledging that the Southeast Asian nation has a “reasonable understanding” of its money-laundering risks and has taken steps to mitigate them, “moderate gaps” remain, the Paris-based organization said in a report published on Tuesday. The report detailed various recommendations on how Singapore could beef up its measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. “The nexus between transnational threats, the inherent risks faced by Singapore as one of the world’s largest financial centers, and vulnerabilities within the system” are not sufficiently reflected in Singapore’s

risk-assessment program, the FATF said. Its evaluation was based on measures in place to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism during a visit by FATF examiners from November 17 to December 3. In response, Singapore’s government and the central bank pledged “further steps” to strengthen its regime to fight illicit flows. Before the report was published, the Monetary Authority of Singapore had stepped up action to address the reputational damage caused by antimoney-laundering lapses at banks in the Southeast Asian nation linked to the beleaguered state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd. The central bank rebuked four banks including UBS Group AG and Standard Chartered Plc. for lapses in compliance controls. Bloomberg News

Editor: Max V. de Leon • Wednesday, September 28, 2016 A5

Vietnamese fishermen sue Taiwan firm over fish deaths 506 H undreds of Vietnamese fishermen have filed claims seeking compensation from a Taiwanese steel company that acknowledged its toxic chemicals caused a massive fish kill, a local priest helping the fishermen said on Tuesday. The factory, owned by the Formosa Plastics Group, acknowledged in June that it was responsible for the pollution that killed large numbers of fish off the central Vietnamese coast in April, and pledged to pay $500 million to clean it up and compensate affected people. The pollution created the country’s worst environmental disaster, devastating the regional fishing and tourism industries, and sparked rare protests in

the Communist country. Catholic priest Dang Huu Nam, who led the group of local fishermen, said 506 petitions have been submitted to a local court in Ky Anh town in central Ha Tinh province where the massive fish kill occurred. “Based on the fact that Formosa admitted their mistake, based on the Vietnamese laws and the losses suffered by the fishermen, they have submitted

The number of petitions submitted to a Vietnamese court against Formosa Plastics

their claims and they demand that Formosa be closed and compensate their losses, as well as material and health losses they may suffer in the future,” Nam said on Tuesday by telephone from the courthouse. Local court officials were not available for comment. The priest said many more fishermen are completing their files, and he expects more than 100,000 fishermen to file petitions. He said the fishermen on Monday traveled 200 kilometers in 15 buses

to the People’s Court in Ky Anh town which received 199 petitions on Monday and another 307 claims on Tuesday. Some 5,000 people around Ky Anh town on Monday gathered outside the courthouse to show their support, he said. Nam said the court now will decide to process their claims or reject them or refer their cases to a higher relevant authority. Under Vietnamese law, the claims must be filed individually. Lawyer Tran Vu Hai said the fishermen’s actions to file their claims may not lead to their cases being brought to trial, but could open a way for Formosa and the fishermen to “talk directly with each other” for a negotiated deal. An estimated 115 tons of fish washed ashore along more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) of the central coast in April, the government said in a report to the National Assembly in July. The disaster harmed the livelihoods of more than 200,000 people, including 41,000 fishermen. AP

The World BusinessMirror

Wednesday, September 28, 2016 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Failure to get Syria cease-fire stole spotlight at UN confab

NITED NATIONS—The failed attempt by the US and Russia to revive a cease-fire in Syria stole the spotlight at the annual UN gathering of world leaders but every other global hot spot had its moment—and there were some chuckles, as well, including a message to Secretary-General Ban Kimoon to be ready to receive his gift of a “white bull” from South Sudan.

With the final speeches of the sixday gabfest delivered on Monday, there were also a few high points. Last December’s Paris climate agreement got 31 more ratifications at a high-level event hosted by Ban, topping the 55 countries required and just over 7 percent short of the 55 percent of global emissions needed for the deal to enter into force. It is expected to reach that magic number before the next UN conference on climate change in November in Morocco.

No Planet B

UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson called the agreement a “historic achievement” that would never have happened if the world’s nations hadn’t shifted course to preserve life on Earth. “There might be a Plan B in life but there certainly is no Planet B,” Eliasson said on Monday in wrapping up the General Assembly’s annual General Debate, which was attended by over 135 heads of state and government, and more than 50 ministers. The high-level meetings began with the first-ever UN summit on refugees and migrants called to tackle one of the most contentious issues facing the world: millions of people fleeing conflict and poverty—and not many countries willing to accept them. World leaders approved the New York Declaration aimed at providing a more coordinated and humane

response to the largest refugee crisis since World War II, and President Barack Obama secured thousands of new resettlement places and billions of dollars in pledges to help the refugees at a summit the following day.

135 The total number of heads of state and government who attended the General Assembly’s annual General Debate

New structure

ELIASSON said both events gave “new structure to the work on refugees and migration, which will be very useful.” “But, above all, I hope we shall make sure that this organization sends the signal of everybody’s equal value, and that we need to work in such a way that we prevent the xenophobic tendencies to prevail which are still strong in today’s world,” he said. As for the “buzz” in UN corridors, it was two newcomers making their debuts on the international stage that captured the most attention:

British Prime Minister Theresa May and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. May assured the General Assembly that Britain will remain a global power and continue playing a role in trying to resolve the many challenges in the world, despite its decision to leave the European Union. And Trudeau announced new plans for Canada to become more globally engaged, including providing 750 UN peacekeepers, and tried to calm security jitters after a weekend bombing in New York City on the eve of the global gathering.

Realpolitik

WHEN the VIPs meet, small countries are almost always ignored, which angers many. Prime Minister Allen Chastanet of the Caribbean islandnation of Saint Lucia, population 183,000, told the 193-member General Assembly that “as a small island state within this body, our voice is meant to be equal, but long experience and realpolitik prove the contrary.” Chastanet also questioned the format of the so-called General Debate, where leaders deliver speeches from 9 a.m. often until after 8 p.m. “While many speak, few stay around to listen; far less respond,” he said. “Then we wonder how and why this entity is so negatively perceived by the persons we are elected to serve.”

Other conflicts

ONE of the UN’s great failures has been its inability to end the fiveand-a-half-year Syrian conflict, which has claimed over 300,000 lives. During the ministerial meeting, not only did lengthy US-Russian negotiations fail to restore a cease-fire but the Syrian government announced a new offensive to retake Aleppo, unleashing some of the heaviest bombing of the war. Other conf licts, large and small, had opposing sides attacking each other. India and Pakistan squabbled over Kashmir, which is claimed by both countries who have fought two wars over the Himalayan region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predicted that Israel would have a bright future at the UN and invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to address Israel ’s parliament—an offer Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour dismissed as “a new gimmick.” A number of Pacific islandnations, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Tonga accused Indonesia of mass killings and other human-rights violations in West Papua—criticism that Indonesia brushed off as being politically motivated. And the United Arab Emirates accused Iran of sponsoring “terrorism”, a claim Tehran denies.

Gender equality

IN almost every speech, leaders called for global action against radical extremist groups, which have spread from Syria and Iran to North Africa, Europe and the United States. There were no speeches about the search for a successor to Ban, whose second term as secretarygeneral ends on December 31. But there was plenty of behindthe-scenes chatter about the nine candidates vying to replace him and whether the winner would be front-runner Antonio Guterres, the former Portuguese prime minister or someone from Eastern Europe, which has never held the post that by tradition rotates by region, or the first woman. Liechtenstein’s Foreign Minister Aurelia Frick told the assembly she would like “to finally see a woman lead this organization— which has been such a trailblazer for gender equality.” One of the lighter moments came in the speech of Taban Deng Gai, first vice president of war-ravaged South Sudan, who paid tribute to Ban and recalled that President Salva Kiir gave the UN chief a “white bull” as a sign of peace. “It has grown [and is] now ready to be delivered to his excellency,” Deng Gai said. There was no word on where and when the secretarygeneral will take delivery. AP

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Colombia embarks on path to peace with historic pact

ARTAGENA, Colombia—After a halfcentury of combat that spilled blood across this South American nation, Colombians have embarked on a new, but difficult path to settle their political differences with the signing of a historic peace accord between the government and leftist rebels. The first test after Monday’s signing is a weekend referendum in which voters are being asked to ratify or reject the deal. If it passes, as expected, Colombia will move on to the thornier and still uncertain task of reconciliation. President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), formally signed the agreement before a crowd of 2,500 foreign dignitaries and special guests, including Uinted Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry. Many in the audience, all dressed in white, had tears in their eyes as Santos removed from his lapel a pin shaped like a white dove that he has been wearing for years and handed it over to his former adversary, who fastened it to his own shirt. It was one of many symbolic gestures during the 90-minute ceremony overlooking the colonial ramparts of Cartagena that filled Colombians with hope and optimism for the arduous work ahead implementing a 297-page accord that took four grueling years to negotiate.

Ambitious agenda

IF the accord is accepted by Colombian voters in Sunday’s referendum, as polls say it will, the FARC’s estimated 7,000 fighters would have to turn over their weapons gradually to a team of United Nations-sponsored observers within six months. A much tougher challenge will be reconciliation, a process that will require rebels and state actors who want to avoid jail to confess their war crimes committed during a 52-year conflict marred by brutalities on both sides. Longer term, the two sides have drafted an ambitious agenda to hasten the development of Colombia’s long-neglected countryside and rid it of illegal coca crops that starting in the 1980s strengthened the FARC—and some say morally corrupted it—while other insurgencies across Latin America fell to the wayside.

Courageous partner

LONDONO, best known by his alias Timochenko, called Santos “a courageous partner” and proclaimed there was no turning back on the FARC’s decision to abandon Colombia’s jungles. “Let no one doubt that we are going into politics without weapons,” he said before ending his speech with a simple but loudly applauded appeal for forgiveness “I apologize for all the pain that we have caused,” he said. Santos, who for years was the FARC’s top military opponent, was equally emphatic that he would honor his promise to

promote pluralism and open up Colombia’s traditionally elite-driven political system. “As head of state of the fatherland we all love, I want to welcome you to democracy,” he said. Earlier, he led the crowd in chants of “No more war! No more war! No more war!”

Cuba-style dictatorship

ACROSS the country, Colombians celebrated with a host of activities, from peace concerts to a street party in the capital, Bogota, where the signing ceremony was broadcast live on a giant screen. The signing was greeted with wild cheers followed by calls for Timochenko to be president from about 1,000 FARC rebels in the Yari Plains, a remote area of southern Colombia where the group recently concluded its last congress as a guerrilla army by endorsing the deal. But there were also sporadic protests, including one in Car tagena led by conservative former President Alvaro Uribe, whose decadelong, US-backed military offensive forced the FARC to the negotiating table. Shouting “Santos is a coward,” the few hundred Uribe supporters vowed that if they gain power when the presidents steps down in 2018 they will undo an accord they say is harbinger of a Cuba-style leftist dictatorship. The stiff domestic opposition, which will make implementation even tougher, contrasts with almost universal acclaim abroad for the accord. On Monday European Union (EU) foreign-policy coordinator Federica Mogherini said that, with the signing of the peace agreement, the EU would suspend the FARC from its list of terrorist organizations.

Saluting peace

THE US has yet to follow suit but Kerry said he is open to reconsidering its status. “We clearly are ready to review and make judgments as the facts come in,” he told reporters. “We don’t want to leave people on the list if they don’t belong.” Colombians’ distrust of the FARC runs deep. Many families have been touched by rebel kidnappings and it will take years to heal the wounds from a conflict that claimed 220,000 lives and drove 8 million people from their homes. The rebels are equally skeptical of the government on which they will now depend for protection, a fact underscored by Timochenko’s startled look when a low flyover by three fighter jets unexpectedly interrupted his speech. “This time they came to salute peace instead of unload bombs,” he joked upon resuming.

Dreamed of

TIMOCHENKO took over as the FARC’s commander in 2011 after an aerial attack killed his predecessor shortly after he authorized a secret backchannel dialogue with the government. AP

Iowa City braces for highest floodwaters since ’08 record C

EDAR RAPIDS, Iowa—Residents of Cedar Rapids are watching anxiously as the quickly rising Cedar River threatens to inundate their city with devastating floodwaters for the second time in just over eight years. After days of sandbagging and erecting an extensive system of flood barriers, residents and officials in Iowa’s second-largest city were simply waiting to see how high the Cedar River would rise and what impact the flood would have. Entire neighborhoods and the downtown area were largely abandoned as residents in low-lying areas heeded the city’s call to evacuate. Schools were cancelled and many businesses were closed. The river was expected to crest on Tuesday at 23 feet, the secondlargest flood in the city’s history, behind only that of June 2008. The river level had risen past 20 feet by midday on Monday, or 4 feet above major flood stage. Here’s the situation in Cedar Rapids and other communities affected by the flooding:

Is Cedar Rapids ready for the flooding?

YES, city officials said at a Monday news conference. Mayor Ron Corbett said nearly 10 miles of temporary levees have been constructed in just days, and 250,000 sand-

patrol ling the evacuation zone and helping out at traffic control checkpoints to keep out unwanted visitors. Jerman also said the Iowa State Patrol and other law-enforcement agencies have sent officers to help.

Has flooding begun in Cedar Rapids?

FLOODING has closed some roads on the outskirts but none in the downtown area. Downtown and other city bridges have been closed, however, and access to Interstate 380 is limited in some spots.

What’s the situation upstream? A local resident rides a bike past a pile of sandbags placed in front of a business on September 26 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Residents are waiting anxiously as a quickly rising Cedar River threatens to inundate their city with devastating floodwaters for the second time in eight years. AP

bags have been filled and placed to protect homes and businesses. More sandbags were being filled on Monday to beef up barriers around critical city infrastructure. The Fire Department has staged boats for water rescues on both sides of the river. The American Red Cross has opened two shelters, and a local official said more emergency workers are flying in to help.

Why is the city relying on temporary structures?

THE city has struggled since the

2008 f lood to secure the funding that would be necessary to create a comprehensive f loodprotection system for low-lying areas on both sides of the river. Residents voted down a sales tax increase that would help pay for it years ago. Now the city is waiting on Congress to authorize and appropriate the federal share of a plan to build the system along with investments from the state and the city. City Manager Jeff Pomeranz said lobbying for the federal money is a top priority

and the project will be critical to the city’s future. Iowa’s members of Congress are expected to push for the financing in the coming days.

Have residents in the potential flood zones been evacuated?

OFFICIALS estimate that about 50 percent of the people in those zones have left for temporary shelter elsewhere, but the officials didn’t have a head count of those remaining. The mayor and other officials implored people to stay

away from the evacuation zone, lest they be caught by gushing water should part of the flood-protection system fail. Corbett said the city wouldn’t force residents or businesspeople out of the area, but asked them to use common sense in making decisions that could affect their safety and the safety of others.

What about the National Guard? IT ’S been activated to help, and Police Chief Wayne Jerman said on Monday the troops w il l be

THE river crested on Saturday night in Waterloo and Cedar Falls, which are about 55 miles upstream from Cedar Rapids. The water levels in Cedar Falls and Waterloo were slightly lower than had been expected, but they still reached levels that were second only to those in 2008. Black Hawk County Emergency Manager Lori Glover said on Monday the water was dropping slowly and likely wouldn’t be back to below f lood stage until Thursday. She said any damage estimates would have to wait until then. In Charles City residents put f lood-damaged items out on their curbs for pickup on bMonday. AP

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Medifi, start-up from PHL, wins at Apec O2O Forum in Peru

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Wednesday, September 28, 2016 A9

Equipped to compete: Growing global MSMEs for inclusive development By Maria Roseni Alvero

Assistant Secretary, DTI Foreign Trade Service Corps

market development updates

NNOVATION in communications and transportation has dramatically lowered the overall barrier to entry for small firms. These global market trends have significantly contributed to the development of the Philippines’s buzzing start-up community and a thriving micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector. Notwithstanding, MSMEs still face large gaps in productivity and have yet to fully take advantage of internationalization. Studies have also concluded that MSMEs are more likely to survive if they export.

REPRESENTING winning start-up Medifi.com from the Philippines is Jay Fajardo (left), joined by Mei-Hsueh Lin (center), deputy director general of Chinese Taipei’s Small and Medium Enterprise Administration and overseer of Apec’s online-to-offline project work; and Trevor Weltman of Triip.me, winning start-up from Vietnam.

EDICAL-consultation channel Medifi from the Philippines, together with virtual-travel agency Triip.me from Vietnam, has been named Asia Pacific’s top start-up for successfully employing online tools to drive offline consumer traffic at the recently concluded Online-to-Offline (O2O) Forum held in Peru. The evaluations took place in Lima ahead of a key meeting of trade ministers to further enable entrepreneurship and business growth in the region. The firms were chosen by small business officials from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) member-economies and industry experts out of a pool of 14 innovative startups from the region. They were assessed based on presentations of their O2O business models, spotlighting the potential of mobile Internet, ecommerce and payment technologies to ignite commercial development. “Digital advances are opening up consumer access like never before,” said John Andersen, chairman of the Apec Small and Medium Enterprise Working Group. “Apec is drawing out real-world lessons to help start-ups leverage the Internet to build viable cross-border businesses.” Andersen is also deputy assistant

Secretary for the Western Hemisphere at the United States Department of Commerce. “The digital economy has become the single most important driver of innovation, competitiveness and growth in the region,” added MeiHsueh Lin, deputy director general of Chinese Taipei’s Small and Medium Enterprise Administration and overseer of Apec’s O2O project work. “It is vital for new businesses to use opportunities online to stand out.” Focus is on helping entrepreneurs understand how to take advantage of O2O applications to attract consumers and grow their operations. Examples include the deployment of e-commerce, sharing economies, industry collaboration and digital innovation, with best practices and experiences of up-and-coming start-ups offering a blueprint for implementation. Other model start-ups participat-

ing in the O2O evaluations ranged from an installment payment service to a thriving digital media site. They hail from China, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Chinese Taipei, the United States and Vietnam. The program is part of a multiyear O2O business model promotion initiative, administered in collaboration with leading digital firms, such as eBay, Amazon, Alibaba and Rukuten. The Philippines, as a cosponsor of the O2O, will host the next event in this region-wide series in Boracay this November. “Apec is committed to optimizing the digital-innovation ecosystem to unleashthepotentialofO2Obusiness,” said Jerry Clavesillas, director of the Philippines’s Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development. “Our goal is to cultivate startups that can help to realize a new era of trade and inclusive growth across the region’s economies.” Agnes Perpetua R. Legaspi

DTI-EMB conducts DBFTA on Dinagat Island and Surigao City

upcoming events Compiled by Louise Kaye G. Mendoza DTI-EMB Knowledge Processing Division

SEPT 29

Time: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Event: Philippine Packaging and Labeling Summit 2016

Venue: Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC), Sen. Gil. J. Puyat Avenue corner Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City

OCT 4

Time: 6-9 p.m. Event: QBO Open House Venue: QBO Innovation Hub, G/F DTI

HE Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) held an information session last month in the province of Dinagat Island and Surigao City. The DBFTA program is a business- education program that aims to increase awareness and foster appreciation of the benefits of freetrade agreements (FTAs). The EMB speakers for the DBFTA seminars were Albino Ganchero, supervising trade and industry development specialist who talked about doing business under FTAs with focus on the fishery sector and updates on Philippine halal export promotion; and Maria Teresa Loring, services division chief, who discussed exporting tourism and travel-related services in the light of Asean integration. The information session was attended by various sectors like micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), assisted by the DTI’s Negosyo Center in the province of Dinagat Island and Surigao City, industry cluster groups, shared-system facilities project beneficiaries, local government units (LGUs), and representatives of LGUs and academe. The speakers underscored the importance of MSMEs’ getting the opportunities and challenges presented by the Asean integration and other FTAs. Summing up the client satisfaction feedback ratings of the participants the majority, or 91 percent, of the respondents were very satisfied and 9 percent were satisfied. Gina A. Verdeflor

International Building, 375 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City

OCT 7-11

Event: Negosyo, Konsyumer, at Iba Pa (NKATBP) Venue: Palacio del Sur Marcian Convention Center Zamboanga City State Polytechnic College/ ZamboEcoZone and Freeport Zamboanga City

Surveys have shown that as MSMEs attempt to internationalize, they often encounter important barriers. These barriers are complex and can be both internal to a particular firm or emanate from the larger business environment in which MSMEs operate, including trade-policy barriers and availability of market intelligence to enter new markets. Foster ing a n env ironment where MSMEs can thrive in today’s dynamic and growing innovation economy has been at the forefront of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) programs. As part of the DTI’s Industry Promotion Group (IPG), the Foreign Trade Service Corps (FTSC) connects trading businesses of Philippine companies and foreign investors with their counterparts. This task is primarily carried out by professionals called commercial attaches or commercial counselors present in 26 key cities in 20 countries across Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Asia and the Pacific. In partnership with DTI units and other partner agencies, the FTSC has

been a strategic arm of the DTI tasked to promote Philippine exports and investments, gather commercial intelligence, and assist in bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations. Foreign Trade Service officers provide technical advice to government and private-sector stakeholders and aid in market research and due diligence, as they monitor government regulations and identify trade barriers and opportunities in their particular country of assignment. As trade and investment-promotion officers, they are responsible for conducting information campaigns, buyers and investor counseling, business matching, and implementation of inbound and outbound missions and trade shows. Recognizing the strategic value of market information to Philippine businesses, this section of “Export Unlimited” shall be another avenue to keep exporters abreast of the trends and developments in global markets, giving exporters the opportunity to expand their business and enable them to make informed decisions.

A10 Wednesday, September 28, 2016 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

The nuclear question

growing chorus of politicians and national-security experts have questioned whether it would be safe to have Donald Trump’s finger on the nuclear button. But are they asking the right question?

In an open letter, 50 leading Republican national-security experts warned that Trump possesses “dangerous qualities in an individual who aspires to be president and commander in chief, with command of the US nuclear arsenal.” Or, as Hillary Clinton put it in her speech accepting the Democratic nomination: “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.” Indeed, it would be very dangerous for an unstable, ill-informed person to have control of the nuclear arsenal. Implicit in these admonitions, however, is the notion that it is OK to have a “normal” person in charge. In fact, many of Trump’s critics explicitly endorse the idea that nuclear weapons, in the right hands, constitute an effective deterrent to nuclear attack by other powers and are the best, even the ultimate, guarantors of our national security. Their argument—for the continued maintenance of a nuclear arsenal capable of destroying human civilization—depends on the assumption that these weapons only exist to persuade other nuclear powers not to attack, and that we will never actually use them. Unfortunately, the 2010 US Nuclear Posture Review explicitly rejects the notion that the sole purpose of US nuclear weapons is deterrence, and the US has threatened to use them many times. Leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for instance, the US refused to take the nuclear option off the table. Russian nuclear policy is even more dangerous, explicitly endorsing the early use of nuclear weapons in the event of a conventional war with North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Pakistan has a similar nuclear doctrine that envisions the early first use of nuclear weapons if it should find itself in another war with India. So the “normal” leaders of nuclear-weapon states have already decided that under a variety of circumstances, nuclear weapons can and will be used. Even if none of these nuclear powers ever makes a deliberate decision to use its nuclear arsenal, there is a very real danger that these weapons will be deployed because of miscalculation or computer error. An article published this summer in the journal Space Weather described for the first time how a solar flare in May 1967 knocked out communication with a number of key radar installations in the Arctic. The US military incorrectly concluded that the Soviets had disabled these early-warning stations as the opening move in a surprise attack and prepared American nuclear armed bombers for takeoff. War was averted at the last minute when the Air Force received information about the true cause of the blackout. There have been at least five other major episodes when computer errors or misinterpretation of intelligence data led either Moscow or Washington to prepare to launch a nuclear war in the mistaken belief that the other side had already initiated an attack. The most recent of these took place in 1995, well after the end of the Cold War. Furthermore, studies have shown that we don’t need to have a full-scale nuclear war to destroy human civilization. Even a very limited nuclear war, confined to one corner of the globe, would have disastrous consequences across the planet. The use of just 100 Hiroshima-sized bombs—less than 0.5 percent of the world’s nuclear arsenal—against targets in urban areas could loft enough soot into the upper atmosphere to disrupt climate worldwide, cutting food production and putting 2 billion people at risk of starvation. For the nuclear-weapon states, these are most inconvenient truths. They view their nuclear arsenals as tools to project national power that they do not want to give up. All nine are currently spending enormous sums on upgrading their arsenals, and they have shown a fierce opposition to the efforts of non-nuclear weapon states that wish to legally prohibit the possession of these weapons. Commenting on the Cuban missile crisis, the most dangerous moment of the Cold War, former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara said, “It was luck that prevented nuclear war.” Nuclear weapons do not possess some magic power that keeps them from being used. We have survived the nuclear era so far because of an incredible string of luck, and we cannot expect that luck to last forever. Sooner or later, if we do not get rid of these weapons, they will be used and they will destroy us. TNS Editorial

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SSS loan-restructuring program until April 2017 Susie G. Bugante

All About Social Security

hat is this loan-restructuring program (LRP) that we have been hearing about? Is this the same as a condonation program? These are some of the questions that members of the Social Security System (SSS) have been asking since the LRP was launched in late-April this year. The LRP gives SSS members with past-due loans of at least six months an opportunity to settle their obligations under easy terms with the possibility of condonation of penalties when the loan is fully paid. Under the program, the principal and accrued interests of all past-due short-term loans of a member will be consolidated into one restructured loan. The member may opt to pay the due amount in full, within 30 days from the approval of the restructuring application, or within a minimum term of one year and a maximum term of five years,

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will only be condoned after the full payment of the outstanding principal and interest of the restructured loan within the approved term. The balance of the restructured loan should be zero at the end of the term. Otherwise, the unpaid balance of the restructured loan and the proportionate balance of the condonable penalty will become part of a new principal under a restructured loan part two (RL2). The new balance under RL2 will, henceforth, be charged with an interest rate of 10 percent per annum until fully paid. It is, therefore, advisable for members to be faithful in paying the restructured loan amortizations in order to avoid further penalties and to fully enjoy the easier terms under it.

For more details on SSS programs, members can drop by the nearest SSS branch, visit the SSS web site (www.sss.gov.ph), or contact the SSS call center at 920-6446 to 55, which accepts calls from 7 a.m. on Monday all the way to 7 a.m. on Saturday. Susie G. Bugante is the vice president for public affairs and special events of the SSS. Send comments about this column to susiebugante.bmirror@gmail.com.

Financial-strength ratings and A.M. Best

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher

provided that an interest of 3 percent per annum on a diminishing principal balance shall be charged within the applicable payment term. Also, a penalty of 0.5 percent shall be charged against the amortization due for every month unpaid during the restructuring term. Members who live or work in areas affected by natural or man-made disasters, not more than 55 years old and have not filed for any final claim with the SSS, and are not disqualified due to fraud committed against the SSS, are qualified to join. Availment period is until April 27, 2017.

Members must personally apply for the LRP over the counter at SSS branches nationwide. If members cannot personally attend to their applications, they must issue a notarized Special Power of Attorney to whoever they are authorizing to transact on their behalf. While the restructured loan is existing or outstanding, members cannot avail themselves of other shortterm loans, but they can do so after six months from full payment of the restructured loan. Once members avail themselves of the restructuring program, they are disqualified from joining any future condonation or restructuring programs of the SSS. To give members the chance to personally apply for the restructuring program, the SSS opened its branches on all Saturdays of September. There is no doubt that the SSS management will be willing to do this again if there is a need to do so. While the LRP is a good chance for members to restore their good credit standing, it should be emphasized that the condonation of penalties is conditional. Penalties

.M. Best is the only rating agency that is exclusively focused on the insurance industry. It also provides financial information, statistics and other relevant data on the industry. It runs a news bureau in Washington, D.C., covering insurance news and events worldwide. It is based in Oldwick, New Jersey. Its Asia-Pacific offices are in Hong Kong and Singapore.

More notably, it has been designated as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Its ratings have been recognized as a benchmark in assessing a company’s financial strength. The ratings issued by A.M. Best help to determine the financial strength of insurance companies with respect to its ability to pay claims, as well as the strength of its financial instruments. Other rating agencies, such as Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, deal with other businesses, in general. All rating agencies’ primary concern is determining potential default. A.M. Best was established in 1899 by Alfred Magilton Best. Alfred was an actuary who started out as a junior clerk with the Queen Insurance Co. of America. A.M. Best started

with a single room, a secondhand desk and an old typewriter in New York. It was only in 1974 when it moved to Oldwick, New Jersey. Its London office was established in 1997, its Hong Kong office in 2000 and its Singapore office in 2015. It was originally known as the Alfred M. Best Co. Inc., and changed to A.M. Best only in 1968. Toward the end of his life, he was awarded as the Insurance Man in 1958 by the Federation of Insurance Counsels. He passed away in the same year. His objective was to perform a “constructive and objective role in the insurance industry toward the prevention and detection of insurer insolvency”. He did this by releasing the Best Reports on insurance financials, and in 1904 he released monthly supplements that would later become the Best Insurance News. In 1915 he wrote a book, The Younger Life Insurance Companies.

In 1906 A.M. Best issued its first financial-strength rating. The rating scales adopted have evolved over time. A rating scale adopted in 1932 had two components: the Net Resources Rating, the forerunner of today’s Financial Size Category; and the General Policyholders Rating, which evolved into today’s Financial Strength Ratings. From 1935 through 1975, A.M. Best did not assign letter ratings to life/health companies. Instead, they had “comments”. In order to complete this rating-history project, a translation was devised to convert those “comments” to equivalent letter ratings. For example, from 1935 to 1952, “More than Ample” was found to be equivalent to today’s “A” rating. Today it gives out Financial Strength Ratings (FSR) after a review of a company’s performance, financial statements and business profile. The rating formulas of A.M. Best are proprietary and exclusive. Meaning its rating system, rating standards, rating codes and rating scale are entirely different from that of other rating agencies. As an example, A.M. Best’s highest insurance company credit rating is “A++”, meaning superior, while Fitch’s is “AAA” for exceptionally strong, Moody’s is “Aaa” for highest quality, and Standard & Poor’s is “AAA” for extremely strong. It is, therefore, possible that companies would be rated differently by each rating agency. Its “secure” ratings are as follows: “A++,” “A+” (superior); “A,” “A-”

(excellent); “B++”, “B+” (good). Its “vulnerable” ratings are “B”, “B-” (fair); “C++”, “C+” (marginal); “C”, “C-” (weak); “D” (poor); “E” (under regulatory supervision); “F” (in liquidation); and “S” (rating suspended). It also gives issuer credit ratings (company’s debt) and investment grading (of its preferred stock). A second rating symbol is numerical, it ranges from the Roman numeral I (less than $1,000,000) to XV (greater than $2,000,000,000) to indicate the financial size category. It now rates over 3,500 companies in more than 80 countries and serves over 16,000 insurers in various ways. With respect to credit ratings, A.M. Best’s short-term credit ratings would show a company’s ability to pay commitments due in less than a year, with rating from a high of “AMB1+” to a low of “D” (default). Long-term credit ratings would show its ability to pay commitments maturing in more than a year, with ratings from “AAA” (exceptional) to “D” (default). It must be emphasized that A.M. Best is a voluntary rating agency that gives out independent opinions. Its opinion is not a standard. It gives out mere opinions, not facts. It does not warrant the financial strength of a company. Several insurers in the US are not rated, and this does not affect their financial standing. Dennis B. Funa is currently the deputy insurance commissioner for Legal Services of the Insurance Commission. E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

A jar of air

Beware of a Lysander Garcia-type of libel

BusinessMirror

Teddy Locsin Jr.

Michael Makabenta Alunan

Free fire

hen the clamor came out for Congress to pass a freedom of information (FOI) bill, I said Noynoy should (bypass Congress and) issue an executive order (EO) mandating FOI in the branch of the government that needs it most, his own. The Executive is the spending branch of the government. That covers even Congress, because the Department of Budget and Management knows how much every member of Congress gets. While the Commission on Audit within the Executive branch knows how she spent it.

It might cover the judiciary if you want to go there. So when President Duterte issued his EO FOI, I said, well done. But it escaped no one’s attention that the EO FOI was riddled with exceptions, like cheese with holes after the worms who wrote it are gone. But, whatever the exceptions might be, I thought the President was still committed to waive them in the spirit of the order he issued. But watching Karen Davila’s talk show last Monday, with guests Vergel Santos and a representative of the National Union of Journalists, I realized that requests for information can now be routinely rejected and no action lies to compel compliance. On its face, some 122 exceptions exist. It was pointed out by Santos that the exceptions cover everything of any public interest or the remotest curiosity. Santos added that, right there, you have 122 subjects of public interest that the media can cover only at grave risk. These subjects are now taboo. But his calm companion sedately observed that, in fact, the media is never constrained by anything but timidity and laziness. It is the ordinary citizen that lost out. For the one hope of knowing why their barangay clinic has no medicines is legally frustrated by the EO. And yet, it is in the local level that the stealing and the waste are the most robust. But Santos is right. Altogether, the 122 exceptions to the EO FOI flat out reject any request for information without having to explain, let alone comply with the request. But he is wrong that the subjects of these

exceptions are now taboo. To report on them violates no law, unless the exception is part of existing national security or state secret laws, or the peculiar punishment I inserted in the antimoneylaundering law and directed at owners of the media for putting out information about bank accounts from the Anti-Money Laundering council. But Santos is right, the EO FOI might better be called a freedom of exceptions than of any measure of information. It is a jar of air. While the previous administration refused to enable the constitutional provision, the EO FOI legally mocks the constitutional desire—the desire to know all things of public interest—because those are the things for which the public pays taxes. So the public must know Where their taxes go, They who pay the piper Get to read The libretto. Rhymes. In the end, I was right after all. The approach should have been, not access to information, but no access to public funding of any public project, the documentation and the discussions of which were not published and broadcast first. Before a peso of tax money is released for them. No publication, no funding, period. But what a public official or a publisher, for that matter, does with his pampam girls—that is none of the public’s business. Period on that also.

Europe’s free-trade advocates need to speak up

t’s entirely unsurprising—expected, really—for the antiglobal European left to oppose a trade deal with America. But with Canada? The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta), painstakingly negotiated over seven years, would cut trade barriers between Europe and the world’s 10th-largest economy. Unlike the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union (EU) and the United States (which is all but dead), Ceta has been signed and ready to go for some time. Thankfully, Europe’s politicians have finally begun the process of approving it. But their reluctance bodes ill for the TTIP and, more generally, the prospects for free trade in Europe. Opposition to Ceta has mounted in recent weeks, with hundreds of thousands protesting in Germany and Europe’s antiglobalization activists calling the Canadian deal TTIP’s “ugly brother.” Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, a fierce TTIP opponent, threatened to withhold support, as have members of parliament in Belgium and the Netherlands. At least Germany’s Social Democratic Party, which opposes TTIP, now supports Ceta. The main objections to Ceta are similar to those against TTIP: that lower barriers to trade mean lower product standards, and that it would undermine national sovereignty by granting multinational

conglomerates new legal rights to challenge regulations of health, labor, food safety and the like. Even granting that concerns over sovereignty are real—if overstated—they pale in comparison to the benefits of free trade in promoting national prosperity. Meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, last week, European trade ministers managed to get closer to agreement. Their goal is now to get Ceta signed when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits Brussels on October 27. One likelihood is that they will bring the pact into force on a provisional basis while it winds its way through all 38 of the EU’s national and regional parliaments. That’s a good sign, but the fight is not over. Ceta still faces a challenge in Germany’s constitutional court, with a ruling expected in October. And opponents will fight ratification by EU parliaments. It’s also worth noting that the price for support of Ceta seems to have been surrender on TTIP. One minister even suggested starting over by renaming that deal. Europe’s leaders have to mount a more serious defense than that. Free trade is not without its victims, and governments need to do more to help workers hurt by it. That’s not an argument, though, for opposing any particular deal or the concept in general. Free trade deserves a bolder defense than Europe’s leaders are giving it. Bloomberg View

on the contrary

ere is a libel case that may be one for the books, with it’s modus that is something that should forewarn journalists, as it can serve as a precedent that could disarm them and cripple press freedom.

For one, it is petty and flimsy and should have been rejected by the courts from the very start for lack of merits. Second, it dragged on for nine long years and dismissed only recently, indicating how preposterous are the slow wheels of justice. Third, despite the death of the main accused, seven years ago, with death supposedly the final arbiter in jurisprudence, the case was pursued, and passed on from court to court for a total of four courts. Last, it got somebody, the coaccused, jailed unfairly. The libel case was filed on September 27, 2007, by Lysander Garcia vs. Sosimo Ma. Pablico, the main accused as writer and another person, the coaccused as editor of a souvenir program of the 30th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Agricultural Journalists Inc. (PAJ). In fact, it should have been dismissed right from the start,as it was filed 366 days after publication, or a day late in violation of the year long court prescription period.

Whimsy flimsy libel

Lysander Garcia, a former newsman, declared as Libel No. 1 in his complaint the statement “PAAW [Philippine Association of Agricultural Writers] was mostly a change in nomenclature and leadership as it simply adopted the Constitution and by-laws of AWAP [an earlier organization headed by newsman Zac Sarian, which stands for Agricultural Writers Association of the Philippines].” He complained this statement is “defamatory, since it imputed to me the undesirable defects of laziness, an inability to be original and imaginative and a copycat mentality. This statement painted me as too lazy to draft my own Constitution, as being unable to be original and imaginative in drafting official documents for my group, and dependent on the writings of other people—all meant to discredit and dishonor me before readers of his article.” Apparently, there is nothing explicitly said that Lysander is a “copycat, or is lazy and unimagi-

native.” There is no iota of malice, regardless on whether the facts are accurate. Second, organizational objectives and by-laws are openly adopted with the Securities and Exchange Commission even issuing pro-forma “express lane” forms. It is neither a creative literary work, where plagiarism, copyright and originality matter. His perceived libelous statement No. 2 reads “However, in one PAAW meeting on September 3, 1976, a Saturday, the president was nowhere to be found again to convene the meeting. It was his third consecutive absence. As vice president, it was my duty to takeover. I declared that the meeting was the last for PAAW, at least with him as the president.” Lysander again declared this as “defamatory since they imputed to me the discreditable traits of irresponsibility, incompetence and untrustworthiness and publicly subjected me to dishonor, contempt and ridicule.” Again, there are no opinionated statements, no belowthe-belt character assassination and no editorializing. It was a simple statement of fact, regardless whether they were right or wrong. Thus, the absence of malice. Lysander has his perceptions of reality, but facts show his two-year old fledgling PAAW got dissolved and replaced by PAJ, a 40-year-old organization, one of the oldest in the industry. Pablico’s version is presumed more accurate as it was the late Pablico, who coined the PAJ acronym. Jailed without summons. Summons were delivered to wrong addresses, although Lysander, as a former newsman, had the capacity to research and supply the courts with the right addresses. Neither could summons be sent to the afterlife. Thus, the case prospered without the knowledge of the accused. On December 7, 2010, the tragic “Pearl Harbor” anniversary, the coaccused was arrested and jailed overnight. As this libel had its roots in an old grudge 40 years ago, it seems Lysander “harbors” a deep grudge

Wednesday, September 28, 2016 A11

As a former newsman, the coaccused could have raised hell in media, but opted to be silent and play opossum the entire time and just document the preposterous process, which is rightfully called due process, but negatively called “slow wheels of justice.” You could just imagine, how bitter justice could be for the underprivileged, who are helpless and ignorant of their rights. The coaccused jailed unfairly is yours truly.

against writer Zosimo Pablico and has more malice to file libel, getting the coaccused jailed as the collateral damage. If there was an error in reporting, the usual remedy is a simple correction and apology, but because Lysander took 366 days, one day beyond the one-year prescription period to file cases, to prepare his libel complaint, it is he who has more malice for harboring an old grudge happening 40 years ago.

When courts are at a loss on laws

Unfortunately, the courts entertained Lysander’s case hook, line and sinker, and even injected highly opinionated judgments, not even mentioned in his complaint. Assistant City Prosecutor del Rosario’s report read “the accused, conspiring together, confederating with and mutually helping each other, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and feloniously, and with malicious intent of destroying the reputation of Lysander P. Garcia….” This statement is total editorializing, judgmental and making conclusions that are unfair, malicious and even libelous. Even Lysander never used words like “conspired,” “confederated,” or “mutually helped each other, willfully, unlawfully...etc.” It made a prejudgment even before any preliminary investigation was done. It also influenced Judge Elvira Panganiban, who declared on the death of Mr. Pablico, “even if we assume death with finality, but if the case is imbued with “some conspiracy,” the death of the main accused does not extinguish the liability of the coaccused.” If death does not render the case moot and academic being the final arbiter, is the “conspiracy” assumption already making a lopsided prejudgment? She also stretched due process too much to entertain trivialities. When the coaccused’s counsel, lawyer Vic MIllora got absent in the May 6, 2011, hearing for undergoing a gall operation, Lysander demanded to subpoena his hospital records as

No mess in PHL irrigation system MAIL

Please e-mail your letters to the editor to oped@businessmirror. com.ph. Letters chosen for publication in this section are edited for brevity and clarity. This refers to the article, captioned “Management of PHL irrigation systems in disarray—PWS Study,” written by Cai Ordinario, which was published in the BusinessMirror on September 23, 2016. Writer Ordinario had apparently based her article on the presentation, entitled “Water Governance and Agriculture” made by Dr. Agnes Rola, professor at College of Public Affairs and Development, University of the Philippines-Los Baños, during the second Annual Public Policy Conference held on September 22 at Marco Polo Ortigas, Pasig City. In the said article, writer Ordinario may have taken out of context Dr. Rola’s presentation. The title of the article is, in fact, misleading and gives the impression that the

country’s irrigation is in a mess, so to speak. That is far from the truth. To set the record straight, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), for its part, is making the following amplifications: 1. There is no fragmentation and overlapping range of functions in the irrigation sector. NIA as mandated by law (Republic Act 3601, Presidential Decrees 552 and 1702 is the main agency responsible for irrigation development in the country. In fact, out of the 1.73 million hectares currently developed for irrigation purposes, 1.37 million hectares (79.2 percent) were developed by NIA and only 0.17 million (9.8 percent) and 0.19 million hectares (11.0 percent) were contributed by other government agencies, like the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) and private irrigation systems, respectively. 2. Further, the BSWM is only limited to undertake the design, preparation and implementation of small-scale irrigation projects with the local government units (LGUs) and the regional field units of the Department of Agriculture. Thus, BSWM only compliments and does not, in any way, transcend the role of NIA in terms of irrigation development in the country. 3. The 15 line agencies and various LGUs mentioned that are

involved in water management may be for the entire water sector, such as those for domestic water use, hydropower generation and other uses. To prevent fragmentation and overlapping of functions, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) was vested with the power to control and regulate the utilization, exploitation, development and protection of all water resources of the country. 4. The transfer of irrigation management to irrigators associations (IAs) as mandated by law is a banner program of NIA. In national irrigation systems (NIS), the operation and maintenance (O&M) responsibilities are gradually transferred to the IAs depending on the capacity of the latter and size of the system. Before the transfer, the IAs are provided with various capacity-building and trainings to make sure they are ready to take over management, including maintenance of facilities, water distribution and collection of irrigation service fee (ISF). The IA is given incentives or share out of the collected ISF, which they use in O&M and funding for their associations’ activities and projects. Nationwide, the IAs receive about P330 million as share in ISF collection and remuneration for canal maintenance. In communal irrigation systems

proof of hospitalization. Surprisingly, Judge Panganiban asked the counsel if this was possible.   Lawyer Millora objected, claiming his gall operation has no relevance to the libel case, and yet, Lysander had the gall to demand it. There were three more judges and ridiculous legal twists and turns, including getting Lysander’s neighbor, Fely Lico, to testify in March 2014 on his good character, which again had no relevance to the case. Apparently, the courts had a loss on laws.

Burden of proof shifts back in libel

Unlike most crimes, wherein an accused defends his innocence through alibis, witnesses and evidence; in libel, the burden of proof shifts back to the accuser who has to rove malice. Lysander had nothing personal about the coaccused, but just wanted to pursue the case to prove his point. But it got into his head with the temerity to declare in September 2012 that he deserves P500,000 in damages.   Supreme Court Administrative Circular No. 08-2008 issued January 25, 2008, ruled on libel that only fines be imposed, and imprisonments be scrapped in violation of the universal principles on human rights and constitutional rights on free press and free speech. And yet, the coaccused got jailed and released on a reduced bail from P10,000 to P5,000 upon appeal. Without bail, he could be jailed for a maximum of 15 days, without a sentence. And if the libel case is ever proven, the minimum penalty is only P200. As a former newsman, the coaccused could have raised hell in media, but opted to be silent and play opossum the entire time and just document the preposterous process, which is rightfully called due process, but negatively called “slow wheels of justice.” You could just imagine, how bitter justice could be for the underprivileged, who are helpless, subservient and ignorant about their rights.   The coaccused, jailed unfairly, is yours truly. He believes that libel must not only be decriminalized, but totally scrapped as in developed countries as it violates constitutional and universal rights on free press and free speech. With the Internet, and open mud-slinging in social media by netizens as citizen journalists, there is no place now for libel. The consequences of keeping libel will only label us as undemocratic, and could cripple creative thinking.

E-mail: mikealunan@yahoo.com

(CIS), the completed irrigation project is handed over for O&M to the IAs. Like in the NIS, the IAs were thoroughly prepared by the NIA through trainings and other capability-building programs before they assume management functions of the system. To effectively administer their systems, the IAs collect some fees from members to be used for the amortization of the project cost and for O&M expenses. To date, there are 2,660 IAs in NIS that have assumed partial or full management, while some 5,054 IAs in CIS have taken over full management. The IAs remain as strong, cohesive and vibrant organizations and effective NIA partners in irrigation development and management. It is hoped that the foregoing explanations have given a clearer outlook on the true state of irrigation in the country. We want to reiterate our agency’s commitment to develop more irrigated lands and, thus, contribute to food-sufficiency effort for the nation. In the light of fair and balance reporting, it is requested that this clarification be published in your newspaper. Engr. Floremcio F. Padiemal, Dpa Administrator National Irrigation Administration

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Common-station deal set to be signed today S By Lorenz S. Marasigan

Highways and the Light Rail Transit Authority—have agreed to sign the agreement on Wednesday. “Getting all parties to agree is among Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade’s targets within the first 100 days, and it involved engaging all stakeholders in meetings in order to reach a consensus,”

the advisory read. In a meeting on September 8, Tugade made SM Investments Corp. Vice Chairman Teresita Sy-Coson, SM Prime President Hans Sy, Ayala Corp. Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, San Miguel Corp. President Ramon S. Ang and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan “agree that a unified station is necessary to make commuting more convenient to the public.” Talks about building a station that will link the Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1, the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 and the future MRT 7 started in 2009, with the rail regulator singing an agreement with the SM Group to build the station near its mall in North Edsa. But the previous transport officials placed the deal under review, citing issues on costs. It has since endorsed the construction of the facility near TriNoma, a shopping mall adjacent to SM North Edsa. This earned the ire of the SM Group, which sought the Supreme Court’s intervention. The High Court then issued a temporary restraining order on the construction of the facility.

The agreement that is set to be signed on Wednesday will pave way for the lifting of the stay order, hence, the construction of the common station. Such an agreement will also remove one of the roadblocks to the building of the MRT 7, a train system that will connect Bulacan to Quezon City. It is scheduled for completion by 2019. The rail component of the MRT 7 project involves the construction of a 22.8-kilometers rail-transit system that is envisioned to operate 108 rail cars in a three-car train configuration with a daily passenger capacity ranging from 448,000 to 850,000. It will have 14 stations, starting with the North Avenue Station on Edsa, passing through Commonwealth Avenue, Regalado Avenue and Quirino Highway, up to the proposed Intermodal Transport Terminal in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan. The road component of the project, meanwhile, involves the construction of a six-lane access road from San Jose del Monte to the Balagtas, Bulacan North Luzon Expressway exit. It took all the stakeholders seven years before finally closing the deal.

grits and sugar cane into raw sugar; F. Medical, dental, hospital and veterinary services, except those rendered by professionals; G. Educational services rendered by pr ivate educationa l inst it ut ions, du ly accred ited by the Department of Education, the Commission on Higher E duc at ion, t he Tec h n ic a l Education and Skills Development Authority and those rendered by government educational institutions; H. Services rendered by individuals pursuant to an employeremployee relationship; I. Services rendered by regional or area headquarters established in the Philippines by multinational corporations, which act as supervisory, communications and coordinating centers for their affiliates, subsidiaries or branches in the Asia-Pacific region and do not earn or derive income from the Philippines; J. Transactions that are exempt under international agreements to which the Philippines is a signatory or under special laws, except those under Presidential Decree 529; K. Sales by agricultural coopera-

tives duly registered with the Cooperative Development Authority to their members; their importation of direct farm inputs, machineries and equipment, including spare parts thereof, to be used directly and exclusively in the production and/or processing of their produce; L. Export sales by persons who are not VAT-registered; M. Sale of real properties not primarily held for sale to customers Nor held for lease in the ordinary course of trade or business; N. Sale, importation, printing or publication of books and any newspaper, magazine review or bulletin, that appears at regular intervals with fixed prices for subscription and sale and which is not devoted principally to the publication of paid advertisements; O. Transport of passengers by international carriers; P. Services of bank, nonbank financial intermediaries performing quasi-banking functions, and other nonbank financial intermediaries; Q. Sale or lease of goods or properties or the performance of services other than the transactions men-

tioned in the preceding paragraphs, the gross annual sales and/or receipts do not exceed the amount of P3 million (from P1.5 million); and R. Sale of power or fuel generated through renewable sources of energy, such as, but not limited to, biomass, solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, ocean energy, and other emerging energy sources using technologies, such as fuel cells and hydrogen fuels.

@lorenzmarasigan

eptember 28 marks the day when the deal to build the common station—a facility that will connect three overhead railway systems in Metro Manila—finally bids good-bye to its seven-year limbo. In an advisory, the transportation department said it will pen an agreement with all the parties involved in the construction of the P1.4-billion common station, a single alignment that will ease transfer from one train line to another. The facility will be built between SM North Edsa and TriNoma Mall in Quezon City. It will provide easy access to both malls and major roads like Edsa, and will provide a common concourse or atrium to facilitate easy transfer. All of the stakeholders in the deal—SM Prime Holdings Inc., Universal LRT Corp., Ayala Land Inc., Light Rail Manila Corp., the Department of Public Works and

PIT bill. . .

Continued from A2

agricultural and marine food products in their original state, livestock and poultry generally used as, or yielding or producing foods for human consumption; and breeding stock and genetic materials. B. Sale or importation of fertilizers; seeds, seedlings and fingerlings; fish, prawn, livestock and poultry feeds, including ingredients, whether locally produced or imported, used in the manufacture of finished feeds (except specialty feeds for race horses, fighting cocks, aquarium fish, zoo animals and other animals generally considered as pets); C. Importation of personal and household effects belonging to the residents of the Philippines returning from abroad and nonresident citizens coming to resettle in the Philippines; D. Services subject to percentage tax under Title V; E. Ser vices by agricultural contract growers and milling for others of palay into rice, corn into

₧1.4B The contract price of the common station linking the LRT 1, MRT 3 and the future MRT 7

TYPHOON “HELEN” (MEGI) 400 KM NORTH NORTHWEST OF BASCO, BATANES (September 27, 5:00 PM)

Tax on cars

The bill said there shall be levied, assessed and collected an advalorem tax on automobiles based on the manufacturer’s or importer’s selling price, net of excise and VAT. Under the measure, if the net manufacturer’s price/importer’s selling price is P600,000 the excise tax will be 5 percent. If the net manufacturer’s price/ importer’s selling price is P600,000 to P1.1 million the excise will be 20 percent of net manufacturing/ importation price. If the net manufacturer’s price/ importer’s selling price is P1.1 million to P2.1 million, the excise will be 40 percent of net manufacturing/importation price. If the net manufacturer’s price/ importer’s selling price is P2.1 million, the excise will be 60 percent of net manufacturing/ importation price. The bill said the brackets reflecting the manufacturer’s price or importer’s selling price, net of excise and VAT, will be indexed by the secretary of finance once every two years if the change in the exchange rate of the Philippine peso against the US dollar is more than 10 percent from the date of effectivity of the law. Cua said he is eyeing to file the DOF bill next week for his committee deliberation. He said the ways and means committee w ill also consider the 25 bills filed seeking to reduce the income tax imposed on individuals and corporations by amending the National Internal Revenue Code. The lowering personal income tax are among those of the proposed comprehensive tax-reform packages of the DOF, which include corporate-income tax, property tax and capital-income tax.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

CLINTON EXCELS IN DEBATE AS TRUMP TAKES THE‘BAIT’ Continued from A1

specifically calling out crucial battleground states in the process, but found little on Clinton’s most vulnerable fronts: e-mail, family foundation and policy crises of her tenure as secretary of state. “Trump took the bait virtually every time she attacked him,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a political communications expert at the University of Pennsylvania. “And his responses to the attacks weren’t strong.” T he Democ rat ic president nominee, whose significant lead in the polls dwindled to a dead heat this week, was seeking to exploit a major weakness of her Republican rival. Sur veys say large numbers of Americans, majorities even, doubt Trump has the appropriate temperament to be president. “Clinton has clearly been able to get under his skin time and again,” said Brian Walsh, a former Senate Republican leadership aide. Trump started the debate relatively subdued, but grew increasingly testy as the night went on—and as Clinton’s jabs kept coming. The GOP nominee used negative emotion words like “terrible,” “stupid,” and “disaster” about 50 percent more often at the end of the debate than the beginning, according to a Bloomberg Politics analysis with Quantified Communications. At one point, Clinton echoed one of the most memorable lines from the Democratic convention in July: “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.” Trump quickly interrupted: “That line is getting a little bit old, I must say.” “It’s a good one, though,” Clinton retorted. “It well describes the problem.” His son, Donald Trump Jr., defended his father after the debate: “There’s a time for temperament, and there’s a time where you actually have to defend yourself,” he said. And, yet, Democrats celebrating her victory on a climactic night predicted to draw record viewership of Super Bowl proportions did not go as far as to say that her victory was assured. Her broad critique of Trump’s character extended from the beginning to the end of the debate, pressing her advantage on temperament. Clinton went into the night with “a clear goal” to show herself “steady in command and to disqualify Trump,” said Ben LaBolt, a former spokesman for Obama’s 2012 campaign. “She did both without ever getting frazzled.” “He was rattled and looked far from presidential,” said Jim Manley, a former communications strategist for Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. “She won.” The expectations game had Trump as the underdog going in, and before he began to lose his cool he went after Clinton successfully on one of her weakest points with working-class voters from both parties in battleground states: US jobs lost to other countries since the implementation of free-trade agreements that she and her husband former President Bill Clinton had backed since the 1990s, including the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he noted Clinton supported before opposing in last fall. Manley acknowledged that Trump’s trade arguments gave white working-class voters in manufacturing-heavy Rust Belt states “at least a hint of a reason to vote for him,” but predicted that “most people will see through his phony argument.” Trump underscored what he said were the impacts of those

policies in lost jobs and wages in two states in particular: Ohio, where Trump is ahead, and Michigan, where Clinton remains on top. It was a rare issue on which Clinton failed to respond with a compelling counterargument. “I think my punches on trade were very good,” Trump told reporters on the rope line when asked about his strongest moment in the debate. US Representative Peter King, a New York Republican, said the debate “went very well” for Trump. “On key issues like trade,” he said, Clinton “never had any counter to what Donald Trump was saying.” Both rivals returned to their most successful attack lines from their party nominating conventions this summer. The question with 42 days and two more presidential debate is which proves more effective among undecided voters in key swing states. Mark McKinnon, a Republican political strategist and former adviser to President George W. Bush, said the “general advantage” went to Clinton, while “there was not a knockout on either side. They’re both going to live to fight another day.” “I don’t think he lost any votes tonight,” he said of Trump. “I think his base is with him. I’m not sure he added them. But the birther stuff and the women’s stuff will galvanize her base.” Doug Heye, a Republican strategist, said one group with whom Trump may be more vulnerable after the debate is suburban women—already a sore spot for the blustery New York billionaire—because of his demeanor with Clinton on stage. “What I am asking myself is how female voters feel about the domineering attitude Trump has had to Clinton,” Heye said. “Will there be a backlash? I’m thinking of an undecided woman in the suburbs of Raleigh. What does she think? I just don’t know.” Former Obama 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe similarly doubted Trump demonstrated the temperament necessary to reach skeptical voters. “If you’re an undecided voter, a woman suburban voter in Colorado or Virginia or Florida, I can’t imagine that that performance led you to support Donald Trump,” he said. “And he’s losing in this election. He’s got to pick up votes and I don’t think he did anything today to change the trajectory.” Trump turned to quips to minimize Clinton’s critiques, sometimes with awkward results. When Clinton said “I have a feeling by the end of this evening I’m going to be blamed for everything that’s ever happened,” Trump shot back, “Why not?” Promoting his new hotel on the same street as the White House, he said, “If I don’t get there one way I’m going to get to Pennsylvania Avenue another.” Speaking of an epidemic of violence in Chicago, he called for more law and order, saying he had property and investments there. And when Clinton suggested Trump was too cozy with a Russian government that may be responsible for hacking Democratic Party officials, Trump said that “maybe” it was the Russians or maybe it was a random person “sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds.” After the debate, Trump Spokesman Jason Miller argued that polls have been moving in his direction recently, and that he has more time to pull ahead. “The next debate is the foreignpolicy debate, it’s the national security debate, so a number of things that didn’t come up tonight will come up then.” Bloomberg News