BusinessMirror July 20, 2015

BusinessMirror

three-time rotary club of manila journalism awardee 2006, 2010, 2012

U.N. Media Award 2008

A broader look at today’s business

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Saturday 18,July 201420,Vol.2015 10 No. Vol. 40 Monday, 10 No. 284

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NAIA LOGJAM TO WORSEN AS CARRIERS BUY BIGGER PLANES

PAL bent on buying more Dreamliners

INSIDE

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win over executives by proving that customers support your idea BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

he country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines and its rival Cebu Air Inc. are prepared to boost their operations through the introduction of long-haul flights using Boeing Commercial Airplanes’s Dreamliners, which are large-capacity, fuel-efficient luxurious aircraft designed for maximum travel comfort.

Monday, July 20, 2015 E 1

Win Over executives by PrOving

that custOmers suPPOrt yOur idea

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By Ron Ashkenas & Daniel Dworkin

espite how much has been written about corporate innovation, it still presents a big challenge. On one hand, senior executives encourage employees to develop new products and services.

On the other, they don’t want to throw money at concepts with limited market potential. so how can internal innovators create confidence in the viability of their ideas? One way is to get customers to help you make your case. An example: A technology firm offered seedfunding to internal teams to develop potentially transformative products. A midlevel manager used the funding to create product prototypes, which she shared with a small group of customers. The reaction was enthusiastic, but when she requested additional resources to expand her effort, executives wouldn’t increase their investment.

Rather than letting her idea go, she enlisted the help of her customers. She invited 50 existing and potential customers for a day of on-site collaborative product development. She hand-picked people to attend from big-name organizations to pique the interest of her executive team.

She began the workshop by laying out her product vision and how it could dramatically enhance the industry landscape.

The rest of the day was devoted to facilitating small-group discussions about current solutions.

Most important, her executive sponsors saw how excited customers were by the product’s potential.

When the manager posted video clips of the event to her company’s internal blog, thousands of employees learned about her product concept and customers’ enthusiasm. When she went back to the executive team to ask again for more money, she got it.

For managers seeking to engage their customers as innovation allies, here are a few steps to get started.

Define your targets

ConSideR the customers that your company already does business with, and those it aspires to win over. Which organizations will have the greatest amount of cred ibi lit y w it h executive decision-makers at your firm?

Focus on getting these people involved first.

Work your network

CollAboRATe with the account managers at your company to determine how to open up a dialogue with current customers. For new customers, solicit help from sales and marketing colleagues on how to make inroads.

Make your efforts visible

Give the executives holding the purse strings the opportunity to experience potential customers’ excitement about your idea. That doesn’t necessarily mean hosting events; virtual experiences, testimonials and video interviews can work effectively, too. innovators in established organizations need many allies to bring their ideas to life. Few are as powerful as customers when it comes to getting the sponsorship and resources necessary to be successful.

Ron Ashkenas is a managing partner of Schaffer Consulting. His latest book is Simply effective. Daniel Dworkin is a partner at Schaffer Consulting.

HoW to MAnAge A teAM oF B PlAyers

By Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

W

hat allows a team of B players to achieve a+ success? Scientific evidence suggests that the key determinants are the leader’s ability to inspire trust, make competent decisions and create a high-performing culture. this is true for all teams, of course, but if you’re leading people who are just average in terms of competence, talent or potential, your leadership matters even more. You have to be an a-class leader.

Effective leaders tend to share these personality characteristics: n they have better judgment than their counterparts, meaning they can make good decisions, learn from experience and avoid repeating mistakes. n they stay calm under pressure and build close relationships with their teams. n they have very high levels of ambition, remaining slightly dissatisfied with their success.

In addition, four important tactics can transform a team of average individual contributors into an high-performing team: Vision. You need a winning strategy that represents a meaningful mission for the team. You also need to ensure that your goal is clearly defined and doesn’t waver. It

should stretch them, but not demoralize them by being unattainable. and it should include a plan of attack—milestones that allow the team to figure out their next steps.

Analytics. Data can cut through biases and politics and create a culture of fairness and transparency. It can also highlight the key individual drivers of team performance, breaking down success into molecular factors that can be easily manipulated.

Feedback. Meta-analytic studies have shown that individual and team feedback improves performance by around 25 percent.

Less skilled teams who get a lot of feedback outperform more skilled teams that aren’t getting feedback.

Morale. Leaders own the job of creating engagement. When team members share common values, drivers and motives, they will raise their performance for each other.

In short, good leaders can turn B players into an a team by following these strategies. Since few leaders manage to achieve this even when they have a team of a players, there is much hope for those who do.

Get your organization ready for 3-D printing

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By Richard D’Aveni

its leadership of the very industry that it had invented in 1973.

An equivalent challenge is now looming in 3d printing, or “additive manufacturing.” This young technology also has some drawbacks compared to conventional “subtractive” manufacturing. but the versatility it offers will eventually make it the preferred choice in many industries.

And the opportunities to reduce inventory costs and earn a premium price for customization often compensate for the higher direct costs of 3d printing. To help your company begin making the switch:

n the late 1980s, Motorola faced a major threat to its fastgrowing cell-phone business.

Rivals were developing digital technology to replace the existing analog standard. Should Motorola keep its focus on analog, or switch over to digital? engineers at the company came down squarely on the side of analog. digital, they pointed out, was inferior to analog as a medium for transmitting audio.

Those engineers couldn’t see that, for most listeners, digital technology’s advantages far outweighed the often undetectable losses from digitization. Their expertise was in analog technology, so it was easier to see the negatives than the positives.

The result was that Motorola lost

out to additive manufacturing printer and software providers to see what already exists for your product categories. include your staff engineers on the learning teams but make sure they don’t dominate the discussion.

2. Move one baby step at time.

build expertise and reduce internal resistance through incremental experiments, exploring and adjusting to new technological development as you go. Project confidence that the kinks will be worked out over time.

3. Focus and prioritize. Start with the most promising and feasible possibilities of additive manufacturing first, and build up small wins. don’t expect a carefully planned sequence of development because the technology

1. gather knowledge from the outside. don’t rely solely on

your in-house engineers—some of them are likely to be guardians of the status quo. Reach

and the industry ecosystems are still developing.

4. Keep an eye on the long run.

The goal is to revamp your firm’s value chain and ecosystem to reduce total cost. look for opportunities to support an emerging software platform or superior printer technology, with the long-term goal of creating an integrated 3d printing-based manufacturing system.

With enough encouragement, you’ll see 3d printing champions emerge in your organization. Some people (and companies) won’t embrace the technology in time and will be passed by. if you keep Motorola in mind, you won’t be one of them.

Richard D’Aveni is the Bakala professor of strategy at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business.

Identify the marketing metrics that actually matter

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Metrics should be easy to understand

By Linda J. Popky

has gone up or down by 2.3 points tells you something has changed. however, what’s more important is seeing how that change is connected to specific actions and behaviors among employees and customers.

With a wide variety of advanced, easyto-implement analytics, you can fall prey to pitfalls. Just because a lot of Web and social-media behavior is trackable doesn’t mean you should track it.

It all depends on the larger business goals you’re trying to reach.

Marketers also often feel pressure to measure too many things at once, which makes it difficult to determine where to focus. Instead of wasting time gathering “number of ” metrics (number of twitter

and use. the variables you’re measuring need to make sense to the people collecting the data, as well as to those using it to make decisions. also, if metrics vary too much across departments, data can drive inconsistent behavior.

hE Internet of things will collect and transmit unprecedented amounts of data. this poses a big problem for marketers, who can end up down a rabbit hole of fruitless information. Now, more than ever, marketers need to be measuring the right things. however, too many executives rely on metrics that don’t affect the organization’s goals. Metrics, or key performance indicators, should be set upfront, so that the marketing team knows what goals they are striving to reach. here are three cardinal rules in choosing the right metrics for measuring marketing success—regardless of industry, size or maturity:

followers, number of clicks), start looking at the big picture. this means tying marketing campaigns and activities to key organizational goals.

Understanding which customers are most profitable will also help to focus marketing effor ts. the more clearly marketers can identify customer personas, the easier it will be to track the effectiveness of targeting them. Don’t ask: how are we doing? ask: What do we learn from this metric? What else should we be looking at?

MONDAY MORNING

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is the CEO of Hogan Assessment Systems, a professor of business psychology at University College London and a faculty member at Columbia University.

Metrics should be easily replicated.

Marketers should look at data that’s available on a regular basis, so that comparable information can be reviewed from one period to the next. this is often hard to implement, especially in organizations with multiple data sources.

Metrics should provide useful, actionable information that impacts the business. Seeing that one of your metrics

Linda J. Popky is the founder of Leverage2Market Associates and author of Marketing above the Noise: achieve Strategic advantage With Marketing that Matters.

E1

By Catherine N. Pillas

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GULF OIL WELLS LINGERING WITH TEMPORARY SEALS Perspective BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

GULF OIL WELLS LINGERING WITH TEMPORARY SEALS

IN this April 21, 2010, file photo, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana.

The BP leak, the worst-ever in offshore US waters, occurred at a well that the company was in the process of temporarily closing. The accident killed 11 workers and spilled up to 172 million gallons of oil. Federal officials defend their well-safety efforts since then, and there have been more permanent closures. There were 25,928 permanently sealed wells in mid-May 2015, up 10 percent from 23,468 at the end of the BP spill, according to the AP analysis of federal data. AP/GERALD HERBERT

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B J D | The Associated Press

IVE years after the Obama administration promised to move swiftly to permanently plug unused oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico, even more shafts are lingering for longer periods with only temporary sealing, an investigation by the Associated Press (AP) shows.

It is not clear how many incompletely sealed wells may have leaked—they generally are not monitored as carefully as active wells—but they contain fewer barriers to pent-up petroleum and rupture more easily. The threat to the environment increases with time.

In July 2010, during the BP oil spill, the AP reported that the Gulf was littered with more than 27,000 unused wells, including 14 percent left with just temporary seals.

The AP’s new analysis of federal data shows that the neglect of long-idle wells has intensified since 2010, despite the federal push after the BP accident: ■ Twenty-five percent more wells have now stayed temporarily sealed for more than a year, jumping from 2,855 to 3,576.

■ Wells sealed temporarily for more than a year make up 86 percent of all temporarily sealed shafts, up from 78 percent.

■ The number of wells equipped with temporary barriers for more than five years has risen from 1,631 to 1,895—a 16-percent increase.

“I think there are signs of progress, but, my God, we got a long way to go,” said Bob Bea, an emeritus engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, when told of the AP findings. Bea, who advised the government on safety after the BP spill, said he’d give “a poor grade” to efforts to seal wells since then.

In the aftermath of the BP spill, federal officials rolled out a program to push companies to permanently seal wells “in a timely manner.” That effort, known as the “Idle Iron” program, is beset by loopholes that essentially allow companies to delay permanent closure indefinitely, the AP found.

The government allows wells to remain temporarily sealed when companies say they intend to reuse them. However, the rules let oil companies dodge either temporary or permanent sealing on active leases simply by filing plans to make use of the

well eventually. Such wells are not considered idle. Other wells without any conceivable use must be plugged after five years, but temporary sealing is then acceptable until the lease expires. Some leases have lasted for almost 70 years.

The AP analysis in May shows that 1,065 wells have been left with temporary sealing for at least a decade, up from 1,009 wells in 2010—a rise of 6 percent.

Such wells are subject to corrosion and intense pressure at depths down to almost two miles below the water’s surface. Shafts penetrate as far as six miles into the seabed.

“The older it is, probably the more attention needs to be given to monitoring and maintaining it,” said John Rogers Smith, a retired professor at Louisiana State University who also used to do engineering work for offshore wells in the oil industry. “Are... people really paying attention to something that’s sitting there doing nothing for five-plus years?”

Permanent sealing installs multiple plugs, including one very near the mouth of the well. Permanent closing also cuts off all hardware 15 feet (4.57 meters) below the seafloor, blocking any ready oil pathway to the water. But these jobs cost more and take more time than temporary sealing, which also entails multiple seals but allows a smaller uppermost plug to be set 1,000 feet (305 meters) down from the mouth of the well.

Temporary sealing keeps piping in place that can channel a leak up to the seabed.

Companies often seal wells temporarily to allow time to work up plans to fix a drilling problem or damage from a storm. Some owners, though, temporarily close wells for economic reasons: to wait for higher oil prices or better drilling technology.

Roger Anderson, an oil geophysicist at Columbia University, said some reasons to keep a well temporarily sealed are legitimate. But at a minimum, he said wells in this temporary condition since the 1950s

Mississippi Louisiana

Baton Rouge

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New 55 Orleans command post

Alabama

Mobile, Ala. command post

Mobile Pensacola

Georgia

Large slicks and sheens as far east as Pensacola Pass 10

Gulfport Biloxi

Atlantic Ocean 10

Rig location BP skimmer operation

St. Augustine 75 Gainesville

Tar balls at Navarre Beach, Henderson State Park and Panama City Beach

Daytona Beach

Florida

Oil slick Largest concentration of dead sea turtles (about 70)

Federal

Orlando

St. Petersburg command post fishing closure

Melbourne

Tampa

95

Dead whale found

Sarasota

Gulf of Mexico

Oil on land

Jacksonville

Panama City command post Apalachicola

Forward operating base

Three BP skimmers in operation near rig

95

Tallahassee Panama City

Houma, La. command post New Orleans

90-square-foot (8.36 sq. meter) area of oil with sheen seen 10 mi.

(16 km) from Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge

75 Fort Myers

Federal fishing closure Areas where dead turtles have been found (464 total)

Naples 75

Areas where dead dolphins have been found (61 total)

Loop current

Major currents and eddies

100 km

Key West

100 miles

© 2010 MCT Source: NOAA, BP Graphic: Chris Melchiondo, Miami Herald

should be permanently sealed, since they were drilled before many improvements in well design.

In mid-May, according to a federal well database, there were three Gulf wells on US leases kept in temporary sealing since the 1950s and another 17 since the 1960s.

Leaks in such wells are likely to occur in small volumes that could easily go unnoticed. But federal reports have for years warned that such releases are harmful to the environment. And state and federal regulators have acknowledged that even drained wells can re-pressurize, and some sealed wells eventually leak.

The BP leak, the worst-ever in offshore US waters, occurred at a well that the company was in the process of temporarily closing. The accident killed 11 workers and spilled up to 172 million gallons of oil. Federal officials defend their well safety efforts since then, and there have more permanent closures. There were 25,928 permanently sealed wells in mid-May, up 10 percent from 23,468 at the end of the BP spill, according to the AP analysis of federal data.

Michael Saucier, who oversees federal efforts to close idle wells, said in a statement that he intends that “wells with no future use be properly abandoned.”

“From the data available,” he said, “it is evident that we are accomplishing this goal.”

Saucier’s agency, the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, released data to the AP saying that as of February, only 1,120 wells remained targets of its Idle Iron program to permanently plug wells. There were 3,233 in October 2010—a two-thirds decrease. The number of oil platforms considered idle has dropped from 617 to 266.

However, wells on active leases can remain temporarily sealed for decades under this program, as long as there are plans for reuse.

Asked about the rules, federal regulators suggested that some permanent sealing jobs would be unwise, because cutters and explosives used to fully sever and bury wells may pose danger to nearby active wells. They said unsafe wells can be ordered to undergo permanent sealing if necessary.

Fieldwood Energy Llc. and subsidiar-

ies—Fieldwood Energy Offshore Llc. and Fieldwood SD Offshore Llc.—have 711 temporarily abandoned Gulf wells, more than any other companies, according to the AP analysis. Those wells also include more such wells inactive for over five years than anyone else—419—including seven dating to the 1960s.

Mike Dane, a vice president of the private Houston-based Fieldwood Energy, said in a statement that temporary seals act as “vital barriers necessary to ensure a well is safely abandoned,” even without permanent abandonment. He acknowledged that it’s “generally more practical” to wait for full permanent closure until the associated oil platform is removed.

Oil platforms often remain in place until leases expire. Even then, the rules let companies take another year to fully seal wells.

The pressure on the Gulf is apt to keep increasing. The overall number of wells has increased by 5 percent since 2010: from 50,784 to 53,481. The number of temporarily abandoned wells has risen by 11 percent, from 3,669 to 4,081.

PERSPECTIVE

E4

This development, however, has the potential to wreak havoc and throw into chaos, yet again, what little order has been achieved at the nation’s premier international airport, as inflated volumes of air travelers tax the physical ability of limited infrastructures in place to meet the heightened passenger- service requirements.

Such plans of acquiring top-ofthe-class aircraft for the airlines’ long-haul destinations throw into question the ability of the Ninoy Aquino International A ir port (Naia) to deliver the heightened Continued on A2

Auto parts makers gear up for expansion

© 2013 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. (Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate)

E4 Monday, July 20, 2015

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

ocal vehicle parts manufacturers expect their businesses to pick up due to the interest shown by Japanese firms to increase their investment in the country, after the government approved the grant of incentives under the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program.

“Most of the local parts manufacturers are now doing investment plans and pushing through with invitations to their mother companies to come and invest. And a lot of Japan-based companies are looking at local SMEs [small and medium enterprises] to partner with and to make use of facilities in local manufacturing,” said Naer Pizzaro, board member of the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (MVPMAP).

PESO exchange rates n US 45.2000

Pizzaro said the MVPMAP will be convening a meeting on July 24 to review the CARS Program’s implementing rules and guidelines, which are yet to be released.

Pizzaro said parts makers are willing to increase production to supply carmakers, particularly those who want to avail themselves of CARS incentives by hurdling the 20,000-unit volume requirement of the program.

“The major hurdle is for OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] to meet the volume. Some parts manufacturers have the capacity to meet the requirements, while others are willing to invest to meet the volume. It will depend on the plan of the OEMs,” Pizzaro said.

The local parts-manufacturing industry can produce, for example, big stamping parts for automobiles, but only through a manual process,

he said. “The plans for investment will depend on the localization of the OEMs and the qualifications for that.

But we’re positive, and their taking advantage of the CARS Program will benefit us.”

MVPMAP President Ferdinand I. Raquelsantos, in a previous statement, expressed optimism that the CARS Program will address the industry’s technical issues, such as the absence of testing facilities.

“The great majority of parts makers belong to the SMEs of around 265 companies. This segment sorely lacks resources in research and development and, thus, their prices are not competitive in the Asean region.

In the development of auto parts and components, testing the product becomes the handicap of parts makers due to the high investment cost in putting up these testing facilities,” Raquelsantos said.

special report

DO YOU STILL SHOP IN A‘PALENGKE’? 7 OF 10 PINOYS DON’T

By Mia Mallari & Marionne Lopez

Special to the BusinessMirror

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First of three parts

indo Reyes looked forlornly at the stall in the Imus Public Market in Cavite that once provided for his family. Unoccupied for months, Reyes said he has decided to shutter his business than suffer more losses, as many of his regular customers no longer buy goods from him.

This predicament is also being experienced by vendors in other public markets. In a survey conducted by the BusinessMir-

ror, 100 out of 153 respondents, or nearly 70 percent, said they prefer buying groceries in supermarkets rather than in the public market.

In an interview, Reyes said the family acquired their stall in the Imus Public Market in 2001. The business flourished until 2009, when sales dwindled and they started feeling the pinch.

Before the prevalence of convenience stores and supermarkets, Reyes said the public market will be teemed with shoppers before noon. Now, the buyers are gone and their suki, or regular customers, Continued on A2

building sustainable communities Ayala Land Inc.’s commitment to building

sustainable communities has earned for it a special recognition for corporate social responsibility at the recently held Philippines Property Awards, a part of the Asia Property Awards, which, for 10 years now, recognizes leading companies and professionals in the realestate industry across the region. In photo are (from left) Sustainability Manager Anna Maria M. Gonzales; Planning Group Head Arturo G. Corpuz; Chief Finance Officer Jaime E. Ysmael; Human Resources and Public Affairs Group Head Emilio J. Tumbocon; and Community Relations Manager Joy S. Sanciangco.

n japan 0.3652 n UK 70.6973 n HK 5.8322 n CHINA 7.2795 n singapore 33.1038 n australia 33.3481 n EU 49.4850 n SAUDI arabia 12.0524 Source: BSP (16 July 2015)

A2 Monday, July 20, 2015

BMReports BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Do you still shop in a ‘palengke’? 7 of 10 Pinoys don’t Continued from A1

would barely throw them a glance as they enter the automatic doors of the supermarket nearby.

In the vicinity of the public market alone, there are six supermarkets and four convenience stores within a 500-meter radius.

More supermarkets dot Aguinaldo Highway in Imus, closer to the growing subdivisions in the city.

A study written by Larry Digal from the Philippine Institute of Development Studies indicated that, because of the purchasing power and growth of dual-income families, there has been a high demand for convenience.

“This may be the reason some Filipinos prefer one-stop shopping to minimize time and energy, regardless of the additional cost.

It may not be surprising at all to see supermarkets displacing small retailers and growing larger in size, since consumers themselves search for convenience,” the study read.

In the same BusinessMirror survey, respondents said they would rather go to supermarkets, as they are cleaner, convenient and more accessible.

“Items are reliable and you’re assured that there is no overpricing happening, but they may be a bit expensive,” said one respondent from Quezon City.

Experts said the decline of public markets is lamentable, given its significance in history and Filipino culture. For one, the local market served as a venue where the youths are exposed to Filipino traditions.

Social anthropologist Maria Carinnes Gonzalez said public markets allow people to develop a sense of cooperation among people in their community. Also, while Filipinos practice haggling, or tawad, Gonzalez said it is not the amount of money that mattered during the process but the fact that someone was able to convince another person to lower the price of a product.

“It was the conversation, the connection, that mattered,” she said.

The public market is also considered to be a

A woman sells chilli peppers and spices in the market district of Divisoria in Manila. Bloomberg

venue where people not only purchase items, but to know about what’s going on in the community, as well. It then becomes a source of knowledge about a particular community.

“It’s like a barber shop, it’s where you get all the juicy stories from the barber,” Gonzalez said.

Economist Al Faithrich Navarrete explained the dynamics of the public market, loosely referred to as palengke by most people, and how it stood as the center of trade where all major transactions transpired.

Navarrete agreed that the local market served as a venue for social transactions within a community, as well, giving an opportunity for people to interact and form

bonds over transactions and purchases.

In the case of Reyes, the public market served as a venue where he was able to forge good relationships with people in the community. Some of his customers even became their family friends. Inaalagaan lang namin [sila], customer service ba,” he said, recalling how his regular customers helped him during their time of need, especially when his business hit rock-bottom.

When sales started going down, Reyes said his loyal customers kept the store going. He went as far as not letting them pay for the items they need and to let them settle the balance some other day. This proved to be unsustainable, as revenues dropped signifi-

cantly in the next few months.

This forced Reyes to get a loan just so he could keep his business running. “But the interest was too high.”

Aside from low sales, many stall owners are saddled with huge debts, as they wait for the day when their business would turn the corner. Eventually, they are forced to go out of business, as their debts become too big to manage.

“Admittedly, it would be hard for us to compete with large companies that enjoy economies of scale and huge sales volumes,” Reyes said.

It also doesn’t help, he said, that products tend to be cheaper in supermarkets despite

the air-conditioning and the cost of labor they incur. “Suppliers tend to give discounts to supermarkets and, thus, lower market cost. This may explain why some products are more costly in the public market than in the supermarket.”

Whether the public market is being visited or not, economist Navarrete said it is highly capable of becoming a “deterrent” of sorts when it comes to price regulation.

Navarrete said the public market plays a “critical” role when it comes to price variations and supply, providing the public market with an ace in the supposedly lost war against its larger counterparts.

“In essence, the public market could be a ‘price regulator’ to ensure that supermarkets do not sell products at a very high price,” Navarrete said.

“For example, if the price of the supermarket is costly relative to the public market’s cost, then people would naturally go to the latter. If public markets didn’t exist and only supermarkets had products, buyers would not have a say whether they plan on changing prices very quickly,” he added.

It was due to this nature that Navarrete called the public market one of the nearest examples of “perfect competition,” where an environment contains homogenous resources, and multiple parties buy and sell their products. In essence, due to the freedom given to people to sell and buy, competition is always constant. However, this profitoriented approach may be proof that the community-based interaction in the market is slowly disappearing and being replaced by bigger establishments, completely with a new set of norms and culture for people to follow.

Gonzalez, for her part, said the change in shopping preferences is due to the Filipinos’ exposure to other cultures. While there is an increasing preference for convenience, she said this would not entail the disappearance of public markets.

This pronouncement, however, gives little comfort to vendors like Reyes, who are now on the lookout for other sources of income to feed their families. To be continued

DOE circular seeks at least PAL bent on buying more Dreamliners 30% renewable-energy mix Continued from A1

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By Lenie Lectura

he Department of Energy (DOE) has moved to ensure renewable energy (RE) would have its rightful place in the country’s energy mix, when it issued Department Circular 2015-07-0014, or the “Guidelines for the Policy of Maintaining the Share of RE in the Country.”

The circular states that the share of RE should be at least 30 percent. The renewable sources of power include solar, wind, biomass, ocean and hydro.

Based on the 2014 DOE Power Statistics, 25.64 percent of the country’s total power generation is sourced from RE facilities, or equivalent to installed generating capacity of about 32.87 percent of the country’s installed capacity.

“To maintain the share of RE in power generation, the DOE hereby adopts a policy of at least 30-percent share of RE in the country’s total power-generation capacity through the holistic implementation of the FiT [Feed-in-Tariff] System and other pertinent provisions under the RE Act and RE IRRs [implementing rules and regulations],” the circular stated.

FIT is the per kilowatt-hour rate guaranteed to RE developers to ensure the viability of their projects. Consumers shoulder this under FiTAllowance (FiT-All), a separate line component in the power bills. They are now paying an additional P0.0406 per kWh since February this year.

At present, coal dominates the country’s energy mix. US consultancy firm HIS said early this month that coal is seen to take up 56 percent of the mix by 2020, with 23 new coal-fired power plants lined up for commercial operation in the next five years.

To be sure that this policy is strictly enforced, the DOE will use the FiT installation targets: 250 megawatts (MW) for hydro, 250 MW for biomass, 400 MW for wind, 500 MW for solar and 10 MW for ocean. When these targets are met, a bidding will take place.

“Upon the full subscription of the existing FiT installation target, the succeeding rounds for the installation targets for FiTeligible resources shall be made through an auction system to be adopted by the DOE,” stated the circular, which takes effect 15

days upon its publication.

The DOE will take into account the distribution and grid security, cost and other considerations in determining the installation targets for each FiT-eligible resources, “provided that the auction…may only be made upon the issuance of the implementation of the must-dispatch implementing rules and regulations.”

To balance the impact of RE in the grid, the developer of FiT-eligible resources shall be responsible for the nomination and the dispatch of generated power from its generation facilities. “Provided that deviations outside the prescribed range set per FiT-eligible technology, the RE developer shall be responsible for procuring the replacement power,” the DOE added.

There will be an “intensive and massive information, education and communications activities” to be conducted by the DOE in a bid to increase public awareness and appreciation of the guidelines and the RE industry as a whole. The share of RE resources in the installed capacity is targeted to increase to 15,304 MW by 2030.

The country’s RE resource assessment shows vast amounts of RE sources that are yet to be developed on top of the more than 10,000 MW of potential capacity already covered by registered RE projects with existing RE operating contracts that are currently being implemented as of March 31.

The DOE has been saying there is a need to issue a policy that ensures and maintains the share of RE in the country’s installed capacity to ensure energy sustainability, security and independence.

“The circular that will come out is not a power mix. It is a guide policy for the DOE on FiT, wherein it is emphasized that RE is set at 30 percent and FiT is a balancing act but with certain conditions,” former Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla earlier said.

Many power firms generate power from coal because it is the cheapest among all power sources. “You want a good mix in power generation? If you look at the cost, coal is the cheapest. But you just don’t want to have the cheapest. You need to have reliability and self-sufficient power source.”

services required to meet the increase in passenger traffic.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) previously said this year would mark the start of the main gateway’s dark days. The airport is expected to handle some 37.78 million passengers, way beyond its 30-million-annual-passenger capacity and a few notches up from its maximum capacity of 35 million passengers per year.

Some passengers took to social media to ventilate their frustration and rant about the bad experience they have had at the Naia. Many complained of long queues, inadequate seats at the terminal, the lack of jet bridges, and delayed or canceled flight schedules, among others.

If any of local carrier—or even foreign ones—decides to operate a Dreamliner service in and out of Naia, passenger experience is certain to diminish, according to observers.

The International Air Transport Association said constraints in the terminal and runway capacities of the Manila airport are deterrents to the possible expansion of the facility as an Asian hub, somewhat like the Middle East’s Dubai.

It suggested the Philippine government to increase investments in the aviation hub, because if money being poured into Naia continues to be in petty amounts, this will contribute to the “degradation of passenger experience at the airport.”

“This will have a detrimental impact on the airport’s ability to attract transfer traffic, and the airport’s reputation in the region, notwithstanding the airlines requirement for an acceptable level of customer experience,” the international airline agency said in a report.

Philippine Airlines President Jaime J. Bautista said the plan, although still being finalized, involves the possible acquisition of several Airbus A350s, or Boeing 787 Dreamliners, by next year to replace the carrier’s long-range Airbus A340s.

“If there is a buyer, we can sell the A340s, as they are becoming more expensive to operate, as it consumes more fuel because of four-engine operations. Maintenance is also a little bit more expensive, so gradually, we will sell,” he said in an interview.

The long-range planes are currently being used for the carrier’s operations in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Now, the company owned and controlled by billionaire Lucio C. Tan is finalizing its decision on the possible acquisition of several Dreamliners.

“We are now in the process of evaluating which aircraft we will choose to replace the A340s, either B787 or A350,” he said. “Right now, we are operating the Boeing 777 and the A340 for our long-haul services; when we phase out the A340, we will replace this with only one type of aircraft.”

The decision, he said, will most probably come out within the year, noting that the replacement for the long-range aircraft might also be more compared to the original fleet.

“I think the earliest you can get it is maybe in 2018 or 2019,” the executive said.

Dreamliners are built for two primary purposes: comfort and luxury. These aircraft have wider legroom, better inflight entertainment systems, lesser engine noise and are fuel-efficient.

Cebu Pacific is also mulling over the possibility of acquiring one, but the likelihood of expanding its operations with a luxurious aircraft is not immediate, President Lance Y. Gokongwei said. Still, government officials said they remain optimistic on the future of Naia and welcomed the planned acquisition of new Dreamliners.

“PAL is fully aware of the capacities of our terminals in the short and medium term.

I’m sure they won’t invest in these larger and more fuel-efficient planes without checking on its full options in terminal capacity, parking area, tube availability, etc.,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said in a text message.

Civil Aeronautics Board Executive Director Carmelo L. Arcilla also pointed out that the initiative of PAL, ultimately, is a refleeting program, so capacity is not much an issue.

“For all we know, they could be refleeting and retiring some of their old planes,” he said, while acknowledging that Naia is set to breach its capacity.

Arcilla said the government will soon roll out short-term solutions to lessen the problems that will arise out of the projected logjam at Naia. “There are near-term solutions to the congestion that could relieve the

congestion problem by next year,” he said.

“I’m sure remedial and stop-gap projects will be put in place.” The transport chief, buttressing his subordinate’s claim, added that the government is doing its best to address these problems.

He reported that the retrofitting efforts at Naia’s oldest terminal are nearing completion. Takenaka Corp., he said, is likewise finishing the needed improvements in Terminal 3.

“We are also looking at expanding Terminal 2 to the Philippine Village area. This will be included in the scope of the Naia operations and maintenance (contract under the) public-private partnership bid,” Abaya said. Aside from these, the government is also planning to build a new gateway half an hour away from Naia. Sangley Point in Cavite has been identified as the perfect site for the new airport.

“We are, likewise, planning the new gateway, and we are awaiting for the submission of the feasibility study by Jica,” he said.

The future airport will boast of four runways, which can handle 700,000 aircraft movements per year. It will have a rated capacity of 130 million passengers annually. The deal is expected to be implemented under the government’s key infrastructure program, mixed with funding from official development assistance.

Commercial operations of the new airport should start by 2025, just about 10 years from now.

“We are, likewise, executing the master plan of Clark by costructuring a new terminal for Clark, which up for Neda Board approval,” added Abaya, referring to the National Economic and Development Authority. The transport chief stressed that his camp will continue on working toward the improvement of the country’s aviation hubs in order to keep up with the growth in the region.

“We are continuously working on our airports to make them competitive in the region. We should believe in ourselves and even those who will replace us,” he said.

Abaya, however, recognized the fact that the country is still in lack of aviation infrastructure. “We still have lots of room for improvement, thus, we are planning strategically and thinking big and way into our future,” the transport secretary said.

The Nation BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

MMDA, mortuaries ink deal in preparation for quake drill

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OTING that a killer earthquake is likely to cause more than 35,000 casualties in Metropolitan Manila, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced the signing of a deal on July 20 with mortuaries in preparations for the Metro-wide drill on July 30.

MMDA Chairman Francis N. Tolentino said the agreement would require members of the Philippine Mortuary Association (PMA) to provide 50,000 cadaver bags that will be used during the drill.

A simulation of the dead will also be conducted in the earthquake drill wherein some bodies would be placed in cadaver bags.

Also part of the agreement is for the MMDA to train PMA members or volunteers in rescue and retrieval operations.

PMA members, on the other hand, will also teach MMDA personnel on embalming. Those who pass would be encouraged to seek accreditation as certified embalmer from the Department of Health.

L i k e w i s e , t he PM A a nd MMDA are required by the agreement to agree on a classi-

fication of mortuaries.

Last the PMA will submit to the MMDA a list of funeral vehicles that it will be using in retrieval operations so that these could be exempted from the number-cording scheme.

According to Tolentino, the services of morticians and funeral parlors are very crucial as they will be in charge of the management of the dead. “We need to establish definite roles for every sector involved in disaster preparedness and management as each and every one should be ready to provide necessary services to the public in times of disaster,” Tolentino said.

The MMDA has designated an area in the Macapagal Boulevard vicinity as mass burial site.

He explained that the agency will use some roads where cadavers would be placed temporarily before they are brought to the mass burial site.

The MMDA said its earthquake-contingency plan focuses on preparedness of government resources and that of private organizations during emergencies.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Monday, July 20, 2015 A3

Escudero eyes slashing P32.4-B election budget

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By Recto Mercene

ENATE Committee on Finance Francis G. Escudero is eyeing to slash the proposed P32.4-billion budget for the general elections next year.

If the budget is that big, elections are more expensive than the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) subsidy, Escudero said in Filipino on Friday.

“How much are we going to spend on the election in 2019? P36 billion, P40 billion; these are huge sums. It’s better to put it in education rather than in elections,” he said.

Malacañang is set to recommend a P15.6-billion budget for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for 2016, an election year when about 18,100 positions from the presidency down to town council seats are up for grabs.

Escudero said that for this year alone, the Comelec has a budget of P16. 8 billion, P12.6 billion of which will fund “preparatory activities” for the May 2016 general polls.

“So if you add this year’s expenditures of P16.8 billion and next year’s proposed budget of P15.6 billion, then you’re looking at a cost

ESCUDERO: “How much are we going to spend on the election in 2019? P36 billion, P40 billion; these are huge sums.

It’s better to put it in education rather than in elections.”

of almost P35 billion for just one election alone.”

He added the government is spending more to elect officials “every three years than transporting half-amillion people every day,” referring to the MRT system.

While details of the 2016 spending have to be submitted to Congress, Escudero said he has “advance information” on the approved budget

ceiling of certain agencies.

“Actually, I was informed that the Comelec asked for P20.3 billion, but this was pared down by the DBM [Department of Budget and Management].”

Following the budgeting practice, the two recommended amounts will be presented side-by-side in the National Expenditure Program that President Aquino will reportedly submit to Congress on the day he delivers his sixth and final State of the Nation Address on July 27.

Escudero said the conduct of elections in the country has always been a “costly proposition.”

“Always, they span two fiscal years. So you allocate money a year before and on the year of the elections itself,” he said.

In 2012 Congress set aside P10 billion mostly for preparatory activities for the national elections slated the following year, but the Comelec spent P1 billion less than the authorized amount.

In 2013 during the midterm polls, P8.2 billion was included in general appropriations, but actual expenditures ballooned to P15.4 billion according to the “Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing” document that the DBM released last year.

“So the total cost of the elections held in 2013 was about P24 billion,” Escudero said. “And the one for 2016 appears to cost P8 billion more.”

He said this year’s budget of the Comelec includes P11.4 billion for the acquisition of various equipment like voting, or ballot-reading machines.

It also has P1.2 billion for voters’ registration that, under a recent law, requires a voter’s biometrics to be captured and stored in the Comelec database. The Comelec is projecting some 56.2 million qualified voters for the 2016 elections, up 4 percent from the 54 million registered voters as of September last year.

“The inflationary spike in election is worst and all I’m naming is the Comelec’s expense. Not included are the overall expenditures, those spent by other agencies of the government [and] those spent by candidates,” Escudero said.

The Bicolano solon said due to the spiraling cost of elections, “it is, perhaps, time for us to seek ways on how to reduce it.”

Escudero said “after the dust has settled,” he would move for a nonpartisan review and deeper introspection to find out whether the expenses are justified or there are other more effective ways to hold elections.

Economy

A4 Monday, July 20, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

Abaya: AFCS to usher in culture of cashless transactions in PHL

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

T

he automated fare collection system (AFCS) for Metro Manila’s overhead-railway lines will usher the Philippines to a “culture of cashless transactions across different industries,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said on Sunday, after he announced that the tap-and-go ticketing system will start its pilot test through a limited public trial on July 20.

The P1.72-billion transport project is currently being implemented under the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program. AF Payments Inc., a joint venture led by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and Ayala Corp., is the deal’s proponent .

“It is fitting that the first transport PPP introduces new technology into our society, as our goal in the DOTC [Department of Transportation and Communications] is to modernize the country’s transport systems and catch up with our more-advanced neighbors. To get it right, we need to go through testing first, with the goal of getting feedback from our passengers,” he added.

Under the testing phase, a limited number of new single-journey and stored-value tickets branded as “beep cards” will initially be sold for P20 at the project’s pilot station in Legarda.

Commuters may purchase them at

ABAYA: “This tap-and-go ticketing system will not only improve the commuting experience for train riders, it will also usher in a culture of cashless transactions across different industries.”

designated windows and at two ticketvending machines inside the station.

The new tickets may be used to exit from any Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 station and may be reloaded at any of these locations, as well. The minimum amount that the system requires to be loaded is P12 and the maximum is P10,000.

Personnel from AF Payments will be present at LRT 2 stations to assist passengers participating in the testing. They have been conducting a pretrial information campaign since last week, introducing the new tickets, gates and vending machines to the 25,000 passengers who use the Legarda station daily.

This shift to a contactless ticketing system aims to enable seamless transfers from one Metro line to another by unifying their ticketing schemes and to cut queueing time for the riding public.

“We are excited to receive feedback

from our passengers to allow us to further improve the new ticketing system as needed. We believe that Filipinos are always eager for new technology, so we look forward to providing them with this tap-and-go system,” Abaya said.

A transition period before completely rolling out the system is needed to identify any possible bugs in the system and to familiarize passengers with the new payment scheme.

Upon its completion, commuters can expect faster-payment processes and reduced-queueing time for buying tickets, as well as seamless transfers from one rail to another. All three railway lines will fully transition to the new system by September.

“This tap-and-go ticketing system will not only improve the commuting experience for train riders, it will also usher in a culture of cashless transactions across different industries,” the transportation chief said.

MPIC and Ayala are interested in expanding this payment system beyond transport to make money out of their over P3-billion investment.

Peter Maher, the chief executive of AF Payments, earlier said his company will not make profit out of the facility installed in the overheadrailway systems.

So what needs to be done, he said, is to expand the system to retail and other transport modes, such as taxis and buses, among others.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Cap on solar projects to drive away investors

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By Lenie Lectura

HE Philippine Solar Power Alliance (PSPA) is opposed to the proposal raised by the National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) to put a cap on the capacity of solar projects, saying this will only discourage investors.

“I have never seen any installation target in the whole world that caps a per-project size. We will have to find the commercial basis for such, because sometimes your environment does not allow you to recover your cost at 50 megawatts [MW] because you have to understand that solar is resource based. So, if the resources are like, for example, the terrain, you have to cover more, as much as possible, to generate, and putting a cap per project is not really something that one should think about,” said Tetchi Cruz-Capellan, PSPA founder.

Last week NREB Chairman Pedro Maniego proposed a cap of 50 MW for every solar project and 100 MW for every wind project so the feed-in tariff scheme could accommodate as many projects as it can.

At present, there is no limit as to how big or small any of the renewable-energy (RE) projects should be. It is the sole discretion of the RE developers to develop as many RE projects as they can with no cap on capacity.

Aside from wind and solar, RE also includes biomass, geothermal, ocean and hydro. Maniego said though that the cap proposal is only for solar and wind-power projects.

“We want to spread the projects over a wide number and to also increase the people who can pursue the technology later on,” Maniego said.

There is a 500-MW allocation cap for all solar projects and 400 MW for all wind-power projects. “There is an existing allocation of 500 MW in solar. Now, if you put a 50-MW cap on per solar project then there will be 10 solar projects. This is what other countries are doing. They don’t want to limit the participants to a small number,” Maniego said.

The NREB is the body tasked by the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 to recommend policies, rules and standards to govern the implementation of the law, which granted fiscal and nonfiscal incentives to RE projects.

But Capellan said a more effective way to encourage investors is to increase the target installation of RE projects, particularly for solar, to 2 MW. “The way to spread is to increase the targe. Now, putting a cap, I think, doesn’t have a basis because it kills the investment climate. So I think what you really need to promote is a climate conducive to investment,” Capellan said.

Maniego said the 15-man board would still deliberate on this. “This is still subject to discussion. Once we have decided on this and approved by the board then we will submit it to the DOE [Department of Energy]. The NREB is just a recommendatory body.”

CA: RTC to hear case on Manila ordinance increasing business tax

By Joel R. San Juan

T

HE Court of Appeals (CA) has directed the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Manila to hear and resolve the legal dispute between the Manila City government and operators of retail businesses in the city over the implemantion of an ordinance that increases local business tax by as much as 314.69 percent.

In a 14-page decision penned by Associate Justice Remedios Salazar-Fernando, the CA’s Second Division held that the Manila RTC Branch 7 erred in dismissing the case filed by Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada against Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and retail operators on the ground of lack of jurisdiction.

Estrada elevated the issue on the constitutionality and legality of Ordinance 8331, Series of 2013 ( An Ordinance Enacting the 2013 Omnibus Revenue Code of the city of Manila) before the trial court after de Lima granted the appeal filed by several retail operators to void the ordinance for being contrary to Section 191 of the Local Government Code (LGC), which imposes a 10-percent ceiling on hikes in business tax.

In a resolution issued on April 7, 2014, de Lima ruled that in the previous years, the city government itself opted to impose rates which are below what the LGC allows.

On May 15, 2014, the city government filed a petition for review before the Manila RTC seeking to annul de Lima’s resolution and to declare as valid and enforceable the ordinance.

However, instead of acting on the petition, the Manila RTC dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction.

The RTC ruled that the filing of the petition was premature and that the Manila City government violated the principle of exhaustion of admininistrative remedies.

It stressed that the proper remedy for the city govnment was to file a motion for reconsideration before the Office of the Justice Secretary and then elevate it to the Office of the President.

The CA, however, stressed that there is no provision under the LGC that mandates the filing of a motion for reconsideration before the Office of the Justice Secretary, nor the elevation of the case before the Office of the President.

“Petitioner-appellant city of Manila is correct in its position that the lower court erred in dismissing the petition for review...for lack of jurisdiction, as a motion for reconsideration was not required to be filed with the respondent-appellee secretary of Justice, and that the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies finds no application in this case,” the CA ruled.

“In view of the ncompassing importance of the petition’s subject matter, which is the local business tax rates in the entire city of Manila, where there are countless retailers, the case cannot be allowed to be dismissed on such flimsy and tenuous ground,” the CA added.

Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Priscilla Baltazar-Padilla and Socorro Inting.

Parañaque leapfrogs to third in competitiveness ranking

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arañaque City was declared this year’s top 3 most economically dynamic urbanized city in the Philippines, as it performed well in terms of economic dynamism, government efficiency and available infrastructure, according to the National Competitiveness Council (NCC).

NCC Cochairman Guillermo M. Luz disclosed that Parañaque placed third among highly urbanized cities in the country found to most economically dynamic, while Manila City edged Makati City being the most competitive city this year.

The country’s most competitive cities and municipalities were lauded during NCC’s Third Regional Competitiveness Summit held at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Every year, the NCC, headed by Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo, gives citation to well-managed local government units. The award was also cosponsored by United States Agency for International Development .

Parañaque was compensated on annual business registrations, employment, financial institutions, organized-business groups, as well as growth in gross sales of registered businesses.

“Last year we are in seventh place, this year in third spot, this a wake-up call for us...we will work hard to

be on top next year,” an optimistic Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez said, adding that his administration has a number of projects designed to further lure more investors and benefit his constituents.

Olivarez said to be adjudged as the country’s most competitive city also requires determination, commitment and vision.

“We will use this year’s experience as our main motivation and inspiration to perform well in next year’s competition and hopefully we could emerge as the country’s most competitive place,” he vowed.

For this year the NCC disclosed that 142 cities and 978 municipalities participated in the index.

Makati City, a two-time recipient of the most competitive city ranking, only got the second spot in the ranking. It was affected by the recent controversies surrounding the Binay family. However, Luz said Makati City fared well in economic dynamism and government efficiency, but lagged in infrastructure.

“Being named the most competitive, especially in the highly urbanized cities category where we belong, is unquantifiable because it gives you the affirmation that you are running the city well, while also contributing something possible and tangible in the overall development programs of the country,” he said.

Tourism

A6 Monday, July 20, 2015 • Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

ALBAY ADVENTU WINDSURFING at Misibis Bay Resort

ATV riders at the Mayon lava trail

CORAL Rosary Beads of Albay

NAGLAUS Cave

JETSKIING at Albay Gulf

ZIPLINE at Embarcadero Mall across Albay Gulf

F

HANGING bridge

B B L S

OR true-blue adventurers, Albay is equated with the irresistible temptation of scaling the 2,463-meter Mayon Volcano, which mountaineers swear offers a different kind of challenge and high once you have reached its treacherous summit. This restive volcano is so enigmatic that it lures adventurers, photographers and kibitzers alike, even during threats of eruption.

With the recent fatal accidents involving intrepid souls, however, ascent to this enigmatic has been banned by local authorities. But adventure lovers need not fret because there is still a plethora of equally exciting activities in this alluring province.

Here are some action-packed activities that can also give you your regular dose of adrenaline rush in Albay Adventurelandia. n Climb every mountain. While Mayon is currently off-limits for climbers, its legendary sister mountains Mount Masaraga and Mount Malinao are yours for the taking. These two extinct volcanoes boast of rich flora and fauna, and offer its unique kind of contour and challenge to hardened mountaineers who want to climb every mountain “because it’s there.” From the summit of these two land masses, you can admire the majesty of Mayon from a distance and pray to the heavens that the climbing ban be lifted soon. n Be a rough rider. Next to the Mayon climb, the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) is the most recognizable outdoor activity around the volcano’s lava trail, and a must-try, which celebrities like Zac Efron, Kris Aquino, Aga Muhlach, Manny Pacquiao and 2013 Miss International Bea Rose Santiago have done in flying colors.

Your Brother Travel & Tours runs

the most popular route in Barangay Pawa in Legazpi City, which takes riders up to the lava wall or further up to the shoulder of Mayon Volcano about 1,000 meters above sea level.

Another outfitter, Bicol Adventures offers a ride, which starts from the picturesque Cagsawa Ruins Park in Daraga town and passes through an equally challenging boulder-laden and surreallooking trail. n One hill of an adventure. Ligñon Hill Nature Park is one of the most iconic natural landmarks in Albay, which is also a top tourist getaway with the bevy of adventures it offers. It hosts the first and most scenic zipline, where you can get the Mayon as a background no less while zipping from the hill to a treetop below.

With a commanding view of the city and the airport runway, you can do a balancing act and cross a hanging bridge, which connects the hill’s two cliff edges. History buffs can relive the wartime era by crawling at the Japanese Tunnel, which the Japs used as their camp and lookout.

Quitinday Hills formation is a new-found getaway in the hinterlands of Camalig. Scattered like giant mounds in a sprawling area just like the famed Chocolate Hills of Bohol, these well-concealed geological formations are framed by the

SKYWALK at Embarcadero Mall

perfect-coned Mayon on a cloudless day.

Other noteworthy hills are the historic Kapuntukan Hill or “Sleeping Lion,” the best vantage point to shoot Mayon with Legazpi at the foreground.

The Cawa-Cawa Hill, a pilgrimage center in Ligao City is a religious devotee’s own brand of adventure with its 1,000step staircase Stations of the Cross. n Action Mall. Embarcadero is Legazpi’s City’s marina-inspired lifestyle mall and center of center as well. Its stylish lighthouse serves as an adventure accessory with the zipline where one can gracefully glide above Albay Gulf and Mayon’s silhouette behind you. You can also rapel down the beacon or walk around its circular platform. There are tour outfitters and dive shops where you can tick your next trip in the fringes of Bicol. n Explore the underwater world. The province got its name from the phrase al baybay, which literally means “to the beach.” From this, you can perhaps deduce that it has a long coastline and there’s a lush underwater world beneath. Albay Gulf, which empties into the Pacific Ocean, takes pride in a splendid marine life found in Santo Domingo town, San Miguel Island in Tabaco City, and just off Legazpi City Boulevard.

The Coral Rosary in Santo Domingo is a unique dive spot as it mimics the Catholic rosary beads with its oversized underwater set, which lights up at night. Discovery dives and certification courses are offered by dive shops at the Legazpi Boulevard, Embarcadero and Oriental Hotel. n Paddle and ride with the wind. Aquasports aficionados can also kayak, or windsurf or jetski around the watery playgrounds of the province. The coves around Albay, especially in the archipe-

m&Entertainment

tourism@businessmirror.com.ph • Monday, July 20, 2015 A7

URES

BANCURO Church ruins in Naujan

ORIENTAL MINDORO

WALANG Langit Waterfalls in Gloria

CELEBRATES LIGHT AND LIFE O

e at Ligñon Hill

lagic town of Bacacay offer an exhilarating paddle with enchanting views of limestone rock islands. Sula Channel is tops for kayaking with its calm waters and serene environs. The more extreme kayakers navigate the eastern seaboard which is like a bigger version of the Hundred Islands. n Don’t miss Misibis Bay. The posh Misibis Bay Resort in Cagraray Island, Bacacay is an aqua action zone in itself with a plethora of recreational activities—hobie sailing, jetski, zipline, Segway riding, banana boat, windsurfing, the gravity-driven lube ride or even the more relaxed island hopping. Set against a tropical hideaway, powdery beaches and crystalline sea, this Small luxury hotel-listed resort has been the stomping ground of local and global celebrities who have done the Mayon ATV ride. n True Falls. Albay’s mountainous topography has gifted a host of waterfalls where one can frolic in its rejuvenating icy waters. The current toast of the town is Quitinday Falls, which is located on a depressed portion of the road in Jovellar municipality, and is ideal for cliff jumping.

A well-kept secret for a long time, it has an adjacent 100-meter underground river which can be navigated aboard a bamboo raft. At the other end of the cave is a clearing which leads to another trekking adventure.

Another newly discovered cascade is Kitwinan Falls in Camalig which served as a garrison, hospital and spa hydromassage of Japanese soldiers during World War II. Add these to the frequented Busay Falls in Malilipot, Vera Falls in Malinao and Karangahan Falls in Legazpi, then Albay is a virtual haven of all bodies of water.

RIENTAL Mindoro turned on the excitement as it recently celebrated the Province’s rich nature and culture in the award-winning Pandang Gitab Festival.

Originally held to mark the province’s founding day, the cultural dance dates back to the Spanish era and was inspired by the practice of marginal fishermen in lighting their lamps as they go off to sea.

One of the country’s few evening street dances, Pandang Gitab has been representing the province and the Mimaropa Region in the annual Aliwan Fiesta competition since 2011 as one of the top 10 finalists.

Endowed by a long coastline, Oriental Mindoro is blessed with lush fishing grounds teeming with aquatic resources, making fishing a major means of livelihood.

Coined from the words pandanggo and dagitab or flicker of light, the stylized dance follows the traditional sway-and-balance movement, with the shallow gyrating of the hips and side-swing of the hands.

The street dance parade, the highlight of the festivity, took place at the

PANDANG Gitab night street dancing

Street dancers light up the city

BASKET Weaving at Mangyan Village

provincial capital city of Calapan on May 16. Commencing at the Santo Niño Cathedral, the dancers first paid homage to the patron saint at Angelus prayer time before they went around the city with the popular folk dance pandanggo sa ilaw.

According to Governor Alfonso Umali Jr., the festivities celebrate

light and life which is central to the Mindoreño’s humble but meaningful lifestyle. He said that the festival put to the fore the province’s culture and history which dates back to the precolonial era.

Oriental Mindoro is home to the ruins of Spanish colonial churches in Bancuro, Naujan town, archaeological sites

of precolonial civilizations, and tribal villages of Mangyans, one of the country’s notable indigenous peoples.

It also takes pride in its secluded coves of fine sand beaches, the placid lakes of Naujan and Caluangan, enchanting waterfalls, scenic rivers, and idyllic islands.

In terms of natural heritage, it boasts of the mighty Mount Halcon which is home to one of the country’s havens of biodiversity which is the habitat of the national animal tamaraw (bubalus mindorensis).

Umali said that the festival also highlights the strides made by the

local government in governance, tourism promotion, cultural advancement, agricultural modernization, investment and economic development over the decades.

Composed of 14 towns and one city, Oriental Mindoro serves as the backbone of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway which connects Luzon to the Visayas.

Other activities included the Mutya ng Pandang Gitab, which crowned Oriental Mindoro’s ambassadresses of tourism and goodwill, and the Pandang Gitab Night Fun Run around Calapan City which concluded the festival.

SHANGRILA’S MACTAN RESORT & SPA, CEBU INDULGE IN ISTANBUL WELCOMES NEW FOOD AND BEVERAGE HEADS WITH TURKISH AIRLINES

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T’S no secret why millions are lured into Istanbul each year—this city at the crossroads of Asia and Europe offers an intoxicating mix of the ancient and modern, the East and the West. Rewarding travelers with sensory delights at virtually every corner, it has become one of the world’s hottest destinations, thanks to its myriad of attractions. n A city of many pleasures. One of the greatest pleasures offered by Istanbul is its breathtaking architecture, a mélange of different styles and periods that make it a virtual open-air museum. The Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia best showcases this amalgam of the familiar and exotic with its Christian and Islamic influences. It was a church, then a mosque prior to being a museum. On the other end of the spectrum is the 261-meter Sapphire, Turkeys first ecological building and one of the tallest European skyscrapers, which captures the city’s contemporary spirit with its steel and glass structure.

Shopaholics, meanwhile, will have a field day at the Grand Bazaar, one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world. A virtual Aladdin’s cave of treasures and trinkets, it boasts over 3,000 shops across 61 streets selling gold jewelry, leather goods, furniture and world-famous Turkish rugs, among others.

A day of sightseeing will, of course, be incomplete without indulging ones inner gourmet. A hub for Easter Mediterranean cuisine, Istanbul offers something beyond just grilled kebabs. Different types of boreks

(filled flaky pastries) and pilafs (grains cooked in spiced stocks) will surely fill big appetites, while desserts, such as kadaif, halva, and güllaç will please those with a sweet tooth.

Libations, such as thick Turkish coffee and anise-flavored raki will also delight adventurous palates. n Straight to the heart of Istanbul. With the recent opening of Turkish Airlines’s thrice-weekly direct flights between Manila and Istanbul, the city’s allure has never been stronger. With shorter travel time and unparalleled inflight service, flying with Turkish Airlines is sure to be a blissful experience.

“There’s no better way to indulge in Istanbul than by flying in style with Turkish Airlines,” says Turkish Airlines General Manager for the Philippines Erhan Balaban. “Turkish Airlines has consistently been named Europe’s best airline by Skytrax, with reviews citing its superb service and inflight catering as major draws,” he adds.

ARCO VAZZOLER, general manager of Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa, Cebu, announces key appointments in the resort’s food and beverage division.

“I am pleased to welcome to the team two highly experienced gentlemen, Giuliano Callegaro as director of food and beverage and Frank Bohdan as executive chef for the resort,” Vazzoler said.

A first-timer in the Shangri-La group, the resort’s new food and beverage director is an Italian whose work experience is deeply rooted in Asia.

From Hong Kong, Shanghai, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam to now, the Philippines, Giuliano has been in Asia for at least eight years, in between stints in the US and Seychelles. While his career started in the kitchen—starting out as commis, graduating to chef de partie, sous chef and, finally, to executive sous chef—the would-have-been executive chef set out to become part of the food and beverage service team instead. He has risen from the ranks to become food and beverage director in mostly resort settings.

Giuliano has led the opening teams at least three times in his career, once each in Vietnam, Cambodia and Seychelles. As pre-opening food and beverage director for these luxurious properties, he supervised a team of 150 to 200, managing at least five restaurants each time.

Major responsibilities in setting up the food and beverage division included preparation of food and beverage budgets, procurement of all equipment for operations, design of restaurants, training of incoming

staff and setting the brand standards at each property. He was also responsible for setting up the in-room dining, banquet and catering teams for these properties.

Giuliano seems to have a liking for resorts, having been involved in three luxury resort brands in the past.

“The resort setting has always been challenging for me because people tend to stay longer at resorts, thus allowing them to be more engaged with the food and beverage offerings. I would say food and service is a key driver of overall stay experience more at resorts than city hotels. Meaning, we would need to deliver dining experience that exceeds guest expectations and drives positive business results,” Giuliano said.

Giuliano is excited to dive into the Shangri-La food and beverage culture, noting the brand’s dynamic culture.

Meanwhile, taking reign in the kitchen is newly appointed Executive Chef Frank Bohdan. No stranger to the Shangri-La brand, Chef Bohdan has run the kitchens of equally large properties Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok (801 rooms) and Shangri-La Hotel, Dalian (600 rooms) previously and completed the opening Shangri-La Nanjing, China.

Originally from Australia, Chef Frank has vast gastronomic experience gained at finedining restaurants, five-star hotels and resorts. His culinary career has taken him from his hometown Australia to the United Arab Emirates, China, Indonesia, USA, Malaysia and most recently, Thailand.

Throughout his culinary journey, he has served an A-list clientele, including Thai royalty, the Australian prime minister, Russian

president, APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) ministers, and officials and athletes of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, to name a few.

Chef Frank has been involved in massive food and beverage projects, including the renovations of Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok’s various restaurants and kitchens. He was also involved in the Bangkok flooding of 2014, when he not only had to wear his toque as executive chef and manage the operational and business aspects (including, but not limited to, the hotel’s sanitation, cost control and finding ways to achieve incremental revenue), but also display the Shangri-La philosophy of a caring family by getting involved in the rescue of affected colleagues and consequently looking after their welfare. Chef Frank was also part of several focus groups that conceptualized food and beverage concepts amongst the brands in the Shangri-La group, and led the food and beverage workshop in 2013 wherein he showcased different food concepts to the other 81 F&B executives within the group.

“Throughout my career, I have run both restaurants of high caliber and large catering establishments of 200 chefs. I believe in the drive and passion that burns in each of these chefs. I have succeeded in nurturing careers of many from under my wing by holding on to my philosophy—keep your knives sharp, your kitchen clean, and always look after your team,” Chef Frank said.

Knowing that the resort is every Cebuano’s go-to dining destination, both Giuliano and Chef Frank are excited to elevate every guest’s dining experience, whether in-room, at a restaurant, at a banquet or catered event.

TheElderly

A8

BusinessMirror

Monday, July 20, 2015 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

news@businessmirror.com.ph

PHL lacks facilities to support homeless elderly

By Faye Carreos & Lea Salvosa | Special to the BusinessMirror

S

First of two parts

HE walked along the hall, past the rooms and several people, on and about with their own business. The clanking of her heels on the slippery tile floor echoed as she strutted with her head held high, face caked with makeup, and her thin gray hair knotted in a bun. The workers greeted her with smiles and praises as she entered the room, acknowledging her simple effort to look good.

Across the hall sat another woman, hands clutching her steel walker tight. Dressed in a plain shirt and hair falling limp on her shoulders, she glanced at everyone who comes and goes. She sat still and didn’t utter a single word. Once, a worker

greeted her “good morning” and asked her how she was feeling and she merely mumbled.

The two seemed like worlds away f rom eac h ot her—t hey weaved different stories, led different lives and, yet, their paths

led them to the same destination.

Both denied of care and of a home despite their old age.

Tucked behind one of largest shopping malls in the country is a humble haven, Golden Reception and Action Center for the Elderly and Other Special Cases (GRACES), which serves as a temporary home for the abandoned, neglected, lost and unattached. Here, they find a home among people who have suffered a similar fate.

But not every senior citizen who find himself or herself without a home is able to seek refuge in institutions similar to GRACES. There are only a handful of homes for the elderly all over the country, and only four of them are maintained by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). However, the increasing number of abandoned elderly has resulted in the overpopulation of some facilities.

“In the Philippines there really are only a few elderly institutions—and there are only a few slots from NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and private

institutions, round 30 to 40 slots.

Unlike in government [elderly institutions], like GRACES or Golden Acres, which can cater to over 100 people,” said Daisy Caber, a social worker from GRACES. The pressing need brought by the rising cases of abandonment and neglect is identified as one of the reasons for filing House Bill 4946, entitled Homes for Abandoned Seniors Act of 2014, by Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela City.

The bill recognizes the various reasons that lead to the neglect of the elderly, such as the economic reality of spending for the care of an elderly person, family problems, and the incapability to care for the elderly.

The bill, inspired by Valenzuela’s own Bahay Kalinga, intends to establish a nursing home for the elderly in every city and municipality. The nursing home will be operated by the DSWD, in coordination with the local government unit (LGU) concerned.

Bahay Kalinga is home to 25 homeless or abandoned senior citizens. It also provides for the

clients’ health care, while the local government assists in their search for their relatives.

The nursing homes, as identified in the bill, will be mandated to provide the following needs to the elderly: comfortable living quarters; adequate food and clothing; medical consultation or treatment; health care; occupational opportunities; recreational and social interaction; counseling; case conference; family dialogue; outreach to existing family for reintegration; literacy education; productivity development; and religious; cultural and vocational activities.

GR ACES super vising social worker Abi Alonto said the creation of “additional residential care facilities to be accredited and [given license] to operate by the DSWD to cater to the needs of the elderly” is a concern that needs attention.

As of this writing, GRACES houses 191 senior citizens, whereas its bed capacity is only for 150 people, Caber said. In addition, the lack of facilities becomes more problematic, as they consider a client’s health before they take him in.

Nueva Ecija native leaves Metro for life in the farm

ABERIN

By Christian Ver A. Marcelo Special to the BusinessMirror

A

LWAYS exuding calmness, youth and composure, one could only guess the stories, experiences and hardships behind every fleeting smile from Julita Aberin. At 73, Juling, as she is called by friends and relatives, claims to have already seen and lived through everything farm life has to offer.

She was born to a family of low-economic standing in Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija. She was literally birthed at a barn, where her nativity was witnessed only by his father, a midwife and the family’s livestock.

“Ganoon na ’yung nakamulatan ko, sa bukid.

Mula pinanganak ako, sa bukid ako, hindi ko na ’yun maiaalis sa akin,” she said.

Since she was a little girl, Juling would walk around 3 to 4 kilometers from their home at the town proper to the farmlands in Barrio Sinesajan, where her family was working. She would walk with her siblings, entertaining themselves with games and practical jokes to distract them from the long walk.

She said that a normal bonding day for her family was every working day at the farm.

“Sa palagay ko nga, doon kami mas napamahal eh, kasi sabay-sabay kaming naghirap sa bukid.

Wala akong sama ng loob, kasi ipinanganak kaming ganun, kailangan talaga namin magtrabaho para umahon,” she said.

Out of the seven siblings, only two of the Aberin children finished college. Unfortunately, Juling was among those who had to make the sacrifice. She only finished grade school at the Peñaranda Central School, and has since never thought of enrolling again.

Back then, she said, the mentality of people in the provinces was to immediately help their parents with work, providing additional manpower at the farm. She would feed and milk the cows, gather the chicken eggs, and even help to plow the land.

When she was 16 years old, one of her aunts offered her a caretaking job in Metro Manila, an

opportunity she wholeheartedly took at once.

“Ayun na kasi ’yung pagkakataon kong makaluwas, para makasunod sa mga kapatid kong nagaaral. Noon din kasi, parang sabik na akong makakita ng ibang lugar naman,” she said with a smile.

It was her first time to be away from her family. She said that the first three weeks of homesickness were the worst, but that consequently, her longing to be with her family gradually went away as her sisters who were in college visited her often.

After four years in Manila, Juling decided to go back to her hometown, as she got bored with her job as caretaker and missed farm life.

“Noong bumalik ako sa amin, nalaman kong ipinangalan na pala sa amin ’yung lupa. Nagulat ako na sa pamilya na namin siya, kaya gumaan na ’yung mga trabaho,” she said.

Their family made more than enough financially and they quickly rose from poverty.

She was married to her husband Fernando in 1962, and gave birth to her eldest the year after.

They moved to Metro Manila months later, renting a house near the place she previously worked in. From that point on, she made sure that none of her children ever had to endure the hardships she had. A decision she regrets until now.

“Lumaki kasi sa layaw ’yung mga anak ko, eh.

Lahat ng gusto, nasunod; hindi tuloy nasanay kahit sa konting hirap…mula nung napasa-amin ’yung bukirin, umangat na kami, kaya hindi na kami mismo ’yung lumulublob sa putikan,” she said, looking far out the window, as if once again remembering her childhood.

Their union produced seven children. Her husband passed away and the widowed Juling now has 23 grandchildren and 11 greatgrandchildren.

None of them has ever dropped a sweat working in the farm.

She said that all of her seven children are now living full lives with spouses and financial stability in Metro Manila. From time to time, she visits one of her children to stay for a couple of weeks when she misses them.

Juling, however, can never turn her back away from farm life.

When her youngest son got married, they decided to move back to their farmland after 32 years. She and her husband continued to work as if age was on their side, except fate had other plans when Fernando was bit by a poisonous snake in the field and fell right there and then.

“Nayamot ako sa sarili ko. Bakit ba kami bumalik? Pero nung aalis na sana uli ako, naisip kong lahat ng alaala ng buong pamilya ko, nasa bukid na ’yon, kaya hindi ko siya maiwan,” she gleefully said.

Juling now manages the farm and still finds time to get her hands dirty with manual work whenever she can. She now arranges every family reunion to be held at the farm where they all can cherish and be inspired by her experiences and memories that drove them from rags to riches.

“Ito na kasi ’yung bumuo sa pagkatao ko, eh. Kung baga dumating ako sa mundo dito sa bukirin, kaya gusto ko sana kung aalis ako, dito rin,” Juling said.

“Preferably, we should separate them according to their categories, as there are able, ambulatory, physically impaired and bedridden clients. But we are having difficulties due to the limited number of cottages,” Caber said.

The social workers also encounter problems regarding the stay of their clients, she said. GRACES only serves as a temporary shelter for the abandoned, leaving only a month for the social workers to trace their clients’ families.

“That’s where our difficulties lie, because most of the admitted clients who were lost and brought to us have Alzheimer’s, or dementia.

In that case, they are not able to discuss precise information about their families,” she said.

There will come a time when a client would have to be transferred to a permanent institution with the resources to cater to their needs.

“Aside from the clients whose families we cannot locate, we have a hard time looking for institutions where we can transfer the elderly,” she said. To be concluded

Marikina gives flu vaccine to seniors

DE GUZMAN: “We understand that because of their age, the elderly are more vulnerable to sicknesses. Because of this, we are giving them this annual vaccination to help protect them against diseases.”

N

A SENIOR MOMENT Centenarian Primitiva Merto of Barangay Palanginan, Iba, Zambales, appears surprised as Gov. Hermogenes

Ebdane Jr. hands her a P10,000 cash gift during the joint July birthday celebration of senior citizens in the towns of Palauig, Iba and Botolan last week. Senior citizens in all the 13 towns in Zambales are treated by the provincial government to such joint “birthday-bonding” parties every month under its elderly welfare program. Those who reach 100 years of age receive the cash gift. HENRY EMPEÑO

OW that the rainy season has kicked in, the city government of Marikina has given free anti-influenza vaccines to its senior citizens on July 16.

Influenza, more commonly known as flu, is a common infectious disease in the rainy season that manifests through colds, high fever, body pains, coughs and sore throat.

Through the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (Osca), the city government visited and gave out free vaccines to the elderly in the 16 barangays of the city.

Osca visited the 16th and last barangay called Malanday, for the vaccination activity which started from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Filipinas Village Covered Court in the said barangay.

The project is estimated to have vaccinated 7,000 senior citizens in Marikina City. Osca has started this project since 2013. In 2012 free anti-pneumonia vaccines were given to senior citizens.

“We understand that because of their age, the elderly are more vulnerable to sicknesses. Because of this, we are giving them this annual vaccination to help protectthemagainstdiseases,”MayorDel de Guzman said. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

PWDs, senior citizens like Comelec plan to allow voting in malls

S

OME people with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens are supportive of the plan of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to allow voting inside shopping malls in the 2016 polls.

Helario Supaz of PWD Affairs Office of Taguig City, said allowing people, including PWDs and senior citizens, to vote in malls will be very convenient for the voter, since such establishments are accessible to the public.

“Actually, maganda ito para sa mga PWDs at senior citizens. Accessible talaga ito para sa amin, pero hindi ito mangyayari kung wala ang suporta ng local government unit at mga taong nakapaligid sa amin, syempre ang Comelec,” he said

at the Comelec registration booth for Taguig City residents inside SM Aura Mall on Friday.

Another registrant, Roger Robilla, is thankful for holding registrations in malls and also supports the plan to hold voting malls.

“Maganda ito...ngayon namin naisipan magpa-rehistro kasi hindi masyado makalakad. Very good. Mas maganda dito maaliwalas. Maganda kung dito magpaboto din,” he said.

For his part, Comelec Chairman Jose Andres Bautista assured that the poll body’s effort to allow PWDs and senior citizens to register in malls will not stop there, as they also have other plans for them.

“Without doubt kaya nga tayo nandito. Ito

ay bunga nga ng gusto natin pagtulong sa PWDs and senior citizens. Sabi ko nga ayoko tumigil sa regular lamang at biometrics. Kung panahon na para sila bumoto, paano natin sila matutulungan?” he said.

Senior citizen Filipino Lara, 75, who validated his registration, said that he would only support a candidate in the forthcoming polls.

“Kaya ako nagparehistro susuportahan ko ang kandidato ko kung sakaling tatakbo siyang Vice President,” he said, adding that he will support Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. In 2013 barangay polls, PWDs and senior citizens in four districts in Manila were allowed to vote in four SM malls. PNA

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The Regions BusinessMirror

Monday, July 20, 2015 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo A9

Land-use issues delay construction of Steel Asia’s ₧6-billion steel mill

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B C N. P

AND-USE issues are standing in the way of the construction of Steel Asia Manufacturing Corp.’s P6-billion rolling mill plant in Bulacan, seen to be the country’s largest steel mill.

“These issues are preventing the release of the needed environmental clearance certificate [ECC] from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources [DENR],” said Roberto Cola, vice president of Steel Asia, in an interview with the BusinessMirror.

While the steel firm is committed to pour in the investment to augment the steel industry’s long-product capacity, the project’s construction has yet to start due to the absence of an ECC. “We’re committed to the investment, we’ve already purchased the equipment.

But we can’t start construction yet, wala pang ECC. Three months nang pending ang approval,” Cola said.

Cola said the process of application with the DENR for all needed evaluation and permits has taken a year and a half.

The DENR, for its part, said that outstanding issues, including land use, remain, coupled with the opposition of civic groups to Steel Asia’s planned project.

“There are still a few issues to be settled. The proposed project is being opposed by the bishop of Plaridel. Issue of land use was also raised,” DENR Undersecretary and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Director Jonas Leones said in a text message.

The EMB director said Steel Asia’s bid will continue to be evaluated.

The rolling mill in Bulacan, which will be the seventh steel-making plant of Steel Asia, is estimated to have a production capacity of 1.2 million metric tons (MMT). This will add to the firm’s

existing capacity, to 3.3 MMT. Job generation is pegged at 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Despite the setback, however, Steel Asia is still set on expanding existing mills and infuse more investments in steel production.

“Demand is growing and the steel industry needs to address the needs.

We don’t want a situation where there will be a shortage of supply when there are a lot of infrastructure projects. We’re putting in more investments in existing mills to squeeze out more capacity,” said Benjamin Yao, president of Steel Asia, in the same interview. While additional investment amounts could not be disclosed, Yao predicted the company’s total production capacity of long products to be at 4.1 MMT in the next two years, capturing a 60-percent market share of the demand for long-steel products.

The company’s seven plants are located in Batangas, Mindanao and the Visayas. Meanwhile,the local iron and steel industry expects a 7-percent to 8-percent growth in demand this year, expecting election-related spending and the fast-tracking of public and private infrastructure projects to drive up steel consumption.

“Ang ASC [apparent steel consumption] natin ngayon ay nasa 7.4 MMT. Let us grow this year by 7 percent to 8 percent,” Cola said.

Rolando Narciso, member of the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute, said this is the minimum expected growth for the year since the government’s broad aim is to double infrastructure spending from 2.5 percent of gross domestic product to 5 percent.

“Late 2015 hanggang 2016, bibilis ang budget releases for election spending and public construction,” Narciso said.

House leader: Consortium ready to drill well in WPS B J M N.   C

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OPING to unlock a commercially viable oil reservoir, a party-list lawmaker on Sunday said that an Australian-Filipino consortium is set to drill a new deepwater exploratory well in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). House Deputy Minority Leader Rep. Arnel Ty of LPG Marketers’ Association in a news statement, said a private consortium that runs petroleum Service Contract (SC) 55 will spud the Hawkeye exploratory well on August 1, immediately after the July 31 arrival of the super deepwater drillship Maersk Venturer on site.

“We applaud the consortium’s resolve to push through with the drilling of the well, at a time when many oil and gas explorers around the world have abandoned their search for new hydrocarbon deposits amid the 50-percent plunge in oil prices,” said Ty, a member of the House energy committee.

“This new drilling underscores the strategic economic value of the West Philippine Sea, which is the source of most of the country’s productive offshore oil and gas fields, and is believed to hoard stacks of hydrocarbon that, once harnessed, could enable the Philippines to become self-sufficient in its future energy needs,” Ty added. In March the Department of Energy (DOE) granted a force majeure on a separate petroleum exploration concession in the WPS—SC 72—because it falls within the disputed area that is now the subject of a United Nations arbitration process between the Philippines and China. Forum Energy Plc. the operator of SC 72, had no choice, but suspend all exploration work over its contract area “until further notice from the DOE.” SC 72 covers the gas-rich Recto (Reed) Bank, a disputed area that is farther northwest off Palawan compared to SC 55.

“Fortunately, SC 55 is not situated in contested territory in the West Philippine Sea,” Ty said. Meanwhile, Ty added that the SC 55 consortium is spending a fully funded $24.5 million (P1.1 billion) to drill the Hawkeye well.

The group is composed of Australia’s Otto Energy Investments Ltd. (operator, with 78.18-percent interest); Red Emperor Resources NL (15 percent); and Palawan 55 Exploration and Production Corp. (6.82 percent); the lawmaker said. Palawan 55 is a wholly owned subsidiary of Trans-Asia Petroleum Corp., a Philippine Stock Exchange-listed entity controlled by businessman Ramon R. del Rosario

Jr. In a statement issued when Otto contracted the 60,000-ton Maersk Venturer, Otto CEO Matthew Allen said: “Final preparations for the drilling of the Hawkeye-1 exploration well are considerably advanced. This is a very exciting time for Otto as we undertake this important and potentially high impact, drilling event on behalf of the Philippines DOE and our jointventure partners.”

Based on extensive studies, Otto said Hawkeye could possibly contain a “best estimate” of 112 million barrels of oil.

Otto said the Hawkeye well is expected to take around 23 days to drill from the Maersk Venturer’s arrival until release.

“Should the well encounter hydrocarbons, more detailed evaluation, including well logging, will be undertaken, which would increase the overall cost by up to $3 million,” Otto said. SC 55 is a deepwater block in the southwest Palawan Basin, covering an area of 988 hectares.

“The block is the middle of a proven regional oil and gas fairway that extends from the productive Borneo offshore region in the southwest, to the offshore Philippine production assets northwest of Palawan. SC 55 is not located in disputed territory,” Otto said.

Meanwhile, Ty said the DOE has issued a total of 29 SCs allowing private foreign and local firms to seek out new oil and gas basins throughout the country, with the promise that the Philippine government would get ample royalties once resources are discovered and harvested.

Of the 29 SCs, the lawmaker said 16 cover offshore areas in northwest, west and southwest Palawan, all within the WPS. “Actually, besides the Malampaya naturalgas wells, there are other wells in offshore Northwest Palawan that continue to produce small amounts of oil, including Cadlao, Octon, Bonita, Nido, Matinloc and Galoc,” Ty said.

The lawmaker said that the largest hydrocarbon deposit ever discovered in the Philippines, Malampaya is believed to contain up to 2.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 85 million barrels of condensate, the lawmaker said. He said the Malampaya now yields 146 billion cubic feet of gas every year, and the fuel drives three of Luzon’s largest power plants that are based in Batangas.

As of March, Ty said the Philippine government has also earned some P208 billion from Malampaya, which is being run by the SC 38 consortium of Shell Exploration Philippines B.V., Chevron Texaco Malampaya Llc. and PNOC Exploration Corp.

A HARVEST OF ‘TINAWON’ Local farmers in Barangay Amganad, Banaue, Ifugao, rejoice in the good harvest of a local rice variety called tinawon. Some farmers here told the BUSINESSMIRROR that due to climate change, they start planting rice from January to April to avoid the typhoons. MAU VICTA

Mindanao reeling from power shortage

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B M T. C | Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—Mindanao lost its surplus power late last week, as the government sent seven of its major power generators to the repair department and another two hydroelectric power plants were rendered ineffective after their reservoirs reached critical water level.

The Davao Light and Power Co. said the transmission firm National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) announced curtailment schedules across Mindanao due to shortage of electric supply by as much as 110 megawatts (MW).

Only late last week, the Mindanao Development Authority insisted that the Mindanao grid has a surplus of 65 MW, despite water supply already scraping critical bottom at the Lake Lanao spillway and in Pulangui Power Plant 4 in Maramag, Bukidnon, which must

be shut down to prevent mud from further damaging turbines. Rossanno Luga, Davao Light corporate communications chief, said NGCP relayed the message from the National Power Corp.-Public Sector Assets and Liabilities Management that as of Saturday, “one of the reasons of the lack of power supply is due to the preventive maintenance and servicing of one unit of the Steag coal-fired power plant [in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental], which is scheduled from July 18 to August 16.” Also on Saturday NGCP

“announced a 110-MW deficit on the island.”

“Based on the advice, Pulangi hydropower plant remains with a derated capability due to low-water inflow, as well as the diesel-fired power plants SPPC [Southern Philippine Power Corp.] and WMPC [Western Mindanao Power Corp.],” it added. The two power plants are in the Zamboanga peninsula.

Luga also said that “the Mount Apo Geothermal Power Plant is currently undergoing preventive maintenance and servicing until July 27.”

Davao Light said it would increase the duration of its rotating power interruptions from a maximum of 30 minutes to one hour, he said. Luga said the company would run its standby Bajada Power Plant, “optimize on its embedded Sibulan and Talomo hydropower plants and supply agreement with TMI [Therma Marine Inc.] and activate its Interruptible Load Program.”

“The implementation of the rotating power interruptions is necessary to avoid breakdown of the entire distribution system, which happens when the demand is higher than what is being supplied,” he said.

Stakeholders welcome increasing flights at Clark airport B J P Correspondent

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LARK FREEPORT—Tourism stakeholders in Central Luzon are lauding the increasing number of flights at the Clark International Airport (CRK) in Pampanga, including the recently launched Clark-Busan, South Korea route seen to attract more Korean tourists into the country.

The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Central Luzon, led by President Jong Pil Choi, welcomed the development, saying “it will greatly benefit the Korean population in the region.”

“The Clark-Busan flight will further attract more Korean tourists to visit Clark as well as to utilize Clark, airport for their flights,” Choi said.

Jonathan Nowell, new general manager of Widus Hotel and Casino in Clark, said “this is very good considering Clark is a great destination.” He said there is an increasing number of Korean nationals patronizing Widus.

But Nowell stressed that “Clark should promote itself more, especially to foreign tourists.” He said: “Many do not know yet of Clark’s mature and green landscape and wide open spaces.”

Angeles City-based businessman Steve Kim said there are “between 10,000 and

15,000 Korean tourists in Pampanga alone at a given time.”

Kim, event coordinator of the annual international hot-air balloon festival in Lubao, Pampanga, said “the new flight is definitely good news not just for my fellow Koreans but the business community in Pampanga, as well.”

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) President and CEO Emigdio Tanjuatco III said the new Clark-Busan route of Jin Air at the Clark airport will not only boost passenger traffic at the gateway but also support the marketing efforts of CIAC to promote the airport.

“The CIAC is now very much focus on its function to develop networks with the airlines to increase flights out of Clark airport.

Tanjuatco is a proactive leader who clearly defines airport priorities.

He helps increase the flights and reaches out to the tourism community. He wants the tourism stakeholders to patronize and help in the promotion of Clark airport as premier hub,” said Gilda Padua, president of the Greater Clark Visitors Bureau (GCVB) and managing director of the Ties that Travel agency based at the SM City Clark.

“The GCVB just simply works for the advantage of the Greater Clark and promotion of the Clark airport is definitely is in our priority. The GCVB believed that a busy

airport is a manifestation of a good economy in the local community,”she added. Korean air carrier Jin Air will start its four times weekly Clark-Busan flights from July 27 to August 24. The flights will stop and will resume in November during the peak season.

“We are pleased to welcome the ClarkBusan flight and we also would like to express gratitude to the Jin Air management for expanding their operations at Clark International Airport. CIAC will continue its effort to bring in more flights at the Clark airport,” Tanjuatco said.

Earlier this year, Jin Air increased its Incheon, South Korea service at the Clark airport from four flights a week to daily.

Tanjuatco expressed confidence that the number of passengers at the airport here this year will be slightly higher compared to 2014 when it failed to breach the 1-million mark.

He said the total passengers in 2015 could also be the same in a worst scenario compared to 877,757 passengers in 2014.

The CIAC said there were 443,507 passengers from January to June this year. In 2014 it was the first time in three years that the total number of passengers failed to reach 1 million. There were 1.3 million passengers in 2012 and 1.2 million in 2013.

At least eight airlines, including Cebu Pacific Air, are operating at the CRK.

DOT executive urges regional offices to sustain aggressive local tourism campaigns B R R R Contributor

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HE Department of Tourism (DOT) recently urged its regional offices to conduct aggressive tourism campaigns to help the government attain inclusive growth centered on end-to-end tourism solutions through communitylevel partnerships and alliances, vertically and horizontally, involving policy, economic, fiscal, physical and social infrastructure.

“In doing so, the DOT is pushing for improvements in air connectivity, market awareness of what each region uniquely offers, and quality of local services to foreign and domestic visitors,”Tourisim Undersecretary Benito C. Bengzon said at sidelines of the Travel Madness Expo.

“On connectivity, we encourage increased flights to secondary destinations with enormous potential, such as Mactan, Cebu, Clark, Kalibo and Davao. On market awareness, we equip our regions with promotional materials like the 30-seconder audio-visual presentation on seven key domestic destinations—Manila, Cebu, Bohol, Boracay, Palawan, Iloilo, Davao and Siargao. And on improving service quality, we have stepped up our training program for our [local community] partners on language proficiency, housekeeping and food and beverage, among others,” Bengzon said. He added that regional key destinations are also being primed as gateways to the rest of the countryside with the emphasis both on resource development efforts and people in the communities.

Meanwhile, DOT Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) Director Mary June G. Bugante cited an eco-tourism project and a “Bottom-Up Budgeting” strategy as an example of a community-focused development approach. Bugante said the DOT project, in collaboration with local government of Zamboanga City, introduced the development of the Santa Cruz islands and its Samal community for tourism activities involving cultural immersion, fish net weaving, souvenir making, and boating services, among many others.

“The project shall be managed and operated by the beneficiaries themselves after a series of trainings intended to capacitate them in handling its day-to-day operations. However, sale of tour packages will be through local tour operators,” Bugante said. Tourist arrivals in the Zamboanga Peninsula increased by 68.7 percent from 332,422 in 2013, to 561,086 in 2014, with Zamboanga City accounting for the bulk of the visitor volume at 354,995. DOT marketing arm Tourism Promotions Board is reportedly bullish on Mindanao increasing its visitor arrivals and achieving the target of 12.6 million visitors for 2015 and 13.9 million in 2016 as envisioned in the National Tourism Development Plan.

Reports from the regions indicated that visitor volume in Northern Mindanao was also soaring, by 96 percent in the second quarter of 2014, and the Davao region by 38 percent to 2.52 million in 2014, from 1.83 million in 2013 and 16 percent over the 1.57 million in 2012. Foreign arrivals in Davao region also surged from 58,686 in 2010, to 59,859 in 2011; 81,911 in 2012; 111,214 in 2013 and 137,679 in 2014. Similarly, Region 12 Director Nelly Nita N. Dillera reported a 294-percent volume increase in daytime tourists from 471,980 in 2013 to 1,858,809 in 2014, with the number of overnight stay also rising by 108 percent from 345,328 in 2013, to 717,596 in 2014.

A10 Monday, July 20, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

The reality of global debt

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his is the big global debt picture: The total amount of debt on planet Earth is equal to $28,000 for every adult and child. Then consider that close to 3 billion of these people live on less than $2 per day.

The ratio of global debt to total annual economic output is 289 percent; meaning, if the world allocated only 10 percent of its economic production to paying the principal amount of debt, it would take almost a generation to become debt-free.

We focus on the debt situation in Greece, but here is a list—a long list—of countries that have a government external-debt crisis close to what Greece is facing. These are Armenia, Belize, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, The Gambia, Grenada, Ireland, Jamaica, Lebanon, Macedonia, Portugal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.

The definition of a debt crisis is when total private and government net debt equals more than 30 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and high-current government external-debt payments of more than 15 percent of government revenue. The first number shows the amount of debt, and the second factor is the burden on government to service the debt.

The Greek “net debt” is 117 percent of GDP, with 32 percent of the government revenue going for debt service. For the Philippines, the numbers are 18 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively. For comparison, the United States is at 37 percent and 12.5 percent. Thailand comes in at 29 percent and 1.7 percent. Malaysia has less of a potential debt problem at 5.7 percent and 3.9 percent, but Indonesia is weaker at 46 percent and 6.3 percent.

Singapore has one of the strongest debt numbers on the planet, with “net debt” being a positive 179 percent of GDP. Meaning, that country has no debt and is actually owed an amount equal to 179 percent of its economic output. Needless to say, the Singapore government does not spend anything for debt service.

Another group of countries that are close to a government debt crisis include Poland and Italy. Still others, such as Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Peru and the United Kingdom, are at risk of a private-sector debt problem.

Now that we have gone through this boring and seemingly endless list of numbers and names, this is the important conclusion: The global debt problem is not limited to countries with governments that have grossly mismanaged their finances. Debt is not just a problem for “corrupt, Third World basket cases.” Too much borrowing is not limited to governments.

It is also a potential and growing problem for the private sector.

However, one important fact stands out. Not a single at-risk country is in the Southeast Asia region.

The worst debt numbers in the area come from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, which is carrying a net debt equal to 74 percent of its GDP. However, its debt service, as a percentage of government revenue, is only 6 percent and the overwhelming amount of its debt are developmental loans, not money to fund the government’s normal expenses.

Southeast Asia is the only bright economic spot in the world.

PCSO opens branch in Antique Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

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fficials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), myself included, are currently visiting Panay Island until Wednesday for activities related to our charity and branch-expansion programs.

In three separate ceremonies in different locations on the island, we will turn over a total of 45 ambulances to municipalities and hospitals in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras and Iloilo. Aklan will receive six, Antique eight, Capiz seven, Guimaras four and Iloilo 20.

Tomorrow (July 21) we will open a branch office in Antique, the 47th belonging to the PCSO’s network, in San Jose Trade Town, Dalipe, San Jose de Buenavista. nnn

Last Thursday (July 16) PCSO Chairman Ayong Maliksi, Directors Betty Nantes and lawyer Francisco Joaquin III, and myself, and other members of the PCSO family were warmly welcomed by Imus City Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi to the Imus City Sports Complex for an ambulance-turnover ceremony.

We turned over 26 ambulances from the PCSO’s Ambulance Donation Program to the following in Cavite province: five citie—Bacoor, Dasmariñas, Tagaytay, Imus, and Cavite City; and 13 municipali-

ties—Noveleta, Carmona, Silang, General Trias, Amadeo, Indang, Magallanes, Naic, Mendez-Nuñez, Tanza, Alfonso, Rosario and General Mariano Alvarez.

The other recipients were seven government hospitals—Kawit Kalayaan Hospital, Ospital ng Dasmariñas, Pagamutang Bayan ng Carmona, Carsigma District Hospital, Ospital ng Tagaytay, Ospital ng Imus and Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo Memorial Hospital—and the Cavite State University.

While there, we also met, among other LGU officials, Imus City Vice Mayor Mandy Ilano; as well as Cavite Reps. Roy Loyola, Abraham Tolentino and Alex Advincula; and Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines CEO Alfredo Li. nnn

During the turnover ceremony in Imus, Li spoke about Tzu Chi’s mission to spread the seeds of love in the country by showing compassion through service and charity.

Now on its 20th year, the foundation has helped many Filipinos

during times of calamity; the most notable effort they conducted was the one after Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) devastated many areas of the Visayas on November 8, 2013—“exactly on the 19th anniversary of Tzu Chi Philippines,” Li said.

Tzu Chi identified Ormoc City and Tacloban City as priority areas for response. To the survivors of the disaster, it “provided hot meals; conducted medical missions; distributed relief goods and financial assistance; installed prefabricated classrooms; and implemented a massive cash-for-work program in Tacloban,” said Li, “reviving the whole city.”

Upon the completion of the emergency phase of relief efforts in January 2014, the foundation “moved on to its midterm and long-term phases of rehabilitation,” Li added, including the “installation of more than 2,000 prefabricated houses in Palo and Ormoc.”

He explained that it is Tzu Chi’s mission to respond “whenever and wherever there is a disaster, [to] bring immediate relief and care to the victims. We also extend our aid to providing long-term care in impoverished communities.”

Tzu Chi also has programs related to medical care, notably a program where it removes the cataracts of indigent patients using state-ofthe-art equipment at the Tzu Chi clinic. It also treats other eye diseases, such as glaucoma.

Li, who with many others has spent years in service in Tzu Chi,

‘United with God, we hear a cry’

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ATICAN CITY—Pope Francis has sent a message to Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council Justice and Peace, to be communicated to the representatives of communities affected by mining activities participating in the meeting “United with God, we hear a cry,” organized by the same dicastery (departments of the Roman Curia) in collaboration with the Latin American Churches and Mining network.

“You come from difficult situations and in various ways you experience the repercussions of mining activities, whether they be conducted by large industrial companies, small enterprises or informal operators. You have chosen to gather in Rome on this day of reflection that recalls a passage from the Apostolic Exhortation ‘Evangelii gaudium,’ to echo the cry of the many people, families and communities who suffer directly and indirectly as a result of the consequences, too often negative, of mining activities. A cry for lost land; a cry for the extraction of wealth from land that paradoxically does not produce wealth for

the local populations who remain poor; a cry of pain in reaction to violence, threats and corruption; a cry of indignation and for help for the violations of human rights, blatantly or discreetly trampled with regard to the health of populations, working conditions, and at times the slavery and human trafficking that feeds the tragic phenomenon of prostitution; a cry of sadness and impotence for the contamination of the water, the air and the land; a cry of incomprehension for the absence for inclusive processes or support from the civil, local and national authorities, which have the fundamental duty to promote the common good.

“Minerals and, in general, the wealth of the earth, of the soil and underground, constitute a precious gift from God that humanity has used for thousands of years.

Indeed, minerals are fundamental to many sectors of human life and activity. In the encyclical “Laudato Si’’ I wished to make an urgent appeal for collaboration in the care of our common home, countering the dramatic consequences of environmental degradation in the life of the poorest and the excluded, advancing toward an integral, inclusive and sustainable development. The entire mining sector is undoubtedly required to effect a radical paradigm change to improve the situation in many countries. A contribution can be made by the governments of the countries of origin of multinational companies and those in which they operate, businesses and investors, the local authorities who supervise mining operations, workers and their representatives, the international supply chains with their various intermediaries and

sees their work for a noble cause as continuing long into the future.

“For 20 years,” he said, “the hair and mustache of our volunteers, who were once young, are now silvery gray… [we] work together…[to] bring peace to the people and stability to our nation.”

The Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines, with 10 offices all over the country, welcomes supporters and volunteers. Visit tzuchi.org.ph. nnn

On July 13 we were in Lucena City, Quezon, to turn over 24 ambulances to various municipalites and hospitals in the area.

We were welcomed to the province by Gov. David Suarez, Vice Gov. Sam Nantes, and other officials and personnel of the region for the formal turnover ceremony held at Kalilayan Hall.

It was a privilege to accept the governor’s invitation to lunch afterward at the Governor’s Mansion in the city, where Manuel L. Quezon’s desk is still on displayed. Quezon served as Tayabas governor in 1906 and 1907. (The province was formerly known as Tayabas, until it was renamed after Quezon in 1946.)

The mansion is a typical bahay na bato, with wide polished floorboards, expansive windows and high ceiling.

The place underwent renovation earlier this year to replace ceiling boards and conduct repainting and repairs to the historic prewar structure.

Atty. Rojas is vice-chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

those who work in the markets of these materials, and the consumers of goods for whose production the minerals are required. All these people are called upon to adopt behavior inspired by the fact that we constitute a single human family, “that everything is interconnected, and that genuine care for our own lives and our relationships with nature is inseparable from fraternity, justice and faithfulness to others.

“I encourage the communities represented in this meeting to reflect on how they can interact constructively with all the other actors involved, in a sincere and respectful dialogue. I hope that this occasion may contribute to a greater awareness of and responsibility toward these themes: and that, based on human dignity, the culture necessary for facing the current crisis may be created. I pray to the Lord that your work in these days be fruitful, and that these fruits can be shared with all those in need.

I ask you, please, to pray for me and with affection I bless you, your communities and your families.” VIS

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, July 20, 2015 A11

Obama’s Iran legacy comes at big cost for Hillary Clinton

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By Josh Rogin / Bloomberg View

resident Barack Obama is one step closer to a legacy on foreign policy after he secured a nuclear deal with Iran. But it comes at a political cost for many Democrats, especially Hillary Clinton, who is tied to the deal in several ways.

Clinton’s dilemma was clear when she appeared at the Capitol on Tuesday. She told Democratic lawmakers she supported the broad outlines of the deal and told reporters that she saw the deal as productive. But she was quick to emphasize that Iran must soon be confronted for its nefarious nonnuclear activities around the world.

“Having been part of building the coalition that brought us to the point of this agreement, I think, we will have to immediately, upon completion of this agreement and its rigorous enforcement, look to see how we build a coalition to try to prevent and undermine Iran’s bad behaviors in other arenas,” she said.

Obama struck a notably more optimistic and cooperative tone during his news conference on Wednesday, when he talked about possible future cooperation with Iran on issues like Syria and expressed hope that the deal would lead to a more moderate Iran working more constructively with the international community.

“My hope is that building on this deal, we can continue to have conversations with Iran that incentivize them to behave differently in the region, to be less aggressive, less hostile, more cooperative, to operate the way we expect nations in the international community to behave,” Obama said. “But we’re not counting on it.”

The GOP wasted no time pointing out that on the Iran deal, the president’s political interests and Clinton’s were not aligned. Only minutes after the deal was announced, candidate and Sen. Lindsey Graham told me, “Obama has made every Democrat, including Hillary choose between a legacy for him and nightmare for them.”

Clinton’s campaign has not cleared up her position. A spokesman said on Tuesday that “everybody lives somewhere between support and opposition.” The campaign has alternated between messages about Clinton’s record on Iran. In April campaign Chairman John Podesta said that Clinton was responsible for the sanctions that brought Iran to the table and that the talks were one of her major foreign policy accomplishments. (Her State Department actually opposed most of the crippling sanctions pushed

by Congress while she was in office.)

This month, at a rally in New Hampshire, she said she voted for sanctions on Iran, while she was a senator from 2001 to 2009 and worked hard to increase sanctions on Iran in the United Nations when she was secretary of state. It’s also true that her State Department worked hard to implement the congressional sanctions, after resisting them.

“I spent the first 18 months trying to get sanctions through the Security Council of the UN, and we succeeded in June of 2010, with Russia, with China, and then we really began to put pressure to Iran—and we did finally bring them to the negotiating table,” she said.

But Clinton rarely mentions that in late 2012, she secretly sent two top aides, Bill Burns and Jake Sullivan, to have a set of meetings with Iranian officials that even the other world powers that would negotiate with Iran did not know about. Those discussions laid the groundwork for the diplomatic process, led by her successor John Kerry, which produced a comprehensive deal on Tuesday morning.

Neither Clinton nor her top aides are enthusiastically trumpeting that role. In a meeting with reporters this week, Sullivan simply said that Clinton was “centrally involved

CLINTON

in the outset of all of this.” Former officials and experts said that Clinton has difficulty taking credit for her role in the deal because she knows the public perception of the deal could get worse and worse, especially if Iran remains combative.

“Walking away from the deal means she frankly wasn’t a consequential secretary of state. She won’t do that and can’t do it. So she’s in a bind,” said former Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller, now vice president at the Wilson Center. “She has to figure out a way to reconcile an agreement that’s fraught politically with the fact that she’s got to win and Republicans are going to hammer her on this mercilessly.”

Miller predicted that Iran’s behavior in the region is only going to get worse over the next 18 months, which could validate GOP criticisms of the deal and complicate Clinton’s defense of it. Her focus on curbing Iran’s bad influence, beyond what this deal would do, could mean she is making the same calculation.

Officials who worked on the Iran issue in the first term said that Clinton was also hampered by the fact that the final deal didn’t meet the expectations she voiced when the negotiations began. Only last year, Clinton said in an interview that she only wanted to leave Iran with “a little bit” of enrichment and that Iran’s breakout time to make a bomb “should be more than a year.”

Richard Nephew, former White House and State Department official involved in the Iran negotiations, said between then and now several circumstances have changed that were out of Clinton’s control.

For one thing, Iran had several thousand more centrifuges by 2014, meaning that negotiating down to a very small number was more difficult.

“The scope of the problem you have to deal with all changed. The facts on the ground changed,” he said. “She wasn’t secretary, while we were really in the weeds of the negotiations.”

All this week, House and Senate Democrats have carefully avoided committing to either supporting or rejecting Obama’s Iran deal. They are waiting to see how strenuously their constituents, their donors and lobbying groups, like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, pressure them to vote against it in September. In addition to hearing from their voters, dozens of Democratic lawmakers will also travel to Israel over the August recess.

They are also looking to their party’s prospective standardbearer, Clinton, for guidance. The odds are that Obama will be able to muster enough Democrats to sustain a veto of any resolution to kill the deal. But Democrats will pay some political price. That may not affect Obama, but for Clinton it’s a big problem her campaign has yet to solve.

Idiot idea Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free fire

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he idea is floated that a young and popular candidate for president, the shoo-in in the next election, should wait for the election after next to run and get experience in the meantime. This idea is: No. 1, stupid; and No. 2, presumptuous.

Let’s start with 2.

It is presumptuous because (a) it assumes that anyone’s election can be assured, not to mention two elections forward. That happens only in a constitutional monarchy with heirs apparent. No one can predict the next election, let alone the one after that—not even in England, and (b) that waiting to replace the president if he dies or goes nuts counts as experience with the electorate. It does not. And (c) that getting implicated

in another bad administration if she takes a job in it will get electoral approval in the succeeding election.

What it will do is tarnish her with the brush of another man’s failure.

Let me add No. 3. In the case of Grace Poe, she rose swiftly to prominence in the polls as the only viable answer to the challenge posed by Vice President Jojo Binay.

By the way, Binay says it was a mistake to declare too early his

In both ways Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

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legally speaking

ne of the classic adages in our labor jurisprudence is in the 1940 case of Calalang v. Williams, where Justice Laurel eloquently expressed the concept of social justice: “Social justice is neither communism nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the State so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated.”

Simply put, social justice is the balancing of the conflicting interests in society so that the greatest good can be brought to the greatest number.

It is also in our labor laws and jurisprudence that one can witness the never-ending struggle between the employer and the employee, between business and the worker, often the blue and the red.

The Supreme Court, in the 2012 case of Legend Hotel v. Realuyo, spoke of the inherent inequality between the two forces, such that our law has to step in to strike a compromise between their interests.

This compromise best manifests in the Social Justice provisions in our Constitution. On one end, we have the rights of labor under Article XIII, Section 3—labor relations and labor standards. But, on the other end, in the same provision, we have the right of capital to a reasonable return on

investment, and to expansion and growth. It is such a great compromise that, ideally, these two interests become of equal importance in our Constitution.

Every part of it is to be read alongside every other part, as organs in a system.

Of course, given that there is inequality in favor of capital, the law steps in to give added protection to labor. Both the New Civil Code and Labor Code resolve labor-related doubts generally in favor of labor.

However, that does not mean that every dispute will be decided in favor of labor.

The operative word of social justice is still justice. Where there is wrong, we side with what is right, whether it be capital or labor. If capital presents a fair and unequivocal policy, it will be respected. If labor steps outside the bounds of virtue and degenerates into a mob, it will

presidential ambition, thereby inviting his early demolition. It was not prematurity that did him in; it was what he did as mayor. In fact, Binay’s early declaration catapulted him to the top of the surveys, even as Mar Roxas’s tenacious timidity kept him at rock bottom.

And No. 1, the presidency requires no experience in anything, except in The China Model—the way China picks its leaders before electing them; which only Enrique Zobel had the perspicacity to recommend 30 years ago. I will save that for another time.

In our kind of government, which is modeled after the American, no experience is needed or asked for.

Indeed, experience is what screws up your electoral chances, unless you can hide it. Hillary Clinton has much to brag about and, therefore, much to be attacked for. Mar has served in the past three administrations—look where he is in the ranking.

As for the presidency, the job is

easier than it makes itself out to be. It requires minimal intelligence to get by; though some cunning is needed to get more done. It has an unlimited number of experts on call (and unlimited cash to pay them with), unless you prefer the company of friends. Even then, you’ll get by. And the media—from fear or for favor— will shower you with praises in the first half of your term.

You don’t pay for your mistakes; the country pays for them. In the Philippine experience, nobody learns anything useful and good from serving in any administration, including not repeating the same mistakes. It is the same with any government experience, even on the local level: look at Binay.

The electorate knows all that, which is why it goes for a fresh face.

What I am saying, more smartly than that you need experience to be president, is that if you have a big chance of winning, go for it. If you don’t, drop out of the race.

fall. Given this, the ideal is for both forces to get along.

History has shown us this is rarely the case. I will not refer to anyone in particular, but recent workplace tragedies are partly the result of working conditions that are barely evolutions of the 24/7 slog of the early Industrial Revolution. Such poor standards can be referred to the Department of Labor and Employment for compliance with basic labor standards.

On the other hand, workplace tragedies can also be the result of an erring employee.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about insubordination in the workplace.

We noted that is one of the just and valid causes for dismissing an employee, of which Article 282 of the Labor Code lists several: gross misconduct, insubordination, gross and habitual neglect, fraud and willful breach of trust and confidence, commission of crime against the employer, his immediate family, or his duly authorized representatives, and other analogous causes.

Generally, termination under just causes does not entitle the worker to separation pay, although there are two caveats: one, under Section 7, Rule I, Book VI of the Omnibus Rules implementing the Labor Code, the employee may be entitled to benefits under individual or collective agreements, and two, in exceptional cases —again as a matter of social justice. The law recognizes that workers generally only have their skills and talents as capital, and without gainful employment, they will lose out completely.

Hence, in the landmark 1988

case of PLDT v. NLRC, the Supreme Court held that in certain special circumstances— for example, a mother who is frequently absent due to a sick child —the Court may award separation pay as a form of equity.

However, such circumstances should not involve serious misconduct or should not reflect on the moral character of the employee. In PLDT, the Court did not award this equity pay for dishonest behavior— the employee had asked for lagay.

This doctrine remains even in the new millennium, such as in the 2014 case of Manila Water Co. v. del Rosario, where the Court did not award separation pay to the employee who pilfered stocks of water meters.

In contrast, the Court allowed separation pay in the 2013 case of St. Joseph Academy (Union) v. St. Joseph Academy, where teachers were dismissed for lack of license (when the law requires it). There, the employer could not show any moral misgivings about the character of the dismissed employees.

What we see here is that social justice works both ways. An employer should not be compelled to keep an erring employee. However, an employee should be given some means to subsist in-between jobs when the reason for the dismissal does not reflect on the employee’s moral character.

Each side has its rights and obligations, and they should respect each other. After all, the greatest good can only be brought to the greatest number if we all play our respective roles to the fullest.