THE MANILA TIMES | JUNE 29, 2019

June inflation likely between 2.2-3.0% ÂťStory on B1 ++

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SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 2019

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GREEN RIVER

Personnel of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission remove thick moss and water lilies that have turned the Pasig River into a green body of water.

PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE

Lawmakers reject Speaker term-sharing WITH majority of House members from various political blocs sharing the same sentiments against a proposed term-sharing on the speakership, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco remains the lead contender in the race ahead of the opening of the 18th Congress.

In a statement on Thursday, Velasco echoed President Rodrigo Duterte’s call to let the members decide on their own instead of the latter endorsing a particular individual for the top House post. “This declaration [of the President] never mentioned a term-sharing for the position of speaker,� he said.

‘Seeking US help could lead to war’ P

BY RALPH U. VILLANUEVA

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has rejected proposals to ask the United States to help keep the peace in the South China (West Philippine) Sea, saying doing so is not in the interest of Filipinos.

The President said asking the US to wade into the country’s MARITIME ROW WITH "EIJING would push the Philippines and China to the brink of a war.

Calling America’s help would be bad for this, the President said. “I have to protect the interest of my country, the very life

of the Filipinos. 110 million [Filipinos.] You know America...

Why would you call them?�

Duterte said. “That will all the more bring us to the verge of war,� he added.

Dennis Coronacion, the chairman of the Department of Political Science of the Univer-

sity of Santo Tomas, on Friday said there was no guarantee that the US would help the Philippines in its quarrel with China even if Manila invoked the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) signed by both countries. “There are questions that

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PH has sovereign rights, not sovereignty in the EEZ

DUTERTE TO GO:

This is your destiny CHRISTOPHER ,AWRENCE g"ONGu 'O WAS ELECTED SENATOR because it was his destiny, his boss of many years, President Rodrigo Duterte, said when the former took his oath of OFkCE LATE 4HURSDAY $UTERTE ADMINISTERED THE OATH OF OFkCE DURING A SIMPLE ceremony in MalacaĂąang.

In his speech, the President reminded Go that it was his “sacred duty� to serve the people and God. “You deserve it, this is your destiny,� Duterte told Go, who placed third in the Senate race after garnering 20,657,702 votes.

First word T will avert a breakdown in relations between President Duterte and a senior member of the Supreme Court if we state upfront: First, that the Philippines does not have sovereignty in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea; and Second, that the nation has only sovereign rights in the EEZ.

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OBSERVER YEN MAKABENTA

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Q Senator-elect Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go is sworn into office by his boss of many years, President Rodrigo Duterte. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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What’s inside COA FLAGS MONTANO’S P80-M TOURISM PROJECT

NewsA2

THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF NATURE Amado TolentinoA5

‘BRING HIM ON; I CAN FIGHT HIM ANYTIME’ – PACQUIAO

SportsC1

Bullying, protectionism ‘People will threats to global order – China make Sara OSAKA, Japan: China warned on Friday that protectionism and “bullying� were threatening the world order as President Xi Jinping met other leaders at the G20 summit ahead of high-stakes talks with Donald Trump.

Xi met three of his African counterparts Friday morning on the sidelines of the G20 summit of major world economies, which opened in Osaka amid the US-China trade war, geopolitical tensions and divisions over climate change. “All leaders in the meeting stressed that unilateralism,

protectionism and bullying practices are on the rise, posing severe threats to economic globalization and international order, and severe challenges to the external environment of developing countries,� Chinese FOREIGN MINISTRY OFkCIAL $AI "ING told reporters.

Dai said the meeting involved Xi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Senegal President Macky Sall.

Although attributed to the four leaders, China’s characterization

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run in 2022’ DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio cannot turn her back on the people if ever a clamor for her presidency builds up in 2022, a Malacaùang official has said.

Speaking to reporters, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said while President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly warned Sara against running for president in the 2022 elections, she “might rise to the challenge� if there is a popular call for her to run.

Sara is very much qualified to succeed her father as the country’s president in 2022 because of her “intellectâ€? and “political will,â€? according to Panelo. “The father doesn’t want, pero (but) if people want her to run, she might rise to the challenge,â€? he said during a media interview in MalacaĂąang on Thursday night.

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ASIAN STOCKS: W S h a n g h a i 0 . 6 0 %

W S i n g a p o re 0 . 2 1 %

PSEi 7,999.71 DOWN 0.72%

P51.24 TO $1

What’s inside WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT REITS – MONEY TALKS BusinessB2

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DOE DEFERS FUEL UNBUNDLING

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CAVITE RESIDENTIAL LOTS UP FOR BULK SALE

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CENTURY PROPERTIES ALLOTS P30-B CAPEX THRU 2021 Corporate NewsB3

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BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

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NFLATION likely eased to between 2.2 and 3.0 percent this month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday.

In a statement, the central bank said settle within� the said range in June, ITS $EPARTMENT OF %CONOMIC 2ESEARCH lower than the 5.2 percent posted a PROJECTED CONSUMER PRICE GROWTH gTO year ago.

Headline inflation rose to a twomonth high of 3.2 percent in May from PERCENT IN !PRIL 4HE 0HILIPPINE 3TATISTICS !UTHORITY 03! IS SET TO RELEASE OFkCIAL *UNE INlAtion data on July 5.

4HE "30 SAID gLOWER RICE AND DOMESTIC OIL PRICES ALONG WITH ;THE= downward adjustment in electricity rates and recent peso appreciation, are

SEEN TO TEMPER INlATION PRESSURE DURING the month.� ,ATEST 03! DATA SHOW THAT PRICES of the staple decreased in the second week of June, with the average wholesale price dipping by 0.4 percent from P39.28 per kilogram the week before. !CCORDING TO THE $EPARTMENT of Energy, most oil companies

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Banks’ FCDU loans reach $16B in Q1

TOP THREE

(From left) US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a meeting on the digital economy at the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Osaka on Friday.

AFP PHOTO

We are so behind

!$ to say, the Philippines is way behind other countries in improving public transportation and mobility.

Our laws, policies and institutions in the transportation sector are largely antiquated and not very responsive to today’s needs. No wonder the welfare of commuters has gotten progressively worse in most cities around the country.

Travel time for urban Filipinos to get to SCHOOL OR WORK IS MUCH LONGER TODAY THAN kVE or 10 years ago. People are rising earlier and sleeping later, spending more time in queues and breathing polluted air on congested roads, with serious consequences for their physical and mental well-being. There are not many people who will report that their commuting experience has gotten better in recent years.

Why is there hardly any tangible improveMENT IN THE MOBILITY OF OUR CITIZENS !ND why do most people feel that commuting is

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W H o n g Ko n g 0 . 2 8 %

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June inflation likely between 2.2-3.0%

PSEi slides to 7,900 on lower Q2 GDP THE stock market fell below the 8,000 level on Friday as investors were said to be disheartened by Moody’s Investors Service’s dampening of Philippine economicgrowth expectations the second quarter.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 0.72 percent or 57.93 points to close at 7,999.71, while the BROADER !LL 3HARES DECLINED BY 0.62 percent or 30.53 points to end at 4,893.78. g-OODY S POOR EXPECTATIONS ;OF second-quarter] gross domestic product� caused the local market to plunge, Philstocks Financial Inc. said in a market note.

PWC’S NEEDLES IN A HAYSTACK

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SATURDAY JUNE 29, 2019

Business Times

CURRENCY RATE

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getting worse every day? The problem lies in misplaced objectives, unsound policies and ill-equipped institutions--funROBERT SIY DAMENTAL ISSUES THAT g"UILD

Build, Build� will not cure.

Unless we focus on these basic weaknesses, the huge investments to create more and better transportation infrastructure will have little positive impact on commuteweary Filipinos. !T THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT THE TARGET OUTCOMES AND RESULTS NEED TO BE CLARIkED The goal should be to improve the mobility of Filipinos by ensuring access to safe, reliable, convenient, and environmentally-sustainable MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION INCLUDING gACTIVE transportation� options such as walking and cycling. The problem is that this high-level goal is not shared by all parts of the Philippine government.

While cities around the world expand the

MOBILITY MATTERS

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Fintech benefit: Faster B2B transactions

USINESS to Business (B2B) transactions are anything that makes the process easy for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Normally, transactions made and entered between two companies require extensive documentation and more often than not, costly fund transfers. Either or both of these requirements often cause payment remittance delays, which in return affect the company’s overall operaTIONAL EFkCIENCY "UT HERE S THE SILVER LINING WITH THE ADVENT OF kNANCIAL TECHNOLOGY kNtech) innovations in the Philippines, this issue will no longer be a concern soon. In fact, we’re already seeing the impact of technology on kNANCIAL TRANSACTIONS AS WE SPEAK !CCORDING to Rajan Narayan of BPC Banking Technologies, a company that provides shared retail payments business transformation solutions TO kNTECH PLAYERS gTHERE IS A SIGNIkCANT SHIFT in the region to cashless and transparent payments initiatives.�

SME FIRST Fintech-supported payment solutions CIRCLE One of the ways in which Philippine B2B companies are SEEN TO BENEkT FROM kNTECH innovation is in payments solutions. Electronic cash transfers between comPANIES PAVE THE WAY TO OPERATIONAL EFkCIENCY SIMPLY BY SPEEDING UP kNANCIAL TRANSACTIONS When businesses have digital payment options, transactions are more secure, safe, reliable, and accurate. Less manpower is needed TO SORT AND MANAGE A COMPANY S kNANCES !LSO payments are no longer processed manually, making B2B payments easier and faster, and ultimately opening more opportunities for growth to local business owners.

CHRISTIAN NACORDA

The role of fintech in PH Fintech companies in the Philippines are beginning to emerge as a response to the

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LOANS extended by banks’ foreign currency deposit units (FCDUs) hit $16.806 billion in the first quarter, up from the $16.359 billion and $16.589 billion posted a year and a quarter ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday.

In a statement, BSP Officer in charge Maria Almasara Cyd TuaĂąo-Amador said the latest growth “may be attributed to the borrowing firms’ higher working capital requirements, as well as increased investment in plant or equipment.â€?

The bulk of outstanding loans, she added, went to the following resident industries: towing, tanker,

trucking and forwarding; merchandise and service exporters; public utility firms; and producers/manufacturers, including oil companies.

The loans are mostly medium- to long-term, representing 75.8 percent of the total.

The loans-to-deposit ratio fell to 42 percent in January to March from 42.6 percent a year earlier, but rose from 41.6 percent in October to December 2018.

Deposit liabilities stood at $39.984 billion — up by 0.2 percent from $39.892 billion at end-December — which continue to be held by residents and essentially constitute an additional

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