‘Aggressive’ approach needed vs. inflation

By Julito G. Rada

FINANCE

Secretary Benjamin Diokno said over the weekend there should be a “more aggressive” approach in the war against inflation that accelerated to a 14-year high of 8.7 percent in January.

Diokno said in a Viber message that while monetary authorities had already done their part, the war against inflation is an all-of-government campaign.

“The executive department, including LGUs [local government units], have to do more, be more aggressive and focused. In the fight against inflation, monetary policy is not the only game in town,” he said.

Diokno said the main sources of in-

By Alena Mae S. Flores

GNPOWER Kauswagan Ltd. Co., the operator of a 552-megawatt coal-fired plant in Kauswagan, Lanao Del Norte, is seeking to recover P1.371 billion from Davao Del Sur Electric Cooperative for payment of deferred power generation capacity covering June 2020 to September 2022.

GNPower Kauswagan filed a petition for dispute resolution against Dasureco with the Energy Regulatory Commission on their power purchase supply agreement executed on Nov. 21, 2012.

“Despite the extension and accommodation of assistance and attempts to come up with an amicable arrangement in respect to the offtake of the allocated contracted capacity, Dasureco has not made any commitment to GNPK that it will abide by its earlier undertakings,” the company said.

GNPK said it faced “financial ruin as it will greatly affect its ability to recover its capital investments made to construct the power plant” over Dasureco’s alleged refusal to honor its obligations under the PPSA.

GNPK asked the ERC to issue a show cause order against Dasureco “to explain why it should not be held administratively liable for non-fulfillment of Dasureco’s obligations under the PPSA, violation of the least-cost principle and violation of the CSP [competitive selection process] rules,” it said.

The Association of Mindanao Electric Cooperatives Power Supply Aggregation Group Corp., the participating electric cooperatives including Dasureco and GNPower Ltd. Co., signed a memorandum of agreement and a PPSA in 2012.

By Darwin G. Amojelar

THE Maritime Industry Authority said over the weekend it is investigating the alleged “suspicious” activities of Chinese vessels operating in the Manila Bay, following the alarm raised by the National Coast Watch Center—an inter-agency maritime surveillance and coordinated response facility.

“Based on the special report of NCWC, flation remained on the supply side, which should be the responsibility of fiscal authorities. He said evidence of second-round effects increased, and the previous direct actions by government agencies had yet to work.

“The Executive Department and the LGUs should intensify the implementation of more direct, non-monetary measures to help address the supply issues,” he said.

“Our monetary policy is the most aggressive in the region and its impact is also working its way. From January 2022 to the most recent Monetary Board policy meeting, we implemented 400 bps [basis points] while it was only 250 bps for India, 225 bps for Indonesia and only 100 bps for Thailand and Malaysia,” he said.

Diokno listed a number of recent initiatives to fight further increases in consumer prices. These included the additional importation of sugar and onion.

The plan is to import 440,000 metric tons of refined sugar to help bring down its price to P85 per kilogram.

He said some of the imported sugar would be released upon arrival to temper the high retail prices without hurting the farmers. About 200,000 MT of the imported sugar would be for consumer use, while 240,000 MT would be set aside for a two-month buffer stock.

Diokno said that for onion, prices were expected to gradually stabilize in the first and second quarters of 2023 with the arrival of imports intended to temporarily pacify the gap between demand and supply and the forthcoming peak harvest season of locally-produced onions.

“But timely importation of food items in short supply is not enough. There has to be a focused effort to ensure that the imported goods reach the intended markets as soon as possible. The Bureau of Customs should release the imported food items with the same sense of urgency that we have given the importation of COVID-19 vaccines,” Diokno said.

He said local authorities should facilitate, not impede, the movement of essential food items to the intended markets.

He said restricting the free movement of essential food items is one sure way of prolonging inflationary pressures.

Diokno said the government planned to form a small technical working group—consisting of the National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Finance, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Agriculture—for an objective and timely assessment of supply and demand conditions of key food items.

“This responsibility should be taken away from vested groups. This will help ensure timely actions to avert short-term upticks in food prices,” Diokno said.

DOTr gets grant to study two new railway projects

CEMEX’S AWARD. CEMEX Philippines makes a distinct achievement as the first cement company in the country to be certified as a Great Place to Work. The recognition showcases the company’s commitment to creating a positive and inclusive work environment for its employees. The certification is given by Great Place to Work, the global authority in workplace culture. They provide workplace culture assessments that validate employee experience and are the data scientists behind Fortune’s annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For.

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TaiwanDollar0.0329591.8199 Source: BSP

LOCAL and foreign business chambers expressed support for the Senate ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership mega free trade deal, saying the country could not afford to be left further behind.

The Philippines is the only memberstate of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which has yet to ratify the agreement.

Employers Confederation of the Philippines president Sergio Ortiz-Luis said that “among our ASEAN neighbors, we are at the tail-end.”

He said the ratification by the Senate, which votes on Tuesday, “will bring us competitive with others, at least to a certain degree.”

“We can’t afford not to have trade agreements and, at the same time, to not be part of it,” he said.

“Everyone has joined already,” he said.

Philippine Chamber of Commerce several foreign vessels were allegedly engaged on suspicious activities and were observed to be operating outside their approved areas of operation as against the issued special permit by MARINA,” the agency said in a report.

The NCWC, which is led by the Philippine Coast Guard, earlier reported that the Chinese vessels were operating without a dredging clearance from the Department of Public Works and Highways and and Industry president George Barcelon said in a letter to Senate President Miguel Zubiri RCEP “will play a key role in sustaining the Philippines growth trajectory, provide unparalleled opportunities for Philippine businesses and prime the country for further economic growth and development.”

“We cannot afford to miss out on the RCEP. Non-joining will disadvantage our exports in the world’ fastest growing area. Furthermore, it is detrimental to our goal to bring in foreign investments as investors would rather look at an RCEP signatory country to obtain preferential treatments among the RCEP countries,” Barcelon said.

The American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines Inc. issued a similar statement strongly supporting RCEP ratification.

“The Philippines cannot afford to leave no environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

NCWC also said the Chinese dredgers had no memorandum of agreement with the DENR and no accreditation from the MGB.

“The NCWC also asserted that the Chinese dredgers allegedly failed to secure a ‘No Objection Clearance’ from the Office itself out of the bloc since being a member will harness economic benefits that will hasten economic recovery from the scars, higher debt and economic damages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” it said.

“The chamber believes that the Philippines’ participation in RCEP will boost the country’s competitiveness and will reflect a strong, rules-based economy. This will encourage more foreign direct investments in the country which ultimately translates into more jobs for Filipinos,” AmCham said in a statement.

“We strongly urge the honorable members of the Philippine Senate to immediately ratify RCEP,” the chamber said, noting that the agreement is already in force in Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Othel V. Campos

of the National Security Adviser,” MARINA said.

Another issue flagged by the NCWC, based on the MARINA report, was that the Chinese dredgers had been operating with false Automatic Identification System which allows the authorities to properly monitor and record their exact movements inside Philippine territorial waters, and that they turned off their AIS during operation and while berthed.

THE Department of Transportation said it obtained a grant assistance from the Project Development and Monitoring Facility to undertake feasibility studies for Mindanao Railway Project Phase 3 and San Mateo Railway Project. Transportation assistant secretary for planning and project development Leonel De Velez said the Public-Private Partnership Center Project Development and Monitoring Facility Committee approved some P100 million in funding each for the feasibility studies of the two projects. PDMF is a revolving fund managed by the PPP Center to enhance the investment environment for PPPs and develop a robust pipeline of viable and well-prepared PPP infrastructure projects. De Velez said both projects follow President Marcos Jr.’s directive on Build Better More in line with the recently-approved Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 that prioritizes mass transit systems throughout the country. Once the project studies are completed, they will be submitted for the approval of the Investment Coordination Committee to confirm their viability for PPP implementation. Darwin G. Amojelar US Fed’s action to affect

THE movement of the peso this year will largely hinge on the actions of the US Federal Reserve whether it will raise or cut its key interest rates in the coming months, Bank of the Philippine Islands said in a report over the weekend.

BPI said with demand continuously improving, the peso might continue to weaken in the near term given the sizeable import requirements to stabilize prices.

“But the behavior of the local currency in 2023 may largely depend on what the Federal Reserve will do. If a recession in the US happens, the US central bank may cut interest rates eventually,” BPI said.

BPI said a rate cut by the Fed would diminish the strength of the US dollar and provide support to other currencies like the peso. It said that in this situation, the appreciation of the local currency would likely be smaller compared to other currencies given the substantial current account deficit of the Philippines.

The peso fell 12 centavos to close at 55.24 on Friday, its lowest level in a month. Julito G. Rada

FIGARO Coffee Group Inc. reported a 47-percent increase in net income in the first six months of its fiscal year ending December 2023 to P265 million from P180 million a year earlier on aggressive store expansion.

Figaro starts its fiscal year in July and ends in June of the succeeding year. The company said system-wide sales grew 79 percent in the first six months of its fiscal year to P2 billion from P1.14 billion a year ago.

“This was brought about by the opening of stores which brought the total number of stores to 150 by end of December 2022,” Figaro said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

Net revenues went up 88 percent to P2.04 billion from P1.08 billion, while gross profit increased 91 percent on higher volume from store expansion and opening. Gross profit margin slightly declined from 49 percent to 48 percent because of the inflation of major raw materials. Jenniffer B. Austria

Mac McClung (left) of the Philadelphia 76ers dunks the ball during the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest as part of 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. At right, Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers participates in the Three-Point Contest. AFP