BusinessMirror August 18, 2015 by BusinessMirror

CHINA BLAST ZONE BLOCKED OVER CONTAMINATION FEAR; 114 DEAD ABOUT a hundred people, whose residences were damaged in the massive Tianjin blasts, gathered on Monday for a protest to demand compensation from the government, as the death toll from the disaster rose to 114 with 70 still missing. The blasts last Wednesday night originated at a warehouse for hazardous material, where hundreds of tons of sodium cyanide —a toxic chemical that can form combustible substances on contact with water—were being stored in amounts that violated safety rules. That has prompted contamination fears and a major cleanup of a 3-kilometer-radius, cordoned-off area in this Chinese port city southeast of Beijing. Story on B3-4. AP

CHARRED remains of new cars are photographed, after an explosion tore through the parking lot of a warehouse in northeastern China’s Tianjin municipality on Thursday. AP/NG HAN GUAN

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THREETIME ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDEE 2006, 2010, 2012

U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008

A broader look at today’s business Saturday 2014 18, Vol. 10 No. 40Vol. 10 No. 313 Tuesday,18, August 2015

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SIX GROUPS SIGNIFY INTEREST TO BID FOR P108.2B DEAL TO DEVELOP 5 REGIONAL AIRPORTS

Court stops airports’ PPP bidding A IS PHL READY TO SCRAP RICE DAVAO City court has ordered the suspension of the auction for the P108.2billion deal to develop five regional airports, although the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) still opted to proceed with the qualification exercises on Monday.

INSIDE

DOWNTOWN APARTMENT WITH IMAGINATION Every opportunity to live

ATHER, we thank You for the day about to pass. We are always grateful for giving us our daily bread; everything with which You sustained our physical and spiritual life. You have given us every opportunity to live our human and Christian life to the fullest. You have offered us every grace to serve You and our neighbors. And yet we have been slow to respond to Your call. May every opportunity to live in grace and love be abound among all men. Amen. DAILY PRAYERS, VIRGIE SALAZAR AND LOUIE M. LACSON

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Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

THE second bedroom in the 850-square-foot apartment is the couple’s library. BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER/SEATTLE TIMES/TNS

Life

SAGCAL: “We received a TRO issued by the Davao RTC, but the Bids and Awards Committee has taken the position that proceeding with today’s activity does not violate any court issuance.”

BOX OFFICE: ‘STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON’ CONQUERS BOX OFFICE WITH $56.1-MILLION OPENING »D2

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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

“SINCE everything counts, I have to have very selective pieces. The kitsch had to go,” Jennifer says. The entry holds a large gilded mirror. The stools under the acrylic table provide extra seating at the dinner table. JENNIFER KIRSCHENBAUM and Toby relax in the living room, Smith Tower just outside. “I’ve rearranged this area so many times,” she says of the space. THERE are big-city views out every wall of windows. “I love this area,” Jennifer says of their neighborhood. “Seattle’s not very old. That’s why I love Pioneer Square so much.” JENNIFER painted the wall behind the bed in the master eggplant and installed two brass reading lamps. “I have a thing for brass and copper,” she says.

SPECIAL REPORT

IMPORT QUOTAS IN 2017?

The public-private partnership (PPP) project attracted six prospective bidders. Transportation Spokesman Michael Arthur C. Sagcal said the department has received a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Davao City, stopping the agency from conducting the bidding for the airport contract. A certain citizen, he said, sought for the stay order. C  A

B R T | The Seattle Times

HEN word comes in that so-andso’s got it, that so-and-so has a great eye for design, and that so-and-so, with her mix of earthy glamour, represents the future of interiors, one heads straight over to so-and-so’s. Meet so-and-so: Jennifer Kirschenbaum. “You see something that’s the thing, then that’s the thing,” she says. “It’s like when you meet your husband. If you keep thinking about it later....” Jennifer is fueled by instinct (and a job she had working in finance for Carol Egan Interiors in New York City). Her instinct skews modern, and vintage and antique and industrial and keepsake and artistic. It’s in the blend, really. Two secondhand midcentury modern chairs, covered in a creamy Holland & Sherry cashmere herringbone, anchor the living room. On the other end,

A TASTEFULLY outfitted studio model unit of 3 Forty Fifth Residences in Alabang, Muntinglupa City.

a long antique French farm table from ABC Carpet & Home surrounded by rosewood ladderback chairs (eBay). The entry holds an exuberant and royal gilded mirror: $100, found in Colville, Washington. Keep in mind that The Post, where Jennifer, her husband Eddie and Toby, their shih tzu mix, live is an apartment building. A very nice one, to be sure. But, still, walls, fixtures, cabinets, floors (laminate with a whitewashed pine appearance, some wall-towall carpeting) come standard. And, thus, Jennifer and her out-of-the-box thinking are constrained by, well, this box. “I’m always switching out the furniture,” she says. “I have two storage units full.” She knows that’s a lot. Her husband thinks it’s too much. “I have probably 30 chairs in storage.” Previously, the Kirschenbaums, who moved to Seattle from New York City almost four years ago, called a three-story West Seattle town house home. It had loads of rooms and lots of space. But….

“Coming from New York to Seattle, we felt it was kind of too in the middle of nowhere,” Jennifer says. (Don’t take this the wrong way: Jennifer grew up in Rainier, Washington, population 1,794.) This is their urban downsize, 850 square feet. Her method here, “everything counts.” “This quartz,” she says picking up venti-sized rock, “comes from Eddie’s grandfather. So did that rock ashtray. And I’m learning tricks for small spaces: The two stools in the entry are more seats for the dining table.” What their home lacks in size, The Post makes up in amenities: a reflecting rooftop pool, sky lounge with a demonstration kitchen, theater, game room, library, dog lounge, fitness and yoga rooms. The apartment, though, lives much larger. Credit Jennifer’s gentle color palette and glass walls. Outside is an urban wallpaper of views: the magnificent Art Deco Old Federal Building, Smith Tower, the Central Library, ferries, mountains.

Jennifer is a sucker for textiles, many and varied. “I would love to cover my house in sheepskin throws, but they’re expensive.” The vintage coffee table in the living room (marble) rests on a colorful and shaggy Moroccan rug. There’s another in their bedroom. She’s painted the wall behind the bed in the deepest eggplant and installed two brass reading lamps from Schoolhouse Electric. The second bedroom is their library. Open shelves hold books from Eddie’s grandmother and liquor bottles set upon a tray, an elevating touch. Jennifer scored the tufted linen sofa at the Restoration Hardware outlet in Tulalip. The wall is black, Benjamin Moore’s Caviar. The only thing on it is a set of antlers, her dad’s. “I have so much fun doing it,” she says of her mad decorating skills. “I could do it all day long.” And, for sure, there is more to come. “I would like to have a place in the city and a house at the beach. I can see it: black exterior, Swedish design, on Hood Canal. In my head, it’s all done.” n

Redefining luxury-condo living in Alabang FROM the same group behind pioneer builder A.M Oreta & Co., Top Market Property Development and Management Inc. introduces 3 Forty Fifth Residences (www.3fortyfifth.com), www.3fortyfifth.com), its latest luxe-living www.3fortyfifth.com development in the heart of Alabang. Situated in the rapidly developing business and cosmopolitan hub of Muntinlupa, the exclusive 14-floor property that offers 71 generous spaces limited to a number of eight units per floor, underscores a sense of tranquility that is priceless. The exclusive Manhattan chic-inspired condominium, which sits on an 864-squaremeter lot area, presents outfitted units with

solid amenities, including a lap pool, sky deck lounge, yoga area and fitness center, all located at the top view deck, providing a panoramic scene of the Laguna de Bay. A multipurpose function area includes an interactive kitchen, which can cater to exclusive events or intimate gatherings. A concierge area and a property management office are accessible to provide assistance and daily services to its residents. Strategically located inside Northgate Cyberzone, the Alabang business district’s information-technology center, which houses the country’s top businessprocess outsourcing and other Fortune

500 companies, 3 Forty Fifth Residences redefines the urban lifestyle that can be enjoyed by expatriates and locals alike who have a penchant for the finer things in life. According to Grandii V. Abarico, sales and marketing head, “In terms of embracing luxurious condo living, the fewer the unit owners, the better—the more we are able to provide utmost privacy to residents. “Presently, it is the only property offering in its kind that exists in this busy and vibrant business area. Expats and executives working in the area can enjoy taking a short walk to their workplace from home—it’s the perfect marriage of luxury and convenience.”

LIFE

WHEN ART BECOMES YOUR BEDROOM SPACE D4 Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Design&Space BusinessMirror

A VIEW of the lobby

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THE expansive bedroom

When art becomes your bedroom space

B V V

HERE’S a boutique hotel nestled where the landmark Blanco Center used to be on Salcedo Village in Makati City, which reminds one of Frank Gehry, the iconic architect who did not just change the face of architecture but an entire city’s economy, and is perhaps among the very few marketer extraordinaire Seth Godin referred to as “a purple cow in a field of monochrome.” Extrapolating on that thought a bit, what is now The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences used to be the old Sandra, only dolled up to the nines with high heels and a little bit of dress and rechristened Georgina. Because a drab apartment building that looked straight out of some city of yore just simply doesn’t cut it these days. And so the owners came to do something about it with developer Hospitality Innovators Inc. (HII), determined to get the building’s mojo back and give it “a fountain of youth.” “When the owners came to us, they said, ‘Maybe you can help us with this: The building is old, so we’d like to try and see if there’s a way we can increase its earning potential,’” HII CEO and President Luis Monserrat recalls. “I realized that what we needed to do here was transformation, a complete makeover.” Monserrat tapped art-geek architect Dom Galicio for the reconceptualization, and the proposal for the complete renovation being art-inspired was made in earnest. When it was time to think of a name for the property, HII went back to its core—what the entire effort was about: transformation. “Dom suggested that

no other artist embodies transformation better than Pablo Picasso,” Monserrat said. The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences is the flagship in the HII line of concept spaces, driven by its knack to “reinvent the old to experience the new,” and recreate or tap into the potential of the properties from what otherwise would have been the bland and the boring. “This is what we offer hotel and property developers: the impressive combination of a unique concept and great service that can enhance the value of assets and create attractive returns,” Monserrat said, adding that they are going head-on against the “Goliaths,” and the clear-cut brand of creativity and nuance they throw onto the table is what sets apart the properties they conceptualize and manage. The epitome of HII, The Picasso is literally an art box of more than 130 rooms, which, beyond just being decked with portraits on the pictorial walls, are spatial still lifes where the guest himself can be a part or the subject of the painting. An ode to Pablo Picasso’s artistic philosophy, The Picasso’s Tina Periquet-designed interiors are an inviting picture of old Europe, replete with Cobonpue and Bertoia pieces that are accentuated by oxidized mirrors, hardwood parquet floors and various pastel finishes unique in each of the rooms, which are named after relevant places in the West that were frequented by the artist (think Barcelona, Montparnasse, Madrid). At different times of the day, one can find his art snob on his private balcony or sprawled somewhere right on the edge of everything, overlooking the landscape of the city leaning against windows that

LIVING the loft

extend up to the ceiling down to the floor, from a wall to another wall. Beyond the complimentary art-themed facilities (among many others: a gym or two, a Wi-Fi lounge, a restaurant called Brasserie Bohème), the in-house art gallery showcasing Filipino contemporary works by Art Cabinet Philippines (which also curated all art

articulations in every nook and cranny of The Picasso) is the altar of it all, where one can commune with and be lost in a reverie conjured by the assembly of critical expressions in various media. The Picasso, so to speak, is an art gallery with beds and a lot of pampering. Here, you don’t have to be artsyfartsy to feel right at home. n

How much does it cost to clean a leather couch? B A H Angie’s List WITH proper care, a leather sofa can last for years—or even decades—but to keep it looking its best, you’ll want to make sure it’s free of dirt and stains. If staining is minimal, you can clean your sofa or leather sectional with just a damp cloth, followed by a dry cloth. You can make a cleaner by adding a few drops of moisturizing soap to a damp washcloth. Gently wipe off the cleaner and rinse with another damp washcloth. Buff with a dry washcloth. Avoid overcleaning your leather couch or using cleaners that could dry or damage the leather or finish. If you’re not sure what kind of cleaner to use, it’s best to call your leather dealer before experimenting. If the sofa is heavily soiled or has stubborn stains, such as ink or wine, it’s best to call in a leather furniture refinishing and repair expert. Many companies will come directly to you and do cleaning and repairs on site. A professional cleaning for a full-size leather sofa can be pricey, depending on the size of the sofa and the type of leather. Extending the life of your leather couch begins in the showroom, where you should be sure to choose the right type of leather for the room and your lifestyle. Once you get your sofa home, be careful where you put it. Frequent exposure to direct sunlight and heat can cause your couch to fade quickly or become dry and brittle.

Remittances up 6.1% in June, 5.6% in H1

DESIGN&SPACE

HE country’s migrant workers injected billions of pesos worth of liquidity into the system, as their foreign-currency earnings in many workplace abroad were converted into local currency in the first half of the year. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday reported cash remittances totaling $12.08 billion sent by overseas Filipino workers to relatives and friends in the Philippines during the period. The remittance inflows in the January-to-June period proved 5.6 percent higher than remittances of only $11.45 billion in the first half of 2014. “Remittances remained robust, partly due to stable demand for

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 46.2080

skilled Filipinos abroad,” the BSP said in a statement. In June alone, the cash remittances flowing inward were highest at $2.18, coursed through banks during the period. The inflows were 6.1 percent higher than inflows reported in the same month last year. The BSP attributed the continued growth of remittances for the period to the acceleration of flows from both land- and sea-based workers. In particular, cash remittances from land-based workers hit $9.2 billion during the period, or growth of 6.2 percent from 2014, while money sent by sea-based workers hit $2.8 billion, or 3.7 percent higher than last year. Bianca Cuaresma

NONIE REYES

A downtown apartment is elevated with imagination, instinct and tough choices

B A S. D Correspondent

Second of three parts

ESS than two years from now, the Philippine government would again have to determine whether it would seek the extension of the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice. Since 1994, when the country decided to maintain rice-import caps, Manila had the QR extended twice—in 2004 and in 2012. The Philippine government said the QR is vital to safeguard the livelihood of rice farmers. Rice is the predominant staple in the Philippines, and the Department of Agriculture (DA) warned that removing rice-import quotas would threaten the livelihood of 2.4 million farmers, who are small landholders. The QR on rice had allowed the government to limit the entry of cheaper-rice imports, especially from neighboring Asian countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam. In

maintaining it, the Philippines had to make concessions, such as raising the minimum access volume (MAV) of rice to 805,200 metric tons (MT) annually, from the previous 350,000 MT. Rice that falls within MAV is slapped a tariff of 35 percent, lower than the 40-percent tariff imposed on “out-MAV” imports. An expert earlier said that the rationale behind the retention of quotas is to give farmers time to prepare for stiff competition that may be posed by cheaper rice from other countries. Studies, however, suggest that the Philippine rice sector may have to work double time to be able to go head-to-head with other countries. One such study was commissioned by the DA. It was titled “Benchmarking Philippine Rice Economy Relative to Major Rice-Producing Countries in Asia,” and was undertaken in close collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute. The study covered six Asian rice-producing countries—the Philippines, China, India, C  A

n JAPAN 0.3719 n UK 72.2924 n HK 5.9582 n CHINA 7.2292 n SINGAPORE 32.8579 n AUSTRALIA 34.0742 n EU 51.3602 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.3198 Source: BSP (17 August 2015)

A2 Tuesday, August 18, 2015

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Is Phl ready to scrap rice import quotas in 2017? Continued from A1

Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The study found that, in terms of average yield in unmilled rice, the Philippines ranked fourth, with 6.34 metric tons (MT) per hectare. Vietnam recorded the highest yield at 6.81 MT; followed by Indonesia, with 6.67 MT; China, with 6.55 MT; and India, with 4.71 MT per hectare. Thailand, a major rice exporter, yielded an average of 5.69 MT per hectare. The data used in the study were culled in the first six months of 2013. But in a national yield survey, the Philippines’s actual yield in 2012 reached only 3.84 per MT. As for the use of rice seeds, China, Thailand and Vietnam did not use hybrid rice seeds. In the Philippines hybrid-rice seeds accounted for 27

percent of total rice output. Certified and registered seeds were extensively used in India, Thailand and the Philippines. In terms of cost, rice seed was most expensive in Thailand, at P6,500 per hectare, while Indonesia registered the lowest, at P500 per hectare. The cost of seeds in India, Vietnam and China ranged from P2,500 to P3,500 per hectare. Indonesia was most efficient in seed use at below 50 kilograms per hectare, followed by the Philippines, at 70 kg per hectare. Vietnam used up to 210 kg per hectare, while Thailand used 195 kg per hectare. The study also found that Chinese farmers made use of more fertilizers— a combination of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium—in growing rice at 345 kg per hectare. Indonesia ranked second, with 274 kg per hectare, followed by Vietnam, with 212 kg per hectare.

Filipino farmers used 185 kg of fertilizers per hectare. India and Indonesia subsidized fertilizers used by their farmers. Among the six countries, India and the Philippines used the least amount of pesticides. Spending for pesticides in the Philippines reached only P2,000 per hectare, compared to P6,500 per hectare in Indonesia and Vietnam. In terms of labor-saving technology, young rice plants in China, Thailand and Vietnam were all seeded directly. In Indonesia all young rice plants were transplanted. In the Philippines 80 percent were transplanted, while 20 percent were directly seeded. Labor cost was highest in India, at P27,872 per hectare, followed by the Philippines, at P22,477 per hectare. Labor cost was lowest in Thailand, at P7,091 per hectare, followed by Vietnam, at P8,820; China, P9,139; and India, P14,219.

In Indonesia per hectare of rice land required 94 man-days of work, which included land preparation, planting and harvest. India required 78 days; the Philippines, 69 days; and Vietnam, 23 days. Thailand was the most efficient as it required only 10 days. In terms of power usage, China and Thailand consumed a little less than P10,000 per hectare, making the two countries the most mechanized. Filipino farmers spent P9,000 per hectare, followed by India, at P7,600; and Vietnam, P5,700. Indonesia was regarded as the least mechanized, as farmers consumed only P2,700 worth of energy per hectare. The cost of rice production per hectare was highest in Indonesia, at P83,800, followed by China’s P80,800. Production cost in the Philippines reached P63,600 per hectare; Thailand, P51,900; and

Court stops airports’ PPP bidding. . .

The six groups are the Philippine Airports Consortium, led by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Aeroports de Paris Management SA; the Union Equities-ACSA Consortium; the SMHCHAC Airport Consortium of San Miguel Corp.; the Maya Consortium, led by Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. and Vinci Airports; the Filinvest-Jaco-Sojitz Consortium; and the GMR Infrastructures and Megawide Consortium. Initially, eight companies bought bid documents for the bundled airportdevelopment deals. The government launched the bidding for the aviation hubs late last

year, with the intention of addressing the growing demand for air connectivity around tourist spots and business hubs. The state decided to bundle the contracts into two to make the project more enticing to investors. The first package consists of the Bacolod-Silay Airport, P20.26 billion; and the Iloilo Airport, P30.40 billion; while the second bundle is composed of the New Bohol or Panglao Airport, P2.34 billion; the Laguindingan Airport, P14.62 billion; and the Davao Airport, P40.57 billion. The Bacolod Airport, also known as Bacolod-Silay Airport, commenced

operations in 2008 and is one of the recently completed airports in the Philippines with modern facilities. The airport is in Silay City, Negros Occidental, and generally caters to traffic for Negros Island—including Bacolod City—which is one of the most populous cities in the Western Visayas region. Tourism is one of the main industries in Negros Occidental and is fast growing, with domestic tourists reaching 1.33 million in 2013. The Iloilo Airport, on the other hand, is in Cabatuan, province of Iloilo, and is among the top 5 airports in the Philippines in terms of traffic. It started its

Vietnam, P45,500. India recorded the lowest cost, at P37,900. The cost of producing a kilo of paddy rice was highest in Indonesia, at P12.52, followed by China, at P12.34; and the Philippines, at P10.03. Indonesia and the Philippines are net importers of rice. Thailand, a rice exporter, spent P9.12 to produce a kilo of rice, while Vietnam recorded the lowest cost, at P6.69. The study also found that Filipino rice farmers paid the highest amount of irrigation fee, at P2,536 per hectare, while farmers from four countries paid only a fifth of this cost. Chinese farmers got irrigation water for free. In terms of selling price, Chinese farmers ranked first, as they sold paddy rice at an average of P21.60 per kilo, followed by Thai farmers, who sold rice at P17.63. In the Philippines farmers priced

their crop at P1480 per kilo. Bangkok and Beijing have active government procurement programs, which encourage farmers to produce more. In terms of earnings, Chinese farmers recorded the highest gross revenue at P141,452 and the highest net income at P60,645 per hectare. India recorded the lowest gross revenue, at P48,264, and the lowet net income, at P10,295. Farmers in the Philippines recorded a gross revenue of P93,902 and net income of P30,294 per hectare. The authors of the benchmarking study concluded that in terms of yield in irrigated and intensely cultivated areas, the Philippines is not far behind from its neighbors. They said, however, that the Philippines needs to implement the necessary reforms to make the country more competitive in rice production. To be concluded

has a design capacity of 1.6 million passengers annually. It started its operations in 2013. It replaced the Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro, which was among the five busiest airports in the Philippines in terms of passenger traffic. Also known as the Francisco Bangoy International Airport, the Davao airport is the third-busiest airport in the Philippines after the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the MactanCebu International Airport. Located in Catitipan, Davao City, the airport has been operational for more than 15 years, currently serving both domestic and international operations.

The Davao region is one of the faster-growing tourism destinations in the country, with passenger traffic settling at 2.79 million in 2013. The winning concessionaires for each bundle will handle the operations and maintenance of the airports for 30 years and will undertake expansion of facilities, as most of the airports are operating beyond their design capacity. These improvements are needed to enhance passenger safety and convenience, as well as to ensure more efficient airport operations. The opening of bids is scheduled for January 2016, while the award will follow in February.

Continued from A8

commercial operations in 2007, providing both domestic and international connectivity, with seven domestic destinations and two international destinations. The airport served roughly 1.87 million passengers in 2013. Seen to start its commercial operations by 2017, the P3.36-billion New Bohol Airport in Panglao is designed to accommodate 1 million passengers annually. The contract to construct the new aviation hub in Bohol was awarded to the Japanese joint venture of Chiyoda Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. last month. Found on the northern tip of Misamis Oriental, the Laguindingan Airport

Economy

A4 Tuesday, August 18, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

briefs groups back qc councilor move to ‘avert’ canadian waste dumping at payatas

Environmental groups on Monday said it supports the call of a member of the Quezon City Council to disallow the use of the Payatas Sanitary Landfill for wastes coming from other countries. Councilor Dorothy Delarmente of First District of Quezon City recently filed a resolution which expressed strong disapproval against any plan to dispose of or dump foreign wastes at the Quezon City Landfill. At least 24 environmental groups and several labor groups said the proposed resolution will serve as a deterrent against any move to dump Canadian wastes at the city’s controlled landfill. The Payatas Sanitary Landfill used to be an open dumpsite before the Quezon City government started rehabilitation in 2001 following the death of 218 people, mostly residents who live at shanties around the foot of the mountain of garbage that collapsed only July 1, 2000 after days of unusually excessive rainfall. Backing the City Council’s approval of the resolution were Quezon City-based groups, such as Ang NARS; Arugaan; Associated Labor Unions-TUCP; Bangon Kalikasan Movement; Ban Toxics; Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino-NCR; Citizens’ Organizations Concerned with Advocating Philippine Environmental Sustainability; EcoWaste Coalition; Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives; Green Convergence; Greenpeace; Health Care Without Harm; Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment; Mother Earth Foundation; Oceana Philippines; Piglas Kababaihan; Public Services Labor Independent Confederation; Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa; WomanHealth Philippines; and Zero Waste Philippines. Jonathan Mayuga

mandatory insurance for construction workers sought Filipino workers will get mandatory insurance coverage under a bill ensuring their safety and welfare while in job sites. Rep. Sherwin T. Gatchalian of the 1st District of Valenzuela City authored House Bill 5975, which shall require employers and contractors of construction workers to provide mandatory group personal-accident insurance coverage to guarantee financial security to injured workers and their families. “It is almost always the workers that are left short-handed after the occurrence of such accidents. Oftentimes, the employer merely offers a measly sum to the family of the deceased worker to compensate for their loss,” Gatchalian said in pushing for the bill. “The insurance coverage shall compensate a reasonable amount for an accident that will cause the disability or the death of the worker,” Gatchalian said. PNA

bill exempts elderly from paying travel tax, terminal fee A veteran lawmaker on Monday has filed a measure that will exempt the elderly from paying tax and terminal fees at all airports and seaports on both domestic and international travel. Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay filed House Bill 5997 that will afford the country’s more than 6 million senior citizens the opportunity to travel and see all the beautiful sights and historical landmarks in our country, as well as tourist destinations abroad that they have not been able to visit due to financial constraints. “Our senior citizens have spent the most productive years of their lives working and contributing to the country’s economy in general, as well as to the development of their respective communities, in particular. It is but right that we give back to our senior citizens and encourage them to travel while they are still strong enough to do so,” Atienza said. PNA

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Japan to aid PHL infrastructure development

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

he partnership between the Philippines and Japan is expected to transcend the official development assistance (ODA) scheme as Tokyo signals its intention to aid Manila in developing infrastructure that are needed to facilitate inclusive growth. Japanese Minister A kihiro Ohta of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said his nation is considering extending its assistance to develop several water-management facilities, such as dams, sabo technology, retarding basin and other flood-control structures. Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson said this on Monday, after expressing gratitude to the Japanese government for the full support to the country’s infrastructure development, particularly through a number of ODA. His office has developed a f lood control master plan for

Metro Manila to include the structural measures for the Pasig-Marikina River Basin and adjacent areas. The design of a proposed dam project to be constructed in the upstream portion of Upper Marikina River in Rodriguez, Rizal is now being finalized by the department. Documents from the Department of Public Works and Highways showed that the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project has four phases. Phase I involves the development of the Delpan Bridge to Marikina Bridge. The second phase involves the channel upgrade

Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson (at center) poses with visiting Minister Akihiro Ohta of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (third from right) during the latter’s courtesy visit at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Head Office in Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila. The government of Japan is among the biggest provider of official development assistance in financing the Philippines’s infrastructure development. Also in photo are (from left) DPWH Japan International Cooperation Agency River Management Advisor Takeshi Muronaga; DPWH Undersecretaries Romeo S. Momo and Maria Catalina E. Cabral; Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhide Ishikawa; and Japanese Director General for International Affairs Hiroshi Narahira.

works for the Delpan Bridge to the Napindan River. The third phase involves the channel improvement of the Lower Marikina River and the construction of the Marikina Control Gate

Structure. Phase IV is the channel improvement works for the Upper Marikina River, which runs from Mangahan Floodway to the Marikina Bridge. Estimates show that the total

project cost is about P351.72 billion. This will be partially funded by a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. It is expected to benefit more than a million Filipinos living in the east.

Customs to traders, OFWs: Don’t abuse ‘balikbayan’ box privileges By Joel R. San Juan

HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) warned traders on Monday from using balikbayan boxes to bring into the country high-value goods in commercial quantities without having to pay the right amount of taxes. Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina issued the warning after an inspection of several warehouses showed numerous balikbayan boxes spilling with undervalued items and underdeclared contents. Because of this, Lina said, the agency is tightening its watch on balikbayan boxes reaching the country’s ports. The BOC chief also noted that rules governing the entry of these inbound consolidated shipments may need to be updated to keep with the times and to plug loopholes. He said that these balikbayan boxes may be considered as smuggled goods for noncompliance to the Philippine Tariff and Customs Code. “The existing rules are obsolete and we may have to reassess our coordination and processes with consolidators for stricter and improved compliance,” Lina said in reference to a Customs memorandum order for consolidated shipments from Filipinos abroad dating back in the 1990s. Started in the 1980s, balikbayan boxes are duty and tax-free packages of personal effects or pasalubong sent by Filipinos residing or working abroad to families in the Philippines for purposes of preserving strong family ties. Though often shipped by freight forwarders specializing in balikbayan boxes delivery by sea, such boxes can be brought by Filipinos returning to the Philippines by air. “Our spot checks from several warehouses show how misconstrued the rules may have become. People are sending in used clothing, home appliances and items of the same kind that can, well, may be used for commercial purposes. Nagkamali ba ang sender o nagkulang ang freight forwarder? Is there misinformation to drive their businesses?” Lina asked. Lina pointed out that balikbayan privileges have its limitations, such as it should not exceeed $500 in value. “Canned goods, grocery items and other household effects must not exceed a dozen a kind, while apparels, whether used or new, must not exceed 3 yards per cut. Only one consignment per sender during a one-month period is allowed,” Lina reminded the public.

Construction boom An overhead crane raises steel bars and other materials, which workers of a construction firm use in installing the concrete posts of a high-rise building under construction near Epifanio delos Santos Avenue and North Avenue in Barangay Bagong Pag-Asa, Quezon City, on Sunday. PNA

Washington renews pledge to assist Manila in ongoing AFP modernization

Shell moves fuel depot out of Pandacan

he United States has vowed to assist the Philippine military in its ongoing modernization program, even as it reiterated its call for China to use the “peaceful path” in resolving its territorial dispute with the Philippines. US Ambassador Philip Goldberg made this statement during sidelights of the turnover ceremonies of eight brand-new Bell-412EPs combat utility helicopters and two attack versions of the AgustaWestland AW-109Es on Monday at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City. The contract for eight units of Bell412EP combat utility helicopters, acquired from Canadian-American company Bell Helicopter Textron, was worth P4.8 billion and signed in March 2014. The P3.44-billion contract for the supply of eight attack aircraft from AugustWestland was signed in June 2013. The ceremonies were headed by Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin and

ILIPINAS Shell said on Monday it would completely move out of Pandacan by November this year. “We will complete the removal of tanks by November this year. The dismantling started last month,” Shell Country Chairman Ed Chua said after the site visit of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada. He said the company has 14 tanks inside the facility. Shell had appealed the case following a decision of the Supreme Court (SC) for Shell, Petron Corp. and Caltex Philippines to vacate the facility. The SC order, however, is final. Chua said the company’s parent firm was “disappointed” over the news. “To start with, the facility is not unsafe. If it was unsafe, we would be the first one to close it

other ranking military officials. “I think that our position has been clear, that the way to settle disputes in South China Sea is through legal, peaceful and diplomatic means. That’s why we have supported the Philippines’s effort to bring the case before the Itlos [International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea] process, under the law of the sea,” Goldberg said. “That’s why we have supported a code of conduct to better lay out the rules of the road, because ultimately, what we should all be seeking are rules-based, legal-based solutions to the various claims, not use of force or threats or any kind of coercion,” he added. And while it expresses full support for the peaceful resolution of the territorial dispute between China and the Philippines, Goldberg said that the US is supporting the country in acquisition of modern assets and equipment. He added that they will provide two additional Lockheed C-130 cargo planes to the PAF. PNA

By Lenie Lectura

down. But we should not dwell on it anymore. Hopefully this won’t happen again. This does not define the relationship with the government,” Chua added. The Shell official noted that the company has no other recourse but to source its fuel products from its Batangas facility, a move that will result in higher distribution cost. “Our cost will be affected because it will now come from Batangas. It would be difficult because there’s a truck ban in every city. But when you talk about pricing, this will all depend on competition,” Chua explained. The closure of its oil depot in Pandacan will result in job losses. “We will try to absorb as many as we can. We are still finalizing the details,” Chua added. Shell has about 1,000 service stations nationwide.

Economy BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

PHL could just be the next Silicon Valley, lawmaker says By Recto Mercene

Palace assures ‘color-blind’ release of ₧18.4B for LGU projects ahead of 2016 election ban

he Philippines could turn into the next “Silicon Valley” of the world, because it has more than enough talent and expertise to meet the demand of various technology start-ups that have turned their eyes into the country following its highly successful business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry. “These technology start-ups will have no problem, because we have a large pool of talented and skilled Filipinos in the field of information technology [IT], design, and programming and engineering, which they can tap [into] anytime,” said Sen. Bam Aquino, chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship. “Being at par with the world’s best, our IT workers can be a valuable asset for start-ups, as they try to create a niche in the international and local markets,” Aquino added. Aside from talented IT workers, the Philippines also boasts of top Filipino video-game designers and animators for online video-gaming industry start-ups. Aquino made the pronouncement after international business magazine Harvard Business Review reported that the Philippines is fast becoming a destination for technology start-ups. The magazine said that technology start-ups have the potential to duplicate the impact of the local BPO industry in terms of employment generation when it entered the Philippines several years ago. “Technology start-ups can contribute in solving the country’s unemployment problem, as it can provide highvalue jobs for thousands of Filipino IT experts, artists and developers,” Aquino added. Moreover, the passage of the Philippine Competition Act will make it easier for technology start-ups to penetrate the market and compete with giant IT companies, the senator said. Location will not also be a problem for technology start-ups, as the Philippine Economic Zone Authority has 200 IT parks in different parts of the country that will suit their needs.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015 A5

alacañang has assured both proadministration and opposition provincial governors, as well as city and town mayors, that the Palace-proposed P18.4-billion Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) in next year’s national budget would be equitably disbursed in advance of the 2016 election-campaign ban.

Grand media launch Top officials of the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) hold a grand media launch for the forthcoming17th Asia-Pacific

Retailers Convention and Exhibition from October 28 to 30 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Photo shows (from left) Bienvenido Tantoco III, vice president; Jorge Mendiola, vice chairman for advocacy; Lorenzo Formoso, president; and Frederick Go, chairman. Nonnie Reyes

RE firm groundbreaks ₧3.6B solar power facility in Concepcion, Tarlac By Lenie Lectura

nfinity Philippines Renewable Sources Inc. on Monday broke ground on its P3.6-billion solar-power facility in Conception, Tarlac. The company’s Concepcion Solar Power Project has a rated capacity of 50.55 megawatts (MW) over an area of 54.795 hectares. This will be directly connected to the National Grid Corp. in Santa Rosa, Concepcion, Tarlac. Enfinity aims to construct solar projects in the country that will generate over 100 MW by early 2016, and the project is among those awarded renewable-energy service contracts by the Department of Energy (DOE) in late 2014. Across the country, Enfinity’s

other solar projects undergoing completion are at Clark Development Corp. (CDC), Pampanga (23 MW); Digos, Davao del Sur (Phase 1, 28 MW); and in Cavite (Phase 1, 3 MW). The groundbreaking was attended by national and local officials, headed by Rep. Noel L. Villanueva, Gov. Victor Yap, Vice Gov. Enrique Cojuangco, Mayor Andres D. Lacson and Vice Mayor Danilo D. David, among others. Enfinity Philippines was represented by Enfinity Philippines President Dennis C. Ibarra, COO Santiago Navarro and Enfinity Asia Director William Ruccius. In Clark Enfinity Philippines has begun initial site work in May 2015, and is set to pour some P1.5 billion for the construction,

operation and maintenance of a solar plant in CDC. Enfinity leased about 25 hectares of property inside this free port to generate 23 MW of power. Enfinity Philippines has partnered with Imperial Homes Inc. to create Enfinity Imperial Solar Homes Inc., which has ventured into 24-hour solarpowered mass-housing projects in Santo Tomas, Batangas, and Estancia in Legazpi, Bicol. It has also partnered with Aboitizland and Visayas Electric Power Co. to provide similar solar-power solutions to its residential customers. Enfinity Philippines continues to develop utility-scale solar farms around the country with over 500 MW of projects in its pipeline over the next five years.

Asked if the proposed allocations for various public-works projects of recipient local government units (LGUs) would be released before the election ban, which usually takes effect by March 30, Palace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the projects to be bankrolled from the multibillion-peso LGU assistance fund are not likely to encounter problems, if these are “obligated” early next year. “It depends,” Lacierda told the BusinessMirror. “If the projects are obligated before February, they will not be affected by the election ban.” Under previous directives issued by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) governing publicworks projects during election season, all releases, disbursements and expenditures of public funds are prohibited from March 30 until election day. The prohibition, however, does not apply to ongoing projects began before the campaign period. Lacierda, likewise, affirmed that the Palace is making sure that the P18.4 billion LGSF in 2016 would be equally disbursed to both proadministration and opposition-led LGUs. At the same time, Lacierda recalled Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad’s assurance that the fund releases to LGUs are “politically color-blind.”

CA junks bid of Ponzi scheme victims briefs to secure $2.2 million recovered funds oil firms adjust fuel prices anew By Joel R. San Juan

HE Court of Appeals (CA) has denied the petition filed by several victims of the so-called Ponzi scheme seeking the transfer from the custody of the Hong Kong Court to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Muntinlupa City the amount of $2.2 million recovered from the perpetrators of the scam. In a 10-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Eduardo Peralta Jr., the CA’s Fourth Division nullified the writ of preliminary mandatory injunction issued on March 22, 2012, and May 25, 2015, by the Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 256 presiding Judge Leandro Catalo directing petitioner Roderick John Sutton, the Hong Kong Court-appointed liquidator of Performance Investment Products Corp. Ltd. (PIPC), to deposit the amount with the Muntinlupa City RTC for proper disposition. Judge Catalo also issued a writ of injunction enjoining Sutton from enforcing the payment of the legal fees and expenses as liquidator against the $2.2 million in their possession. He agreed with respondents Harvie Baron and Alfonso Martin Eizmendi that the money in possession of the liquidators belonged to the

By Butch Fernandez

investors of Ponzi scheme. In reversing the ruling of the Muntinlupa City RTC, the CA agreed with Sutton’s argument that the subject funds are under the legal custody of the Hong Kong High Court to which the Philippine Court has no power to control by means of injunction. “It is worthy to emphasize that the disposal of the funds, including the liquidation fees and charges, under receivership is subject to the control of the court in Hong Kong. Any disposal thereon must be with the approval of the court,” the CA ruled. It would have been prudent, according the CA, for the Muntinlupa City RTC to decline the counterclaim of the respondents since the controversy was tackled in Hong Kong’s proceedings. Furthermore, the CA held that the respondents failed to justify that they stand to suffer “grave and irreparable” injury if Sutton’s claim for legal fees and other expenses will be granted and deducted from the $2.2 million. It noted that the damage alleged by claimants can be quantified and cannot be considered “grave and irreparable” under the law. “Ultimately, the funds to which private respondents may be entitled to will be

determined by the disposition of the trial court in the main case. Furthermore, private respondents will not be deprived forthwith of their investments considering their participation in the liquidation proceedings before the High Court of Hong Kong,” the CA pointed out. Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Noel Tijam and Francisco Acosta. Prior to the controversy, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region appointed Sutton as one of the provisional liquidators of PIPC. The appointment was a result of the Ponzi scheme allegedly perpetrated by Michael Liew, the principal owner of Performance Investment Group of Companies, which is primarily engaged in the business of trading future commodities. Under the PIPC’s financial scheme, investors were required to shell out a minimum of $40,000 with a promise of 12 percent to 15 percent return of investment annually. Those who cannot produce the minimum amount were allowed to have partners in order to produce the required minimum investment. The investor is then asked to identify a pair of currencies where he or she would like to place the investments.

Oil firms announced on Monday an adjustment in the prices of petroleum products. Eastern Petroleum Corp. said it will reduce the price of gasoline by P0.30 per liter and that diesel prices will be increased by P0.30 per liter. Fernando L. Martinez, Eastern Petroleum chairman and CEO, said the price cut for gasoline will take effect at 6 p.m. on Monday, while the price hike for diesel will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday. “The latest reduction, particularly for gasoline prices, reflects the continuous downward trend in global gasoline prices, while the diesel price hike is attributable to the slight increase in international diesel prices and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar,” Martinez said. Pilipinas Shell, for its part, said it will implement the price rollback in gasoline by P0.25 per liter. Kerosene and diesel prices will be increased by P0.20 per liter and P0.35 per liter, respectively. Other oil firms are expected to follow suit. World crude prices generally lowered on combined predominant reports on Chinese stock market rout and crude supply glut. Analysts have indicated that prices may continue to remain stable at its current low levels up to August. Thus, motorists can rest assured that local pump prices will be reflective of the price trend in the world oil market. However, prices for September appears to be on the upswing.

marcos: we need better internet, telecommunications services

Faster Internet speed and robust telecommunications systems should be a priority of the next administration, said Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. at the open forum of Asia CEO Talks, as the senator noted that telecommunications has made all economies a part of the global marketplace. “It was five or six years ago when the volume of commerce conducted on the Internet surpassed the volume of commerce conducted face-to-face in stores, in malls and all

Lacierda reported that, according to Abad, P11.5-billion of the LGUSF is part of the Aquino administration’s Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB) scheme and that “people can view in openbub.gov.ph the list of LGUs that benefit from the BUB, including the types of projects and the amount of funding." “The P6.5 billion is for provincial road rehabilitation and upgrade, and the provinces, projects and fund allocations will soon be available in openroads.gov.ph. In short, these programs are politically color-blind,” Abad assured Lacierda. The Comelec is expected to issue a new resolution enforcing the ban on all fund releases for public-works projects which will remain in effect until the May 9, 2016, presidential elections. Previous resolutions imposing the ban issued by the poll body in past elections provided that “no public official or employee, including barangay officials and those of government-owned and/or -controlled corporations and their subsidiaries, shall release, disburse or expend any public funds in connection with the elections.” The prohibition, however, exempted “ongoing public-works projects commenced before the campaign period or similar projects under foreign agreements.”

of our more traditional ways of buying and selling. That is something that we must immediately recognize,” Marcos said. With these changes in global commerce, he said, the next administration should adopt a mindset where telecommunications, especially the Internet, is part of the Philippines’s essential infrastructure. Marcos noted that the Philippines ranks among countries with the slowest and most expensive Internet services in the world. According to a study on consumer Internet speed, as of May 2015, the Philippines had the second-slowest average download speed among 22 Asian countries, next only to war-torn Afghanistan. Internet metrics provider Ookla found that the Philippines averaged a download speed of just 3.64 megabytes per second (Mbps), which ranked 176th out of 202 countries worldwide. The global average broadband download speed of 23.3 Mbps is nearly eight times faster than in the Philippines. “How are we supposed to conduct business on this basis? You and I all know that when it comes to a point where there is no Wi-Fi, we don't quite know what to do with ourselves because we have to keep that line of communication going,” Marcos said. Recto Mercene

mmda deploys personnel in cebu for apec summit AS part of the preparation for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (Apec) summit set from August 22 until September 6, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has deployed some of the agency’s personnel in Cebu to assist in the traffic-management operations and relevant crowd-control operations. “Ang MMDA ay katulong sa pagsasaayos kasama ang kapulisan kagaya po nung nakita sa Boracay, sa Bacolod at sa ibang lugar tulad ng Bataan,” MMDA Chairman Francis N. Tolentino said, adding that 50 select personnel will be tasked to assist in the traffic-management operations and provide motorcycle escort security. Tolentino said MMDA is part of the Apec national organizing committee. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

A6 Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Adopt a system that can be trusted

he BusinessMirror put up a team of its topnotch business reporters to examine the 2016 national budget. This was prompted, in part, by accusations that the administration might consider using government funds in the 2016 presidentialelection campaign. The immediate cause of concern is the fact that the “General Appropriations Act is 15.2 percent higher than this year’s P2.606-trillion budget, when the administration will only stay in power for half of 2016 and with ‘pork-like’ insertions present in the new budget proposal.” The administration disputed the comments from Kabataan Party-list Rep. Terry L. Ridon, who said that 22 percent of the budget could be considered “pork”. Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. noted that the track record of President Aquino’s five-year incumbency has not been associated with misuse of public funds. Every organization makes a choice with its model. Either it puts in place and relies on a clear and controlled system, as evidenced by the massive number of companies that have achieved International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000 management quality. Alternatively, the organization relies on the people in charge working within a system that is not tightly controlled. Among other sources of funds that could be subject to misuse are not subject to congressional oversight. As pointed out, this includes the P2-billion budget for the President’s Social Fund (PSF). The government counters that the use of these funds is ultimately audited by the Commission on Audit (COA), a fact subject to dispute. However, the Special Purpose Fund (SPF), amounting to P430 billion, is spent at the sole discretion of the President. We looked at the amount of discretionary funds available to the President of the United States. The budget for the US Executive branch is $730,956,000 for the current year. The total amount available that is not clearly and specifically prebudgeted and spent at the discretion of the president is $1 million for “unanticipated needs”. Every dollar of the $730 million is itemized in the approved budget by the US Congress. Further, all expenditures must be reported to the US Congress every quarter. It is not enough simply to put trust in a single individual. No corporation would even think of putting the spending of P430 billion exclusively in the hands of one person, regardless of how careful an after-the-fact audit might be. The Philippine president has some, if not total, discretion over the use of the PSF, the SPF and another P500 million for “confidential and intelligence funds”. The last P500 million is only subject to the requirement of submitting to the COA a certification stating, in very general terms, the purpose for which the money is used. This is far too much money to be left in the hands of one person, regardless of that person’s integrity. We are relying too much on trusting the people in office rather than having a system that can be trusted.

A businessman’s take on the economy Manny B. Villar

THE Entrepreneur

Fifth of a series

xciting things are also happening in the hotel industry, driven not only by the growing tourism industry but also by the growing reputation of the Philippines as a global shopping haven, fueled, in turn, by the explosive growth of the retail business. For a long, long while, the hotel industry had been in the doldrums. Tycoons were saying that there’s no money in hotels, so few investors were putting money into the construction of hotels. Now, the tycoons are expanding in hotels, and are even coming up with their own brands. Examples are the Seda hotel brand of the Ayalas, the Crimson and Quest hotels of Filinvest, the Go Hotels and Summit of Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) and Megaworld’s Richmonde and Belmont. More global brands are coming to the Philippines, which should help attract more tourists to the country. George Ty’s Federal Land is scheduled to open this year the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Bonifacio Global City. It is said to be the first six-star hotel to be opened in the Philippines in 20 years, and the tallest, with 66 stories housing 450 rooms. Shangri-La, which opened the Shangri-La Resort and Spa in Boracay in 2009,

is now completing a 61-story hotel at The Fort, which will have 675 rooms, plus a residential component. Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group Inc. is pursuing an aggressive development plan to become the largest hotel developer in the country with a total of 20,000 rooms in its portfolio by 2020. According to the company, the hotel portfolio will consist of 12 different local and global brands, including Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, Westin, Okura and Maxims. As of August 2014, the group’s hotel portfolio totaled 1,900 rooms: Richmonde Hotel Ortigas, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, Marriott Hotel, Maxims Hotel and Remington Hotel in Newport City, and Fairways and Bluewater in Boracay Newcoast. Ayala Land Inc. is also pursuing an expansion plan aimed at having 4,000 hotel rooms in its portfolio by the end of 2015. The company’s portfolio includes

Money is broken John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

F you had lived 2,000 years ago, you might have been lucky enough to own the ancient equivalent of a bar/resto down the road from the nearest Roman Legion barracks.

Legionnaires were well paid in those times, as the Roman economy depended on the conquest of new lands to keep the public coffers filled, and trade and business booming. The emperors also depended on the military to keep order and to keep them in power. One of the most generous to the military was Caracalla, who made his mark as a general—although his father was Emperor Septimius Severus—by marching alongside his troops, living in their tents, and eating the same food. Caracalla created many enemies by having his wife and brother murdered so that he could remain the emperor. But he knew how to take care of his troops. One day at your bar, the legionnaries would have come for a few pitchers of wine—beer was considered fit only for barbarians—and all of them would have been in a good mood. Caracalla had just raised the salary for the military by

doubling their income. To do this, he created a new coin, the Antoninianus, which was a double-denarius, the standard coin of the realm. Business would have been great, as the soldiers now had twice as much to spend on food and drinks. However, after carefully examining the new coins and checking with the ancient Roman equivalent of the bank, you would have discovered that the silver content of the “double-denarius” was not equal to two of the former denarius. In fact, because of the lower silver content, you would be making less money on twice as many sales. This all happened in about 200 A.D. and by 476, the Roman Empire ceased to exist, in part, because the money continued to be degraded by successive Roman governments. A 1,000-year history came to an end for a variety of reasons. But when an economy fails, the country

Seda hotels in Quezon City, Arca South in Taguig City, Nuvali in Laguna and Circuit in Makati, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Bonifacio Global City. In 2012 Ayala Land opened the Holiday Inn, The Raffles and Fairmont in Makati. For its part, John Gokongwei’s RLC plans to open two to three hotels every year under its own brands, Go Hotels and Summit. In the fourth quarter of 2014 RLC opened the 198-room Go Hotel in Ortigas Center, the 82-room Summit Hotel at the Robinsons Magnolia shopping center in Quezon City and the 104-room Go Hotel in Butuan, its first branch in Mindanao. RLC, which currently has more than 2,000 hotel rooms, also operates the Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila and the Holiday Inn Galleria Manila. Leading mall developer Henry Sy has also become a major player in the hotel industry. In 2013 SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) already had four hotels in its portfolio, including the Park Inn by Radisson Davao, Radisson Blu in Cebu, Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay and Pico Sands at Hamilo’s Pico de Loro Resort in Nasugbu, Batangas. SMHCC has also signed a management agreement with Hilton Worldwide for the latter to manage the 347-room Conrad Manila hotel at the Mall of Asia Complex, which is scheduled to open in mid-2015. The lifting of the European ban on Philippine carriers in June will have a positive impact on tourism, including the hotel industry, because it will make the Philippines more accessible to tourists from European countries. In a joint announcement on June 26, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the European

Commission said all airlines certified in the Philippines have been allowed to mount flights to Europe. The latest announcement benefits Air Asia Inc., Air Asia Zest, Air Philippines Corp., Island Aviation Inc., Magnum Air (Skyjet Inc.), Southeast Asian Airlines (Tiger Airways) and Southeast Asian Airlines International Inc. Philippine Airlines was allowed to fly to Europe in 2013, followed by Cebu Pacific in 2014. Data from the Department of Tourism show that foreign tourist arrivals totaled 2.23 million from January to May this year, an increase of 8.15 percent from 2.06 million for the same period in 2014. During the first five months of 2015, tourists spent P93.91 billion, up 2.74 percent from P91.4 billion in the same period last year. Tourism continues to increase its contribution to the economy. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), tourism cuts across different sectors of the economy. The tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) serves as the indicator to measure the value added of different industries in relation to tourism activities of both inbound and domestic visitors in the country. As measured by the TDGVA, the contribution of tourism to the economy was estimated at 7.8 percent in 2014. The TDGVA amounted to P982.4 billion in 2014, higher by 14.0 percent compared to the previous year’s P861.7 billion.

and state cannot be far behind. Once you discovered that the money was not worth as much as you thought it was, the price of partying would have to be raised. And if the bar owners are raising prices, then the grape growers, the wine vintners and everyone else in the economic chain would be forced to do the same thing. The value of money can be determined by several methods. How much does it cost to borrow money? If interest rates are low as they are now, then the money is not as valuable as when someone wanted, say, 10 percent to make you a loan. If you can borrow money at 1-percent or 2-percent interest, it means that the lender is willing to accept very little just to get rid of the cash. You might think that if money is cheap to borrow, then everyone would go out and borrow, start a business like drilling for oil or growing crops, and everyone would prosper. Actually, in the last years, that is exactly what has happened. During the last 10 years, global production of cereal grains like wheat is up 20 percent and prices are down. “Cheap” money creates investments, which can create supply that is greater than demand. We have seen that in the price of crude oil. With a large increase in supply, a small fall in demand can cause prices to drop dramatically. We are seeing that as the Chinese demand

for commodities is falling. You might also think that if money is “cheap,” the producers and sellers would raise prices to offset the cheap money. But, at some point, what happens is just the opposite. Hyperinflation is characterized as massive amounts of cash trying to buy a limited amount of goods. But deflation and even “hyperdeflation”—when prices fall—is just as real, although much rarer and can occur in times of cheap money. Look at it this way: If I can increase my cash position by borrowing at very low rates, why should I break into a sweat trying to sell my goods and gain market share? Wouldn’t it be much easier just to lower my prices? If you can borrow money even at a high 10-percent interest and your net profit margin is 15 percent, there is no reason to raise prices. The central banks have “broken” money by distorting interest rates. These rates should operate the same way that every other price mechanism works—based on supply and demand. If the “price” and value of money is artificial, then all other prices will be just as artificial. E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

To be continued For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail.com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

Completing Atticus

A K to 12 czar

BusinessMirror

Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free fire

big fuss attended the publication of Harper Lee’s newly discovered novel, Go Set a Watchman. It was the rejected draft of what became, under editorial guidance, the bestselling novel and a blockbuster thinking person’s movie, To Kill a Mockingbird. I never read it. As a boy I saw tattered copies in friends’ houses, so I figured it was commonplace. I read it just recently in anticipation of a copy of Harper Lee’s newly released first attempt at novel, and it is a finely written work; like Truman Capote’s posthumously published fragmentary novel, Answered Prayers. Something seems missing but Go Set a Watchman is perfect in its way and certainly more mature, if less lyrical, than what it became in Mockingbird. I can see why Mockingbird became the most loved novel in 20 languages.

Mockingbird is famous for two characters: the tomboyish Scout and her dad Atticus Finch, a lawyer and a Southerner in that order. Atticus defends a black man accused of raping a piece of white trash. The thing to keep in mind is that for Atticus, the case is not a crusade, it is a duty. He is a lawyer. For Atticus, the color of the accused made no difference. The evidence was weak; the racial prejudice strong; and the girl was likely to have been abused by her dad, it being the South and all that and she and her dad being white trash. Atticus reckoned it wasn’t right for prejudice to dictate law nor was it fair, in the Rawlsian sense, as he couldn’t wish the black man’s situation on himself or his family. Gregory Peck played Atticus to perfection—he said later it was the best thing he’d ever done—especially when he tells his daughter: to understand a man, you gotta get in his skin and walk around in it a bit. The greatest philosopher of the 20th century, John Rawls, argued somewhat the same thing for his massive Theory of Justice. Put yourself in the other man’s shoes and see if you like it. Or better yet, put yourself in the shoes of someone who might turn out to be anyone, the Grand Master of the Ku Klux Klan or the black man the Klan tied to a tree and blowtorched before hanging. Now comes Go Set a Watchman, set far in the future of Mockingbird. Scout is a young woman with a sensitive social conscience. She’s still admiring her aged father, but discovers a different man when she visits him. The lawyer who bravely defended a black man in a white town is now opposed to the civil-rights movement. But he is not a racist, as all American reviewers mistakenly say. He is not against equality; he is just against forced solidarity. I myself don’t like a lot of people of my skin color; in fact, most of the people I dislike are of my hue; and the people in my life who have mattered the most are white—Prof. Claude Buss, for one, of the Hoover Institute on War and the Naval School in Monterrey. Thank God, Jesus enjoined us only to love one another, which is entirely different from having to like them all. Indeed, unless we are pathologically convivial—I have met a few of

those and hate them—we like very few people. Even if some change is needed in the world he’s always known, Atticus fears that any change might sweep his whole world away, the good with the bad. The South was not a life of privilege for some (white) at the expense of others (black and tons of poor white trash), but a way of life where everyone had his place: not one over another but each in a separate space. I knew a world like that. When I was small in a small town in the south, I swear I never met anyone who was not of my kind, nor for that matter, who wasn’t related to me, except the old lady who came around every morning with a straw tray of pastries on her head and let me take my pick. I wondered how she could afford it, since I don’t recall ever paying her. So I get him, I understand Atticus. He is the same man in both stories. We can’t go home again, Thomas Wolfe said, yet all we want is to return to a world by no means perfect but familiar, like a face. This is the virtue of fidelity, the contemporary French philosopher Andre Comte-Sponville said. The Atticus of Mockingbird is not contradicted, nor is he supplanted, by the Atticus of Go Set a Watchman. On the contrary, it completes him. In both stories, Atticus is first and last a gentleman, and gentlemen play fair. John Rawls said that a sense of justice defines a person regardless of color, creed or condition. We owe justice to every man, as everyman owes us justice, but that doesn’t mean we must socially mix with everybody. Atticus defended an innocent black man certain to be convicted in a white town, yet pined for the old world in which that was necessary. But you see the defense was an act, while wanting nothing to change was just a thought. Good is not something to just think about—in fact, it is not good if it is just a thought. Good is something that is done. What counts is not what you think, or, for that matter, what you feel, but what you do. A man is what he does, said Sartre, and Malraux called him the sum of his actions, as Freud saw him as the sum of all his fears. The rest of a man, his thoughts or antiquarian feelings, none of that adds or takes anything away from what a person has made himself by his actions.

Edgardo J. Angara

wo years before the first cohort of Grade 6 and Grade 12 students will graduate under the K to 12 Program, some groups have expressed their opposition to the new educational cycle. In fact, they’ve brought their opposition to the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court. Their hostility has been stoked by populist politicians who argue that, as K to 12 adds two more years of schooling, it will impose additional financial burden on families. Yet, without the Enhanced Basic Education Act (Republic Act [RA] 10533) or the K to 12 law, we would remain one among only three

countries in the world with a 10-year basic-education cycle. For decades, Filipino professionals—including engineers, architects, doctors and nurses—were put at a disadvantage in other countries, because our graduates are missing two years in a six-year primary and a four-year secondary

BLOOMBERG VIEW

or the Chinese government, November 2016 can’t arrive soon enough. Last week’s currency devaluation ensured Beijing will serve as a political punching bag during America’s presidential campaign.

Donald Trump set the stage with tweets like “Devalue means suck the blood out of the United States!” and “I’ve been warning about China since as early as the 80’s. No one wanted to listen. Now our country is in real trouble.” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham called the devaluation “just the latest in a long history of cheating,” while Democratic Sen. Bob

Casey urged the Treasury Department to label China a currency manipulator. There’s a time-warp quality to this sort of China bashing. The assumption among some officials in Washington still seems to be that China is trying to boost its export machine at the expense of American workers. But China’s economic priorities—and the motives

education. They received lower pay and slotted in lower positions, despite their comparable competence and work ethic. The switch to K to 12 will correct that systemic error, which handicaps our youth from the very outset of their careers. More important, the new system will provide our graduates an even playing field with the rest of their peers. As an educational reform, K to 12 is exceptional. It will enrich the curriculum and give a high-school graduate employable skills. What deserves closer attention, however, is its implementation during the five-year transition period. Implementation problems, such as funding, alternative-work packages for the 25,000 who will lose their jobs during the transition, etc., will require more specificity and elaboration.

Economic Cha-cha gains ground Ernesto M. Hilario

ABOUT TOWN

alls are mounting for amending the nearly three-decadeold 1987 Constitution to make it conform to new conditions and, thus, hasten the country’s long-standing bid to join the ranks of the developed economies.

Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno is now leading the charge against what he described as a “stale and outmoded 1987 Constitution” that has concentrated power in the central government in Manila, and widened the gap between the rich and the poor in society, instead of reducing poverty. He has organized a multisectoral movement, which is called Bagong Sistema, Bagong Pagasa, that wants to shift from the current presidential-unitary to a federalparliamentary system. The shift is needed, the movement says, to decentralize government, put a stop to systemic corruption and achieve inclusive growth. They want to rewrite the Charter through a constitutional convention (Con-con) consisting of both elective and appointive delegates. For this purpose, they suggest holding a referendum in the May 2016 polls to determine whether the people want a Con-con. Puno’s initiative to change the 1987 Constitution appears to be gaining ground among business leaders and academics. But where the retired magistrate wants no less than a total overhaul of the Charter, others want a quicker approach by changing only the economic provisions restricting foreign ownership. The proponents of economic Charter hange (Cha-cha) want the adoption of Resolution of Both Houses 1 (RBH 1), authored by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., which seeks to add a five-word phrase—“unless otherwise provided by law”—to seven economic provisions of the Constitution to allow greater participation of

foreign investors in various enterprises, including agriculture, mining, public utilities and mass media. The inclusion of the five-word phrase in a piece of legislation would fast-track the amendment of the 1987 Charter. If approved by both chambers of Congress and later by a plebiscite, RBH 1 would do away with lengthy discussions in a Con-con. Sen. Ralph Recto has filed a counterpart measure in the Senate. Support for RBH 1 comes from a broad range of personalities. Francis Lim, president of the Shareholders’ Association of the Philippines and former head of the Philippine Stock Exchange, expressed disappointment that President Aquino, in his latest State of the Nation Address, did not prod Congress to push the economic Cha-cha initiative: “I was waiting for him to ask Congress to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution during his last year in office, as a more friendly investment climate will definitely multiply a million fold the trickle-down effect of his reform agenda.” Former Finance Secretary Ramon R. del Rosario Jr. has appealed to Belmonte and Senate President Franklin M. Drilon to pursue amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution to “allow our country to compete effectively for much-needed job-creating investments.” For his part, former Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority and now Ateneo de Manila University economics Prof. Cielito Habito concedes that $6.2 billion worth of foreign direct

Presidential candidates are hung up on China William Pesek

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

for its economic policy—have shifted dramatically in recent years. If China were really trying to close factories in Detroit and Seattle, its devaluation would have been on the order of 15 percent or 20 percent, not a mere 3 percent. China is far more concerned about its service sector than manufacturing. Since 2013, services have generated a larger share of China’s growth than exports. And that share continues to grow: In the first half of 2015, services accounted for 50 percent of gross domestic product, a rise of 2.1 percent from a year earlier. The Chinese government, moreover, has reason to think it can outcompete American manufacturing, even in the absence of currency shenanigans. In the five years prior to the devaluation, the yuan surged an inflation-adjusted 33 percent against major trading partners. Chinese businesses nonetheless held their own against the competition.

So far this year, China’s share of global exports surged to an unprecedented 15 percent from 8.7 percent five years ago. The reality is China’s devaluation was a response to financial markets that have been trying to drive the yuan lower. Beijing probably also wanted to buy itself some breathing room to redouble its economic-reform efforts. It’s much easier to take on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and encourage the creation of new small-and-midsize services when giant exporters (a group SOEs dominate) are happy. Neither of these goals should cause unease in Washington. The first (a market-determined yuan) is exactly what the White House has long recommended, while the second (a services boom) is something that can only help American manufacturers. To be sure, there’s plenty of reasons to criticize Chinese trade practices. Nomura political analyst Alastair Newton

President Aquino may consider appointing someone to act as a project manager—an “implementation czar”—to iron out the kinks and flesh out the bare ideas in order to ensure that RA 10533 is implemented properly. This role cannot be relegated to an interagency committee of Department of Education, Department of Labor and Employment, Commission on Higher Education or Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, where no one is obviously accountable. Such eminent person may come from outside academia. Personally, I would look for an executive who has not only demonstrated competence, but also knowledge, of Philippine education, history and the jobs market. E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com.

investments (FDI) in 2014 was a record amount, nearly double that of the previous year and more than six times the annual average in the past decade, but, at the same time, laments that our neighbors, including Vietnam, have continued to attract far more. “It’s not a particularly good time to be missing out once again on foreign investments flowing into our region, with foreign companies either exiting from China due to rising labor costs there, or seeking a second base of operations besides China,” Habito said, adding that “we should be moving even more aggressively at this time, rather than allowing the election fever to make us drop our guard on needed reforms.” Calixto Chikiamco, president of the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF), believes that the Philippines can achieve inclusive economic growth only by lifting all restrictions to foreign participation in Philippine businesses, including removing foreign-ownership restrictions in the Constitution. He has also called for “reducing the foreign investment negative list; lowering the capital requirements for retail trade; and even liberalizing immigration rules to allow foreigners with certain skills to work here.” The FEF is batting for approval of RBH 1, because it will attract more investments needed to sustain economic growth that will create enough jobs for Filipinos, and also facilitate the entry of foreign competitors that can do away with the monopolies of existing market giants. At the same time, it believes that more foreign investments would enhance consumer welfare through better service delivery and more choices for domestic users. “The Philippines has a low domestic-savings rate but this can be augmented by foreign investments,” it said. “It is the firm belief of FEF that opening up the economy to foreign investors and allowing more freedom in investments and flow of factors of production will lead to more economic activity that will benefit all.” Australian executive Peter Wallace

of the Management Association of the Philippines opined that RBH 1 will not even change the Constitution, but will only allow Congress—at a later date— to review the economic provisions and decide to change them, or not to change them. And to make that decision after wide discussion with everyone and all interested parties. It provides the opportunity to take into account how much the world has changed since 1987, and to allow us to make changes from which all will benefit. Foreign business organizations in the country have also been urging the Aquino administration to review its business and investment policies in order to stem the decline in FDI. John Forbes, a senior advisor at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, observed that Southeast Asia is now the fastestgrowing economy and that Vietnam is getting the most rise in FDI inflows within the region. He says that “the Philippines can capture more,” if only it would reexamine its restrictive economic policies. Henry Schumacher, vice president for external affairs at the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc., emphasizes that further opening up of the Philippine economy would increase FDI inflows. “What we would like to see, from a foreigner’s point of view, is that the door will be opened a bit wider so that more competition can be created, which is good for Filipinos,” he said. From another perspective, the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia also says that the Philippines is among the more restrictive economies in Southeast Asia in terms of FDI. The European Union-Asean Business Council has, likewise, noted that access to the region’s markets is crucial to encouraging greater investments. It, likewise, argues for the lifting of “restrictions on foreign ownership and foreign competition.” If there’s a groundswell of support from various sectors for economic Cha-cha, why is President Aquino against it?

has said that when the history of the early 21st century is written decades from now, the impact of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 may pale in comparison to another epochal moment that year: China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. The prevailing opinion had been that would force Beijing to play by global rules. Instead, China has been bending the international-trading system to its own preferences. Global-economic norms proved no match for China’s subsidies for politically connected enterprises, questionable respect for intellectualproperty rights, state-sponsored computer hacking, opaque crackdowns on foreign companies and poor labor and environmental standards. American officials can also fairly criticize Beijing for exporting pollution, allowing runaway military spending, engaging in provocations in the South China Sea, and supporting rogue regimes

like North Korea. But currency policy doesn’t deserve a prominent place on any such list. In fact US officials should welcome China’s devaluation, and respond by requesting a diplomatic quid pro quo: We will look the other way (as we do with Japan) so long as you accelerate efforts to expand service industries. A services boom in mainland China would mean more than just an increase in the number of companies like Alibaba hoping to trade on New York’s stock exchange. It would also mean increased living standards for China’s 1.3 billion people, which could mean more imports of American goods. In economics, as in politics, you have to choose your battles, and China’s currency policy is a fair subject for debate. But if America’s presidential candidates choose to crudely criticize the yuan’s devaluation, it’s their own motives that should be examined, not China’s.

E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Tuesday, August 18, 2015

ALI formalizes acquisition of Tutuban Center owner

By VG Cabuag

roperty developer Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) on Monday said it has signed the agreement for the acquisition of controlling stake in Prime Orion Philippines Inc., a company that owns Tutuban Center in Divisoria, Manila, one of the busiest and crowded markets in the country.

ALI said that under the deal, the company will subscribe to some 2.5 billion common shares of stock—equivalent to 51.36percent interest—in Prime Orion

for about P5.62 billion. Prime Orion owns Tutuban Center through its wholly owned subsidiary Tutuban Properties Inc. Tutuban Center is a retail

complex in the shopping district of Divisoria in Tondo, Manila. It has a gross leasable area of about 60,000 square meters, offering various concepts, from wholesale and bargain stalls to regular retail and food outlets. “This acquisition is aligned with ALI’s thrust of expanding its leasing business,” the company said. Prime Orion earlier said it will benefit from the entry of ALI into the picture, as it will optimize the development of its property assets, especially Tutuban Center. Tutuban Center, which sits on a 20-hectare property, will be the location of the North-South

Railway Project Transfer Station, which will interconnect with the Light Rail Transit 2 West Station. As a result of the transaction, Prime Orion is increasing the number of its directors to nine from the current seven. It is also increasing its authorized capital stock to P7.5 billion, from P2.4 billion. “For this purpose, the board shall call a special stockholders’ meeting to secure the approval of its stockholders on the proposed amendments,” Prime Orion said. The board also approved the terms and conditions of its employees’ stock-ownership plan covering 250 million shares of stock.

Court stops airports’ PPP bidding. . .

“We received a TRO issued by the RTC in Davao City, but the Bids and Awards Committee has taken the position that proceeding with today’s activity does not violate any court issuance,” he said. Sagcal noted that the transportation department will have to wait for the legal opinion of the Office of

the Secretary General (OSG) before it takes any other move in light of the stay order. “We will have to wait for the advice of our legal counsel, the OSG,” he said. This is not the first time that the transport department received such an order for a major infrastructure deal.

According to a decision penned by Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro in 2010, only the High Tribunal has the power to issue a TRO against a national government project. But a local court could issue a stay order against a national government project if it involves a matter of

Continued from A1

“extreme urgency involving a constitutional issue, such that unless a TRO is issued, grave injustice and irreparable injury will arise.” Six parties submitted their qualification requirements to the DOTC, signifying their interest to bid for the PPP deal.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

MEGAWORLD’S BELMONT HOTEL TO OPEN IN OCT

roperty developer Megaworld Corp. is set to launch its latest hotel brand in Newport City this year. The locally bred brand—Newport Belmont Hotel—will make its debut at the company’s 25-hectare township in Pasay City. It is a 10-story businessclass hotel consisting of 480 rooms and suites ranging from 23 square meters (sq m) to 33 sq m in size. It will start operating in October. The hotel features a contemporary architectural design, with each room having a curtain wall, or floor-toceiling glass wall, to maximize the |light during the day. One of the hotel’s highlights is its landscaped atrium, which provides a view of Resorts World Manila (RWM) and the entire township. “The entry of Belmont Hotel in Newport City is a timely opportunity, as the existing hotels experience remarkable monthly occupancy rates since they opened a few years ago. We are bringing a new brand to cater to the discerning tastes of business travelers,” Lorenzo Tang, the hotel’s general manager, said in a statement. The hotel’s amenities include podium gardens, a 24-hour fitness center and workout area, lap pool with inwater pool lounge, paved sunbathing lounge, massage deck and seating area, pool spa, steam and sauna rooms, as well as its own business cen-

ter and medical clinic. It will also have a dining and shopping arcade at the ground level. This is the fourth hotel brand to rise in the vast Newport City township, which also houses RWM and three global hotel brands— Marriott Hotel Manila, Maxims Hotel and Remington Hotel. Currently these hotels have a total of 1,137 rooms that enjoy an average of 85-percent to 90-percent occupancy rate every month. Last year Andrew Tan, Megaworld chairman, announced he will be building hotels around the country with a total of 12,000 rooms. In the next five years, Megaworld and Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., the company that holds Tan’s gambling business, will be expanding by an additional 10,000 new hotel rooms, all of which will be constructed in his townships across the country. With the opening of Belmont, the property firm now expects the total hotel rooms in its townships across the country to reach 2,500 by the end of this year. Just this year, Megaworld has also opened the 12-story, 149-room Richmonde Hotel Iloilo inside the 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City. This is the first under the Richmonde Hotel brand to open outside of Metro Manila. VG Cabuag

Continued on A2

first ppp in batangas province The Batangas City government has issued a Notice to Proceed to Batangas Ventures Properties and Management Corp. (BVPMC) for the construction, development and operation of Batangas City Grand Terminal, a public-private partnership project. Present during the issuance are (from right): Gen. Emmanuel Carta (ret.); Batangas Board Member Marvey Mariño; Tirso Peralta of Planbank; Benjamin V. Ramos, BVPMC president; D. Edgard A. Cabangon, BVPMC chairman and Isuzu Gencars managing director; Batangas City Mayor Eduardo Dimacuha; Amor San Gabriel, Department of the Interior and Local Government director of Batangas City; lawyer Narciso Macarandang of PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) Selection Committee chairman; Engr. Sonny Godoy, City Planning and Development officer; lawyer Teodulo Dequito, City Legal officer, and other members of the PPP Selection Committee.

former senator Butz Aquino passes away

ormer Sen. Agapito “Butz” Aquino, brother of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., passed away on Monday, according to his nephew, Sen. Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV. He was 76. “Yes, unfortunately, it’s true. He passed away because of natural causes,” the senator said in a text message to reporters. Butz Aquino, who also served as a member of the House of Representatives, is the uncle of President Aquino. Butz Aquino led the August Twenty One Movement (Atom), a “yellow force” that was organized shortly after the death of Sen. “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. at the tarmac of the then-Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983, when he returned home from a self-imposed exile in the United States. The airport is now named after the slain senator, father of President Aquino. Atom was composed of a small group of people allied with the church, academe and business leaders who opposed the dictatorship of then-President Ferdinand Marcos. Aside from Butz Aquino, other prominent members of the group include Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, who was its legal counsel, and publicist Aurelio “Reli” German. Butz Aquino and his nephew, the president, had a parting of ways after Butz publicly allied himself with Binay, who had recently bolted the administration party as a Cabinet member, to officially declare his intention to run as the opposition candidate in the 2016 presidential election. Meanwhile, Malacañang mourned the death of President

Aquino’s uncle. In a statement, Secretary Edwin Lacierda, Palace chief spokesman, said “the Filipino people lost a committed public servant.” Lacierda recalled that the late senator had originally chosen a quiet life as an entrepreneur. “But, in the face of the dictatorship’s tyranny, he became one of the front line fighters for the restoration of our democracy,” Lacierda said. “A prime mover in the formation of Atom and Bandila [Bansang Nagkakaisa sa Diwa at Layunin], he played a prominent role in the parliament of the streets that fought the dictatorship’s bayonets, truncheons and tear gas with peaceful nonviolent assemblies, yellow confetti, and ati-atihan drums,” Lacierda said. The Palace spokesman added:“This road to reclaiming democracy by way of peaceful protests, as his sister-in-law Cory Aquino puts it, was crystalized in the boldness of Butz Aquino to be the first public figure to ask Filipinos from all walks of life to gather at the Isetann department store and provide civilian protection to those elements of the Armed Forces and Constabulary that decided to go against the dictatorship. His call was followed by Jaime Cardinal Sin’s exhortation to the people, and the miracle of Edsa happened” Lacierda said Butz Aquino was then called to public service in the Senate—where he became an advocate of cooperatives and the interests of small farmers—and, subsequently, in the House of Representatives. “He was known for his optimism, his wit, and his steadfast dedication to the ideals of his brother Ninoy and sister-in-law Cory. We know that in this time of grief and loss for his family, the Filipino people will take his loved ones into their warm and grateful embrace,” Lacierda said. Recto Mercene and Butch Fernandez