BusinessMirror July 2, 2015

BusinessMirror

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

U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008

A broader look at today’s business Saturday 18, 2014 10 No. Vol. 40 10 No. 266 Thursday, July 2,Vol.2015

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P.  |     | 7 DAYS A WEEK

I.M.F. SAYS ISSUANCE OF GUARANTEES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WITHIN THE BUDGET PROCESS

PHL not fully disclosing state guarantees

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HE International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Philippines has not reported all its financial guarantees and urged the government to properly disclose its obligations.

INSIDE

BYEBYE, BORACAY? G

Asap: Always say a prayer

OD our Father, if it is Your will, and is Your plan, enter every home in every country. Bring Peace, Unity, Love and Hope. Touch every heart so everyone can show kindness to all. Heal every sickness. Teach each one how to know, love and serve You. Let our Faith be always over our fears. Let our Trust be our lead to Your Kingdom. Let joy and humility be present as we live Jesus in our hearts forever.

Amen.

YETTA L. CRUZ AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

Editor: erard . a o • i e t e

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Life

REELING: LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS: FROM OZU TO KUROSAWA »D2

BusinessMirror

Thursday, July 2, 2015

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Bye-bye, Boracay? Hello, Bohol!

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B G R Lifestyle & Entertainment Editor

N a story that was published last month on CNNPhilippines.com, the writer Paolo Taruc reports: “A Japanese government agency is sounding the alarm of an ‘imminent loss’ of Boracay’s marine and coastal ecosystems if the status quo prevails. In a five-year study of the tourist spot, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and a group of Japanese and Filipino scientists discovered that the island’s coral reef ecosystem has been seriously degraded by tourism-related activities.”

Having visited this so-called strip of heaven-on-earth in Aklan intermittently over the past decade, this bit of recent news came as no surprise to me.

In 2005 FOMO finally got the better of me and I took a flight to this strip of resort living that had everybody oohing and aahing over its powder-soft white-sand beach and its crystal-blue water. Walking the shoreline that late afternoon of my arrival, as I channeled my inner Jane Fonda, circa Julia, it felt like I was traipsing on powder alright—but overall, the experience fell way short of the sublime.

All kinds of detritus carelessly left behind by tourists were everywhere, stretches of water were darkened by kelp, and the long stretch of beachfront reverberated with the mindnumbing din of mindless commerce.

So much for heaven on earth. When I returned to Manila and friends eagerly inquired about my Boracay experience, I invariably told them it felt like being in Malate in the 1990s on a weekend—minus the charm and character.

Of course Boracay is still on the map—and still cited as one of the “best beaches in the world.” Nonetheless, if the growing buzz being generated by destinations not found in Aklan is any indication, it would seem that no small chunk of tourists, both local and foreign, perhaps reeling from Boracay fatigue, are ready to move on.

One such destination is Bohol, in the Central Visayas region and the country’s 10th largest island which made international headlines in 2013 after an earthquake that measured 7.2 on the Richter scale shook the province and the entire region. The

earthquake claimed hundreds of lives and damaged thousands of structures, including centuries-old churches.

Today, as Boholanons continue to rebuild from the devastation wrought by the 2013 tremblor, the province is enjoying a renaissance as a tourist destination rich with offerings that go beyond lovely beaches and dazzling blue waters, from sublime churches that date back to the Spanish colonization of the Philippines (Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon, Church of San Pedro in Loboc) to a river of such poetry (Loboc River), from mystifying geological formations (Chocolate Hills) to one of smallest primates in the world (Philippine tarsier).

This renaissance in tourism has prompted top leisure property developers to open resorts/hotels that would accommodate the influx of local and foreign tourists looking to sample the offerings of the province. These include the ultra-luxurious Eskaya Beach Resort & Spa, and the excellent Bellevue Resort by the Bellevue Hotels & Resorts (the same company behind The Bellevue Manila in Alabang). Both are in Panglao, southwest of Bohol.

Joining the Bohol party in Panglao is the Henann Group of Resorts, which has made a name for giving Boracay some of the best accommodations to be found in that island.

The developer breaks another record in the hotel and tourism industry with the opening of Henann Resort Alona Beach ( . enann. o o o ), the largest resort in Panglao.

“We consider Henann Resort Alona Beach a milestone in our company’s 17-year history, as this is our first property outside Boracay. It has always been my personal goal to expand nationwide and bring the Hennan brand of service to the four corners of the Philippines,” said Dr. Henry O. Chusuey, chairman of the Henann Group of Resorts.

Welcoming guests beginning in April— and a group from the lifestyle and travel media in May, myself included—Henann Resort Alona Beach boasts of the longest and widest beachfront along Alona Beach, a 1 1/2-kilometer stretch of pristine white sand and overlooking rocky cliffs. The 6.5-hectare property has an initial 100 rooms on offer to tourists, with an additional 300 rooms nearing completion along with a luxury spa (Kai

Spa) and a three-story, 2,160-square-meter convention center that can house up to 1,000 guests. Its room types range from deluxe, premier and suites to family, premier with pool access, plus presidential and beachfront villas.

Anybody who has stayed in the Henann resorts in Boracay will find that its Bohol property echoes the brand’s signature architecture and aesthetics. The rooms feature coastal-inspired modern interiors.

Each has a private terrace, wireless Internet access, bath tub with separate shower area (for premier room only), individually controlled air-conditioning, cable TV, direct dial phone, in-room safe, coffee- and tea-making facilities and personal refrigerator.

“We build resorts with our clients first in our minds. We make it worth their stay whether they are with us for the short or long term. We always give our guests the best possible service as the goal is to make them happy from the moment they check-in until they leave,” Chusuey said.

Also like its Boracay properties, Henann Resort Alona Beach has three pools with a sunken bar for each. Other amenities include an open-air venue for weddings, VIP lounge, fitness and business centers, and a mini shop.

The brand’s famous F&B outlets in Boracay will also find a second home in Bohol by the second quarter of the year, including Sea Breeze Café (an all-day buffet restaurant) and Christina’s (Western fine dining). Already operational is the Coral Café, also an all-day buffet offering popular international fare.

The opening of Henann Resort Alona Beach couldn’t have come at a more fortuitous time. To attract more travelers both here and abroad, the Bohol Tourism Board has launched its “Visit Bohol 2015” campaign which highlights the province’s heritage and culture and eco-adventure activities.

The Henann Group of Resorts manages Boracay Regency Beach Resort and Spa (which will be renamed to Henann Regency Beach Resort and Spa), Henann Garden Resort, Henann Lagoon Resort and four more newly acquired properties in Station 1, Boracay. The company will be operating a total of 1,400 rooms in Boracay alone by 2016 and 2017.

With Bohol’s star rising anew as a tourist destination, one hopes that it won’t end up like the sorry mess that Boracay has become. n

THE grand lobby

DR. Henry O. Chusuey (center) with sons Alfonso (right) and Hendrick

THE beachfront beckons.

THE main building façade of Henann Resort Alona Beach

A POOL villa

LIFE

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RINGGIT RALLY

Asean

BusinessMirror Editor: Max V. de Leon • Thursday, July 2, 2015 B3-1

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Infrastructure–vital for growth and competitiveness Asean-EU Perspective

HENRY J. SCHUMACHER

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OUND infrastructure is vital for the long-term growth and competitiveness of emerging economies. In Asean, improvements to connectivity and energy supplies are helping to improve the standard of living and making countries in the region increasingly attractive for investors. Expanding economies like the Philippines are demanding an even greater focus on the development of infrastructure, but the success of the Aquino administration in delivering infrastructure remains extremely limited. And with the coming elections, the chances that infrastructure is developed is undermined by the fact that this administration becomes more and more ineffective and that the next administration will be effective only in early 2017—a vital 18-month period to be lost.

Governments in the region are providing investment in transportation and power-supply networks, alongside a raft of improvements to bolster their economies, help rural communities and to serve the growing need of their expanding cities. The task is enormous and this is reflected in projected investment costs.

The region will need to spend $950 billion on infrastructure by 2020, to see that its economies grow and develop, according to a study undertaken by the Asian Development Bank.

Improvements to water supplies, sewage networks, energy and other basic utilities can no longer be delayed. New railways, highways, ports, airports, power stations, dams and hydro schemes all feature in this promised overhaul. The Philippines aims to spend 5.2 percent of gross domestic product on infrastructure projects by 2016, compared to 2.2 percent in 2013. While the Aquino administration launched massive public-private partnership (PPP) ideas for infrastructure investments, the sad story is that most of them are still in the planning stage, failed bidding stage or a very early implementation stage. As European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, we are supporting three bills debated in committees of Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos:

The PPP bill; The build-operate-transfer law amendments, and The right-of-way law amendments.

We trust that these three pieces of legislation can be finished by the 16th Congress so that the next administration has more tools to implement badly needed infrastructure.

The case of railway development within, and between Asean countries with land borders is clear cut. The move from trucks and buses to railways will meet economic, social and environmental requirements.

In an archipelagic region that includes some 24,000 islands spread across 5,200 kilometer east to west and 3,400 km from north to south, Southeast Asia is defined by the sea.

The maritime sector is crucial to Asean countries’ connectivity, with shipping services, ports, shipbuilding and seafaring core activities, in vast parts of the region. For centuries the region has been a crossroads of global seaborne trade, a fact reflected in the scale of Asean’s maritime industries.

The creation of the Asean Economic Community is based upon the free flow of goods and people. This, in turn, depends on the establishment of an efficient and integrated maritime transport sector in the region. Possessing access to the world’s oceans is little advantage without modern ports, sound logistic facilities and effective management of maritime facilities.

There are many areas requiring improvements in order to promote a safe, modern, efficient and competitive shipping sector in the region.

There is a shortage of airports in many parts of Southeast Asia and even international airports serving major cities in the region are running out of capacity and increasingly stretched by millions of passengers. One consequence is that new landing slots are becoming hard to obtain. The entry and rapid development of budget airlines is responsible for much on the increased traffic. Growth of discount carriers has been phenomenal and they continue to drive the aviation market in the region.

Whatever the funding mechanism chosen, Asean’s massive infrastructure overhaul is under way and due to build up considerable momentum. n n n

Malaysia stocks, ringgit rally after Fitch refrains from cut

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ALAYSIAN stocks rallied by the most since 2013 and the ringgit rose along with bonds after Fitch Ratings held off from cut cutting the nation’s credit rating.

Fitch raised the outlook on its fourth-lowest investment grade of A- to stable from negative, according to a statement on Tuesday. It said a new consumption tax introduced in April and fuel subsidy reforms are supportive of Malaysia’s finances, even as government debt guarantees increase. The company warned in March that the chance of a downgrade was more than 50 percent, helping send the ringgit to a decade low.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index advanced 1.8 percent to 1,736.88 as of 11:38 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur. MISC Bhd., SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd. and DiGi.Com Bhd. were the biggest gainers, jumping more than 4 percent. The ringgit strengthened 0.9 percent to 3.7385 a dollar and earlier climbed to a oneweek high of 3.7287, data compiled

es from last year’s peak has weighed on the currency, as have debt woes at state investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd. and the prospect of higher US interest rates.

Prime Minister Najib Razak halted a decades-old fuel subsidy policy in December and started a 6-percent goods and services tax in April to boost state coffers. Falling oil prices prompted the government to lower 2015’s economic growth forecast in January to a range of 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent, from as much 6 percent.

Malaysia remains resolute in strengthening public finances and will stay on its fiscal consolidation course toward balancing the budget by 2020, according to an e-mailed statement on Wednesday from the finance ministry. The deficit target for 2015 is 3.2 percent of gross domestic product. The 10-year government bond yield retreated six basis points to 3.95 percent, adding to an eight-basis point decline on Tuesday.

Five-year credit-default swaps fell five basis points to 133, the biggest drop since March.

by Bloomberg show.

“The rating was expected and there’s no reason for Fitch to downgrade Malaysia’s rating based on what the government has done since the last review,” said Ang Kok Heng, the Kuala Lumpur-based chief investment officer of Phillip Capital Management Sdn., which manages $428 million. “We have been buying and we are still selectively buying,” he said, referring to the nation’s equities.

Bonds rise

THE benchmark stock index fell to six-month lows on Monday as overseas investors pulled funds ahead of Fitch’s review. The ringgit slumped to 3.7887 on the same day, close to the 3.8 level it was pegged at during the Asian financial crisis before being scrapped in July 2005. The 45-percent slump in Brent crude pric-

Surprise move

1MDB’S borrowings amounted to 41.9 billion ringgit ($11.2 billion) as of March 2014, partly because

of purchases of power plants and land. As the company’s troubled finances threatened Malaysia’s rating, Najib faced calls from former premier Mahathir Mohamad to step down as leader because of the performance of 1MDB, whose advisory board he chairs.

“Fitch continues to believe that the Malaysian sovereign is incurring additional contingent liabilities beyond explicit guarantees because of quasi-fiscal operations of stateowned entity 1MDB,” according to the Fitch statement. “Fitch thinks there is a high probability that sovereign support for 1MDB would be forthcoming if needed.”

Fitch lowered Malaysia’s outlook to negative in 2013, citing weaker prospects for public finances.

Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s also rank Malaysia at their fourth-lowest investment grades. Moody’s has a positive outlook, while S&P’s is stable.

“Fitch’s move to raise Malaysia’s outlook was a surprise,” said Wong Chee Seng, a foreign-exchange strategist at AmBank Group in Kuala Lumpur. “The ringgit’s strength reflects the realignment of trading positions as most people were factoring in a downgrade.” Bloomberg News

Singapore home prices post longest losing streak since 2002

Indonesia’s record bond inflow has Aberdeen braced for reversal

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NDONESIA has all the ingredients for a bond-market slump: accelerating inflation, slowing economic growth and Asia’s second-weakest currency this year.

And yet foreign investors are snapping up the country’s debt at the fastest pace on record, lured by a yield premium over Treasuries that’s averaged more than six percentage points this month. They pumped 17.8 trillion rupiah ($1.3 billion) into the sovereign notes last week, the most since the Finance Ministry started tracking the data in 2003.

The inflows show how the search for yield is prompting money managers to look past risks in emerging markets with a history of capital flight. While Indonesia’s reduced reliance on foreign-currency debt

gives it more scope to weather outflows than during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd. says the country is vulnerable as the Federal Reserve moves closer to raising interest rates.

“Just because they issued localcurrency bonds doesn’t mean they’re out of the woods,” said Donald Amstad, a Singapore-based director in business development at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia, whose parent oversees about $491 billion worldwide. “We are ultra-cautious where foreign ownership of a bond market is very high.”

Entry points

OVERSEAS investors now hold 40 percent of Indonesia’s local-currency S “I’,” B-

PUBLIC and private residential housing stands in the Bukjit Panjang neighborhood of Singapore on June 26. Singapore’s home prices dropped for a seventh consecutive quarter, the longest losing streak in 13 years, as tighter mortgage curbs cooled demand in Asia’s second-most expensive housing market.

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INGAPORE’S home prices dropped for a seventh consecutive quarter, the longest losing streak in 13 years, as tighter mortgage curbs cooled demand in Asia’s second-most expensive housing market.

An index tracking private residential prices fell 0.9 percent in the three months ended June 30, the longest stretch of declines since June 2002, according to preliminary data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Wednesday. The last time prices fell for this long was eight consecutive quarters from September

at real-estate broker Chestertons.

“We expect the same downward trend to continue for the next two quarters.” Prices may decline 4 percent to 5 percent this year, he said.

Residential prices have already declined 6.7 percent since the peak in September 2013 as the curbs started to bite. Home sales dropped 57 percent to 638 units in May from a year earlier as developers offered fewer projects, according to previously released URA data.

Apartment prices fell 0.5 percent in prime districts in the second quarter, Wednesday’s data showed. Those

2000, the data showed.

The government began introducing residential property curbs in 2009 as low interest rates and demand from foreign buyers raised concerns that the market was overheating. They have included a cap on debt repayment costs at 60 percent of a borrower’s monthly income, higher stamp duties on home purchases and an increase in real-estate taxes.

“The mortgage rules have impacted volumes a lot, which have more than halved, and that’s now showing in prices,” said Donald Han, Singapore-based managing director

in the suburbs dropped 1.2 percent.

Prices in areas near prime districts slipped 0.5 percent.

Singapore’s government may start easing residential curbs for Singaporeans owning their second and third homes, CBRE Group Inc. Head of Research Desmond Sim said last month.

The government may lower taxes for the island-state’s citizens, but won’t remove them entirely, Sim said.

Prices fell 4 percent last year, the first year-on-year decline since 2008, as the government’s five-year campaign to rein in property values curbed demand. Bloomberg News

ASEAN

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Sports BusinessMirror

BIG GUNS

RUSSIA’S Ekaterina Makarova has her eyes on the ball, as Romania’s Simona Halep is frustrated after losing a service game to Jana Cepelova of Slovakia on Tuesday. AP

ANDY MURRAY advances with ease. AP

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray went through in straight sets and joined the fourth member of their exclusive club, Novak Djokovic, who did the same on opening day on Monday.

B B D

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Los Angeles Times

HREE-QUARTERS of the men’s “Big Four” did what they were supposed to do on Tuesday at Wimbledon. They won.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray went through in straight sets and joined the fourth member of their exclusive club, Novak Djokovic, who did the same on opening day on Monday.

Federer, a seven-time champion here, beat Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3, and was asked afterward what Wimbledon moment he recalled most fondly.

“I prefer the moment at match point, until I hold the trophy,” he said, “and until I see my team and family.”

Nadal beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, and was asked afterward, seeing as he has slipped to a No. 10 seeding this year, how his game was.

“I played OK,” he said. “Played well, played solid. Very good with my backhand.”

So where did that put him, confidence-wise?

“Second round,” he said. “That’s all.”

Britain’s Murray, always the man in a fishbowl here, beat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4, and was asked—as the British press seeks any and every imaginable angle from him during Wimbledon—his feelings about the many Brits who died in the recent Tunisia beach massacre.

“I thought it was horrific,” Murray said.

KVITOVA CRUISES; HALEP OUT

IT was also a routine start for defending women’s champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, seeded second. She got the featured first match of the second day on Centre Court and made the most of it, beating Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-0.

Third-seeded Simona Halep didn’t fare as well. The Romanian was upset by Jana Sepelova of Slovakia, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Halep went all the way to the semifinals last year.

The woman who beat Halep in last year’s semifinals, and then lost badly to Kvitova in the final, continued to struggle. Eugenie Bouchard, the Canadian who reached two Grand Slam semifinals and the Wimbledon final last year—but slipped all the way to a 12th seeding here— was upset by China’s Ying-Ying Duan, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Bouchard is suffering from a torn stomach muscle and said she hopes that the break between now and the US Open will help her heal.

Sam Querrey won for the US men, but Tim Smyczek lost. Christina McHale of the US advanced on the women’s side.

SERENA AND VENUS PULL OUT OF DOUBLES L

ONDON—The Williams sisters pulled out of women’s doubles at Wimbledon on Tuesday, with Serena saying it’s because she wants to focus on her bid for a fourth consecutive Grand Slam title in singles.

The official reason for the withdrawal was given as Serena’s “soreness.”

Both siblings won first-round singles matches in straight sets on Monday.

“Following yesterday’s match, I feel it would be best for me to concentrate on singles here at Wimbledon, and as a result, have made the decision to withdraw from doubles,” Serena said in a statement. “I’ve always loved playing doubles with Venus, particularly here at Wimbledon where we’ve had so much success over the years, and so I’m really sorry to have to withdraw this year.”

She trailed 3-1 at the start and later slipped and tumbled to the turf during the first set of Monday’s 6-4, 6-1 victory over Margarita Gasparyan. Venus, who is older than Serena, beat Madison Brengle. 6-0, 6-0.

Serena has won 22 Grand Slam matches in a row and seeking to complete another self-styled “Serena Slam” with a fourth straight major title. She also has

a chance at the first calendar-year Grand Slam since Steffi Graf did it in 1988.

The two siblings have teamed to win 13 Grand Slam doubles titles as a pair, most recently at Wimbledon in 2012.

They have not even been as far as the semifinals at a major tournament in doubles since losing in that round at the 2013 US Open.

The sisters have yet to play a doubles match together this season. Their most recent competition was last year’s US Open, when they lost in the quarterfinals.

When the Williams sisters played doubles at the All England Club last year, they stopped after three games in the second round, after Serena served four consecutive double-faults. She had looked disoriented during warmups, having trouble grabbing tennis balls tossed to her by ball kids. The reason given that day was that Serena was ill.

Misaki Doi of Japan and Stephanie Vogt of Liechtenstein replaced the Williams sisters in this year’s draw.

The Slovakian team of Dominika Cibulkova and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova also pulled out of the doubles at Wimbledon on Tuesday. AP

IN GOOD COMPANY

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ONDON—Since 2006, only five teenagers have managed to reach the men’s third round at Wimbledon—and three of them went on to become Grand Slam champions: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Marin Cilic.

So a couple of kids could find themselves in good company if they can add their names to that short list this year.

One, 18-year-old Alexander Zverev of Germany, is in action on Wednesday at the All England Club, facing 105th-ranked wild-card entry Denis Kudla of the United States in the second round.

Zverev, who is ranked 74th, won a lengthy opening match on Monday, edging Teymuraz Gabashvili, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, 9-7.

Of the five teens in this year’s draw, only one other remains, 40th-ranked Borna Coric of Croatia, also 18. He won his first-round match on Tuesday, and it also ended 9-7 in the fifth set, against Sergiy Stakhovsky. Coric will meet 25th-seeded Andreas Seppi on Thursday with a chance to get to the third round.

Djokovic and Murray both were 19 in 2006 when they reached the fourth round at Wimbledon; Djokovic has

since collected eight major titles, and Murray two. Cilic, last year’s US Open champion, was 19 when he played in the fourth round in 2008.

The other teens to get at least to the third round since 2006 were Bernard Tomic in 2011, and Nick Kyrgios last year.

Here’s what else is happening on Wednesday at Wimbledon:

is only 24 and was a semifinalist a year ago. Haas has been ranked as high as No. 2—way back in 2002—and participated in four Grand Slam semifinals, including at Wimbledon in 2009. But he’s been hampered by injuries, including repeated operations on his right shoulder, most recently in June 2014.

WILLIAMS SISTERS

NO. 1 Novak Djokovic, the 2011 and 2014 champion, plays 92nd-ranked Jarkko Nieminen on Centre Court. Djokovic has won five of their previous six meetings, including last month at the French Open. He’s never lost to a player ranked as low as Nieminen in 228 career Grand Slam matches. Nieminen eliminated 2002 champ Lleyton Hewitt in the first round.

A DAY after pulling out of doubles, Serena and Venus Williams are on the schedule in singles. No. 1-seeded Serena takes a 22-match Grand Slam winning streak into her Centre Court match against 93rd-ranked Timea Babos of Hungary, whose career record at majors is 2-11. No. 16 Venus is on Court 2 against 95th-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

OLD HAND

DEFENDING CHAMP

SPORTS

AT 37, Tommy Haas is the oldest man to win a match at the All England Club since Jimmy Connors was 38 in 1991. After getting past 86th-ranked Dusan Lajovic in four sets in the first round, Haas will have a tougher task in the second round, taking on No. 7 Milos Raonic, who

U.S. MEN

THREE of the four remaining American men play, including No. 17 John Isner against 148th-ranked wildcard entry Matthew Ebden of Australia, and 52nd-ranked Steve Johnson against No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

Dimitrov lost to another young American, Jack Sock, in the first round at Roland Garros. AP

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a request for comment on the IMF report.

Still, President Aquino’s efforts to boost fiscal transparency are beginning to bear fruit, the IMF said. Since taking office in 2010, Mr. Aquino has undertaken closer scrutiny of spending plans and has cut the validity of most project approvals to one year from two.

The government should survey all agencies and state-owned companies on outstanding contractual guarantees and create a regularly updated guarantee register, the IMF said. Issuance of guarantees should be considered within the budget process with a ceiling covering domestic and foreign-currency guarantees, it said. Bloomberg News

Third phase of Nuvali’s Riomonte set for launch B VG C

CRUISE FOR BIG GUNS | THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Authorities have issued non-central bank guarantees equal to 47 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) but have only reported those equal to 31 percent of GDP, the IMF said in its Fiscal Transparency Evaluation report prepared by a staff team based on information as of May 2014.

“There is a range of other guarantees on issue that could cause a problem,” the IMF said in the report, released on June 30, citing guarantees to homeowners by state agencies and on old private-partnership projects. The mission discovered additional obligations through an incomplete survey of state-owned companies’ annual reports, it said.

The Philippine finance department didn’t immediately respond to

YALA Land Premier (ALP), the luxury real-estate arm of publicly listed Ayala Land Inc., said it will launch the third phase of its development at its latest project in Nuvali in Laguna this month, as the company recorded brisk sales in the two earlier phases.

Jose Juan Jugo, Ayala Land vice president and head of ALP, said the company anticipates sales averaging more or less P100 million a day at its Riomonte development, the company’s seventh in Nuvali.

This is an 85-hectare development project involving a so-called

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 45.1370

five-pocket neighborhood that Ayala Land hopes to develop at the cost of some P8.8 billion.

The project was launched only on May 31 and sells 10 lots per hectare on average.

“The average selling price of an ALP Nuvali lot in 2007 was P9,000 per square meter. That figure has now appreciated to as much as P30,000 per sq m in 2015, or a 91-percent increase,” Jugo said in briefing journalists.

He said sales takeup for the two phases of development, worth around P3.75 billion, already reached P2.7 billion or 72 percent of total.

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MARRIOTT GRAND BALLROOM UNVEILED The Marriott Grand Ballroom officially opens with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, led by (from left) Marriott Hotels Area Vice President for Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan Karl Hudson; Marriott Manila General Manager Bruce Winton; Marriott Hotels President and Managing Director for Asia Pacific Craig Smith; Alliance Global Group Inc. Executive Director Kevin Tan; Travellers International Hotel Group President Kingson Sian; Pasay City Mayor Antonio Calixto; and Resorts World Manila Chief Operating Officer Stephen Reilly. It was followed by the traditional dragon and lion dance, complete with an elaborate firecracker display. The Marriott Grand Ballroom is an 8,000-square-meter meetings facility that houses the Philippines’s largest hotel ballroom with 3,000 sq m of function space that can accommodate up to 4,000 guests. It features world-class, state-of-the-art technology, including the only ballroom that uses SkyFold Technology — vertical folding partitions that come from the ceiling—and 176 programmable pillow ceiling lights. Aside from the ballroom, there are 28 versatile multifunction spaces, including six VIP boxes, two ballrooms and three dining outlets. ALYSA SALEN

DOT developing new ‘opportunity markets’ B M. S F. A

Special to the BM

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HE Department of Tourism (DOT) is developing new markets to further increase visitor arrivals for 2015, with special focus on tourists coming from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Europe, former Soviet

Union states and the Middle East.

The efforts have been boosted with a P346-million separate lineitem budget under the DOT’s appropriations for 2015, official documents show. “This is the first time that there is a separate line item for the market development group,” confirmed DOT Undersecretary for Tourism Development Benito

C. Bengzon Jr. to the BM. The amount accounts for some 15 percent of the P2.3-billion DOT budget in this year’s General Appropriations Act (GAA).

In his presentation at the AIM Conference Center on “The Future of the Asean Tourism Industry” last Friday, Bengzon said the agency S “DOT,” A

n JAPAN 0.3687 n UK 70.9373 n HK 5.8225 n CHINA 7.2790 n SINGAPORE 33.5093 n AUSTRALIA 34.7475 n EU 50.2555 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.0378 Source: BSP (1 July 2015)

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DOT. . .

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Ayala Land redefines QC skyline with ‘Cloverleaf’

Continued from A1

is looking at “new opportunity markets” that could be a strong source for visitors. These are Russia (32,087 arrivals in 2014); India (61,152); the Middle East, specifically Saudi Arabia (43,473); the United Arab Emirates (17,000); and, to an extent, Turkey; Thailand (45,943); Indonesia (46,757); Vietnam (29,800); and Europe, particularly France (38,945) and Spain (19,353).

The DOT decided to aim for these new opportunity markets, he explained, after looking at their “growth potential, cycle and stage; their length of stay in the country; and their spending capacity.” These new markets were also identified after studying if the Philippines has a “price advantage, and if we have the [tourism] products that they need [versus our competitors].”

Travelers from these new opportunity markets, Bengzon underscored, have been growing between 10 percent and 40 percent in arrivals in the Philippines. “Before the ruble dropped,” he noted, “Russian visitor arrivals were growing by 30 percent.

They would often stay in a resort, order in, and stay in the country for 10 to 12 days.” Russia is among the top 10 visitor markets for Boracay, Palawan and Bicol.

He also described India as a “sleeping giant,” with its population of 350 million. “Of all the things the Indians asked, it was connectivity and the visa that was raised.” He said the latter issue will hopefully be resolved soon “The opportunities for growth are just enormous,” said Bengzon, especially for intra-Asean tourism.

“If you look at the intra-Asean share of the Philippines, we’re only do-

ing 10 percent.” In comparison, he said, Thailand receives a 70-percent to 80-percent share of the intraAsean market. Aside from Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, other Asean member-nations are Brunei Darussalama, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore.

Malaysia and Singapore are already among the top 10 visitor markets for the Philippines.

“We’re also taking a closer look at France and Spain, which are lucrative markets for the Philippines,” he said. French tourists, he stressed, are among the top 10 visitor markets of Bohol, Palawan, Camarines Sur, Camiguin and Negros Oriental.

Aside from developing the new opportunity markets, the P346million market-development budget of the DOT, will also create promotion efforts for medical, diving, English as a Second Language, and cruise tourism; and fund trade support activities for new routes, cultural and travel exchanges, among others. A DOT source separately cautioned, however, that the separate item for market development in the agency’s budget this year “is not yet a permanent feature as it is subject to reportorial requirements and performance measures.”

Under this year’s GAA, the DOT is committed to attract 8.2-million foreign visitors and 52-million domestic tourists. It is also targeting to generate P350.4 billion in foreign tourism receipts and some P1.61 trillion in domestic tourism receipts, raising the gross value-added of tourism to P974 billion and contributing 7.8 percent to the country’s GDP, and increasing tourism employment to 6.3 million, equivalent to a 16.2-percent share to national employment.

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NEW SUZUKI DEALERSHIP

Suzuki officials (from left) Shuzo Hoshikura, general manager for Automobiles; Marco Gabriel Borromeo, general manager of Suzuki Auto Sucat; Hiroshi Suzuki, Suzuki Philippines president; and Jose Daniel Borromeo, president of Suzuki Auto Sucat; lead the ceremonial toast during the grand opening of the auto brand’s 32nd dealership. Suzuki Philippines is the only integrated automobile and motorcycle company in the country. ROY DOMINGO

Malaysia commutes Pinoy convict’s death sentence

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alaysia’s pardons board has commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence on a Filipino woman convicted of smuggling 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of cocaine at Kuala Lumpur’s airport, the Philippine Embassy in the Malaysian capital said on Tuesday.

The embassy said the pardons board of the central state of Selangor, headed by Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj, on June 15 commuted Jacqueline Quiamno’s sentence fol-

lowing clemency requests from the embassy and her family.

The good news comes as the fate of another Filipino woman on death row in Indonesia for illegal drugs remains unclear. Mary Jane Veloso’s execution on April 29 was postponed after appeals by the Philippines to allow her to testify against her arrested illegal recruiters.

Quiamno was arrested in 2005 and the Shah Alam High Court handed her a guilty verdict in November 2010. The verdict was affirmed by the Federal Court in

July 2013. The embassy, in a statement, conveyed “its heartfelt appreciation to the Sultan of Selangor and the Selangor Pardons Board for this sterling manifestation of benevolence and compassion.”

The death penalty remains in the statute books of Malaysia, and local courts continue to impose it in grave offenses. But the embassy said there has been a reluctance to carry it out in recent years pending the government’s final decision on the proposal to abolish capital punishment. AP

here is buzz running through the northern part of the Metro, specifically in Quezon City.

For a city that has been around for decades, an urban upgrade—both to preserve and enhance—is in order.

One that can complement its old-world charm and allow it to seamlessly evolve with the times; preserve its heritage but inject new elements that serve the needs of its denizens.

“Our vision is to create a pocket urban development,” says Meean Dy, ALI senior vice president and head of Strategic Landbank Management Group, “Cloverleaf will give people access to refreshing retail, business, lifestyle and residential possibilities—elements that create an ideal urban lifestyle.”

It’s a vision of the city that could have been taken for granted until Ayala Land unveiled its master plan to build Cloverleaf—a pocket urban development in Balintawak.

The first phase of construction, which includes commercial, residential and office components, as well as a hospital, should be completed within the next five years. Ayala Land is putting in an initial P15 billion into the development of the first phase of the 11-hectare lot, starting with Avida; a 2-hectare shopping complex that’s planned to welcome shoppers by the fourth quarter of 2017, and a 250-bed hospital specializing in cardiology and cancer, due for completion in the same year.

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Carpio justifies Makati mayor’s suspension

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

MORALES: “I always decide in accordance with the law and evidence. Otherwise, I have no reason to be here. Para sa kanila wala nang ginawang tama ang Ombudsman.”

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MBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio-Morales on Wednesday said her decision to suspend Makati Mayor Jejomar “Junjun” Binay Jr. and 14 other city officials is in accordance with the law.

In a news conference, Morales said that she has “strong evidence” against the Makati officials.

“I always decide in accordance with the law and evidence. Otherwise I have no reason to be here.

Para sa kanila wala nang ginawang tama ang Ombudsman,” an angry Morales said.

“The Office of the Ombudsman is independent and performs its mandate according to law and the evidence,” Morales said, adding, “It will never succumb to any perceived pressure or be blinded or deafened by political grandstanding.”

Morales added that her office is also just acting in accordance with the Ombudman’s mandate.

On Monday, Morales approved the six-month preventive suspension of Mayor Binay and 14 other city officials in connection with the alleged overpriced construction of 10-story Makati Science

High School building.

Morales said that she ordered the preventive suspension of Binay and 14 other respondents in seven administrative cases, “all for Grave Misconduct, Dishonesty and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service, in connection with the alleged irregularities that attended the Makati Science High School building construction worth P1,349,980,757.50.”

“Preventive suspension is not punitive as it is preventive in nature meant to protect the integrity of the investigation process. Public interest requires that those in positions of power and authority do not have the opportunity to tamper with public documents and harass witnesses to frustrate the ends of justice,” Morales said.

DENR bats for responsible motor vehicle ownership

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HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is pinning its hope on a new public-awareness campaign promoting the benefits of regular vehicle care and the use of clean fuel to reduce air pollution, particularly in Metro Manila.

Dubbed “Perwisyong usok! Pigilan—Konting abala, Laking ginhawa,” the campaign was launched during the seventh annual Clean Air Forum held on Tuesday afternoon at the Land Transportation Office in Quezon City.

Environmental Management Bureau Director Jonas Leones led the launching of the information campaign that promotes responsible ownership of motor vehicles.

Konting abala refers to simple acts like proper vehicle maintenance and the use of clean fuel, which, when observed by private vehicle owners, will lead to laking ginhawa, referring to the benefits like having less harmful smoke being emitted by vehicles, which, in turn, cause less health and financial burdens to the people.

“We believe that summing up doing even little acts, goes a long way,” he said. The campaign

will escalate in the coming months with more newspaper advertisements, billboards, and even celebrity endorsement, Leones said.

During the launching, Leones called on various stakeholders to support the DENR’s campaign for clean air. He said government organizations, civil society, the private sector, academe and the media should own the campaign and “use the campaign symbols to enjoin more sectors’ awareness about it.

“We want to strengthen appreciation of our people of the need to achieve clean air, so commitment becomes strong and enforcement becomes effective,” he said.

A joint undertaking by the DENR and the Partnership for Clean Air Inc., the Clean Air Forum was established to review on a yearly basis the progress of Republic Act 8749, or the Philippine Clean Air Act. This year’s theme is “Towards Identifying the Economic Benefits of Clean Air: A Call to Action.”

Leones said the DENR has been zeroing in on motor vehicles, which contribute about 70 percent to 80 percent of air pollution in Metro Manila.

Junjun Binay leaves City Hall

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By Joel R. San Juan

AKATI City Mayor Jejomar “Junjun” Binay Jr. on Wednesday morning left City Hall following his failure to secure an immediate temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Court of Appeals (CA) to stop his suspension by the Ombudsman.

The appelate court, at the same time, ordered the Ombudsman and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to justify why it should not stop the preventive suspension slapped against Binay in connection with the graft case filed against him and several others for their alleged involvement in the overpriced construction of the

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EN. Pia S. Cayetano, chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, on Wednesday said she finds it appalling that the solution being offered by DMCI to the Torre de Manila controversy is to have more skyscrapers constructed behind the Rizal Monument in Manila.

“Presumably, this would create a backdrop of not just one, but several ‘national photobombers’ behind Dr. Jose Rizal’s shrine where its hideous tower could hide or blend in.”

An official of DMCI Homes, developer of the controversial 46-story Torre de Manila, on Tuesday said that “heritage and progress can go together,” and the company is just helping to address the need for mid-income housing and urban renewal in the city of Manila.

Florence Loreto, DMCI project development manager, said many major cities all over the world have built around their monuments and have proven “that the past and the present can go together, that heritage does not hamper progress.”

Being one of the most densely populated cities in the Philippines,

CAYETANO: “Presumably, this would create a backdrop of not just one, but several ‘national photobombers’ behind Dr. Jose Rizal’s shrine where its hideous tower could hide or blend in.”

Loreto noted that Manila must build upward to house its growing population.

“It is the only way because of high land prices. The alternative is to remain as it is…and stagnate…and be left behind,” she said in a media briefing in Quezon City.

Loreto explained that the majority of their customers are doctors, working professionals and families of students.

“The location of Torre de Manila gives them the convenience, security and quality of life that they deserve.

Our future residents do not have to suffer through long commutes when they go to work or school. Within the project are many amenities and facilities for their relaxation and enjoyment,” she

Makati Science High School Building (MSHSB).

In a two-page resolution issued by the CA’s Tenth Division, the court gave the respondents, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, 10 days to comment on the petition filed by Binay seeking the issuance of a TRO or a writ of preliminary

injunction (WPI), or both, against his suspension.

The resolution was written by CA Associate Justice Melchor Sadang and concurred in by Associate Justices Celia Librea-Leagogo and Amy Lazaro-Javier.

“Without necessarily giving due course to the petition, respondents are required to file their comment thereon, and to show cause in the same comment why petitioner’s prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction should not be granted, within a nonextendable period of 10 days from notice,” the CA said in the resolution.

Binay, on the other hand, was ordered to give his reply, after receiving the copy of the comment, in five days.

“Action on the application for TRO-WPI is held in abeyance pending receipt of the parties’ pleadings,” it added.

Aquino assures delivery of additional Air Force assets

By Butch Fernandez & Ashley Manabat

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RESIDENT Aquino pledged to deliver, before bowing out in June 2016, additional Air Force assets to further upgrade military service’s defense and disaster response capabilities.

Speaking at the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) 68th anniversary rites in the former US Clark Air Base in Pampanga, Aquino acknowledged the need for government to provide the Air Force vital equipment to enable it to perform its twin mission.

“Malinaw po: Mayroon nang gobyernong tunay na nagmamalasakit sa mga kawal nating kumakalinga sa mamamayan,” Aquino said, adding: “Sa nalalabing panahon natin sa puwesto, makakaasa kayong hindi magmamaliw ang suporta natin sa inyong hanay.”

President Aquino assured the officers and men at the Air Force rites that he would redouble efforts to facilitate acquisition of additional air force assets before his term ends next year.

“Dodoblehin pa natin ang pagsisikap upang mapabilis pa ang paghubog natin sa isang Hukbong Himpapawid na talagang maipagmamalaki ng ating mga Boss ngayon, at ng mga susunod pang henerasyon,” he said.

In turn, he challenged the Air Force officers and men to stay the

Cayetano presses move vs Torre de Manila, but developer says no laws, rules violated

By Recto Mercene & Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Thursday, July 2, 2015 A3

said, stressing that “Torre de Manila, like all our other projects, was designed as part of an urban solution.”

“We appeal to the public to judge Torre de Manila for its merits and real benefits,” she added.

Loreto reiterated that when they built the project, DMCI followed all the rules and complied with all relevant laws.

“On November 6, 2012, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines issued its clearance, saying that ‘the project is outside the boundaries of Rizal Park and well to the rear of the Rizal Monument, and hence, it cannot possibly obstruct the front view.’”

On June 16 the Supreme Court stopped DMCI Homes from continuing with the construction of Torre de Manila. The Court, in an en banc session, granted the Order of the Knights of Rizal’s request for a temporary restraining order against the construction of the condominium.

In its petition, the group claimed DMCI Homes acted in bad faith and violated Manila’s zoning ordinance and other laws, as well as existing guidelines on monuments. It also said the development project would cause “permanent and monumental prejudice and injustice” to present and future generations of Filipinos.

course and remain true to its sworn duty to defend the country. “Ang atas at hamon ko naman sa inyo: Sa bawat sangandaan, manatili kayong tumatahak sa landas na tama at makatwiran, patuloy kayong maging tagapagtanggol ng ating lipunan.”

Aquino explained to the troops that acquisition of costly air assets for the Air Force is no joke. “Alam po nating hindi-biro ang presyo ng inyong mga kagamitan; alam din nating hindi basta-basta ang pag-abot sa ‘modern age’ kung saan may mga missiles ang ating Sandatahang Lakas.”

He added: “Kailangan talaga ng pondo para sa modernisasyon, at hindi nga puwedeng pawang sa Sandatahang Laks lang nakatuon ang budget natin.”

He recalled that under his administration, the government was able to augment the Air Force with multipurpose C-130 transport planes. “Sa kaso po ninyo, ang dating nag-iisang C-130 natin, ngayon, tatlo na, at nasa proseso tayo ng pagdagdag ng dalawa pang unit para lalong palakasin ang inyong heavy-lift capability.”

Aquino noted that the Air Force has also received the initial delivery of one of three newly acquired CASA C-295 medium-lift transports and two new Bell 412 helicopters. “Nakatakda ding dumating ang dalawa pang units ng C-295, dalawang C-212 lightlift transports, at anim pang Bell 412 combat-utility helicopters.”

In addition, the President dis-

closed that also up for delivery are six close-air support aircraft that will upgrade the Air Force’s capability to conduct various operations in different parts of the country.

Upon his arrival at the Air Force City in Clark Field at around 10:30 a.m., the President was accorded full military honors, and the Air Force commander, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey F. Delgado, delivered the welcome remarks.

Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin and Gen. Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr., Armed Forces chief of staff, accompanied the President at the ceremony.

As part of the ceremony, a high-speed opener pass of S-211 jets was made as a salute to the PAF’s 68th anniversary.

The number 68 in formation, representing the 68th anniversary of the PAF, was also made using 11 T-41D and 11 SF-260FH/M aircraft, as well as exhibition of para-jumpers from the 505th Search and Rescue Group.

During the program, President Aquino led the presentation of awards for outstanding divisions of the PAF, as well as its outstanding men and women.

Before the program ended, Aquino inspected four newly acquired helicopters, including two brand-new Agusta Westland AW109E Power helicopters and two Bell Helicopters.

Oil, gas reasons for China reclamation in Spratlys

By Celeste Anna R. Formoso Philippines News Agency

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UERTO PRINCESA CITY—China is rushing reclamation developments, particularly on Subi and Fiery Cross reefs on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) because it is eyeing the oil and gas-rich Reed Bank in the northeast quadrant of Kalayaan town in Palawan.

Vice Adm. Alexander Lopez Jr., Armed Forces Western Command chief, said this on Tuesday at the Multi-Sectoral Forum on the West Philippine Sea Issue jointly organized by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Information Agency at a hotel here.

Speaking at the multisectoral forum, Lopez expressed belief that China is hastening its reclamation of the two reefs to easily get to the Reed Bank, a large tablemount with an area of 8,866 square kilometers.

“They are rushing the completion of Subi and Fiery Cross reefs because I think they are eyeing Reed Bank which has

20,000 times more than what Malampaya has,” Lopez said, adding the airstrips mean support to China’s air assets.

Recent seismic surveys done on the said bank indicate that oil and gas deposits are available in the area in very large quantities.

However, it is said they remain only partly tapped owing to the Philippines’s claim that is disputed by China.

As of June this year, images produced by satellites demonstrate that China has magnified its landfill activities on Subi Reef by around 70 percent in nearly two months.

Lopez said the landfill can accommodate an air strip.

Development of the Fiery Cross (Kagitingan) Reef into an artificial island, he added, is vital because the airstrip can be used for the operation of military aircraft and serve as a refueling station.

China’s ongoing reclamation activities on the WPS are also on at Michief, Gaven, Hughes, Cuarteron and Johnson South reefs.

The CA said the petition would be deemed submitted for decision after they have received the pleadings or once the prescribed period has expired, or unless the court would require the parties to file their respective memoranda.

In his petition, Binay insisted that he cannot be held accountable for the alleged anomaly since three of the seven construction phases of the MSHSB were done when he was not yet the city mayor.

He argued that his liability in t he subsequent constr uct ion phases, if there is, was expunged by his re-election in 2013 under the “Aguinaldo Doctrine” or the condonation doctrine.

Binay also branded hearsay the evidence relied upon by the Ombudsman in issuing the suspension order.

He added that the Ombudsman “whimsically and capriciously” established laws and jurisprudence in order to remove him from office.

Navy receives LCU from South Korea

MILLAN: “It already arrived on May 30, but it has to undergo some machinery and equipment repairs.

It’s only one and donated by South Korea.”

By Rene Acosta

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OUTH Korea has become a generous donor of the military in the aftermath of the government’s sealing of a contract for the delivery of a squadron of FA-50 lead-in fighter jets.

Vice Adm. Jesus C. Millan disclosed that they have already received the landing craft utility (LCU) ship that South Korea has earlier promised to donate to the Armed Forces.

“It already arrived on May 30, but it has to undergo some machinery and equipment repairs. It’s only one and donated by South Korea. Once it becomes operational, it will boost our troop transport support, and humanitarian assistance and disasterresponse capability,” he said.

The Navy chief refused to describe the status of the LCU pending its refurbishment before it goes into service for the Navy.

Millan said the government shouldered the LCU’s shipping cost, amounting to P16 million, while the repair cost may be as much as P26 million.

Millan said a brand-new LCU costs about P6 billion.

The Navy currently has five LCUs, but only three are operational at all times.

Aside from the ship, the South Korean government will also donate 16 rubber boats to the military, which it could use in its seaborne operations in Mindanao and in disaster response.

The military is awaiting the delivery of 12 brand-new fighter jets from South Korea, two of which are expected to be in the country before December.

Even before the fighter-jet deal’s signing in 2013, South Korea has already promised to donate some of its excess items to the Armed Forces, including a decommissioned Foohang Class corvette.

The delivery has been stalled following reports that China has been attempting to block the transfer to the country of the vessel, although reports also said that the corvette is already too old that it needs major repair before it can be turned over.

Economy BusinessMirror

A4 Thursday, July 2, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

NG disbursement up 5.5% but infra spending down 1.9%–DBM report

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he Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said disbursements by the national government (NG) increased year-on-year by 5.5 percent, or P34.4 billion, to P660.6 billion for the months of January to April, but spending on infrastructure declined by 1.9 percent despite the need to speed up road and transport projects.

A DBM disbursement report showed that government spending reached P660.6 billion from Ja nu a r y compa re d w it h t he P626.1 billion for the same period last year.

Although the government’s disbursement for April increased to P156.5 billion in 2015 compared with P143.6 billion during the same period last year, spending on infrastructure went down by as much as P1.8 billion.

The DBM report showed that NG disbursements for April this year for infrastructure was down to 1.9 percent at P91.9 billion compared with P93.7 billion in the same month last year.

The DBM report also said that by the end of April this year, a total of

P2.178 billion, or 84 percent, of the 2015 national budget have been released to departments and agencies.

“This rate of allotment release is faster than the comparable rates of 80 percent last year and 73 percent in 2013 with the adoption of the General Appropriations Act-as-a-release document policy,” said the DBM disbursement report issued on Tuesday.

It added that for April 2015, the DBM has released P49.3 billion for major projects of key spending agencies such as the Department of Education (DepEd).

This include DepEd’s Basic Educational Facilities Fund worth P15.6 billion, which was transferred to the Department of Public Works and Highways; pension requirements under the Pension and Gratuity Fund worth P10.8 billion; customs duties and taxes worth P6.4 billion; creation of new positions and filling up of unfilled positions under the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund at P2.7 billion; and road-maintenance projects charged against the Motor Vehicle Users’ Charge Fund at P2.7 billion. Estrella Torres

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TPB sees bigger tourism growth for Mindanao this year and next

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By Rizal Raoul Reyes

he Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) expressed confidence that Mindanao will hit its target of 12.6 million visitors for this year and 13.9 million in 2016, as crafted in the National Tourism Development Plan.

TPB COO Domingo Ramon C. Enerio III stressed the continued rise in Mindanao’s number of visitor arrivals, particularly domestic tourists, in various regions of the South as the main factor for the positive outlook.

“Regions 10 [Northern Mindanao], 11 [Davao region], and 12 south composed of Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City. [Soccsksargen] alone have reg-

istered significant and consistent increases in visitor volume,” Enerio said in a news statement.

Reports gathered by TPB from the regions indicate visitor volume in Northern Mindanao leaping by 96 percent in the second quarter of 2014, and the Davao region by 38 percent to 2.52 million in 2014 from 1.83 million in 2013 and 16 percent over the 1.57 million in 2012.

Similarly, Region 12 Director Nelly Nita Dillera reported a 294-percent volume increase in daytime tourists from 471,980 in 2013 to 1,858,809 in 2014, with the number of overnight stay also rising by 108 percent from 345,328 in 2013 to 717,596 in 2014.

Dillera also noted that foreign arrivals contributed to the growth, as it also posted a triple-digit surge at 122 percent from 14,375 in 2013 to 31,861 in 2014.

“In fact we can expect a continued uptrend across the board for the rest of Mindanao as the TPB intensifies its region-focused marketing campaign,” Enerio stressed.

The TPB, according to Enerio, is regionalizing its thrust in product development and promotional efforts in adhering to the Aquino administration’s pursuit of inclusive growth.

Part of that program is the TPB’s participation in a forthcoming international tourism expo, where Mindanao’s regions will showcase their tourism destinations, products,

Competition bill seen to improve PHL footing in global economy

briefs petilla to omeco: look for alternative power source

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he landmark legislation Fair Competition Act will strengthen the foundations for a sustained and inclusive growth in the Philippines, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

“The competition bill will not only sustain, but bolster a rapidly growing Philippine economy. As the bill levels the playing field among businesses, we can expect an increased level of confidence among the international business community, and thus lead to a surge of investments and economic activity, and an expanded logistical capacity,” Neda Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan said.

The bill is one of the numerous reforms in governance and the economy that will encourage more investments.

It seeks to eliminate unfair business practices among competitors, such as engaging in agreements that restrict market competition by having fixed prices for goods and services, dividing the market among themselves, or controlling production.

Moreover, it prohibits the abuse of dominant position, for example, by selling goods and services at a below-cost price, with the intention of driving out competition then increasing the price thereafter, or imposing unreasonable conditions on transactions, and keeping producers at a losing end by enforcing low purchase prices for their goods and services, among others.

“The passage of this bill follows Neda’s advocacy to remove or amend some existing laws and regulations that have become irrelevant or unenforceable. It is also aligned with the Philippine Development Plan which identified this law as a measure that will improve the country’s business climate,” Balisacan said.

“While this bill will certainly help us move forward,

Taller and taller

Construction workers install steel bars to serve as concrete posts of a high-rise building under construction along Xavierville Avenue near corner Esteban Abada Street and Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City over the weekend. PNA

our efforts will remain focused on implementing key reforms in the country. The task at hand is to increase investments, address gaps in our economic system, and reduce barriers hampering productivity and growth in the country. These will allow us to increase opportunities for shared prosperity, sustain our gains and lead us to an even higher growth path,” he added.

The competition bill is considered to be one of the longest-running congressional bills in the country, first introduced in the 8th Congress and has remained pending for 24 years since. It was only on June 10, 2015, that the bicameral conference committee overcame the hurdles concerning contentious provisions.

The bill now awaits the President’s signature, which would enact it into law. PNA

Manila’s IT-BPM, ICT poised to ride on new wave of revolution

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ASHINGTON—Recent developments and policy changes in information technology and business-process management (ITBPM) in the Philippines are making the country ripe for investment and poising it to ride on a new wave of revolution in information and communications technology (ICT).

This was the message of government officials and business leaders who traveled to San Francisco for a conference entitled “Invest in the Philippines: Asia’s Bright Spot,” the third and final leg of a highlevel trade and investment mission to the United States on June 29.

In his remarks, Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. pointed out that the IT-BPM and ICT industries in the Philippines are very much alive and have been a strong driving force in the Philippine economy.

“The choice of San Francisco as the third city of this historic High Level Trade and Economic Mission to the United States is very appropriate. San Francisco and Silicon Valley, in particular, is the heartland of innovation and technology. And the importance of information and communications technology, which this city breathes and lives, is one that is not lost on the Philippines,” Cuisia said.

services and other attractions.

Slated at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia, from July 3 to 5, the Travel Madness Expo will have a big 36-square-meter booth for the regional exhibits of the entire South.

“This Mindanao showcase will also highlight the many sectoral partnerships that the TPB has been developing to bring about a widely participatory development of tourism in both the urban centers and the countryside, involving both crosscultural and geographic linkages that offer a much broader and deeper tourism experience as a marketing come-on,” Enerio added.

Known as the country’s secondbiggest island, Mindanao is home to about a quarter of the national population with mostly literate and English-speaking labor force, generally located outside the typhoon belt, endowed with magnificent natural landscape, and supplies 40 percent of the country’s food requirements.

The envoy added, “The first wave of the information and communications technology revolution transformed the Philippine semiconductor industry into one of the most important segment of our economy. Today, the IT-BPM industry has been the fastest-growing industry in the Philippines in the last 10 years. In 2011 we overtook India to become the No. 1 outsourcing destination for voice support. And the Philippines is second only to India as a global outsourcing destination, specifically in the areas of health care and software.”

However, the Philippines is still facing challenges in the IT-BPM and ICT industries. According to keynote speaker Diosdado Banatao, managing partner of Tallwood Venture Capital, a main challenge that remains for the country is infrastructure building in ICT, particularly the lack of Internet bandwidth, which he also noted as an area of opportunity for investments.

The government is addressing these issues through the legislature aimed at reforming the country, boosting economic growth and creating an environment conducive to investment.

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, who participated in the San Francisco conference, shared the congressional

agenda for the last year of the Aquino administration, which is to pass the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Act in order to institutionalize reforms and best practices, amend the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Charter to strengthen its regulatory power, and approve the customs modernization law to achieve trade facilitation and logistics efficiency.

According to Drilon, a bill to create the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is also on its way.

In early June, the Senate approved the third and final reading Senate Bill 2686, which mandated the creation of the DICT. The bill would effectively create the agency charged with developing, planning and promoting the government’s ICT agenda, as well as speed up the industry’s growth and competitiveness by enhancing the country’s technology linkages with ICT firms abroad. The House version is currently being debated at the committee level.

There has also been a greater emphasis on education, which is further enriching one of the biggest assets of the country, its human resource. of Trade Secretary Gregory L. Do-

mingo pointed out that the young Philippine work force is only getting better due to the reforms in the educational sector such as the introduction of the K to 12 Program and doubling the budget of education.

Panelists in the conference agreed that with a strong, high-skilled and eager labor force, good political leadership, the ability to provide the required infrastructure, the Philippines has created an excellent business environment.

“It is our hope that this conference will generate not only investments in infrastructure and PPP, which are equally important to the continued success of the Philippine economic story, but also in the information and communications technology sector. Such investments from the United States will complement the Philippine government’s investments, in the last few years, on the infrastructure, technology and human resources that underpin the growing Philippine economy,” Cuisia said.

The conference is the third stop of a high-level trade and investment mission to the US that took place from June 24 to 29. The delegation made a pitch in Washington, D.C., on June 24 and conducted an Economic Briefing and Investment Conference in New York on June 26. PNA

The Occidental Mindoro Power Cooperative (Omeco) should be more transparent and start looking for reliable power producers to generate enough electricity for the province’s residents.

This was Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla’s advice and recommendation to Omeco, his last official act after tendering his resignation on April 28, which was made public during a dialogue with various stakeholders in the province on June 30.

The dialogue held at the San Jose Gymnasium in San Jose City aims to address the rotating brownouts that has been affecting close to 500,000 residents of the off-grid island province in Luzon for over a decade now.

According to the 100 percent Brownout Free Occidental Mindoro, a coorganizer of the dialogue, Petilla said, ideally, the province should be connected to a single power grid, but such is not possible at the moment because of budget constraints.

The ideal solution to Occidental Mindoro’s unstable power supply, Petilla was quoted as saying, is to construct a power grid, transfer it from Sablayan to San Jose, which, however, will take until September 2016 to complete.

During the dialogue, Director Mylene Capongcol of the Department of Energy’s Electric Power Industry Management Bureau said there are three major programs needed for Occidental Mindoro, which involves increasing plant capacity to generate more power, improving transmission lines for stable supply to households, and power-distribution systems improvement.

escudero optimistic on passage of pagasa modernization bill Sen. Francis Escudero is optimistic that the bill seeking to modernize the country’s weather bureau will be signed into law before year-end.

The Senate bill providing for the modernization of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), passed the third and final reading at the Senate on June 9 and will soon go through the bicameral conference committee.

“I’m hoping that President Aquino will be able to sign the Pagasa modernization bill into law within the year to give long-overdue upgrades to the weather bureau’s equipment, staff pay, research capabilities and communication reach,” said Escudero, one of the principal authors of the bill.

Escudero said he expects smooth bicameral conference committee deliberations since there are no major differences between the House and the Senate versions.

The House approved its own version of the Pagasa modernization bill in May 2014. The bicameral version will have to be ratified by both the Senate and the House before being submitted to the President for signing. Recto Mercene

groups slam delays in enforcement of graphic health warning law

Antismoking advocates took a swipe on the delay in the implementation of the graphic health warning law that was signed a year ago.

New Vois Association of the Philippines President Emer Rojas said the delay in the issuance of the implementing rules and regulations of the graphic health warning law (Republic Act 10643) might be one of the reasons for the delay in the law’s implementation adding to the long compliance period given to the tobacco companies.

“Tobacco companies were given a year to comply with the law plus eight months to exhaust their stocks in sari-sari stores. Add to that is another eight months’ delay because of their contentions on the templates that will be used,” Rojas said. PNA

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Thursday, July 2, 2015 A5

Creba: Spare Binay appointees in key shelter agencies

T

By Catherine N. Pillas

he Chamber of Real Estate Association and Builders Inc. (Creba) said that calls from different groups to remove the head of key shelter agencies (KSAs) following the resignation of Vice President Jejomar C. Binay as chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) may lead to further delays in responding to the country’s staggering housing backlog.

GINGER VILLAGE A farmer in Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya, sundries his freshly harvested and newly washed ginger prior to barn storage. With a price ranging between P200 and P220 per kilogram, locally produced ginger might as well be the most expensive homegrown vegetable. Leonardo Perante II

Protection of 1.6K Camp John Hay investors sought before CA

By Joel R. San Juan

P

RIVATE developer Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevCo) asked the Court of Appeals (CA) on Tuesday to protect the interest of the more than 1,600 thirdparty investors inside the 247-hectare former American recreational facility in Baguio City.

C J HDe v Co l aw yer Gi lber t Reyes made the plea during the summary hearing conducted by the CA’s Special Fifth Division on its petition for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction that would indefinitely enjoin the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) from evicting it, as well as its sublessees from the property.

Reyes told the appellate court that the final arbitration award issued by the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. (PDRCI) is binding only between the BCDA and CJHDevCo, who are the parties in the case and not their tenants.

He added that CJHDevCo is ready

to comply with the PDRC’s order for it to vacate the leased premises in exchange of P1.42-billion payment from BCDA, provided that the rights of third parties are respected.

“There is no dispute that all the third parties, they are in good faith and they acquired the property in good faith,” Reyes said during the hearing presided by Associate Justice Noel Tijam.

“They have valid contracts that should be respected by the respondent [BCDA],” he added.

Associate Justices Myra Garcia-Fernandez and Victoria Isabel Paredes were also present during the proceedings.

Reyes pointed out that under the original lease agreement it signed with BCDA in 1996 for the purpose of developing Camp John Hay into a wholesome familyoriented public tourism complex, CJHDevCo has been authorized to sublease its properties.

It was also expressly stated under the original lease agreement that the ownership of the improve-

ments will remain with CJHDevCo until 2046.

Reyes said that the demand of BCDA for their tenants to vacate the premises prior to the payment of the arbitral award violates the decision of the arbitration panel.

“It was not there, it was not intended, it was not contemplated in the arbitration panel’s decision,” Reyes said.

He added that the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction is warranted to avoid irreparable damage to third-party investors who have invested their money in good faith.

The CJHDevCo also raised the possibility of more suits being filed in connection with the dispute if its prayer for a writ of injunction will not be granted.

The CA earlier issued a 60day temporary restraining order (TRO), or until July 19, enjoining the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Baguio City from evicting CJHDevCo from the former American recreational facility.

On May 12 CJHDevCo filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with urgent applications for the issuance of a TRO and/or a writ of preliminary injunction against the implementation of the writ of execution dated April 14, and the notice to vacate dated April 20 issued by lawyer Linda Montes-Loloy, and Galano, in their capacity as exofficio sheriff and RTC sheriff.

Prior to this, the PDRCI arbitral tribunal rendered the final award, rescinding the subject lease agreement due to mutual breach of the parties.

In the said final award, petitioner was ordered to vacate the leased property and to promptly deliver the same to BCDA. On the other hand, the BCDA was also ordered to return to petitioner the amount of P1,421,096.052 as advance rentals paid by the latter.

On March 6 CJHDevCo filed its verified petition for confirmation of final award before the RTC in Baguio which the latter confirmed en toto.

Ombudsman finds probable cause to file graft raps vs Biazon, Ducut, lawmakers

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

T

he Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday said that it has found probable cause to file graft, malversation and direct bribery charges against Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chief Zenaida Ducut, former lawmaker and former Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon and four other former lawmakers over their alleged involvement in the P10billion pork-barrel fund scam.

Assistant Ombudsman Asryman Rafanan, at a news conference, said that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has signed a resolution indicting Ducut, Biazon, former Reps.

Marc Douglas Cagas IV of Davao del Sur, Ariel Olaño of Davao del Norte, Rodolfo Valencia of Oriental Mindoro and Ariel Pinggoy Jr. of South Cotabato and alleged pork-barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier said that Cagas

ducut

biazon

had allegedly got P9.3 million in kickbacks from a P15.3million Special Allotment Release Orders (Saro) released to the Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI) and Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development and P5.5-million kickback from a P7.5-million Saro released to Social Development Program for Farmers Foundation Inc. and People’s Organization for Progress and Development Foundation Inc. The DOJ also said that Biazon allegedly received P1.95-million kickback from a P2.7-million Saro released to PSDFI. It added that Olaño got P3.17

million in kickbacks from a P7.9-million Saro released to PSDFI, while Valencia allegedly received P2.4-million kickback from a P6.5-million Saro released to Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc., and Pinggoy allegedly received P7.55 million in kickbacks from a P20.9million Saro released to PSDFI. Moreover, Rafanan also said that several other officials of the ERC, the Department of Budget and Management, Technology Resource Center (now Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) and National AgriBusiness Corp. are also facing criminal charges for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Revised Penal Code.

The resolution stemmed from their alleged misuse of their PDAF, or pork-barrel allocations, to bogus non-governmental organizations of Napoles.

In November last year, the DOJ, led by Secretary Leila de Lima, filed complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman against

Ducut, Biazon and four other former lawmakers.

Biazon is the first ally of the Aquino administration who will formally face a complaint in relation to PDAF scam.

PDAF scam whistle-blower Benhur Luy, meanwhile, said that Ducut allegedly demanded a 5-percent kickback for every pork-barrel project she delivered to Napoles. Ducut represented the Second District of Pampanga from 1995 to 2004.

Moreover, de Lima said that the complaints covered only PDAF misuse from 2007 to 2009.

Morales, for her part, said the resolution is not yet executory as the respondents may still file their motions for reconsideration within 15 days.

According to the Ombudsman several cases involving PDAF scam may be filed with the Sandiganbayan anytime.

“This is another argument against the criticisms lodged against the Ombudsman that there is selective justice,” she said.

“From the industry standpoint, for all practical reasons, we find this call to be unnecessary…. To remove the KSAs will distort all the programs. The road map we’re crafting with the KSAs and housing committee leaders of Congress will be exposed to unnecessary danger of delaying the anticipated results,” National President of Creba Noel “Toti” M. Cariño said in an interview on Wednesday.

The housing road map, a joint undertaking by the private sector, the housing government agencies and the legislature, is considered the “master plan” to address the estimated 5.5 million housing backlog in the country.

The plan will spell out the housing industry’s objectives in terms of improving production, financing, regulation and land use. The central point of the road map, said Cariño, is the eventual creation of a Department of Housing to streamline the functions of the six shelter agencies.

Cariño said that they are opposing the proposal to ask for the courtesy resignation of the heads of the six agencies, namely, the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-

IBIG Fund, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, National Housing Authority, National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., Social Housing Finance Corporation and the Home Guaranty Corp., because these have no real basis.

“The process should be meritocracy and based on the performance of the officials. Let’s take a look at the background of these people, these are professionals.

If they have done nothing wrong, they should be insulated from the politics,” Cariño added.

Moreover, legislators should leave the fate of the heads of the KSAs to whoever will take the reins of HUDCC, he said.

Following the resignation of Binay from the Aquino Cabinet last week, Rep. Edgar Erice of Caloocan, Sen. Francis Escudero and the Palace expressed support for the courtesy resignation of the heads of the KSAs, considered by the Aquino administration as Binay allies.

Creba is pushing for a series of reforms to address the country’s housing needs and will be tackling these anew with legislators in a national housing summit to begin in the latter part of the year.

Smartmatic-TIM submitted lowest bid for P7.8-B OMR deal

T

HE Commission on Elections -Special Bids and Awards Committee (Comelec-SBAC 1) announced on Wednesday that Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM) Corp. submitted the lowest bid for the P7.8-billion contract for the supply of the 70,977 Optical Mark Reader (OMR units).

In Resolution 2015-001, Comelec-SBAC 1 said Smartmatic’s bid proposal for the project amounted to P6,286,382,682.72, giving it an advantage in bagging the contract.

Its lone competitor, Indra Sistemas S.A., was ruled to have a nonresponsive bid despite earlier being declared to have met the eligibility requirements of the project.

“The financial bid of Indra was not responsive because it pertains to the procurement of the 23,000 OMRs,” the resolution stated.

“Upon evaluation of the financial bid and bid price tender of both bidders, the SBAC 1 declares Smartmatic-TIM Corp. as the bidder which submitted the LCB [lowest calculated bid],” it added.

The reuse of the 81,896 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to be supplemented by the 23,000 OMR units is one of the two options eyed by the Comelec for the 2016 polls, while the other one is the use of all-new OMR units by combining the 23,000 and the 70,977 OMR units.

Vote wisely: Bautista

Meanwhile, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista urged voters to vote wisely in the coming elections.

Speaking before the members of the Philippine Bar Association (PBA) at Manila Polo Club in Makati City,

Bautista assured the people that the Comelec will do everything to accomplish its task of ensuring an honest, free and peaceful elections.

“When the last ballot is cast, that date will only be but one marker in the story of our democracy—one which we will continue to tell, by our own actions and decisions, that contribute toward building this nation,” he said.

“Ours is the humble and humbling task of making sure that you are able to participate in the process,” he added.

Baustista stressed the need for the people to be informed about the various platforms and track records of the candidates prior to the election in order for them to be able to vote for the right candidates.

“After [everything] is said and done regardless who they are going to vote, it is the responsibility of the Comelec to count right,” he added.

Special lanes for senior citizens, PWDs

SM Supermalls, meanwhile, is giving special lanes to persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens in its expanded biometrics voter’s registration partnership with the Comelec.

SM Supermalls President Annie Garcia said that all 52 SM malls will participate in the satellite registration which will be conducted from July to September.

Special lanes will be allocated for the convenience of PWDs and senior citizens.

Garcia said this is part of SM’s continuing commitment to helping government reach more voters.

Joel R. San Juan

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Thursday, July 2, 2015

editorial Greek chicken: Must one side in Europe flinch?

G

REECE says it doesn’t have any more money to give its creditors.

Its economy has contracted by 25 percent in recent years. Unemployment’s through the roof. Public pensions have been slashed.

Homelessness grows. The country is debt-drenched and needs more emergency loans, but—in the minds of Greek officials—not if that means accepting more punishing terms offered by European leaders. Greece needs room to breathe.

Europe says it wants to help. But Greece can’t be allowed to wriggle out of commitments it made when it borrowed money that other countries’ governments had collected from their taxpayers. If the Greeks want more bailout money, they must play by Europe’s rules and accept more belt-tightening. Otherwise, another country may try the same tactic and the whole idea of a unified Europe unravels. Greece needs to be responsible with other nations’ money.

And there you have the two sides of a tense diplomatic negotiation, the kind that often goes down to the wire before a compromise. Except this crisis slipped past the grandstanding stage and entered the realm of real life: Greece missed a debt payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). If the Greek government and European finance officials don’t resolve this fiasco in a hurry, the global economy will get an unwelcome shock. Greece will drop out of the euro, Europe’s single currency, becoming a wounded free agent on the continent’s periphery.

How did Greece join a list of deadbeat nations that includes Sudan and Somalia? You could start by questioning how tiny, slow-moving Greece was ever a good fit for the same currency as powerhouse Germany. It wasn’t, but the allure of a single, tightknit European continent able to outduel the US and China in the global marketplace was too strong.

Greece and other weaker players joined up, never fully fit in with their richer partners but took their bank loans and then tumbled during the financial crisis of 2008. To stay solvent, Greece has been living off billions in bailout funds from Europe—money that came with taut strings attached. In all, Greece owes $270 billion to the IMF and European creditors. That lending agreement expired on Tuesday, the same day a payment was due.

Facing a deadline to keep the spigot going, leaders on both sides seemed ready to follow diplomatic convention: Negotiate until dramatically snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Then came a surprise change in the script. Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stunned his European negotiating partners days ago by disrupting the talks. He announced he would put the question of a new loan agreement to a national referendum. And, Tsipras said, he intended to campaign for the “no” side. The Europeans flipped out. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said he felt “betrayed.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel held firm to Europe’s negotiating position but sounded worried. “If the euro fails, Europe will fail,” she said. “That’s why we have to fight for these principles.”

Judged by words alone, Greece’s showdown with Europe’s leaders is still in the brinkmanship stage. The two sides were set to talk more. Nobody is writing up an eviction notice—yet.

But the unraveling, still stoppable, has begun. Europeans cut off emergency credit to Greek See “Editorial,” A7

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OUTSIDE THE BOX

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OST of the valuable lessons we learn in life are usually brought down to a simple sentence. Years later, when we start to cross a street, we instinctively remember that admonition from our childhood to “Look both ways.”

But we often ignore these and find ourselves remembering that we should have listened to them.

Investing and money are no different, as there are hundreds of wise sayings to avoid failure and gain success. There is an old Turkish proverb, “He who borrows gets sorrows.” Obviously the Greeks were not interested in any wisdom from the Turks since they have been at war for several millenniums.

One-sentence-wisdom may be particularly true for the stock market.

“Buy the rumor and sell the news” is definitely a favorite phrase usually uttered by someone who missed a big price move before the news became public. However, nowhere in that wise old saying is any clue as to when it is a rumor about some genuine news that is forthcoming or part of a “pump and dump” scheme that can cost you money. In fact, the “pump-and-dumpers” rely on people accepting that saying as

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a truth to further their plans.

One common piece of investing advice is “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket; diversify your portfolio.”

The idea here is to reduce the negative impact on your total portfolio if something goes wrong with one of your stock picks.

But someone else will successfully follow “Put all your eggs in one basket and watch the basket very closely.”

Here the investor is encouraged to do the proper homework before buying and to have a careful and complete plan if something does goes wrong.

How is the average investor going to reconcile those two contradicting ideas? You might say that it all depends on the current conditions and you would be absolutely right. And therein lies the problem. If strategy depends on current conditions, then, at any given time, all of the wise old sayings can be both correct and wrong.

“The Art of War” or literally “Master Sun’s Rules for Army” is traditionally ascribed to the ancient Chinese general and philosopher Sun Tzu. He addressed that contradiction by writing, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” In other words, diversification (a strategy) may make great sense in a stock market that is basically one directional to the upside. But watching one basket carefully and employing specific tactics may make more sense in a somewhat unpredictable market like we have had since the third quarter of 2013.

The best approach might be a simple combination of both ideas.

Buy several issues and watch them all carefully, dropping the ones that are not performing. I know that seems like a no-brainer but too many hold the losers along with the winners in the name of diversification. Then the market turns south and the winners cannot offset the losers.

Sun Tzu had some other good ideas about stock-market investing. “He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.” Too many stock investors follow another wise saying that is only applicable to the Lotto: “You can’t win if you don’t play.”

If you are always in the market, you will significantly reduce your gains and increase your losses. Even this idea of “long-term investing” works only in a long-term rising market.

But what about cost-averaging

with staged investments? Had you bought the shares of one prominent Philippine bank every six months since the 2009 low, with all the ups and down, your average purchase price would now break even at the current price. Now, that is not true for many stocks where you would have significant profit, but that is what this tactics thing is all about.

“One mark of a great soldier is that he fights on his own terms or fights not at all.” I do not like “hot tips,” having been burned by one early in my career. I had information directly from one of the majority owning families of Nikon Camera.

But I will trade off tips after doing my own homework and buy on my terms. “He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious,” Sun Tzu says.

This is my favorite stock-market idea from Sun Tzu that I wish I had the discipline to always follow. “Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack.”

You must always be first concerned with your “defense” or protecting your capital and remember that ‘victory’ or profits are only a ‘possibility’, not guaranteed.

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.

A first recession for Australian millennials

Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Frederick M. Alegre Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Dante S. Castro

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

HOM

Stock-market lessons from Sun Tzu

William Pesek

BLOOMBERG VIEW

T

HIS week Australians entered their 25th straight year without a recession. They ought to enjoy it, because they probably won’t make it to a 26th.

Given the economic slowdown in China, Australia’s biggest export market, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Australian economy is struggling with weak wages, high household debt and tepid job growth. The government says it expects a 25-percent drop in business capital expenditures in the year ending June 2016.

It’s clear enough that recession is coming for Australia. The question is whether Australians are ready for it.

No nation is ever fully prepared for negative growth and falling wages, but Australia might be an extreme case.

Residents of Sydney in their 20s or early 30s have never experienced a recession firsthand. “It’s been so long since the last one that a whole generation might not even know what to expect,” says Stephen Halmarick of Colonial First State Global Asset Management.

Although millennials may suffer the most from an economic downturn, they’re not the ones who bear primary responsibility for it. A quarter of a cen-

tury of uninterrupted growth “bred a degree of complacency among managers of firms, among employees, and among voters and politicians,” says economist Saul Eslake, formerly with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Australia’s political leaders were quick to forget the national economy required constant tweaking to stay competitive in a region dominated

by China.

Tony Abbott is the perfect example of a prime minister content to rely on past momentum, even as the costs of inaction mount. His policies have been devoid of any ideas to increase innovation and productivity and create jobs outside the natural resources sector. (He also turned his nation from a leader in the global fight against climate change into a laggard.) Abbott’s complacency, says Konstantinos Venetis of Lombard Street Research, means “Australia’s economic rebalancing is still in its infancy” even as Chinese demand for iron ore, copper and other Australian commodities evaporates.

But the current government doesn’t deserve all the blame. Australia’s livingoff-past-momentum ethos took hold under John Howard, prime minister from 1996 to 2007. It intensified in 2008 as Wall Street’s meltdown sent contagion Australia’s way. Then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd responded with short-term measures, but initiated few long-term adjustments for the national economy. “The fact that we did get out of the global financial crisis without being scathed probably was a liability in the sense of there being no impetus to reform,” David Burchell of University Western Sydney told Bloomberg News.

“In comparison with previous decades, there’s also a lack of government leadership on promoting change.”

Abbott’s treasurer, Joe Hockey, takes exception to such views. “We have the capacity to do what is necessary to keep the Australian economy going through a record run,” he told Bloomberg News on Tuesday. “We’ve got good job creation. We still want to get the unemployment rate down.” Those are admirable ambitions, but he didn’t explain how his government intended to achieve them.

The government’s policy drift has put Australia’s central bank in the driver’s seat—and in a bind. The risks emanating from Greece probably have the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) tempted to cut its already record-low 2-percent interest rate. But that might stoke new property booms in Sydney and other cities, which threatens to push homeownership out of the reach of millennials. RBA Governor Glenn Stevens has said home prices

in the Australia’s most populous city are “crazy,” and few young Australians would disagree.

Additional monetary stimulus, in the absence of economic growth, could also dent investment returns on the stock market. Dividend ratios have jumped to more than 70 percent from 55 percent in the past four years, Venetis says, even as corporate earnings have decelerated along with national economic growth (currently 2.3 percent). These high yields have helped the ASX200 stock index ease its transition from the so-called commodity supercycle fueled by the rise of the BRICs— Brazil, Russia, India and China. But those returns may not be sustainable.

“Risks to corporate earnings from a fragile macro backdrop,” Venetis says, “are on the rise, challenging the sustainability of the Australian market’s generous dividends.”

As dividends and shares cool, Australia’s investors may turn to betting on property. They would be joined by millionaires from mainland China, who have been snapping up Australian real estate and adding to already inflated property prices. (Those purchases may accelerate with the recent signing of a free-trade agreement between Canberra and Beijing.)

That means Australia’s millennials may have to get used to the idea of living with mom and dad for the foreseeable future. That’s not the future they were promised. But as Australia heads toward recession, they’ll have to learn to get used to it.

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

PAL’s double whammy

Sated with contempt

I

BusinessMirror

Atty. Filamer D. Miguel

Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Tax law for business

Alálaong Bagá

N its legal and tax battles, the Philippine flag carrier suffered a double whammy on the decisions recently promulgated by the courts.

Three weeks ago the Philippine Airlines (PAL) stole the spotlight when a Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Makati ordered the airline to pay P100,000 each to its almost 1,000 retired female flight attendants after PAL lost an 11-year legal battle over gender discrimination.

This suit arose from a controversial provision in the airline’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, which states that cabin attendants hired before November 1996 should retire at the age of 55 while their male counterparts had to retire by the age of 60. Aggrieved by such discrimination, the PAL Flight Attendants and Steward Association of the Philippines (Fasap) questioned such provision and elevated the matter before the court.

A week after that unfavorable RTC decision came another blow to the flag carrier. In PAL’s claim for a tax refund for the excise taxes it paid under protest on its importations of cigarettes, liquors and wines for the taxable year 2008, it had to hurdle a difficult two-pronged bout. First, the airline had to prove that its franchise under Presidential Decree (PD) 1590 has not been amended and/or modified with the advent of Republic Act (RA) 9334, otherwise known as the sin-tax law. Secondly, PAL had to satisfy the conditions set forth in PD 1590 for exemption from excise tax on its importation of cigarettes, liquors and wines to entitle it to its claim for tax refund.

For the first issue, both the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Commissioner of Customs argued that the tax exemption granted to PAL under PD 1590 had been expressly withdrawn and that Section 131 of RAs 8424 and 9334 only exempts cigars, cigarettes, distilled spirits and wines from excise taxes, among others, if imported by a government-owned or -controlled dutyfree shop, and not those brought by private entities like PAL. In said Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Case 8198, the CTA ruled in favor of the airline on the first issue, following an earlier pronouncement of the Supreme Court in GR 212536-37 dated August 27, 2014.

The SC categorically declared that the tax privilege of PAL provided in Section 13 of PD 1590 has not been revoked by Section 131 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997, as amended by Section 6 of RA 9334. The court noted that the legislature chose not to amend or repeal PD 1590 even after PAL was privatized reveals the intent of the legislature to let PAL continue to enjoy the very same rights and privileges under the terms and conditions in its charter. Likewise, between the provisions of PD 1590, a special law,

as against the provisions under the NIRC of 1997, as amended by RA 9334, which is a general law, the former necessarily prevails.

While PAL was able to hurdle the first round, it was not able to surmount the second issue. In order for the flag carrier to be exempted from taxes, duties, charges, or fees on the importation of its assorted cigarettes, alcohol and wines for international flights, it must prove the following: n the corporate income tax and value-added tax liabilities for the subject period was paid; n the imported articles, supplies or materials are intended to be used in its transport and non-transport operations and other activities incidental thereto; and n the imported articles, supplies or materials are not locally available in reasonable quantity, quality or price.

PAL complied with the first requisite when it presented its Annual Income Tax Returns, Quarterly VAT Returns, Payment Forms and BIR Certificate of Registration as testified to by its tax manager.

For the second requisite, the Tax Court did not give credence to the testimony of the witness since he has no personal knowledge of whether the goods subject of the informal entries and air waybill are for commissary and catering supplies of PAL. As to the third requisite, the airline presented its manager of the In-flight Materials Purchasing Division. Unfortunately, the Tax Court ruled that PAL could not have determined the availability of the imported wines or liquors in reasonable quantity, quality or price in the local market based solely on the price list provided by only one supplier. With respect to the imported cigarettes, PAL failed to make comparison in contrast to its local prices and merely assumed based on speculations that its requirement on imported cigarettes could not be satisfied by any local supplier.

For failure to comply with the second and third requisites, PAL’s tax refund was denied.

Atty. Filamer D. Miguel is a senior associate of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices, a member-firm of World Tax Services Alliance. The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed, as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at filamer.miguel@bdblaw.com.ph, or call 403-2001, local 360.

I

N his pains, sated with the contempt of the proud, the psalmist looks up to the Lord for pity (Psalm 123:1-2, 2, 3-4). The townmates of Jesus were astonished at his wisdom, but thinking that they knew him best they actually understood him least and were contemptuous of him (Mark 6:1-6).

Sated with the mockery of the arrogant Psalm 123 expresses the sentiments of a pilgrim who has reached Jerusalem. As he nears the holy city, he lifts up his eyes to the hills full of longing for the Lord’s help, his uplifted eyes expressive of his ardent hope of receiving help. And now, as he enters the temple, he looks up to the Lord Himself who is “enthroned in heaven” and who listens to supplications made to Him in the temple.

The total dependence of the people on God is illustrated by the simile of the servants looking intently on the hands of their masters, waiting to see a hand putting a stop to suffering being meted or signaling that one may approach near. God’s hands dispense blessings rather than pains.

“My eyes are ever toward the Lord…. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am afflicted…. Bring me out of my distress…and forgive all my sins” (Psalm 25:15-18). Kyrie eleison! Lord, have pity on us! The

plight of God’s people is recounted: they are overwhelmed by the scorn of the arrogant. They have had more than enough of the mockery of the proud heaped upon them (for daring to rebuild the temple after the return from the exile?) (Cf. Nehemiah 2:19; 3:36-37). Victims of contempt and sated with so much humiliation, they turn to God in absolute trust, confident that their sovereign Lord will save them from their distress (Psalm 116:4-6).

Where did He get all this?

The gospel reading narrates conflict and rejection. Jesus came with His disciples to His hometown and on the Sabbath began to teach in the synagogue. His teaching caused astonishment on the part of the people.

They have heard of His teaching and marvelous deeds elsewhere, but face to face with Jesus they were directly perplexed: “Where did He get all this?”

This astonishing wisdom and such wonderful power from His hands,

Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

T

HE celebration began at 9 a.m., Friday. The political fund-raising began at 9:01 a.m.

For Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, in particular, the sound of wedding bells for same-sex couples also meant jingling cash registers of campaign money.

Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised to see Abbott’s Facebook campaign post at 11:25 a.m., showing him at the Texas Capitol’s Ten Commandments marker right by the words “I am the Lord thy God.” “Marriage was defined by God,” the message read. “No man can redefine it.

We will defend our religious liberties.”

Within two hours, a similar campaign e-mail arrived with a plea after “No man can redefine it”: “If you agree, I ask that

you make a contribution to my campaign today.” Call it passing the cybercollection plate. The e-mail asked for $25 up to $2,500 or “$Other” to uphold God and liberty with a check to Abbott.

Plenty of other candidates, Republicans and Democrats, campaigned off a dizzying week when the Confederacy was not the only Lost Cause.

“Politicians of all stripes have become adept at using hot-button issues as rallying cries,” University of Texas at Arlington political science associate Prof.

Rebecca Deen said by e-mail.

Given voters’ deeply held beliefs, Abbott’s ad and letter “make perfect political sense,” she wrote.

TCU political science Prof. Emily M. Farris noted other campaign e-mails on Thursday after the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. “Public regard for the Court is lower

how do you explain them? Right questions, but asked with the wrong motive. Instead of leading them to the transcendent power at work in Jesus, their perplexity led them to rejection because they thought they already knew who Jesus was.

They knew Jesus as one of them: a carpenter, the Son of Mary, their town-mate who is still alive, the brother or kapamilya of their neighbors James, Joses, Judas and Simon, not to mention his sisters and close relatives living among them. Do not origins determine destiny? They know Him only too well: Who does He think He is? Their question’s origin is resentment, envy, blindness.

He is an ordinary Galilean, one of them. He is overreaching himself!

“They took offense at Him.” Their perspective is the human ordinariness of Jesus is a refutation of the wonders He may have performed in other places and of His wisdom they themselves have heard.

Amazed at their lack of faith

THE wisdom and power of Jesus may find honor elsewhere but not among His own. Jesus, in turn, was astonished at their lack of faith. The belief of His town-mates was that the ordinary excludes the extraordinary; God can only work through special people and so an ordinary person cannot possibly be an instrument of the Almighty. The very revelation that was Jesus doing God’s wonders and proclaiming God’s wisdom and love did not find the corresponding faith from the people. Jesus was amazed

A7

that they could turn away from the possibility He personifies that God can work also through them.

The absence of receptivity on the part of the people of His hometown made it hard for Jesus to perform mighty deeds there. They simply were not open and ready to experience in their midst God’s power and goodness. Their astonishment was dominated with skepticism that brought them to rejection and scandal. They did not have yet that humble awe that culminates in faith and surrender.

But Jesus was not deterred; He was not sated with their contempt.

He moved on to other places, knowing that a prophet usually does not find easy hearing among people who should have known him best, or so they think so, but end up knowing him least.

Alálaong bagá, “familiarity breeds contempt.” The people of Nazareth thought they had Jesus “nailed down” in a box, and they could not imagine Him to be more than what they thought of Him. Mark Twain humorously added, “Familiarity breeds contempt and…children.” Let us be aware that our own claimed knowledgeability/familiarity and lack of faith breed children of unbelief. May we all be parenting children of faith, not children of scorn and lack of faith.

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio-streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

One mom’s argument for capturing baby’s every moment in photos

T

By Megan Ritchie Jooste | The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

HERE is a favorite photo of my great-grandfather that I keep in a high dresser drawer. I forget how it came to be in my possession, but it was probably tucked inside one of the boxes of costume jewelry and figurines we were given to play with at my grandmother’s house, and one day I must have managed to abscond with it.

For as long as I can remember, it has been in my own drawer, alongside a key ring my father brought back from one of his first business trips to Paris, another treasure.

In the photograph, my greatgrandfather, one of 18 children, is playing marbles on an unpaved street. Crouched down, he is looking up at the lens, squinting.

In his face, I see features he imparted on my grandmother and my father. It’s jarring looking at the photo, at this young boy who looks so starkly different than how he looked by the time I was born. But that’s the whole point of photographs. They shove bookmarks in time.

At about the time my daughter was almost fully baked, I posted a public-service announcement on my Facebook page. It read: “Ever taken a picture of an awesome dinner you’ve cooked? Your first foray into Thai cuisine, for example, or a killer pistachio-encrusted tilapia fillet? You need to share your genius, your talents with the world, don’t you? It’s an irresistible compulsion.

“Well, I have cooked this baby for the last 37 weeks. Be prepared for the most obnoxious onslaught of baby photography you have ever witnessed. Adjust your newsfeed options accordingly.”

When my daughter came into this world, the sleek white silhouette of my iPhone, held by the anesthetist’s assistant, was right there in the front row alongside the doctor.

Her very first gulp of air was captured on video, her very first wail. I remember craving to get my hands on her. Right after that, in the quiet of our hospital room, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on my phone to start documenting, and sharing.

For the last two years, I have broadcast pictures of my daughter on an assortment of social-media platforms, using a quirky idiom to accompany many of the photos I share: “Baby. On the beach. Baby on the beach,” reads the very first, alongside a selfie I took of us at the Jersey Shore her first summer. There’s been a “Baby. On a train, Baby on a train”; a “Baby. On a plane. Baby on a plane”; a “Baby. On the Rocky Steps.

There’s money in same-sex marriage–for campaigns of its opponents

By Bud Kennedy

Thursday, July 2, 2015

than usual lately,” she said by e-mail: “It’s a good opportunity for those who disagree to mobilize supporters.”

At least Abbott didn’t take it as far as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who tweeted the same religious message but later told an Iowa audience, “If we want to save some money, let’s just get rid of the Court.” US Sen. Ted Cruz of Houston called for amending the Constitution to allow removal of judges, and called the decision along with Thursday’s vote upholding the Affordable Care Act “some of the darkest 24 hours in our nation’s history.” Fellow TCU Prof. James Riddlesperger, entering his 35th year, said by e-mail that Friday’s reactions are “all about the ‘constant campaign.’”

“We used to draw a difference between campaigning and governing,” he wrote, “but in our polarized age, the distinction blurs.”

TCU Prof. Adam Schiffer noted the phenomenon some have begun to call “The Two Abbotts”: one who campaigns to the right with Ted Nugent and slogans like “Fast Cars, Firearms & Freedom,” and the other who governs as a reasonable executive.

“The fund-raising letter seems a bit unstatesmanlike for someone who showed a pragmatic streak,” Schiffer wrote. “But fear is the best motivator in politics.”

Candidates opposing same-sex marriage, Schiffer wrote, are now “reduced to arguing about the ‘religious liberty’ not to bake wedding cakes.... When the dust settles, Texans marry, and the world doesn’t end, it’s difficult to believe they will be able to squeeze much more leverage out of opposing marriage equality.”

There’s always money to be made bashing Washington.

Baby on the Rocky Steps”; and most recently, a “Baby. With Philly Jesus.

Baby With Philly Jesus,” a shot taken with the man who walks the city dressed as Christ. You better believe I’m going to make a photo with the pope happen. It’s practically mandatory at this point.

I have shared more photos of my daughter in her first 730 days of life than I can count. And for every one photo posted online, you can bet that there are 17 to 4,304 more in a dizzying exponent of zeros and ones tucked into various hard drives squirreled around my home, and floating in the cloud. There are aspects, of course, to parenting you could not possibly capture on film, like the sweet hindrance of a leg-hug, consistently mid-chore.

But I take photos because I want to remember everything, to retaliate against the unmitigated sting of time passing.

But, there’s an ironic twist.

A study by Linda A. Henkel at Fairfield University on the influence of taking photos on memory actually seemed to show that, in contrast to what you might think, taking a photograph meant that people remembered less, not more, of what they saw that day. You can understand that reading this drove an ice-cold spike into my heart.

If I am to believe Henkel’s findings, my inexhaustible efforts to document every milestone, every trip, every walk to the park, will have

Editorial. . .

continued from A6

banks, which have shut down until after the referendum. Go to a Greek ATM and the maximum you can withdraw a day is about $66.

World markets are on edge because a scary word from the last decade’s global economic crisis—contagion—is being used again.

There’s not much agreement on the fallout if Greece walks away from its debt.

It seems certain that Greece would leave the euro, reinstate the drachma and try to manage its own economic affairs without help from Europe.

In this weakened state, Greece probably suffers through years of deprivation, still in the European Union but on the outs.

Best-case scenario: Greece keeps its commitments as a Nato member and eventually reestablishes itself as a bargain corner of Europe, a good place for light industry and

been futile. I will remember much less than I would have without shoving a cell phone in my daughter’s face day in and day out.

But I stand by my choice to snap a trillion photos of my kid and dispatch a good portion of them across the World Wide Web. My photography gives me the power to call up nostalgia on a whim.

The ability to time-travel, to another morning, another bath time, another foray into indoor water play gone awry. And I have found in the heady concoction of accolades and admiration that accompany a Facebook share a nod to a universal truth: We’re all doing what we can to hold on for dear life. For me, doing what I can involves a hefty data plan.

A regular activity in my household involves browsing through the vast stockpile of photos I access through a Dropbox app on my phone. My daughter has known how to swipe the screen to advance to the next photo since she was about 1.

“More, more baby!” she’ll demand, and this means we sit on the floor of whatever room we happen to be in, and scroll through photos until she gets bored.

When I mine photos from too far back, she squints at the screen, quiet. She doesn’t recognize herself as a baby. I don’t blame her. Looking at the little girl next to me, I hardly do, either.

a vacation. Worst-case scenario: How about Greece as Putin’s new plaything? Unlikely, but Greece’s exit from the euro raises the risk of geopolitical instability. It’s not inconceivable that this Greek drama will cost the US a longtime ally.

As for Europe, the continent recovered from the global economic crisis and seems able to cope with “grexit.” But there will be a cost of unknown size because in a globally integrated economy, not every connecting point is obvious. Who knows where the next crisis pops? The other big risk for Europe is political, because the continent’s postwar identity is wrapped up in the concept of integration.

If Greek voters do vote no in the referendum and walk away from the euro, the country will deliver two seismic blows: one to its own place in the global economy, and another to Europe’s long-held belief in unity.

The best outcome is for the two sides to compromise. Fast. TNS editorial

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Thursday, July 2, 2015

REVENUES OF MACAU CASINOS PLUNGE TO LOWEST SINCE 2010 M

ACAU casino revenue fell to the lowest since November 2010 amid China’s slowing economy and a graft crackdown that deterred high rollers. A surprise easing of Chinese travel restrictions to the city may bring some relief.

Gross gaming revenue in June fell 36.2 percent to 17.4 billion patacas ($2.2 billion), the 13th straight month of declines, according to data released by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. That compares with the median estimate of a 38.3-percent drop from six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The last time casinos got so little money from gamblers in the world’s largest casino hub was in 2010, when monthly revenue averaged 15.7 billion patacas. Analysts expect the loosening of the travel restrictions, which they saw as a major reason for Macau’s casino downturn, to help support the market.

“We believe this is a positive development, no two ways about it,”DS Kim, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., wrote in a note on Wednesday, before the revenue data was released.

“This might be a sign that, the governments may want to stabilize Macanese economy before things go a little too far.”

The Macau government announced overnight a reversal of the transit visa policy that was tightened exactly a year ago after it was used by some high rollers and junket agents to gain multiple entries into the city.

From July 1, mainland China passport holders transiting through Macau are allowed to stay in the city longer and more frequently. They can stay seven days in Macau, up from five days and gain second entry within 30 days, rather than 60 days.

Macau casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. surged 9.7 percent in New York trading, the most in more than three years after the visa easing was announced.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd., which rely on their Macau units for at least 60 percent of their revenue, closed 4.9 percent and 5.1 percent higher, respectively.

The Hong Kong stock exchange is shut on Wednesday due to a public holiday. Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL adequately shielded from Greece fallout–BSP T B B C

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) gave assurance against volatilities in the local markets resulting from the debt crisis in Greece, especially of the magnitude akin to disruptions triggered by anticipated US interest-rate adjustments in early 2014, as the Philippines remains in a position of strength no matter the tumbling global markets.

BSP Gover nor A mando M. Tetangco Jr. told reporters that while the Greece debt crisis could trigger volatilities over the near term, the $272-billion economy is adequately shielded against an economic backlash.

Markets around the world reacted quickly as Greece missed paying $1.2 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), making the Mediterranean country the first advanced economy to stand in arrears with the IMF.

The Greek government also announced its banks will be closed for a week and capital controls were imposed after the state ran out of cash.

“The developments in Greece may cause volatility in financial markets, as some participants shy away from positions until there is clearer direction in next steps in the EU [European Union],” Tetangco said.

A report published on Monday

by IHS Global Insight, a US-based information analysis organization helping business and governments make informed decisions, indicates that regional growth next year may be adversely affected as a result of development in Greece.

“The impact of a Greek exit from the euro zone with significant contagion effects would also hurt Asia,

lowering GDP [gross domestic product] growth in the Asia-Pacific region by 0.3 percent in 2016. This is mainly due to the impact effects on trade and turbulence in financial markets, according to analysis using the IHS Global Link Model of the world economy,” IHS economist Rajiv Biswas said.

“Asian emerging-market economies may be affected by this, but there is fundamental robustness in domestic economies, including the Philippines, that should help shield us from any fallout,” Tetangco also said.

Local markets were relatively calm on Wednesday, with the peso hitting 45.11 per dollar at the close, falling sideways from the 45.09 per dollar the previous day. Total volume traded during the day stood at $453.2 million. The Philippine Stock Exchange index, meanwhile, was up 0.14 percent.

BSP Deputy Governor for the Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo said the Philippines remains “fundamentally capable” of withstanding the Greek crisis.

“Spillovers and contagion are expected to produce some volatilities but the Philippines’s strong buffers, including its robust external payments position and foreign-exchange reserves, should calm our local markets,” Guinigundo said via text message earlier this week.

Guinigundo explained that market

sentiment in Greece reached “alarming proportions” when the banks were allowed to go on holiday and as capital controls loomed over the country.

“What also surprised the market was that a national referendum would be held to seek national consensus on the conditionalities involved in policy adjustments. This early, we have seen how the financial markets were rocked by these shockwaves.

Everyone will feel the trauma, but the extent of the impact would vary depending on the state of each economy’s balance sheet, current-account position, as well as monetary and fiscal space,” Guinigundo said.

The Philippines, given this development, should be able to push past this latest challenge.

“We have been here before and it could not have been worse that the global financial crisis which we overcame with the same buffers, including sustained commitment to policy and structural reforms,” Guinigundo added.

“As it was during the beginning of the US taper tantrum to today, we continue to have a substantial menu of contingency measures should the shockwaves increase in both frequency and amplitude,” he added.

Guinigundo also said the latest events “continue to show the efforts of the international financial community to find a solution to a very difficult problem of a sovereign state, such as Greece.”

Binay unveils party to back 2016 presidential candidacy V ICE President Jejomar C. Binay unveiled a political party on Wednesday, creating a platform to run for president next year as his family loses grip of its power base in the nation’s main business district.

“We accept the challenge of true change,” Binay, 72, told supporters in Makati, a city in Metro Manila that his family had run for almost three decades. “The nation will come first, people will come first, the Filipino will come first.”

Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), which means “first” in the local language, would offer free medical services and education to the poor and improve public transport, said Binay, who quit President Aquino’s Cabinet on June 22. He said Aquino’s administration was insensitive and incompetent, and that his policies would boost the economy and create jobs.

Binay was overtaken last month

by Sen. Grace Poe as the favored candidate for president, according to

surveys by Pulse Asia Research Inc. and the Social Weather Stations.

The Vice President’s family has accused the government of political persecution. Allies of President Aquino in the Senate are investigating Binay over claims of corruption—allegations he denies.

His son, Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay, was suspended twice over accusations of graft. The mayor vacated the city hall on Wednesday in the absence of a court order stopping his suspension.

Pacquiao attends

VICE Mayor Kid Peña took his oath earlier Wednesday, marking the first time since the late 1980s that a politician other than a member of the Binay family has run the city. His daughters Abigail and Nancy remain lawmakers in the national congress.

Boxer Manny Pacquiao, former Finance Secretary Gary Teves and politicians associated with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

attended the event on Wednesday.

Former President Joseph Estrada didn’t attend. Binay was the vicepresidential candidate in 2010 in Estrada’s failed bid for another term in a race against Mr. Aquino.

Estrada, in an interview with A B S - C BN Ne w s C h a n ne l on Wednesday, said he’s still studying whether to support Binay or Poe, his goddaughter.

Binay supporters from all corners of the archipelago attended Wednesday’s ceremony, which featured song and dance numbers from popular performers. The police estimated a crowd of about 7,000 people.

“Binay has done a lot of good things for the people of Makati, and he will do that in a bigger scale once he becomes president,” said Makati resident Gregorio Ordas, 61. “I’m not saying he’s totally blameless and clean, but what’s important is that people have benefited from the Binay family’s rule.”

Bloomberg News

Third phase of Nuvali’s Riomonte set for launch C  A

Lot sizes in the Riomonte development range from 480 sq m to 890 sq m with an average size of 530 sq m.

With launch prices ranging from P18,250 to P26,650 a sq m, Riomonte’s average lot costs more or less P10.3 million. Including the house, each homeowner needs to spend between P20 million and P25 million for the development.

Jugo said it will launch the third neighborhood in about two weeks and the fourth and fifth neighborhoods by next year through 2017. The timing of the launches will depend on the reception of the initial phases. Project

turnover is scheduled for 2018.

Riomonte is approximately 9 kilometers from Nuvali’s main commercial district where Lakeside Evozone and Ayala Malls Solenad are.

Miriam College, the wake park, wildlife and bird sanctuary, among o t h e r a m e n i t i e s a re a l s o n e a r the property.

The five-pocket neighborhood concept is interconnected by a network of park lands or greenery. The main park extends 700 meters across the development where it connects to a 4.5-hectare park on the western side.

Surrounding Riomonte are 8-meter to 10-meter perimeter parks that serve as buffers to ensure that the

security and privacy of residents are maintained, Jugo said.

A loop road connects all five neighborhoods of the Riomonte development, each having its own exclusive entryway to ensure a heightened sense of exclusivity for its residents, the company said.

ALP launched its first residential subdivision in the district, the 70-hectare Abrio, sometime in 2007. The company has followed this with the Montecito, Santierra, Elaro, Luscara projects and last year, the Soliento.

In total, ALP has developed some 484 hectares of land within Nuvali. Jugo said the company still has 400 hectares of land for development.