BusinessMirror July 25, 2015

HYBRID TRAIN The Hybrid Electronic Road Train of the Department of Science and Technology roams the Mall of Asia compound during the opening of the 2015 National Science and Technology Week on Friday at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. ALYSA SALEN

BusinessMirror

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

U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008

A broader look at today’s business Saturday 18, July 201425, Vol.2015 10 No. 40 Saturday, Vol. 10 No. 289

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

PHL’S PAYMENTS FOR COMMODITIES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES LOWEST SINCE OCTOBER 2009

Imports declined by 13.4% in May–PSA

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B C U. O

HE country’s import bill in May declined by 13.4 percent to $4.39 billion, from $5.6 billion recorded a year ago, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Friday.

INSIDE

The PSA said the May import bill was the lowest since October 2009, when imports posted a contraction of 16.8 percent.

“The decline in total imported goods in May was due to the negative performance of eight out of top 10 major imported commodities for the month,” the PSA said.

TWEET LIKE A PRO In Your kindness, remember us

Y

OUR ways, oh Lord, are love and truth to those who keep Your covenant. Your ways, oh Lord, make known to us; teach us Your paths.

Guide us in Your truth and teach us, for You are God our savior. Remember that Your compassion, oh Lord, and Your love are from of old. In Your kindness, remember us because of Your goodness, oh Lord. Amen.

BREAKING BREAD 2014, MGPC, CALIFORNIA, USA AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

SOMETHING LIKE LIFE DATING AND MARRIAGE TV-STYLE »D4

BusinessMirror

Saturday, July 25, 2015

D1

In a Twitter world, tweet like a pro

Data from the PSA showed that payments for electronic products went down by 12.2 percent to $1.16 billion, from $1.33 billion a year ago.

Electronic products were the top imported commodity for the period, accounting for 26.6 percent of total bill in May. C  A

B S K | Chicago Tribune

W

HEN people write to me asking for social-media advice, they often seek tips about Twitter.

I’ve been using Twitter for eight years now, and while I don’t find it confusing at all, many do. The most popular question is one that sounds simple, but really isn’t: Am I doing it right?

Tweeting is a personal experience, and you’ll need to find your own voice to ultimately be successful. But I can tell you some things you definitely should and shouldn’t do that I think will go a long way in helping you #tweetlikeapro in no time. If you’re going to tweet without responding, don’t bother tweeting. It’s really that simple. I often tell people that the best social-media tip in the world is to be social. That part isn’t rocket science, but if I had a nickel for every time someone told me he or she only had time to tweet but no time to respond, I’d be a very rich man. You can’t choose between tweeting and engaging; they’re a package deal.

Your bio and photo are very important. An air of mystery is good sometimes, but it’s definitely not good here. Your bio shows up in Google and Twitter searches, so make sure people can see you and find you. The default photo is an egg, and if you’ve heard people say that you shouldn’t be an egg on Twitter, this is what they mean. How serious do I take this rule? Those who have been following my articles on social media know I won’t follow back an egg, no matter who it is.

The rule of thirds will change your social-media life. This is how you ensure the proper mix of content.

One-third of the time, tweet about your brand and your business. One-third of the time, tweet about things related to it without using your own content. One-third of the time be personal and answer questions to let people know who’s behind the account. And feel free to play around with the ratios. The key is to not always tweet the same thing and risk boring someone into unfollowing you.

Using Twitter lists is like having a clean closet. You

know how good you feel after you pick all the clothes off the floor and then fold and organize everything neatly?

That’s how you’ll feel after setting up Twitter lists.

Instead of 1,000 people’s accounts all flowing into one giant stream that you can’t possibly manage, separate people by topic or location or in some other way on a Twitter list. Then, using a program such as Tweetdeck, put your list in a column. I’m betting you’ll love it.

PLEASE DON’T START YOUR TWEETS LIKE THIS IN ALL CAPS. When you do, the message you want people to be drawn to is almost always

overshadowed by people who don’t understand why you’re screaming at them or telling them what they already know. If you are tweeting about something tragic, there’s absolutely no reason ever to start the tweet with TRAGIC. A final piece of advice about Twitter: Don’t focus so much on failing; focus more on trying and seeing what sticks. I think the tips I have provided here are proven and useful, but after you use Twitter for a while, you might come up with something to share with me.

Nothing would make me happier. ■

LIFE

D1

TWO DOWN, TWO TO GO C1

Sports BusinessMirror

| SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

TREACHEROUS!

The 186.5-kilometer trek from Gap to Saint-Jean-deMaurienne in Stage 18 takes the peloton over a whopping seven climbs—most midsized except for the Glandon pass, one of the hardest in pro cycling. By the way, there are 18 hairpin bends, climbed for the first time in the 112-year history of the Tour de France. AP FRANCE’S Romain Bardet wins the 18th stage in style. AP

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B J L The Associated Press

AINT-JEAN-DE-MAURIENNE, France—The road snaked back and forth like spaghetti stuck to a wall, 18 hairpin bends, climbed for the first time in the 112-year history of the Tour de France.

Curiously, there were no crowds on this spectacular vista just perfect for the television age. Police decided that the 3-kilometer stretch of bends, piled one on top of each other up an Alpine cliff, was simply too narrow to let in spectators who line pretty much every other inch of cycling’s toughest race.

Not that Chris Froome noticed on Thursday. The race leader isn’t here for the picturepostcard scenery. Just two more days in the Alps, and a second Tour victory will be his.

The British rider isn’t about to get distracted and take his eyes off the road now.

“I didn’t actually even realize there weren’t any spectators up there,” Froome said.

“I was just in a tunnel mode at that point, just following the wheels.”

After Stage 18, Team Sky’s leader really has only two wheels to follow: Nairo Quintana’s and Alejandro Valverde’s, the Movistar teammates closest to him in the overall standings.

As long as he doesn’t let either of them get too far away from him on Friday and Saturday, then Froome will be sipping champagne and slipping back into the yellow jersey on Stage 21 on Sunday, on the Champs-Élyseés in Paris.

“Two more stages left of real racing,” he said. “We’re focused on two guys.”

Romain Bardet, on the other hand, was focused on himself. France hasn’t had a Tour winner since Bernard Hinault in 1985, and there are some that think 24-yearold Bardet could be next after his sixth place last year. But he’s not been consistent enough to improve on that this time, so he wanted to at least win a stage.

He did. In style.

Bardet rode alone down the huge Glandon pass and up the hairpin bends of the Montvernier Laces to take a solo victory at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne on the second of four days in the Alps. Pierre Rolland of the Europcar team made it a 1-2 French finish, coming in 33 seconds behind the winner for AG2R La Mondiale.

As they did on the first Alpine stage on Wednesday, Froome’s rivals again tested him but couldn’t make him crack over seven climbs.

“Everyone attacked,” Froome said.

Two-time champion Alberto Contador showed spirit, with a burst of speed on the 22-km-long climb up to the Glandon pass, but he couldn’t claw back the minutes he lost on Wednesday in a downhill crash.

“One of the hardest days for me,” Contador said. “I was in pain.”

Froome, Contador and other podium contenders finished together in a group of 10 riders who rode in three minutes behind the stage winner. Bardet remains too far down the overall standings—in 10th place, nearly 13 minutes behind Froome—to have realistic ambitions for the podium this year. But he is the highest-placed French rider so far.

Bardet rode away at the top of the punishing Glandon climb—the hardest Alpine ascent so far—and built a lead on the long descent. He held it up the Montvernier Laces’ spectacular switchbacks.

“A crazy stage,” Bardet said. “I can’t believe it.”

Without fans, the telegenic ascent was eerily quiet.

“Almost every kilometer [mile] of the race up until now you’ve had spectators all the way, and we had three kilometers there where there was no one,” Froome said.

“You can understand why...the road really was quite narrow.”

But a cheering crowd waiting for Bardet at the top gave him a burst of energy to the finish.

“I had goose bumps,” he said.

Froome remains three minutes and 10 seconds ahead of second-placed Quintana, and 4:09 ahead of Valverde, in third. But the Tour has covered 3,000 kilometers and their chances have nearly run out to dislodge the 2013 winner. What’s more, Froome says he feels stronger than he did at the same point two years ago, when “I was just sort of hanging on.”

The crescendo will come on Saturday on the 21-hairpin bends to the Alpe d’Huez ski station. Unlike the Montvernier Laces, the most iconic climb in cycling will be teeming with fans.

“It’s the last challenge,” Froome said. “We can really expect it to be a big finale.”

CHECKING T FOR MOTORS

TWO DOWN, TWO TO GO

OUR de France leader Chris Froome says he welcomes checks on bicycles for possible motors.

Race officials say the 30-year Briton’s bike was one of six tested in a surprise check after the 18th stage, including that of stage winner Romain Bardet of France.

The International Cycling Union has said it would carry out checks of bikes to ensure they don’t have motors hidden in their frame, which could give cheaters a leg up in the race.

Froome says he believed the suspicions have been mainly in social media, adding, “surely they don’t come from nowhere—the technology exists.”

“I’m happy that they’re doing the checks—it’s probably needed given all the rumors out there.”

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HE Tour de France has barred the driver of an official motorcycle in the entourage after he caused the crash of Danish rider Jakob Fuglsang during the 18th Stage.

His Astana team said Fuglsang, who lies 26th, was riding with stage winner Romain Bardet of France on the Thursday’s toughest climb when the Dane’s handlebars were clipped by the motorbike, and he

reinjured a bruise on his hip in the fall.

Fuglsang was penalized himself for getting a brief tow from a team vehicle as he tried to catch up.

The infraction is known in cycling parlance as a “stuck water bottle”—so named as a penalty against riders who hold on too long to team cars when they’re given water.

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HE manager of the Movistar team says Nairo Quintana wants to strike a one-two attack with teammate Alejandro Valverde against Tour de

France leader Chris Froome.

On paper, that’s the plan, Eusebio Unzue said before Thursday’s Stage 18 in the Alps.

“The reality is that the race is dictating otherwise,” Unzue said. “The yellow jersey is simply the strongest.”

Quintana, in second place overall, edged Froome by a second a day earlier in the race’s start into the Alps.

Valverde rose to third from fourth overall after American rider Tejay van Garderen dropped out because of illness.

Quintana entered the day three minutes and 10 seconds behind Froome, while Valverde was 59 seconds slower. AP

SPORTS

C1

‘IGLESIA NI CRISTO REMAINS FAITHFUL TO GOD’S TEACHINGS’

APEC 2015 CEO SUMMIT PHILIPPINES A preliminary agreement between organizers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 2015 CEO Summit

Following is the official statement of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) denying the allegations of Angel and Tenny Manalo, brother and mother of INC Executive Minister Bro. Eduardo V. Manalo, which they posted on YouTube on Wednesday night:

Trade deals wipe out tariffs on some 200 tech products W

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HE statement posted on You Tube Wednesday night

by Angel Manalo and their mother calling on the members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) to help them because their lives are allegedly in danger, and also alleging that there are ministers who were abducted, making it appear that the Church has something to do with it —is not true.

The Church of Christ has been here for a hundred and one years—it has gone through many persecutions, harassments, and severe trials but it has held on solely to the teachings of God and His help and guidance. It never deviates from God’s teachings and from the tenets taught by the man who began preaching it in the Philippines—Brother Felix Manalo.

What we discern from their statement is that they only want to gain sympathizers in order to achieve their

PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 45.3490

ambition to have a hand in the administration of the Church. But it should be clear to everyone that this Church is not a family corporation. This is a religion that has the teachings of God written in the Bible as the policies it strictly adheres to.

The Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, cannot allow anyone to cause disruption in the Church.

Thus, because of what they did with the intent of instigating strife and disunity, it cannot be avoided that the Executive Minister implements the rules and regulations that are applied to all members.

Although it deeply pains him, Brother Eduardo Manalo decided to expel these people who are sowing division in the Church. Thus, in the congregational worship services of the Iglesia Ni Cristo beginning onThursday, this decision of the Executive Minister was announced to all the brethren.”

and the BUSINESSMIRROR was reached on Friday in which the nation’s leading business news publication was designated an official media partner. From left are Arturo Enrico C. Navarro, sponsorship associate; Migel Q. Estoque, media and communications director; Yenny B. Gonzales, sponsorship director; BUSINESSMIRROR Publisher T. Anthony C. Cabangon; Jun B. Vallecera, editor in chief; and Frederick M. Alegre, vice president for corporate affairs. NORIEL DE GUZMAN

ASHINGTON—Dozens of countries have agreed to abolish duties on more than 200 technology products— from advanced computer chips to GPS devices, printer cartridges and video-game consoles.

The agreement announced on Friday marks the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) first tariff-killing deal in 18 years.

The deal is an expansion of the 1997 Information Technology Agreement, which includes 80 WTO member-countries. The updated accord covers products that generate $1 trillion in annual global revenue, including $100 billion a year for American companies.

That worldwide total is equal to global trade in iron, steel, textiles and clothing combined, according to the WTO. US Trade Rep. Michael Froman called the agreement “great news for the American works and businesses that design, manufacture and export state-of-the-art technology and information products.” Froman’s office says the deal will support 60,000 American jobs.

Not all 161 WTO member-countries signed on to the expanded deal. But all will benefit, because it eliminates the tariffs on dozens of tech products no matter which WTO country they come from. Tariffs are taxes imposed on imported goods.

Dean Garfield, president of the

Information Technology Industry Council trade group in Washington, said the deal “will open markets, create jobs and spur economic growth around the world, as well as bring down costs for consumers.”

Talks on revising the technology agreement began in 2012. The breakthrough occurred when the US and China worked out most of their differences during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington last November.

Negotiators still must complete technical details and a timetable for eliminating the tariffs. The work is expected to be complete by the time WTO members meet in Nairobi, Kenya, in December. AP

■ JAPAN 0.3661 ■ UK 70.3680 ■ HK 5.8510 ■ CHINA 7.3032 ■ SINGAPORE 33.1450 ■ AUSTRALIA 33.4679 ■ EU 49.8431 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 12.0924 Source: BSP (24 July 2015)

A2

News

BusinessMirror

Saturday, July 25, 2015

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Imports declined by 13.4% in May–PSA Continued from A1

Purchases of imported oil also declined by 24.8 percent to $668.28 million. Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials was the second top imported commodity with a 15.2-percent share.

Payments for Iron and Steel; Plastics in Primary and Non-Primary Forms; Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles; Electronic Products; Other Food & Live Animals; and Telecommunication Equipment

and Electrical Machinery also went down in May. The country’s top import sources were China, which accounted for 16.4 percent of the total import bill, followed by the US with a share of 9.7 percent, and Japan with an 8.4percent share.

The balance of trade in goods for the Philippines in May registered a surplus of $508.86 million lower than the $862.71-million surplus recorded a year ago.

In January to May, imports

amounted to $24.8 billion, a 7.4-percent decrease compared with $26.78 billion in the same period last year.

However, the government remains optimistic that the volume and not the value of imports would ensure better economic growth in the succeeding quarters.

National Economic and Development Authority and Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the volume of total imported merchandise recorded a 7.1-percent growth in May 2015.

Balisacan added that the country’s purchase of capital goods from abroad also sustained its double-digit growth at 13.9 percent in May 2015.

“Despite lower payments for merchandise imports, more goods are actually being purchased as business sector sentiment for the quarter remains bullish. This is driven by expected robust demand from consumers, expected uptick in construction-related activities and the higher volume of production from

Obama woos Asia with trade deal asserting US role in Pacific. . .

Continued from A8

to JPMorgan Chase & Co. could gain from proposed limits on governments’ ability to throttle the flow of data across borders.

The proposed agreement reflects years of effort to woo Asian countries by arguing that they don’t have to bet solely on the US or China.

“All countries in Asia want a balance of partnerships and a diversification of markets,” Froman said. “TPP gives them that.”

The talks currently involve the US, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. The accord would permit China to join later, a key talking point for nations whose most important trading partner is China.

Malaysia’s $91 billion in annual trade with China is about twice its volume with the US. Vietnam’s total commerce with China reached $63.7 billion in 2014, exceeding its

trade with the US by 73 percent. Tiny Singapore’s two-way business with China was $75 billion, outstripping the $46.5 billion with the US. Robert Zoellick, the US Trade representative from 2001 to 2005, said Asian nations still value ever-closer links to the US, even as China remains the region’s trading hub. Zoellick negotiated a US accord with Singapore, which had very low tariffs and easy access to the US market, because its trade minister wanted the stamp of approval from the US, regarded as the best source of new ideas for new industries.

“Economics isn’t just trade—it’s innovation and technology,” Zoellick, now the chairman of the international advisers to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in an interview.

Even so, Asian nations can hedge their bets with a trade deal, said John Blaxland,

a senior fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University in Canberra. Vietnam is offsetting its deep suspicions of China’s intentions by entering an economic alliance with the US. “As a nation like Vietnam looks out on its trade interests, it’s looking at its leverage on the world stage and it’s looking over its shoulder at a very big dragon that has a fair bit of weight around to throw around,” Blaxland said.

The US has pushed to open the deal to other countries, a step to blunt criticism that it’s aimed at boxing out China.

At the same time, the TPP will include rules that China would be hard-pressed to accept in areas, such as free and open Internet, labor rights and big, state-owned companies, Froman said. “Not everybody shares those priorities,” he said. Bloomberg News

the manufacturing sector,” he said.

“The still bullish importation of capital goods should bode well for the country’s productive sectors, particularly industry and services. Year-onyear expansion in inward shipments of power generating machines, as well as office, telecommunication, and land transportation equipment remains robust,” Balisacan added.

He said the strong growth of fixed capital investment is expected to continue in the second semester and will remain to be one of the major

drivers of growth moving forward.

Balisacan said supporting local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) would help them grow and provide employment to the country’s labor force.

“Continuing improvements in the business environment through various reforms in doing business can sustain the growth momentum.

One of these is the recently signed Competition law that ensures a level playing field even for the MSMEs,” Balisacan said.

IMF said to urge China to unwind measures to prop up stock market Continued from A8

shareholders from selling stakes, ordered state-run institutions to buy shares and let more than half of the companies on mainland exchanges halt trading.

The IMF is in discussions with China over adding the yuan to its Special Drawing Rights basket of currencies alongside the dollar, euro, yen and pound. China’s request to join is subject to approval from the IMF board and may hinge on whether the yuan, officially called the renminbi, is deemed “freely usable.”

The extent of China’s market intervention prompted some analysts to speculate that it would hurt the yuan’s prospects of winning inclusion in the reserve-currency group. The yuan’s chances dropped “as a result of the market slump and government involvement,” Dariusz Kowalczyk, a Hong Kong-based strategist at Credit Agricole CIB, said earlier this month. He said policy-

makers may be less motivated to push through pro-market reforms after the slump.

The IMF, which reviews the composition of the SDR basket every five years, plans an informal board discussion on the issue by the end of this month, followed by formal talks in November, Rice said.

Winning the IMF’s blessing, following a rejection in the last review in 2010, would give the yuan prestige as a reserve currency that makes it more attractive for central banks to hold and potentially reduces the dollar’s dominance worldwide. From a technical standpoint, owning SDRs counts toward a country’s official reserves; the US holds $50 billion worth, out of about $280 billion worldwide.

Rice said on Thursday that the SDR review is “progressing well,” and IMF employees are interacting with Chinese authorities on an “ongoing basis,” with a lot of work still to do on the data side. Bloomberg News

The Nation BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Saturday, July 25, 2015 A3

Ex-Philconsa head files plunder case against Abad

A

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

PhilHealth presented bloated figures–doc

FORMER head of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) has filed a plunder case against Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad in connection with the implementation of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), which part of it declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (SC).

In his complaint filed before the Ombudsman, lawyer Bonifacio A. Alentajan, former president of Philconsa, accused Abad of violation of the Antigraft and Corrupt and Practices Act and Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code.

Alentajan said that Abad allegedly transferred the DAP funds duly appropriated to one government agency to another without legislative authority and “feloniously awarded and released P50 million each to 19 senators who voted for the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona.”

Alentajan said on September 25, 2013, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada delivered a privileged speech to reveal that some senators, including himself, had been allotted P50 million each as “incentive” for voting in favor of the impeachment of Corona.

The DAP, which was declared unconstitutional by the SC, came under fire in 2013 after Estrada revealed that the said funds were used as incentives for legislators who supported the impeachment of Corona in 2012.

For his part, Abad has said that the funds released to senators had been part of the DAP, a program designed by the Department of Budget to ramp up spending to accelerate economic expansion.

Abad also clarified that the funds had been released to the senators based on their letters of disbursement had caused the growth of the gross domestic product to slow down.

Moreover, the complainant, citing the SC decision on DAP, said that the Constitution provides that “no money shall be paid out of the

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LAWYER Bonifacio A. Alentajan, former president of the Philippine Constitution Association, shows a copy of the criminal complaint he filed against Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad.

Treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by law.”

“The tenor and context of the challenges posed against DAP indicate that the DAP contravened [the Constitution] by allowing the Executive [branch] to allocate funds of its various agencies in the guise of President, exercising his constitutional authority under Constitution, to transfer funds out of savings to augment the appro-

Who is the fairest? Miss Global Philippines 2015 contestants pose for photographers during the pageant’s media presentation in a hotel in Quezon City. The contest aims to help promote the country as a world-class tourism destination. NONIE REYES

Unicef presents emergency obstetric, newborn care training module to DOH

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NITED Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef)-Philippines has turned over to the Department of Health (DOH) the harmonized modules on Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) to enable midwives to standardize the quality of the care they provide.

Willibald Zeck, Unicef-Philippines, health and nutrition chief, presented the training modules to Health undersecretaries Nemesio T. Gako and Vicente Y. Belizario Jr., assistant secretaries Paulynn Rosell-Ubial and Gerardo V. Bayugo and other senior DOH officials.

“Unicef presents these modules to Secretary Janette L. Garin and the DOH, since maternal and newborn care are key elements of our Hi-5 priorities. This is a very timely initiative, particularly in the context of the Philippines

where one woman dies every two hours in giving birth.

The Maternal Newborn and Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) strategy seeks to mitigate the risks on the lives of Filipino women of reproductive age and their newborn children,” Zeck said at the formal turnover ceremonies at the DOH. Gako and the undersecretaries and assistant secretaries formally received the modules on behalf of Garin.

In support of the DOH’s Family Health Office, Unicef assisted to develop the modules as part of the Joint Program on Maternal and Newborn Health with the Australian Embassy. The modules were created in close consultation with DOH program managers, midwives’ groups, academe and partners like the United Nations Population Fund and the World

Health Organization.

Latest Philippine statistics indicate that 3,800 women die at childbirth, every year. There are at least more than 300,000 women under the age of 19 in need of proper care during childbirth, especially in rural areas.

Statistics also show that most maternal deaths occur during the intrapartum and immediate postpartum periods. Close to half of child deaths occur in the first 28 days or the neonatal period.

Unicef and the DOH recently launched the use of the harmonised modules in the BEmONC training series to rapidly increase the pool of trained health workers in as part of the DOH’s MNCHN strategy.

The modules include essential intrapartum and newborn care and active management of Third Stage of Labor. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

priations of offices within the Executive branch of the government.

But the challenges are further complicated by the interjection of allegations of transfer of funds to agencies or offices outside the executive,” Alentajan said, citing the SC decision on DAP. Alentajan also asked the Ombudsman to place Abad under preventive suspension pursuant to existing laws and regulations.

HE amounts being cited by Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) officials regarding the claims of some eye clinics, including the Quezon City Eye Center (QCEC), for cataract surgery procedures are bloated and are meant to mislead the public, the owner of QCEC told Senate reporters.

Speaking to the media Raymond Evangelista, QCEC owner, said he has documents to prove that PhilHealth’s figures are “grossly inaccurate.”

“I am willing to submit all our financial documents, including our records of payments to the Bureau of Internal Revenue [BIR], showing the actual amount of our claims and what we have actually received from PhilHealth,” Evangelista said.

“There is a discrepancy of almost P46 million between what PhilHealth says we have received and what our records show,” he said. “There is definitely something wrong with their figures, and we don’t know if the padding of the amounts is deliberate on part of some PhilHealth insiders.”

“PhilHealth submitted bloated figures to the Senate; we can easily prove this based on what we paid to the BIR,” he said.

“As far as I know, the figure presented by PhilHealth to the Senate hearings for another eye clinic, Pacific Eye Center, is also bloated by P62 million,” Evangelista said during

a chance interview.

He said that at present, “what we are concerned about is the plight of thousands of cataract patients, many of them senior citizens who are automatically covered by PhilHealth, who will now have to find other eye clinics and capable facilities to avail themselves of the free cataract surgeries, which are their benefits as PhilHealth members.”

This is because eye clinics, like QCEC, have no choice but to stop catering to PhilHealth members because of PhilHealth’s decision to withhold payments to them without any due process, Evangelista added.

He said he does not understand why PhilHealth is singling out eye clinics, which charge the minimum P16,000 per cataract procedure as mandated by PhilHealth, when there are bigger hospitals that are performing similar surgeries, but are charging so much more.

He also said the plan of PhilHealth and the Department of Health to limit the number of patients that eye doctors can operate on will result in opthalmologists being selective, leaving the poorer cataract sufferers in the dark. “We feel that this is anti-poor; if you put a cap on the number of cataract surgeries, then doctors will choose the ones that can pay the most,” Evangelista said. “That will result to discrimination.” Recto Mercene

Economy

A4 Saturday, July 25, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Aquino opens first PPP project under his watch

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By Butch Fernandez

resident Aquino opened to southern Metro Manila commuters on Friday the P2billion 4-kilometer MuntinlupaCavite Expressway (MCX), billed by the Palace as the first public-private partnership (PPP) road project fully completed under his administration.

Shortly after arriving at the site, Mr. Aquino personally drove a white Land Cruiser with his security aides through the MCX Tollbooth Plaza and got a toll card from the tollbooth personnel to open the toll-boom barrier, signaling the official opening of the new road connector seen to facilitate movement of goods and services south of the metropolis.

At simple rites held at the toll plaza, the government’s private partner in the project, represented by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman and CEO of Ayala Corp., which will operate the concession agreement, delivered the welcome remarks where Ayala announced that the MCX will be toll free for one month.

Ayala’s remarks was followed by an MCX audio-visual presentation

and project briefing for President Aquino, Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson and other Palace officials by Noel Kintanar, COO of Ayala Corp. Infrastructure.

After the brief ceremonies, the Palace reported that the expressway would be opened to the public by 2 p.m. also on Friday.

In a separate interview, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. affirmed the importance of the PPP project seen to cut travel time for southern metropolis commuters by less than an hour.

“Mahalaga iyan, dahil ’yan ang unang-unang nabuo na private-public partnership, o PPP project, sa ilalim ng administrasyon,” Coloma said, adding: “Kung maaalala natin ay itinampok ni Pangulong Aquino ang paksang iyan

Fernando Zobel de Ayala (from left), president and COO of Ayala Corp.; President Aquino; and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman and CEO of Ayala Corp., converse during the opening of the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway, a 4-kilometer tollway connecting the Daang Hari Road to the South Luzon Expressway. The tollway was opened to motorists on Friday. Ayala invested around P2.2 billion to build the road, including a P902-million cash payment to the government, and will operate and maintain it for 30 years. NONIE REYES

doon sa kaniyang kauna-unahang Sona [State of the Nation Address] noong bagong luklok pa lang siya sa pagkapangulo noong July 2010. At iyan nga po ang unang bunga ng patakaran hinggil sa public-private partnership.”

Palace officials said that with the opening of the MCX connector road, commuters bound for Cavite province and vice versa would enjoy a much shorter travel time of about 45 minutes.

“At malaking benepisyo ang idudulot nito dahil napakarami na sa ating mga kababayan ang nakatira doon sa bahagi ng lalawigan ng Cavite at lungsod ng Muntinlupa,” Coloma said.

He added: “Ayon po sa ating

impormasyon, mga 35 subdivisions o villages po ang nandiyan na sa lugar na iyan, at malaking ginhawa na mula doon sa kanilang lugar ay makakakunekta na po sila nang direkta doon sa South Luzon Expressway [Slex] at mapapabilis iyong kanilang travel time by about 45 minutes. Dahil doon sa datihan po ay mga makikitid at maliit na kalsada lamang ang binabaybay na malayo at paikot, ngayon ay mayroon ng diretsong koneksyon mula doon sa mga bahagi ng Muntinlupa at Cavite, magiging konektado na sa Slex.”

Coloma noted that for the longest time, the only main road available to motorists and commuters in the area was the Alabang-Zapote Road.

“Meron namang maliit na kalsada, iyong Commerce Avenue, binabaybay iyong Ayala Alabang Village, eh napakasikip na rin po ng trapik diyan sa lugar na iyan; at doon sa pumapasok doon sa lugar ng Filinvest, iyon din po ang isa pang ruta. Pero iyon pong MCX na tinatawag ngayon, iyong MuntinlupaCavite Expressway o connector road, malaki pong ginhawa talaga iyan dahil diretso na po iyong koneksyon mula sa malaking konsentrasyon ng populasyon natin patungo na mismo sa Slex.”

The secretary confirmed that just last week, the National Economic and Development Authority Board approved additional appropriation of over P200 million to improve access ramps and provide hasslefree convergence from Daang Hari toward Slex.

Three foreign business chambers bring Micro insurers eye huge hike in penetration rate 25 investors to southern Mindanao O

By Manuel T. Cayon

Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CITY—Three foreign business chambers that crafted last year a special “investment corridor” in southern Mindanao appeared to have struck gold as they announced that they are bringing on Friday some 25 foreign business executives to industrial and processing sites here and in two other adjacent towns.

Philip S. Dizon, president of the Davao chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (AmCham), said the 25 prospective investors include “many Japanese,” brought by its partner Japanese Chamber of Commerce.

The investors will visit the industrial sites developed by the Floirendo-owned holdings company, the Anflocor Group, in the northern suburb here and in Panabo, Davao del Norte, to the Hijo port development and industrial estate jointly developed by the Ayala family here and in the Industrial Container Terminal and Port Services of the Razon family.

The visitors will also be toured to Ciudades, the industrial and township project of the Lorenzo family

north of downtown Davao City, and to the industrial estates in Davao del Sur that were developed by the Japanese construction company, Nakayama, and the Almendras family.

Some of these investors were into manufacturing, agribusiness and services, Dizon said.

The AmCham and the Japanese chamber were joined by the European Chamber of Commerce to form the loose Joint Foreign Chamber of Commerce that advocated for a wider promotion of Mindanao as investment and relocation site for foreign manufacturing and agriculture operations in the country.

AmCham President Ebb Hinchliffe and Japanese chamber President Keisuke Nakao attended the briefing on Thursday and joined the tour on Friday. Julian H. Payne, president of the Canadian business chamber in the country, also attended.

Last year the three chambers met here to jointly ask the Board of Investments (BOI) to grant additional incentive packages to foreign businesses that would locate their ventures in the Davao region.

Dizon said that among those that it sought favor from the BOI are longer tax holidays and faster process-

ing of their applications, even from corporations that would open new export-processing zones.

Hinchliffe said there are countries in Asia that extend longer tax holidays. Vietnam, for instance, has its 30-year tax holiday, he said.

The joint chambers closely coordinated with government agencies in its project, creating a Southern Mindanao Growth Corridor Investment to bring major investors to Southern Philippines.

In a talk last year in the joint foreign chambers meeting, Dizon said, “We want to spread out the businesses to the region, from General Santos City to the south to Mati City to the east.”

The entire area would cover a stretch of 300 kilometers of highway and big plantations of pineapple, banana, coconut, vegetables and other crops. There are still large tracts of open agricultural areas that could be tapped for industrial infrastructure in Mindanao.

The Davao region, he said, is largely agricutural, “but when we invite more industries, we would encourage investors to invest in the other areas of the region to avoid congestion in the city and the depletion of water resources,” he said.

RCBC plans to open more satellite offices to take advantage of growing SME sector

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he strong growth of the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector made an official of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) bullish on the bank’s SME business expansion.

In a briefing on Friday, Maria Angela V. Tinio, RCBC senior vice president for the Commercial and SME Banking Segment, said they target to grow about 20 percent to 30 percent this year, as in the past years, to be able to increase the segment’s share in the bank’s total loan portfolio (TLP).

“This growth target is aligned with the general direction of the bank for the SME business to account to 20 percent of total bank loans in the next two years from

the current share of about 12 percent,” she said.

The bank’s commercial and SME segment was established in 2002 to consolidate loans for the small borrowers. It currently have about 14 lending centers around the country, four of which are in Metro Manila, and about the same number of satellite offices.

Tinio said the lending centers and satellite offices are located inside RCBC branches.

She disclosed their plan to further increase the number of satellite offices in the provinces due to higher demand in these areas.

Share of SME loans from Metro Manila is about 60 percent of total SME loans, while the balance of 40 percent are accounted

for by those from the provinces, she said. “But things have changed and the numbers have reversed,” she said.

Thus, the need to open additional satellite offices in cities like Dumaguete and Butuan, she pointed out.

Tinio said loans extended to SMEs reached an average amount of P10 million to 20 million and most of these are in Metro Manila since loans from the provinces mostly amount to P1 million and below. She said the SME segment has a total of about P25-billion loan portfolio and are mostly extended to firms involved in wholesale and retail trade and construction, among others. PNA

fficials of Cebuana Lhuiller and CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc. are optimistic that insurance penetration rate in the Philippines can post big leaps and help even those in the lowest bracket of the society.

“The key is microinsurance,” said CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Head Geric Laude in a briefing on Friday.

Laude said their partnership with Cebuana Lhuillier is targeted to give even the poor the chance to avail themselves of insurance products, which would aid them when tragedies happen.

On Friday officials of the two companies formalized their partnership with the signing of a memorandum

of agreement (MOA) wherein Pioneer was tapped as the underwriter of the Alagang Cebuana program.

Alagang Cebuana was introduced in 2008 and policy issuance that year reached about 1.7 million.

In 2014 about 16.7 million certificates were issued under this program and covered about 5 million Filipinos.

This product provides an individual a four-month coverage for a premium of P25.

Insurance coverage per certificate amounts to P20,000 for accidental death, dismemberment, and disablement and P5,000 each for fire cash assistance and for unprovoked murder and assault. A person can avail himself or herself of a maximum of five policies.

Cebuana Lhuil lier Genera l Manager Jonathan Batangan, during the same briefing, cited that the country has the highest microinsurance coverage in the world with about 21 percent of the population having insurance.

“However, many Filipinos are still deprived of social protection and economic inclusion and this is what the Alagang Cebuana will address,” he said.

Batangan said they have issued 700,000 policies under the tie-up program in June alone, and an additional 200,000 to 300,000 are projected for July.

These numbers, he said, would help the microinsurance industry to reach more individuals. PNA

Kalibo Airport, Davao International Airport named among world’s most efficient gateways

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ALIBO, Aklan—The Airport Council International (ACI) has named the Kalibo International Airport and the Davao International Airport as the eighth and sixth most efficient airport in the world, respectively.

The said information has been generated based on the official statement of the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). The HKIA generated 264.6 points of workload unit.

The Kalibo Airport has earned 211 points, while the Davao International Airport ranked sixth with 222.22 points.

The HKIA has been named as efficient in terms of aircraft movement and traffic control in 2013.

It reportedly managed to handle air traffic from different countries despite its small size. The Council has submitted its report for year 2013, but only released it in the first quarter of 2015.

Other most efficient airports include Tokyo with 248.5 in the second spot and Dubai with 245.4 in third spot.

Engr. Martin Terre, chief of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines-Kalibo, said that the

report surprises many.

“We are inspired and vow to further improve our services at the airport,” he said.

The ACI is the only global trade representative of the world’s airports. Established in 1991, ACI represents airports’ interest with governments and international organizations, such as International Civil Aviation Organization.

It also develops standards, policies and recommends practices for airports; and provides information and training opportunities to raise standards around the world. PNA

Govt wants Filipinos to invest in financial instruments

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LOILO CITY—The government has been encouraging the people to invest in other financial instruments, aside from depositing their money in banks, to yield higher returns.

“The regulators have been going around the country, the BSP [Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas], trying to educate our people on the merits of investing in financial instruments aside from deposits,” said Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran in a media briefing here on Friday.

“Deposits have very low interest rates and they are short-term money.

What we want is longer-term money, which is usually invested in mutual funds, invested in equities,” Beltran said, as he explained the government

move to promote financial literacy.

Aside from mutual funds and other instruments, people can go to the stock market and invest, look for a company of their choice and then put their money there, he said.

“There are opportunities like this, where returns are much better, and it should be made known to everybody,” he added.

In the case of the Bureau of the Treasury, Beltran noted that sometimes, when it issues small-denomination Treasury bonds, finance personnel go around the country, explaining to households that it is an opportunity for them to improve their rate of return.

On the part of the Securities and

Exchange Commission (SEC), Commissioner Manuel Gaite said they also launch information campaigns to inform the public where to invest and where not to invest.

The SEC issues advisories to save the public from dealing with dubious investment companies, he said, adding that ordinary corporations must have a secondary license before they sell securities, so the SEC could monitor their businesses.

He warned the public that if the offer is too good, usually this is a scam.

Delegates to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum have been meeting here since Thursday to discuss infrastructural and capital market development. PNA

Economy BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

WTO members now more open to adopt free trade policies

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he number of trade liberalization measures being implemented by World Trade Organization (WTO) members exceeded the number of current trade restrictions, the global regulatory body’s latest trade monitoring report showed.

In a statement on Friday, the intergovernmental regulatory body said that in the period from October 2014 to May 2015, the trade restrictive measures put in place by 67 member-countries, including the Philippines—43 percent of total membership—reached 104. But during the same period, 114 new trade-liberalizing measures were also put in place.

This was indicated in a trade monitoring report made by the WTO’s trade policy review body.

The 104 new restrictive measures (excluding trade remedies) add to the total of 1,828 prohibitive measures recorded since October of 2008 when WTO started stock-taking an alarming number, said the organization.

This represents a 12 percent increase from the previous trade monitoring report, which covered the period of November 2013 to October of 2014.

“The report confirms that WTO members continue to show some restraint in introducing new traderestrictive measures with the introduction of such measures [excluding trade remedies] relatively stable since 2012. With the share of removals of total restrictive measures still under 25 percent, the longer-term trend in the number of trade-restrictive measures remains an area where continued vigilance is required,” the report read.

The removal percentage of the trade restrictions since 2008 was only at 25 percent, a number that must be improved as global trade is poised to modestly recover in the next two years, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said in a statement.

“As you know, our economists have revised their forecasts for world trade growth to 3.3 percent in 2015 and to 4.0 percent in 2016. This is due to a mix of factors, such as sluggish economic growth, plunging oil prices, exchange-rate fluctuations and geopolitical tensions. The forecasts point to a moderate, but continued expansion of trade in the months ahead. Yet, downside risks continue to cast shadows over this outlook,” Azevedo said.

The trade monitoring report similarly cited policy reforms in general support of economic activities. In the services sector, the report noted the Philippines’s liberalization of its financial sector.

The report also cites the Customs office’s creation of an electronic portal as a trade-facilitating measure.

Catherine Elizamarie N. Pillas

Saturday, July 25, 2015 A5

ITA coverage expansion eliminates tariffs on 201 technology products

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By Catherine Elizamarie N. Pillas

rade negotiators, who are party to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA), have finalized a deal on Friday to expand the ITA’s product coverage, paving the way for the elimination of tariffs on $1-trillion worth of global technology products.

A tentative deal for expansion has been struck last weekend, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced last week, allow-

ing for the ITA to cut tariffs on 201 technology products.

“We are very pleased with the breakthrough reached on Friday

in Geneva to expand the ITA. This will open overseas markets for some of America’s most competitive companies and workers,” USTR Michael Froman said in a statement last weekend, when the breakthrough in talks occurred.

“We are confident that all parties will now give formal approval to their participation in what would be the first tariff-elimination deal at the WTO in 18 years,” Froman added.

“We have reached a basis for an agreement. We are very optimistic to reach a final deal by the end of the week,” WTO Director General Robert Azevedo said on Twitter last week.

The declaration text and final list of products were disclosed after the latest round of negotiations, and are being circulated to participating governments for

PHL-China economic ties stable amid territorial dispute, says Finance official

IN this July 15, 2012 file photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese fishing vessel sails by Fiery Cross Reef (background) also known as Yongshu Reef by the Chinese, of the Spratly Islands in South China Sea. Defying a US call to halt the project, China defended its land reclamation in the disputed Spratly Islands on November 24, 2014, saying the work is for public service use, although a London-based security group says the new island could host a military airfield to intimidate neighbors. In a recent report, IHS said satellite images taken in August and November showed that Chinese dredgers had created a land mass almost the entire length of Fiery Cross Reef, which was previously under water. The security group said it is China’s largest construction project in the island chain. AP

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LOILO CITY—Economic relations between the Philippines and China withstand the territorial dispute over islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said.

Beltran, in a news briefing on Friday during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meet here, said economic ties between the two Apec economies remain stable.

“I have not seen any problem [in our economic cooperation] despite these territorial problems we are facing,” Beltran said, citing that China’s development assistance for the Philippines continues to take place.

He added that the country’s financial sector remains strong and not affected by the dispute with the giant economy.

Early this month the Philippines

presented its arguments on the disputed territories before the arbitral tribunal in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, the 21 Apec economies, which include the Philippines and China, concluded on Friday the workshop on infrastructure financing and capital market development to facilitate investments in infrastructure in the region. PNA

review and confirmation before a Friday deadline.

Tariffs on global positioning system devices, printer ink cartridges, video-game consoles, touch-sensitive devices, pacemakers and other products would be cut to zero under the deal, according to the USTR office.

The 52 participants to the ITA (representing 80 member-states), which includes the Philippines, account for approximately 90 percent of world trade in the products being proposed for inclusion in the product expansion negotiation.

As the tariff concessions under the ITA would be inserted in participants’ WTO schedules, the tariff elimination is implemented on a most-favored nation (MFN) basis.

In a visit to the country early this year, Azevedo underlined the impor-

tance of the ITA to the Philippines as a major exporter of semiconductor and electronics products.

Philippine trade officials have yet to release a comment on the latest ITA development.

As reported by Bloomberg in September, ITA negotiators will start talks on schedules of concessions for tariff reductions, also known as staging, to allow countries to gradually phase in the tariff reductions for certain products deemed too sensitive for the ITA’s various signatories.

According to the WTO, although the average applied MFN tariffs maintained by the participating members in the ITA expansion negotiations range from 0 percent to 7.1 percent for the products being negotiated, the import duties for certain products in key markets are as high as 35 percent.

Free Wi-Fi now available in 6 Metro Manila areas

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ix locations in Quezon City and Manila were provided with free Wi-Fi access on Friday via the Juan Konek project of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Juan Konek Digital Empowerment Program is a project of the DOST-Information and Communications Technology Office, which aims to provide free Wi-Fi access to 967 classes 3, 4, 5 and 6 municipalities nationwide, prioritizing low-income and underserved communities.

“We want our fellowmen to take advantage of e-commerce, online learning and government services even without having to traverse roads or rivers,” DOST Undersecretary Louis Napoleon Casambre said.

The alpha launch test was held on Friday afternoon to help the agency assess the system and make necessary adjustments before rolling out Juan Konek at a larger scale.

At present, Wi-Fi routers were installed in Quezon City Hall, Quezon Memorial Circle, Philippine Coconut Authority building, Social Security System and Land Transportation Office buildings and Luneta Park.

About 4,550 users will benefit from these installations, and DOST is prepared to provide and maintain the speed connection for up to 105,000 users.

The DOST added it will implement a blacklist system to prevent potentially harmful and destructive web sites and to keep information secure. PNA

Online sources biggest influence in car buying decision–survey

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ased on the Carmudi Car Buyer Survey, online sources make the biggest influence on the buyers’ purchasing decisions.

This was shared by Carmudi, an online classifieds, in a news conference onThursday. The online sources include manufacture sites, dealer sites, general Internet searches, as well as online classifieds.

Other influencers that the respondents reported are offline platforms like car expo.

The survey revealed that in the Philippines, many buying decisions are influenced by both online and offline platforms.

It cited that 66.7 percent of car dealers in the country mainly focus on online advertisement.

“Car dealers in the Philippines are aware of the potential that social media has,” Carmudi highlighted.

The survey also found that Facebook is the most popular social-media platform and is being used by over 53 percent of car dealers in the country to advertise their listings.

Other dealer sites (13 percent) and another social-media platform, Instagram (6 percent) are other preferred options.

The survey noted that the Philippines has a 33 percent annual increase in the number of active social-media accounts.

It added that a report by Tigerclub Digital attributed the said growth to increased digital engagement, stronger economy and young demographics. PNA

National Science and Technology Week celebration features Hybrid Electric Train

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he National Science and Technology (S&T) Week celebration slated from July 24 to 28 formally opened on Friday at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

The celebration offers the public various learning experiences through numerous exhibits, lay fora and even a demo ride at the recently launched Hybrid Electric Road Train (HERT).

Interior Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II, who was the guest speaker, rode the HERT, along with Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario G. Montejo, during the test run at the SMX Convention Center grounds.

After the test ride, Roxas told the Philippines News Agency that the road train is good as it can accommodate more passengers compared to an ordinary bus.

Furthermore, he emphasized that the main advantage is that the technology used was based on automotive technology instead of the technology used in train parts. That means the parts and repair would cost less as there would be no need to get the materials abroad, he added.

Montejo said they really used automotive components to make a masstransport system that’s cost effective.

Roxas believes that this would also work in Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and other similar roads, and will soon be commercialized.

Symbolic opening ceremony

The week-long celebration was officially opened using a whistle, which the organizers consider a symbolic device.

Whistle is a tool commonly used in line with disaster preparedness, one of

DOST’s advocacies.

Meanwhile, another highlight of the opening ceremony included the S&T Awards from the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).

Three individuals received the following awards: n Windell Rivera—Outstanding Research and Development Award for Basic Research. n Marybeth Maningas—Outstanding Research Development Award for Applied Research. n Aura Matias—Outstanding Science Administrator Award.

Each of them received P150,000, certificate of recognition and plaque.

Everyone’s invited to learn more about S&T and ride the road train for free.

“It’s important that S&T will be felt by every Juan,” Montejo said. PNA

HYBRID TRAIN Interior Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II and Science Secretary Mario G. Montejo ride the Hybrid Electric Road Train

(HERT) during its road test at the start of the 2015 National Science and Technology Week on Friday at the SMX grounds, Pasay City. Designed

by Filipino engineers and powered by hybrid diesel and electric battery, the HERT’s four coaches can accommodate 60 passengers each or a total of 240 commuters. PNA

A6 Saturday, July 25, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Competition and cabotage

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he signing into law of the Philippine Competition Act and amendments to the cabotage law are positive developments, but are far from the economic game changers many players are talking about.

Allowing foreign vessels to call at several Philippine seaports to load and unload cargoes is actually a no-brainer. A cargo ship comes in from Singapore, for example, and then must unload all the containers in Manila. These containers must then be reloaded on domestic ships for distribution throughout the country. Is it any wonder why there is congestion at the Port of Manila?

Of course, back in 2009, Thompson C. Lantion, undersecretary for maritime affairs of the Department of Transportation and Communications, said the country may end up like Indonesia, which has a nearly dead shipping industry, after it allowed the entry of foreign players. The Maritime Industry Authority was also against any changes, making us wonder whose interests—the public’s or the industry’s—these government agencies are supposed to be representing.

The cabotage law will reduce shipping costs for both importers and exporters, and that is good for the nation, even if the local shippers will lose some revenue. Maybe they should. Shipping a 40-foot container from Manila to Cagayan de Oro costs $1,860, more expensive than a foreign transshipment via Hong Kong, at $1,144, and via Kaohsiung, at $1,044.

The Competition Act was cheered on social media as being the magic bullet that will bring low-cost and high-speed Internet to the Philippines; break the oligarchies’ “stranglehold on the economy”; and herald a new dawn for the economy. Unfortunately, unfair-trade practices are muddy and vague, and, like beauty and pornography, are often in the eye of the beholder.

While it is good to have a law like this, the actual application is not going to be easy. Notice that “activities under abuse of dominant position include selling goods or services below the market prices to suppress competition.”

If a dominant national player, or even a dominant small local Internet service provider, lowers its prices to increase market share—and give the consumers more value for their money—at what point does it become “abusive”? That question will be answered by the newly created Philippine Competition Commission, and the outcome may not please some consumer activists.

We are in complete agreement to opening the economy to more participants. Competition does breed success. But we need to keep our expectations in check, so that we can realistically move forward with other measures. Expecting too much and being disappointed may limit our resolve to make other future regulatory changes that are necessary.

The markets’ (and the PSE’s) biggest problem John Mangun

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OUTSIDE THE BOX

ver the last few months my outlook has been gradually, but steadily, growing dimmer. There are too many conditions coming together that do not create a positive omen for the future. Too often, I feel like I am sitting next to the guy on the Titanic who undoubtedly said something like, “It’s only a chunk of ice. The ship is unsinkable, and everyone in charge knows exactly what they are doing.”

Remember the bus that drove off the Skyway killing 18 people in December 2013? Of all the probable factors that could make things go wrong, the one variable that made the difference between a safe, but overspeeding, trip on a bus that needed some repairs and driven by someone not paying full attention was the rain on the road. Had it not been raining that morning and had the driver adjusted to the rain, those 18 people would probably be still alive today.

I guess I am still in the mood for silly stories, so bear with me. The financial markets, and economies for that matter, are like raging rivers. A natural river is exciting and useful, but you have to put up with the times of uncontrolled flooding that causes damage. Therefore, dams are built on the river to bring some order to the

water and still keep the flow moving along. Some of the “dams” in the markets come from business models.

Without the dams, there would not be any profit for market participants.

Others come from government regulations, and both methods are there to ensure a smooth flow of money and liquidity.

In September 2008 the global financial firm Lehman Brothers collapsed, in large part due to losses from the subprime-mortgage default crisis. Because of the interconnection of companies and investments, the credit system froze in the same way a failed dam would fall and block the river. Institutions and banks stopped lending almost overnight.

The US government and the Federal Reserve (the Fed) moved immediately, mobilizing the Troubled Asset Relief Program to buy bad debt

and infuse cash to the lenders to get the money flowing again.

Financial and credit markets must have liquidity to function and to support economies. Unfortunately, all the forced liquidity through bailouts and quantitative easing since then was never enough to get the economic river flowing normally again.

In fact, instead of tearing down and rebuilding the broken “dam” by letting some banks fail, they kept the river artificially flowing.

But the financial markets need genuine money flow from created wealth through economic activity.

Even markets that have not been dependent on “stimulus money” will eventually be caught up in the illiquidity environment, and that is what is happening now.

The global bond market has become so accustomed to governments purchasing debt at very low rates that real money is no longer participating. Unlike governments, real money will not loan at zero interest rates. Further, former buyers are now finding that they cannot get out because of the absence of buyers of old debt. The governments are only buying newly issued debt instruments. And if the Fed raises rates, lowering the value of existing bonds, prices will fall like a rock.

China knows this and sold $143 billion of US Treasury debt this year and maybe as much as $500 billion of both government and private-sector dollar debt in the last five quarters.

Cheap money is here to stay William Pesek

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BLOOMBERG VIEW

or decades, central banks lorded over markets. Traders quivered at the omnipotence of monetary authorities—their every move, utterance and wink a reason to scurry for safe havens, or an opportunity to score huge profits. Now, though, markets are the ones doing the bullying.

Take New Zealand and Australia. On Thursday the Reserve Bank of New Zealand slashed borrowing costs for the second time in six weeks, even as housing prices continue to skyrocket. A day earlier, its counterpart across the Tasman Sea (already wrestling with an even bigger property bubble of its own) said a third cut this year is “on the table.”

Just one year ago, it seemed unthinkable that officials in Wellington and Sydney, more typically known for their hawkishness and stubborn independence, would join the global race toward zero. But with commodity prices sliding, China slowing and governments reluctant to adopt bold reforms, jittery markets are demanding ever-bigger gestures from central

banks. Even those presiding over stable growth feel the need to placate hedge funds, lest asset markets falter.

When this dynamic overtakes countries, such as New Zealand (growing 2.6 percent) and Australia (2.3 percent), it’s hard not to conclude that ultralow rates will be the global norm for a long, long time.

Indeed, the major monetary powers that are easing—Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand—have all suggested rates may stay low almost indefinitely. Those angling to return to normalcy, meanwhile—the Federal Reserve (the Fed) and the Bank of England—are pledging to move very slowly. Even nations with rising inflation problems, like India, are hinting at more stimulus.

“As interest rates continue to fall across most of the globe, central banks are also united in their main message: Once rates have come down, they’re likely to stay down,” Simon GroseHodge of LGT Bank says. “And when they finally do tighten, the ‘normal’ rate is going to be a lot lower than it used to be.” Could the People’s Bank of China be next? “With underlying gross domestic product growth still looking weak, more monetary-policy moves are likely,” Adam Slater of Oxford Economics says. “And China may even face the prospect of shortterm rates dropping toward the zero lower bound.”

In April 2013 International Monetary Fund Head Christine Lagarde asked her staff to study how markets might react to major central banks reversing their easing policies. Yet, Japan’s experience illustrates just how hard it is to restore normalcy after a huge economic shock. Markets, businesses, banks, consumers and politicians alike quickly learn not just to love free money, but to rely on it. Zero rates are about the only thing keeping Japan’s huge debt load sustainable, thus making it all but impossible for Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda to taper.

Even if Fed Chairman Janet Yellen manages to pull off a rate hike or two

This liquidation of dollardenominated assets not only speaks loudly about its liquidity problem, but also shows how bad the Chinese economy really is for them to need that much new cash in their domestic-money system.

Illiquidity is also hitting the stock markets. Monthly trading volumes on the New York Stock Exchange averaged 102 billion shares in 2010 and 76 billion in 2012. In 2015 the average is 73 billion per month. We are seeing the same phenomenon on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in the last months, as both local and foreign money have pulled out, with foreigners going into dollars and many locals sitting on the sidelines.

Look at almost any major PSE issues, and the monthly peso volume in 2015 is less than in 2014.

Lower liquidity today creates even lower future liquidity, as investors are fearful of getting stuck without potential buyers. Lower liquidity also causes more volatility with larger price movements, both up and down.

Add to the current situation any event or changing trend that upsets the markets, and liquidity may dry up even more. That would not be good.

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.

later this year, she’ll be hard-pressed to return to the monetary-policy framework that prevailed before the Lehman Brothers crisis. Yellen would be pilloried by Wall Street and summoned to Capitol Hill for a browbeating if she tried. Similarly, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi would face rebellions across the euro zone to any tapering moves.

At this point, rather than pretend they can return to normalcy, central banks should be devising ways to adapt to a low-rate world. Surely, they should prod governments to do their part to boost growth and upgrade economies. But monetary authorities also must make sure the liquidity they churn out doesn’t increase financial risks.

In New Zealand, for example, central bank Gov. Graeme Wheeler has been experimenting with so-called macroprudential steps to tame asset bubbles, including limits on leveraged lending. Australia should be eyeing new regulations and taxes to make sure its record-low 2-percent benchmark rate doesn’t add froth to property markets. That goes, too, for officials in the US, Europe and elsewhere still thinking they can regain their power over markets or the business cycle. Those days aren’t going to return anytime soon.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Saturday, July 25, 2015

A7

Don’t fix something when 46% of Filipinos say President Aquino failed to curb corruption it’s excellently working Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual Cecilio T. Arillo

database

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agree with Finance Undersecretary Jeremias N. Paul Jr. that introducing at this time a minimum price for cigarettes (MPC) may adversely affect gains made through Republic Act 10351, or the sin-tax reform law (STRL).

“Passing a bill that sets a floor price on cigarettes is not a good idea at this time,” Paul said, stressing that the STRL passed in 2012, after 15 years of delay in Congress, raised tobacco taxes and fixed longstanding structural weaknesses related to the taxation of tobacco and alcohol products.

The MPC idea “will ensure cigarette manufacturers’ profits in the future and would be difficult to enforce,” Paul said.

Paul was politely commenting on Sen. Alan Peter S. Cayetano’s Senate Bill 2803, meant as counterpart to Romblon Rep. Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona’s House Bill 5013 that sought to impose a minimum floor price per cigarette pack from this year’s P38 to P44 per pack in 2016 and P51 per pack in 2017.

In effect, Cayetano’s version further increased Madrona’s 4-percent annual price hike to 8 percent beginning in 2018 to help discourage the youth from smoking.

“The current STRL is performing very well and has undoubtedly leveled the playing field for the industry, that’s why a Filipino-owned manufacturer won a respectable share of the market,” Deputy Speaker and Leyte Second District Rep. Sergio Apostol said in a chance interview.

“Let’s see by 2017, when the final stage of the unitary tax system takes place,” the senior lawmaker explained, adding that, “by then, we would have a clearer picture of what the industry will look like and if a new measure is really necessary.”

Apostol also mentioned that while the MCP bill appears fundamentally sound, delaying it and reviewing the tobacco industry after the unitary tax rates would provide the lawmakers with insights if additional provisions are necessary.

Paul said despite the measures intended to discourage smoking mainly by raising the excise taxes slapped on so-called sin products, smokers end up buying cheaper cigarette variants.

As a result, the sin-tax law generated $2.3 billion in additional government revenue, with tobacco accounting for roughly 80 percent of excise tax payments in its first two years of implementation, and collections continued to rise as shown by government official data.

Latest collection jumps 15.1%

AS of end-May this year alone, collections from the excise tax slapped on so-called sin products jumped 15.1 percent to P41.76 billion, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares reported last week.

The latest Bureau of Internal Revenue data showed that the

excise taxes collected from tobacco products, fermented liquor and distilled spirits combined rose from P36.29 billion in the first five months of 2014.

Collections from cigarettes grew the fastest, at 18.5 percent, to P25.34 billion as of end-May from P21.38 billion a year ago.

Excise taxes collected from fermented liquor increased by 15.8 percent to P11.49 billion from P9.92 billion last year.

But the January-to-May excisetax take from distilled spirits slightly dropped by 1.3 percent to P4.93 billion, compared with P4.99 billion during the first five months of 2014.

The higher total collections were mainly a result of the STRL, including the implementation of the Internal Revenue Stamps Integrated System, or Irsis, on tobacco early this year.

Henares said the tax-stamp system would also cover alcohol products before this year ends.

Under the STRL, cigarette packs that cost below P11.50 are to be taxed P21 this year, up from P17 last year, while those priced P11.50 and above are slapped P28, slightly up from P27 in 2014.

Fermented liquor that cost less than P50.60 a liter are now taxed an additional P19 (from P17 last year), while those priced above P50.60 are slapped P22 (from P21).

Distilled spirits are levied P20 plus 20 percent of the net retail price per proof, from P20 plus 15 percent last year.

The volume of removals though of both cigarettes and distilled spirits decreased during the first five months.

For cigarettes, the volume of products withdrawn from warehouses declined by 2.4 percent to 1.08 billion packs from 1.11 billion a year ago. In the case of distilled spirits, the volume of removals dropped by 12.4 percent to 145.53 million proof liters from 166.18 million proof liters last year.

As for fermented liquor, the volume of removals rose by 2.8 percent to 581.79 million liters in end-May from 566.21 million liters during the same five-month period of 2014.

In the first year of implementation of the sin-tax reform in 2013, the total incremental revenue from tobacco and alcohol products hit P51.17 billion, but revenues slightly went down to P50.18 billion last year.

For 2015 collection, P140.4 billion should come from excise taxes levied on tobacco, alcohol, minerals, motor vehicles and petroleum.

To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio. arillo@gmail.com

SERVANT LEADER

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ast Thursday (July 23) I joined Most Rev. Teodoro C. Bacani Jr., DD, bishop emeritus of Novaliches; and Most Rev. Broderick S. Pabillo, DD, auxiliary bishop of Manila and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) permanent committee on public affairs chairman, in presenting to the media the latest results of Veritas Truth Survey (VTS) on the public perception on corruption in our government.

Conducted during the second quarter of 2015, involving 1,200 respondents from both urban and rural areas nationwide, the VTS revealed that 46 percent of Filipinos believe President Aquino failed in his campaign promises of matuwid na daan (straight path) after more than five years in office.

The respondents were specifically asked the following question: “Sa iyong palagay, naging matagumpay ba ang ating Pangulo sa kanyang programa laban sa korupsyon sa ating pamahalaan [In your opinion, was the President successful in his program against corruption in our

government?]” In response, 41 percent of Filipinos replied “unsure,” while only 13 percent said the President succeeded in fighting corruption in the government.

Broken down by region, a majority of those from Luzon (53 percent) and 48 percent from Mindanao said they do not agree that the President successfully curbed corruption, while 47 percent from the Visayas said they are unsure.

In terms of highest educational attainment, 52 percent of highschool graduates said President Aquino was unable to address corruption, while 46 percent of

elementary graduates, 45 percent of vocational graduates, 42 percent of college graduates and 44 percent of those with postgraduate degrees said they are unsure.

The same poll revealed the government agencies that are perceived to be corrupt, with both legislative branches topping the list; 49 percent said the Senate of the Philippines and 48 percent said the House of Representatives are corrupt. President Aquino’s allies control both houses of Congress.

Plurality of respondents said the Office of the President (42 percent), Office of the Vice President (39 percent), Cabinet Secretaries (46 percent), the Judiciary (48 percent), and their respective provincial governments (39 percent) are moderately corrupt. Local government units (LGUs) at the city/municipal and barangay levels were perceived as not corrupt by the most number of respondents, with 37 percent and 39 percent, respectively.

Bishops Pabillo and Bacani both said the results of this survey should serve as a wake-up call for President Aquino.

Bishop Pabillo said it is not too late for the President to make serious

effort to deliver on his campaign versus corruption in the government since there is still one year for him to act.

Bishop Bacani, for his part, said the President should prosecute corrupt officials regardless if they belong to the opposition or they are his allies. Otherwise, people will doubt whether or not he is really serious about his administration’s anticorruption drive.

The VTS was conducted by the research department of Radio Veritas, headed by Clifford Sorita, PhD Radio Veritas is the No. 1 faith-based radio in the country owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila. Church teachings indicate that a legitimate government should be seen as truthful and trustworthy. The results of the VTS clearly show the public’s perception. I hope the government would now see the views of its boss.

To know more about the programs of Caritas Manila, visit www.caritas. org.ph. For donations, call 563-9311.

For inquiries, call 563-9308 or 5639298. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph.

For comments, e-mail veritas846pr@

Good luck bargain hunting for gold miners

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By Barry Ritholtz | Bloomberg View

et’s say this right up front: The SPDR Gold Shares Trust exchange-traded fund has killed the shares of the gold miners.

For a few years now, I have been very skeptical about gold’s value as an investment.

The primary reason is straightforward: Gold is bought and sold based on a narrative that has turned out to be patently untrue. As we move further away from the great credit crisis of 2008-2009, the global financial system has stabilized, undercutting the appeal of gold as a hedge against catastrophe. The US economy is improving, as are those of many other countries. The wild inflation and collapse of the US dollar that was going to lead to the demise of civilization and make gold an essential for investors? None of that has happened.

Instead, the world has low inflation or even deflation and the dollar, the world’s reserve currency, has risen to multiyear highs.

Unlike the metal, which is formed in the supernovae of second-generation stars, the rationale for gold ownership isn’t eternal. It ebbs and flows along with a variety of inputs, including the strength of the dollar, inflation and, of course, mass psychology.

Last week rather than discuss the metal, I asked the question “Are Shares of Gold Miners a ‘Buy’?” But today’s missive is about something more nuanced than gold—I want to address the question of the divergence between gold and the gold miners. It is an intriguing issue.

As I noted, Isaac Arnsdorf at Bloomberg News offered up this fascinating chart of the price ratio between gold and the gold miners.

It shows that the miners are the cheapest relative to gold in more than three decades. I believe it is worthy of further exploration— especially for those folks who are

tempted to buy any of the miners now that they seem to be bargains.

What might lead to a return to the historical relationship between gold and gold miners has yet to be determined, but I caution readers that there is cheap, and then there is really cheap. There may be some point where the miners are a good buy relative to the price of gold. But determining when that is has been complicated by a serious breakdown of the gold/gold-miners ratio.

The key word here is “proxy.”

Gold miners were once a fair proxy for physical bullion. If it were impractical for you as a fund manager to own bars of gold, which entails transportation, storage and

security, you had an easy alternative. You bought shares of the miners. The (theoretical) gold reserves they owned was a component of their book value, and was an indirect way to own gold with none of the other costs.

Similarly, if you were an individual investor, and you didn’t want to play the futures markets—high leverage and risk of losses beyond your original investment—you also could buy shares of the various miners.

Then in 2004 along came the SPDR Gold Shares Trust ETF, which gave both the professional money manager and the individual investor a fast, cheap and easy way to invest in gold.

The ETF killed the primary reason for owning gold miners. Why bother investing in a company saddled with the overhead cost of running a mine and error-prone management—all a drag on returns—when you could instantly buy a stake in gold without any of

the complications?

The irony is that the gold ETF was a creation of the World Gold Council, an association of global goldmining companies. In a wonderful history of the ETF, Liam Plevin and Carolyn Cui wrote in 2010 that the gold miners were “frustrated with the council’s inability to stem two decades of depressed prices and find buyers for a growing glut of the yellow metal.”

The council succeeded too well: Their creation eroded the need for investors to bother with the shares of the miners themselves.

As I said earlier, there may be some price at which the gold miners become attractive. But it seems like it will be impossible to undo the fact that the reason for owning the miners has been displaced by a less expensive, more efficient investment vehicle for gold.

In that case, good luck figuring out at what price the miners are actually cheap.

Protecting the interest of consumers against deceptive sales practices MAIL

Please e-mail your letters to the editor to opinion@businessmirror.com.ph.

Letters chosen for publication in this section are edited for brevity and clarity.

AS provided in Article II, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution, it is the policy of the State to “protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them.” Further, Republic Act 7394, or the Consumer Act of the Philippines, emphasizes the policy of the State to protect the interests of the consumers against deceptive, unfair and unconscionable sales acts or practices, misleading advertisements and promotion practices to promote general welfare and establish standards of conduct for the business and industry.

Relative hereto, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was enacted to prescribe standards, guidelines, and regulations with respect to information, advertisements and other marketing instruments and promotion, sponsorship, and other marketing activities about health products.

To achieve the above policies, the FDA would like to reiterate the following guidelines in the advertisement and promotion of health products: a. FDA Memorandum Circular 2015-003—reiterates the FDA requirement for the change in the

use of the message/phrase “No Approved Therapeutic Claims” in Filipino as: “Mahalagang Paalala: Ang [Name of Product] ay Hindi Gamot at Hindi Dapat Gamiting Panggamot sa Anumang Uri ng Sakit” in all advertisements, promotional and/ or sponsorship activities or materials. The deadline given was May 31, 2015, within which to comply with the FDA letter of April 22, 2015 and ASC’s Circular 2015-006 that “no approved therapeutic claims” will no longer be used but the Tagalog version instead. b. Republic Act (RA) 9711, Section 2 FDA Act of 2009—strengthens the

FDA regulatory capacity to prescribe standards, guidelines, and regulations with respect to information, advertisements and other marketing instruments and promotion, sponsorship, and other marketing activities about health products. c. Administrative Order 65 s.

1989 Section 2—details the general guidelines on advertisement and promotion based on prior laws such that: 1) only registered FDA products shall be advertised and subject to sales promotion; 2) and prescription/Rx drugs shall not be advertised through mass media but only in medical or health

publications/journals. d. Article 116 of RA 7394— stresses the rule that no person shall conduct any sales promotion activity without first securing a permit from the FDA. In consonance with this, the FDA expects all concerned food/dietary supplement establishments, mass and social media, television and mobile networks and other concerned parties to comply with the directives stated in these orders.

Cynthia C. Diza OIC-Ethical Market Communications Food and Drug Administration

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, July 25, 2015

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL likely to miss 2015 export-growth target

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By Catherine N. Pillas

xporters agreed with the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) pronouncement that the Philippines is unlikely to meet its target of increasing exports by 8 percent to 10 percent this year.

Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) President Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said lower demand for local goods in the country’s major markets would make it difficult for exporters to hit the growth target.

“Exports went down by 17 percent in May and 5 percent in the first five months of the year. To hit the growth target this year, exports must grow by double digit for the rest of the year, which is unlikely considering the problems our major markets are encountering,” Ortiz-Luis said in a text message to the BusinessMirror.

DOMINGO: The slowdown in the region would make it difficult for the Philippines to increase exports by 8 percent to 10 percent this year.

Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo earlier said the slowdown in the region would make it difficult for the Philippines to increase exports by 8 to 10 percent this year.

Philexport said it will monitor

developments in the European Union and in China before it comes up with a revised exports growth goal. Economists and experts earlier said weak global demand would make it difficult for the country to increase exports by 8 percent to 10 percent this year.

“Aside from the Philippines, the rest of Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] are also showing a similar trend, posting lower exports, given that China is the region’s largest export market and their other trading partners, likewise, showing slowing demand,” Metrobank research analyst Mabellene Reynaldo said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country’s export earnings contracted 17.4 percent to $4.89 billion in May. This is the slowest since December 2011, when exports fell 18.9 percent.

Also, export earnings in the first five months of 2015 declined by 5 percent to $23.52 billion in 2015, from $24.772 billion in 2014.

PSA data showed that outward

shipments of manufactured goods were valued at $4.27 billion, accounting for 87.3 percent of the total export receipts in May. It went down by 9.5 percent from $4.72 billion recorded in May 2014.

Receipts from total agro-based products, with a share of 6.0 percent in May 2015, amounted to $292.61 million. It dropped by 32.3 percent from $431.94 million in May 2014.

Mineral products, which registered a 4.3-percent share, decreased by 66.5 percent to $209.70 million from $626.83 million registered a year ago. “ T he Ph i l ippi nes’s e x por t performance is likely to remain constrained by volatilities in the international markets triggered by the Greek debt crisis and the slowdown in China. Given that these external shocks cannot be prevented, government measures to mitigate the possible negative effects should be immediately implemented as warranted,” National Economic and Development Authority Deputy Director Gen-

eral Emmanuel F. Esguerra said.

Esguerra said the Philippines also recorded the largest decline in export revenues among major trade-oriented economies in East and Southeast Asia.

Data showed that exports of manufactured goods registered its largest monthly decline for the year at 9.5 percent, down to $4.3 billion in May 2015 from $4.7 billion in the same period last year.

This can be attributed to lower revenues from semiconductors, machinery and transport equipment, wood manufactures, electronic data processing, and other manufactures.

The country’s top export, electronic products, also posted a contraction of 7.5 percent from $2.548 billion registered in May 2015. In May total receipts of electronic product exports reached $2.357 billion, accounting for 48.1 percent of total exports revenues.

Due to this, Esguerra said there is a need to strengthen the support to the manufacturing sector in terms of increasing its

competitiveness and productivity, and ensuring safety nets for vulnerable workers.

He added that initiatives to support agriculture and its linkage with the manufacturing sector should also be continued. These include infrastructure, financing, risk mitigation, and business continuity and contingency planning “Slowdow n in global trade due to the weakening of China, as well as the fiscal crisis in the euro zone, will certainly spill over globally, although the magnitude of the impact remains to be seen.

Policy-makers should remain vigilant on the possible outcome of these external developments and how they may impact the trade competitiveness of the country, as well as the domestic economy,” Esguerra said.

The country’s top export markets in May were Japan with a 24.6-percent share, followed by the US, including Alaska, and Hawaii with 14.2 percent, and People’s Republic of China with a 10.8-percent share.

Obama Woos Asia With Trade Deal Asserting U.S. Role in Pacific

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resident Barack Obama has a dual goal in a Pacificrim trade deal: expand trade with allies and cement US influence in the region, as an increasingly assertive China expands economically and militarily.

Trade officials from 12 governments are gathering in Hawaii next week to attempt to hash out the final details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a pact seven years in the making that would clear barriers to commerce among nations that produce 40 percent of global economic output.

“It’s, first and foremost, a trade agreement and has to be justified on economic grounds,” US Trade Representative Michael Froman said in an interview. “It obviously has broader strategic implications, as well.”

China is not invited to the Hawaii talks, but its behavior in the past few years has helped the US make a case for the sweeping accord. Its assertion of control over air travel hundreds of miles from its coast alarmed nations, such as Japan. So did China’s strengthening of its military presence last

year on islands in the contested South China Sea, home to some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

With their Asian allies’ approval, Froman and Obama—who sees the pact as a key element in his “pivot to Asia” foreign policy—now regularly make the case that it is a way for countries to band together and set rules before China does.

“TPP can be an anti-China trade bloc, or an inducement for China to behave better,” said Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “In the meantime, the US wins either way.”

If negotiators reach a deal in Hawaii, US agricultural exporters, such as Cargill Inc., along with pork and beef producers, will benefit from greater access to Japan’s long-protected market. On the other side, the US will drop tariffs on cars and light trucks, benefiting Japanese automakers, such as Toyota Motor Corp.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers, such as Pfizer Inc., are seeking stronger patent protection. And companies from International Business Machines Corp. to Boeing Co. Continued on A2

IMF said to urge China to unwind measures to prop up stock market

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he International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged China to eventually unwind measures taken to stem a stock sell-off that wiped out almost $4 trillion in market value, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Washington-based fund told the Chinese government that, while interventions in general are appropriate to prevent major disorder, prices should be allowed to settle through market forces, said the person, who is familiar with IMF discussions on the issue and asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Chinese officials assured the lender that the measures should be considered temporary, the person said.

The IMF didn’t link its concern over the stock-market intervention to the fund’s review this year of whether to endorse the yuan as a reserve currency, the person said this week. That suggests that as long as the market measures don’t become permanent,

China still has a path to secure the IMF’s approval by continuing to open its financial system.

The IMF’s currency review is focused on “a well-defined set of criteria,” including longer-term efforts to open the nation’s financial system and develop capital markets, fund spokesman Gerry Rice said separately on Thursday at a regular news briefing in Washington. “It’s not something that would be decided on the basis of short-term market movements,” he said.

Chinese policy-makers went to unprecedented lengths to put a floor under the market, as the Shanghai Composite Index slumped more than 30 percent in four weeks through July 8. The People’s Bank of China didn’t immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

In an effort to bolster consumer confidence and prevent soured loans backed by equities from infecting the financial system, China banned large Continued on A2