BusinessMirror August 14, 2015

BusinessMirror

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

U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008

A broader look at today’s business Saturday 201414, Vol.2015 10 No. 40 Friday, 18, August Vol. 10 No. 309

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

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MONETARY BOARD KEEPS POLICY RATES ANEW AS 2015 INFLATION SEEN TO DECELERATE TO 1.8%

‘Low-inflation regime to persist’

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INSIDE

RICE pressures were seen decelerating some more over the near horizon, the pace slow enough as to send the average for the year still lower than target to 1.8 percent, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Thursday.

BENJAMIN ALVES IS NO LONGER A ‘STRANGER’ Make saints abound

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EAR Lord, stay with the whole world. Help those who believe in You to persevere; those who have turned away from You to return; and those who do not yet know You to seek. Where there is war, bring peacemakers. Where there is inequality and injustice, raise men and women of integrity and courage. Where there is materialism and disregard for human and godly values, make saints abound. By our way of life, simple and clean, make saints abound among us. Amen.

DAILY PRAYERS 2015, VIRGIE SALAZAR AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

ON THE MENU: GREEN PAPAYA SALAD WITH RAU RAM, PEANUTS AND CRISPY SHALLOTS »D3

BusinessMirror

Friday, August 14, 2015

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BENJAMIN ALVES IS NO LONGER A ‘STRANGER’ B G R Lifestyle & Entertainment Editor

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N an entertainment landscape where even the most distant relations leverage their showbiz connections to a career in the spotlight, it would have surprised no one had Benjamin Alves really worked the Piolo Pascual association when he decided to take another shot at acting as a profession, following an earlier, seemingly half-hearted attempt.

Yes, THAT Piolo Pascual—one of the most handsome men around these parts and also among the most talented, and

who also happens to be Alves’s uncle.

However, when Alves returned to the Philippines in 2012 after graduating summa cum laude from the University of Guam, he signed not with ABS-CBN, where his uncle reigns as arguably its most prized star, but with GMA. Since then, he has studiously earned his stripes as an actor in a variety of dramas, including Katipunan, Dading and Hiram na Alaala.

Now, Alves gets his biggest challenge yet, starring opposite Heart Evangelista, Lovi Poe and Rocco Nacino in Beautiful Strangers, GMA’s new prime-time soap, which made its debut on Monday. In

the soap, Benjamin plays Lawrence, the happy-go-lucky only son of the powerful Alejandra and Ronaldo Castillo (Christopher de Leon and Dina Bonnevie), and the half-brother of Kristine (Heart Evangelista). As is typical of the genre, there are plenty of scheming and intrigues and criminal behavior punctuated by floods of tears, jaw-dropping slapping and hair-pulling, and verbal grenades gleefully thrown in all directions anytime and every time.

Here, Benjamin Alves talks about life in the spotlight and creating a sanctuary.

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LIFE

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U.S. ARMY HELICOPTER CRASHLANDS ON SHIP The World BusinessMirror

B3-2 Friday, August 14, 2015

news@businessmirror.com.ph

US Army helicopter crash-lands on ship off Japan island; 6 hurt

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OKYO—A US Army helicopter crashed while landing on a Navy ship during training off Japan’s southern island of Okinawa, injuring six people and damaging the aircraft, officials said.

The H-60 helicopter made a hard landing on Wednesday on the USNS Red Cloud cargo vessel around 30 kilometers east of Okinawa, US Forces Japan said in a statement, adding that the cause was under investigation. Okinawa is home to most of the tens of thousands of US troops in Japan.

The injured were transported to a Navy hospital, the statement said.

Their conditions were not available.

The US military originally said seven people were hurt, but on Thursday said the correct number was six.

Two of the injured belong to a Japanese special response unit called the Central Readiness Force, who were participating in the training, according to Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force. One had a broken bone and the other a cut, but no specifics were given.

Japan and the US are strengthening

military cooperation as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government tries to bolster Japan’s defense role.

The other 10 people aboard the helicopter were not hurt, said Japanese coast guard Spokesman Shinya Terada.

Japanese national broadcaster NHK showed video of the helicopter sitting on the cargo ship, with its tail broken off and its body partly covered with an orange tarp.

The presence of so many US troops on Okinawa—more than half of about 50,000 American troops in Japan—has been a source of friction and Okinawans have long complained about crime, accidents and noise from the US bases.

A plan formulated in 1996 between the Japanese and American governments would move US Marine Air Station Futenma from a populated neighborhood to a less developed area, but Okinawans

A YELLOW sheet covers a US Army helicopter H-60 that crashed on the Navy cargo vessel USNS Red Cloud in the waters around 30 kilometers east of Japan’s southern island of Okinawa on Wednesday. The helicopter crashed during a training mission while landing on the Navy ship, injuring several people and damaging the aircraft, officials said. RYOSUKE UEMATSU/KYODO NEWS VIA AP

want the Marine base moved off the island altogether.

Wednesday’s accident coincided with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga’s visit to the island for talks with Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga, a vocal opponent of the relocation plan.

“For those who live near [US] bases, it’s a serious matter,” he said at the outset of the talks, reminding

Suga of Okinawa’s burden and risk of accommodating the US military bases.

Onaga has threatened to revoke an approval for reclamation work to build an off-shore runway in the area called Henoko.

Suga called the helicopter accident “extremely regrettable,” and told reporters that he has lodged a protest to the US military over it, asking for

prompt information disclosure, thorough investigation and implementing preventive measures.

Since the island prefecture reverted to Japanese control in 1972, there have been 45 crashes involving US military aircraft, according to Okinawan government statistics. The island was the scene of a harsh World War II battle and was occupied by the US for 27 years. AP

Jimmy Carter says he has cancer

FORMER President Jimmy Carter uses a hand saw to even an edge as he works on a Habitat for Humanity home in Pikeville, Kentucky, in this June 16, 1997, photo. On Wednesday Carter announced he has cancer and will undergo treatment at an Atlanta hospital. AP/ED REINKE

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TLANTA—Former President Jimmy Carter, who at age 90 still travels the world supporting the humanitarian endeavors that have consumed his time in the decades since he left office, announced he has cancer that has spread to other parts of his body.

A statement released by the Carter Center on Wednesday makes clear that Carter’s cancer is widely spread but not where it originated, or even if that is known at this point.

The liver is often a place where cancer spreads and less commonly is the primary source of it. The statement said further information will be provided when more facts are known, “possibly next week.”

“Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body,” Carter said in the statement. “I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Health care.”

Carter announced on August 3 that he had surgery to remove a small mass from his liver.

Good wishes poured in on social media after Carter’s announcement, while President Barack Obama said he and first lady Michelle Obama wish Carter a fast and full recovery.

“Jimmy, you’re as resilient as they come, and along with the rest of America, we are rooting for you,” Obama said in a statement.

Carter was the nation’s 39th president, defeating Gerald Ford in 1976 with a pledge to always be honest.

Before his career in politics, Carter graduated from the US Naval Academy and served seven years in the Navy submarine force.

A Georgia peanut farmer who had been a state senator and governor of Georgia for a single term before running for president, Carter ended up seeing his second term for president doomed by a number of foreign-policy conflicts, most especially the Iran hostage crisis—losing in a landslide to Ronald Reagan in 1980.

He spent the decades since carving out a reputation for promoting such global issues as health care and democracy, often with his wife Rosalynn by his side. He joined the staff of Emory University and in 1982 established the Carter Center to promote those issues.

His new role as global statesman took him into places often shunned by other diplomats. Carter helped defuse nuclear tensions between the Koreas and monitored the first Palestinian elections.

In 2002, he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to the Carter Center, he and Rosalynn volunteer one week a year for Habitat Humanity, a nonprofit that helps build and renovate homes for people in need.

Despite remaining active through

the years, Carter’s health has recently become the subject of speculation.

In May, he was forced to cut short an election observation visit to Guyana when he developed a bad cold.

Carter also completed a book tour this summer to promote his latest work, A Full Life.

Carter included his family’s history of pancreatic cancer in that memoir, writing that his father, brother and two sisters all died of the disease and said the trend “concerned” the former president’s doctors at Emory.

“The National Institutes of Health began to check all members of our family regularly, and my last remaining sibling, Gloria, 64, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died in 1990,” Carter wrote. “There was no record of another American family having lost four members to this disease, and since that time I have had regular x-rays, CAT scans, or blood analyses, with hope of early detection if I develop the same symptoms.”

Carter wrote that being the only nonsmoker in his family “may have been what led to my longer life.”

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to President Carter,” said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

“There’s a lot we don’t know,” but the first task likely will be determining where the cancer originated, as that can help determine what treatment he may be eligible for, Lichtenfeld said. AP

SOUTH Korean Choi Hyeon-yeol (left), 80, sets himself on fire as a woman tries to extinguish the firre during an anti-Japan rally demanding full compensation and an apology for wartime sex slaves from the Japanese government in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, August 12. AP/LEE JIN-MAN

S. KOREA’S TYCOON PARDONED

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EOUL, South Korea—South Korea’s President Park Geunhye pardoned a tycoon who heads the country’s third-largest business group.

The justice ministry said in a statement on Thursday that SK Group’s Chey Tae-won will be among some 6,500 people to be released from prison before the 70th anniversary on Saturday of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s colonial occupation.

It said the government decided on pardons for 14 business people, including Chey, based on their contributions to the national economy.

Chey was serving a four-year prison term that began in January 2013, after being found guilty of embezzling company funds to trade financial products. He remained chairman of SK Group while in prison.

It is the first time that Park has pardoned the head of a chaebol, as big family-controlled business groups are known. AP

U.S. JUDGE: ARGENTINE ASSETS CONSIDERED COMMERCIAL IN DISPUTE

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UENOS AIRES, Argentina—A US federal judge in New York sanctioned Argentina on Wednesday, ruling that he will consider Argentine government assets in the US as commercial property in a long-running dispute over the South American nation’s debt.

US District Court Judge Thomas Griesa said the only exceptions would be military and diplomatic assets. The decision will make it easier for hedge fund NML Capital and other creditors to try to seize Argentine assets if they decide to go after them.

The judge also gave Argentina 10 days to produce a log of any documents it deemed protected by attorney-client privilege, or else he would waive the privilege with the firm representing the country. The holdout creditors have long been trying to get lawyers representing Argentina to turn over details of Argentine assets.

The dispute goes back to Argentina’s $100 billion default in 2001. Most creditors accepted lower-valued bond swaps in 2005 and 2010. But the hedge funds refused and took Argentina to court in New York and won. AP

NATIONAL SECURITY LEAKER FACES POSSIBLE SOLITARY

KOREAN MAN BADLY HURT CONFINEMENT AFTER SELF-IMMOLATION W AT PROTEST VS JAPAN

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EOUL, South Korea—An 80-year-old South Korean man was in life-threatening condition on Thursday after setting himself on fire during an anti-Japan protest in Seoul, hospital officials said.

The rally on Wednesday, attended by hundreds and held in front of the Japanese Embassy, was staged ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II on Saturday that freed the Korean Peninsula from Japanese colonial rule.

Choi Hyeon-yeol, who remains unconscious, suffered third-degree burns on his face, neck, upper body and arms and has been relying on a breathing machine after his lungs deteriorated, said an official at Seoul’s Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules.

Doctors had planned to operate on Choi on Friday to remove dead skin from his body, but it’s now unclear whether they will be able to do so after Choi’s condition took a turn for the worse after experiencing a sudden drop in blood pressure overnight.

“He is an old man and the injuries are serious, with more than 40 percent of his body covered in third-degree burns, so there’s no guarantee that he will survive,” the official said.

Lumps of burned cotton and a small glass bottle that reeked of gasoline were found on a flower bed near the rally

where Choi set himself a blaze.

A five-page statement found in his bag, apparently written by him, condemned Japan for issues related to its colonial rule of Korea and wartime conduct, according to Seoul police official Seo Hyeon-su. The rally continued after Choi was taken to the hospital.

Since 1992, activists have organized weekly protests in front of the Japanese Embassy to demand justice for South Korean women who were forced to work as sex slaves for the Japanese military during the war, and the gatherings have been mostly peaceful. The turnout was particularly high on Wednesday as the World War II anniversary approached.

Many South Koreans harbor deep resentment toward Japan over its colonial occupation. Hundreds of thousands of Koreans were forced to fight as front-line soldiers, work under slave-labor conditions or serve as prostitutes in brothels operated by the Japanese military during the war.

Such sentiment has strengthened in recent years over what South Koreans feel are attempts by Japan to downplay its wartime conduct, as well as Tokyo’s territorial claims to a set of small islets occupied by South Korea.

Protests sometimes turn violent.

Scuffles with police are common and demonstrators have severed their own fingers or hurled excrement at the embassy in the past. AP

ICHITA, Kansas—Convicted national security leaker Chelsea Manning could be placed in solitary confinement indefinitely for allegedly violating prison rules—by having a copy of Vanity Fair with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover and an expired tube of toothpaste, among other things, her lawyer said on Wednesday.

The former intelligence analyst, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was convicted in 2013 of espionage and other offenses for sending more than 700,000 classified documents while working in Iraq.

She is serving a 35-year sentence at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, for leaking reams of war logs, diplomatic cables and battlefield video to the antisecrecy web site WikiLeaks in 2010.

Her attorney, Nancy Hollander, said an August 18 hearing is set at the Fort Leavenworth prison for the transgender Army private. The hearing before a three-person panel is closed, although Manning has asked that it be public.

“This is like prison disciplinary infractions in a civilian prison and there will be a hearing, but frankly it looks to me like harassment,” Hollander said.

The military had no immediate comment on Wednesday.

The prison charges include possession of prohibited property in the form of books and magazines while under administrative segregation; medicine misuse over the toothpaste; disorderly conduct for sweeping food onto the floor; and disrespect. All relate to alleged conduct on July 2 and 9. The maximum penalty Manning could face is indefinite solitary confinement. AP

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| FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

BATTLE AT THE TOP RORY MCILROY (left) and Jordan Spieth make the most out of the practice round on Wednesday. AP

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when McIlroy tees it up on Thursday.

“Expectation levels are the same,” McIlroy said.

“I have played quite a number of rounds of golf. I’ve been practicing for over three weeks getting my game ready, getting my game sharp. I feel like I’m playing well, hitting it well on the range. I’ve taken that onto the course in practice rounds and from there, it’s being able to take it into tournament play with a card in my hand.”

Expectations haven’t changed for Spieth, either.

For a guy who just turned 22, he is regarded as a greater thinker.

At Chambers Bay, Spieth would find the worst part of the putting green to rap 6-footers before the weekend rounds to prepare him for some bad bounces. During his final nine holes of practice on Wednesday, he was tossing balls in some quirky spots around the green, even down on the sandy bank of Lake Michigan.

He wants no surprises. He is prepared for a tough test.

And he has the same attitude he had going into the British Open. This isn’t a chance to make history. It’s a chance to win a major.

At stake for Spieth is an opportunity to be the first player to sweep the three American majors in the same season. A victory would make him No. 1 in the world (provided McIlroy doesn’t finish second) and make him the first $11-million man on the PGA Tour.

His first goal, outlandish as it might seem, is to make the cut.

Spieth has never played the weekend in two previous trips to the PGA Championship. And his goal at the start of the year was to make the cut in all four majors and contend in at least one of them.

So one box has been checked in a major way.

“That first part of that goal has yet to be accomplished,” he said with a smile. “So I’ve got some work to do these first two days and from there we’ll adjust and work our butts off to try and get a third major, which would be a pretty cool place in history.”

The Associated Press

SPANISH RETURN

Spain’s Carolina Marin makes a forehand return to Taiwan’s Pai Yu Po during their women’s singles match at the Badminton World Federation championships at the Istora Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday. AP

CO-MEDALISTS FALL P

ORTLAND, Oregon—Co-medalists Angel Yin and Jennifer Hahn dropped out of the US Women’s Amateur on Wednesday, losing first-round matches at Portland Golf Club.

France’s Justine Dreher beat the 16-year-old Yin, from Arcadia, California, 5 and 4. Vanessa Ha of Plano, Texas, topped Hahn, the 21-year-old Vanderbilt player from Henderson, Nevada, 4 and 3.

The 23-year-old Dreher, the oldest player to advance to the round of 42, won four of the last five holes on the front nine to open a 5-up lead and finished off Yin with a birdie for a halve on No. 14.

“I putted really, really well,” said Dreher, coming off her senior season at South Carolina. “I didn’t miss any 10-footer or less besides hole No. 3, and I had a lot of them.”

The 19-year-old Ha, a rising sophomore at San Francisco, won four straight holes on the front nine to take a 4-up lead. Hahn twice pulled within three holes before falling with a halve on the 15th.

“I was focusing mostly on my mental game, and that’s the biggest indicator for my putting,” Ha said. “The key was that I wasn’t focusing on trying to make the birdies. They just went in.”

SPORTS

Dreher and Ha survived a playoff on Wednesday morning to reach match play.

Defending champion Kristen Gillman of Austin, Texas, advanced with a 2-up victory over Kelly Su of Scottsdale, Arizona. The 17-year-old Gillman won last year at Nassau Country Club in New York.

Hannah O’Sullivan of Chandler, Arizona, routed Haley Mills of Tyler, Texas, 7 and 6. The 17-year-old Sullivan won the Symetra Tour’s Gateway Classic in February in Mesa, Arizona, at 16 to become the youngest winner in the history of the professional circuit.

U.S. EXPANDING QUERY INTO POSSIBLE BONDTRADER LIES

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BusinessMirror

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This compares with target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for the year and an indication of how far price pressures have decelerated in an economy looking to expand as much as 7 percent this year in terms of local output or the gross domestic product.

The seven-month inflation has also proven lower than target at only 1.9 percent thus far, a development that, in certain sectors, raised the likelihood of deflation, or the general cut back on prices that is just as bad as high inflation.

This and related developments compelled the sevenman Monetary Board (MB), the policy-making body of the BSP, to keep the policy rates steady at 4 percent for borrowing and 6 percent for lending.

The rates on term RRPs or borrowings, RPs or repurchases and special deposit accounts were also kept steady.

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BATTLE AT THE TOP

HEBOYGAN, Wisconsin—Rory McIlroy faces a different set of questions from the last time he played, and he had answers for most of them.

His left ankle, with swelling the size of a tennis ball after he heard it snap while playing soccer with friends in early July, felt fine when he got off the plane and began preparing for the final major of the year. His game is good, and he sees no one reason that will change when the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Championship starts on Thursday. One other question was a little more tricky.

Who’s the best player in the world?

McIlroy is No. 1 in the world ranking. He also has watched Jordan Spieth produce an inspiring year in golf by winning the Masters and US Open, and then coming within one shot of a playoff at the British Open. Spieth has four wins this year, one more than McIlroy, though two of them are majors.

“If you were to go by this year, you would have to say Jordan,” McIlroy said. “If you go over the last two years, I would say it’s probably a toss-up between Jordan and myself. That’s a hard one. OK, we’ve got the rankings there, but it’s all a matter of opinion.”

And what was his opinion?

“I’ll tell you at the end of the week,” McIlroy said with a smile.

The shine came off golf when Spieth’s bid for the Grand Slam ended at Saint Andrews. It returned when McIlroy began posting photos and videos last week that indicated he would be playing at Whistling Straits, his first tournament since the US Open.

They face off on Thursday afternoon, in the same group with British Open champion Zach Johnson. It will be the third time in the last eight majors that McIlroy and Spieth have played together the opening two rounds.

It has never received attention like this.

“I think that’s just what you guys want to see,” Spieth said. “I think he and I just want to go out there and try and win the tournament. We have to beat each other in order to do that, along with...155 other guys. It’s great. We’re all very happy to see him back.

I’m excited to just share a couple days with Rory, and Zach, as well.

“Hopefully, we can all get into contention, and it will certainly be exciting.”

McIlroy, the defending champion, said he never targeted the PGA Championship as his return. His test came in Portugal last week when he played—and walked—72 holes. There was no pain, no swelling.

And he knew he was ready.

“If I hadn’t passed that test, I wouldn’t have been here,” he said.

For all the attention Spieth has earned with his four victories (along with playoff losses at the Colonial and Houston Open), McIlroy hasn’t been a mere spectator to this sensational season. He has three victories, one of them a World Golf Championship, and he had top 10s in both majors he played.

Still, there is a degree of uncertainty about his game. It will have been 53 days without competition

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Eun Jeong Seong, the 15-year-old South Korean player who won the US Girls’ Junior last month in Tulsa, Oklahoma, beat Duke’s Celine Boutier of France 1 up.

Mariel Galdiano, the 17-year-old from Pearl City, Hawaii, who won the Canadian Women’s Amateur last month, topped Kimberly Mitchell of Woodbridge, Virginia, 7 and 5.

Elizabeth Wang of San Marino, California, beat Stanford star Mariah Stackhouse of Riverdale, Georgia, 1 up. Stackhouse three-putted the final hole for a bogey. AP

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HE US is expanding an investigation into deceptive sales practices by bond traders even though the first major conviction in the area could be overturned.

Aided by technology that’s allowing unprecedented scrutiny of trades, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking beyond 10 cases it’s been developing with US prosecutors to examine other instances of bankers, potentially lying to clients and booking improper round-trip transactions, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Some criminal charges from the first batch of probes may come as early as next month, another person said.

Going after bond traders, and in the case of the Justice Department, trying to put some of them behind bars, represents the government’s

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 46.2140

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ALLNEW LEXUS ES Lexus Manila President Daniel Isla leads the toast during the launch of the all-new Lexus ES at the showroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. Also in photo are Lexus Manila Chairman and Toyota Motors Philippines (TMP) Vice Chairman Alfred Ty, TMP President Michinobu Sugata, TMP Senior EVP Dr. David Go, TMP SVP for Marketing Ariel Arias, TMP EVP for Marketing Yohei Murase and TMP First VP for Marketing Raymond Rodriguez.

Ang, Gozon reach out-of-court settlement B L S. M

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HANKS to a third party, the camps of businessmen Ramon S. Ang and Felipe L. Gozon have finally gotten closure on their rift.

After a yearlong roller-coaster ride, the two parties finally settled to end the GMA Network Inc. buy-in deal initiated by the San Miguel Corp. president in March 2014.

The settlement was reached to mend the relationship of the two businessmen, who threw heated and spicy remarks against each other.

“The settlement was initiated by a third party who is known to both parties. It resulted in a mutually acceptable and win-win settlement for both parties,” a source privy to the matter said.

GOZON

ANG

Part of the amicable settlement agreed upon by the two parties was the return of the P1-billion down payment to Ang. In return, the syndicated estafa case filed against Gozon and his family was dropped.

Ang earlier sued the network’s chief

executive with syndicated estafa—a nonbailable case—earlier this month, after the botched acquisition of a significant minority stake in the broadcasting firm.

He claimed to have been swindled with P1 billion, as Gozon refuses to return the amount—paid as down payment to the deal—despite the collapse of negotiations between the two parties.

The broadcasting company’s big wig then explained that he has the right to keep the money until the court decides how to address this issue.

Gozon claimed that he has the right not to return the down payment as it can be considered as payment to lost opportunities.

Just last week Gozon hinted that he is “open” to settle the legal tussle with Ang C  A

n JAPAN 0.3723 n UK 72.1955 n HK 5.9592 n CHINA 7.2356 n SINGAPORE 32.9982 n AUSTRALIA 34.0962 n EU 51.6072 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.3205 Source: BSP (13 August 2015)

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News

BusinessMirror

Friday, August 14, 2015

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Ang, Gozon reach out-of-court settlement. . .

‘Low-inflation regime to persist’

outside the four corners of the court.

“Mr. Ang and the Gozon group have resolved their differences and have reached an amicable settlement of their dispute,” the parties said in a joint statement on Thursday.

The two parties were both reached for further details of the settlement, but they refused to elaborate.

Talks on the possible acquisition of a stake in the broadcasting network started years ago. Several suitors tried to offer competitive prices for the transaction, including Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

But negotiations between the two parties expired in March 2014, as the transaction was marred by

regulatory and pricing issues.

Pangilinan’s group is still interested in the network, but the prospect of acquiring shares in GMA will have to wait until he is done taking PLDT back on the saddle, after the telecommunications giant suffered from declining revenues and higher costs during the first half of the year.

Gozon earlier said his group is still open to negotiate with other interested parties who want to invest in the network, including PLDT and Globe Telecom Inc. The two telecommunications giants have signified their interest in investing in the television company, but Gozon said a deal will only happen if the price is right.

The banks’ reserve requirement ratios were also left unchanged.

BSP Deputy Governor for the Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo said the latest MB assessment shows inflation likely averaging only 1.8 percent for this year.

In the first seven months of the year, inflation averaged 1.9 percent.

This indicates that price pressures were to moderate some more in the next few months.

The BSP attributed the below-target inflation assessment to “favorable supply-side conditions, which are seen as largely transitory.”

This was in recognition of such downside risks, as the El Niño

Hiring. . .

US expanding query into possible bond-trader lies

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force, had the strongest net payroll growth in July since the start of the year. The JOLTS data—a favorite of Federal Reserve (the Fed) Chairman Janet Yellen—could help ease worries among policy-makers about the headwinds for the US economy and its factories emanating from abroad as officials weigh when to raise the benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2006.

Her colleague on the Federal Open Market Committee, New York Fed chief Bill Dudley, said on Wednesday that, while it’s too soon to “draw firm conclusions” about what the news from China means for the US, it has “implications much broader than China.” Bloomberg News

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most aggressive effort yet to root out wrongdoing in the opaque world of complex debt securities. The investigations include a focus on bonds tied to mortgages and corporate loans, markets where pricing data is scarce so bank traders have an edge in marking up assets to charge higher fees.

“These practices have been tolerated for years, but they have to make an example someplace,” said Charles Geisst, a Wall Street historian at Manhattan College in New York. Market makers have “the advantage,” he said.

The review of how traders mar-

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ket debt securities to asset managers comes as the government takes a broad look at possible malfeasance tied to bonds.

The Justice Department is also investigating whether traders are colluding to share information about Treasuries, a market where rules haven’t been updated in years and oversight is split among various federal agencies.

T he probes into mor tgage bonds and other securitized debt have prompted banks to fire and suspend traders, some of whom might not face enforcement actions. For Wall Street, the crackdown has left firms wondering whether long-accepted tactics

weather disruptions proving more debilitating than anticipated or the price of oil quickly moving back up between now and December.

But the BSP has been able to keep inflation within target the past six years. It is mandated by law to issue a public explanation to Malacañang in the event inflation breaches either the lower or upper end of the target range. An above-target inflation warrants a tightening in monetary policy and the opposite is required to correct a below-target inflation for the year.

Guinigundo told reporters that, while inflation has a large influence on monetary-policy calibration, it is not the sole determinant for the same.

based on exaggeration and cajoling now have to be scrapped.

Looming over the investigations is former Jefferies Group Llc. trader Jesse Litvak’s fight to overturn his 2014 conviction for misleading clients about how much he paid for bonds and other violations. In May an appellate judge questioned the legal arguments used against Litvak, whose case has been used as a precedent in the government’s pursuit of other traders.

SEC Spokesman Kevin Callahan didn’t respond to a request for comment. Litvak’s deception allowed him to sell mortgage bonds at inflated prices, bilking customers out of $2 million, US

“We believe that this is something that is supply-driven [as the MB said]. This is transitory and, therefore, we don’t have to respond…on something that is driven by favorable supply conditions,” Guinigundo said.

Inflation was seen to go back to the target range in 2016 with an average of 2.5 percent.

The MB also said they favored steady monetary policy as recent global developments required careful monitoring “as these could threaten financial stability.”

“Given these considerations, the Monetary Board believes that prevailing monetary-policy settings remain appropriately calibrated at this time. The BSP will continue to keep a watchful eye on domestic

prosecutors successfully argued during his trial. Litvak’s lawyers said it didn’t matter that he misrepresented the markup as long as his sophisticated buyers—consisting of hedge funds and money managers—paid what they felt was an appropriate price.

In July 2014 Litvak was sentenced to two years in prison. A three-judge panel is expected to make a decision on his appeal in the coming months.

Earlier this year, SEC lawyers debated internally whether to put other investigations on the backburner until the legal uncertainty tied to Litvak’s conviction was resolved, according to a

and external conditions to ensure that the monetary-policy stance stays in line with maintaining price and financial stability,” the central bank said.

Guinigundo said the recent volatility in the foreign-exchange market attributed to China’s decision to devalue the yuan was considered in the formulation of monetary policy.

The peso, having earlier fallen to a five-year low, gained back some of its strength on Thursday.

Data from the Philippine Dealing System show the peso, averaging 11 centavos higher to P46.15 per dollar, from the P46.26 the day before. Total traded volume stood at $747.7 million from the $1.12 billion on Wednesday.

person familiar with the matter, who like the others asked not to be named because the discussions were private.

SEC Enforcement Director Andrew Ceresney told the lawyers to push forward, saying he thought t he agenc y wou ld u ltimately pre v a i l a g a i n s t L it v a k , t he person said.

The Litvak case broadly hinges on materiality—whether information he withheld was important enough to influence clients’ buying decisions or the value of the bonds. The SEC’s view is that it’s material when someone lies about how much an asset is worth.

Bloomberg News

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The Nation BusinessMirror

Binay camp: Libel case against Trillanes strong

By Joel R. San Juan

T

HE camp of suspended Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr. on Thursday expressed confidence that the libel case filed against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is strong despite the latter’s insistence that he has witnesses to back his claim of bribery against the former.

In a preliminary investigation hearing conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), Binay’s lawyer Claro Certeza said the senator’s refusal to present his witnesses and other evidence to support his accusation that the mayor bribed two Court of Appeals (CA) justices to secure an injunction order that stopped the Ombudsman from implementing its first suspension order issued in March should be enough for the DOJ to order the senator’s indictment.

“Our position has been, where is the evidence [of the bribery]? We will let the prosecutor decide on that,” Certeza said.

Despite the senator’s denial of the libel charge, Certeza stressed that their case remains strong.

In the counter-affidavit he personally subscribed before investigating prosecutors, Trillanes invoked his parliamentary immunity in seeking dismissal of the libel charge.

He also dismissed the complaint as

a form of harassment and a way for the Binays to get even with him for exposing their alleged corruption activities.

Trillanes also claimed violation of the forum shopping rule since the issue is already subject of an earlier contempt petition filed by the mayor against him before the CA. It can be recalled that Trillanes claimed that two members of the Sixth Division of the CA were bribed by Binay in the amouunt of P25 million in exchange for the favorable action on his petition for a temporary restraining order and the writ of preliminary injunction against his suspension.

Trillanes said he cannot compel his witnesses to come out for fear of their lives.

“As of now, they’re still reluctant to come out for fear that their world will turn upside down,” the senator said.

But, Certeza explained that Trillanes’s defense of parliamentary immunity “applies only to acts done as part of his official functions.”

“And his official function is to legislate laws—not to investigate [anomalies] and determine who should be held liable,” Certeza said.

“They can investigate in Congress, but when a lawmaker tags someone as a criminal or law breaker even without evidence yet, that’s a different story because that’s concluding already,” Certeza added.

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Friday, August 14, 2015 A3

Legislator assails ‘pabaon’ at HGC

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LAWMAKER scored officials of a state housing company for allegedly leading the agency into bankruptcy because of years of alleged corruption.

In his privileged speech on Wednesday night, Liberal Party Rep. Edgar Erice of Caloocan said past and present officials of Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC) carried out questionable deals which resulted in huge losses to the agency, whose mandate is to provide guarantees for loans supporting the country’s housing programs.

Erice said this state-housing firm’s liabilities have ballooned to P16.8 billion when its assets amount to only P3.4 billion.

“From 2006 to 2012, the Commission on Audit Report noted that [the state-housing agency] was in dire financial quagmire because its liabilities have ballooned to P16.8 billion, when its assets amount to only P3.4 billion.

That is very anomalous,” Erice said.

Despite its several financial problems, Erice said he was surprised to discover that HGC officials had been rejecting moves to settle the many cases involving properties under its possession in order to pump new resources into the cash-strapped firm and turn its finances around.

“Mr. Speaker, simpleng arithmetic lang po— kahit sinong kindergarten ay makikita na mas malaki ang P2.9 bilyon kaysa P1.8 bilyon. Sa halip na makipagharap, maipagtuos ng matino, panindigan ang pananagutan—iwas pusoy ang HGC na handang ibenta sa P1.8 bilyon ang mga ari-arian kaysa makipag-tuos ng matino at tanggapin ang P2.9 bilyon na mapupunta sa kaban ng bayan,”

Erice said, referring to a long-standing problem of HGC with a housing developer.

The lawmaker also scored the state company for “deceiving the [House] Subcommittee on Housing, of which he is a member, when it repeatedly assured the committee that it was willing to settle the case with a land developer.”

However, in the thick of the negotiations which is being supervised by the House committee, they found out that HGC was selling the same properties that are part of the ongoing settlement to the public.

“Heto po. Kopya ng Invitation to Bid na ipinalabas ni HGC Vice President Corporate Services Group Corazon Corpus. Pursigido tayo sa matinong tuusan at kalutasan pero meron pala silang malagim na balak. Anong kalokohan ito, Mr. Speaker? Malinaw na harap-harapan tayong niloloko ng Home Guaranty Corp.,” he said.

“Nagpunta sila dito, sinabi sa atin na handa silang makipagkasundo. Tayo naman ay nagtiwala sa kanila. Nagtiwala tayo sa tinatawag na palabra de honor. Nagtiwala na bukal sa loob nila na ibsan ang parusa sa bulsa ng sambayanan. Pero sa labas pala ng Kamara, pagtalikod lang nila, magiging asal-Hudas pala,” he added.

Erice said the proposed sale may be an “express midnight pabaon” because HGC officials, led by its President Manuel Sanchez, are on their way out as their appointments have already expired on June 30, 2015, without any reappointment. Jovee Marie dela Cruz

Separate procurement unit for Natl Police eyed

S

EN. JV Ejercito on Thursday expressed support for the National Police Modernization Program, by urging the government to provide the agency with its own procurement unit that would ensure that the force meets its equipment demands and is provided with air assets for increased interoperability.

“A separate procurement service for the police should solve the problem of our police not getting the equipment support they need.

Ang nangyayari kasi ngayon, tinatanggap na lang nila kung ano ang isusubo sa kanila kahit na ‘brand-used’ na ang procured equipment,” Ejercito said, emphasizing the need for the National Police’s modernization during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.

Ejercito cited as example the pope’s visit when the National Police had to borrow helicopters from the Armed Forces, to emphasize its lack of equipment. He also took notice of the helicopters procured under the previous administration, where two of the three units were discovered to be secondhand.

“How can we imagine a National Police that does not have an eye in the sky?”

He said the force’s need for helicopters is not a luxury, but a necessity, to expand their interoperability and capacity to respond, especially when there are disasters.

He vouched support for the force’s Modernization Program and urged the newly installed National Police chief Director General Ricardo Marquez to present the agency’s wish list of equipment before the committee. Recto Mercene

Economy

A4 Friday, August 14, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

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Japan to help BCDA develop Clark Green City

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By Catherine N. Pillas

The “Project Implementation Framework” would identify the kind of support to be provided by the Philippine and Japanese governments.

“The goal is to create a viable Project Implementation Framework through exchanging information, research, discussions with private companies and both the governments of the Philippines and Japan, and through conducting market and feasibility studies,” Casanova said.

He added that the BCDA and JOIN may separately make decisions for investment on each of the individual components that make up the Clark Green City project.

“In the case of JOIN, it may make a decision in accordance with the investment decision made by private companies in Japan in partnership with Filipino companies. This will also benefit Filipino companies through transfer of technology,” Casanova added.

JOIN is a Japanese government corporation created by the Japanese parliament that aims to invest and participate in transport or urban development projects, involving Japanese companies, such as bullet trains, airports, and green cities.

he Japanese government has partnered with state-owned Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) to develop the 9,450-hectare Clark Green City.

In a statement released on Thursday, the BCDA announced it recently inked a memorandum of cooperation with the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corp. for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN).

The partnership is expected to pave the way for the establishment of joint venture companies and encourage investments in the city’s power, transportation, tollways, industrial zones and economic centers.

The BCDA said both parties will begin work on the details of the jointventure (JV) companies, including but not limited to: the scope of work; function; funding source; authority; responsibility and procedures; and discuss with private sector companies in both the Philippines and Japan as regards to their interest in

Clark Green City.

Arnel Paciano D. Casanova, BCDA president and CEO, said they will start studying the possibility of putting up a JV company to conduct a feasibility study and another JV firm for the granting of concession rights of the various individual projects that make up the Clark Green City project.

“By investing in Clark Green City, the government of Japan will help transform it into a major economic center of the Asean economic bloc,” Casanova said.

The agreement also indicated that the two government agencies would craft a framework that would ensure the economic, financial and commercial viability of building and operating the government project.

Artist perspective of the business district in the Clark Green City. DTI Photo

LRT 1 to test beep cards on August 16

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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he concessionaire for the unified ticketing system for the country’s train lines will start the facility’s public trial on the southbound section of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 on Sunday.

AF Payments Inc. CEO Peter Maher said the southbound direction of all LRT 1’s 20 stations will be ready to sell and reload beep cards.

“The positive results of the trial at LRT 2 give us and the LRT Authority the confidence to implement a similar public trial on the Southbound direction of LRT 1,” he said.

He pleaded with commuters to be more patient with the new system, allowing more time to purchase their ticket as the riding public familiarizes itself with the new system.

“We encourage commuters who regularly use LRT 1 and are interested in trying out the new system to purchase their beep cards during the preselling period so they don’t have to line up to buy their cards on August 16,” Maher said.

He added: “We hope to minimize any inconvenience to the public during the trial and transition to the new system on LRT 1, which is planned to be completed within a matter of weeks."

Consumers who purchased a beep card in LRT 2 may also start using it in LRT 1 beginning on August 16.

Last week LRTA announced that it will stop selling magnetic cards for LRT 1 stations beginning August 8. Holders of the magnetic stored value cards may get a cash refund for the remaining value of their cards in all LRT 1 station teller’s booths from August 8 to 15.

“After August 15, cash refund will

no longer be accommodated. However, any unused credit in an old magnetic stored value card may be transferred to the new beep card beginningAugust 16. This may only be done in the LRT 1 Central Station teller’s booth,” LRTA Spokesman Hernando T. Cabrera said.

The shift to a contactless ticketing system aims to enable seamless transfers from one metro line to another by unifying their ticketing schemes, and to shorter queuing time for the riding public.

A transition period before completely rolling out the system is needed to identify any possible bugs in the system and to familiarize passengers with the new payment scheme.

Upon its completion, commuters can expect faster payment processes and reduced queuing time for buying tickets, as well as seamless transfers from one rail to another.

Unified printing industry sets meet on Asean challenges

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unified Philippine printing industr y has set a grand event to respond to the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) regional printing challenges.

The unified grand convergence of Asean printing industries is spearheaded by the Philippine Printing Technical Foundation (PPTF), under the leadership of its President Emeritus Benito J. Brizuela; president, lawyer Dominador D. Buhain; and past President George Lora.

Activities of the printing industry include the holding of PRINTECH 2015 from September 4 to 6 at the World Trade Center that would present a single printing show for the benefit of the stakeholders, particularly suppliers, at the same time serve as take off point to attract Asean countries and other foreign participants and exhibitors in a consolidated grand printing show.

Already, big printing suppliers are supportive of PPTF’s initiative with their commitment to join the PRINTECH 2015 in view of the need for unification.

PPTF, is the current ad interim president of Asean Print, a body comprising the national printing associations of Asean countries.

PPTF, likewise, is spearheading the Asean Print Trilogy to be held from November 23 to 25 at the Novotel Hotel at theAraneta Center, Cubao.

Interested parties are requested to communicate with Esmeralda Noguera at 713-2671 and mobile phone 0917-507-9884.

For reser vation and other matter relating to A sean Pr int Tr ilog y 2015, par ties may communicate w ith PPTF Executive Director Cr ist y Manuel at 713 0902 and 713 - 0905.

Sarangani Energy’s 105-MW coal-power plant set for commissioning in October

By Lenie Lectura

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arangani Province—Sarangani Energy Corp.’s (SEC) first 105-megawatt (MW ) coal-fired power plant here is scheduled for commissioning in October this year, a development that will help provide a sustainable solution to Mindanao’s five-yearold power shortage.

Construction of Unit 1, which costs $309 million, is already close to 98 percent as of end-July.

By October, the company will start feeding the power plant with coal. This so-called hot commissioning will continue for three months before the scheduled commercial operation starting February next year.

The entire power facility will be composed of 2x105 MW that will cost a total of $570 million.

Unit 2 is tentatively scheduled for commercial operation in 2018.

The SEC has already sold 70 percent of the first unit’s capacity to South Cotabato Electric Cooperative 2 (Socoteco) and the remaining 30 percent to other distribution utilities and industrial users. The SEC has already signed a 25-year power-supply agreement with Socoteco 2.

The plant’s first section will provide power to more than 3 million residents from the provinces of Sarangani, Compostela Valley, Agusan del Norte, and Agusan del Sur; the cities of General Santos, Iligan, Bayugan, Butuan, Samal, and Tagum, as well as key municipalities in Davao del Norte and South Cotabato.

When it reaches its full 210-MW capacity in

PHL’S VIBRANT AUTO INDUSTRY

2018, the SEC plant’s coverage area will include the entire province of South Cotabato and the provinces of Davao del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur and key areas in Misamis Oriental and North Cotabato. Major population centers serviced by the plant, when it reaches full capacity will also include the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Dapitan, Digos, Dipolog, Koronadal, Kidapawan and Pagadian.

Upon reaching full capacity, the SEC power facility will be able to provide access to clean, reliable and affordable electricity to more than 6 million people.

The SEC is a part of Alsons Power of the Alcantara group.

Aside from the SEC plant, Alsons Power is developing the 105-MW San Ramon Power Inc. coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga City, with construction slated to commence on the second half of 2016 and commercial operations beginning in 2019. The group is also entering the renewable-energy segment with the development of a 15-MW run-of-river hydroelectric power plant at Siguil River in Maasim, Sarangani.

A lsons Power currently operates three diesel plants in Mindanao: Mapalad Power Corp.’s 103-MW plant in Iligan City; the 55MW Southern Philippines Power Corp. facility in Alabel, Sarangani; and the 100-MW power plant of the Western Mindanao Power Corp. in Zamboanga City.

By 2019, the Alsons Power Group is expected to be generating a total of 588 MW, a little over 25 percent of Mindanao’s projected peak power demand.

Various makes and models of automobiles are parked in an area in Makati City.

According to the latest report released by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association, vehicle sales in the Philippines rose by 20 percent to 156,034 units in January to July, from 129,687 units recorded in the same period last year. The increase in car sales in recent years has prompted Campi to say that the Philippines is now on its way to full motorization. NONIE REYES

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Economy BusinessMirror

Friday, August 14, 2015 A5

Beijing outlines limits to freedom of navigation

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hina respects freedom of navigation in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), but will not allow any foreign government to invoke that right so its military ships and planes can intrude in Beijing’s territory, the Chinese ambassador said.

Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said late Tuesday that Chinese forces warned a US Navy P-8A not to intrude when the warplane approached a Chinese-occupied area in the South China Sea’s disputed Spratly Islands in May. A CNN reporter who was onboard the plane, which had taken off from the Philippines, reported the incident then.

“We just gave them warnings, be careful, not to intrude,” Zhao told reporters on the sidelines of a diplomatic event in Manila.

Washington, however, does not recognize any territorial claim by any country in the South China Sea, a policy that collides with the position of China, which claims virtually the entire sea.

W hen asked why China shooed away the US Navy plane when it has pledged to respect freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, Zhao outlined the limits in China’s view.

“Freedom of navigation does not mean to allow other countries to intrude into the airspace or the sea which is sovereign. No country will allow that,” Zhao said. “We say freedom of navigation must be observed in accordance with international law. No freedom of navigation for warships and airplanes.”

Zhao also repeated an earlier pronouncement by Beijing that China’s use of land reclamation to create new islands at a number of disputed Spratly reefs has ended. China, he said, would now start constructing facilities to support freedom of navigation, search-and-rescue efforts when accidents occur, and scientific research.

“When we say we’re going to stop reclamation, we mean it,” Zhao said.

He acknowledged that “necessary defense facilities” would also be constructed.

The US and its allies, including the Philippines, have asked China to stop the massive island construction, saying it has increased tensions in an increasingly militarized area and threatened regional stability. They say the Chinese construction work violates a 2002 regional pact signed by Beijing, which urges rival claimants not to undertake new construction or take any step that would worsen tensions.

Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, said last month in Manila that Washington does not recognize any of the territorial claims and its position won’t change even if disputed areas are reinforced by construction work.

“We recognize those claims as being contested, and the contested nature of those claims is unchanged despite the reclamation efforts of any country, any country, not just China,” Swift said.

Territorial disputes involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam have flared on and off for years, creating fears that the South China Sea could spark Asia’s next major armed conflict. Tensions rose again last year when China began the island building on at least seven reefs in the Spratlys.

Zhao also said China does not know the source of a long pipeline kept afloat by plastic floatation devices with Chinese markings that was recently found by Filipino fishermen near the coast of the northwestern Philippines.

There has been speculation that the pipeline may have been used in China’s island-making and dredging work and then drifted away for unclear reasons, posing a hazard to passing ships. Philippine coast guard officials say they have not ascertained who owned the pipeline.

“Even the people there cannot tell so it’s not sure where it came from,” Zhao said.

Malacañang resolute

The Philippine government remains resolute in its position calling on China to stop all reclamation and construction projects and desist from all other acts that trigger tension in the West Philippine Sea, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said at a news briefing on Thursday. “ There is no change in our position,” Coloma told Palace reporters.

He confirmed this in response to reports quoting Zhao saying China is set to start construction of houses, shelters, buildings and facilities on the articial islands it put up well within Philippine territory in the West Philippine Sea. Coloma recalled that Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario, during the recent Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, asked China to “halt all reclamation, halt all construction activities and halt all actions that raise tension in the region.”

“Kaya’t iyan pa rin ang ating posisyon hinggil sa mga isinasagawang aksyon sa mga lugar na tinutukoy sa West Philippine Sea,” the Palace official said.

Coloma brushed aside China’s claim that the illegal Chinese structures were intended for search and rescue, as well as safeguard freedom of navigation, saying this does not change the Aquino government’s stand against these encroachments

on Philippine territory. “Walang pagbabago sa ating posisyon,” he said.

Reminded about Justice Antonio Carpio’s admonition before the Senate that the unresolved West Philippine Sea issue could spark an “arms build up” among the claimant countries versus China, Coloma acknowledged the senior magistrate had a reasonable basis for such projection to drive home the need to pursue a “legally binding” Code of Con-

duct among claimant countries.

“Ang nabatid natin hinggil sa pakikipag-talakayan ni Justice Carpio sa mga miyembro ng Senado ay ito: Sinabi niya na mahalaga 'yung pagkakaisa ng mga bansa sa Asean para makabuo ng isang unified stand at batid natin na nagsisikap ang mga bansa sa Asean na bigyan ng sustansiya ’yung Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea sa pamamagitan ng pagbubuo ng isang legally

binding Code of Conduct. Iyan ang focus ng ating atensyon,” he said.

Coloma added: “Mayroong makatwirang batayan si Justice Carpio para maglatag ng sitwasyon na maaaring maganap ’yung tinatawag na arms buildup or defense buildup, pero ang focus po natin diyan ay hinggil doon sa rules based, diplomatic approach to achieving a peaceful solution.”

AP with Butch Fernandez

A6 Friday, August 14, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

70 years later, Japan should still say it is sorry

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apanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that when he commemorates the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II on Friday, he’d rather focus on the future than repeat the apologies of the past. That may sound reasonable to some ears. Seventy years, after all, is a long time. Yet Abe may be about to make a mistake.

Japan’s choice is not between looking backward or forward. A sincere restatement of remorse isn’t just compatible with Abe’s stated agenda of restoring pride and confidence to Japan; it’s a necessary first step, especially as Japan begins to rebuild its military as a global force.

Abe’s right-wing supporters complain that nothing he might say will satisfy leaders in Beijing and Seoul. China’s government regularly stokes anti-Japanese sentiment to bolster its nationalist credentials, and South Korean leaders have rejected as insufficient Japan’s previous efforts to atone for the sexual enslavement of thousands of Korean “comfort women.” Textbooks in both countries still demonize the Japanese colonizers and downplay Tokyo’s role in boosting Asia’s tiger economies after the war.

This cynicism ignores a couple things. First, Abe’s well-known revisionist leanings—reinforced by his visiting the controversial Yasukuni war shrine and appointing hard-line officials to his Cabinet and other posts—have eroded trust in his sincerity. Unless he addresses Japan’s wartime record directly and honestly—using words such as “aggression” to describe the invasions of Korea, China and Southeast Asia—Beijing and Seoul will have every reason not to lay this issue to rest.

Second, Abe’s avowed nationalism gives him unique standing to advance the cause of reconciliation. Coming from him, an expression of remorse—one that could still acknowledge the loss and sacrifice of ordinary Japanese soldiers and civilians—would carry greater emotional weight and offer greater closure than previous such statements. Even if he fails to change minds in China and South Korea, convincing the rest of the world that he’s sincere would make it easier for him to isolate Japan’s most trenchant opponents.

All sides have pressing reasons to seek rapprochement. Tensions have grown steadily since Tokyo’s 2012 nationalization of disputed islands and Abe’s visit to Yasukuni in 2013. The entire region is bearing the cost. Japanese investment in China plunged almost 40 percent in 2014, and bilateral trade has stagnated. China is growing at its slowest rate in years, while South Korea and Japan are struggling with deflation.

For all of them, expanding trade and investment should be priorities. And South Korean President Park Geun-hye has hinted that she’s ready to resolve the comfort-women issue, given the right gesture from Tokyo. Japanese officials sound optimistic about a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A full-fledged apology would also help Abe in his larger purpose of rebuilding Japan into a “normal” country—self-confident and active on the world stage. Legislation he’s sponsored to allow the Japanese military greater freedom of action has run into fierce opposition at home, partly because voters fear that Abe might stumble into an armed conflict. Better relations with China, especially, would assuage those concerns.

No apology can ease all the tensions in the region. Territorial disputes will linger no matter what, as will the contest for leadership in Asia. But Japan would be better able to meet these challenges if its economy were on the mend, its relations with the US and South Korea were stronger, and its rearmament were welcomed rather than feared by most of its neighbors. This week, Abe has a chance to make progress on all these fronts. He shouldn’t waste it. Bloomberg editorial

How the decision was reached James Jimenez

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spox

he Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday released its decision to lease more than 93,000 brand-new Optical Mark Reader (OMR) units for use in the 2016 national, local and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao elections. In light of how important this decision is, it would be wrong to lose sight of its context, as discussed by the Comelec chairman. I will let his words, contained in a separate concurring opinion, speak for him, with some editing for space.

“I join the majority resolution and wish to add the following observations.

“One-hundred days ago, I assumed office on May 4, 2015, together with Commissioners Rowena Guanzon and Sheriff Abbas.

“At that time—with barely a year left— doubts started to be raised as to whether or not the 2016 elections would proceed as scheduled.

The nullification [by the Supreme Court] of Comelec Resolution 9922 had the effect of voiding the so-called Extended Warranty Program previously contracted.

“Proceeding upon this same understanding—the following day that we assumed office, I presided over our first en banc meeting, with the firm and steeled resolve that that vital democratic process, our elections, will proceed as scheduled on May 9, 2016. In order to make up for lost time—and to secure a fallback position— the Comelec conducted parallel biddings, as we sought to decide between the refurbishment of the 81,000+ existing Precinct Count Optical Scan machines, or to lease 70,977 new OMRs. We kept our options open, and kept an open mind. For

this reason, we proceeded to consult with other stakeholders, participated in various demonstrations of alternative automated election systems, and seriously considered the feedback, inputs and counsels of various groups. Suffice it to say that the decision we reached today did not come easy. In truth, even saying this, does not suffice to fully contextualize the realities, difficulties and exigencies that this Comelec has had to face—and still is facing.

“Even before we could reach today’s decision, a cacophony of various legal challenges have been brought against the Comelec—threatening to sideline our ongoing preparations or, worse, risking to frustrate the conduct of our elections next year. No doubt: from our decision today, others will see another opportunity to find fault—unmindful and inconsiderate of the reality that we are running out of time to properly and adequately prepare for next year’s elections. For the overwhelming majority of our people who look forward to our elections as the opportunity to take part in the running of our government by speaking their voices: we remain

firmly committed to discharge our constitutionally mandated duties.

“It is for them that we are making this decision, and it is on their side that we are standing by. Neither intellectual sophistication nor sophistry should crowd out the undiluted voices of our people that are made manifest and heard on election day. Elections are not about arguing over whose system is better, or who has the more brilliant idea. Elections are, first and foremost, about our people. And as our Constitution mandates—that is, we, as a people, command—our elections should be free, honest, orderly, peaceful and credible. And that is what we are working hard and committed to delivering on May 9, 2016.

“On these premises, there is a lot more work to be done.

“We can only hope that our people’s optimism for and anticipation of our upcoming elections is not dampened by the cynicism and skepticism of a few. We will deliver credible elections, and not allow others to hold us back from conducting the 2016 elections and our people from participating in them.

“Honest elections are premised on the sanctity of the ballot: that our votes are properly counted, as we had cast them. With this being the paramount consideration, even as we balanced our options—weighing the costs and benefits—today’s decision reflects our belief in the true price of democracy. In the final balance, there is only one net effect that we aspired for and sought to ensure: to see to it that every person counts, and their vote properly counted.

“With barely a year left, the best way to guarantee that the conduct of our elections shall be credible is to adopt the automated election system that has been tried and tested during real elections. For sure, the 2010 and 2013 elections were not perfect, but so were the elections before them. We need to learn from the mistakes of 2010 and 2013 and endeavor not to repeat them.

“It is with these full disclosures—of the context of our decision-making, our challenges and commitments—that we are working to deliver and ensure credible elections by, first, being ourselves credible stewards of our elections. Credibility comes from speaking the truth—consistently and fully. From day one, we have been fully transparent and committed to telling the truth. And the truth is that this has not been an easy decision, much less a foregone conclusion as others have boldly, but baselessly, claimed. This decision was made following consultation with a broad range of sectors and stakeholders, and after careful deliberation and thought.

“The resolution of this important decision paves the way for other decisions and equally important preparations that this Comelec will have to take and make. The time to act is now; we have no time to waste on further debates and arguments. It is a betrayal of our people for our elections to be held hostage by a few. It is a disservice to our people to keep us from discharging the duties we swore to do—which we are doing as accountable constitutional officers.

“Indeed, the very little time that we still have left is time needed to get actual work and real preparations done—the work that we are duty-bound to fulfill, bound by our sacred oath. It is our people turning out for next year’s elections that will determine the merits of our decision today and our succeeding efforts in the following days. As we countdown to May 9, 2016, our people can continue to count on us and hold us to our commitment to deliver credible elections in 2016.”

J. ANDRES D. BAUTISTA August 13, 2015 James Arthur B. Jimenez is director of the Commission on Elections’s education and information department.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Friday, August 14, 2015 A7

Sustaining and broadening growth in the next 6 years Alvin P. Ang

EAGLE WATCH

L

ast week we presented our assessment of the economic accomplishments of the Aquino administration and our forecast for its remaining months. In essence, our midyear briefing focused on the gains of the administration, amid the challenges it faced, particularly in bringing the economy into a higher growth path.

The average growth rate from 2010 to 2014 is about 6.2 percent, the highest in the last three decades. This was made possible largely by the following: a) increase in investments both by the public and private sectors; b) increase in government expenditures; c) improvements in the fiscal processes have helped achieve good fiscal balance; and d) the improvement in broader governance. In turn, the ratings agency took note of this renewed domestic confidence and converted it into giving the country its investment-grade status. The gains were converted into improvements of the Philippines in the global competitiveness rankings from 2010 to 2014. In the World Economic Forum ranking, the Philippines jumped from 85th to 52nd. In the governance subranking, we improved from 117th to 67th, and in ethics and corruption, from 135th to 81st. In addition to these, the country continued to benefit from the influx of overseas Filipino workers remittances (growing annually at about 6 percent) and the full board contribution of the business-process outsourching sector (now contributing about two-thirds of remittances).

The growth in investments went significantly into improvements in the industry and the services sectors, which grew by an average of 2.1 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. The industry was led by the resurgence of manufacturing, growing its fastest in two decades at about 2 percent and contributing about one-third of total average growth. Services, on the other hand, was led by growth in financial intermediation and real estate, which added about 20 percent to total.

The challenge of this current growth path is that it had difficulty improving the poverty situation. In particular, agriculture grew the least in the last five years.

It grew by just an average of 0.25 percent as compared to the 0.75 percent during Estrada and 0.5 percent during Arroyo.

With about one-third of the labor force still remaining in agriculture and most of them in conditions of poverty, the trickling of growth will not be enough to reach them. The low growth of the sector also reflects low productivity requiring significant investments in human capital improvement. This is also the reason the government has to ensure that rice prices are affordable. Hence, the concern is: Will it be better directly investing in the sector or subsidizing food prices?

In the chart, it can also be seen that the current administration has seen the weak contribution of exports. As

we enter the Asean integration and continue to be part of the Asian supply chain, the declining growth of exports will become a big challenge in the future. Furthermore, much of the expected gains in manufacturing is seen to be translated into exports as part of the global intermediate goods production and as final goods producer.

Hence, a weak export picture can have a slowing-down effect on manufacturing, as well. The recent devaluation of the Chinese currency confirms that a global weakness in production exists, leading to lower export demand of our intermediate inputs.

For this year, we already forecasted that full-year growth will be 6 percent at best. This is already assuming that the government expenditures have started to pick up in the second half of the year and that manufacturing continues its above-average growth path. With election spending traditionally propping up the economy, we can expect a higher growth rate in 2016 of about 6.2 percent.

The growth levels should not be the concern at the moment. The challenge is more of how the growth for the next years is sustained and how its impact can be deliberately broaden.

This implies that the current global and local confidence must be sustained and translated into investments that will impact a broader segment of the population and in places where growth is lagging significantly. The current government has already started the confidencebuilding measures and we have started to gain from it. It should be noted that the economy is currently experiencing its lowest inflation and interest-rate regime for the last three decades. This is unprecedented! There is, therefore, an urgency to take advantage of this window and translate it into a broader income growth for every Filipino. This should be pushing local private firms to expand and improve local production. There is no need to wait for foreign direct investments to flow. In this pursuit, those who will run next year should: a) identify and work with private sector on industries and markets that have broad impacts such as agriculture; b) expand and cascade efforts on improving corruption perception at citizen contact levels; and c) use the ongoing changes in the educational sector (i.e., K to 12) as a springboard for better human capital investments. The candidate who sees the many windows of expansion open in the local and global economy will be the one to be able to sustain and broaden our growth path.

Badlis sa Kinabuhi: Line of life or destiny or fate

BLOOMBERG VIEW

C

hinese President Xi Jinping has just added a chainsaw to what had already been a pretty daunting juggling act.

All year he’s been trying to keep aloft two giant economic bubbles—one in debt, one in stocks. This week he added a much more unwieldy prop, the value of the yuan, to the show.

As I’ve argued, China is entirely justified in lowering its exchange rate, so far by 2.8 percent. It’s a risky move, but worth taking if it stabilizes the world’s second-biggest economy and nudges it toward a market-determined financial system—assuming Xi’s team truly knows what it’s doing.

The problem for China’s president is this latest challenge threatens his ability to manage the other two. As China guides its currency

lower, it heightens default risks on foreign-currency debt and increases the odds of capital flight, which would slam stock prices.

It’s not that China lacks latitude to devalue its currency. Before Tuesday’s 1.9-percent cut in the central bank’s reference rate, the yuan had risen about 15 percent on a trade-weighted basis in 12 months. But there are other considerations that should constrain Chinese policy. The Group of Seven

brave screenplay and cinematography. At the climax of the film, the director—the underrated Leroy Salvador—decides to allow a little boy to witness the hacking of the lustful uncle by his own mother.

Frankie Navaja Jr. plays the little boy, and he won awards for the portrayal of a boy traumatized by the crime he could not understand. This child actor could teach our child actors today. There was no twisting and distortion of his face, only a quiet stare that is by far more disturbing than any overt reaction.

Toward the end of the film, the boy was called to the witness stand.

Here the film triumphs bravely. The director makes the boy go up the table of the judge. The boy tells the old judge what happened that night. The camera turns around and frames the judge wearing sunglasses. A fashion then, the stern face of the judge was both sympathetic and pathetic.

I cannot tell you the ending of the film but if you are an avid fan of old Filipino movies, you would know where the line of life is leading us all.

I left Cebu on Monday. On my way out of the hotel, I bought a local paper—the SunStar. In one of the news items, the writer was discussing why the sidewalks built were just too high.

One local official responded that the height of the sidewalk was meant to discourage parking on said spaces.

Badlis sa Kinabuhi!

the implied promise to support the stock market at around 3,500 needs to be defended or it will lead to the appearance that the marketplace is more powerful than the government.” Failure to hold the line, Dalio says, “will add currency volatility to stock-market volatility and economic volatility on the government’s list of worries.”

It’s not clear whether Xi’s team understands the trap it’s setting for itself. Beijing is already stuck on what hedge-fund manager James Chanos calls a “treadmill to hell” as local governments amass $4 trillion of debt and credit. The Chinese government has also ensnared itself in a dangerous cycle of stock-market interventions that imperil its global clout.

Wednesday’s bloodbath in shares of major e-retailer Alibaba demonstrates the worsening state of economic fundamentals.

Xi is now willfully creating a currency contrivance that complicates his ability to avoid a hard

landing for the national economy.

The why of Xi’s devaluation is clear enough. So is the what, as officials from Washington to Tokyo voice concerns about a new currency war. The problem is the how; that’s where Xi’s people may be courting a self-inflicted wound.

Given China’s tightly controlled financial system, it doesn’t have to fear a major speculative attack by currency traders. Still, there’s reason to wonder whether the country’s central bank is up to the challenge Xi is presenting it.

Smart and respected as he is, Governor Zhou Xiaochuan may have to go on a hiring tear for money-market experts who can help manage the government’s new policy. Beijing has already shown its inability to adequately manage the country’s stock prices and its levels of debt.

Currency markets may, likewise, demonstrate Beijing’s impotence.

China could end the drama by stating clearly that the yuan’s big declines are over for now. That

would calm nerves in markets and head off a brewing geopolitical storm of protest and copycat devaluations. The PBOC may have done just that on Wednesday, intervening to prevent the yuan from going too far.

Amid these discussions, Washington finds itself caught in an ironic position. For years, the US criticized China for not letting markets decide the yuan’s value, on the assumption that it was undervalued. Now that traders have a bigger say, the yuan is moving down—a direction that probably doesn’t please Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. Nonetheless, there comes a point where China will need to take economic realpolitik into account.

The benefits from a weaker yuan will fade quickly if the world fears Beijing is acting rashly, or further huge drops are coming. And if Xi fails at managing the course of China’s currency, his entire juggling act will come to an untimely end.

Tito Genova Valiente

D

annotations

ateline Cebu. I am in Cebu as I write this. I am looking out of my window and marveling at a city that has a skyline similar to that of Makati. Huge and tall buildings hug each other from afar. If, by standard, we look to geographies of overdevelopment, then Cebu contends as the Queen City of the south, a metropolis that can replace Manila or its Metro version.

But I am writing this also after watching the Visayan film, Badlis sa Kinabuhi, the opening film of the recently completed Cinema Rehiyon, the seventh edition.

The film, in a sense, took Manila by storm. It won the Famas Awards in a competition that traditionally and by practice honors films in Filipino.

Badlis sa Kinabuhi is simply translated as “destiny.” As the film was being shown though, the gracious lady beside us kept providing several translations of the word “badlis” as “line” or “marks.”

The theme song of the movie says it all: The lines in our life are pretty well-determined. Some lines are straight; some are bent or crooked.

We all have it, this line, this badlis.

Aside from the much-vaunted Famas Awards for Best Picture, Badlis would give Gloria Sevilla her first Best Actress. The film would be sent

China adds a chainsaw to its juggling act William Pesek

to Berlin in 1970 when movies from the Philippines rarely made it to major film festivals.

The plot of the film is there in the title. Fate has us all. The two young lovers appear to be star-crossed in the beginning. The narrative is classic and patented in the 1950s and 1960s, where parents look to their child as their way out of poverty. Simplistic to a point, the story paints fathers as uncaring of the personal feelings of their children. Mothers are helpless before the tough decision-making of the male authority in the household.

The great love between the young man and woman is threatened by an odious rich suitor, who comes in a car. The car could have come from the big town or city, and this suitor less becoming than the male lover played

by Matt Ranillo Jr. It should be noted that the leading man of the period is usually played by very mature actors.

Seldom are teenagers then given the distinction of being leading men and leading lady. The obsession with youth is a present enterprise.

Given the almost required maturity of leading performers, it should be noted how Gloria Sevilla does look lovely in Badlis. The young audience, composed primarily of young independent filmmakers and documentarians, commented positively on “Filipina” Sevilla’s looks. I wonder if they recognize her as the “Manang Fe” in that very popular noontime soap, Be Careful with my Heart.

There are many lessons in this film called Badlis. There is the old theme of poverty. The film was completed in 1969, and the same old problem about health care reared its contentious head once more. In fact, if the two young couple had money to pay for health services, which include medicine, then the badlis, or line of life, could have moved straighter.

The same profile about household is in this film. Woe to a family whose pater familia gets sick because the mother will become the Mater Dolorosa who will express all the sorrow of destitution. Indeed, when the character of Gloria Sevilla ventures out to seek money to buy medicine, her first option is to borrow money from relatives who refuse her. The woman, thus, resorts to doing the laundry of an uncle who starts desiring her body.

If the plot is old, the young filmmakers must have responded to the

nations would throw a fit if China lowered the yuan’s value any further; China could even become a target for candidates in the 2016 US presidential election.

That’s why Wednesday’s devaluation by an additional 0.9 percent raised more questions than it answers. The whole idea of devaluing is to do it all at once: make a huge, one-time step, ride out the turbulence and move on. China, it appears, favors a drip-by-drip approach.

That could dent the market’s confidence in the country’s policy makers. Will investors, analysts, risk managers, executives and journalists feel they can still rely on Chinese pronouncements, or will they have to sit on pins and needles every morning, waiting to see how much the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) lops off the yuan?

As Ray Dalio of hedge-fund manager Bridgewater Associates sees it, Beijing’s “promises to defend it here will need to be kept or it will lead to a loss of credibility—like

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Friday, August 14, 2015

Majority of ODA projects faced delays as of 2014

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By Cai U. Ordinario

ore than half of the country’s active loan-assisted projects were encountering delays in terms of physical accomplishment when assessed at the end of 2014, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In the 2014 Official Development Assistance (ODA) Portfolio Review, Neda data showed that there were 59 loan-assisted programs and projects worth P502.23 billion that were ongoing by the end of last year.

However, some 33 of these ongoing projects were already behind in terms of their physical accomplishment. These projects are worth

P301.27 billion.

“Eleven of the delayed projects breached both of the physical indicator thresholds in the Alert Mechanism [i.e., negative physical slippage of at least 10 percent, and delays in any major activity in the critical path for at least six months],” the Neda report stated.

“Likewise, the loans of two

delayed projects [Integrated Coastal Resources Management Project and Tulay ng Pangulo Para sa Kaunlarang Pang-Agraryo] closed in CY 2014, but the projects had incomplete outputs,” it added. Data also showed that 13 programs and projects worth P38.51 billion were physically completed, and 13 projects and programs worth P162.44 billion were on, or ahead of, schedule.

Meanwhile, apart from ODA loans, the Neda report also showed that 45 projects and programs worth P12.7 billion were behind schedule.

This represented 13 percent of the 354 grant-assisted projects and programs in the CY 2014 active GPH grants portfolio, which reported physical performance.

Of the 354 projects and programs, the majority, or 218, worth P80.63 billion were on, or ahead of, schedule, and 90 of them worth

P15.11 billion were completed.

Neda data showed there were 508 active ODA loan- or grantassisted programs and projects as of 2014 which had information on physical performance.

Out of these projects, some 103 projects worth P52.09 billion were physically completed; around 231 projects worth P241.97 billion were on, or ahead of, schedule; and 78 projects and programs worth P323.05 billion were delayed.

By sector, the industry, trade and tourism had the highest percentage of projects/programs implemented ahead or on schedule with 57 percent, or 20 of 35 projects. This was followed by projects under the Social Reform and Community Development with 47 percent, or 75, of 158 projects; and agriculture, agrarian reform and natural resources with 45 percent, or 72, of 159 projects.

Robust factory hiring may bolster US optimism

I

t’s easy to get down about prospects for American manufacturers these days, with talk of the strong dollar, sluggish global growth and China’s yuan devaluation this week. Wednesday morn-

ing, at least, offered one data point to feel a little less glum.

Manufacturers hired 274,000 workers in June—more than at any time this year, and the 29,000 jump from the prior month was the

biggest since September, according to Labor Department figures from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. That helped boost the hires rate for all industries to 3.7 percent, matching its highest since

November 2007 and falling just short of the prerecession average.

The figures follow a report last week showing manufacturers, who make up about 9 percent of the work See “hiring,” A2

www.businessmirror.com.ph

VISTA LAND POSTED 10% GROWTH IN H1 INCOME, REVENUE

By VG Cabuag

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ista Land & Lifescapes Inc., the property-development company of the Villar family, said its income and revenues rose 10 percent in the first half of the year. The company is confident it will continue treading the growth path throughout the year.

Manuel Paolo Villar, Vista Land president and CEO, said the results were in line with expectations, as these were from the development projects that it started that began to churn out profits for the company.

Vista Land said in a report that its net income reached P3.11 billion from last year’s P2.83 billion, while revenues rose to P12.18 billion from last year’s P11.02 billion. Reservation sales reached P28.3 billion. Villar said the company, popularly known for its house-and-lot developments, will launch some 15 projects worth about P15 billion toward the latter part of the year.

The launches are part of its committed P30 billion to P40 billion worth of new project introductions for the year.

In the first six moths, Vista Land launched 27 projects worth P20.7 billion, mostly in the affordable segment.

About 22 of the 27 are projects outside Metro Manila, Villar said.

“Demand for housing continued to be strong, particularly in the price

segment dominated by our Camella brand. Our plans to expand countrywide remain unchanged,” Villar added.

“We now have residential housing developments in 35 provinces and 90 cities and municipalities around the country. Our continued expansion in the provincial areas is taking advantage of the rising middle class in the country and has solidified Vista Land’s dominant position in housing in the Philippines,” he said.

The company already spent P13.4 billion of its P25.1-billion capital expenditures for the year, most of which went to construction and land development.

Villar said the company will have some $46 million worth of maturing loans by September. The amount formed part of he $175-million five-year debt paper that it issued in 2010.

He added that the company may tap the offshore capital market, if there’s opportunity, proceeds of which will still be used for liability management, or lengthening the maturity of its bonds to avoid the bunching up of maturities.

In June Vista Land was able to issue its first seven-year $300-million note, which is part of its liabilitymanagement exercise, primarily to extend its existing US dollar notes due 2018 and 2019.

“I believe this exercise reflects Vista Land’s growing brand name within the Philippine credit space,” Villar said.