August 19, 2015

BusinessMirror

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

U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008

A broader look at today’s business Saturday 18,August 2014 Vol.19, 10 No. 40 Vol. 10 No. 314 Wednesday, 2015

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PLDT urges reversal of NTC’s Globe ruling M

P170B BICOL RAILWAY PROJECT AWAITS BIDDERS

B L S. M

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HE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should reverse its decision to allow the merger of Globe Telecom Inc. and Bayan Telecommunications Inc. (Bayantel), because the ruling is devoid of any legal basis.

Likewise, the regulator should have required the two telecommunications companies to divest their excess frequencies for fair competition, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said in a filing dated August 7.

In a 19-page motion for reconsideration, the multimedia conglomerate

INSIDE

APPLE WATCH Forgive us, oh Lord

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OR giving You too little time during the day.

For being slow in recognizing the signs You give. For being inattentive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. For praying mechanically and without conviction. For misleading others by our lies.

For revealing the faults of others through gossips.

For thinking of and speaking uncharitably to others.

Forgive us, oh Lord, as we beg Your pardon. Amen.

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

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

Life BusinessMirror

Why I’m no longer wearing my Apple Watch PHOTO: GARY REYES/ BAY AREA NEWS GROUP/TNS

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B T W San Jose Mercury News

’VE stopped wearing my Apple Watch.

After buying it the day Apple released it in April, I wore it faithfully every day for at least two months. I strapped it on every morning when I woke up and made sure to place it on its charger at the end of the day.

But one evening this summer, I took it off and didn’t put it back on.

I didn’t discard my flashy new Apple Watch out of disgust. I wasn’t trying to make a political or commercial statement by removing Silicon Valley’s trendy status symbol from my wrist. And I didn’t replace it with another watch or fitness band.

I simply didn’t have a compelling reason to wear it.

And it turns out I didn’t miss it.

When I did try to resume the Watch habit while on vacation a couple of weeks ago, I found it somewhat useful for storing boarding passes while flying.

But back on the ground, I quickly ceased wearing it because we spent a lot of time in the pool, and the Apple Watch isn’t waterproof.

In fact, I’ve found it to be a limited device that doesn’t do anything particularly well. Heck, because the screen’s off by default, it’s not even as good as my old Swiss Army watch was at displaying the time.

Despite all the hoopla around its release this spring, the Apple Watch seems much like other novelties that shine bright for a moment only to gather dust in the drawer. In particular, it reminds me of fitness bands like those from Fitbit. A survey released last year indicated half of people who had owned a fitness band at that point had already stopped using it and one-third did so within six months of getting it. According to the study, conducted by consulting firm Endeavor Partners, one of the primary reasons consumers stopped wearing the bands was because they provided them with “no material benefit.”

That’s how I felt about Apple Watch. The main thing the device did for me was to send alerts and notifications, such as when one of my close friends had posted something on Facebook, when I had an appointment coming up, or when someone was calling.

This was a mixed blessing at best.

On the one hand, I was more likely to get those alerts than if I was just relying on my phone. On the other hand, most of the alerts I receive don’t require my immediate attention, and even when they do I don’t necessarily need to be alerted on two devices at the same time. If I’m waiting for a call, I often have my phone out; I don’t need to have it and the Watch ringing simultaneously.

You can customize notifications in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone, but it’s often a binary choice. You can have it notify you for all your calendar reminders—or for none of them. You can have it ring whenever the phone does—or not at all. If you want the phone to send alerts at certain times, but not others, you have to change its settings manually; you can’t automate them.

And some notifications are just annoying, because you can’t do anything with them on the Watch. It will

MILEY CYRUS RAILS AGAINST ‘HANNAH MONTANA’ FOR BODY IMAGE, ANXIETY ISSUES »D2

show when you get a notification on Facebook, for example. But if you want to actually see what your friend has posted, you’ll have to pull out your phone.

The Watch’s shortcomings with notifications and even displaying the time wouldn’t matter as much if it had some compelling apps. Unfortunately, it doesn’t.

Many of the apps I use most frequently on my iPhone—things like Facebook, Netflix and MapMyFitness—aren’t available for the Watch.

And I didn’t find any great reason to use the apps that do exist. If I wanted to search Amazon for a book or other product, it was much easier, more satisfying and usually much faster to use my phone with its bigger screen, fast Internet connection and full keyboard. Same goes for Twitter or my e-mail. There just weren’t many situations where it was easier or more compelling to use the Watch.

Even using the Watch to board my plane pointed to its limitations. It took far longer for me to call up my passes and scan them than my fellow passengers who simply presented paper printouts.

Apple Watch may become a more useful product in the future once software updates allow developers to create more powerful and potentially compelling apps. Someday, a version of the Watch may have its own cellular radio, allowing it to access the Internet and take calls when users aren’t at home and don’t have their iPhones nearby.

■ Troy Wolverton is a technology columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. Reach him at twolverton@ mercurynews.com or follow him on Twitter @troywolv.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

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All-out fun at home THERE are stars and there are volleyball superstars.

Today PLDT Home unravels the faces behind ultra-fun Ultera Barkada by presenting its brand-new ambassadors who hail from the ranks of the country’s top volleyball celebrities, all superstars in their own right.

Ultra-fast LTE brand PLDT Home Ultera (www.pldthome. com) takes all-out fun to another level with the launch of com its new brand ambassadors: the talented and fun-loving volleyball players Alyssa Valdez, Dindin and Jaja Santiago, Rachel Daquis, Ara Galang, Mika Reyes, John Vic de Guzman and Peter Torres. Each of these young athletecelebrities have been making waves in their field, with a fan base that multiplies by the day.

“This is the power roster that represents what PLDT Home Ultera is all about,” PLDT VP and HOME Marketing Head Gary Dujali said. “Each of them has gone all-out in volleyball, rising to excellence through hard work and dedication. Now we’re showing the side of them that goes all out at home with family and friends. The Ultera lifestyle is about going all-out in anything you do, and we apply that mantra to our home-based Internet connection.

When it comes to the Internet, some think that Wi-Fi hot spots and Internet cafés are as good as it gets. But PLDT Home Ultera offers ultra-fast LTE connection and affordable broadband to enable all-out fun at home so you don’t settle for anything less.

“Our Ultera barkada family embodies this message perfectly,” Dujali added.

PLDT Home’s Marketing Head Gary Dujali with local volleyball superstars Alyssa Valdez (from left) and sisters Dindin and Jaja Santiago.

The Note 5 will cost $696 to $740 without a contract, depending on the carrier. The Edge Plus will cost about $75 more. The iPhone 6 Plus sells for about $750.

T-Mobile is throwing in a year of Netflix with both phones, while Sprint is giving away a low-end Samsung tablet with a two-year contract.

Samsung Electronics Co. also said its Samsung Pay mobile-payment service will launch in the US on September 28.

Although there’s competition from Apple Pay and Google’s upcoming Android Pay, Samsung is hoping its payments system will catch on with the inclusion of a technology that mimics the old-school, magnetic signals from credit-card swipes. That allows it to work with a wider range of merchants, though it still won’t work everywhere cards are accepted.

Samsung also teased an upcoming smartwatch, the Gear S2. It will have a round face rather than the rectangular design of Apple Watch and previous Samsung watches. AP

LIFE

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Property BusinessMirror

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

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VISTA RESIDENCES ELEVATES THE QUALITY OF HOUSING IN QUEZON CITY WITH ITS VISTA FLATS

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B V V

ARNING itself the moniker “Quezon City’s University Belt (U-Belt),” Katipunan Avenue feeds into three of Metro Manila’s, and the Philippines’s, top learning institutions—Ateneo de Manila University, Miriam College, and the University of the Philippines.

The three universities currently serve about 98,000 students— give or take a few thousand. With the country’s student population increasing by 7 to 8 percent each year, that means the number could grow by another 6,000 in 2016.

Since not all of Quezon City’s students actually reside in the city, or even within Metro Manila, student housing is a key concern for both the schools and the parents.

While most major institutes of learning offer in-campus housing, there usually isn’t enough. Thus, the students who don’t have relatives living nearby need to find residences in the dorms and boarding houses that mushroom outside the campuses.

Even this has become difficult, as the demand is exceedingly high.

Understanding how crucial education is to the country’s youth, and its very future, Vista Residences (VRI)—the condominium arm of the country’s premier property developer, Vista Land—offers a series of towers designed specifically to cater to the needs of students and faculty. Called the “University Series,” the eight towers already in this exemplary roster will soon be joined by the ninth, Vista Flats, ready to rise as the group’s second condominium in Katipunan Avenue.

Vista Flats: Raising the Level of Student Homes in Katipunan

VISTA Flats will very soon over Quezon City’s U-Belt, right at the corner of Katipunan and B. Gonzales Street—almost directly in front of the border between Miriam College and Ateneo de Manila.

Rather uniquely laid out, the tower’s triangular footprint makes perfect use of the three-sided, more

than 1,000 square-meter property.

The vertical village will rise up to 37 storeys with six for parking, two for businesses, the ground floor for commercial establishments, and an additional floor for an amenities area.

The remaining 27 storeys will be residential with 24 units per floor.

Because of its unusual shape, the unit sizes range from 18.23 to 24.42 square-meter studios, to 27.71 to 30.96 square-meter one-bedroom residences—each complete with a study and dining area, kitchen, and toilet & bath.

In the interest of motivating our students to enjoy learning and focus on their studies, Vista Flats’s 37th floor amenities area offers an e-Library, a fitness gym, a swimming pool with a sun deck, a landscaped balcony, and a multi-purpose function room for hosting school meetings or study groups. All of the towers in the VRI University Series are equipped with these facilities.

Another interesting feature in the design of the University Series condominiums is that each building uses solar panels in an effort to decrease their carbon footprint. The solar panels will be used to power select communal areas and mobile charging stations. Further in the future, Vista Residences hopes to use solar energy to supply even more of its buildings’ electricity needs.

Possibly more crucial, and always a key concern of the VRI group, is the students’ safety and security. Vista Flats will be designed so that its residents—and their parents—have less to worry about. The building will be equipped with a guarded reception area and parking floors, smoke and fire alarms, sprinkler systems, backup generators, and CCTV systems

VISTA Flats features an E-library, an ideal learning hub for its student residents.

WITH its “University Series,” Vista Residences is giving students better living options while in school.

in most of the public areas. For even better safety, the main entrance of the building will be facing the quieter B. Gonzales street, instead of the rather busy and hectic Katipunan Avenue.

As part of the Vista Residences’ roster of vertical villages, Vista Flats also comes with leasing options proprietary to VRI properties and designed to take the difficulties of leasing off owners’ shoulders.

Particular to the University Series towers is the ‘Condormitel’ program.

Selected units are leased and run as dormitories. There are from two to four occupants sharing a unit.

There is also a dormitory manager who looks after the residents and enforces certain rules such as curfews and study hours. This offers the protection and discipline of a school dorm while being in a more modern and comfortable setting.

Easy Transportation, StudentFriendly Establishments, A Stone’s Throw from School… One Can’t Get a Better Location

VISTA Flats is located perfectly for anyone studying or working in Ateneo, U.P. or Miriam College.

Beyond being designed with features and amenities that respond to the specific needs of students and the academe, the tower stands right in the middle of one of Quezon City’s commercial and residential hubs.

With the Light Railway Transit (LRT) 2, a brisk walk or a quick ride away, residents not only have affordable and easy access to the rest of Quezon City, but also to practically most of Metro Manila as well.

At the foot of Vista Flats is an expanse of the metro’s most popular dining establishments, groceries, bookstores, gyms and internet cafés.

While right behind the frenetic Katipunan Avenue is a spread of residential villages offering a quiet and safety perimeter, as well as the places of worship that are often found within local communities.

Down Katipunan Avenue sprawls the newfangled mall— the U.P. Town Center. This allows residents more lifestyle options and a place to de-stress and bond— creating student friendships that last most lifetimes. Along Aurora Boulevard are even more commercial centers, markets, and hospitals.

With its University Series condominiums, Vista Residences is giving students better living options while in school, trusting that this,

VISTA Flats will soon tower over Quezon City’s U-Belt, right at the corner of Katipunan and B. Gonzales Street – fronting Miriam College and Ateneo de Manila.

in turn, will result in helping them learn better.

An Investment in Education, a Lifestyle and the Future

VISTA Residences’ University Series condominiums offer four projects that have already been completely sold out: Crown Tower University Belt, Vista 309 Katipunan, Vista Taft and 878 España. Earlier this year, the group launched Vista GL Taft, Vista Heights, just off Legarda, Vista Recto on bustling C.M. Recto Avenue, and Vista Brenthill in the country’s summer capital, Baguio City. Vista Flats is the ninth tower of its series.

These condominiums are also amazing investments, as they are also all located within the metro’s key commercial and business centers, allowing access not just to schools and universities but also to the main places of work and entertainment, as well as to transportation hubs allowing for easy movement.

These are investments that can be passed on from one generation to the next. While the university towers were designed for the more scholarly, its sizes, values, and locations also make them perfect homes for new families, and those who work in the metro, needing a ‘halfway home’ closer to their offices.

Learn more about Vista Flats in Katipunan and the Vista Residences’ other University Series condominiums and properties. Call 650-0753; mobile number: 09998871705; or visit www. vistaresidences.com.ph.

For news and other announcements, follow vistaresidencesofficial on Facebook and vistarescondo on Instagram.

VISTA Flats offers a fitness gym, a swimming pool, landscaped balcony, and a multi-purpose halls for hosting school meetings or study groups.

PROPERTY

C  

IS PHL READY TO SCRAP RICE IMPORT QUOTAS IN 2017?

B A S. D | Correspondent

VISTA FLATS www.businessmirror.com.ph

ALACAÑANG is finalizing the details for the awarding of the P170-billion Bicol railway-expansion project, as well as the P3.5-billion upgrade of the Naga airport runway, both of which would be completed under the next administration.

Speaking at a multisectoral forum in Naga City on Tuesday, President Aquino confirmed that Japan has agreed to grant a concessional loan for the Bicol Express railway S “B ,” A

SPECIAL REPORT

Samsung takes on Apple with 2 Android phones with jumbo screens SAMSUNG has unveiled two new Android smartphones with jumbo screens, as it seeks to recapture some of the sales lost to Apple after larger iPhones came out last year.

Samsung said on Thursday that the new Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge Plus will start shipping on August 21 in the US and Canada. Usually, Note phones don’t come out until, well, after Apple’s new iPhone models in September. The timing reflects a shift in fortunes for a company that pioneered jumbo phones with the original Note in 2011. Now, Samsung needs to beat Apple to the punch, or risk seeing its products drowned out by all the attention on the iPhone, IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said. The new phones from Samsung have screens measuring 5.7 inches diagonally, the same as last year’s Note 4, yet both are lighter and thinner. They are comparable to Apple’s 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, the larger of the two new iPhones. Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge phones, which are closer in size to the regular iPhone 6, came out in April.

said the NTC’s justification for the approval of the merger “is not only contradictory, but is also without any basis in law.”

The telecommunications titan accused the NTC of tailor-fitting the law to favor its rival, as the NTC deferred to resolve the issues that PLDT raised with regard to competition and

capitalization requirements.

The NTC, in approving the debtto-equit y transaction bet ween Globe and Bayantel, ruled that issues on competition, capitalization and compliance with the requirements of the Public Telecommunications Policy Act are not within the jurisdiction of the agency, but is within the competence of the Rehabilitation Court.

However, PLDT pointed out that such issues were not for the court to resolve.

Citing Republic Act 7925, PLDT said the NTC should have been the body to resolve these matters to “ensure fair and competitive conduct of telecommunications entities, such as Bayantel.” “Clearly, the honorable commission contradicted itself and

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Conclusion

NE of the things that the new administration would have to think about next year is whether it would push for the retention of rice-import quotas in 2017. Instead of slapping tariffs on all rice imports, the Philippine government decided to maintain the so-called quantitative restriction (QR) on rice to prevent the influx of cheap rice from neighboring Asian countries.

The QR has been in place for more than two decades. When the second extension for the trade protection expired in 2012, Manila opted to negotiate for its retention. Following negotiations with countries that have expressed their intention to consider Manila’s bid, the World Trade Organization allowed the Philippines to continue implementing the QR until June 30, 2017.

PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 46.2870

In pushing for the retention of rice-import caps, Manila said removing the QR would threaten the livelihood of some 2.4 million rice farmers, who are small landholders. To maintain rice quotas, Manila had to raise the minimum access volume (MAV) of rice to 805,200 metric tons (MT), from the previous 350,000 MT. Rice imports that fall within MAV are slapped a tariff of 35 percent, lower than the 40-percent tariff imposed on “out-MAV” shipments.

The rationale behind the implementation of the QR, an expert said, is to ensure that Filipino farmers would be able to compete once the quotas are removed. A study, titled “Benchmarking Philippine Rice Economy Relative to Major Rice-Producing Countries in Asia,” found that rice production is relatively competitive in the Philippines.

Findings, however, suggested that more needs to be done to ensure that farmers will survive once the government fully opens up the country’s rice market.

C  A

■ JAPAN 0.3720 ■ UK 72.1337 ■ HK 5.9691 ■ CHINA 7.2384 ■ SINGAPORE 32.8883 ■ AUSTRALIA 34.1879 ■ EU 51.2814 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 12.3406 Source: BSP (18 August 2015)

A2 Wednesday, August 19, 2015

BMReports BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Is Phl ready to scrap rice import quotas in 2017?

Continued from A1

The study was commissioned by the Department of Agriculture (DA), and was done in close collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute. Using 2013 data, it examined rice production in the Philippines, China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The study revealed that, among the six countries, the Philippines ranked third in terms of the cost of producing rice per hectare. It also found that Filipino farmers paid the highest amount of irrigation fee, at P2,536 per hectare. In contrast, farmers in China do not pay for irrigation water.

Rice Watch Action Network (R1) lead convener Aurora Regalado said the government should consider

reducing irrigation fees. “Why do Filipino rice farmers pay costly irrigation fees when neighboring riceexporting countries heavily subsidize their farmers by providing them free irrigation?”

Regalado said the government and the rice sector need to work double time to prepare for the full impact of the possible lifting of the QR. R1 called for a “mixture of strategies,” which would incorporate or align initiatives rolled out under several government programs.

David Dawe, senior economist of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization backed the Philippines’s bid to pursue rice self-sufficiency.

Dawe said, however, that the country should also be prepared to become competitive.

“I think the government should

pursue rice self-sufficiency based on enhanced competitiveness, lower cost of production per ton, and a sufficiency program based on research and development,” Dawe said in an interview.

In terms of decreasing the current production cost of rice in the country, Dawe said “the single biggest thing, or component, of riceproduction cost is labor,” adding that to reduce that, “some kind of mechanization program” should be pursued.

The government, he said, must closely examine whether the selfsufficiency program is making progress. Dawe said the “litmus test” for the program is when the local rice sector “is subjected to international competition to some extent through import.”

Early this year Agriculture Assistant Secretary Edilberto de Luna told stakeholders of the rice industry to brace for the possible termination of the QR in 2017.

The DA said it has jump-started nationwide consultations with its partners for this.

De Luna, who is in charge of the national rice and corn programs, said there is a need for the rice industry to prepare for this “eventful scenario.” He said there’s a need to craft the best programs and directions to attain competitiveness and self-sufficiency in rice.

Among the strategies the DA had recommended include improved rice harvest by restoring irrigation facilities; adoption of high-yielding varieties; provision of farm equipment and facilities; and access to

credit, among others.

Dr. Roehlano Briones, senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said the government should also prepare for income loss for local rice farmers. Lifting the QR, he said, would likely result in cheaper rice prices but lower farm-gate prices for locally produced rice.

“W hat the government has to consider is how to actually provide temporary support to farmers to compensate for their income loss. The assistance could come in the form of a cash-transfer scheme or a price-guarantee scheme,” Briones said in an e-mail to the BusinessMirror.

A cash-transfer scheme, he said, would provide fixed and lump-sum payments to rice farmers. Un-

PLDT urges reversal of NTC’s Globe ruling. . .

ruled contrary to law with respect to the alleged effects of Bayantel’s rehabilitation proceeding to the joint application. On this score alone, the assailed decision should be revisited and reconsidered lest this honorable commission be misinterpreted as tailor-fitting rulings to favor one party over the other,” PLDT said.

Wrong reference

The NTC was also wrong to base its approval of the debt-to-equity transaction to PLDT’s acquisition

of Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc., the operator of cellular brand Sun. “The honorable commission’s ruling is, with all due respect, erroneous, as the PLDT-Digitel case is inapplicable and not on all fours with the present case,” the Pangilinan camp argued.

When the NTC approved the PLDT’s acquisition of Digitel, it required the companies to divest their excess frequencies in light of fair competition. The regulator did not require this from Globe and Bayantel.

“This piecemeal application of the PLDT-Digitel case is to the prejudice of other more qualified telecommunications entities which were not given the opportunity to bid for Bayantel’s unused frequencies, and ultimately the subscribing public,” PLDT said.

Globe now holds a 98.57-percent shareholding in the then-Lopezowned company. It also holds the rights to the frequencies of Bayantel.

“With all due respect, this honorable commission erred in applying

the PLDT-Digitel case, even assuming arguendo that the case is applicable, then, the honorable commission should, at the very least, apply the same en toto and similarly require Globe to divest of its excess frequencies,” PLDT said.

‘Gravely affected’

The No.1 telecommunications provider in the country also argued that the Globe-Bayantel transaction should have secured a Congressional approval first before being up-

held by the regulator.

PLDT cited Section 15 of the legislative franchises as its source, saying that prior Congressional approval may not be required when the sale, lease, transfer, or usufruct involved is between the franchisee and another entity with a legislative franchise for telecommunications.

“This kind of transaction, however, pertains solely to the two telecommunications franchise holders and does not include or contemplate a transaction where other parties are

der the price-guarantee scheme, farmers could be paid the difference between a benchmark price and an “insurance price” in case prices become too low. Briones said funds for these schemes could come from tariffs that would be slapped on rice imports once the QR is removed.

Briones said the possible lifting of the QR could also act as a “transitional measure” for farmers to diversify to high-value crops.

With the lifting of the QR, Briones said rice importing should become an “exclusive function” of the private sector.

“The detrimental effects [of the removal of the QR] on farmers are unavoidable, but these can be mitigated with the right preparation,” he said.

Continued from A1

inevitably affected by the transaction,” it said.

The transaction itself cannot be considered as of purely commercial and bilateral origins, as Bayantel is still undergoing rehabilitation.

“The mere fact that the debt-toequity transaction between Globe and Bayantel needed the approval of the rehabilitation court shows that there are other parties gravely affected by the said transaction,” PLDT said.

Continued on A8

Economy

A4 Wednesday, August 19, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

Zambo Freeport secures ₧17-B investment pledges

T

By Catherine N. Pillas

he Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone and Freeport (ZCSEZ) has secured investment pledges amounting to P17 billion, as locators continue to expand operations in the zone.

“This 2015, we have 24 registered locators, with three more in the pipeline pending approval. The 24 locators have committed investments of P17 billion, from P14 billion last year, from 18 locators,” Chairman and Administrator of ZCSEZ Christopher S. Arnuco said in a phone interview.

Of the committed investment of P17 billion, the actual investments that has been delivered has reached P1.2 billion.

According to Arnuco, the continued confidence of existing locators, which includes San Miguel Foods Inc. and seafood manufacturer and processor Seachamp International Export Corp., is due to the wide access of raw materials in Mindanao.

Raw-material purchases in the first semester of 2015 has reached P707 million, or a 41-percent increase, over the same period last year when raw-material purchase

was at P500 million.

The biggest buyer of agricultural raw resources was San Miguel Foods Inc. with a share of P630 million.

Other locators have also undergone expansion in the zone, such as CTK Rubber Asia Corp., thus boosting investment pledges.

The ZCSEZ is also expecting at least three new locators to come in this year, the largest of which is independent fuel company SeaOil Philippines.

“SeaOil has submitted plans and programs. They’re very serious in putting up a fuel depot and a terminal, plus [the] construction of a jetty wharf and a port. But they have not completed requirements yet, so provisional approval pa lang,” Arnuco said.

The potential investment for the oil depot and supporting infrastructure cannot be disclosed yet without the completion of the requirements.

The two other locators, whose

applications are pending approval, are Zamboanga Hemp Agro-Eco Resources Coop. for an abaca plantation and Philippine Spring Water Resources Inc. Employment in the zone is now at 1,157 workers.

Exports

IN terms of export shipments, ZCSEZ has seen a 5-percent increase in the first half of the year versus the same period in 2014.

“In the same semester of 2013, total exports is at $1.7 million. This increased to $2.4 million in 2014, then for 2015, we’re at $2.565 million,” Arnuco said.

ZCSEZ has already attained its target of registering two locators and pulling in investments of P200 million.

For 2016 the zone is increasing the target to seven locators and double the investment amount, or P400 million.

SC grants Enrile petition for bail

By Joel R. San Juan

S

EN. Juan Ponce Enrile can now leave his detention cell after the Supreme Court (SC) granted his petition to post bail for the plunder charges filed against him before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly pocketing kickbacks from his participation in the multibillionpeso Priority Development Assistance Fund allocation.

At a press briefing, SC spokesman Theodore Te said the Enrile's release from the Philippine National Police General Hospital in Quezon City is subject to the conditions that the Court will issue.

“In the matter of...Juan Ponce Enrile v Sandiganbayan, Third Division, and the People of the Philippines, the Court granted the petition for bail of petitioner Juan Ponce Enrile, subject to the terms and conditions to be specified by the Court in its order, which will be forthcoming,” Te said.

Te did not provide any other details, such as the names of the magistrates who voted to grant the petition and the justices who rejected his bail plea.

Te, however, confirmed that Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza did not participate in the deliberations, since he handled the case during his stint as Solicitor General, while Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes was on leave.

The SC reversed the ruling issued by the Sandiganbayan Third Division on July 14, 2014 and August 18, 2014, which denied his motion to post bail.

In his petition for bail, the 91-yearold senator insisted that the charges filed against him are not even considered as capital offense so he has the right to post bail.

Enrile invoked humanitarian reason in seeking his temporary liberty citing his old age and frail health.

He added that his advanced age, as well as his voluntary surrender to the authorities when the warrant of arrest had been served by the anti-graft court in urging the SC to grant his motion.

“Considering the undisputed presence of two mitigating circumstances [advanced age and voluntary surrender], the prescribed penalty, under the plunder law, is only reclusion temporal, thus, automatically entitling Enrile to post bail,” Enrile said in his petition.

He had also claimed that there is no solid evidence against him and that having him detained and taking away his right to post bail is clearly wrong and unconstitutional.

Enrile, along with Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada, had been detained and are now facing graft and plunder charges at the Sandiganbayan for their alleged involvement in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Tile makers protest DTI delisting move

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he Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CTMA) has renewed its opposition to the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) order to delist ceramic tiles from mandatory certification denouncing the move as a drawback to the industry’s fight against substandard goods.

“But for CTMA, the removal of ceramic tiles from BPS’ [Bureau of Product Standards] mandatorycertification scheme is a big blow to our campaign against substandard products. We still believe that ceramic tiles pose serious safety and health risks to consumers that government must take preventive measures to ensure that what is sold to the public is compliant, at least, with our national standards,” said Francisco Saavedra, secretary general of CTMA, in a text message.

Three industry associations under the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) have been up in arms following the DTI’s release of the Department Administrative Order (DAO) 1501, moving select products from mandatory-certification scheme to mandatory labeling.

The industry associations are local manufacturers of some of the products delisted from the certification scheme in DAO 15-01 representing processed wood, ceramic tiles and flat glass.

According to Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo, delisting the products will cut some red

tape for imports, as only those under the mandatory-certification scheme need to apply for import commodity clearance.

Domingo reiterated that the products are still sampled and tested based on the Philippine National Standards but are “not life-threatening,” and can be removed from the certification scheme.

“Except for Singapore, we a re t he on ly countr y a mong the Association of Southeast Asian Nation founding nations that no longer requires mandator y certification on ceramic tiles. The delisting of ceramic tiles is bereft of any scientific o r e v e n e m p i r i c a l b a s i s ,” Saavedra added.

FPI Chairman Jesus L. Arranza took the cudgels for member-associations and have been talking to DTI officials to review the DAO. However, Trade Undersecretary Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba said that of the three products, only structural flat glass is being eyed to be shifted back to mandatory certification on the basis of safety concerns. “ We sti l l have to meet to chart our next step. But we will continue the dialogue. The industry has previously identified the delisting as threat to the industr y. Our tiles are priced above the imported ones. Now w it h t he del ist ing , impor tations will rise and will be more cheaper,” Saavedra added.

Catherine N. Pillas

briefs b.o.i. sets own portal launch on wednesday

Art and fashion at the mall

Visual Artist Joey Cobcobo (left) teams up with Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo (center) and Trade Undersecretary Ponciano Manalo Jr. on Friday last week in creating an art piece to commemorate the Sikat Pinoy National Art and Fashion Fair held at Megatrade Hall, SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. NONOY LACZA

PhilRes slates ‘historic’ gathering of real-estate practitioners in Sept

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HE historic, first-ever Integrated National Convention of real-estate service practitioners aimed at gathering thousands of real-estate brokers, salespersons, assessors, appraisers and real-estate consultants under one roof will be hosted by the Philippine Institute of Real Estate Practitioners (PhilRes) Inc. from September 28 to 29 at the SMX Convention Center Halls 1, 2 and 3 in Pasay City.

The convention aims to draw about 2,000 real-estate practitioners and other professionals and businessmen, as the integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) economic community becomes official at the end of this year.

Recognized and accredited by the Professional Regulation Commission upon the recommendation of the Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service as the sole Accredited and Integrated Professional Organization for the real-estate service in 2011, the PhilRes membership base of at least 10,000 licensed real-estate service practitioners distributed among 52 chapters nationwide, is the largest and biggest real-estate service practitioners organization in the Philippines today.

The convention theme “The evolving Asean property landscape; Mobilizing for the borderless real-estate marketplace,” will feature top-notch speakers, like former tourism and Interior Secretary Rafael M. Alunan, who has been slated to discuss national security issues.

Among the topics lined up for the two-day convention are: The Road to Convergence for Asean and Apec; Asean Economic Community 2015 - Redrawing the Line in Real Estate Service; The Emerging Real Estate Markets; and The Power of the Millenial Market.

Earlier the PhilRes Mandaue chapter, led by its president Hilario Escudero, held the first PhilRes VisMin conference on June 26 and 27 at the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug, Cebu City.

The successful event was attended by about 300 realestate practitioners from various provinces.

LGUs get P124-million revenue shares from SBMA operations

By Henry Empeño | Correspondent

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UBIC BAY FREEPORT—Local government units (LGUs) located near the Subic Bay Freeport Zone received a total of P124 million from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) as the agency released revenue shares for the first half of the year.

The revenue shares are given to the seven municipalities and one city that are contiguous to the free port and affected by the operations of the various business locators inside the Subic Bay Freeport and Special Economic Zone.

The P124-million allocation was derived from 2 percent of the 5-percent corporate taxes collected from Subic Freeport-registered businesses from January to June 2015.

According to the SBMA, the allocations included P30 million for Olongapo City, which constitutes the biggest share; P18.5 million for Subic; P10.6 million for Castillejos; P10.9 million for San Antonio; and P8.7 million for San Marcelino, all in Zambales.

Meanwhile, the Bataan towns of Dinalupihan, Hermosa and Morong received P15.6 million, P12.7 million, and P10.7 million, respectively.

The P124-million revenue shares for the first semester of 2015 is 32.5 percent bigger than the P93.7 million released in the first semester last year, SBMA records showed.

SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia said the agency was able to give out bigger revenue shares because of higher profit margins enjoyed by both the SBMA and Subic business locators during the period.

“The first semester saw a much improved business environment in the Freeport,” Garcia said. “This paved the way for better bottom lines and the start-up operations of many new locators.”

The LGU revenue shares, Garcia said, “are intended to augment local resources and enable stakeholder communities to undertake development projects in health, education, peace and order, and livelihood generation.”

The Board of Investments (BOI) will launch on Wednesday an online investor inquiry system to facilitate the agency's management of investor concerns and issues.

The BOI is set to soft launch the One Window Network (OWN), a cloudbased web portal and mobile-application system that enables investors to lodge queries and concerns online, as well as to access all information on business and investments.

The project also includes a system that can track and monitor the realtime status of investor’s inquiry and concerns using personal computers or smart phones.

Moreover, the cloud-based portal will contain all the investment-related requirements, policies and procedures.

A news statement assured that the new facility will be able to fast track the resolution of investors’ issues and concerns through online coordination and facilitation.

The BOI Investment Action Center has been designated as fully responsible for maintaining the web application. Catherine N. Pillas

govt creates assistance centers for distressED ofws The more than 10.5 million overseas Filipino workers are assured of full government protection following the signing on Tuesday of a historic document that compels five major agencies to come to their assistance, if beset by trouble, in the shortest possible time.

The nitty-gritty of this document, cobbled after two years, are contained in the Joint Manual of Operations in Providing Assistance to Migrant Workers and Other Filipinos Overseas, who are in distress.

The most important feature of this document is the creation of a center, which shall serve as the central hub and assistance center for migrant Filipinos, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario.

The officially titled Migrant Workers and other Overseas Filipino Resource Center (MWOFRC), would be housed near or outside the premises of the country’s embassies and consulates abroad.

These embassies and consulates are urged to secure permits and recognition for the center from the host government, according to Labor Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz. Recto Mercene

‘don‘t buy used hardware for afp modernization’

A legislator favors an increase in military spending to boost the country’s defense capabilities amid concerns over China’s continuous military buildup in the disputed West Philippine Sea, but warns the government against buying old and dilapidated second-hand weapons and equipment.

Sen. Francisco “Chiz” Escudero said that as much as possible, the government should purchase “brand new” military hardware if it really wants to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) which, he said, is widely regarded as one of the weakest military forces in Southeast Asia.

“If we are going to pour in billions of pesos to improve the AFP, we might as well give our soldiers the best modern and sophisticated equipment we can get,” Escudero pointed out.

The veteran lawmaker said it is high time the Philippines invests in “reasonably priced” brand-new military weapons and equipment, especially those that would improve the country’s maritime defense capability.

“We should discard the old practice of acquiring military equipment and vehicles that are too old and defective, and no longer useful to our armed forces. Let us not put the lives of our hardworking soldiers in danger,” he said in Pilipino. Recto Mercene

A6 Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

For a new rice policy under WTO

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or decades, our government has been imposing tariffs, quotas and other quantitative restrictions (QRs) on the production and distribution of rice.

The justification is that rice is not an ordinary commodity like, say, sweet potatoes or cabbages that consumers can buy or not buy, depending on their preference.

Rice is a staple, almost an absolute necessity in the consumption basket of people, something which they must have “whether it is available or not”. The demand for rice is highly inelastic, as economists would say. As such, supply can be subject to manipulation—to be decreased or increased, depending on what the traffic will bear, to the extreme disadvantage of consumers.

This is sensible enough. But in this period of expanding and intensifying trade among nations, in the age of globalization, market interferences are coming into question. From scientific knowledge confirmed by practice, we know that restrictions to trade can only diminish, if not extinguish, exchange gains on both sides.

Thus, under the World Trade Organization (WTO), rice-trading nations— the Philippines among them—have agreed to eliminate QRs on rice. If these restrictions are to remain, however, as they must under extraordinary circumstances, their retention must only be for limited periods, and some minimum amounts of imports, called “minimum access volumes” (MAV), must be allowed during those periods. As a condition for the retention of some of its QRs on rice in the immediate future, the Philippines’s MAV was increased to 805,200 metric tons (MT), from a previous 350,000 MT. The deadline for the dismantling of rice QRs by the Philippines is in 2017.

As sure as day, high-cost farms and farmers will be adversely affected, for instance, by the coming of inexpensive imports from Thailand and Vietnam.

We must assist these farms and farmers with credit facilities and technical services to become more efficient. If improvement is not possible, they should shift to alternative activities. This move will be more rewarding, rather than sticking it out on a dead-end endeavor.

At the same time, we must do everything we can to improve productivity in the agricultural sector as a whole. The adoption of high-productivity technology seems the only way for the sector to rise to the challenge of an expanding and rapidly urbanizing population.

One thing we must not do to adversely affected farms and farmers is to provide them with subsidies of one sort or another just to prevent them from collapsing. That will be perpetuating inefficiency in our agricultural sector to the extreme cost to taxpayers.

Our ultimate objective should be to conform to our WTO commitments by transferring decisions on rice production and distribution to market forces, allowing only minimum government intervention. This should ensure not only the satisfaction of the concerns of rice producers and customers here and abroad without much ado, but also the prevention of the loss of hundreds of millions of pesos to corruption in the rice-regulating agencies.

Registering as an employer-member Susie G. Bugante

All About Social Security

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F you are planning on setting up a business, one of the requirements that you have to do is register with the Social Security System (SSS). Whether your business is a single proprietorship, partnership, corporation, cooperative, nonstock or nonprofit corporation and a manning agency with foreign principal, you have to report it to the SSS by filling out Form R-1, or the Employer Registration form.

You need to fill out this form in two copies, and submit it to the nearest SSS office with the appropriate supporting document. Here are the guidelines for the different types of business enterprise: If it is a single proprietorship, the supporting document is an authority to operate from the proper government office: e.g., registration of business name, business permit, or any proof of business operations.

The R-1 form should be signed by the owner or, in his or her absence, the

legal spouse or, in their absence, any representative with a special power of attorney.

For partnerships, the approved articles of partnership should be submitted together with the SSS Form R-1 upon registration. The person authorized to sign the registration form is the managing partner.

In the case of corporations, including nonstock, nonprofit corporations, the approved articles of corporation shall serve as supporting documents, and the authorized

signatory shall be the president, chairman or corporate secretary.

For foreign-owned corporation, to be submitted are the approved articles of corporation and the license to transact business in the Philippines. Just like the local corporations, the authorized signatory shall be the president, chairman or corporate secretary.

Cooperatives, on the other hand, are required to submit the approved articles of cooperation from the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). Either the chairman or corporate secretary is the authorized signatory in the registration form.

For manpower-service cooperatives, they need to submit the approved articles of cooperation from the CDA and certificate of accreditation from the Department of Labor and Employment. Also, the chairman or the corporate secretary is the authorized signatory.

If the business enterprise you are opening is a branch office, you need to submit a certificate of operation from the main office signed by the company president, chairman or corporate secretary. The authorized

Japan exports its way to irrelevance William Pesek

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BLOOMBERG VIEW

here’s a difference between bad economic news and the devastating variety that Japan received on Monday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might have been able to weather the second-quarter data showing a drop in Japanese consumption and a 1.6-percent decline in annualized growth. But it’s not clear his government can recover from the latest news about sputtering exports, which fell 4.4 percent from the previous quarter.

An export boom, after all, was the main thing Abenomics, the prime minister’s much-heralded revival program, had going for it. The yen’s 35-percent drop since late 2012 made Japanese goods cheaper, companies more profitable and Nikkei stocks more attractive. But China is spoiling the broader strategy. The economy of Japan’s biggest customer is slowing precipitously, which has imperiled earnings outlooks for Toyota, Sony and trading houses like Mitsui.

But Abe needs to recognize, as China already has, that this is only the latest sign of a broader reality: Asia’s old export model of economic growth no longer works.

China’s devaluation last week raised fears of a return of the currency wars that devastated Asia in the late 1990s. That’s a reach, considering that exports are playing less and less of a role in China. McKinsey, for example, found that, as far back as

2010, net exports were contributing only between 10 percent and 20 percent of Chinese gross domestic product. The services sector is growing in size and influence to rebalance the economy—not fast enough, perhaps, but change is nevertheless afoot.

If any major country has been relying too much on exports, it’s Japan.

As yet another recession beckons, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will likely respond with yet more easing to extend the yen’s declines and save giant exporters.

No matter how cheap the yen gets, though, China will still be slowing. All the stimulus BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda can muster won’t change the worsening trajectory of the region’s most-populous nation.

That’s why Abe needs to take a page from Beijing and focus more on creating new industries at home.

Tokyo seldom acknowledges it can learn anything from Beijing.

Japan wrote the book on exporting your way to prosperity, one followed to great effect from South Korea to Vietnam, and eventually even China. But recent years have seen the student (China) surpass the teacher in moving past that simplistic growth strategy.

Abenomics, meanwhile, has proven to be a time machine endeavoring to return Japan to the export-boom times of 1985. But even with additional BOJ stimulus, says Diana Choyleva of Lombard Street Research, exports don’t offer Japan a path to sustainable growth. Europe is still limping, the US consumer isn’t the reliable growth engine it was a decade ago, and China’s relatively modest devaluation (about 3.5 percent in total) still means the yen’s value will rise on a trade-weighted basis.

Japan’s only available solution is to encourage more job growth from the ground up. But the country’s weak-yen policy has proven to be more effective at ensuring job protection from the top down. The government had hoped that a devalued yen would boost corporate profits, giving executives the confidence to raise wages and giving households an incentive to spend more. Executives, however, have been taking a trustbut-verify stance. Before fattening paychecks, they want Abe to implement structural reforms to make the economy more competitive and end deflation. In a sense, Abenomics is engaged in a high-stakes staring contest with corporate Japan.

If Abe realized this, he would

signatory on the registration form should be the highest-ranking official of the branch.

Upon registration at the SSS, you also need to submit a validated miscellaneous payment return form (Form R-6) and a special bank receipt as proof of payment for the employer registration plate amounting to P165. You may pay for this at any SSS-accredited bank or at the nearest SSS office with teller services.

As a duly registered employermember of the SSS, you are advised to display your registration plate at a conspicuous place in your business premises. Also, always use your 13-digit employer number in all your transactions with the SSS. For more information about the SSS and its programs, call our 24-hour call center at (632) 920-6446 to 55, Monday to Friday, or send an e-mail to member_relations@sss.gov.ph.

Susie G. Bugante is the vice president for public affairs and special events of the Social Security System. Send comments about this column to susiebugante.bmirror@gmail.com.

act focus on supporting small- and midsize companies and encouraging start-up activity. A new survey

by Dentsu Communication Institute shows about 30 percent of Japanese aged 18 to 29 have no interest in being salarymen and salarywomen like their parents.

Rather than support the Japan Inc. giants that prefer new generations of lifelong workers, Abe could use tax incentives and governmentfunded venture-capital funds to encourage young people to form their own companies and invent products that have a chance of spearheading new industries. Tossing corporate welfare at Sony and Sharp for the past several years hasn’t spurred them to come up with a viable answer to Apple’s iPhone or Samsung’s Galaxy line of smartphones. Instead, it’s been Chinese upstarts Xiaomi and Huawei that have become global players in that sector.

That’s not to suggest China sets the best economic example in all respects—far from it. Beijing has recently put the country’s economic credibility at risk by manipulating the stock market, while Chinese companies have consistently avoided all manner of basic transparency.

Nevertheless, by focusing its attention on kicking its export addiction, China has valuable lessons to teach Japan. For all of Abe’s big talk of deregulation, the odds are still stacked against Japan’s would-be entrepreneurs. And as long as Abe’s government sticks with a decades-old export model, that’s unlikely to change.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Welcome to ‘Hongcouver’ As Apple goes, so goes the market?

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By Paul Starobin | TNS

nce a British outpost on the far side of the New World, later a countercultural mecca known for its pot-infused vibe, Vancouver, Canada, is entering a new phase, transformed by immigration from across the Pacific Ocean. Greater Vancouver’s population of about 2.5 million is 16 percent of Chinese origin; the city proper is 28 percent ethnically Chinese. Some locals have dubbed it “Hongcouver.”

What does such substantial and continuing Chinese migration to Vancouver—in the form of capital, as well as people—signify? For some, the answer is wrapped in anxiety.

“Here you have this former British colony that is now becoming colonized itself,” a longtime city resident told me.

Of course, Vancouver is not being “colonized” by the Chinese in any meaningful definition of the term. The Chinese influence is of a different character, but it serves as an early example of how a rising tide of Asian wealth is making over Western cities.

Today’s wave of Chinese migration dates to Britain’s 1984 agreement to deliver Hong Kong to mainland Communist China in 1997. The transfer prompted concern among Hong Kong’s prospering middle and upper classes for the safety of their assets and possibly even of their persons.

Though Britain chose not to offer Hong Kong’s residents a right to relocate and pursue permanent-resident status or citizenship, Canada established the Immigrant Investor Program to award fast-track resident visas to wealthy foreign businesspeople who pledged to invest a substantial portion of their assets in Canada.

The program was available to Chinese mainlanders, too, and a growing number took advantage of it after Beijing’s suppression of the prodemocracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989. These Chinese newcomers were not impoverished strivers desiring a fresh start, as in an earlier age, but established winners seeking to protect and build on their gains. Vancouver was a natural destination. Compared with Toronto— Canada’s financial center—Vancouver appeared provincial, but the city offered the same attractions of stable banks and rule of law, along with the advantage of proximity: It is a 10-hour nonstop flight from Hong Kong.

The arrival of the Chinese investorclass migrants spurred blockbuster city-development projects, including glass towers of luxury waterfront condos. Bungalows were bulldozed to make room for the much larger dwellings the Chinese preferred. It was an aesthetic and economic jolt: “Merry Old England suddenly replaced by colonial mansions,” as one critic put it.

Property prices soared. A medianpriced house in East Vancouver that cost about $20,000 (Canadian) in the early 1970s would have easily fetched $800,000 (Canadian) in 2000. Today that same house is worth about $1.3 million (Canadian). Native Vancouver homeowners reaped a windfall in selling their properties to cash-flush Chinese buyers, but today, Vancouver’s housing market is the least affordable

in North America.

Still, any argument that Asian migration has damaged the Vancouver economy doesn’t hold up, even when the jump in housing prices is taken into account. Granted, the Immigrant Investor Program didn’t stimulate the job growth (particularly in manufacturing) that advocates had hoped. But in truth, there was no economic “golden era” for Vancouver before the Chinese influx either. Vancouver’s unemployment rate was 13.6 percent in 1984. In April 2015 the rate stood at 6 percent.

Its economy evolved, as have those of many other cities in the West, in a postindustrial direction.

Vancouver has benefited handsomely in some specific ways from its new Chinese ties. Public schools charge steep fees to “international students”— again, largely from China—who are neither permanent residents nor Canadian citizens. Education and arts institutions have received huge gifts from Chinese philanthropists.

Perhaps, the best way to grasp the city’s transformation is to see Vancouver as a node on a pathway of people and money that begins in Asia. So-called astronaut families abound, with fathers working primarily in China and occasionally traveling to Vancouver, where the mothers and children live. Many homes or condos purchased by absentee Chinese investors stay unoccupied for much of the year.

The problem of unoccupied homes, in particular, grates among the Anglo population. A web site, Beautiful Empty Homes of Vancouver, features running accounts, typically supplied by unnamed, aggrieved Vancouver residents, of neglected properties.

The question for the city is whether it can apply its store of civic goodwill and wisdom to address such unanticipated problems. James Macdonald, an urban planner who founded the Beautiful Empty Homes website, offers a list of policy options, including charging absentee owners a vacant-property fee modeled on surcharges that Hong Kong and Singapore levy on nonresident buyers.

Barring an implosion of the Chinese economy, the migration trend is apt to persist. Periodic political instability, such as the recent protests in Hong Kong demanding democratic reforms, also give Chinese savers and investors reason to look abroad—not just to Vancouver but also Seattle and cities up and down California—for a place to ensure the security of their assets.

Remarkably, this tidal shift of wealth may be only in its adolescence. One survey by a Chinese research company found that 64 percent of China’s millionaires have emigrated or have plans to.

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By Barry Ritholtz | Bloomberg View

ith the stock markets down almost (OMG!) 5 percent from their all-time highs, lots of folks are looking for signs that the bull is dying, if not dead. One of the more portentous omens is the recent decline and volatility of Apple’s stock.

Or so it seems.

For reasons too numerous to list here, Apple captures an enormous amount of mindshare. I find that gratifying, as a fanboy since falling in love with a Mac Classic in 1988.

I have jokingly noted that the five major asset classes are stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities and Apple.

However, too many people seem to think it is the most important stock in the universe. Even if that were true, that doesn’t help us understand how markets work.

Of course, Apple is important. It had annual sales of $183 billion in the fiscal year that ended last September, almost 100,000 employees, some of the most successful retail stores ever and more than $200 billion in cash and liquid investments. It also is the world’s largest music retailer, reaps almost all of the profits in the mobile-phone market and, of course, has a fanatical level of brand loyalty.

Apple’s influence is largely a

function of its outsized weighting in various indexes. It is the largest component in the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index at about 3.62 percent. In the Nasdaq 100 Stock Index, it’s even more influential at 12.85 percent—that’s not quite double Microsoft’s weighting, the next biggest component, and almost three times the size of Amazon, at 4.76 percent.

Apple ranks seventh in terms of influence in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which uses a price weighting, meaning that companies with higher absolute share prices (but lower valuations), such as Goldman Sachs and IBM, have a greater impact.

But does this mean that Apple serves as a meaningful market indicator? The short answer is probably not; the longer answer is a bit more interesting.

Apple has captured attention due in part to its record of creating new markets or overturning those of so many different industries. It has left

a trail of creative destruction that has mangled companies as varied as Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Research in Motion (BlackBerry), Nokia, Ericsson, Microsoft, Sony and Intel. It has challenged companies such as Google (a juggernaut itself) and voice and data carriers such as AT&T and Verizon. Qualcomm, Corning, Foxconn, Samsung and Sharp are all beneficiaries of Apple’s success.

Maybe providing some historical perspective would help. Consider the stock’s volatility. Back in the 1990s, there were weeks when Apple’s value was almost cut in half, including one week when it declined 51 percent. In other periods, the performance was just as dismal; Apple’s worst monthly and quarterly performance didn’t include that one awful week.

The recent decline of 12 percent, ostensibly on disappointing demand for Apple Watch, has lopped off more than $100 billion in market value from Apple’s shares. Apple’s stock price is at an eight-month low, and is below its 200-day moving average for the first time since September 2013.

Volatility has also been an enduring feature of Apple’s shares during the past decade, as it rose to become the world’s most valuable company.

Billionaires crowd out the bundlers in White House race

By Fredreka Schouten | TNS

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ASHINGTON—During the 2012 presidential campaign, Montana lumber company owner Sherm Anderson found it “fairly easy” to help raise $2 million from his fellow Republicans to boost Mitt Romney’s presidential hopes.

Anderson expects a far tougher road in 2016, given the growing dominance of super political action committees (PACs) and other outside groups that are amassing millions in political contributions from a small cluster of the nation’s richest individuals.

“It turns small contributors off,” Anderson said. “They say, ‘Gee whiz, I thought I was helping by giving $100 or $1,000, but how can I help when someone else is giving $100,000?’ “ “These super PACs are definitely changing the dynamic,” he said.

The concentration of huge campaign sums in a handful of super PACs is fast remaking the White House race, as campaigns grow increasingly dependent on donations from a wealthy few to fuel their political ambitions.

Super PACs and other outside groups

that can raise unlimited sums from corporations, individuals and unions, have swiftly amassed nearly $300 million for the 2016 White House battle, outpacing the amounts collected by candidates themselves.

A USA Today analysis shows donations of $1 million or more account for nearly half of the money channeled into candidate-aligned super PACs and other outside groups during the first six months of the election cycle.

Miguel “Mike” Fernandez, a Miamiarea billionaire who has invested in health-care companies, emerged in recent weeks as the single-largest donor to Right to Rise USA, a super PAC supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s presidential bid.

The Cuban-born Fernandez, who arrived in the United States in the 1960s as a child, casts his $3-million donation as his patriotic responsibility to a country that provided his family refuge and allowed him to thrive in business.

“I expect nothing out of my contribution,” he said during a phone interview from his vacation home in the Bahamas.

He said his goal is to boost Bush, whom he described as a “wonky executive”

capable of working across the party lines to make strides on issues such as improving public schools.

“He’s not going to dazzle you with his ability to speak publicly, but you’ve got to look beyond that,” Fernandez said.

In the end, Fernandez said he may contribute “double or three times” what he’s already given to the Bush super PAC. Even so, he said, “I probably won’t be in the top 25” of 2016 donors.

He’s probably right.

Robert Mercer, a publicity-averse hedge-funder from New York, already has contributed $11 million to a super PAC backing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s bid for the GOP nomination. Two other billionaires—energy executive Kelcy Warren and IT tycoon Darwin Deason—have donated $6 million and $5 million, respectively, to super PACs backing former Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s White House candidacy.

Those super PACs now are providing a lifeline to his struggling campaign. Perry’s cash-strapped operation stopped paying staff earlier this month, and the super PACs supporting his bid have stepped in to boost his chances.

The groups are building field opera-

tions in Iowa and could expand their voter outreach to New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Brian Ballard, a Florida lobbyist who is raising money for both Bush’s super PAC and his campaign, said “the ability of billionaires to write huge checks does chill an already difficult” process.

But he called it “the new reality, whether you like it or don’t like it.”

Ballard said Bush’s super PAC, which has collected $103 million, has something his rivals lack—a broad base of support to sustain his candidacy in the long run. About 27 percent of Right to Rise’s funds came from donors who gave $1 million or more, compared with more than 85 percent of the donations to the pro-Perry super PACs, USA Today’s tally shows.

“I don’t think voters will like one or two people controlling the financing of a presidential campaign,” Ballard said.

“If there’s just one sugar daddy behind a candidate, I can’t imagine that person being elected.”

Austin Barbour, a top adviser to the pro-Perry super PACs, said the reliance on wealthy donors might bother a tiny fraction of voters but most are focused

on “whether the candidates are genuine, what their records are and what they are saying about the future.”

Despite the growing influence of billionaires, fundraisers on both sides of the political spectrum also insist that smaller donors and the traditional bundlers who secure contributions from friends, relatives and business associates remain essential to building a campaign’s infrastructure.

“The guy who writes the $500 check is an investor in a campaign, and he wants to do everything he can do to protect that investment,” said Barry Wynn, a former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party who is backing Bush. “They will go to church, cocktail parties, the YMCA, their bridge clubs, and they are not going to be shy about promoting their candidate.”

Marsha Laufer, a retired speech therapist and longtime Democratic donor, said: “There is only so much that money can do.”

“It comes down to the candidate’s message and the recruitment of volunteers,” said Laufer, who plans to host a fundraiser for Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton next

A7

Since 2005, Apple has lost 25 percent of its value on at least six occasions.

After it rose to all-time highs in September 2012, it declined by almost half, losing 44 percent by the following April. During the same period, the S&P 500 gained more than 11 percent. Apple’s stumble didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the broader indexes.

Michael Batnick, the head of research in my firm, observes that “this sort of price action is something that Apple shareholders have grown very accustomed to during the past few years.” In fact, during the past 20 quarters, Apple has been in the midst of a 10-percent decline 38 percent of the time. And yet during the past two years, Apple has gained more than 60 percent, handily outperforming the S&P 500.

I have no idea if this recent slide is just Apple’s ordinary, periodic volatility, or something more serious. Apple and the indexes often seem to go their own separate ways, even though Apple’s sheer size means that its ups and downs can help or hurt the major indexes.

But it doesn’t seem to foretell the direction of the market. At least, it hasn’t done so in the past, and you know just how much of an indicator past performance can be.

year. “The most effective vote-getter is person-to-person contact.”

Even some early super PAC donors of the 2016 campaign say there are limits on how much they want to or can afford to give to the outside groups clamoring for big donations.

Elloine Clark, a Dallas philanthropist who has contributed more than $1.5 million to Republican candidates and committees since 2002, has spread her donations among several politicians and their super PACs so far this year.

Her l a rgest c hec k s, tot a l i ng $100,000, have gone to a super PAC supporting presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina, records show. She also has backed Cruz and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and said she might help former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in the future, too. “I like all the candidates to a degree,” she said.

Clark said she likely will focus on contributing directly to the politicians she supports rather than filling up super PACs’ bank accounts.

“I want my candidate to get the money,” she said. Plus, she added, “I’m not that wealthy. The price of oil is down.”

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Wednesday, August 19, 2015

₧63.4B spent in 2014 to eradicate poverty

T

By Cai U. Ordinario

he national government implemented P262.61 billion worth of projects and programs to support its achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Documents obtained from the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) show that the amount covered 98 programs and projects in 2014.

Of this, some 60 Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects provided P134.8 billion, or 51 percent, of the total to support specific MDGs, while 38 ODA projects supported several MDGs with P127.8 billion, or 49 percent of the total.

“Eighteen of the 60 ODA programs/projects supporting specific MDGs were geared toward the achievement of Goal 7 [Ensuring Environmental Sustainability].

Goal 1 [Eradicate Extreme Poverty] had the next highest number of programs/projects with 17,” the Neda said.

Dat a showed t h at t he 18 goal-specific projects for Goal 7, amounted to P65.22 billion, while projects for Goal 1 on eradicating extreme poverty amounted to

P63.35 billion.

Based on the previous government report on the MDGs, the Philippines made good progress and on track to achieving the targets in Goal 7 and has a medium probability of meeting the targets in Goal 1.

The least number of goal-specific projects, only three, were implemented to achieve Goal 5 on improving maternal health. These projects amounted to P1.04 billion.

The government also spent the least on goal-specific projects and programs for Goal 6, or combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases. While there weresix projects implemented for this goal, these only amounted to P474.14 million.

Based on the government’s data, the country’s progress in meeting Goal 5 is low, and will likely not be achieved given that the number of maternal deaths in the country increased to 221 deaths compared to the 209 baseline in 1990.

In terms of Goal 6, the country’s progress in achieving the indicators is mixed. On HIV prevalence, specifically, the Department of Health (DOH) noted that there was a significant increase in the number of new HIV cases per day to 22, from only one in 2008.

In terms of projects that were implemented to address several MDGs, the most number of projects was six and amounted to P12.54 billion. The six projects addressed Goals 1 and 7.

The highest amount spent for a crosscutting program or project was P51.07 billion, covering only three projects. It aimed to address Goal 4 on Reducing Child Mortality, as well as Goals 5 and 6.

There were also projects that aimed to address all eight MDGs, the P8-billion Philippine Secondary National Road Development Program.

The project with the least amount of P8 million was the Road Improvement and Institutional Development. The project aims to address Goal 3 on Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women, as well as Goals 6 and 7.

The Neda earlier said that having a financing plan for projects that aim to address the MDGs was one of the issues in the country’s efforts to achieve the goals.

This is something that the government intends to address in the world’s Post-2015 Agenda, or the Sustainable Development Goals, which will be adopted in September 2015.

PLDT urges reversal of NTC’s Globe ruling Continued from A2

It added that the NTC failed to note “the crucial fact that the proscription on Bayantel to lease, transfer, assign, or grant the usufruct of its legislative franchise was retained and reiterated by Congress in the subsequent amendments of Bayantel’s legislative franchise.”

“This honorable commission erred in exempting Globe and Bayantel from the required prior congressional approval considering that the debt-to-equity transaction between Globe and Bayantel is not contemplated under the equality of treatment case,” PLDT said. To recall, the NTC approved the joint-petition of Globe and Bayantel that sought for the approval of the debt-to-equity transaction between the two companies in July.

This was earlier opposed by PLDT and its subsidiaries, arguing that it will only result in unfair competition in the market. An appellate court even issued an injuction against the debt-to-equity transaction.

PLDT lost, and the NTC approved the transaction, on the grounds that the debt-to-equity exercise neither does have any adverse effects on consumers, nor does it pose a threat to public convenience.

The debt-to-equity conversion transaction between Globe and Bayantel enabled the latter’s continued viability as a telecommunications provider, allowing it to “exit rehabilitation and enhance its current infrastructure and network, build more cell sites and related facilities, as well as enrich more people’s lives through the wonders of telecommunication.”

In particular, it allowed Bayantel “to continuously provide better and technologically advanced services at affordable rates.”

The rehab plan significantly reduced the debt burden of Bayantel through the conversion of 69 percent of debt to equity, which translates to $131 million in two separate tranches of conversion.

The successful rehabilitation of Bayantel is seen by many as a milestone achievement in judicial history, helping steer the company toward a better financial position and enabling it to provide social and economic gains for the Filipino consumers.

The acquisition would aid Globe in further improving the quality of its network as it would enable further growth in data with the additional spectrum from Bayantel.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Bicol railway. . .

Continued from A1

extension, to be known as the North-South Rail project, stretching from Tuguegarao City in the north to Matnog in the south, with an additional railway to Batangas.

Mr. Aquino added that the Japanese government also committed to release the full amount, instead of releasing the loan in tranches, to facilitate completion of the project.

“Gusto ko lang hong idagdag na ’yung bansang Hapon, ’yung gobyerno at taong bayan, ipinagkaloob sa atin ang isang tinatawag na concessional loan na malaki at, sa mabuting palad, ibinigay sa atin nang buong-buo,” Mr. Aquino said.

“Hindi na binibigay sa atin ng installment plan para mapabilis ’yung paggawa nitong tren.”

TransportationSecretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya reported during the forum that his department had already published the required notices for prequalification of interested bidders who will be asked to make presentations that will enable the government to assess who are “legally and technically qualified” to do the 600-kilometer railway project.

“Kumbaga short-listing ho ito at marami na pong malalaking kumpanya, hindi lang po mga Filipino companies, kundi sa iba pang mga operators abroad ay nagsabi na nais nilang lumahok. At nakikita ho namin, as scheduled

by March po ay maia-award na po namin ang kontratang ito,” Abaya added.

Asked when the project would be launched and completed, he explained that detailed engineering design alone would take about 15 to 18 months, describing its scope as “big and complicated.”

The secretary said construction of the North-South (Tuguegarao to Matnog) Railway extension of the so-called Bicol Express line is expected to start in 2017. “It will take four years to construct. So by 2021, we are confident that this railway will be operational.”

He added: “Kaya ang mahalaga rito ay patuloy na maging level ang playing field, [’yon] pa ring magagaling na operator, bidder, ay lalahok po rito at makukuha ho natin ’yung pinakamagandang offer para sa ating bansa.”

At the same time, Abaya disclosed that the new Naga airport runway project, costing P3.5 billion, is awaiting approval by the Neda Board.

After completing the project’s detailed engineering design, Abaya said they “hope to finish this by 2019.”

“Mga P3.5 billion ang uubusin po natin dito. Nasa Neda Board,” Abaya said at Tuesday’s Bicol forum held at Naga City Hall grounds. “Karamihan naman ng miyembro ng Neda Board ay narito, so alam na ho natin kung anong boto nila.

Kaya maipapasa at mailulunsad ho natin. Iyon lang, aabutin din ito [ng] mga two years of construction. Pagkatapos ng detailed engineering design, matatapos ito by 2019.”