BusinessMirror November 18, 2015 by BusinessMirror

President Aquino delivers his speech during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Summit 2015 at The Green Sun Arts/ Creative Hub in Makati City on Tuesday. The Apec SME Summit 2015 will bring together the region’s micro-, small- and medium-sized business entrepreneurs to share success stories of SME innovation and internationalization, as well as to highlight institutional support mechanisms proven to drive innovation-based SME growth. More Apec photos on A4. Robert Viñas / Malacañang Photo Bureau

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Apec ministers OK crafting of plan to hike services exports By Cai U. Ordinario & Bianca Cuaresma

inisters of countries belonging to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) on Tuesday said they have approved the crafting of a 10-year road map in 2016 to boost revenues from services exports.

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Apec ministers issued a joint statement, where they endorsed the Apec Services Cooperation Framework (ASCF), which will promote reforms in Asia Pacific’s services sector. The statement was issued following the conclusion of the 27th Apec Ministerial Meeting (AMM)

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in Manila on Tuesday. “The ASCF will develop [the] Apec Services Competitiveness Road Map to improve trade and investment in services over the next 10 years,” Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario told reporters in a media briefing. Continued on A2

PHL, Japan to ink two defense deals P

By Recto Mercene

resident Aquino and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet on Thursday, during which they will sign two major agreements—one on the provision of defense equipment and the other on funding the North-South Railway Project (NSRP). “It has been agreed in June during President Aquino’s visit there and, hopefully, it would be signed,” Koichi Mizushima, deputy director general for press and public diplomacy, said at a briefing with members of the media on Tuesday morning. Mizushima would not release details to the defense agreement, but said its outcome and other details might be announced at the meeting of the two leaders on Thursday.

Mizushima said the two countries have agreed that the Philippines is not allowed to transfer the technology to other neighboring countries. Due to China’s large-scale reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), the Philippines signed with Japan in June a joint declaration enhancing the two countries’ strategic partnership. They agreed to exchange defense materiel, undertake joint-training exercises, and ensure “maritime safety and security in the disputed South China Sea.” Mizushima said that, while Abe announced the total Japanese official development assistance (ODA) loans for Asia already increased by 50 percent, the Philippines could not use its share of the loan to pay for the See “Defense deals,” A2

‘Manila must be more open to change’ By Lorenz S. Marasigan

OREGONE revenues from the virtually untapped Philippine tourism market is one of the culprits behind the deceleration of local output growth, or the GDP, according to AirAsia CEO Anthony

Fernandes. Should the government be more open to developing the nation’s aviation infrastructure, the unmet potential should eventually be realized. Fernandes said the Philippine tourism industry has a huge potential that can be developed through an overall

PESO exchange rates n US 47.0320

APEC LEADERS CONDEMN PARIS ATTACKS IN PLANNED STATEMENT

tourism and infrastructure policy, a doable plan that the aviation mogul said could be done with ease. The Philippines, as a preferred destination, could easily be the shining light of tourism in the AsiaPacific region if the government and

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(Clockwise, from top left) US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) for the Apec summit. (Below) Air Force One, with its US Marines helicopter escorts, sits on the Naia tarmac.

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eaders at a regional summit in the Philippines plan to condemn the Paris attacks, according to a draft of their declaration seen on Tuesday by the Associated Press. The 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum is focused on trade and economic issues, but has struggled to keep its annual gathering from being overshadowed by security and geopolitical concerns. The meeting of world leaders, including President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, is being held in Manila in the wake of the deadly Paris attacks and US

military maneuvers near artificial Chinese islands in the contested West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). Apec leaders said in the draft statement that the events in France “demand a united voice from the global community.” The attacks on Friday by suspected Islamic State group extremists killed 129 people and wounded 350 others. The victims came from at least 19 nations, according to French President François Hollande. “We stand in solidarity with the people of France and all victims of terrorism elsewhere,” the draft statement said. “Terrorism threatens our

vision of free, open and prosperous economies, and the fundamental values that we hold.” There was no mention in the communiqué of China’s territorial disputes in the South China Sea with its Asian neighbors, but that’s unlikely to stop the rifts from bursting through Apec’s façade of handshakes and unity photo-ops. The US military maneuvers in the past month involving ships and B-52 bombers were intended to underline that the US won’t allow freedom of navigation to be compromised by China’s vast claim to the disputed See “Apec leaders,” A2

Continued on A2

n japan 0.3835 n UK 71.6438 n HK 6.0679 n CHINA 7.3787 n singapore 33.0327 n australia 33.4771 n EU 50.5688 n SAUDI arabia 12.5416

Source: BSP (16 November 2015)

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

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‘Manila must be more open to change’ Apec ministers OK crafting Continued from A1

the private sector endeavor to innovate and be more open to change. But right now, despite its rich natural resources and warm hospitable people, the Philippine tourism industry clearly needs a lot more than what it has. Inbound tourist arrivals in the first nine months of the year rose by 10.8 percent to 3.98 million, from 3.60 million in the same period the year prior. Although the growth was in double digits, this proved inferior to the performance of its neighbors. One of the factors that contributed to this was the lack of a worldclass aviation infrastructure. “I think Philippine aviation has not progressed, as well as [many other] industries in this country. It is ridiculous in a country whose people are so fantastic, who speak English, who are so hospitable, to have only 2 million tourists,” Fernandes said. “A lot depends on infrastructure.” Airport infrastructure in the Philippines are dismal when compared to counterparts within the Asean. A classic example is the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), which was only recently removed from the list of the world’s worst airports. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) has predicted that this year would mark the start of the main gateway’s dark days. The airport is expected to handle some 37.78 million passengers, way beyond its 30-million annual passenger capacity and a few notches up from its maximum capacity of 35 million passengers a year. The country’s regional airports, on the other hand, cannot even host narrow-body jets, such as Airbus A320s, much more accommodate international flights. “ We keep d iscover ing new places and new things. It is amazing what you have to offer in this country,” Fernandes said. “More people should come and see this country. But it is damn bloody

tough to get to.” The government is bent on adopting whatever the Jica will recommend as solution to the airport problem. The project requires the construction of a billion-dollar airport just 20 minutes away from the Naia. Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said he recently received a pre-feasibility study from the Jica, listing the possible locations of the new airport. T he study pinpointed t wo Cavite-based locations, called Sangley 1A and 1B. As to the official location that will be endorsed by Jica, the transport chief can only speculate. Wherever the site will be, Abaya vowed to forward the plans to the country’s chief planning body, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board. Sangley 1A is in the same site as the government naval station in Cavite. The other one is near the central Manila Bay, in between the military base and a reclaimed area. The first option will cost both the government and a private sector partner less than the second option. The first one costs only $10 billion, while the other was pegged at around $13 billion. The future airport will boast of four runways, which can handle 700,000 aircraft movements a year. It will have a rated capacity of 130 million passengers. The deal is expected to be implemented under the government’s key infrastructure program, mixed with funding from official development assistance (ODA) sources. Commercial operations of the proposed air hub should start by 2025, more or less only 10 years from now. “They talk about expanding the airport, but I really think public transport infrastructure is important,” Fernandes said. “ T he government needs to come up with an aviation policy. There are great airports that,

if you spend a little bit more money, c a n accept jets, a nd can change.” For him, what needs to be done is to create a body that will identify the aspects of aviation and other tourism infrastructure, and work from the conclusions of that committee. “A lot of simple ideas. It really needs a committee to sit down and say: overall, in tourism and infrastructure, what are we going to do to revolutionize Philippine transport. It’s not rocket science,” he said. He added that, “soft infrastructure” should also be developed. “We need soft infrastructure to get routes. We need to have open skies, but right now the Philippines hasn’t signed Protocols 5 and 6 yet, which is bizarre to me because the Philippines is the shining light of modernization and liberalization in economic terms in the Asean,” Fernandes said. He was referring to protocols that provide for so-called unlimited third, fourth and fifth freedom traffic rights between capital cities. The third and fourth freedom allows for basic international service between two countries. Fifth freedom traffic rights refer to an airline’s right to carry traffic between two foreign countries on a flight that originates and terminates in one’s own country. “If that is sorted out, I see lots of jobs being created here, lots of economic growth. “The Philippines should be the powerhouse to Asean tourism. You have many shopping areas, beaches, you have great food, probably not as good as our food, but you are catching up, and great people,” Fernandes said. The Department of Tourism targets to generate $4.6 billion in tourism revenues, attract 6 million tourists and create 3 million jobs by 2016. Such figures will allow the industry to contribute 6.35 percent to GDP.

of plan to hike services exports Continued from A1

“This work is vital because we know that every $1 million of services exports generates 105 jobs, whereas goods exports generate only 59 jobs for the same amount,” del Rosario added. Ministers said trade in services is growing rapidly and is projected to outpace trade in goods. “We endorse for leaders’ adoption the ASCF to provide impetus for a deeper understanding of services, and the policy and regulatory settings that will best facilitate innovative, productive, and vibrant services sectors,” the statement read. “This will equip economies with the right tools to formulate policies appropriate to their needs, recognizing that open, transparent, and competitive services sectors help create jobs, produce quality goods, harness opportunities for businesses, spur economic growth, widen choices for consumers, improve living standards, and alleviate poverty,” it added. Del Rosario and Trade Secretary Gregor y L. Domingo co-chaired the 27th AMM. During the two-day meeting, ministers discussed how to widen Apec’s reach to build inclusive economies. Aside from enhancing the competitiveness of the services sector, del Rosario said ministers also agreed to craft a “strategy for strengthening quality growth,” which calls for the rollout of good governance measures. “[ This and the ASCF] are two major achievements for Apec 2015, which have been both developed

Apec leaders. . . waters. The US actions were met with a rebuke from Beijing, but were welcomed by American allies such as the Philippines, Japan and Australia, which are all Apec founding members. China sent its top envoy, Wang Yi, to Manila last week to ask Philippine

under the Philippines’s chairmanship,” he said. Ministers said they are keen on pursuing a strategic cooperation in human capital development to help their citizens develop “21st century skills.” Aside from equipping workers with skills, Health Undersecretary Kenneth Hartigan-Go said member-countries must also focus on measures to safeguard their health. Neglecting public health, he said, would be “disastrous” to the economy of the Apec region. To cope with climate change, ministers endorsed an action plan on food security and blue economy, and the Apec Disaster Reducation Framework to build “adaptive and disasterresilient economies.” Del Rosario said ministers are also working on achieving the Apec target of reducing aggregate energy intensity by 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2035. For their part, industry leaders expressed optimism that the Apec region has the potential to become the“strongest economic bloc” in the world. “Over the past couple of days, I have had conversations about the slowdown in growth in the region and looking at this from a more global perspective, Moody’s is still quite confident in the growth opportunities in the region,” Moody’s Corp. CEO Raymond McDaniel said. In terms of their sovereign ratings, McDaniel said “a great deal of stability” is seen in the region despite the normalization of US monetary policy and China’s slowdown. US and China are important trade and economic

partners of many Asia-Pacific countries. “It is the only region where we have more positive outlooks than negative outlooks. Asia Pacific is poised to do much better than other regions of the world,” he said. Scott Price, CEO of retail giant WalMart Asia, expressed optimism on the region’s ability to drive profit for local and multinational firms. “I think most of the despite the economic challenges, the vast majority of companies probably expect more than 50 percent of their growth to be coming from Apec economies over the next several years and that is true for Wal-Mart,” Price said. The Apec region is also conducive for the expansion of capital base and investment funds, according to AIA Group Chief Executive Mark Tucker. “In Asia we don’t have the same level of restrictions as those in the euro zone. The prudent pace and the tactical aims of the Asean grouping are much more pragmatic than the euro zone, which again gives us some advantage and flexibility,” Tucker said. “There is availability of capital for regional investments. We see this every day, the accumulation of these pools of capital. We have bankable and investable projects to invest in,” he added, citing the Philippines as an example where AIA is able to invest in infrastructure, water companies, roads and energy firms. The Apec meetings hosted by the Philippines this year will culminate in the Leaders’ Meeting, which will start on Wednesday.

With a report from Mary Grace Padin

Continued from A1

officials not to include the long-simmering disputes in the Apec agenda, paving the way for Xi’s attendance in the summit. But US officials plan to further highlight the territorial disputes during Obama’s stop in Manila and later on in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he is to

attend the East Asia Summit, an 18-nation bloc that also includes China and US allies Japan and the Philippines. On Tuesday, Obama will tour the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, one of two US Coast Guard cutters that the Philippines obtained from Washington and turned into its largest warships in an otherwise anemic fleet to defend its territorial waters. The Philippines also plans to sign an agreement with Vietnam on Tuesday to elevate their relationship to a strategic partnership. A closer alliance will allow both nations, which are currently most at odds with Beijing in the South China Sea, to deepen trade, maritime and defense cooperation. Before Apec leaders began arriving, officials were divided over whether to issue a statement on the Paris attacks or let each leader speak on his or her own. AP

Defense deals. . . Continued from A1

defense equipment. “The ODA is only for infrastructure spending,” he said, adding that the country’s defense equipment from Japan should be funded by offshore assistance because the Philippines could not financially afford to pay them in cash. Although Japan has already provided the Philippines with about 40 patrol boats, the new defense agreement could include surveillance aircraft and other modern maritime patrol vessels. On the other hand, Mizushima said the NSRP is expected to receive preferential assistance from Japan worth $2 billion. “This is going to be a yen loan, the amount is not very high, about $2 billion,” he added. The NSRP is the country’s most expensive public-private partnership project, and thus far offered for bidding the South Line for P170 billion. The project will involve commuter lines connecting Tutuban to the southern peripheries of Metro Manila and a long-haul network to the Bicol provinces. The South Line will also include an initial terminus in Legazpi City and a branch line eventually connecting Matnog in Sorsogon province.

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Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Tuesday, November 17, 2015 A3

Cops call in bomb-sniffing dogs; set tougher security for Apec Summit

By Rene Acosta

HE National Police reinforced the “blanket security” that it had mapped out for the delegates attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit by turning to the expertise of its “army of dogs” in bomb detection.

Policemen started implementing the elaborate security plan on Monday, but in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in France and the possibility that local terrorists will attempt to duplicate it in the capital, the police turned to the highly trained dogs to neutralize the threat. Chief Supt. Noel Constantino, chief of the National Police’s Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies, said the force has tapped the services of 168 teams of explosive-detection dogs (EDDs) or K-9 units for the Apec security operations. “ They will complement the whole security process, even beyond what the security personnel

Each DDG team is composed of a highly trained bomb-sniffing dog and a handler, and this week’s Apec meetings will also showcase the country’s “best of the best” K-9 dogs. Constantino’s office regulates and accredits K-9s and their handlers, along with security agencies and the guards that they will employ. Constantino underscored the importance of EDDs in the Apec meetings, saying the dogs will detect any threat related to the use of explosives as the police attempt to cover any possible threat against the heads of economies and other delegates.

Bomb sweep

can do,” Constantino said, underscoring the importance of EDDs in this whole week of Apec activities.

“THE dogs will do paneling or bomb sweep,” Constantino said. “They will be present in all places of engagements of the Apec: at the PICC [Philippine International Convention Center], in hotels, malls and even routes of the delegates,” he added, disclosing that EDDs also played an important role during the visit of Pope Francis early this year, where a K-9 team unearthed a grenade. “They will also be on call. If for example, one of the delegates would go to a mall, then one hour before

the arrival of the delegate, the EDD team should already be on site doing its task,” Constantino said. Constantino added that EDDs can detect any type of bomb, something that metal detectors cannot. “Metal detectors cannot detect liquid-based bombs, but a bomb-sniffing dog would.” Because of the mammoth security for the Apec Summit, he disclosed that the National Police has been forced to tap the services of EDDs from the private sector, with each team hired at the cost of P5,000 a day.

Marcos upbeat on security measures

SEN. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has expressed confidence that lawenforcement authorities will beef up the security procedures to ensure the safety of all the heads of economies who will attend the Apec Summit, following the terrorist attacks in Paris that left more than a hundred dead. Marcos said that, before the tragic Paris attacks, his sources in the National Police has assured him that they have done everything possible to secure the safety of the delegates to the Apec Summit. “Sigurado, pagkatapos ng pangyayari sa Paris, siguradong titig-

nan nila ulit at uulitin nila ang paginspeksyon ng lahat ng mga gusali napagdadausan ng Apec Summit upang lubusan ang paghanda nila. Kailangan talaga nilang alamin na mabuti kung may threat,” Marcos said in a radio interview. So far, Marcos added that there is no intelligence report indicating any serious threat to the Apec delegates. With more than 20 heads of states expected to participate in the Apec Summit, Marcos said, the police should not be complacent and revisit their security preparations to ensure no untoward incident would happen during the Apec Summit that we are hosting. “Syempre, sa mga ganyang karami, na labis sa dalawampung heads of states, ganyan karami na mgaVIP ang nasa isang lugar, kailangan talaga nating bantayan ng mabuti,” Marcos asserted. “What is reassuring,” Marcos noted, “is that the National Police does not shoulder the entire burden of ensuring the security of the Apec delegates alone...the respective security details of the visiting heads of states are working with the local police and exchanging information to ensure all the security measures are in place for the smooth conduct of the Apec Summit here in Manila.”

Gun ban starts Jan. 10

By Joel R. San Juan

HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday announced that the implementation of the gun ban for 2016 elections will start on January 10. The gun ban will last until June 8. The Comelec said that the Omnibus Election Code prohibits the carrying of firerams outside residence or place of business during the election period unless authorized in writing by the poll body. Only regular members of the National Police, the Armed Forces and other law enforcementagenciesdeputizedbytheComelecforelection duty may be allowed to carry and possess firerarms during the elections period. Upon the start of the election period all existing authority granting police or military security personnel or bodyguards will be automatically revoked. However, senators, congressmen and governors who are not running in 2016 polls along with justices, judges and Cabinet secretaries, whose regular security have been provided by various government lawenforcement agencies, may be allowed to retain the services of two of the currently detailed officers or members of said lawenforcement government.

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A4 Tuesday, November 17, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

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DOTC awards P4-B ITS south terminal deal to Ayala Land

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

he property arm of the country’s oldest conglomerate Ayala Corp. has finally received the notice of award for the P4-billion deal to construct an intermodal terminal along the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) compound in Taguig.

It took the government two months before it decided to issue the notice to Ayala Land Inc., which submitted the bid with the lowest annual grantor payment of P277.8 million. “Our goal here is to give passengers coming from the South seamless transfers to other modes of transportation, as well as help decongest traffic in the Metro,” Transportation

Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said on Monday. The winning concessionaire is required to submit post-award requirements to the prequalification, bids and awards committee no later than 20 days from the receipt of the notice of award. Ayala Land will take care of the design, construction, and operations and maintenance of the

terminal for a concession period of 35 years. The multibillion-peso project covers the construction of a terminal within a 4.7-hectare lot along FTI Compound in Taguig. It will connect passengers coming from the South, specifically the Batangas and Laguna area, to other publicutility vehicles that are serving inner Metro Manila. Construction is set to commence in August 2016, and be completed in a year and a half, or in January 2018. Operations of the terminal will be in full swing by February 2018. It also covers the construction of arrival and departure bays, public-information systems, ticketing and baggage facilities, and park-ride facilities. “This is the second Integrated Terminal System [ITS] project that we have awarded,” Abaya said. Megawide Construction Corp. bagged the P2.5-billion ITS Southwest Terminal deal earlier this year,

seeking an annual grantor’s payment of P100 million. According to Ayala Land Spokesman Alfonso Javier D. Reyes, the deal is an important project for the company. “This is an important project for us because we’re developing Arca South, so we feel this a very strategic project and it’s a good project for the country to help declog ged Metro Manila,” he said. Arca South is an integrated mixed-use estate. It is estimated that up to 4,000 buses and 160,000 passengers will feed into ITS South from the South Luzon Expressway every day. “We like to view it as part of the whole, as it is right beside Arca, it is very strategic,” Reyes said. Aside from the south terminal project, the government has awarded 10 contracts since it launched the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program in late 2010, namely: the P2.2-billion Daang Hari-

PHL-Australia finalizing more comprehensive bilateral relations

artnership between the Philippines and Australia, which will officially be on its 70th year in 2016, is seen to become more vibrant as the two countries further enhance their bilateral relationship. Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Adrew Robb, in his speech during the launch of the photo exhibit, dubbed “Philippines and Australia: The First Seventy Years” at Manila Peninsula on Sunday night, said a lot of things have transpired since Australia first opened its first Consulate General in Manila on May 22, 1946. He said the relationship has enabled a lot of people from both countries to benefit from each other since it opened opportunities in education, trade and military, among others. He disclosed that as a young boy, he learned so much about the Philippines through his uncle, who was a priest in the country for a very long time, and who administered masses to Filipino communities in Hong Kong when he was transferred there and also in Australia. “It was my introduction to the world and to some of the wise issues in our lives,” he said. Robb said the Filipino population in Australia accounts for the sixth-largest group at about 250,000 of the about 23.5 million people. Thus, he stressed that more significant things could still happen and opportunities abound as the two countries further improve their partnership. “This exhibition is an opportunity to reaffirm the relationship based on trust,” he added. Relatively, Philippine Ambassador to Australia Belen Anota told the Philippines News Agency that “quite a lot have been lined up to further enhance the bilateral partnership.” The Philippines has been included in Australia’s New Colombo Plan, an education program that allows its top students to study overseas. Anota said for 2015, two students from Australia were able to enroll in the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University as scholars, and more are expected to be enrolled starting 2016.

South Luzon Expressway project bagged by Ayala Corp. in 2011; the P16.42-billion first phase of the PPP School Infrastructure Program (PSIP), which went in 2012 to the consortium formed by Megawide Construction Corp. and Citicore Holdings Investment Inc., as well as the BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. consortium; the P15.68-billion Ninoy Aquino International A ir port expressway, given to San Miguel Corp. unit Vertex Tollways Development Inc. in 2013; the P3.86-billion PSIP Phase II contract, partially awarded in 2013 to Megawide and the BSP & Co. Inc.-Vicente T. Lao Construction consortium; the P5.69-billion Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center project that went to the Megawide-World Citi Inc. consortium, also in 2013. the P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System contract

awarded to the AF Consortium of Ayala and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) in 2014; the P17.5-billion Mactan Cebu International Airport New Passenger Terminal project bagged in 2014 by Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Infrastructures Ltd.; the P64.9-billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension deal, awarded in 2014 to Light Rail Manila Consortium of Ayala and MPIC; the P2.5-billion ITS Southwest Terminal, won by Megawide and partner Walter Mart Property Management Inc. of billionaire and retail magnate Henry Sy in January; and the P35.42-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway bagged by MPCALA Holdings Inc. of MPIC in June. It intends to plug the gap in the country’s transportation facility in the next decade by rolling out massive-infrastructure projects that are seen to spur economic growth.

briefs robredo, lp bicker over tax cuts, ‘tanim-bala,’ poE

Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb (left) greets Philippine Ambassador to Australia Belen Anota during the launching of the photographic exhibition on the Philippines and Australia: The First Seventy Years on Sunday at the Rigodon Ballroom of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City. The exhibition is the first in a series of events in 2016 commemorating the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. PNA

Similarly, over a hundred Filipino students and professionals study in Australia, under scholarships for shortcourses, masteral and doctoral, annually, she said. “There is no reciprocity of numbers but I’m confident that we will have more,” Anota said. On trade, the ambassador said the Philippines balanced its trade with Australia since 2014 from being in negative in the previous years. “It was in negative because we buy more and we are able to sell less. Since 2014 we were able to sell more and buy less. So that, I think, is a very good achievement,” she said. Anota is confident that the overall

aspect of the bilateral partnership will continue to improve since the two countries are in the process of finalizing a more comprehensive tie-up. “Our main focus now is economic more than anything else,” she said citing the advantage of Australia being a member of most of the trade groups in the region and the world. The ambassador disclosed that a business delegation from South Australia is expected to arrive in the Philippines in December in preparation for a trade mission in May 2016. “We also hope that with our hosting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation it will give added impetus in our economic relations,” she added. PNA

SC to govt: Defend ₧65-B concession pact for LRT 1 Cavite Extension project

By Joel R. San Juan

HE Supreme Court (SC) has directed the government to justify the P65-billion concession agreement it signed with Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) for the extension of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 to Cavite, or the Cavite Extension project signed last year. At a news briefing on Monday, SC Spokesman Theodore Te said the High Court gave the the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the LRMC 10 days to comment on the petition filed last week by the groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and Confederation for the Unity, Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage). The SC acted on the case “without necessarily giving due course” to the petition, according to Te. The petitioners argued that the concession agreement should be declared invalid for its failure to comply with provisions of the Constitution and other existing laws. They pointed out that the contract “is loaded with sovereign guarantees that are contrary to law and detrimental to the people.” “The Aquino administration through the DOTC, negotiated a lopsided contract that will place us deep in debt,” the petitioners said.

The concession agreement covers the privatization of the operation and maintenance of the current LRT Line 1 as well as the construction and extension of the existing LRT Line 1 from 20.7 kilometers to 32.4 kilometers by providing trains originating from the end of Baclaran, travering the municipalities of Parañaque and Las Piñas, and ending in Bacoor, Cavite. They claimed that respondents DOTC, Light Rail Transit Authority and LRMC, violate the right of the people to information on matters of public concern under Section 28, Article 2 of the 1987 Constitution. The petitions said no public consultations was conducted prior to the signing of the concession agreement. The petitioners noted that bidding was initially conducted in 2013 for the project but it was declared a failure, resulting to negotiation which was kept from the public. The concession agreement, according to the petitioners, is one sided as the concessionaires are, in effect, "given payout, a risk-free revenue contract," with the govenrment shouldering all the financial risks while also guaranteeing the profits of the consortium. They noted that under the agreement, the winning bidder was given a guaranteed fare hike every two years, and if it failed to collect such fare increase, it would be the government who would be shouldering the deficit payment.

A member of the Liberal Party (LP) on Monday admitted that LP’s vice presidential candidate Rep. Leni Robredo of Camarines Sur and the ruling party continue to clash over several national issues. This was the opinion of LP Rep. Roman T. Romulo of Pasig City following the statements issued by Robredo, raising doubts on presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe’s patriotism. Romulo said that no less than President Aquino had tried but failed to get Poe’s approval after several rounds of meetings, saying it’s the same for Manuel A. Roxas II, whose repeated attempts to convince Poe proved to be inutile until he decided to settle for Robredo. “I find Rep. Robredo’s comments quite perplexing considering that her own party, led by the President and LP bet Mar Roxas, aggressively wooed Sen. Poe to be Mar’s running mate before ultimately deciding to give up and settle for the lady from Camarines Sur,” said Romulo, who still belongs to the administration party. “The LP did not question Sen. Grace’s patriotism when they invited her to run in their Senate slate in 2013, neither did they question it again when they tried to convince her as the party’s vice presidential bet. So why are these questions now?” he added. Earlier, Robredo, LP and Roxas have had differences on key issues as the lawmaker once said she was for tax cuts as opposed to Roxas’s position against the tax reform, particularly lowering individual and corporate-tax rates. On the tanim-bala (bullet-planting) extortion scam, Robredo was pushing to decriminalize possession of bullets, while Roxas said the government should not be faulted if a passenger was caught with a bullet. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

aquino told: bolster manila’s competitiveness

A lawmaker on Monday asked President Aquino to fight for policies that will bolster the competitiveness of the Philippines during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Manila. Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela City also challenged the Aquino administration to get the public money’s worth as the government allocated P9.8 billion for hosting the Apec. “The Filipino people have invested [almost] P10 billion on Apec 2015, a significant amount of public money which could have been used to fund expanded access to higher education and other essential social services. President Aquino should ensure that the people will get their money’s worth by aggressively pushing for policies which will utilize regional trade to enhance inclusive economic growth here at home,” Gatchalian said. As agreed upon by the Apec 21-member economies in December 2014, Apec 2015 has focused on four main objectives: enhancing regional economic integration, fostering the participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the regional and global economy, investing in human capital development, and building sustainable and resilient communities. Moreover, Gatchalian also said that President Aquino should take special aim at fostering participation of SMEs and increasing investment in human capital development, saying these two strategies need further development to secure more productive and meaningful Philippine participation in regional trade. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

oil FIRMS ROLL BACK FUEL pump PRICES

Majority of the oil firms are implementing a price rollback on Tuesday. On Monday they announced a P0.40 per liter price reduction in gasoline; P0.45 per liter in kerosene; and P0.30 per liter in diesel. Eastern Petroleum Corp. already implemented a price cut in diesel and gasoline by P0.30 and P0.40 per liter, respectively, effective 6 p.m. on Monday. Fernando L. Martinez, Eastern Petroleum chairman and CEO, said that the latest price adjustment reflects the downward trend in world oil prices at the close of last week’s trading. “Analysts expect oil market to remain bearish, which could really hurt demand and world oil prices. With oil trading near its six-year lows, the healthy demand has prevented prices from dropping further amid the worsening oil glut due to oversupply,” Martinez said. Pilipinas Shell, PTT Philippines and Seaoil, in separate advisories, said that they would implement the price rollback at 6 a.m. on Tuesday. Other oil firms are expected to follow suit. “This is to reflect movements in the international petroleum market,” the oil firms said. On November 10 oil firms implemented a P0.35-per-liter increase in gasoline; P0.75-per-liter increase in diesel; and P0.90-per-liter adjustment in kerosene. The Department of Energy (DOE) said last week the uptick in local price of ethanol boosted gasoline adjustment. As of November 10, the DOE said that the year-to-date total adjustments stood at net increase of P0.91 per liter in gasoline and net decrease of P2.66 per liter in diesel. LPG remained with net decrease of P5.90 per kilogram. Lenie Lectura

A6 Wednesday, November 18, 2015 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Indispensable propellant of ‘inclusive growth’

T is reported that President Aquino will go strong for “inclusive growth,” when he addresses the heads of state and other high officials in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum that opens today at the Philippine International Convention Center. We stand four-square behind the President, calling attention only to a detail in the topic that can get shoveled over in the discussion of the esoteric-sounding term. The detail is that inclusive growth is of the greatest interest only to countries that are suffering from severe unemployment and poverty. Countries that have more or less solved those problems will not be much concerned. That means that in the original Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), only the Philippines will have high interest on the topic. The rest will have only academic interest. In the forum itself, other countries, including latecomers in Asean and some South America countries, can, of course, be expected to have interest on the issue. Inclusive growth simply means developing the economy through the age-old practice of creating jobs for the unemployed, the majority of whom tend to be the poor in the society concerned. This process enables the “excluded” group to join in the enjoyment of the fruits of development, as well as in the pride of their production. Now job creation, as we all know, cannot be detached from investment for the simple reason that working people cannot work with their bare hands, exposed to sun and rain. They need premises and equipment, in other words, capital or investment, to get their work going. This is the nub of the problem. Developing countries do not have the capital they need to develop at the pace their people desire. They must search for it outside their boundaries. Fortunately, the world economy has graduated from the days of colonialism, when foreign capital came into poor countries by gunboat. Now, poor countries become abodes of foreign capital on the encouragement of such multilateral institutions as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. More important, poor countries do not anymore need to be coerced to accommodate foreign capital. They welcome it, because they need it. Some poor countries are more attractive to foreign capital than others, with the consequence that they grow and develop faster. The problem is that the “laggards” are left, with masses of their people languishing in unemployment and poverty, their very stability threatened by these social infirmities. At some point in the discussion of inclusive growth, the need for investment must be highlighted. And so must the need for what we now call foreign direct investment to channel itself to countries that are in dire need of it. We must assume, of course, that these countries welcome foreign investment. This is one challenge that cooperation among countries can respond to. Apec, with a membership that ranges from developing to well-developed countries, is well positioned to respond to this challenge. Through voluntary agreements of all concerned, capital-abundant nations can contribute to the closing of the investment gap in capital-scarce countries.

The five-year guarantee period of pensions Susie G. Bugante

All About Social Security

O you know that Social Security System (SSS) retirement, total disability and death pensions have a five-year guarantee, that is, if the pensioner has no primary beneficiaries and dies within 60 months from the start of the monthly pension, the secondary beneficiaries shall be entitled to a lump-sum benefit equivalent to the total monthly pensions corresponding to the balance of the five-year guaranteed period excluding the dependent’s pension (and carer’s allowance in the case of disability pensioners)?

For instance, if a pensioner who has been receiving pensions for one year suddenly dies, normally the primary beneficiaries—consisting of the legal spouse and dependent

children, maximum of five starting from the youngest—will receive 100 percent of the pension, including the dependent’s allowance equivalent to 10 percent of the basic pension, or

P250, per child, whichever is higher. However, if there are no primary beneficiaries, the secondary beneficiaries, consisting of the deceased member’s parents, will receive the balance of the five-year guarantee period. If there are no secondary beneficiaries, then the designated or the legal heirs of the member will receive the lump-sum benefit. Only those members entitled to lifetime pensions can enjoy the five-year guarantee period. For retirement pensioners, the minimum number of contributions required to qualify to a lifetime-retirement pension is 120 months; for both total disability and death benefits, 36 months. In the case of the death benefit, the primary beneficiary (widowed spouse) is considered the pensioner. If the pensioner dies and is survived by dependent children, the children

Unlocking the potential in the East By Kirill Dmitriev

CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russian chairman of Abac in 2015

here has been widespread discussion around Russia’s “pivot to Asia”. While it is true that trade between Russia and its eastern neighbors is increasing as the global economic landscape shifts, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has been engaged with this important trend since we were established in 2011. We have always seen Asia and the Middle East as critical trading partners, and the epicenter of the world economy has long been shifting East.

The east of Russia is crucial to the growth of the country, not only because of its significant mineral deposits and arable land, but also for its proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Due to neighboring relationships, Russia has a great economic interest in Asia Pacific, and to build on this would be mutually beneficial. Our ties with neighboring countries in the region enables Russia to expand into the growing markets of Asia Pacific and form economic partnerships. These key relationships will help encourage and facilitate proactive investment toward diversification in the region. However, this region of Russia still needs to be developed. With limited transport infrastructure and some sparsely populated areas, the potentially immeasurable, untapped wealth will need heavy investment before it can be realized. There have been plenty of investments into areas that have subsequently evolved, and we now need to continue that process across the region. Although a logistical challenge due to its size and distance from Moscow, we see investing and supporting the Russian Far East as critical for the near- and long-term goals of the country. We have pioneered a

number of initiatives to invigorate the area and invest in developing human capital with local sources. In 2014 we began a joint investment with our partners to build a bridge over the Amur River on the border between Russia and China. This bridge will create a new export corridor between Russia and China, and improve transport infrastructure between new fields in Eastern Siberia and the Far East. It will significantly increase the turnover of goods and extend the reach of Russian producers and exporters. It will also cut the distance to end consumers by approximately 700 kilometers. Investments in agriculture and transport infrastructure will open the door to development of large areas of uncropped arable land on the borders of China and Russia. This expansion into the Russian east is an extremely important step to build relations with China, which currently has to feed a fifth of the world’s population with just 7 percent of the arable land. The weaker ruble in Russia has also boosted agricultural trade with China. While overall Russian exports to China dropped 23.5 percent in the first six months of 2015,

agricultural exports to China are up 33 percent in value terms and almost 80 percent in volume. Evidently, these figures show that there is an opportunity in agriculture that will be mutually beneficial. Tourism is a very promising sector in which we have a shared interest. The Russian travel and tourism industry is expected to grow at 4 percent annually, and tourism between Russia and China will grow even faster. China is the secondmost popular destination for Russian tourists, while Russia is the third-ranked destination of choice for the Chinese. About 3.3 million Chinese tourists visited Russia in 2012—a three times increase on 2007. We believe that the robust momentum in bilateral tourism will create enormous investment opportunities in desirable tourism destinations across both countries, including Hainan in China and Lake Baikal, Vladivostok and the Sochi region in Russia. Investment in infrastructure in remote regions is paramount, particularly in the Far East. We believe the demand for infrastructure in the region will be in excess of $1 trillion over the next 10 years. RDIF has already embarked on filling this demand. The Fund, together with its leading international partners, has invested in Vladivostok International Airport in Russia’s Far East. This is strategically important for the development of the flight routes in the region due to its geographical location. This airport has the potential to become a key Russian hub within the Asia-Pacific transport and logistics network. Over 400 million people live within a two-hour flight of Vladivostok. This hub will

will continue to receive 100 percent of the pension through a court-appointed guardian until they reach the age of majority, marry or get employed. If there are no other primary beneficiaries, then the balance of the five-year guarantee period will go to the secondary beneficiaries. The five-year guarantee period is a form of protection of pensions and a way of ensuring that a member gets more than what he pays for. For more information about the Social Security System (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 SSS. Send comments about this column to susiebugante.bmirror@ gmail.com.

promote economic development in the region at every level. On the other hand, small- and medium-sized businesses are at risk of losing out to larger corporations as regional economies develop. More emphasis should be placed on finding opportunities to support small and medium enterprises in continuing to play a significant role in the Apec economies. Through this investment, key relationships can be built across borders, and a wealth of untapped potential unlocked. This relationship extend beyond China. We see the entire Asia Pacific as a key growth area in the medium to long term. The region is booming, with more than $16 trillion in intra-Apec trade. As a fund and with our partners, we have invested 720 billion rubles into building global relationships. As an example of bilateral cooperation, Charoen Pokphand Group, a Thailand agriculture company, is cooperating with RDIF to invest in Russian agriculture projects, such as poultry and dairy production and their distribution. The most recent forecasts from the International Monetary Fund predict a return to growth for Russia in 2016. Free investment and trade flows are critical to building mutual international understanding and cooperation over the longer term. We invest alongside some of the world’s leading sovereign wealth funds and attracted seven times the amount of what we’ve invested from our partners. We are still fostering positive investment opportunities for our global partners and making many inroads into mutually beneficial investment partnerships. Through investment, two great regions can work together.

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

Cooperative insurance

Just remember and nothing more

BusinessMirror

Teddy Locsin Jr.

Atty. Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

ection 190 of the Amended Insurance Code recognizes that “cooperatives” may become insurers. Thus, the terms “cooperative insurance” or “insurance cooperatives.” This is to supplement Republic Act (RA) 9250, otherwise known as the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008, which expressly recognizes that a cooperative may be organized to engage in insurance business (Article 6 [9]). Under the Cooperative Code, it shall be classified as a service cooperative (Article 23 [e]). If it is engaged only in insurance activities for its members (Article 6 [7]), it shall be known as an insurance cooperative which is “engaged in the business of insuring life and property of cooperatives and their members” (Article 23 [9]). The recognition of cooperatives to engage in the insurance business came as early as 1973 when Presidential Decree 317 amended Act 2427, otherwise known as the Insurance Act, and which gave cooperatives the mandate to engage in insurance business. There are, as of 2015, only two licensed cooperative insurance companies in the Philippines. They are: the CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative and the Cooperative Insurance System of the Philippines.

CLIMBS Life & General Insurance Cooperative

Coop Life Insurance & Mutual Benefit Services (CLIMBS) Life & General Insurance Cooperative is a composite insurance cooperative established in 1971. It provides life insurance, property insurance and health-care products. CLIMBS is owned by more than 1,000 cooperatives and cooperative federations, comprising more than 1 million members. Thus, it is also known as a “parent cooperative.” It started in Mindanao area where today it holds its main office in Cagayan de Oro. It was initiated by the MisamisOr ienta l-Bu k idnon- Camig uin Federation of Cooperatives and the Southern Philippines Education Cooperative Center in order to give affordable insurance protection to cooperative members who are mostly laborers, fishermen, farmers and other low-income workers. It pioneered in what is to be known as “grassroots insurance.” It was not until a few years later, however, that CLIMBS was incorporated as a nonstock and nonprofit corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 20, 1975. It was only on December 17, 1992, when CLIMBS was registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) pursuant to RA 6838, otherwise known as the Cooperative Code of the Philippines. It was registered again on March 17, 2004, under the amendatory charter of the CDA. It transacts business only with its members. On April 20, 1994, it was granted a license as a mutual benefit association (MBA) by the Insurance Commission (IC). On June 1, 2007, CLIMBS, being an MBA, merged with the Cooperative Life Assurance Society of the Philippines, an insurance company, to form a new insurance company. It was the first-of-its-kind merger. On April 21, 2010, CLIMBS was granted a license as a composite insurance company. It started its actual nonlife operation only in August 2010 with four products: motor car, fire, money security and payroll insurance and fidelity bonds. Indeed, its distinct advantage is the capacity to offer tax-exempt insurance products. This tax exemption and other tax incentives is pursuant to RA 9520 which provides the following exemptions: 1) income tax on income from CDA-registered operations; 2) value-added tax on CDA-registered sales or transactions; 3) 3-percent percentage tax under Section 116 of the Tax Code of 1997; 4) donor’s tax; 5) excise tax; 6) documentary stamp tax; 7) annual registration fee of P500; 8) exemption from all taxes on transactions with insurance

companies and banks, including but not limited to 20-percent final tax on interest deposits and 7.5-percent final income tax on interest income derived from a depository bank under the expanded foreign currency-deposit system. CLIMBS is registered with the CDA. It is a member of the International Cooperative & Mutual Federation (icmf), Asia Oceania Association of ICMF, Philippine Life Insurance Association, the Philippine Cooperative Center, and the National Confederation of Cooperatives. It has one subsidiary (subsidiary cooperative), its marketing arm, the Coop Life General Insurance and Financial Services Agency (Clifsa), which is a general agent for nonlife insurance. Clifsa was first registered with the IC on July 1, 2010. It should also be noted for its Institute of Financial Literacy, which conducts training sessions for its cooperative members. It is noted that after the devastation of Supertyphoon Yolanda, it paid a total of P129 million in nonlife claims and P2 million in life claims. As a life-insurance company, it offers the following products: 1) Co-op Life Savings Plan; 2) Co-op Loan Protection Plan; 3) Group Renewable Term Life; 4) Group Family Plan; 5) Group Accident, Death, Dismemberment, Disablement Insurance; 6) Group Life and Accident with Fire Insurance; 7) Group Accidental Death, Disablement and Dismemberment Indemnity, and Funeral Service Assistance; 8) Member Year Renewable Accident and Life; and 9) Permanent Plan. As of the end of 2014, it has a total assets of P1.437.9 billion, a net worth of P658.2 million, and a net income of P153.6 million. Total life premiums amounted to P56.27 million, and total nonlife premiums amounted to P117.41 million representing 22,559 policies.

Free fire

OW that everyone’s in town for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), it is good to remember that in 1965 the Indonesian government ordered the slaughter of more than 500,000 of its own people, most of them ethnic Chinese. They were not just shot out of hand but burned alive and chopped to death, while pale Chinese girls were raped by swarthy mobs and then chopped up as well.

To this day it is dangerous to talk about it. So far as I remember hearing about Jakarta at the time, the ethnic slaughter was triggered by a false report that six army generals were kidnapped and killed by one communist cadre. One. Maj. Gen. Suharto mobilized the army to crush what he said was a communist coup attempt by left-leaning generals. He then rewarded himself with a 31-year kleptocracy. To give the Indonesian common man his own share of pleasure, and as a celebration of what was becoming the rare American triumph over communism in the Cold War, he gave the go-signal that all ethnic Chinese were fair game, especially if you owed them money. And so rivers were filled with mutilated Chinese bodies, streets ran with Chinese blood, Chinese homes were broken into and strewn with chopped suey, so to speak. And then all of it was ordered to be forgotten. The last remaining Chinese

took Indonesian names, and some of them emerged as dummies of Indonesian generals whose families are still pretty much in power and in clover today. In 1970, right after an unprecedented election to a second term, an event the Americans most feared of a Philippine president—someone with suddenly nothing to lose by defying American interests, after all Laurel-Langley was discontinued under Marcos—student riots broke out and a cardboard coffin was attempted to be overturned on the president’s limo. This was the symbolic coffin of democracy. Marcos called in the American ambassador and showed him photos of white men with walkie-talkies in the crowd and of Jesuit Father Blanco who was said to have been in Jakarta for the riots that toppled the Indonesian founding father and Asian neutralist Sukarno, the husband of Dewi. Marcos told the American am-

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

It is good to remember Jakarta 1965 because truth matters but it is not necessary all the time to do anything about the truth, especially with Apec going on even if the Indonesian president has declined to attend it in case he gets badgered to spare the life a Filipina drug mule of a POEA-registered recruiter. bassador that the riots might well drive him out of Manila but he would bomb his way right back in through the US Embassy on Dewey Boulevard. I was there in the Palace with Tito Tito Yulo (a submachine gun slung from his neck), Tito Gilbert Teodoro and others, along with my dad. I recall a pale-looking ambassador emerge from the meeting with Marcos. My family—well, okay, my dad didn’t like Marcos; he backed Macapagal’s reelection bid in 1965 (which failed because he fought for agrarian reform). However, we campaigned for Marcos in 1969 because the Liberal Party (even then the party of treason) alternative was a Japanese collaborator whose election would be an indelible stain on the nation. My father was a decorated resistance hero. That night Marcos emerged as the first Filipino contemporary hero. To revive the memory of the Indonesian massacre, Marcos allowed

the filming of The Year of Living Dangerously, based on a modern Dutch novel of the same name. The Jakarta 1965 massacre was to be etched indelibly in our minds with the alluring figure of Sigourney Weaver and the face of Mel Gibson, along with those of Kuh Ledesma and Bembol Roco. Today, the memory of Jakarta 1965 is revived by Joshua Oppenheimer in a six-hour documentary called The Act of Killing and in the companion film, The Look of Silence—both unavailable on Netflix or HBO let alone Sky. One Indonesian politician has come forward to say sorry for his part in the massacre, while Soe Tjen Marching, daughter of a victim, has braved threats of death and rape to bring the massacre to light even if not its perpetrators to justice. Human-rights activists seek a trial at the Hague. But before we join in the outcry, let us not forget that Indonesia has always stood by us against Malaysian subversion, patrolled our Southern waters to discourage Malaysian arms smuggling, and that with Indonesia we might have shared Borneo between us. It is good to remember Jakarta 1965 because truth matters but it is not necessary all the time to do anything about the truth, especially with Apec going on even if the Indonesian president has declined to attend it in case he gets badgered to spare the life a Filipina drug mule of a Philippine Overseas Employment Administration registered recruiter.

Cooperative Insurance System of the Philippines

The Cooperative Insurance System of the Philippines (CISP) was established on January 25, 1974, with 69 cooperative organizations representing about 400,000 individuals. Today, it has more than 2,000 cooperative members representing over 700,000 individual members. As of the end of 2014, its total assets amounted to P400.8 million, its networth stood at P250 million and with a net income of P62 million. Facing capital deficiency problems, the First Community Cooperative (Ficco) infused P83 million into CISP on July 2013. By 2014 CISP reported a net income of P62 million and declared a 13-percent dividend. Ficco is currently the third-biggest stockholder of CLIMBS and is the largest owner of CISP. Ficco also operates the Ficco MBA with assets of P390 million as of end of 2014. Ficco was originally known as the Ateneo Credit Union having been established by the teaching and nonteaching staff of Ateneo de Cagayan, also known as Xavier University.

As borders lock down: Europe’s new refugee crisis

efore the staggering terrorist attacks on Paris, Europe was struggling with a refugee crisis: tens of thousands of Syrian refugees seeking shelter as they fled war in their homeland. By Sunday, as details emerged on the terrorists who had assaulted one of the world’s grand capitals, Europe had a vastly more profound refugee crisis. Authorities say that one of the suicide bombers was carrying a Syrian passport, issued in Greece on an emergency basis. He arrived as a refugee with no papers and left with a passport that allowed him to travel from Greece to Serbia, Macedonia and eventually to France. The attacks, and the news that one perpetrator apparently was embed-

ded among refugees, fueled angry right-wing protests in France over the weekend. Pressure grew on political leaders across Europe to slam the door on a European Union plan to shelter 160,000 refugees among member-states. Poland’s new government announced after the attacks that it won’t accept the refugee quotas set by the EU. The debate leapt across the Atlantic. Republican US Rep. Peter King of New York urged the White House to suspend its plan to accept up to 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year. He disputed the administration’s contention that “robust vetting procedures” would screen out potential terrorists. “There’s virtually no vetting because there are no databases in

Syria,” he said. “There are no government records. We don’t know who these people are.” True, refugees don’t leave Syria with their papers up to date and perfectly authenticated. They’re fleeing for their lives, with the possessions that they can carry or wheel behind them. The nucleus of the assault on Paris may turn out to be homegrown terrorists, though. The suspect with the Syrian passport, apparently under a false identity, was one of as many as two dozen jihadists in what the Associated Press says was a sleeper cell. Three of the suspects were French citizens, two of whom had been living in Belgium. Few details have been released about the rest of those involved.

The humanitarian crisis created by tens of thousands of people fleeing Syria won’t neatly resolve itself by closing national borders. Winter approaches. The refugees need to be sheltered and fed. As French warplanes on Sunday pounded Raqqa, the Syrian center of Islamic State operations, with more concerted efforts to come, the prospects grow that even more refugees will flee. Many of them will have to be sheltered on foreign soil. The changing dynamic might give more impetus to a complicated task: establishing a safe haven on Syrian soil. The prospects for the refugees grow more grim—shelter in place or take a long trek to an increasingly hostile Europe. TNS