BusinessMirror August 10, 2015

BusinessMirror

2006, 2010, 2012

U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008

A broader look at today’s business Saturday 2014 10, Vol. 10 No. 40Vol. 10 No. 305 Monday,18, August 2015

www.businessmirror.com.ph

NEW AIRSERVICES AGREEMENT TO BENEFIT P.A.L.

PHL secures permanent rights to fly over Russia

INSIDE

T

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

This immediately benefits Philippine Airlines (PAL), which has a direct Manila-London route, shortening said flights by two hours, as

Monday, August 10, 2015 E 1

LEADING JOB GROWTH G IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY B C F-A

T

HERE is no escaping employ employment market upheaval in the digital age. Consider the global trends cited by Erik rik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee in a recent interview with HBR. In most countries, both developed and developing, private employment and median family income have stopped growing at the same pace as labor productivity and real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita—mostly due, they argue, to technological advances. In emerging markets, labor’s share of gross domestic product is declining in 42 out of 59 countries, including China, India and Mexico—areas with 90 percent of the world’s population. Fewer jobs and diminishing wages can only lead to greater inequality and global instability.

So what are we to do? Learn from countries that are bucking the trend. In Singapore median income, GDP per capita and labor productivity have all grown dramatically over the past 30 years; unemployment stands at just 3 percent; wages account for a larger percentage of GDP than they did in 1980; and middle-income earnings have increased sixfold in the past five decades.

With the highest median wage among newly industrialized Asian nations, the city-state also ranks first globally in worker productivity and attitude. Singapore has succeeded by investing large portions of its public budget in education, a strong civil service and the development of great leaders, proactively moving its economy toward technology-based manufacturing, and more recently to knowledge-based research and development sectors.

Professions-based education— which strengthens future employability for students—has also been a key area for investment and innovation in Singapore. Today, 95 percent of its young people progress to post-secondary education institutes, but there are also different pathways to work, including a German-style apprenticeship and certification program. Most recently, Singapore launched a fund in which the government provides a yearly stipend to be used for continuing education at all levels.

Can other countries follow this model? With the right leadership, I think so. On a recent trip to Africa I was greatly impressed by the African Leadership Academy, founded in 2008, which offers a highly selective two-year panAfrican pre-university program.

Nearly 800 young people have already studied there, and the goal is to develop 6,000 leaders over the next five decades—who will, it’s hoped, transform Africa as national presidents, central bank governors or CEOs of major corporations.

This is the sort of institution that public and private organizations around the world should look to build. We need extraordinary leaders to face the monumental challenge of preserving human dignity in the digital age.

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz is a senior adviser at the global executive search firm Egon Zehnder and the author of It’s Not the How or the What but the Who.

DOES STATING WHAT YOUR COMPANY STANDS FOR AFFECT YOUR BOTTOM LINE?

R

ESPECT, integrity, communication and excellence: These were Enron’s selfprofessed values, before accounting fraud brought down the firm. So you’d be justified in thinking that the values listed on corporate web sites don’t really matter.

Yes, talk is cheap, and public Y proclamations aren’t the same thing as living up to one’s values.

Still, stated values might also represent a firm’s aspirations. If that’s the case, maybe the values on a company’s web site are meaningful after all; perhaps Enron is the exception rather than the rule.

In a paper published earlier this year, researchers at INSEAD and IMD business school arrived at this conclusion: Don’t dismiss the corporate values statement.

It seems to be linked to financial performance. The researchers measured which values and how many were listed for the Fortune 100 in 2005.

They compared each measure to the firm’s return on assets over the subsequent three years.

The researchers found that the more values a firm lists on its web site, the better its financial performance. And the more those

values differed from competitors’ values, the better the company performed. These relationships might not be causal, the authors cautioned, but they offer a plausible reason for the link. “One could argue that espoused values are the calling card to recruit talent and to show good citizenship,” they wrote.

Why does listing different values than competitors correlate with performance? The authors argue that such a list reflects a timeless principle of competitive strategy: differentiating yourself is a classic way to stay profitable.

These results suggest that values do matter, and that when firms state those values publicly, they’re saying something meaningful about who they are. But those values shouldn’t be considered immutable. Companies that changed their values between 2005 and 2008 had higher return on assets than those that did not.

So perhaps the lesson isn’t quite that dynamic values beat stable ones. It’s that even timeless values aren’t a substitute for good strategy.

well as its flights from New York and Toronto, to Manila, which could cut travel time by 1.5 hours, depending on the time of year.

In an interview with PAL President Jaime J. Bautista on the sidelines of the media briefing for Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms last Friday, he said the permanent overflights were part of the new airservices agreement (ASA) between both countries, signed in July.

“Before, we had to secure permission from Russia [for these overflights] every month,” he said.

PAL has said the route over Siberia is the “quickest option,” and is far away from any conflict areas. It also enables the carrier to save on fuel costs.

C  A

B M W. S

A

1. Agencies are slow. An executive from one of the world’s largest ad agencies told me that his company was too big—and consequently too slow—to compete in the lightningfast digital space.

2. Agencies are stuck on adver advertising. Agencies have been slow

to leverage social media, content marketing and integrated models.

A brand manager told me that although many agencies are creating social-media spin-offs, they still operate like traditional ad agencies.

3. Continuity has become more

important than campaigns. In an ad campaign, you make a pitch, win a deal, execute the creative component and start over. But in a socially oriented world, the connection never stops. Y You fund, staff and execute continuously.

4. Companies no longer want to outsource customer relationships.

As Big Data gives way to the real insights in Little Data, we can drive our efforts down to individuals.

When the primary focus of our marketing finally shifts from mass broadcasting to discrete customer relationships, is that something we really want to send to an outside company? Do we want somebody else to own these critical relationships?

5. Companies want to own the

data. Marketing activities today generate unprecedented amounts of data. Who owns that data? Who owns the algorithms to interpret the data? This information must be kept in-house.

6. Are agencies attracting the best digital marketing talent? Recently, I

Mark W. Schaefer is executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions. His latest book is The Content Code.

Question what you ‘know’ about strategy B M C

S

AY you are competing in a fast-growing industry. How much do you care about profits versus market share?

It’s conventional wisdom that businesses should go for market share, but that’s not a law of physics. Y You don’t have to go for share.

Whether to pursue profits or share is one of the questions posed in an ongoing tournament I conduct that uses computer simulation to test strategic decision-making among executives, students and other management enthusiasts.

More than 700 people have entered the tournament.

The tournament asks entrants to allocate 100 points between profits and market share. On average, 700+ people have allocated 55 of their points to market share and 45 to

profits in the tournament’s “fast growth” industries. They clearly intended their strategies to gain market share. In industries with much slower growth, people put markedly more emphasis on profits. That’s also what conventional wisdom advises.

Yet, in over 173 million tourY nament simulations the quest for market share has led to price wars 90 percent of the time, subtracting value from the industry. So following the “rule” produced results worse than if the participants had done nothing at all.

Price is the only lever tournament strategists could pull. So they cut price because they obeyed the common practice of going for market share in fast-growing industries.

They made different decisions in industries where growth was slow or negative.

There is always exactly 100-percent market share in any market.

That’s why, despite the vigorous price wars, tournament strategists gained little or no share. (No one gets ahead when everyone moves in the same direction.) What they got, 90 percent of the time, was mutually assured destruction.

I hope you now see go-for-share more as an assumption to be assessed critically. Here’s another rule: We must keep our strategy secret from competitors.

In the tournament, groups always hide their strategies from the other groups. Real-life collusion is illegal and it’s explicitly forbidden in these games, but as in real life, nothing prevents groups from signaling or taking action visible to other groups. By reflexively hiding, they obey a rule that isn’t there and hold themselves back by

limiting their options. Fortunes are made by noticing such practices and challenging the assumptions behind them.

Fortunately, breaking rules is free. All you need is curiosity and the courage to challenge conventional wisdom. Some suggestions: n Switch mind-sets and mentally place yourself outside your company as a dispassionate analyst. What rules are the company’s people following? n When you hear advice containing “obviously,” ask the speaker whether that advice is based on evidence or common practice? n What would famous rule-breakers say to your company? n Apply all of the above to yourself.

Mark Chussil is the founder and CEO of Advanced Competitive Strategies Inc.

E1

Perspective BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Jordan tries to stem IS-style extremism in schools, mosques

JORDANIAN boys gather around an imam at a mosque during a religious class in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday. The government says it’s tackling the contradiction between official antiextremist policy and what is taught in schools and mosques by rewriting school books and retraining thousands of teachers and preachers. AP/RAAD ADAYLEH

B K L | The Associated Press

MMAN, Jordan—In pro-Western Jordan, a leader in the fight against Islamic State militants, school books warn students they risk “God’s torture” if they don’t embrace Islam. They portray “holy war” as a religious obligation if Islamic lands are attacked and suggest it is justified to kill captured enemies.

Christians, the country’s largest religious minority, are largely absent from the texts.

The government says it’s tackling the contradiction between official antiextremist policy and what is taught in schools and mosques by rewriting school books and retraining thousands of teachers and preachers.

Critics say the reforms are superficial, fail to challenge hard-line traditions, and that the first revised textbooks for elementary-school children still present Islam as the only true religion.

“Islamic State ideology is there, in our textbooks,” said Zogan Obiedat, a former Education Ministry official who published a recent analysis of the texts. If Jordan were to be overrun by the militants, a large majority “will join IS because they learned in school that this is Islam,” he said.

Government officials insist they are serious about reform.

The rewritten books will teach “how to be a moderate Muslim, how to respect others, how to live in an environment that has many nationalities and different ethnic groups,” said Education Minister Mohammed Thnaibat.

Thnaibat refused to discuss hard-line passages in the unrevised books, but said there are limits to reform. Jordan is an Islamic country, he said, and “you cannot go against the culture of the society.”

Success or failure of the effort matters in a region engaged in what Jordan’s King Abdullah II has framed as an exis-

tential battle with IS militants who control large areas in Syria and Iraq. Abdullah has emerged as one of the most outspoken Arab leaders urging Muslims to reclaim their religion from extremists.

Reform efforts target both schools and mosques.

All school books are to be rewritten over the next two years, said Thnaibat. Lesson plans will shift from rote learning to critical thinking, and tens of thousands of teachers will be retrained. Revised books for grades 1-3 are already in use, and 11,000 teachers were given monthlong courses to deliver the new curriculum.

Among preachers, the government hopes to promote a “moderate Islamic ideology that is in line with our national principles,” said the religious affairs minister, Haeli Abdul Hafeez Daoud.

As part of the campaign, the ministry suspended several dozen imams because of the content of their sermons.

The country has only 4,500 preachers for its 6,300 mosques, including many who are not properly trained, creating a vacuum that has enabled extremist lay preachers to step in, Daoud said. Yet a program to retrain thousands has enrolled only about 100 preachers in a three-semester course for which 340 were approached.

The spread of extremist ideas has been a growing concern in Jordan since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and subsequent conflicts involving militants, including in Syria and Iraq.

Experts say about 10,000 Jordanians,

including hundreds fighting in Syria and Iraq, adhere to Jihadi Salafism, the ideology that underpins the al-Qaeda terror network and Islamic State group, its increasingly more influential rival.

Daoud said that at one point, such ideas had a “huge and dangerous” impact in Jordan, but that appeal of IS has waned since the extremists immolated a captured Jordanian fighter pilot earlier this year.

Some argue militancy grows from poverty and unemployment, and that the government has done little to address the root causes.

“Extremism does not appear because preachers call for it,” said Mohammed Abu Rumman, an expert on Islamic militants.

“It appears because we have young people who search for identity and revolt against the situation.”

For now, the anti-extremism campaign is being led by the security forces.

Some 300 people are currently in custody in Jordan for alleged IS sympathies, including 130 who have been sentenced, defense lawyer Moussa al-Abdalat said. About half are in detention for expressing support for IS ideas on social media, he said. Those convicted of “electronic terrorism” are sent to prison for five to seven years.

Critics say these very ideas are taught in Jordan’s schools.

Obiedat and Dalal Salameh, an analyst at the Jordan Media Institute and a former school teacher, point to what they said are particularly problematic passages in school books.

An eighth-grade Islamic Studies text tells students that “jihad is a must for every Muslim” if an enemy attacks or occupies an Islamic land. Jihad is also required if “any power...prevents us from conveying the message of Islam, or attacks Muslims or their countries.” Those participating in jihad go straight to heaven.

A ninth-grade book describes a battle in which an army led by the Prophet Muhammad executes all captured men and enslaves women and children. The story, cited by some IS supporters in justifying the extremists’ brutal methods, is presented without context. The authors write that the story illustrates the need for “decisiveness in punishing traitors.”

Sixth-graders learn that those who

don’t embrace Islam will face “God’s torture” and the “pit of hell.”

The punishment for adulterers is death by stoning. Birth control violates Islam. So does trying to “imitate” Jews or Christians in their customs or dress, or joining them in celebrating religious holidays. Slavery is not forbidden, the books say, but Muslims should treat slaves well and free them when possible. Arab nationalism is bad because it weakens adherence to Islam. Wives must obey husbands and not leave the house without permission.

Salameh said the revised textbooks for grades 1-3 still fall short.

“They still divide the world for children into Muslims and non-Muslims,” she said.

“They still teach children that any other religion and way of thinking is false.”

Father Rifat Bader, a Catholic priest who also reviewed the textbooks, said Christians are still not mentioned in the new books. “In this burning region, we have to promote mutual respect,” he said. “How can you do that if you don’t mention that there are others [nonMuslims] in this society?”

An Associated Press comparison of the old and new textbooks found no significant differences in content, though the new books were organized in a way that made it easier for students to understand the material.

There has been a backlash to the reform efforts. The Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition group, alleges the textbook revisions are funded by the West to make Jordan more secular.

In mosques, moderate preachers compete with extremist ideas promoted on YouTube and other social media.

Ibrahim Nael, an imam in the workingclass town of Ruseifa near Amman, said he signed up for the government course to be able to deliver stronger religious arguments when debating IS sympathizers.

“You get lots of young people who are enthusiastic to go and fight in the ranks of these groups in Iraq and Syria, without knowing if these groups are right or wrong,” he said. “Lots of people who received my preaching in the mosque changed their minds and cleaned up their confusion.”

Nael, 40, a lay preacher with a vocational high-school education, lacks formal religious training—not an unusual biography for imams in Jordan.

The Muslim Brotherhood alleges that the lack of qualified preachers is a result of barring Brotherhood supporters with the right preaching credentials from the pulpit, opening the door to extremist amateurs.

Only now has the government “discovered that those [Salafis] are a threat and stopped them,” said Hamza Mansour, a leading figure in the Brotherhood, which considers the Islamic State group too extreme.

Others say the authorities act mainly against preachers who criticize the monarchy or the security forces. “All the government institutions are trying to do here is to assert loyalty to the regime,” said Hassan Abu Haniyeh, an expert on Islamic militants.

Sheik Mohammed al-Wahsh, an imam at a large mosque in Amman, said he was suspended from preaching late last year after he criticized Jordan’s handling of a conflict with Israel over a contested Muslim holy site in Jerusalem.

Al-Wahsh, who continues to receive a salary for other mosque-related duties, said it’s his second suspension since 2000, when he criticized the Jordanian military.

The security forces “don’t call you unless you criticize the king,” said Awad Abu Ma’aita, a pro-Brotherhood preacher in the southern town of Karak.

Imam Zaki al-Soub promotes ultraconservative Salafi ideas in his sermons at a mosque in Karak. But in contrast to the Islamic State group’s violent Salafism, the 36-year-old al-Soub calls for loyalty to the government to avoid bloodshed.

One of the government’s star preachers, Abdel Fattah al-Madi, is a Syrian refugee who has delivered sermons about tolerance at a number of mosques since coming to Jordan two years ago.

Al-Madi, who teaches in the government’s training course, said he draws large crowds each Friday as word spreads about his liberal attitude. He said moderates can win the war of ideas, but that young people drawn to extremism also need practical alternatives, including jobs.

Others were pessimistic.

Abu Rumman said only a political and economic overhaul would defeat extremism.

“The absence of democracy and reform, these issues are the conditions for raising extremism in the Arab world, and in Jordan in particular,” he said.

PERSPECTIVE

POSITIVE OUTLOOK Skyscrapers continue to rise at the

Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City, as investors continue to express a positive outlook in the country’s economy. NONIE REYES

E4

PHELPS ANSWERS LE CLOS WITH FASTER TIME

Sports BusinessMirror

C1

| MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

PHELPS ANSWERS LE CLOS’S LOS TA LOS’S T UNTS WITH FASTER TIME IN 100 FLY

CHALLENGE ANSWERED B P N The Associated Press

AN ANTONIO—Maybe one day they’ll learn.

Don’t talk trash to Michael Phelps.

It just makes him go faster.

After spending all day digesting Chad le Clos’s taunts from halfway around the world, Phelps beat the South African’s time from the world championships to win the 100-meter butterfly at the US national championships on Saturday night.

Phelps churned through the water on the return lap, far ahead of everyone, and touched in a dazzling 50.45 seconds. He was nearly a second faster than his gold-medal winning time at the London Olympics and, more important to Phelps, he went faster than Le Clos’s time about eight hours earlier in Kazan, Russia, where he won the world championship in 50.56.

After touching the wall, Phelps turned quickly to see his time, shot a defiant look toward the packed stands in San Antonio, pounded the water with his arms, and spit

out a mouthful of water.

Then the 18-time Olympic champion mugged for the cameras, sticking out his tongue.

“The comments were interesting,” Phelps said, with a knowing grin. “It just fuels me. If you want to do it, go for it. I welcome it.”

Following others such as Milorad Cavic who tried to get under Phelps’s skin, Le Clos launched a verbal assault from Russia, apparently confident that he had put up a time Phelps couldn’t beat. And, rest assured, this thing has gotten personal, even though they are racing in different worlds and aren’t likely to meet until they get to the Rio Olympics next summer.

“I’m just very happy that he’s back to his good form, so he can’t come out and say, ‘Oh, I haven’t been training’ or all that rubbish that he’s been talking,” Le Clos said.

“Next year is going to be Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier.”

Le Clos’s father even got in on it, declaring he wasn’t even bothering to look at the times Phelps was posting at the junior-varsity meet in Texas, where the winningest athlete in Olympic history was forced to swim after he

was banned from the world championships as part of his punishment for a second drunken-driving arrest.

“However fast Michael goes, we go faster,” Bert Le Clos told the Associated Press in Kazan. “I don’t care about his times, because I know my son is going to beat him.”

Phelps responded with his fastest 100 fly ever in a textile suit.

Challenge answered.

“There are a lot of things I could say. But I won’t,” Phelps said. “I’m going to let what I do in the pool do my talking.”

All of this is setting up a tantalizing rivalry for Rio, which actually started when Le Clos stunned Phelps to capture gold in the 200 fly at the London Olympics.

In recent months, Le Clos was a bit miffed when Phelps jumped back into that event with some pointed comments about the times not improving all that much while he was in retirement.

“I don’t do it to talk trash,” Phelps said. “I do it to state facts. Some people went back and checked my facts about the 200 fly, and I was right. I know my facts

about the sport of swimming.”

Over the last two days, they went back and forth without ever seeing each other face to face: n Phelps put up a stunning time of 1:52.94 in the 200 fly on Friday night, the fastest by any swimmer since he set the world record in 2009 in a high-tech bodysuit. Among the times he beat: Le Clos’s winning performance at the last Summer Olympics and Laszlo Cseh’s upset victory at worlds, where Le Clos was the runner-up. n Le Clos came back on Saturday with his victory in the 100 fly and couldn’t resist pointing out that Phelps had not done a time that fast in six years. n He has now. Phelps responded about eight hours later with the best time in the event since those rubberized bodysuits were banned after 2009, and significantly faster than his 51.21 that was good enough for gold at London.

“I’m doing the work I used to do,” said Phelps, who insists he has turned his life around since the DUI arrest some 10 months ago. “It’s not rocket science. You have to

do the work to get fast times.”

Phelps hasn’t called out Le Clos by name but made no secret that he wanted to go faster in San Antonio than the winning times in Kazan in his three main races.

Two down, with only the 200 individual medley left on Sunday.

“I have not been that fast in a really long time,” Phelps said.

Le Clos implied that it was easier for Phelps to put up fast times in San Antonio because he’s not racing the best swimmers in the world.

“Look, I don’t want to say it’s easy to swim by yourself, but it’s a lot harder when you know Chad le Clos is coming back at you the last 50 meters,” Le Clos said.

“That’s what he’s got to think about really.”

Phelps shot back, pointing out that Le Clos actually had the faster time on his first lap of the 100 fly.

Which meant, of course, Phelps was much faster on the return lap.

“I just speak the facts and the truth about the sport,” he said, getting in one last dig at his rival.

U.S. TEEN LEDECKY WINS 5TH GOLD WITH WORLD-RECORD SWIM K

AZAN, Russia—There’s no stopping Katie Ledecky.

The 18-year-old American virtually raced herself at the world swimming championships, and she was unbeatable.

Ledecky ended her meet in spectacular style on Saturday night, lowering her own world record by 3.61 seconds in the 800-meter freestyle for her fifth gold medal.

She swam the 16-lap race in eight minutes and 7.39 seconds, bettering her time of 8:11.00 set last year on home soil.

“I knew that I was capable of going sub-8:10,” she said, “so to go 8:07 means a lot.”

Ledecky completed a sweep of the 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyles in Kazan. She swam the anchor leg on the victorious 4x200 free relay, too.

“It’s really neat to say that you’ve done something nobody has done before,” Ledecky said. “I’ll enjoy this for a few days and then I’ll get back to work and hopefully there’s more to come.”

She improved her results from two years ago in Barcelona, where she won four golds and set two world records. In Kazan, she won the 400 by 3.89 seconds, the 800 by 10.26 seconds and the 1,500 by 14.66 seconds, taking down her old world record in the preliminaries and the final.

Her closest race was the 200 free, when she rallied from fourth to win by 0.16 seconds.

“It could have been really tiring and it was,” Ledecky said. “But I recovered very well. I did what I needed to do to set myself up well each time that I got up on the blocks.

I’m just proud of how I handled my races and how all this week has gone.”

On the men’s side, Sun Yang of China is poised for a nearly similar feat. He won the 400 and 800 freestyles and is favored to add the 1,500 on the last day on Sunday. Sun finished second in the 200 free by 0.06 seconds.

Ledecky was under world-record pace throughout the 800, leaving the other swimmers trailing well behind her wake. She tore off one of her two swim caps and smashed the water with her hand in celebration of her third world record in Russia.

“I really love to see what she can do,” said Lauren Boyle, the silver medalist from New Zealand. “It shows what is possible for the human body. It’s very inspiring for me.”

Chad le Clos defended his title in the 100 butterfly, rallying late to edge Laszlo Cseh of Hungary in the absence of Olympic champion Michael Phelps, who beat Le Clos in London three years ago.

The South African was second at the turn and then poured it on down the stretch, touching in 50.56 seconds.

Cseh was second in 50.87.

Le Clos slapped the water with his right hand, then pounded his chest and nodded his head as if to say yes. His father frantically urged him on from the stands, bellowing when his son got to the wall first.

About eight hours later, Phelps responded by beating Le Clos’s time to win the 100 butterfly at the US national championships in Texas. His time was 50.45 seconds,

nearly a second faster than his gold-medal winning time in London.

Phelps has missed the last two worlds, and Le Clos has emerged as the fly king in his absence. The American qualified for the meet in Kazan, but was forced to sit out as a result of his suspension by USA Swimming for a second drunken driving arrest.

“I’m just very happy that he’s back to his good form, so he can’t come out and say, ‘Oh, I haven’t been training’ or all that rubbish that he’s been talking,” Le Clos said. “I’ll relish the opportunity to race him again.”

Phelps said he saw Le Clos’s taunts from halfway around the world.

“There are a lot of things I could say. But I won’t,” Phelps said. “I’m going to let what I do in the pool do my talking.”

Le Clos was coming off a disappointing second-place finish in the 200 fly behind Cseh, who has emerged as a medal threat for next year’s Olympics with a resurgence in Kazan.

Florent Manaudou of France won the 50 free to go with his Olympic title. His time of 21.19 is fastest in the world this year.

Nathan Adrian of the United States finished second in 21.52. Bruno Fratus of Brazil took third.

Three-time defending champion Cesar Cielo of Brazil left Kazan earlier in the week because of a shoulder injury.

Defending champion Missy Franklin faltered in the 200 backstroke. She was overtaken down the stretch by Emily Seebohm of Australia, who touched in 2:05.81 to complete a sweep of the backstroke events. AP

SPORTS

UNITED States’s gold-medal winner Katie Ledecky celebrates after setting a new world record in the women’s 800-meter freestyle. AP

C1

OFC published in June the “Study on Suggested Retail Price (SRP): Nature, Implementation and Effects.”

The contention arose with the finding that there is a current misapplication of the SRP, and further, the way it is implemented today amounts to “undue interference in the market and restricts competition.”

According to the study, the SRP mechanism is deemed to be a “defacto price control/ price ceiling” that is practiced even in the absence of any emergency or calamity, thus, a government control which causes an imbalance in the supply and demand of goods.

The OFC, in the study, pointed out that economic theory dictates that price ceilings often lead to supply shortages. This, in turn, will mean more time and effort for consumers to buy products and services, look to the black market for alternative goods, and entice sellers to hoard their products.

A core issue for the OFC is the liberal exercise of the SRP mechanism C  A

CHINA INFLATION EDGES San Miguel Brewery income UP TO 1.6 PERCENT IN JULY up 10 percent in January-June

B

MICHAEL PHELPS rules the men’s 100-meter butterfly finals at the US swimming nationals in record time, better than the finish of South Africa’s frica’s Chad le Clos (inset) in the men’s 100-meter butterfly final at the Swimming World Championships in Kazan, Russia. AP

S

B C N. P

T

was brought in to do marketing triage for a large company in Florida.

They had already fired two large national agencies. I was allowed to see both agencies’ social-media marketing plans—formulaic, cookie-cutter approaches that were out of touch with the strategy, resources and political realities of the company.

Market dynamics and customer needs are rapidly outpacing the agency model.

Maybe it’s time for companies to be more directly involved with their marketing, more accountable and more intimately involved with their customers.

JORDAN TRIES TO STEM I.S.-STYLE EXTREMISM

A

SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE SCHEME: BOON OR BANE?

HE need for, and extent of, government intervention in market activity, and whether it hampers or aids market efficiency, has long been a topic of debate among economists and academics.

The debate has emerged anew and has sparked renewed interest, as it has shifted the discussion on an area immediately familiar to the man on the street: the prices of goods.

It is this debate that has put the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at odds with the Office for Competition (OFC) under the Department of Justice. The OFC functions as an oversight body primarily tasked with enforcing antitrust laws, and has the authority to investigate and prosecute players found to be committing monopolistic behavior.

Part of the OFC’s mandate, under Executive Order 45-2011, is to publish papers to guide the industry and inform the private sector on competition issues. With this in mind, the

6 reasons marketing is moving in-house NEW research report from the Society of Digital Agencies found that there has been a dramatic spike during the past year in the number of companies who no longer work with outside marketing agencies—27 percent, up from 13 percent in the previous year.

These companies aren’t getting rid of marketing—they’re just bringing it in-house. Mitch Joel, president of Mirum, recently called this inhouse movement one of the industry’s most disruptive trends.

After interviewing several adagency executives and marketing leaders in a diverse group of businesses, I’ve found common themes that help explain why:

© 2013 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. (Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate)

E4 Monday, August 10, 2015

SPECIAL REPORT

First of three parts

MONDAY MORNING

Walter Frick is a senior associate editor at HBR.

B M. S F. A | Special to the BM

HE Philippines was able to secure the rights to fly over Russian airspace via two route networks that could help enhance the air traffic between the Philippines and Europe, and between the Philippines and North America.

LEADING JOB GROWTH IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

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

n n

ED DAVAD

THREETIME ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDEE

EIJING—Consumer inflation edged up to a still-low 1.6 percent year-on-year in July, government data showed on Sunday, leaving room for Beijing to cut interest rates or take other steps to stimulate slowing economic growth.

The inflation rate rose from the previous month’s 1.4 percent, driven by a jump in pork prices. The National Bureau of Statistics said costs also rose for medical care, vegetables, household services, tobacco and preschool education.

July’s consumer price index was the highest so far in 2015.

The government aims to keep consumer inflation at around 3

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 45.7820

percent this year.

Producer prices, measured as goods leave the factory, fell 5.4 percent from a year earlier, extending a long period of declines due to excess production capacity in many industries.

Forecasters say the economy grew by 7-percent, or slightly below that in the three months ending in June, in line with the previous quarter’s six-year low of 7 percent.

Growth has cooled as the ruling Communist Party tries to steer the economy to a more self-sustaining expansion based on domestic consumption instead of trade and investment. AP

B VG C

S

ANMiguel Brewery Inc. (SMB), a unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., reported net income growing 10 percent in the first half on higher revenues, although its operations in China posted a loss.

The company, which operates breweries in the Philippines and four other Asian countries, said its net income rose to P6.9 billion from last year’s P6.3 billion.

Revenues, meanwhile, amounted to P39.8 billion, 5 percent higher than P37.7 billion last year.

“In the Philippines the company implemented brand-specific and

off-take generating programs to strengthen leadership and spur consumption,” the company said.

Net income from SMB’s Philippine operations rose 18 percent, ending the first half with P6.9 billion.

It did not release financial data from international operations.

Its Hong Kong unit, however, reported a net loss of HK$13.85 million (about P82 million) from last year’s income of HK$23.05 million.

Revenues from its Hong Kong market declined to HK$182.83 million from last year’s HK$275.12 million, while revenues from mainland China rose to HK$89.52 million from last year’s HK$80.64 million.

It reported a loss in its Hong Kong market of HK$19.23 million, while profits from its mainland China market totaled HK$5.37 million, lower than last year’s HK$7.47 million.

SMB in July issued guidance that its Hong Kong operations registered volume losses in the first six months due to the nonrenewal of distribution agreements with AnheuserBusch InBev China Sales Co. Ltd. and Anheuser-Busch InBev International GmbH and Co. KG in 2014.

“Compounding the net loss were operating costs associated with the sales and marketing operations of the discontinued products, which we S “S M,” A

n JAPAN 0.3670 n UK 71.0445 n HK 5.9067 n CHINA 7.3726 n SINGAPORE 33.0914 n AUSTRALIA 33.6360 n EU 50.0351 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.2082 Source: BSP (7 August 2015)

A2

BMReports

Monday, August 10, 2015

BusinessMirror

Suggested retail price scheme: Boon or bane?

Continued from A1

PHL secures permanent rights to fly over Russia Continued from A1

In a separate interview, DOT Undersecretary for Market Development Benito Bengzon Jr. said “the overflight rights for the Trans-Siberian route network is for one designated airline of the Philippines—in this case PAL. On the Cross-Polar routes, two designated carriers of the Philippines have the right to overfly Russia.”

PAL is also one of the designated carriers for the Cross-Polar routes.

The Cross-Polar routes help shorten the travel time and distance from North America to the Philippines due to reduced headwinds in the polar region. A PAL source could not say exactly how much fees it will have to pay Russia each time the carrier uses the latter’s airspace, but it’s “definitely big money.”

The new ASA allows Philippine carriers to fly seven times a week between any point in the Philippines to three points in Russia-Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Vladivostok. The air talks were held in Moscow on July 22 and 23.

For now, said Bautista, there are no plans for

the airline to mount scheduled flights to these destinations due to the limited market.“Matagal pa ‘yan [it will be a while ‘til we mount scheduled flights],” he told the BusinessMirror.

But he said, PAL will probably continue its charter flights between Vladivostok and several destinations in the Philippines including Kalibo and Cebu. These charter flights usually reach their peak during the winter months when it gets too cold in Vladivostok. Bautista said last December, for instance, there were about 20 chartered flights from PAL using its Airbus 320.

Russia is considered one of the “high market growth targets”of the DOT to help the latter attain its 10-million visitor arrivals target by 2016.

Bengzon said, “before the ruble fell, Russian visitor arrivals in the Philippines were growing by 30 percent.” From January to May 2015, however, data from the DOT showed visitor arrivals from Russia plunged by 24.93 percent to 12,401. Arrivals from the Commonwealth of Independent States, however, jumped by 50.37 percent to 4,317. Under its National Tourism

Development Plan for 2011-2016, the DOT is trying to attract 39,267 Russians to visit the Philippines this year, and 46,374 in 2016.

PAL is one of the major sponsors of Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms, a groundbreaking exhibit of Philippine gold artifacts dating from the 10th to the 12th century in New York. The exhibit, spearheaded by Asia Society and Ayala Museum, with special participation from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), will feature over 120 gold objects from said museum (the Leandro and Cecilia Locsin collection) and the BSP. The exhibit will run from September 11, 2015, to early January 2016 at the Asia Society Museum along Park Avenue.

Doris Magsaysay-Ho, chairman of the Asia Society Philippines, believes that the Philippine gold exhibition is timely as the country hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Summit this November.

“While the Philippines has a lot of press coming out on economic issues, we thought there could also be a cultural story.

Continued on A12

based on the interpretation of the law.

The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Price Act, which served as the basis for SRP, provides that, “the implementing agency may, whenever necessary, issue suggested retail prices [SRP] for certain basic necessities and/ or prime commodities for the information and guidance of concerned trade, industry and consumer sectors.”

The OFC questioned the liberal interpretation of the “whenever necessary” clause as this essentially empowers the six implementing agencies, to impose the price control indefinitely, which in a free market economy, is only justified in specific times of emergency.

The OFC pointed out that the Price Act already provides for two price control mechanism in areas declared under a state of emergency, state of calamity, or other circumstances such as under a state of war: either an automatic price freeze on basic necessities or a price ceiling on basic necessities or prime commodities.

The SRP, as implemented by the DTI only, covers basic goods and prime commodities. Basic necessities are goods vital to the needs of consumers for their sustenance and existence, while prime commodities are goods not considered as basic necessities but are essential to consumers.

The SRP only covers specific product lines under these two categories. Examples of basic goods are: bread, canned fish and other marine products, potable water in water bottles and containers, while prime commodities are processed and canned beef and poultry meat, vinegar, patis, and soy sauce.

Select items, like Noche Buena food, whose price may go up during specific seasons like Christmas, also have SRPs. Other agencies that implement SRPs are the departments of Agriculture, Environment, Natural Resources, Health and of Energy.

Another concern of the agency is the slapping of penalties against retail establishments found to have gone beyond the SRP. Retailers are meted out show cause orders if they go beyond the SRP schedule. If retailers do not explain within a given period or refuse to follow the SRP, they will be given a notice of violation.

Under the Price Act, violations of the law would merit one- to 10-year imprisonment and penalty of P 5,000 to P1 million depending on the violation committed.

The threat of hefty penalties is among the reasons SRP amounted to a de-facto price ceiling, as it essentially forces retailers to comply to a certain price level, otherwise risk administrative or criminal penalties, the OFC said.

The procedure seeking for approval in price adjustments on the part of manufacturers similarly goes against the recommendatory nature of the SRP, the study cited. “Price monitoring is okay, and ordering them to explain price increases is fine, but setting an SRP, iba na yon. Let’s not forget that the‘S’in SRP is suggested,” said Geronimo L. Sy, OFC head and DOJ assistant secretary, in an interview.

It must be noted, said DTI Consumer Protection Undersecretary Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba, that the SRP is not set by the DTI, but by manufacturers themselves. The SRP schedule is used by the DTI as a guide in their price-monitoring

activities of retailing establishments such as supermarkets and groceries.

On the part of manufacturers of the goods, pressure comes during the time a price adjustment on their SRPs will be implemented. The supppliers have to submit supporting documents such as an invoice of their raw material costs, if this is the cited reason for the increase.

“The increase, when justified, corresponds only to the particular affected component of the commodity. The rest, including the unspecified margins of the suppliers and sellers, shall remain constant. With this process, the DTI could technically deny, reduce, or modify the proposed price increase, or even set constant the unspecified margins of suppliers and sellers,” the study said.

The DTI, however, stands pat on its stand that the SRP is necessary, and dismisses any notion of market restriction of the mechanism.

“We do not use the SRPs for all goods being manufactured, pili lang sa listahan ng basic goods and prime commodities.

This is to ensure na walang profiteering on the sale of these items and that prices remain reasonable and stable for consumers. It’s been working for the past 10 years or so,” Dimagiba said in an interview.

The same comments were indicated by the DTI Undersecretary in a letter to the OFC, after the report was published.

Nonetheless, the OFC was clear in the direction needed to correct the perceived misapplication of the SRP—streamline the implementation by removing the requirement for approval for manufacturers and retailers, and highlight the recommendatory nature of the SRP.

To be continued

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The Nation BusinessMirror

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Monday, August 10, 2015 A3

OFW recruitment sector hits delays in passport issuance

P

LAYERS in the recruitment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) chided the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for reported delays in the processing of passports.

WASH AWAY THE RAIN

This August 7 photo shows children swimming near the shore of a beach in Davao del Norte, as Typhoon Hanna (international code name Soudelor) skirts this southern Philippine province and exits the country on Saturday. Noriel De Guzman

New Philippine Navy chief installed

By Rene Acosta

P

RESIDENT Aquino will install on Monday a new commander of the Navy, which will coincide with the mandatory retirement of Navy chief Vice Adm. Jesus Millan.

Malacañang, however, has not officially named the incoming Navy chief as of Sunday. It’s a habit the President has indulged into in his designations of key officers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, a person familiar with the matter said.

However, military officials said that Millan will be succeeded by Rear Adm. Cezar Taccad, who is the vice commander of the Navy and currently the head of the Navy’s modernization program.

Taccad, before becoming the No. 2 man of the Navy, was the commander of the Naval Forces North, which monitors and secures the country’s maritime waters in Northern Luzon.

“The appointment of Taccad as the new commander of the Navy

is not only to the best interest of the Navy, but the Armed Forces as whole, since he is the head of the Navy’s modernization program.

There should be no rupture in the Navy’s ongoing acquisition program and he should know what assets and equipment should be procured,” one official, who was not authorized to speak for the Navy, said.

“We all know that the current business of the military is to strengthen its capability in defense of the West Philippine Sea, and if we have a new chief of the Navy that is not familiar with the acquisition program or he will alter it, then everything will be back to square one for the Navy. So it’s best for Taccad to be at its helm,” the official added.

Meanwhile, in his last major official act, Millan led the arrival ceremony for the two landing craft heavy (LCH) over the weekend, wherein he said the two vessels that came from Australia will boost the Navy’s capabilities.

“We mark another significant milestone in the history of the Phil-

ippine Navy and I share the pride with everyone in welcoming home the newest inventory of our fleet.” he said.

The BRP Ivatan and BRP Batak should add up the capabilities of the Navy to transport personnel, equipment and aid during humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief (HADR) operations.

They should also beef up the transport capability of the Navy.

“The capability we are very proud to welcome today is described as extremely versatile vessels, capable of moving large amounts of cargo, personnel and equipment,” said Rear Adm. Leopoldo Alano, commander of the Philippine Fleet.

“These new assets will be vital in facilitating and sustaining FleetMarine operations and will bolster the amphibious and humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief capabilities,” he added.

The installation of a new commander by Mr. Aquino is scheduled on August 10 and expected tobe held at the Navy’s headquarters in Manila.

Palace: Rewarding SAF commandos PNP’s call

M

ALACAÑANG is leaving it up to the Philippine National Police (PNP) when to award Special Action Force (SAF) officers who took part in the mission to bag a Malaysian terrorist but ended in the death of 44 commandos on January 25.

Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said on Sunday it is the PNP’s call to set another date for acknowledging the feat of the SAF commandos who were left out in last week’s awards rites. President Aquino led the awarding ceremonies at the National Police Headquarters in Camp Crame.

Coloma issued the clarification when asked if the Palace could give the belated PNP awards to deserving recipients sooner, instead of waiting for next year’s PNP anniversary rites to do so.

Coloma said in Filipino that the PNP

follows certain rules and processes in conferring such awards to PNP officers and men.

Earlier reports said this process include having all police awards and recognition reviewed first by former Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II before it is endorsed for Mr. Aquino’s approval.

The same reports also cited the omission from the list of PNP anniversary rites awardees the SAF commandos who took part in the Mamasapano raid that successfully bagged the high-value Malaysian terrorist target, known as Marwan, and his Filipino cohort Basit Usman.

Among those on the original list of awardees but were reported to have been omitted were slain SAF Police Officer 2 Romeo Cempron (Medal of Valor) and team leader Police Supt. Raymund Train (Distinguished Conduct Medal). Butch Fernandez

Group sees social entrepreneurship for PHL growth

A

FTER two decades, non-governmental Foundation for a Sustainable Society Inc. (FSSI) still sees building businesses with a conscience as the best strategy for sustainable economic growth.

“For the past 20 years, FSSI demonstrated that development must come from the poor and this we do by maximizing their capacities to participate in economic activities, resulting to jobs, income and protection of natural resources from which the poor communities get their livelihood,” FSSI Executive Director Jay Lacsamana was quoted in a statement as saying.

Citing its experience, FSSI said it has helped more than 200 social enterprises or organizations of farmers, fishermen, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, women and other marginalized sectors in

areas of organic agriculture, crafts, industrial rawinput production, aquatic production, microfinance and cooperative development.

FSSI defines social enterprises as “social mission-driven organizations that engage the poor as owners, workers, or suppliers in economic activities whose main goal is to reduce poverty in their living environments.”

“A social enterprise aims to achieve social and environmental bottom lines and not only financial returns.”

FSSI cited as example the Malaya Development Cooperative, a social enterprise producing dairy products, like fresh milk and yogurt, sold to walk-in customers, small groceries and schools in Isabela and nearby provinces. Dennis D. Estopace

The delays have cost lost opportunities for aspiring OFWs and vacationing workers, according to Emmanuel Geslani, who says he is a consultant for manpower recruitment agencies.

Geslani said recruitment agencies have aired their complaints since last year to Assistant Secretary Wilfredo Santos, head of the DFA Consular Affairs Office, who promised to shorten the processing time for new or renewed passports to 15 days.

The promise was made during their meeting on December 1, 2014, with the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (Fame) Inc. officials, led by Alfredo Palmiery.

Geslani said the DFA also required applicants to present a job order approved by the Philippine

Overseas Employment Administration (Poea) and authenticated or acknowledged by consular officers.

However, operators of recruitment agencies, especially those from Mindanao, have complained that it still takes at least two months to process a passport, much to the dismay of female OFWs applying for Middle East jobs as household service workers (HSWs), Geslani said.

The regional office heads of the passport division in Mindanao does not honor the agreement forged by the Consular Office in Manila with recruitment officials, which adds to the delay in the process, he added.

Recruitment agencies point to the ill effect in the industry of high demand for HSWs in contrast with the

lack of OFWs armed with the proper documentation.

“This state of affairs is detrimental to our business,” Palmiery said, adding that Fame has repeatedly requested the DFA to prioritize passport processing for OFWs. OFWs should be prioritized because of the high remittances they contribute to the economy, Palmiery added.

He said he has also requested the DFA that returning OFWs be given express lanes to be able to avail themselves of the shortened passport processing time, by allowing them to present their reentry visas and overseas employment certificates from the POEA. Palmiery said the recruitment industry had been in consultation with the Dfa since 2014, when passport processing took anywhere from 20 to 30 working days. This extended time prevented select OFWs from being deployed immediately to their job sites, he added.

Requests for comments by the BusinessMirror from the DFA has remained unanswered over the weekend. Recto Mercene

Taguig claims no longer hot spot for illegal drugs

T

HE city of Taguig is making a serious dent in the operations of syndicates peddling illegal drugs in the city with the arrests of 114 suspected drug traffickers, according to its police chief.

Philippine National Police Senior Supt. Arthus Felix Asis said their efforts have led to the arrest of the second, fifth, seventh and eighth “most wanted” criminals in the city’s Top 10 Illegal Drug Target Personalities just for the first half of 2015.

Asis added that a total of 213.997 grams of shabu and 37.804 grams of marijuana have been confiscated during various arrests and drug busts for the first half of this year.

As for the first six months of the year, police records show that the number of apprehensions related to illegal drugs has increased by almost 70 percent compared to what was posted from January to June of 2014, which stood at 68, according to Asis.

Asis pointed out their efforts have led to the arrest last week of Richard Silvestre, the fourth on their list of most-wanted criminals. Silvestre, he said, was arrested along with six others during a police operation that yielded 40 grams of metampethamine hydrochloride (shabu in street parlance) worth P200,000.

Also last week police apprehended Isidro Llagas, 44, the No. 7 on the hot

list. His arrest followed that of Mardie Talampas, 44, the No. 8 on the hot list, who was put behind bars just last month. The arrests were made during the week that government prosecutors indicted Taguig Mayor and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano’s wife Laarni Cayetano for padlocking the session hall of the city council.

On July 13 anti-drug agents arrested Rawie Castro, the fifth on the Taguig hot list, along with Bernardo Eslao, Aileen Magpantay, Alexander Manalo and Nyljohn Peralta following two anti-drug operations in the city.

The suspects were arrested while trying to sell shabu to undercover agents in two separate occasions. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Economy

A4 Monday, August 10, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

Natgas in disputed sea enough to energize PHL for 20 years

A

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

party-list lawmaker on Sunday said the natural-gas resources beneath the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) could energize the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao grids for at least 20 years, enough reason why the government should protect its oiland gas-rich territory.

“This is one of the compelling reasons why we have to secure our 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone and its contiguous area, including the seabed of the continental shelf up to 350 miles from the national coastal baseline. We have to defend the zone against China and other foreign threats,” House Deputy Minority Leader and LPG Marketers’ Association Rep. Arnel Ty said.

The country’s territory in the West Philippine Sea is believed to have a number of Malampaya-like natural-gas fields.

“In fact, we should invest in new warships, including frigates, missile

gunboats and fast-attack craft, for deployment to the zone. We should build a strong naval base in northwest Palawan,” said Ty, who speaks for the minority bloc in the House Energy Committee.

“We only need to harness three more Malampaya-like fields to power up the whole country, and we’ve already discovered one of the three.

It is just a question of exploring some more to ascertain where best to drill and draw out the greatest amount of gas,” added Ty, referring to the Recto Bank’s Sampaguita field, which is estimated to contain up to 4.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

AN aerial shot of Pag-Asa Island, part of the disputed Spratlys Group, in the West Philippine Sea.

The field lies just 80 nautical miles northwest off the Palawan coast.

Based on geological surveys, the United States Energy Information Administration estimates that the West Philippine Sea may contain up to 55.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 5.4 billion barrels of oil, “with the bulk of the resources likely located in the contested Reed Bank at the northeast end of the Spratlys.”

Benefits

TY said that the tremendous eco-

nomic and environmental benefits from this disputed territory include:

Huge foreign-exchange savings because the country would be spending less dollars to import coal and oil;

Since natural gas trades at a discount, electricity would be cheaper for all consumers, thus, freeing up business and household incomes for other forms of spending;

Billions of pesos in new government royalties;

Energy security and economic stability for the country, without having to be troubled by potential power shortages; and

The country’s air quality would improve in a big way due to reduced carbon-dioxide discharges.

According to Ty, “We need a cleaner source of power. We have to rely more on natural gas and less on coal and oil to produce the bulk of our electricity.”

The lawmaker, citing Department of Energy reports, said at present, some 34.4 percent of the country’s dependable power-generating capacity is produced from coal; 19.07 percent from hydro resources; 17.66 percent from natural gas; 17.3 percent from oil (diesel and fuel oil); 10.28 percent from geothermal; and 1.29 percent from biomass, biodiesel, solar and wind.

“Among fossil fuels, natural gas contains the least carbon-dioxide and burns more efficiently,” Ty said.

Excessive carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere have led to global warming and brutal climate changes, such as severe rainfall and harsh drought, he said.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

DFA: Manila asserting its right over sea territories

F

oreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario said the Philippines will continue to have a principled, independent and law-based approach to assert its right over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Del Rosario said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will assert the rightful place of the Philippines in the community of nations, in the same way former United Nations General Assembly Carlos P. Romulo asserted the right of the country to be included in the United Nations seal in 1949.

“We are at the threshold of history, takingaprincipled,consistentpositionon the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea issue, depending on what is legitimately andrightfullyours.Theultimatepurpose of this case is our national interest. This is what we, as a nation, conveyed...before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague,” del Rosario said during a recent roundtable on “Foreign Policy in an Evolving World Order” organized by Stratbase ADR Institute in Makati City.

The roundtable at the Tower Club, Philamlife Tower, was led by distinguished foreign-policy experts, like Prof. Rene de Castro, Prof. Alma Salvador, Dr. Raul Pangalangan, a new judge to the International Criminal Court and publisher Jose Romualdez.

“Our maritime dispute with China, a friend and a valued partner in the region, isbutoneofthemanycomplexchallenges confronting 21st-century international diplomacy. The Asia-Pacific region, in particular, is in a state of flux as governments are faced with multiple-security issues, punctuated further by the rise of nonstate factors,” del Rosario said.

“The Philippine foreign policy will continue to evolve in relation to our history, identity and aspirations as a people. It will be defined by our national leadership, the institutional arrangement and the ever-changing international environment,” the country’s top diplomat said.

Prof. Victor Andres C. Manhit, president of ADR Institute, said there is a need to reexamine existing foreign policy to determine whether it remains responsive to changing times. “In this connection, examination on the shifts and challenges faced by our existing foreign policy should be made,” Manhit said.

De Castro, former chairman of International Studies Department at De La Salle University and a trustee of ADR Institute, said the South China Sea row is not a simple territorial dispute, as it has become what has been called a “dangerous ground” or even the “future of conflict.”

De Castro said the Philippines counts on the United States as an ally.

“It gives a strong signal to Beijing that it has to take into account American

military presence in the country if China uses force, strengthens Philippine resolve to uphold its claim in the face of Chinese pressure in the South China Sea, and just in case the Supreme Court will vote for the constitutionality of Edca [Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement] it would provide for the establishment of forward security locations—not bases.”

Salvador of Ateneo de Manila University said Asean also has a role to play in the conflict. “What we’re seeing here is that the initiatives and efforts of Asean toward building a community toward the end of 2015 are now being challenged by Asean’s response to the South China Sea dispute, its response to China’s militarism and, at the same time, China’s response to the Code of Conduct and its South China Sea policy as a whole. These two forces serve as a framework for testing the capacity of Asean to build a community.”

“As a result of the 2012 incident, you’d see that from 2013 onward, Asean foreign ministers have issued in a timely manner a statement that expresses their concern over the developments and Chinese militarism in the South China Sea. And specifically in 2013 there is an awareness of the need to speak with one voice,” she said.

Pangalanan said the Philippines did the right thing when it filed a case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration against China. “In a David vs.

Goliath scenario, the Philippines would have been helpless; by filing the case, we have shifted it from a two-party settlement and submitted it to a third-party decision-maker in the tribunal. And, second, that decision will not be based on military power, but it will be based on rules in international law,” he said.

“The Philippines used to be all alone on this issue, and especially by bringing in the environmental lobby into the picture, we tapped into new networks and alliances that can bring not just their own voice but also the moral suasion of their positions on the dispute. For me this is nearest to environmental issues,” he said. “For me, the case has changed the ball-game. It has opened opportunities not just for new partnerships with neighbouring countries within the Asia-Pacific region, but it also changes the debate on the West Philippine Sea.” “The territorial challenge in the West Philippine Sea is a critical national security and economic issue that the next government will inherit. We must ask the candidates aspiring to be the next leaders of the country to clearly state the foreign policy they will apply to resolve this dispute. The next leadership must have a strong and decisive policy that best serves our national interest and the growingnumberofallies,”Manhitadded.

‘DOTC’s 2016 budget should be enough to end commuters’ woes’

By Recto Mercene

T

he Department of Transportation and Communication’s (DOTC) P43.5-billion budget request for 2016 should allow it to perform more efficiently and end the suffering of the riding public, Sen. Francis G. Escudero said.

With its ample funding, Escudero said the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) should be able to field more trains, end long queues at stations and start the long-delayed line-extension projects, since almost 41 percent of the agency’s proposed spending plan is earmarked for the rail sector.

The former chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, who resigned on July 28, said based on DOTC’s request, it plans to spend some P15.7 billion to address the problems plaguing, not just the MRT, but the Philippine National Railways (PNR) and the Light Rail Transit, as well.

He said it is only right to attach “measurable performance” to every peso in taxpayers’ money that the DOTC is asking to subsidize the rail operations.

“The DOTC says it will speed up transfer time in stations from 10 minutes this year to 5 minutes next year. Ang una ngang dapat itanong 10 minutes nga lang ba ang waiting time sa MRT ngayon [The first question to be asked is, ‘is 10 minutes only the waiting time for MRT now]?’” Escudero said.

The DOTC also said overloading in MRT trains would go down to 157 percent (of capacity) from to 171 percent. “Is this decrease in load factor doable or drawing lang [only]? How many trains are coming to be able to say that we would be able to avoid or lessen the congestions?" the senator added.

These pledges are among the MRTrelated performance indicators the DOTC has been told to spell out in the national budget.

In anticipation of these deliverables, the DOTC is asking Congress to appropriate P7.09 billion in MRTrelated expenses broken down as follows: P1.96 billion for operation and maintenance; P1.5 billion for rehabilitation and capacity expansion; and P3.63 billion as subsidy for “mass transport.”

The latter would cover deficiencies in “settling prior and current years’ obligations for equity rental, maintenance fees and others obligations” in case “farebox revenues” are insufficient to cover those, Escudero said, explaining the special budget provision that the DOTC wants.

Escudero said the Senate’s strict scrutiny of rail-related appropriations should extend to other lines, since it is not only the MRT where there are long lines and frequent breakdowns.

Another problematic area is the PNR, whose performance guarantee is to provide “safe and reliable rail services for the Metro South Commuter Services,” the line running from Tutuban, Manila to Calamba, Laguna.

The government is asking P1.32 billion in operating subsidy for the PNR for 2016.

Another budgetary subsidy—to the tune of P1.42 billion—is being set aside for the Light Rail Transportation Authority (LRTA), with the promise that the agency will field one train every 3 minutes to 4 minutes during peak hours in its Roosevelt-Baclaran Line 1 and one every 5 minutes to 6 minutes in its Pasig-Recto Line.

Economy BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, August 10, 2015 A5

Recto seeks hike in P500-M aid for displaced educators

T

By Recto Mercene and Estrella Torres

he Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has proposed a 15.4-percent increase in the Department of Education (DepEd) allocation for 2016 to allow the agency to fully implement the amendments to the country’s basic education under the K to 12 Program.

In the proposed P 3.002-trillion 2016 national budget submitted to Congress, the DepEd is slated to receive P435.6 billion, P58.2 billion higher than its 2015 allocation.

The DepEd has the highest budget among state departments.

The implementation of the K to 12 program has been marred with criticism from public-school teachers and politicians due to lingering lack of public-school teachers, classrooms and textbooks.

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the implementation of the program will be funded by the P1.1059-trillion specific allocation

for social services.

He explained that social services segment has the biggest allocation under the proposed 2016 national budget.

Abad said these funds cover education, health care, housing, social welfare and employment.

He said the social-services funds have been raised next year compared to the current P952.7 billion.

Sen. Ralph G. Recto said the P500million assistance fund for college teachers and workers displaced by the K to 12 program, which the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is proposing in the 2016 na-

tional budget, should be increased.

“This should be augmented because if there will be 50,000 employees affected, it translates to about P840 in monthly aid per individual,” Recto said.

Included in DOLE’s proposed P6.5-billion “obligation budget” for 2016 is the P500 million reserved for the implementation of the “Augmentation Measures for Displaced Workers Under the K to 12 Program.”

Recto believes that funds earmarked for “nonurgent and postponable activities” in other sections of the P3-trillion spending bill could be “rechanneled” to augment the DOLE aid package to K to 12 affected personnel.

Recto called on the DBM to “list in one package” all programs that will aid college faculty and workers who will be temporarily out of work when high schools stop churning out collegebound graduates next year.

Under the K to 12 plan, Grade 10 finishers will stay in high school for two more years of senior high school beginning 2016.

“By consolidating all programs, we will be able to know and correct the deficiencies,” Recto said.

He noted that in DepEd’s 2016 budget, P12.2 billion is pro-

NHCP, OSG quarrel over Torre de Manila

By Joel R. San Juan

T

he National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) denounced the alleged flip-flopping of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in dealing with the construction of the controversial Torre de Manila condominium project.

In a letter addressed to Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, NHCP head Maria Serena Diokno assailed Hilbay’s decision to change its earlier position, stating there is no legal basis to compel the commission to issue a cease and desist order (CDO) against the project.

Diokno lamented that the OSG informed the NHCP about its new position only on July 29, the deadline given by the Supreme Court (SC) for the NHCP to submit its comment on the petition filed by the Knights of Rizal seeking to enjoin the project, as it blocks the iconic sight line of the popular monument of national hero Jose Rizal in Luneta Park.

“You assured me that the NHCP is ‘cleared’ of any responsibility because you will explain, if asked, that the NHCP Board members are not constitutionalists. But the draft of your statement primarily

cites Section 25 of the Heritage Law [Republic Act (RA) 10066], not the Constitution, as your legal basis,” Diokno said in a letter addressed to Hilbay.

“So if the basis of your prayer that the NHCP be discharged as a respondent is gone, on what grounds, then, should we be discharged? Had you advised me earlier that you had changed your position, I would have had time to seek other counsel,” she added.

In his position paper submitted to the SC, Hilbay noted that the NHCP, as well as other culture agencies, can be compelled to issue a CDO under Section 25 of RA 10066 (An Act Providing for the Protection and Conservation of the National Cultural Heritage), which provides that “when the physical integrity of the national cultural treasures or important cultural properties are found to be in danger of destrution or significant alteration from its original state, the appopriate cultural agency shall immediately issue a CDO ex parte suspending all activities that will affect the cultural property.”

Hilbay, in an earlier interview, added that under Section 5 of RA 10086— the law that created the NHCP—the agency is empowered to preserve or conserve country’s historical proper-

ties in cases of impairment to their physical integrity.

“We are taking the position, as Tribune of the People, we are invoking the prerogative to act as Tribune of the People to protect public welfare, and when the solicitor general invokes that, it is grounded in jurisprudence,” Hilbay said in response to Diokno’s objection to its position.

Hilbay added that the OSG is not prevented from reconsidering its earlier position considering the lenght of time that the Court gave to it to carefully study the case. “And it’s not strange—even the SC changes its position every now and then,” he said.

But Diokno said the OSG’s new position would set a bad precedent and put the NHCP in a bad light.

“The implications of your new position go well beyond the NHCP’s position. They are immensely worse for the nation, particularly in terms of the rule of law, the right of the present generation to create its own heritage, alongside that of earlier generations, and pending heritage cases, among others,” Diokno said The SC is set to continue the interpellation of DMCI Homes, the project developer, during the third round of the oral arguments, which is set on August 11.

DOT to probe sudden UNECE, ADEC partner spikes in hotel rates on health-related SDGs

By Butch Fernandez

M

alacañang on Sunday confirmed that the Department of Tourism (DOT) is poised to conduct an inquiry into the complaints of visiting Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum delegates against the sharp rise in hotel rates in Cebu.

Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. assured that the DOT would move quickly to check reports that Apec delegates were being charged “120 percent higher than published rates” in at least three five-star hotels in Cebu.

“The DOT, as member of the organizing committee, will look into this matter and assure that reasonable rates are assessed in accordance with accepted international benchmarks,” Coloma said.

The Palace official issued the assurance following reports earlier confirmed by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Laura Q. del Rosario that some Apec delegates “from rich countries” were complaining over the sudden spike in Cebu City hotel rates.

Del Rosario admitted receiving complaints that one hotel, where most of the Apec events in Cebu would be held, upped the cost of its superior rooms from it’s published rate of P5,800 just last week to P13,350 per day, while two other hotels also raised room rates to P11,000 and P13,800 per night for the duration of the Apec events.

T

he United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and ADEC Innovations Foundation on Friday signed a joint statement of cooperation that aims to advance Sustainable Development Goals, particularly on Global Healthcare Policy. James M. Donovan, chairman of ADEC Innovations Foundation, said the UNECE and ADEC Innovations “are coming together to operate a center of excellence for public-private partnership (PPP) focused on health.”

Also present during the event was Geoffrey Hamilton, UNECE chief of Section, Cooperation and Partnership Section Economic and Trade Division.

“It’s really about helping to focus on standards and finding data points within health projects that are related to PPP… and helping to publish those standards,” Donovan said. Under his leadership in ADEC, he has focused on five key business areas—technology, sustainability, health care, knowledge management and outsourcing.

He added: ”A lot of these programs—whether it’s in Kenya or in the Philippines or Canada—are running PPP, but they are not often published. So when a country engages, they have to start all over again. So the idea of UNECE is to take segmented issues and challenges, and break them down and spread them around the world into centers of excellence.”

Since it is global in nature, he said they will try to pick up from the Philippines or other countries their best practices and “we hope that the Philippines would be able to benefit because we obviously have more knowledge on crossroads but it’s also a benefit for the globe. So the UNECE wants to publish around the world.” Mark Tarre

posed for a “voucher program” in which senior high-school students will be enrolled in accredited private schools, including colleges with highschool department.

This is on top of the proposed P9billion funding, also under DepEd, for the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education program, in which the government “buys seats” in all grade levels of private schools “so they can accommodate the spillover in public school enrollment.”

Recto said there is also a P1.4 billion-proposed allocation in the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) budget “for scholarships to faculty members and administrators of higher-education institutions (HEI).”

The CHED is also authorized to tap up to P 2.3 billion from the Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF) to assist HEI’s transition to the K to 12 Program. The HEDF is an off-budget item funded, in part, by casino earnings of the government.

He said assistance to individuals should be unbundled from the assistance to be given to institutions.

“I think there should be sharper and clearer budget language which assigns what will be given to HEI workers.”

The Philippine Institute for Development Studies forecasts that up to 33,000 college instructors may be temporarily idled until the pioneering Grade 12 class graduates in 2018.

A coalition of education workers, however, pegged the number at

86,000 college teachers plus 15,000 nonacademic personnel.

A DepED briefing paper to Congress pegs a lower number of 13,634 teachers, or 12 percent of all college teachers, and 11,456 nonteaching staff, or 20 percent of the total.

SMUGGLED SUGAR Customs Deputy Commissioner Jessie D. Dellosa inspects boxes used to smuggle refined sugar from Thailand, which were seized on Friday at the Manila International Container Port. Dellosa said 15 container vans of undeclared items from Thailand and another eight containers loaded with firecrackers from China have been seized by customs agents since July 24, with an estimated value of $1 million dollars. AP

Tourism&Entertain

A6 Monday, August 10, 2015 • Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

DAVAO GEARING UP FOR MOTHER

OF ALL MINDANAO FESTIVALS Floral float Nature’s bounty

Kadayawan celebration

I

Story & photos by Henrylito D. Tacio

t’s August and for those living in Davao City, it means big merriment. Every third week of this month, the city celebrates Kadayawan sa Dabaw, touted to be the mother of all Mindanao festivals.

The streets will be filled again with various exotic fruits, particularly the controversial durian and the mouthwatering mangosteen. On the weekend of the celebration, the streets will be filled with people watching street dancing and floral float parade.

Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre, the spokesman of the Kadayawan Executive Committee (Execom), said that all is set for the celebration of the festival, now on its 30th year.

The government has approved the P15-million budget for staging the

one-week festival, which will start on August 17 and end on August 23. However, only 5 million of the budget will be shouldered by the city government and most of the money will be used as cash prizes for different competitions.

The P10 million will come from the private sector in the form of cash and in kind. During the festival’s highlight events, these sponsors will enjoy banner allocation, buntings, advertising and promotions.

The festivity will be officially opened on August 17 with an Ecu-

menical Mass, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Rizal Park. From 6 to 8 p.m., a program for the opening of the 30th Kadayawan sa Dabaw Festival will be staged at San Pedro Square.

Two street parties will be hosted on August 17 and August 20, both at San Pedro Square.

On August 18 the preliminary of Sayaw Mindanaw, an indigenousbased dance competition, will be held at the Davao City Sports and Recreation Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The finals will be done at the same venue from 6 to 10 p.m. on August 19.

But unlike in the previous years, which had children and open categories, this year’s Sayaw Mindanao has only one category.

Also scheduled on August 18 is the Tunog Mindanao, a pop music-composition competition that incorporates Mindanaoan indigenous and folk music. It will be done at the San Pedro Square from 6 p.m. to 12 midnight.

Only one event is scheduled on August 20, Lumadnong Dula, a Davao tribal sports competition to be held at the People’s Park.

Street dancing

August 21 will be a very busy day, as four activities are to be held: Davao River Festival, from 7 to 9 a.m. at Tionko Field; Panagtagbo, from 9 to 12 noon, also at Tionko Field; Lumadnong Bantawan from 2 to 5 p.m. at Rizal Park; and Hiyas sa Kadayawan, from 6 to 10 p.m. at Davao City Sports and Recreation Center.

On August 22 the most anticipated Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan will be held. The street dancing has two main components: a parade, which normally takes place in the morning from Roxas Avenue to San Pedro Street; and the showdown, which is done in the afternoon and to be staged at San Pedro Street near the City Hall.

“The Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan is wildly popular because of the dis-

tinctively Mindanaoan beat and costumes,” one visitor commented. “Several tourists come to Davao to watch hundreds of people dancing with vigor in the streets, clad in their native attire and carrying extravagant props that would give Hollywood studios a serious run for their money.”

According to Lisette Marquez, the City Tourism Operations office head, this year’s street dancing competition has only one category: Open category. This means that Davao City contingents will have to compete with those from other areas beyond the city.

The Pamulak Kadayawan, scheduled on August 23, is a sight to behold as it is patterned after the Pasadena Parade of Roses in the United States —where flowers and fruits are set in

colorful floats by business establishments, community assemblies and peoples’ organizations as they promenade on the streets symbolizing all the bounty sustainably enjoyed by the city’s residents.

Perhaps, not many know that the festivity actually started in the 1970s, when then Mayor Elias B. Lopez initiated tribal festivals featuring the lumad (native) and the Muslim tribes of Davao City where they showcase their dances and rituals of thanksgiving. It was then called “Apo Duwaling,” in honor of the three royalties for which Davao is famous for: Mount Apo, durian and waling-waling.

In 1988 Mayor Rodrigo Duterte renamed “Apo Duwaling” to “Kadayawan sa Dabaw.” Kadayawan is derived from the friendly greeting madayaw, a term taken from a Dabawenyo word dayaw, which means good, valuable, superior or something that brings good fortune.

“I consider Kadayawan as the festival of festivals since it has the most number of cultural activities compared to other festivals in the country,” comments Serapion Metilla, who is from Manila and has seen to the festival several times. “For example, there’s dancing in the streets, the floral float parade, horse fight, durian festival, cultural minorities encounter, flower and garden shows, and many other activities, which other parts of the country could not show.”

nment

tourism@businessmirror.com.ph • Monday, August 10, 2015 A7

Bulusan: untapped ecotourism

and geothermal energy potential

Team Bulusan Lake at the Bulusan Volcano National Park

By Mohammad Reiza

W

hen we talk about tourism in Bicol region, we talk about Mount Mayon, Cagsawa ruins and whale shark watching in Donsol. Little do we know that Sorsogon, the southernmost province in the region, has huge ecotourism potential. Not only that, the large geothermal energy deposits scattered throughout the municipality make it the site of one of the Philippines’s last untapped geothermal potential.

Situated in the extreme tip of Sorsogon province in a southeasterly direction, Bulusan is 695 kilometers away from Metro Manila, far from major metropolitan areas and even the nearest airport. It is a fourthclass income municipality with an annual income of P60 million heavily relying on agriculture and fishing.

What five graduate students, Manny and Chie (Philippines), Reiza (Indonesia), Chanthaly (Laos) and Abduhoo (Pakistan), found during their school rapid area assessment (RAA) project found in Bulusan was astounding. The students, who

are currently enrolled in the Master of Development Management program at Asian Institute of Management (AIM), spent almost one week studying and observing the development challenges in the municipality, ranging from the untapped ecotourism potential to the untouched geothermal reserves.

The untapped ecotourism potential

Bulusan has dealt with numerous development challenges that revolve around the need to enhance its character as a primary tourist destination and to be included in the tourism directory in the country. In fact, the Bicol Tourism Master Plan has identified the Bulusan Volcano Natural Park (BVNP) as one of the region’s flagship programs.

Bulusan has vast protected areas, with the BVNP itself covering over 2,500 hectares. The municipality also has a coastal area of 538 hectares, making it presumably rich in its natural resources, nature and biodiversity.

Attaining the municipality’s tourism goals will require broad-based participation from all sectors in local

society and cooperation of various national line agencies and community components. There is also a need to improve agricultural systems to provide support for the existing ecotourism sites in the municipality, especially the pili nut industry.

In an interview with Bulusan’s tourism officer, the municipality is faced with challenges of insubstantial ecotourism marketing strategy and limited budgets. However, they could propose additional budget from the provincial tourism department in Sorsogon City.

While Bulusan still faces instability in the supply of electricity, running water, as well as intermittent mobile and internet connections, the town still has a myriad of econotourism sites, such Mount Bulusan and its lake and numerous natural springs where locals flock there everyday to spend their time with friends and families. Another beautiful tourism site in the municipality is Dancalan beach that is facing the Pacific Ocean—an ideal spot for having lunch. The beach tourism area is managed by the local women association who also produce some handicrafts

Bulusan Volcao Natural Park entrance

Two locals fishing at Bulusan Lake.

made of karagumoy leaves.

The municipality’s transport system is also heavily dependent on jeepneys and tricycles in the city proper, with scheduled inter-city buses to Irosin, Sorsogon City, Legazpi City, and Metro Manila. Adequate transportation capacity could further boost tourism in the town and its nearby areas. People also drive private cars,

motorbikes and ride bicycles around the municipal area.

In terms of conservation efforts, Aggrupation of Advocates for Environmental Protection (AGAP) Bulusan has been very supportive for the conservation of ecosystems and endangered or threatened species that may be present in the ecotourism sites in the past few years. The needs for ecotourism operators to understand the difference between mass tourism and ecotourism, as well as to elicit the appropriate response to this type of tourism, have been catered by AGAP. They were able to bring the contestants of the Miss Earth International 2013 to visit BVNP. The organization also serves as the sole provider of the tourism services in the municipality in the past years and along with the Department of Tourism, boosting and promoting the tourism potentials of Bulusan to the outside world.

There has also been quite significant involvement of the local communities, especially those that exert pressure on the ecosystem or ecotourism attraction, and this ecotourism project may provide an alternative livelihood for them.

Bulusan’s tourism potentials could also potentially translate to the growth of local SMEs that support the industry—including the establishment of more restaurants or decent accommodations. The community, the local government units and AGAP have achieved an understanding that their municipal ecotourism projects can create an indirect benefit to the local communities if the ecosystem is conserved.

The untouched geothermal reserves

While there has been opposition to tapping Bulusan’s geothermal potential on account of environmental conservation and livelihood concerns, these may also be the same reasons as to why there is a need to harness the town’s geothermal reserves.

Geothermal energy can also generate stability in electricity and a potential source of income for the community. Moreover, as it is a renewable energy source, the community is guaranteed cleaner sources of energy to help protect the environment.

The key to moving forward with this matter is striking a balance among the concerns raised and ensuring that both the community and the environment would benefit. As with tourism, sustainability in energy can also a long way in helping Bulusan fully realize its potential.

TheElderly

A8

Monday, August 10, 2015 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

A work in progress: The state of PHL policies for the elderly

By Faye Carreos and Lea Salvosa | Special to the BusinessMirror

Conclusion

‘C

ONTINUING education is one of their opportunities, as well as employment. Just because you’re retired, it doesn’t mean you don’t get to be employed. [The law] actually allows them to be employed,” said Germaine Trittle Leonin Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) National Coordinating and Monitoring Board unit head.

The private sector is encouraged to hire the elderly, as long as they are willing and able, allowing the elderly to be productive despite their age.

“The only different thing is their status, but they can continue studying, they can continue working,” she said.

Local government units are also encouraged to grant additional benefits and privileges to the senior

citizens within their jurisdiction through ordinances.

However, the improvements and developments in the elderly sector cannot be owed to government action alone. Notable to the Philippines is the active participation of the senior citizens in lobbying for initiatives that forward their best interests and recognize their contribution to nation-building.

“They continue to share their knowledge about the laws, making sure they reorient themselves with the policies. There is constant capacity-building among themselves,” Leonin said.

Despite the significant developments toward achieving a better life for the senior citizens in the country, a visible international law forwarding the rights of the elderly is yet to be achieved.

“Senior citizens don’t have a [United Nations] convention. There’s one on the rights of the child, on the rights of the PWDs [persons with disability], Cedaw [Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women] for the women. The elderly, again, are left behind. There are talks for a UN convention, but they are still ongoing,” Leonin added.

Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights legally obliges governments to realize the right of all people, it does not explicitly recognize the right of older people. Establishing a United Nations convention on the rights of older people compels governments to recognize and address the needs and concerns of the elderly with a definitive legal

framework, guidance and support from the UN. Along with movement advocating for a United Nations convention on the rights of older people, the government is still working to build a better world for the elderly. The socialpension provision, as mandated by the Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010, should be reviewed every two years by Congress.

However, a clear emerging trend of the increasing number of abandoned elderly, as well as those requiring special attention, coupled with the lack of elderly residential and care facilities, remains to be solved.

While the DSWD has conducted trainings in communities for basic caregiving, the practice is still not widespread. The department now only maintains four elderly-care facilities in the whole country due to the devolution of basic services—one in Quezon City, Metro Manila; another in Tanay, Rizal; one in Tagum City, Davao; and the fourth in Zamboanga.

These facilities, however, only temporarily cater to the needs of the abandoned and neglected, with the exception of the elderly facility in Tanay, Rizal. The other three are mandated to assist their clients to look for

their families within a month, but are required to transfer them to another institute that can provide for their needs over a longer period of time.

Leonin said the government is now looking into the possibility of bringing it back to an elderly home-care facility per region, if not per province, because of the increasing demand.

“There’s a clamor [for it], even the senators, the congressmen, are realizing the need for it. We really need to build more facilities, especially since there are no more caregivers [in the country],” Leonin said.

Among various efforts from Congress is the House bill filed by Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of the First District of Valenzuela last year, entitled “Homes for the Abandoned Seniors Act of 2014,” that would establish in every municipality and city a nursing home catering to the needs of abandoned senior citizens to be managed in cooperation with the DSWD. The demographic change resulting into the rising number of elderly not only in the country, places more pressure on the government and society to adequately respond to the increasing political, economic, and social demands of the elderly sector.

Seniors enjoy ‘benefit upgrade’ under acting Makati City mayor

N

OT only the cakes have leveled up, but the health care of the senior citizens in Makati City, as well.

Acting Mayor Romulo “Kid” Peña said senior citizens of Makati City can now enjoy personalized medical care through the house-to-house visits being conducted by doctors from the Makati Health Department and free delivery of vitamins and medicines to their homes.

The enhanced health-care services provided to elderly residents of Makati City was among the five major gains reported by Peña, which his young administration achieved during his first month in office.

“I am glad to report that within our first month of transparent governance, the city government has already made progress in improving public service to our constituents,” Peña said.

The acting mayor said the free birthday cakes for the elderly have also leveled up in terms of quality, taste and appearance, as these are purchased from Goldilocks and Red Ribbon, pending the selection of the winning bidder to supply the cakes. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

UP janitress rises early and above life’s obstacles

‘Nanay’ Estrellita Guevarra

By Regina Coeli T. Aquino Special to the BusinessMirror

T

HE elderly are known for being early risers.

Estrellita Guevarra, 63, begins her day at 3 a.m. She dons a plain white shirt and worn-out blue work pants and rolls up her Rapunzel-esque black hair as she prepares to go to Kalayaan Residence Hall, the freshman dormitory at University of the Philippines Diliman, where she works as a janitress.

Despite her petite and slightly hunched body, Nanay Lita, as she is fondly called, rushes like a whirlwind to be able to leave her home in Sampaloc, Manila, by 4:30 a.m.

“You need to be early. If you’re late, the employees will already be there. You won’t be able to clean well,” she said in Filipino.

Nanay Lita undertakes her duties as soon as she arrives at Kalayaan at around 5:30 a.m.

She is in charge of tidying up the entire first floor of the dormitory. She sweeps the floor and dusts the couches at the lobby and TV area. She wipes the tables and the windows in the Office of Student Housing. She deterges the visitors’ comfort room at the lobby and the three bathrooms at the first floor of the girls’ wing.

Doing all of these five days a week, Nanay Lita says her workload has become a routine and does no harm to her aging body.

“I don’t find my work difficult. It just takes getting used to. I must work well,” she said.

The orphaned life was what toughened her up.

Having lost her mother when she was just a year old and her father when she was in third grade, she, the youngest of six siblings, was raised by their eldest brother. She had no memory of how her parents died or even what they were like when they were still alive.

One word choked in her throat when she summed

up her childhood: “Sad.” The grief she subdued since she was young washed afresh as she wept while recounting her story.

From Pampanga, her family migrated to Quezon City in search of greener pasture. Her brother found work at the city hall, but the pay was barely enough to raise her and her siblings.

“I had no dreams because life was already hard,” she recalled morosely. “My brother struggled to send me to school.”

She remembered going to school on an empty stomach. When she was in high school, one of her teachers noticed that she always had nothing to eat during break time. The teacher took pity on her and helped her financially so she could finish her secondary education.

“She provided me allowance and other things I needed in school until I graduated. I would get them at the guidance office,” she said.

“She would have brought me to America with her, but our eldest sibling did not allow it because I’d be far away from them,” she added. “It’s regrettable. I might have been an American citizen now.”

As soon as she was out of high school, Nanay Lita scoured the city for a job. She had been a stenotypist, an insurance agent, and a bus conductor before she became a janitress. She worked at many other companies and government offices before her agency assigned her in Kalayaan in 1987.

“By God’s grace, they liked me,” she said.

As she aged, retaining her job got more difficult as her agency wanted to replace her when she turned 60. But Kalayaan residents and dormitory managers, who have seen her labor industriously for more than two decades, fought assertively to extend her term until she turns 65.

“I was supposed to be out. Someone new has been assigned here,” she said. “But they fought for my employment to death.”

Nanay Lita, who is unmarried, says she is ever grateful to those who saved her, for she is raising five grandchildren by her “niblings”—one of whom is a college student at the University of Manila—on her own with her P4,800 monthly salary. Dreaming for all of them to earn a degree in college, she helps out the kids’ father, who is a jeepney driver, in sending them to school.

“We could live off it, by God’s grace. But it’s still inadequate,” she said.

For them, Nanay Lita said she will continue to strive in her job for two more years.

“I can still work,” she said resolutely. “That’s why I was fought for aggressively.”

When she turns 65, Nanay Lita says she does not want to be idle. She plans on living in Marilao, Bulacan, with her sibling and put up a lugawan so she can still have a stable income.

“I’ll be a cook because if I just stay home and be dependent, I’d use up all my money even if I’m pensioned,” she said.

Despite working hard all her life, a comfortable, financially rewarding life evaded Nanay Lita. But she says she is proud to have helped her grandchildren, even though she is just as empty-handed.

“What I’m most proud of in my life is that I was able to help my niblings and my grandchildren. It’s up to them if they will love me or help me back,” she said.

WALKING IN THE RAIN A couple of Baguio City elders enjoy walking around downtown one rainy weekend afternoon. MAU VICTA

More than 60K Cordillera seniors benefited from DSWD–SPP

B

AGUIO CITY—More than 60,000 indigent senior citizens (SCs) in the Cordillera region are recipients of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Social Pension Program (SPP), which disbursed more than P90 million in the first semester of 2015.

DSWD Regional Director Janet Armas, on Friday, said the SPP distribution was intended to augment the basic needs of the SCs, including medicine and other nutritional and health needs.

Qualified to receive the P500 monthly stipend are SCs who are frail, sickly, or have disabilities and those who are not receiving pension from Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Veterans pension, as well as those who do not have a permanent source of income or regular support from relatives.

The condition and status of the SCs must be confirmed and attested to by the barangay SC coordinator to be able to avail themselves of the DSWD-SPP. The province of Abra received the biggest amount with

P23,938,500 for 16,060 SCs; Apayao received P8,629,500 for 5,708 SCs; Baguio City with P928,500 for 625 elders; Benguet with P17,195,000 for 11,474 SCs; Ifugao received P15,844,500 for 10,569 SCs; Kalinga with P10,866,500 for 7,258 SCs; and Mountain Province with P13,097,000 for 8,814 pensioners.

The administration of President Aquino, through the DSWD, lowered the age qualification of indigent SCs who can receive the P500 monthly social pension as provided for by Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.

Implemented this year, indigent SCs aged 65 and above will receive the social pension.

Armas said that with the lower age requirement, more economically disadvantaged SCs can have additional cash to spend for their basic needs such as medicines and nutritious food to support their well-being.

Qualified SCs were identified through the National Household Target System for Poverty Reduction of the DSWD. PNA

Bacolod SP endorses MOA for more social pension beneficiaries

B

ACOLOD CITY—The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod has endorsed the memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the granting of social pension for more indigent senior citizens in the city.

The MOA will be signed by Mayor Monico Puentevella and Regional Director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre, representing the Department of Social Welfare and Development-6 (DSWD-6).

Upon her endorsement, Councilor Ann Marie Palermo, chairman of the committee on laws and good government, reiterated on Tuesday the role of DSWD in verifying and validating those who are indigents that could avail the benefits under the agreement.

In Western Visayas, including Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, up to 67,499 elderly will benefit from the program this year. Last year, only more than 30,000 elderly were served, records of DSWD-6 showed. PNA

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The Regions BusinessMirror

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Monday, August 10, 2015

A9

DepEd vows to champion IP causes B C M-C Correspondent

I

NDIGENOUS peoples (IPs) will no longer remain the most vulnerable and marginalized citizens because of their lack of access to basic social services, limited livelihood opportunities which lead to social, economic and political exclusion. This was the assurance made by the Department of Education (DepEd) as it joined the rest of the nation in celebrating the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on Sunday.

The DepEd will remain steadfast in its commitment to provide access to an inclusive and culturebased education to every indigenous learner in the country, said Education Secretary Bro. Armin A. Luistro, FSC. He said this was made possible through continued efforts in enhancing the implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) Program and strengthening the capacity of our public schools and learning programs to deliver such services.

“Recognizing the right of indigenous peoples to culturally rooted and responsive basic education, the DepEd has recently adopted the Indigenous Peoples Education Curriculum Framework [DepEd Order 32, Series of 2015], which seeks to provide guidance to schools and other education programs as they engage with indigenous communities in contextualizing the K to 12 curriculum based on their respective educational and social contexts,” Luistro said.

Together with the indigenous communities, the DepEd renewed its call to all education stakeholders to support the continuous transformation of our education system into one that truly recognizes and celebrates cultural diversity. “We remain faithful to our vow that no child shall be left behind in education.”

The DepEd has already released an education policy framework for IPs aimed at making the Philippine educational system truly inclusive and respectful of the diversity of learners especially those belonging to the minority groups. Luistro said it is part of the DepEd’s mandate to provide basic education for all, and to recognize and promote the rights and welfare of IPs to enable them to face various social realities and challenges.

The signing of the education policy framework for IPs, Luistro said, is the DepEd’s modest contribution to the United Nations celebration of World Indigenous Peoples Day, which is observed on August 9 of every year.

“When we were working on the education policy framework for IPs, we had in mind their special needs, history, language, culture, as well as their social and economic aspirations and priorities,” Luistro then said.

“A basic education that is culturally sensitive is an essential means for IPs to claim their other rights, exercise self-determination and expand the choices available to them,” Luistro said.

There are existing models and best practices on IP education based on successful interventions by the DepEd and non-governmental and IP organizations. The departmental consolidated these experiences and lessons to formulate a systematic and coherent IP education program. The education policy framework for IPs seeks to ensure that the provision of quality basic education for all IPs will lead to functional literacy.

The DepEd will work with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, local government units and other government agencies to provide IPs with culture-responsive basic education through formal school and alternative learning systems.

It also calls for the adoption of appropriate basic education pedagogy, content, and assessment through the integration of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices in all learning areas and processes. The DepEd will adopt the mother tongue-based multilingual education for IPs learners.

The policy framework also aims to provide adequate and culturally appropriate learning resources and environment to IPs learners including the development of textbooks and other supplementary learning materials specifically for IPs learners. Part of the IPs education framework is to strengthen the hiring, deployment, and continuous development of teachers and learning facilitators implementing the IP Education Program.

The DepEd shall review, harmonize, and align its teacher education and development policies— consistent with the National Competency-Based Teacher Standards.

Farmers’ training launched in Iloilo and Bacolod

B

ADIANGAN, Iloilo—Two separate training programs under SM Foundation’s Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan Farmers’Training Program (KSK-FTP) were recently launched in Iloilo and Bacolod, bringing the number of KSK programs to 96, nearing the foundation’s target of 100 by the end of the year.

The 95th KSK-FTP was launched in Badiangan, Iloilo, with 128 farmers signing up for the season-long training program.

Aside from beneficiaries who are residents of the host municipality, other attendees come from the municipalities of Mina, Janiuay, Pototan and Dingle. Eighteen barangays are benefiting from the training program and the number of individuals who will benefit is estimated to reach 640. Ephrathah Farm, a privately owned farm located in Barangay Sariri, is venue of the training.

The farmers’ training program which is the 96th batch and the fourth in Bacolod since it was launched in the city. Bacolod was the site of the very first KSK. The very first batch of KSK-FTP was held in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City. This time, the training venue is the Department of Agriculture Field Office located in Barangay Alijis. There are 15 barangay beneficiaries with 725 individuals estimated to benefit from the program. One hundred 45 farmers are participating.

Focus of the training is on vegetable farming as the participants are being prepared to be agrientrepreneur in the future. This aside from ensuring that each of the participant’s household will have food on the table.

Already, many of the farmers who have finished their training have formed associations or cooperatives and are now vegetable suppliers to supermarkets. For instance, the KSK Lambunao Organic Vegetable Growers Association, which

is composed of KSK Lambunao 2014 batch, has been selling their produce to Ephrathah Farm.

The association started their small high-value crop production after completion of the training.

As of today, the group boasts of being able to produce 1 ton of red lady papaya a week, providing a big help to the local farmers. With the farmers’ training now being held in Badiangan, residents are hopeful that sustainable livelihood will be provided. Lemie Leonida, a retired teacher is president of the KSK Lambunao Organic Vegetable Growers Association which was formed in April 2014. After the typhoon, she thought of other sources of income in order to help her family move on from the devastating effects of the calamity. She related how she never dreamt of working as a farmer thinking of the meager income it produce. She said, “It is only now that I realized that the richest part of the earth is in the soil. That is if one will have more devotion to it, farming will be very rewarding, enjoyable, and worthwhile and on top it all, income generating.”

She now leads the association into sustaining their cooperation in producing vegetables. They started by producing upland kangkong and lettuces. Then, they ventured on production of red lady papaya. They boast not only of providing livelihood to members but of safe and healthy fruits and vegetables to the consumers. With this, Leonida also started growing different herbs in a small portion of their land, which she plans to use as natural supplement to their health and hopefully would be able to bring this to the locals of Iloilo in the near future.

Moreover, the group replicated their learnings from KSK-FTP by putting up a training center for those who wanted to learn more about high-value crop, organic agriculture and even herb growing.

CRYSTAL-CLEAR LAGOON A local visitor enjoys a refreshing dip at the cool waters of the Edralin Falls in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya. The town’s upland terrain is blessed with hidden natural wonders. LEONARDO PERANTE II

Concepcion, Tarlac: A rising renewable-power hub in PHL

C

B A M | Correspondent

LARK FREEPORT—The town of Concepcion in Tarlac could become the “renewable-energy hub” of the Philippines.

Concepcion Mayor Andy Lacson said here on Friday that barring negative developments, the planned solar farms in his town could jointly add 140 megawatts (MW) to the national grid once they become operational next year.

Solar Philippines and Infinity Solar were among the four multinational groups cited by Lacson that are now constructing solar farms with a power-generating capacity of 45 MW to 50 MW. Solar has acquired a 50-hectare property in Barangay Santa Rosa, while Infinity has acquired a 45-hectare property also in the same village extending to Barangay Murcia. German solar giant Conergy Group, one of the world’s largest suppliers of photovoltaic (PV) energy, has also been tapped

to build the 50-MW Tarlac Solar Power Project on a 55-hectare property near Hacienda Luisita, Lacson said in the media forum “Balitaan” organized by the Capampangan in Media Inc., in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. and Social Security System, at the Bale Balita here last Friday.

Concepcion, Lacson said, has attracted a good number of prospective investors in solar farms due to its unique topography (flatland), making it an ideal and suitable location for the high-tech facility to harness the sun’s energy to generate electricity.

Once operational, the solar farms could generate an annual P20 million in additional revenues for Concepcion, the mayor said.

Lacson said that by next year,

they are keen on promoting the town as the renewable energy hub of the Philippines. He said by March 2016, the solar companies will have to begin their operation or the benefit that they will receive from the Department of Energy will be lost.

“So they have until the first quarter of next year to begin their operation,” he said.

Concepcion, the birthplace of martyred Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, has a current income averaging a little over P200 million annually, including its internal revenue allotment (IRA).

Lacson said the upcoming solar farms could bolster Concepcion’s bid to attract more entrepreneurs engaged in such industries as food manufacturing, merchandising, tourism, banking and other serviceoriented enterprises.

The town’s current main source of income and livelihood is farming and small-scale food processing, like its famous carabeef tocino.

But Lacson said this would change in the next three to six years given the growing attraction of Concepcion as an investment area. In the same forum, the youthful town executive also discussed the town’s financial re-

sources at the end of the first half of the year with a cash of P140 million, of which P110 million is accounted by the general fund.

Lacson said the available cash could easily finance the town’s second-half infrastructure projects like farm-to-market roads in barangays Santiago, Café, Culatingan, Pando, Parulung, Panlicsian and Talimunduk Marimla; 20 units of public toilets with water pumps; installation of LED lampposts in the 45 barangays and traffic lights in six barangays; new slaughterhouse; grant of P300,000 project fund for the 45 barangays; purchase of lot for the municipal cemetery; and the construction of a closed-circuit television central monitoring facility, as well as a new motor pool.

Lacson said the town will recommemorate the Ninoy Aquino statue at the municipal hall this coming August 21.

The late President Cory Aquino built the statue at the start of her term in honor of her martyred husband. The event is expected to be attended by the late senator’s family. Concepcion is a first-class urban municipality in Tarlac with a population of 140,000.

Pampanga village chief wants to regain lost territory

A

NGELES CITY—The prosperous barangay of Balibago was downsized to prevent it from eventually separating from the city and becoming a new municipality. This in effect is what Balibago Barangay Captain Tony Mamac tried to explain at the media forum “Talk Widus” at the Prism Lounge of Widus Hotel and Casino last Wednesday organized by the Pampanga Press Club in cooperation with the hotel.

Mamac said he intends to regain his village’s lost territory after it was gerrymandered during the time of Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin who was city mayor from 1998 to 2007.

Mamac said Lazatin’s action, backed with the non-opposition of then-Balibago Barangay Captain Noel Flores and the late Malabanias Barangay Captain Thelmo Lalic, has solidified the thenmayor’s gerrymandering move.

Lalic, a known close supporter of Lazatin, gained from the gerrymandering with the acquisition of new territory for his barangay which included SM City Clark.

Mamac said that when SM City Clark was opened in May 2006,

it acquired all its permits from Barangay Balibago.

Until now, Mamac said, SM Clark tenants unknowingly go to the Balibago Barangay Hall, less than a kilometer from SM, to get their permits only to be directed to Barangay Malabanias which is located in the downtown area or about 5 kilometers from SM. Mamac said it was also during Lazatin’s time when Barangay Pulung Maragul, located at the eastern border of Balibago, also gained the latter’s territory including Don Bonifacio Subdivision.

Just recently, the raging controversy over the location of the Capilion Corp. Pte. Ltd. project at the main gate of the Clark Freeport revealed that SM City Clark and the Bayanihan Park are actually excluded from the free port by virtue of Republic Act (RA) 9400 which amended RA 7227, or the Bases Conversion and Development Act. R A 9400 provides that the 22-hectare commercial area that is now occupied by SM City Clark and another 7.5 hectares covering the Bayanihan Park are excluded from the free port. Armed with

this information, Mamac said he intends to reclaim his barangay’s lost territory.

He said RA 7160, or the Local Government Code of the Philippines, states that the territory of a barangay cannot be altered without a corresponding city ordinance and a plebiscite. The law states that as the basic political unit, “the barangay may be created, divided, merged, abolished, or its boundary substantially altered, by law or by an ordinance of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan or Sangguniang Panlungsod, subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite to be conducted by the Comelec...shall be necessary.”

Mamac, who won his first term in 2007, said he is now studying his next move to reclaim Balibago’s lost territories. According to the law, “a municipality may be created, divided, merged, abolished, or its boundary substantially altered only by an act of Congress and subject to the approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite to be conducted by the Comelec…” The law also states that “a municipality may be created if it has an average

annual income, as certified by the provincial treasurer, of at least P2.5 million for the last two consecutive years based on the 1991 constant prices; a population of at least 25,000 inhabitants as certified by the National Statistics Office; and a contiguous territory of at least 50 square kilometers as certified by the Lands Management Bureau.”

Barangay Balibago has a daytime population of 45,000 to 48,000, which doubles up during nighttime and weekends since it is the main entertainment district not only of the city but the province, as well. The infamous Fields Avenue is located in the village.

Balibago’s land area has been reduced to only 160 hectares even as it presently hosts majority of the hotels in the city, Pagcor’s Casino Filipino, hundreds of restaurants, banks, malls and upscale residential subdivisions with an annual income of P23 million as of last year. Barangay Balibago has a higher income and population than at least six other Pampanga towns—Santo Tomas, Sasmuan, Santa Rita, Santa Ana, San Luis and San Simon. Ashley Manabat

A10 Monday, August 10, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Low inflation: Good or bad?

T

he government recently reported that the inflation rate—the increase in the general level of prices for goods and service—rose at 0.8 percent, the slowest increase in 20 years. By comparison one year ago the inflation rate was 4.9 percent and has been declining ever since.

There are several ways of computing the rate at which prices are climbing.

The most accurate in terms of impact on the consumer is to “price” a basket of items that people purchase from electricity to a new car. The items that are bought consistently and constantly are the most important. The price of the purchases in the “basket” creates the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which, one year ago, was at 140.8 and is now at 141.5.

Using the increase in the CPI as guide, prices are virtually the same today as they were at the same time in 2014. Computations and the method used by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) says that prices are growing at an annual rate of 1.9 percent.

Prices of just about everything that we need to buy went down, including electricity, housing and water. And most everything else was up only slightly at best such as alcohol and tobacco, clothing and footwear, and that burger you buy at the fast-food restaurant.

Inflation is a tricky beast to figure out, no matter what the government statisticians tell us. For example, is your burger price unchanged or even cheaper because the cost of preparing that food is lower, or is it because business is not good and the price was lowered to try to increase sales?

A primary driver of all prices in the Philippines is crude oil, and oil prices have decreased by almost 30 percent since June 1 and that is good for the economy. Low prices for basic items increase consumer buying power and that is, likewise, good.

But inflation is as much a psychological event as it is economic. If prices continue to trend lower over a longer period, people hold off on making major purchases in the same way you might wait for the shopping mall’s three-day sale to buy your new refrigerator. That is not good for the economy.

Further, if buying generally slows down, prices will fall even more as sellers lower prices to increase demand and sales. That may create “deflation” where prices are actually lower today than they were last year and are tending lower. Consumer spending can go way down and that is not good.

The world economy in many commodity and industrial sectors is in deflation and there can be an acceleration of deflation just as there might be an inflationary price spiral.

Economic policy-makers counter deflation by reducing interest rates to spur more borrowing and spending. But global interest rates are already at zero. Fortunately for the Philippines, we do not have zero interest rates and the BSP can lower rates to encourage us to buy more. That is good for our economy even if all the rest may be in for bigger trouble.

PCSO continues ambulance donation, branch opening activities Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

T

he Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office will be visiting Paete, Laguna, today (Monday) to deliver ambulances from the PCSO Ambulance Donation Program to the province.

Along with fellow PCSO Directors Betty B. Nantes and lawyer Mabel V. Mamba, I and other personnel of the agency will turn over 11 ambulances to the municipalities of Mabitac, Cavinti, Lumban, Paete, Siniloan, Magdalena, Kalayaan, Victoria, Los Baños, Calauan and Pila.

Through the Ambulance Donation Program, the agency gives brandnew ambulances every five years to local government units (LGUs), government hospitals and other institutions. The goal is to put a PCSO ambulance in every city and municipality that needs one.

Under the program, fourth- to sixth-class municipalities receive an ambulance under outright donation, while first- to third-class municipalities are required to enter into a 60-40 percent costsharing scheme.

All recipients must also show their capacity to operate and maintain the vehicle, which is to be used only for the purpose of transport-

ing sick or injured people to a hospital or health-care facility. nnn

Meanwhile, the PCSO w ill mark yet another milestone next week with the opening of the agency’s 48th branch office.

We will be visiting Tuao, Cagayan, to inaugurate a branch office there and turn over ambulances to municipalities up north.

It has been the policy of the PCSO board of directors since 2010 to extend the PCSO’s services and products to all our kababayan nationwide through the expansion of our network of branches.

The present board also has, over the years, worked for the reduction of overhead costs by negotiating with LGUs for the transfer of existing branch offices or the establishment of new ones in spaces provided for free by the LGUs, usually in their provincial capitol buildings or sports complexes.

This results in a win-win situ-

ation for both parties—the PCSO saves on costs, while the LGUs make the PCSO’s services more accessible to their residents for their benefit and well-being. This is just one illustration of the various ways government bodies under the Aquino administration display synergy to achieve common goals and objectives related to service delivery.

The expansion of the branch office network also allows the PCSO to offer its products to a wider market and provide small businesses and even microentrepreneurs with economic opportunities by opening PCSO Lotto outlets. nnn

The steady and unflagging perseverance of the PCSO’s personnel in both the head office and in all branches led to the increase over the years in the number of Lotto outlets.

Lotto in its various forms— Ultra Lotto 6/58, Grand Lotto 6/55, Mega Lotto 6/45 and Super Lotto 6/42—is by far the PCSO’s most popular game and delivers the bulk of the agency’s revenue, which from 2010 to June 2015 has amounted to P167.42 billion.

Of that amount, 30 percent by law is allotted to the agency’s Charity Fund, which provides the wherewithal to run the PCSO’s flagship program, the Individual Medical Assistance Program; the Ambulance Donation Program; and all of the agency’s other

medical-and health care-related assistance programs. nnn

Our recent visits to the Visayas and Mindanao have made me aware of how much infrastructure development is burgeoning in some areas there and bringing economic growth, business opportunities, and more jobs to their residents, thanks to investors who have faith in the promise of their potential.

We visited Iloilo last month, and were impressed by the scale of construction and the spread of urbanization. The city is bustling and vibrant; it is the de facto business center of Panay Island, with major private projects, such as malls, hotels, condominiums, and offices rising in many parts of the city.

A local businessman said that in his opinion, the surge in construction, business start-ups, and other forms of economic development occurred within the last five years—“within the P-Noy administration,” he said.

This shows that the matuwid na daan works, that good governance and anticorruption reforms are transforming the landscapes of cities, bringing jobs and prosperity to the provinces, which are ripe and ready for growth and development.

Atty. Rojas is vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

The US still needs 2.4 million jobs

By Mark Whitehouse Bloomberg View

R

obust US job growth is giving the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) the confidence it needs to start pulling back on economic stimulus as soon as next month, ending an unprecedented period of near-zero interest rates. Given how much healing remains to be done, though, don’t expect the Fed to move very far or very fast.

The latest employment report portrays an economy well on its way to recovery. The Labor Department estimated that nonfarm employers added 215,000 jobs in July, bringing the threemonth average to about 235,000 —more than enough to compensate for natural growth in the labor force.

The unemployment rate held steady at 5.3 percent, very close to the threshold below which inflation tends to become a concern.

By other measures, though, the US is far from fully employed. Too many people want a job but have stopped searching for lack of opportunities, or want more than the part-time work

they’ve managed to find. Using a method borrowed from the economists David Blanchf lower and Andrew Levin, we can estimate how many jobs would be needed to accommodate those people and get the unemployment rate down to 5.1 percent, the center point of what Fed officials consider to be full employment. As of July, this gap stood at about 2.4 million. That’s down from about 3 million in March but still a long way from where it should be.

The persistently slow pace of wage gains also indicates plenty of slack in the labor market.

Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory

employees were up just 1.9 percent in July from a year earlier, well short of the 3.4-percent pre-recession pace. Last week the Labor Department reported that, even with benefits, workers’ remuneration rose only 2 percent in the second quarter from the previous year.

The public statements of Fed Chairman Janet Yellen suggest

she’s well aware of how far the economy remains from normal.

Removing stimulus before the job market heals would mean giving up on millions of people who have yet to climb back from the 2008 recession and accepting long-term damage to the country’s productive capacity.

That’s not something she’ll do lightly.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, August 10, 2015 A11

When the labor secretary comes knocking. . .

Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

M

legally speaking

any employers are discovering, the hard way, the painful visit of the labor secretary. What exasperates these employers even more is the fact that these visits result in humungous penalties. Another sad reality is that human resource (HR) departments may or may not be aware of the impact these visits may have on the companies’ profits. More often, employers act on this matter too late and the huge monetary award, adverse to the employers, becomes final in just 10 days.

Are these visits legal?

The labor secretary or his or her duly authorized representatives, at any time, may inspect the company premises, books of accounts and records of any person or entity covered by the Labor Code and require the employers to submit regular reports and act on the violations noted.1

What is involved in these visits?

The labor secretary or his or her duly authorized representatives will access the employer’s records and premises at any time of the day or night as long as there is work done in the premises and exercise the following rights: copy the records, interview any employee and investigate compliance with labor laws, issue compliance orders, issue writs of execution, order stoppage of work or suspension of operations.2

What can employers do?

Before the visit. Ideally, employers can be proactive in avoiding a visit from the labor secretary. The key information required by the labor secretary or his or her duly authorized representative is the compliance with labor laws and social legislation.

There are priority establishments and workplaces, like those who are: engaged in hazardous work, employing child employees, engaged in contracting and subcontracting arrangements, Philippineregistered ships or vessels engaged in domestic shipping, and employing 10 or more employees. 3 Other cases that elicit the labor secretary’s exercise of visitorial powers are: when there is a SEnA referral4 and when a complaint is filed against the employer.

For the average company employing 10 or more workers, the usual information include: the payment of minimum wage, holiday pay, 13th-month pay, service incentive leave pay, overtime pay, Social Security System (SSS) contributions, Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

(PhilHealth) contributions and PagIBIG contributions.

Thus, employers can benefit by first assigning a specific person to be the custodian of this information, which can be a person from the HR department or payroll department.

Second, provide this designated person with copies of pertinent records, such as latest payslips, latest SSS contribution, latest PhilHealth contribution and latest Pag-IBIG contribution.

Finally, orienting all employees or company personnel, the janitor, guard, rank and file, mid-level managers and upper management, to refer to this person in case the labor secretary or his or her duly authorized representative appears at their doorstep. Employers should expect that the labor secretary or his or her duly authorized representatives can come at any time of the day or night, thus, a substitute person should be pointed to for employers who have night shifts or weekend shifts.

During the visit. Employers should maintain an atmosphere of professionalism by allowing the labor secretary or his or her duly authorized representative access to the company premises but always with a company representative by his or her side.

Keep in mind to check first the authority5 of the person entering the

company premises since it is a known fact that there are persons who pretend to be government employees.

By having a company representative monitor the visit of the labor secretary or his or her duly authorized representative, the company representative can personally witness and take note of the observations of the labor secretary and, if he or she is the person assigned as custodian of the pertinent information mentioned above, he or she can already provide the pertinent information, thus, providing more accurate information to the labor secretary rather than having to hear inaccurate answers from other company personnel.

After the visit. After the visit, the labor secretary or his or her duly authorized representatives will issue either a Certificate of Compliance or Notice of Results (for noncompliant employers).

As already discussed above, the key information required by the labor secretary or his or her duly authorized representative is the compliance with labor laws and social legislation.

Thus, in case of Notice of Results, the employer is given 10 days to correct the deficiencies by submitting proof of compliance with the regional director either before or during the mandatory conference.

Please bear in mind that the 10-day period should be observed when complying with the deficiencies. The person who will be authorized by the employer to appear at the conference or meeting should already be armed with either the duly filed compliance or compliance ready for filing. Appearance at the mandatory conference is imperative to avoid waiving the right to controvert the findings of deficiency.

In cases where the labor secretary or his or her duly authorized representatives are not convinced by the records from the employer, a Compliance Order is issued.

It is worthy to note that it may state an imposition for double indemnity for refusal or failure to pay the prescribed wage increase or adjustment. Double indemnity will cover unpaid prescribed wage increases reckoned from the time of the effectivity of the pertinent wage order.

The Compliance Order is appealable to the Office of the Secretary of Labor by filing a memorandum of appeal within a nonextendible period of 10 days from receipt and the appeal bond, either by cash or surety, equivalent to the monetary award.

Filing a memorandum of appeal in any other office, filing a memorandum of appeal without the appeal bond or filing a motion to reduce bond is not allowed, meaning the Compliance Order becomes final and the employer becomes exposed to execution.

In conclusion, the Filipino saying “daig ng maagap ang masipag” will definitely work for the advantage of employers when the labor secretary comes knocking.

1

Art. 37, Presidential Decree No. 442 Art. 128, Presidential Decree No. 442 Sec. 2 Rule IV of DOLE Department Order No. 131-13 Series of 2013 entitled “Rules on Labor Laws Compliance System 4 Sec. 7, DOLE Department Order No. 107, Series of 2010.

5 The person must be carrying a Letter and Authority to Assess issued by the DOLE Regional Director 2 3

Let’s kowtow to China ourselves Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free fire

T

homas Christensen, ex-US State Department consultant now Princeton professor, argues that a lot of what China does that is unpleasant is rooted in resentment at being bullied in the past. This argument is nonsense.

The Chinese Red Army beat the Japanese Army from the early 1930s to the end of World War II. It beat the Nazi-trained and US-backed Nationalist Army of Chiang Kai-shek.

And it bloodied the US and the rest of the United Nations in the Korean conflict, bringing that fight to draw.

It detonated its own hydrogen bomb within two decades of conquering the mainland and stopped all talk

at the Pentagon of using nukes in the Vietnam War. I was in Beijing when I saw the sun rise at midnight in the direction of the nuclear test site in Lop Nor. The Chinese have no inferiority complex, they bear no resentment, they just have ambition. Their middle class is larger than the US population.

They are about to bankroll a new world order called the Silk Route and they

are inviting us to come along. Africa is China’s Second Continent, Latin America too very soon. Christensen admits that only China has the money and technology to shape the postAmerican world starting today.

True, the Chinese military is still no match for the American but only if it invades California. So long as China stays in its pond, which is the entire South China Sea reaching into the Indian Ocean, no power can stand up to it without suffering intolerable casualties. The US knows this. So Christensen says, and I quote, “successful diplomacy is more about managing problems than solving them.”

We should worry about that statement. Managing means convincing the lion not to eat the American zookeeper who feeds the lion with the animals in the adjacent cages so it won’t eat him. Among them us.

Christensen says that the US must find a strategy that “accepts and en-

courages China’s rise to greater power and prominence but a strategy that also shapes China’s choices, so it foregoes bullying behavior.” But such a strategy requires the US to give in to China until China’s stomach is so full it gets up from the table.

Mercifully, China has a historic record of never gorging but eating only as much as it needs to keep fit.

The only issue for countries like ours standing in the manifest path of Chinese destiny and hanging on the tongue of the jaws of China is to make sure that when our sovereignty is reduced or lost, it is we Filipinos who will do the selling and the losing and not the Americans, Japanese and the joke that is Asean. That way we, Filipinos, get the commission.

The 21st is truly the end of the American century. When you’d rather talk than fight, you lost the fight already.

Liberals can’t admit to thinking like conservatives

H

By Megan McArdle | Bloomberg View

ow do we decide what is right and wrong? Psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s theory is that humans have a small number of fundamental, intuitive “moral foundations,” such as sanctity, loyalty, authority, fairness and an axis he calls care/harm. A corollary to this theory is that liberals tend to reason overwhelmingly on the fairness and care/harm factors, denigrating or ignoring other foundations that most other people consider as vital as the Big Two. In a talk for Edge, he once likened this to a restaurant that only serves sugar, or salt:

It’s a metaphor for how I feel when I read moral philosophy and some moral psychology. Morality is so rich and complex. It’s so multifaceted and contradictory. But many authors reduce it to a single principle, which is usually some variant of welfare maximization. So that would be the sugar. Or sometimes, it’s justice and related notions of fairness and rights.

And that would be the chemist down the street. So basically, there’s two restaurants to choose from. There’s the utilitarian grille, and there’s the deontological diner. That’s pretty much it.

For reasons that may be obvious, Haidt has become caught up in the culture war between conservatives and liberals, because his work reframes the abundance of social psychology papers that have been produced purporting to show that conservatives are horrible people, frightened, authoritarian and allaround downright awful. Haidt’s work suggests instead that conservatives are people who rely on a broader array of moral foundations than do liberals.

I’m an enormous fan of Haidt’s work. Nonetheless, I’ve always had two outstanding questions about it (and would note that these are not exactly questions of which Haidt is

unaware). The first is simply whether his surveys capture the actual moral reasoning that people do, or represent people pretending to do the sort of moral reasoning they think they ought to do. Take two of the questions he asks about purity. One involves brother-sister incest in which every precaution is taken to prevent pregnancy, and leaves both parties feeling pretty good about the experience with no long-term side effects on the family. The other involves a man having carnal knowledge of his poultry before he cooks it and eats it for dinner.

When asked if these two things are morally wrong, American liberals and libertarians would tend to answer no.

(Or try to get around the hypothetical by positing undetected harm from the incest, or the potential dangers of salmonella and/or freezer burn from the chicken.) And yet, I submit that if those people found out that a stranger exhibited such behavior, most would probably be less interested in becoming friends with that stranger. That’s a moral judgement, but cultural norms among the secular educated elite don’t give people any vocabulary to express it, and so they say that it’s not wrong in the first place—even though in the actual situation, they would probably still make a moralizing judgement

about it. As I wrote last year, “It is clearly true that liberals profess a moral code that excludes concerns about loyalty, honor, purity and obedience—but over the millennia, man has professed many ideals that are mostly honored in the breach.”

The second issue is simply a perennial problem for surveys that look at political and moral reason: What questions did you ask? If you give people a quiz on global warming, conservatives may look more ignorant and ideologically motivated than liberals.

On the other hand, if you ask that same group how many prisoners are in jail for nonviolent drug offenses, you may “prove” that liberals ignorantly and/or willfully underestimate the number. Another way of saying that is that liberals may indeed resort to reasoning from sanctity, group loyalty, and authority—but the questions Haidt has asked simply may not capture that tendency.

This problem occurred to Jeremy Frimer, who did a paper on how conservative and liberal attitudes toward authority shift when you shift who the authority is. “Together with my collaborators Dr. Danielle Gaucher and Nicola Schaefer, we asked both red and blue Americans to share their views about obeying liberal authorities (e.g., “obey an environmentalist”). In an article that we recently published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, we found that liberals were now the ones calling for obedience. And when the authorities were viewed as ideologically neutral (e.g., office manager), liberals and conservatives agreed. Only when people perceived the authority to be conservative (e.g., religious authority) did conservatives show a positive bias.”

Now Frimer has a new paper,

co-authored with Haidt, on sanctity.

And again they find liberals arguing from a broader range of moral foundations than Haidt’s work initially suggested. When it comes to desecrating the purity of a mountain, instead of, say, the American flag, it turns out that liberal mountain climbers care a lot, even though no sentient being is harmed by the action.

Of course, this is a limited paper: It’s a case study of mountain climbers, who, as anyone who has hung out with them can readily attest, are a wee bit different from normal folks. It certainly resonates with my personal experience of the environmental movement, and I suspect that there are other areas where we’d see sanctity take precedence over other moral concerns. But I don’t want to lean too hard on a single study, however well it matches my intuitions.

But if this result holds up, it brings us back to the first point I raised: It may not be so much that liberals don’t care about sanctity, authority, and so forth, as that they are culturally encouraged not to admit that they do. That may seem like a distinction without a difference, of course, but I don’t think that it is, because our stubborn moral intuitions about what is right and wrong are much more powerful than our logic when we make decisions. (Just try to get the average person to sit down and coolly reason through the discovery that their spouse enjoys the occasional fling at a conference with people they never see again.)

Coming at someone with utilitarian math when the problem is actually that you’ve desecrated their sacred space is a recipe for bitter and unresolvable conflict—and perhaps, for a culture war that no one is going to win.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, August 10, 2015

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Lawmakers vow to scrutinize FACTORY OUTPUT LIKELY RECOVERED ₧3.002-T budget for 2016

A

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

s the deliberations on the proposed P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016 starts today, several lawmakers on Sunday vowed to scrutinize next year’s budget.

House Independent Bloc Leader and Lakas Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte said the lower chamber should examine carefully the hundreds of billions of so-called Special Purpose Funds (SPF) of the Office of the President and other lump-sum appropriations that could be included in next year’s national budget that have been unscrutinized and unchecked the past many years.

“It’s our role to scrutinize the national budget for next year to guarantee that no funds are misused. We will dissect and analyze the contents of the national expenditures” program, Romualdez said.

Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay said so-called pork-barrel funds should no longer form part of

the national budget following a Supreme Court (SC) decision declaring the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), a lump-sum budgetary item, unconstitutional.

“The people were made to believe that this year’s national budget did not contain pork-barrel funds. We thought that members of Congress can only identify projects that need funding before the budget is approved. We should look into this to know the truth. How about in next year’s budget? Will there be pork barrels again?” Atienza asked rhetorically.

Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna, meanwhile, said the unconstitutional pork barrel and other lump-sum allocations have proven even heftier under the 2016 budget.

“So far, we noticed the P145-billion lump sum under the 2016 budget. We expect this to increase when we scrutinize the budget [some] more,” Colmenares said.

Party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan said the proposed record-high national budget submitted by the administration and up for consideration beginning on Monday supposedly remains “cured and littered with so much pork.”

“Lump-sum allocations were a central issue in the 2015 budget deliberations because it bred corruption throughout the entire government bureaucracy. These large lump-sum amounts, which they slyly concealed in various departments as SPFs, that do not go through public and congressional scrutiny, are the meal tickets of the corrupt,” Zarate said. The disbursement of SPFs is under the sole control and discretion of the sitting President.

“Yet, it is very alarming that in the 2016 National Expenditure Program, the SPFs increased by P61.7 billion [from 2015] and now amounts to P430.4 billion,” Zarate added.

“This is how pork is being kept alive by the Aquino administration.”

Zarate also said one of the lump- sum items, “cleverly dis-

tributed” to various local government units, has jumped 269 percent from P15.3 billion in 2015 to P56.5 billion in 2016.

“This is a blatant use of public funds to ensure its continued grip on power, and, this must be exposed and opposed,” Zarate said.

He said Bayan Muna and the rest of the Makabayan bloc members “will scrutinize in detail not only the pork-littered lump sums but all anti-people allocations in the budget.”

Earlier, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said there will be no limits to the amount of projects that district lawmakers can introduce under the 2016 national budget.

“It depends [on how many they want to introduce]. They can totally turn this budget around because they will be answerable to the people,” Abad said.

According to Abad, the two chambers still have the oft-cited “power of the purse” and to introduce projects under the 2016 budget.

Under the 2014 and 2015 General Appropriation Acts, members of the chamber are allowed to recommend projects to the the departments of Health, Social Welfare and Development, Labor and Employment, and of Public Works and Highways, and the Commission on Higher Education. This was the result of an SC decision in 2013 declaring the controversial PDAF unconstitutional.

The House Committee on Appropriations will begin its deliberations today (Monday) on the proposed P3.002-trillion national budget, starting with a briefing by members of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), the interagency body that sets the broad economic goals, expenditure levels and budget of the government.

Liberal Party Rep. Isidro T. Ungab of Davao City, appropriations committee chairman, said their panel followed the same calendar and sequence in coming up with the timetable of committee hearings and deliberations, except that it took into consideration the schedule of the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COC) from October 12 to 16 for the May 2016 elections.

“Hopefully, the plenary debates and voting on second reading on the national budget by that time [the COC filing] are already completed,” Ungab said.

IN JUNE–MOODY’S

By Bianca Cuaresma

T

he country’s industrial sector, as measured by the volume of production index (VoPI), was seen to have recovered in June after having posted a contraction the month before.

In its latest Asia-Pacific Economic Data Preview, Moody’s Analytics—the research arm of the international credit watcher Moody’s Investors Service—said Philippine industrial production likely grew by 1.2 percent in June.

While this represented meager growth, this was nevertheless a recovery from a downturn in March, when the index actually contracted by 3.1 percent.

Industrial production across the $262-billion economy last expanded in March, but quickly turned sour in April and May when the VoPI contracted instead.

“Philippine industrial production likely improved in June, after falling 3.1 percent year-on-year in May,” Moody’s Analytics said.

The research unit anchored its forecast performance of the local

Isuzu remains keen on CARS Program

I

suzu Philippines Corp. (IPC) said it is not yet giving up on its bid to be included in a government program that allows car manufacturers to enjoy fiscal perks amounting to P27 billion.

IPC said it is pinning its hopes on a provision in Executive Order (EO) 182, or the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program, which may allow more auto manufacturers to take advantage of it.

Arthur Balmadrid, IPC senior vice president for sales, said the car company wants to see some “flexibilities” for lower-volume models in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the CARS Program while it is being crafted by the government and the industry.

“Nasa EO ’yung provision na i-re-review nila. We’re hoping na ilagay sa IRR to give chance to other players who are locally manufacturing also,” said Balmadrid, adding that IPC wants one of its locally assembled truck models to be included in the program.

Balmadrid was referring to Section 17 of EO 182, which provides that “the review may explore the possibility of providing for new entrants intending to

PHL secures permanent rights to fly over Russia. . .

Continued from A2

“These artifacts are also very little known scholarship-wise, so with the opportunity to bring them to New York, we are holding symposiums that place the collection in the whole realm of historical scholarship.”

For his part, Ayala Corp. Vice Chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala anticipated the pride the exhibition will instill in Filipinos around the world. “It will give Americans and visitors to New York the opportunity to get to know more about our rich culture and I have no doubt that it will also give Filipino-Americans great pride to see these pieces from their country.”

BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said among the objects to be exhibited in New York are “pre-historic gold nuggets used as a form of currency. This shows we had a flourishing economy due to the barter trade.”

Ayala Museum curator Ken Esguerra declined to place a value on the entire collection that will be exhibited in New York. He described them as “priceless” due to their significance to the country’s national heritage.

industrial sector to the favorable impact of the adjustments in oil prices in the international market. “ The sharp decline in oilrelated production in year-onyear terms likely eased by June with prices recovering,” Moody’s Analytics said.

“Government stimulus will also lift domestic-facing food production through the second half of 2015,” it added.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported last month that the volume of production decline in May this year was due largely to the contraction in major sectors across the board.

“Half of the 20 major sectors reporting decreases in the volume of production index, five significantly contributed to the decline, namely: footwear and wearing apparel [-19.2 percent]; wood and wood products [-18.4 percent]; basic metals [-16 percent]; food manufacturing [-13.9 percent]; and beverages [-10.2 percent],” the PSA reported. The PSA will report the industrial production data in June on Tuesday.

PAL’s Bautista said it will be securing its own insurance for the transport of the gold objects, while Asia Society and other exhibit organizers have their own insurance for the collection.

In a disclosure to the local bourse, PAL Holdings Inc. said it booked a net income of P5.86 billion in the first six months of the year, a tenfold rise from the P560.25 million registered in January to June 2014.

In the same comparative periods, revenues rose by 14.3 percent to P55.94 billion from P48.95 billion, while expenses increased by 5.5 percent to P50.6 billion from P47.97 billion.

Passenger revenues rose by 15 percent to P47.17 billion from P41.01 billion as the airline’s passenger volume grew rapidly by 37 percent.

Maintenance costs ballooned by 47.7 percent to P5.55 billion from P3.76 billion, but fuel costs dropped by 21.3 percent, as jet-fuel price averaged to $88.37 per barrel during the period under review.

With a report from Lorenz S. Marasigan

eventually participate in the CARS Program a set of incentives during a limited transition period.” The review is set to be initiated in the six months following the release of the EO. Auto manufacturers that meet a minimum production volume of 200,000 units over a span of six years, or 33,000 units a year, may qualify for tax incentives under CARS. “Sales namin hindi umaabot ng 20,000 [units a year],” Balmadrid said.

Around 90 percent of IPC’s vehicle offerings are locally assembled. Category 3 and 4 trucks are assembled at its plant in Laguna, as well as its D-Max and Crosswind models.

The production capacity of IPC in 2014 was at 10,000 units, with total sales at 14,132 units. IPC’s light-duty truck models cornered 60 percent of the segment in the local market.

The CARS Program allocates P27 billion ($ 600 million) in fiscal perks for three four-wheel vehicles, over six years. The provision of incentives will depend on the local investments of a participant and if they could meet the minimum volume of 200,000 units. Catherine N. Pillas

San Miguel. . .

Continued from A1

had to absorb. Keeping in line with our key strategy of maintaining a diversified brand portfolio, SMB Hong Kong quickly developed a new portfolio of premium, craft brands.

Already, we have made big strides in beefing up our roster of brands,” the company said.

“Overall, the company maintains an optimistic outlook for the rest of the year, despite setbacks and challenges encountered in the past year.

We are confident that the programs we have in place, together with the commitment of our employees, will continue to bring our brands great success,” it added. The company recently acquired the nonalcoholic beverage assets of its struggling sister firm Ginebra San Miguel Inc. to diversify its revenue sources.

SMB was delisted from the Philippine Stock Exchange last year after its was unable to comply with the minimum public-float rule, mainly as a result of a deadlock between the two major owners of the company.

SMB is still listed at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.