BusinessMirror July 27, 2015

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special report

SOCIAL-DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GOALS UNDER PDP MAY NOT BE ACHIEVED

P-Noy to miss most of his 2016 targets

INSIDE

killing brands BusinessMirror

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D

espite the continued increase in social spending, there is now a low probability that the Aquino administration will meet most of its social-development targets by 2016.

Monday, July 27, 2015 E 1

Know when to Kill Your Brand

By Denise Lee Yohn

K

illing off brands is never popular or pleasant, but we should do it more often. Some executives may be reluctant to admit—perhaps for sentimental or political reasons—that their brand is draining more value from the company than it creates. They sustain a brand even if that means aggressive discounting, cheap licensing or other tactics that erode long-term value.

It’s not always clear when a brand should be killed. Profitability isn’t a useful metric. Most corporations generate 80 percent to 90 percent of their profits from fewer than 20 percent of their brands and many promising start-ups fail to generate a profit for several years.

A better litmus test for keeping or killing a brand may be purpose. In his book, Start with Why, Simon Sinek says that a sense of purpose should provide direction when deciding a company’s future: “Instead of asking, ‘What should we do to compete?’ the questions must be, ‘Why did we start doing what we’re doing in the first place, and what can we do to bring our cause to life, considering all the technologies and market opportunities available today?’”

Consider Blockbuster, whose first store opened in 1985. Blockbuster quickly became a popular provider of video games and movies for VCRs. But as Netflix and online-media channels developed, Blockbuster became obsolete. The brand died a slow death, with its video rental operations finally shut down in 2013.

Blockbuster’s managers should have euthanized that brand long before it sapped shareholder value.

They could have started another business—and brand—by utilizing the company’s assets such as real estate, technology and staff.

Or they could have sold off assets sooner when they would have been more valuable.

When dealing with a struggling brand, managers should ask themselves if it is staying true to what it was made to do. Is the brand’s purpose still relevant?

Can it still deliver on its purpose in a way that increases competitive advantage? If the answer to these questions is no, can the company pivot to a new purpose that uses its existing assets?

We all love a good comeback story, and corporate turnarounds can turn CEOs into stars. But sometimes the right decision is the more painful one. If your brand is struggling, take a hard look at your purpose, not just your balance sheets. Fulfilling a meaningful purpose in a compelling way can be as life-giving to brands as it is to people.

Denise Lee Yohn is a brand-building expert and author of What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best from the Rest.

Make Your TeaM Less HierarCHiCaL

By Chris Fussell

M

OST of us have read about elite teams, seen them depicted in movies or perhaps, been fortunate enough to be part of one. Elite teams win the big games, save lives in emergency rooms and fight in conflicts around the world. And organizations could once succeed by creating highly effective small teams.

The US military built itself around this hierarchy throughout the 20th century with special-operations forces. Senior commanders identified how and where to deploy small units, and young officers focused on leading the best small teams on the battlefield. This bureaucratic model was designed for efficiency and control. Controlling the flow of information between verticals was the ultimate display of power.

But in the post-9/11 fight against al-Qaida, the military realized that the speed of information flow and the interconnectedness of individuals created an entirely new battlefield.

Enemies who could connect with each other in near real-time were forming networks able to outmaneuver the military’s more powerful, but much slower, bureaucratic model.

Many of our assumptions about information sharing, leadership and communication needed to change. Where once information was compartmentalized between small groups, now we pushed the boundaries of sharing as far as we could. Instead of many individual leaders running individual teams, we began to connect ourselves as a broad network of units (or a team of teams, as we liked to call ourselves). After several years, we

could apply the force of a global enterprise with the speed and agility of a distributed network.

Every large organization needs to make this shift. A company used to be able to dominate the competition by creating an effective group of verticals. But today, leaders using the network model can quickly outpace those who remain focused on winning individual battles.

To adopt the network model, your organization must: Create alignment. Different teams can have competing strategic visions and thus, work at cross-purposes. Until you’re aligned, there’s no point in trying to solve more complex problems—because you won’t be working as a networked team of teams.

By Cai U. Ordinario

COMMUTERS HOPED TO BENEFIT IN TAXI, UBER, GRABCAR TIFF

The Aquino administration, now in its final year, disclosed that it has increased its social spending to over 10 percent in terms of real capita spending year-on-year in the past few years. However, the increase in funds may not be enough to enable the government to meet its own targets under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).

Continued on A12

Recruiting for cultural fit

By Katie Bouton

C

ULTURE fit is the glue that holds an organization together. That’s why it’s a key trait to look for when recruiting. The result of turnover due to poor cultural fit can cost an organization between 50 percent to 60 percent of the person’s annual salary, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

But, before the hiring team starts measuring candidates’ for these culture fit, they need to be able to define and articulate the organization’s culture—its values, goals

Drive inclusion and transparency.

In a complex world, challenges are often beyond the scope of just one functional team. The more people you include, the more perspectives and insights you’ll have to attack problems with speed and accuracy.

Lead with empathy. The era of top-down leadership is over. Bottomup, emergent intelligence will gather more creative ideas, and understanding the perspectives of those below you will help your network make better, more informed decisions.

All large institutions, from health care to corporations, must be as nimble and effective as an elite small team. Leading a team of teams will win the day in the 21st century.

and practices—and then weave this understanding into the hiring process. For example, if a strong sense of entrepreneurialism is one of your organization’s cultural hallmarks, you should ensure that potential candidates have a track record of thriving in similar environments It’s important to understand that hiring for culture fit doesn’t mean hiring people who are all the same. The values and attributes that make up an organizational culture should reflect a richly diverse work force. Here are some interview questions to help assess a candidate’s cultural fit:

n What type of culture do you thrive in? n What values are you drawn to and what’s your ideal workplace? n Why do you want to work here? n How would you describe our culture based on what you’ve seen?

Does it work for you? n What best practices would you bring with you? Do you see yourself being able to implement them in our environment? n Tell me about a time when you felt an organization wasn’t a good fit. Why? You can assess the candidates’ work ethic and style by honing in on the following:

n Do they perform best in a virtual environment or with everyone in the same space? n Are they more comfortable with a hierarchy or flat structure? n Do they tend to collaborate across teams or operate in a more siloed approach?

If you assess cultural fit throughout the recruiting process, you will hire professionals who will flourish in their new roles, drive long-term growth for your organization, and ultimately save you time and money.

Katie Bouton is founder and president of Koya Leadership Partners.

The more experience you have, the worse you are at bootstrapping

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By J.M. Olejarz

f a company wants to generate the most revenue, it should put its most experienced leaders in charge of its resources. Sounds logical, right? But a new study on Hollywood producers in the Strategic Management Journal reminds us that it’s not that simple.

The study investigated the interplay between a manager’s experience level and the type of resource that he oversees. financial, brand and human resources were considered.

Another important factor was the role of “fungibility,” or the ability to deploy a resource in different ways. (for example, cash, which

can be spent in whichever way you choose, is highly fungible; people, whose specialized skills limit your options for deploying them, are less fungible.) In the movie business, all three types of resources are at work on every project.

Studying 837 mass-market movies released between 1996 and 2003, the researchers collected data on the movies’ producers’ prior experience. All the movies were judged by their UU box office revenue.

The study found that experienced producers outperformed less-experienced producers when working with higher budgets and stronger brands—but got worse results when working with talented directors.

Experienced producers only got better results when working with less-talented directors.

Less-experienced producers outperformed experienced producers when working with lower budgets and weaker brands. fungibility also plays an important role. As they gain experience, managers become more skilled at using resources in different ways. But when a resource is less fungible, like a company’s specialized top talent, experienced managers may struggle to deploy it, and may destroy value in the process.

When working with top talent, it’s best to take a hands-off approach: offer general support, but otherwise let them do their jobs.

When working with less-experienced talent, being more actively involved will get better results. But the amount of resources matters too. The study found that experienced managers struggle to create value with fewer resources. Less-experienced managers tend to be better at finding ways to wring value from fewer resources.

So the next time your company has a resource-based project that needs a leader, remember: Depending on the project, your most experienced people might not be the best people for the job.

MONDAY MORNING

Chris Fussell served in the Navy SEAL Teams from 1998-2012. He is a partner at McChrystal Group, and coauthor, with Gen. (retired) Stan McChrystal, of Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World.

J.M. Olejarz is a writer-editor in Boston.

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

influencers Marketing BusinessMirror

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Editor: Efleda P. Campos • Monday, July 27, 2015 E3

What is an influencer? Part 1 PR Matters

By Millie F. Dizon

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EAR PR Matters, I work in a PR agency, and am fairly new in the business. Whenever we have clients that ask for proposals, they always ask us to include influencers in the mix.

I have to admit, though, that I am not quite clear on what influencers can do apart from the fact that they are celebrities or have many followers in social media. What is really an influencer?

How does one become one? How effective are they in PR programs?

Other colleagues also would like to know more about them, as this would be very helpful in our work. Thank you so much.

1

Personal motivation—work on connecting vital behaviors or intrinsic motives;

2

Personal ability—coach the specifics of each behavior through deliberate practice;

3

Social motivation—draw on the enormous power of social influence to both motivate and enable target behaviors;

4

Social ability—people in a community will have to assist each other if they hope to succeed;

Sincerely, Gayle A.

5

Structural motivation—attach appropriate reward structures to motivate people to pick up the vital behaviors;

Dear Gayle, Your question is quite timely because with the advent of social media, so-called influencers hve become part of many marketing programs.

In the Philippine setting, influencers are mostly celebrities or wellknown personalities who have a large following in social media. They function as brand ambassadors or as they say brand evangelists, to that help create brand awareness and image building.

Your question actually has two parts—1) What is an influencer?; and 2) How effective is influencer marketing? We will try to answer the first question in this column, and the second in next week’s.

The Business Dictionary.com defines influencers as “individuals who have the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of their (real or perceived) authority, knowledge, position, or relationship.”

“In consumer spending, members

6 of a peer group or reference group act as influencers. In business to business (organizational) buying, internal employees (engineers, managers, purchasers) or external consultants act as influencers.”

With this, there are many faces of influencers that remain untapped.

These include journalists, academics, industry analysts, professional advisors, celebrities and individual brand advocates.

Lifestyle editors in broadsheets can be considered influencers because it is a fact that the stores, res-

lived in the same address, they went to work together every morning.

Complementary personality and skills

TEAM MANILA: ONE PLUS ONE IS EQUAL OR GREATER THAN 2

TWENTY two years ago two cool college dudes from University of Santo Tomas Fine Arts decided to take their “group project” partnership out of the confines of college art projects into the world of real graphic design clients.

Brimming with a combination of naiveté, chutzpah and talent, they started their graphic design studio called Team Manila in a garage.

Today, the multidisciplinary graphic design studio remains lean with 12 people but their retail venture employs ten times that. This year will mark Team Manila’s 15th year in design and their 10th year in retail.

Adobo sat down with Mon first but after a few minutes with Jowee it felt like one of those couple quizzes where they got most of their answers synched. Effortlessly.

Did we mention that we read somewhere that business partnerships are like marriages? For the most part of their business partnership, the duo lived in the same townhouse even after Mon married. Jowee moved out only two years ago when he got married. At the time they

the Power to Change Anything, which was actually written in 2008 by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler.

The book is based on the studies of a handful of behavioral science theorists, including the legendary father of social learning theory, Dr. Albert Bandura, who have discovered the power to change about anything.

Through years of careful research and studied practice, the authors have developed powerful influence principles and strategies that can be replicated and others can learn.

The book shows how we can become influencers in our own circle by mastering the six sources of influence. These are:

JOWEE defines their collaboration, “Mon is very detailed.

May perfectionist side. Ako naman ’yung mas impromptu in terms of ideas. Ganun ang balance namin. Even dati pa lang sa school projects, s’ya ’yung makakapag-produce on time and on schedule. Kasi kung ako lang, medyo cramming ’yan.

[Mon has a perfectionist side. I am more impromptu in terms of ideas. That’s our balance.

Even when we were still doing school projects he was the one who can produce on time and on schedule. If it were me, I’d be cramming].”

They didn’t even need to sit down to define the work.

Mon explains that ever since they were in college, he was the planner. “Ganun na s’ya nangyari. Ako ’yung sa production. Naglalatag kung ano ang magiging plano, ano ang kailangang gawin, ano ang mangyayari [Th at’s what happened. I take care of production. I lay out the plan, what needs to be done and what will happen.]” They both said the roles just came naturally.

They start work by building from each other’s ideas and automatically their college “group project” dynamics take over.

In terms of their personalities, Mon admits that he’s mareklamo (querulous), while

taurants, and wellness centers they feature on their pages not only get some buzz, but lead to sales. Stockmarket experts can also be considered influencers because their picks are considered good investment options. Academics like Queenie Go Chua can also be considered an influencer because of the Kumon system that she has brought here.

We may not follow their lives the way we do with celebrities, but their thoughts and their recommendations lead us to make purchase decisions.

Joey is open-minded. Nary a heated argument all these years and they think it’s because they have the same work ethic, which Mon defines as “best effort,” and most decisions are made the same way they did in college—by gut-feel.

Trust

THE duo defines this as transparency. Mon says, “We lay all our cards on the table.” They do have formal meetings with their staff but mostly managerial concerns are discussed in the car on the way to work, over lunch or over coffee. They hardly disagree but when they do, Jowee’s solution is bigayan [compromise]. They give their ideas a chance. They try it and if it works, they continue. If it doesn’t, they give it a rest.

Blame is not part of their team’s vocabulary. “Work is work. Walang sisihan. Walang personalan [No blaming. Nothing is taken personally].”, they both declare.

When it comes to work, Jowee confines that he feels confident that his design will see fruition in the manner that he envisions when Mon is there for production. For his part, Mon says he knows for sure that with Jowee in creative, Team Manila’s designs will stay solid, current and competitive. The trust comes from their mutual respect.

They know they have each other’s back. Nothing can argue with 22 years of working in sync and going through all the business ups and down

In iA, Influencer Analysis says that “influencers are normal people who are often connected to key roles in media outlets, consumer groups, industry associations or community tribes. Influencers may not be aware of your company, but represent control of an audience segment that is important to your business.”

“Such individuals are not simply marketing tools, but social relationship assets,” it continues. “They may be the person for affecting key contracts, supporting new product releases, or part of a resource pool that

increases market awareness and industry shift before it happens.”

In an article for The Outreach Marketer, Kristen Matthews says that “the term influencer is not grasped as easily as it’s thrown around. It’s like everyone is ‘doing it’, but ‘doesn’t know how to do it.’”

That is because of the mistaken notion that influencers are limited to celebrities, as is practiced in the Philippines. But the concept of an influencer, actually has its roots in the social sciences.

I came across a book, Influencer:

Structural ability—ensure that systems, processes, reporting structures, visual cues support the vital behaviors.

As you can see, anyone can be an influencer. In next week’s column, we will discuss influencer marketing and its effectivity.

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the UK-based International Public Relations Association, the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for marketing and communications of SM, is the local chairman.

We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.

A smartphone is mounted on the glass of an Uber car. AP/Rafiq Maqbool

together. The trust extends to their finances, as everything is hating kapatid (fair division).

Shared vision

FOR now, they both have their eyes set on making Team Manila sustainable so they can both step back a little. The retail business created business opportunities but it did so with itinerant challenges.

Jowee is starting to build his own family. Mon is doing the same but at the same time also wants to get back into graphic design.

To this day, you can still find Mon and Jowee in the office from 9 to 6 except when either has to go to an outside meeting or attend to family matters. When these happen they never fail to let each other know through text or a call.

“Respeto lang [Simple respect],” they both say.

They started Team Manila because they wanted to tell a visual story of the Philippines to the world. “And, I think, we set something lofty like how can graphic design change the country for the better,” Joey shares. “Like when we travel, we notice how graphic design can help put order and influence pedestrian behavior, for example, through signage.

Mon and I believe that we want to do a project like that.”

This could also possibly be the reason Team Manila, through Jowee, was one of the prime movers in having the Philippine Design Competitiveness Act signed in 2013.

marketing

By Lorenz S. Marasigan E3

FINAL SONA President Aquino, in this file photo, delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) during the joint session of the 16th Congress at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on July 28, 2014. Mr. Aquino will deliver his sixth and final Sona today. Story on A12. AP/Aaron Favila

UPMG to HLURB: Scrap policy on property ads

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he United Print Media Group (UPMG) is calling on the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) to scrap a policy that requires property developers to secure the agency’s approval for all their print and television advertisements.

UPMG shares the concern of property developers that the HLURB’s Board Resolution 921, which took effect on February 14, will have an adverse impact on Philippine real-estate sector.

“Board Resolution 921 betrays an in-

tolerant view of business, and should be rescinded immediately,” UPMG said.

Because of the additional requirement imposed by the HLURB, property developers have seen a decline in sales since the regulation took effect. The group said it has also put consumers at a disadvantage, as they are effectively kept in the dark about property developments from reputable firms.

UPMG noted that the only advertisements subject to prescreening by the Advertising Standards Council (ASC) are ad

PESO exchange rates n US 45.3490

materials with superior or No. 1 claim, ad materials directed with children and ad materials with sex or violence.

Despite this, the group has indicated its willingness to work with the HLURB to effect necessary changes and offered to help the agency screen print-ad materials based on its rules and regulations.

UPMG has also given its assurance to the HLURB that will police its own ranks to ensure compliance with corresponding penalties for member-publications.

The group has proposed the forging

of a memorandum of understanding with the HLURB, similar to what it has with other industries. Even the ASC has expressed interest in partnering with the HLURB in regulating the advertisements of subdivision and condominium projects.

“However, the HLURB is lukewarm to these proposals,” UPMG said.

Because of its consequences, UPMG said the HLURB regulation could make the Philippines less attractive as an investment destination and discourage foreign investors from setting up shop in the country.

R

First of three parts

EFUGE was the word used to describe the cab when it was at its peak. It kept people away from unwanted dangers, such as armed robbery and snatching.

Taking a cab used to allow commuters—who want the luxury of being safe from harm and stress—to sleep en route to the office, or rest while traveling back home. But in today’s setting, one must be more alert of his or her surroundings and be more vigilant when riding a cab.

Mara Viola, a real-estate broker from Manila, used to feel safe inside a vehicle, until that Wednesday morning.

She flagged down a taxi at the corner of San Marcelino and Nakpil streets in Manila at around 8:45 in the morning to go to The Fort in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.

Habitually, she first asked the driver if he could take her to the location. He obliged after five seconds, she said.

Well-informed about recent rape and robbery incidents involving taxis in Metro Manila, she texted the plate number of the vehicle to her boyfriend, just to inform him of her whereabouts.

“On our way to The Fort, the driver suddenly turned left to an alley along P. Ocampo Street. I asked him why, and he Continued on A4

n japan 0.3661 n UK 70.3680 n HK 5.8510 n CHINA 7.3032 n singapore 33.1450 n australia 33.4679 n EU 49.8431 n SAUDI arabia 12.0924 Source: BSP (24 July 2015)

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Monday, July 27, 2015

News

BusinessMirror

BBL, 2016 budget high on Aquino’s last Sona Continued from A12

and further transform our country into a more lucrative venue for foreign investments.”

Pointing out that these measures were already in the advanced stage of legislation, he said the Senate will also push “key reforms on the delivery of public services— such as the bill establishing a Department of Information and Communications Technology [DICT] to develop ICT systems and enhance communication services, and the Pagasa Modernization Act, which would equip the national weather bureau with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.”

“We will be looking at a very busy six months ahead. We have agreed we will meet every two weeks to monitor the priority Legislative agenda.

We will work every day until the end of the year, except for a short break in October for the filing of the certificates of candidacy and All Souls’ Day,” Drilon said.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said both chambers of Congress are set to pass the FOI, the proposed 2016 P3.002trillion national budget,

the Bangsamoro basic law, amendments to the buildoperate-transfer (BOT) law, modernization of Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, and the creation of the DICT this year.

But they will still try to pass other important bills as well, he said.

Both chambers are set to resume session at 10 a.m. on Monday then conduct a joint session by 4 p.m. for President Aquino’s last Sona.

Under the Legislative calendar, the session is to resume from July 27 to October 9. It will have a break from October 10 to November 2. The session will again resume on November 3 to December 18.

The third and last regular session of the 16th Congress is expected to be cut short because of the 2016 national and local elections in May next year.

Importance

University of Santo Tomas economic professor Alain Jomarie Santos, meanwhile, noted the importance of these priority measures.

“The FOI bill basically proposes to safeguard and help the government fight

against corruption. It will promote transparency,” Santos said.

The Senate has already approved its version of the FOI while it is still pending for plenary deliberation at the lower chamber. The FOI is pushing for access to public or government documents.

Santos, however, explained that the passage of the FOI bill needs further studying.

Also, Santos said amendments to the BOT law will further strengthen the solicited mode of bidding out PPP projects. “Under the bill, any businessman or institution can build, operate, transfer shipping in the Philippines. The concern here is the flexibility of business management and business operation.”

Drilon also assured the public of the timely passage of the national budget.“We would pass the 2016 General Appropriations Act on schedule as we have done consistently under this administration, to ensure the continuous flow of funds for vital government programs and projects.”

Recto Mercene, Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz, Pia Quinto and Reicelene Joy Ignacio

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The Nation BusinessMirror

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Monday, July 27, 2015 A3

Soldiers, cops to guard site of President’s last speech

T

HE compound where President Aquino will deliver his final report on his presidency would virtually become a “garrison” on July 27. This, as thousands of policemen were ordered to guard the area surrounding Congress building west of the country’s capital.

Officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said the PNP will deploy a “considerable force” at the House of Representatives compound to keep thousands of rallyists at bay as Aquino delivers his final State of the Nation Address (Sona).

PNP Spokesman and Chief Supt.

Wilbern Mayor said a unit called “Force Kapayapaan” will deploy at least 4,000 policemen. Headed by National Capital

Region Police Office (NCRPO) Officer in Charge Chief Supt. Allen Bantolo, the unit expects the policemen to guard the stretch of Commonwealth Avenue and the areas surrounding the Batasan Complex, or around the 19-hectare compound. Mayor said antiriot personnel, K-9 dogs and soldiers in charge of defending the capital will also perform guard duties.

Bantolo said security arrangements

inside the Batasan Complex and the surrounding areas were finalized on July 24.

Bantolo said they have placed all policemen under the NCRPO on red-alert status as of Friday, as organizations announced intentions to hold protest rallies during the Sona.

One of these groups is the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New People’s Alliance), or Bayan. Its secretary-general, Renato Reyes, has said their contingent

will attempt to go closer to Batasan.

However, the police said they would only allow Bayan and other groups to marchonlyuptoCommonwealthAvenue.

Bantolo said the police will observe and implement the state’s “No permit, no rally” policy. While policemen were ordered to observe “maximum tolerance” with the rallyists, Bantolo urged protesters “to also conduct their activities within the limits of the law.” Rene Acosta

A4 Monday, July 27, 2015

BMReports BusinessMirror

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Commuters hoped to benefit in taxi, Uber, GrabCar tiff continued from A1 explained that we were deflecting traffic,” Viola said.

But, as the minutes passed by, she became more cautious. Sensing danger was ahead, she began to observe the driver.

“The most curious thing he did was to constantly look from his rearview mirror. I knew he was looking at me, and not at any car behind us.

He did it for about seven or eight times, then he suddenly glanced at me, which got me worried and, at the same time, I became more alert,” the broker said.

After three minutes, the driver was rubbing his elbows, as if he was doing something fishy.

“Then, I smelled something pleasant, something like vanilla, and it was so strong. I felt different after that. My whole body went numb and, at the same time, I felt dizzy,” she said. “That’s when I realized that I am being victimized by one of those bad taxi drivers.”

She immediately jumped out of the vehicle, which caused minor injuries. There were a lot of people around, she recalled.

“The people stopped the taxi from escaping. I was weeping from fear and pain. The people called the police, and we were brought to Arellano Police Community Precinct to explain,” Viola said.

But the police told her straight that her case is not that strong.

“The driver might have thrown the evidence away while the police were on their way,” she said.

The taxi driver escaped prison, but he earned the ire of social media.

Viola is just one of the thousands who have had bad experiences with cabs.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Winston M. Ginez said his agency has been tracking the movement of these criminal operations, but noted that only a few number of cases exist.

“It’s because people might be afraid to file a complaint, or they just don’t have the time to do it,” he said.

Aside from the incident that happened to Viola, the LTFRB has also received complaints on rude and obnoxious drivers, cabs that refuse customers, and even fraud.

Some drivers around the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Complex are charging overseas Filipino workers or even foreigners ridiculously higher fees than what the meter indicates.

Good apples, bad apples

Taxi drivers allegedly connive with Naia security, convincing passengers that there is a new “laminated tariff” or “dollar rates.”

A trip from the airport to Antipolo City in the east would cost about $55, or about P2,500, based on the fraudulent rate cards. Normally, it would take about P500 or less based on the meter.

Though not as bad as the drug incident, some drivers are just less compassionate. They are picky

‘Simple decision’

Taxis assemble at Makati Circuit to take part in Grabtaxi’s Drivers’ Day. ROY DOMINGO

when it comes to destinations, despite the mandate on their franchise. They even refused elderly and sick people who are in an emergency, just because the main road is flooded.

One incident, according to news reports, involved a taxi driver robbing a mother, whose son was flown to Manila to have a second opinion on how to treat the poor boy’s leukemia.

But there are good and bad

apples in a basket—so they say. Reports are also sprouting like mushrooms, once in a while, about honest taxi drivers.

Some found money, phones, laptops and expensive items left on their vehicles, and they were more than happy to return these highvalued items to their owners.

Open doors

Still, the stigma that the bad eggs have created gave the whole taxi industry a negative blow.

This led to the introduction of transport network companies, or TNCs, such as Uber and GrabCar, in 2014.

A TNC is an organization that provides prearranged transportation services for compensation using an Internet-based technology application or a digital-platform technology to connect passengers with drivers using their personal vehicles.

They will provide the public with online-enabled transportation services, known as a Transportation Network Vehicle Services, or

TNVS, which will connect drivers with ride-seekers through an app.

In a nutshell, TNCs are companies that partner with private-vehicle owners or even fleet managers to provide private taxi services to consumers.

But the introduction of such services was not as smooth sailing as it sounds. The LTFRB previously went against Uber for operating without a license. However, the company was able to find a loophole in the regulation, prompting it to sound off its interest in developing and modernizing traffic rules in the country.

The market players and the government met constantly to thresh out the specifics of the proposal to modernize Manila’s transport rules. The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and its subagencies opened up their ears to the qualms and issues of the companies, all the while reminding them that the final say will still be from the government.

And so they won.

“Ride-sharing services have provided the public with a decent, safe, convenient and reliable commuting option. We were, therefore, faced with two alternatives: one, to ban these services and take an efficient commuting option away from the public; or two, to regulate them in order to allow the public to continue enjoying those services within a legal framework. This was a simple decision to make. Obviously, we chose to do what would best serve the public,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said.

The recent issuance of new rules on ride-sharing operators is a recent victory for market players, said Michael Brown, the general manager of Uber Southeast Asia and Australia.

“We laud the Philippines for being so technology-forward and sophisticated in recognizing that shared economy is here to stay,” he added.

The Philippines is the first country to regulate app-based vehicle-hailing services.

“We’re proud to say that the regulatory framework we crafted is an excellent template for other countries to follow. TNCs, themselves, have described the Philippines as ‘technology-forward and sophisticated,’ being the first country ‘to create a national dedicated framework for ridesharing.’ The collaborative approach we took resulted in progressive regulations, which we understand is now being studied by other countries,” the transport chief added.

Uber Manila General Manager Lawrence Cua noted that the foray of his company to the Philippines in early 2014 opened up opportunities and choices to Filipino commuters, or the likes of Viola.

But the battle continues for these tech-based companies.

What happened to Viola during her unpleasant taxi ride that Wednesday morning could also happen to her inside an Uber or a GrabCar vehicle. To be continued

Think tank pushes agenda to manage natural resources A

multisectoral group said the next administration needs to institute a new environmental agenda and nationwide cooperation to properly manage the country’s dwindling natural resources for the sustainable economic benefit of the people.

Prof. Dindo Manhit, president of Stratbase ADR Institute (ADRi), said it is “high time that genuine stakeholders pushed for an environmental agenda, as we look forward to the next administration— an agenda that is truly responsible to the needs of our people without compromising sustainability for the sake of future generations.”

The Stratbase ADRi organized a forum with the theme “Advancing Sustainable Resource Management.” It was attended by the country’s experts from academe, mining industry and the private sector. Various issues contributing to the mismanagement of natural resources were discussed.

Prof. Carlos Primo “CP” David, Stratbase ADRi trustee, said there are several issues and legal loopholes that the next government should address, such as the scientific evaluation of biodiversity based on accurate baseline data to ascertain the scientific basis for nogo zones, as in the case of extractive industries, such as mining.

Under the present setup, David said the government allows local executives to give small-scale mining permits, even if there is no capacity at the local level to monitor the impact and compliance to environmental regulations.

Prof. Marlo Mendoza, associ-

ate professor of the University of the Philippines for Forestry and Natural Resources, revealed that the alarming degradation of natural resources has been unabated for decades.

To illustrate this, Mendoza reported that during the 1900s, the per capita of forest was at least 2.6 hectares per person, which further decreased to only half a hectare in the 1960s and now, with the population at 100 million, the per capita is down to a shocking 750 square meters per Filipino.

He explained that though they know the solutions, there is a very weak interface between academe and the aligned government agencies, hence so much science-based information is seldom utilized.

“There is also a weak policy and science interface in this country,” said the professor, adding that politicians have a stronger voice than scientists.

He further cited the big role of the local government units in managing our natural resources, but local chief executives won’t dare make a decision that they think will antagonize their constituents.

Artemio F. Disini, chairman of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, said sustainable management of mining resources “means sustaining economic growth and development in a sustained manner so that the needs of the people are met, as well as the needs of those who are yet to be born.”

“Since the requirements of man in terms of raw materials can only be drawn or mined in terms of the natural environment, we need to consider both the resources and

the environment on how it can be managed to provide future generations while also meeting the increasing needs of the expanding population,” Disini pointed out.

Doing this, he added, we need all the capital and the development activities and projects which will be laid ahead.

Lawyer Ysan Castillo, secretary-general of the Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship, stressed the urgency of an environmental agenda that integrates all sectors of the country and the need for government to upgrade the capacity of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Environment Management Bureau and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to strictly enforce existing regulations.

“We should have some measure of what is sustainable by practicing environmental economics that integrate statistics to determine the environmental impact for a given economic activity,” Castillo.

The forum is part of a series of discussions attended by the country’s experts from academe, government and the private sector to contribute inputs that will be integrated with the ADRi’s flagship project, called the Strategic Agenda for National Development. This would serve as a road map that goes beyond the sixyear political cycle.

The Stratbase ADR Institute Inc. is an independent strategic and international research organization that aims to deliver a meaningful response and contribute to the developmental debate in the country.

Economy

Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

Monday, July 27, 2015 A5

Electronics industry cuts export forecast

T

he electronics industry, credited for nearly half of the Philippines’s total export receipts, has revised downward its target for exports growth this year, prompted by weaker demand from the country’s top markets abroad.

Dan C. Lachica, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi), informed reporters of the slower growth target following a general membership meeting of industry’s member-companies on Friday.

“We just had our board meeting before our GMM [general membership meeting]. The new forecast is 3 percent to 5 percent [growth], down from the initial 5-percent-to-7-percent projection at the start of the year. There is demand softening driven by events in China, Japan and the European Union [EU],” Lachica said in a text message.

Japan is the country’s top market for exports, comprising a 23.6-percent share in the value of shipments in May, while China is the fourth largest, taking a 10.8-percent share of the total $4.89 billion of exports in

the same month. The EU accounts for 11.8 percent of Philippine export receipts.

Local exporters see the same scenario, as Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, president of Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PhilExport), echoed the Department of Trade and Industry’s dim outlook on export performance last Friday.

Outward merchandise shipments has registered a contraction of 17 percent in the May alone, leading to a 5-percent contraction year-to-date.

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

This can be attributed to lower revenues from semiconductors, machinery and transport equipment, wood

manufactures, electronic-data processing, and other manufactures.

The country’s top export, electronic products, also posted a contraction of 7.5 percent from $2.548 billion registered in May 2015.

Sta keholders said globa l events affecting the stability of the top export markets, such as the uncertainty in the euro zone and the rebalancing of China’s economy, as the major causes of the foreseen paltry growth.

However, the National Economic and Development Authority, in a previous report, said the Philippines’s sluggish performance is not unique, as major trade-oriented economies in East and Southeast Asia also posted negative growth, with Vietnam as the sole exception.

On the recently inked Information Technology Agreement (ITA) deal of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Lachica noted that while benefits are seen, the over-all impact on the industry must not be exaggerated.

“The WTO ITA would lower trade barriers among the signatory countries, lower cost and enhance competitiveness...but its impact on electronics is not as big compared to other goods,” Lachica said in a separate message to reporters.

Catherine N. Pillas

3 for P100 Assorted children’s clothes are being sold for three for P100 in street stalls in Baclaran, which is familiar for bargain hunters. NONIE REYES

Teachers ask P-Noy to include them in his last Sona

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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HE time is ripe for President Aquino to finally give teachers their much-needed salar y increase in his last State of the Nation Address (Sona), educators said.

Aquino, in his past five Sona, failed to mention the salary adjustment for educators, raising the question whether or not his administration really cares about the plight of the teachers.

Teachers on Saturday started a socialmedia protest, taking pictures of themselves holding streamers saying “Yes to salary increase” and posting them on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

They also changed their profile pictures with the same message.

“We are fully supporting the call for a salary increase for our teachers. It’s been five years since Aquino assumed the presidency, but there was not even a slight mention of our plight. We deserve the increase than politicians,” a public high-school principal, who sought anonimity, said.

Teachers also declared their massive participation in a big mobilization in time for the last Sona of Aquino, under the call

for salary increase and for the junking of the administration’s K to 12 Program.

Rep. Antonio Tinio of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party-list stressed that the president had made it clear in his past five years of service that teachers are not in his priority list.

Tinio is the author of House Bill 245, seeking to peg the entry pay of public elementary and high-school teachers from P18, 549 to P25, 000, and from P9, 000 to P16, 000 for nonteaching personnel per month.

Benjamin Valbuena, ACT national chairman, said the social-media protest is to register the teachers’ long standing call for a just and decent pay.

“It is the policy of the state that education receives the highest priority in governance, and that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Despite this constitutional provision, our state colleges and universities’ teaching personnel continue to suffer from the meager salary the state is affording them,” he said.

The Consitution provides for the state to enhance the right of teachers

to professional advancement.

Nonteaching academic and nonacademic personnel shall also enjoy the protection of the state.

“The state shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education and ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment,” the 1987 Constitution stated.

Valbuena stressed: “Entry pay for public school teachers is still nailed at P18,549 a month, an amount which is way below as compared to the Family Living Wage of P31,620. This situation deprived them a decent and dignified standard of living.”

“In order for them to attend to the families’ basic needs, such as housing, health and education, many college instructors and professors have left the teaching profession already to seek greener pastures abroad. In the United States, a Filipino teacher with at least three years of teaching experience receives around P168,000 to P336,000 per month. In Thailand, a Filipino teacher receives P46,493 a month at the minimum. Definitely, these pay levels are much higher as compared here in the Philippines,” he added.

Expressway operators reiterate call for adjustment in toll rates

E

XPRESSWAY operators are demanding the government to implement their toll adjustments so they will have the financial muscle to continue improving the thoroughfares they are running. They made the call as the government seems to be deaf to their requests.

Two state officials, however, clarified that the government is considering two other options to compensate their investments: either extend their concession agreements or provide direct compensation.

Instead of increasing toll collected by expressway companies, the government is now looking at two options to lessen the already heavy brunt that Filipinos carry everyday, Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson and Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) Executive Director Edmundo O. Reyes said in separate interviews.

“One option is to pay the company whatever it used to improve the road so it will not have an impact on the tariff. In effect, it will be handled by the national government,” Singson said.

He cited, for example, what the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) did for the newly opened Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway.

With the construction of the aforesaid tollroad, the South Luzon Expressway (Slex), he explained, needed to add a fifth lane to accommodate the projected increase in traffic.

Hence, instead of allowing the company to raise toll and pester the consumers with higher rates, the government shelled out P200 million to shoulder the cost of the construction of the additional lane.

“There was an additional variation order, and the decision was rather than to pass this on the consumers, we at the DPWH shouldered it through a budget,” the Cabinet official said.

Another option is to extend the concession agreement, he added.

Reyes, however, clarified that these are all still under study. Nothing, he said, is concrete, yet.

“We will have to wait for the decision of the TRB Board. Hopefully, we'll decide on how to move forward and provide as many options as possible soon,” the chief of the regulatory body said.

The options, he said, will remain on the table, despite the standing toll adjustment petitions from companies, like the Manila North Tollways Corp.

“What is important to consider is the legal basis of the action,” he said.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., whose companies operate the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex), the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex), and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (Sctex), has three standing petitions for toll adjustment before the TRB. It is seeking to adjust rates by 15 percent for the Nlex, 25 percent for Cavitex and 19 percent for Sctex.

The petition for Nlex, for example, has been snubbed for three years now.

The first petition was due on the first of January 2013. The second one, submitted on the 30th of September last year, would bring the cumulative toll-rate adjustment to 15 percent, of which 12 percent is long overdue.

The concession that the Pangilinan-controlled company holds allows for toll adjustments every two years.

Metro Pacific is the largest toll-road operator in the Philippines. It recently bagged the Cavite-Laguna Expressway deal from the public works agency.

The operators of Slex and Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (Star) withdrew their petitions in 2014, saying they need to “review and verify” their filings.

South Luzon Tol lway Cor p. and Star Infrastr ucture Development Cor p. sought for a 33 -percent increase in rates for the Slex, and 16 percent for Star.

The last time all toll roads in the Philippines adjusted their rates was in 2011. Lorenz S. Marasigan

briefs DOTC TO OBEY COA ORDER ON LICENSE PLATES MalacaÑang on Sunday affirmed that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is bound to obey a Commission on Audit (COA) order, suspending the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) P3.8-billion project earlier questioned by Senate probers that require vehicle owners to buy new license plates.

Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said all government agencies are required by law to comply with an order from the independent commission. He cited the need to review the details surrounding the questioned P3.8-billion transaction earlier awarded to a Filipino firm with a Dutch partner. The Palace, he said, would likely get more details from the LTO on the questioned project.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto had earlier raised questions of “propriety” surrounding the implementation of the P3.8-billion new license plate project awarded by the DOTC-LTO to the JKG Power Plates Joint Venture and Dutch Firm J. Knieriem BV-Goes on July 23, 2013. Butch Fernandez

DBM HAS NEW SCHEME TO END BUDGET WOES

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said lingering concerns on misuse of lump-sum funds in the national budget will be addressed by the proposed Public Fiscal Management (PFM) law that seeks to consolidate annual allocation for specific programs.

He said the Department of Budget and Management has lined up fiscal reform measures to improve transparency and accountability in governance.

He said these measures are integrated in the proposed PFM law that also addresses the concerns on credible transparency reporting. One of the measures include the creation of an Office of the Comptroller General that will consolidate the financial accounts of government agencies. Estrella Torres

WORKERS’ PLIGHT WORSENED UNDER P-NOY

Poverty, hunger and human-rights violations characterize President Aquino’s five-year administration and daang matuwid (straight path) mantra, the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) said on Sunday.

Since Aquino took office in July 2015, the group recorded 554 cases of trade union and human-rights violations, and contrary to Aquino’s promise to end human-rights killings, there were 24 victims of extrajudicial killings among the workers and the urban poor.

“Workers were burdened not only by mounting pressure from work, but were also met with heightened political repression. Cases of harassment, fabrication of criminal charges, detention, and physical assault, totaling to 1,650 recorded victims from 2010 to 2015,” the group said in a statement.

Tourism BUENAVIS AN ISLAND WITH A A6 Monday, July 27, 2015 • Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

ISLAND view from a distance

THRIVING coral reefs

FINE white cottony sand at the beach

T

S  P  H D. T

HE Island Garden City of Samal is composed of several islands, with Samal as the biggest among them all. You can’t go to other islands unless you go first to Samal, which is home to some of the most beautiful beach resorts in the country, including the Pearl Farm.

Aside from Samal, I had been to other islands, particularly Talikud (which has been touted as the next Boracay), and Malipano. Another island I really want to go is the Vanishing Island, which emerges only during low tide.

Recently, I had the opportunity of visiting Little Ligid Island (the adjacent island is called the Big Ligid). I wasn’t alone, though. I was together with other journalists and bloggers based from Davao City.

The 4-hectare island is a perfect place to go for some island adventure.

It has a beautiful view, especially the one that is facing the Pacific Ocean. It’s no wonder why the owners, the Ayalas, named it as The Island Buenavista (the latter comes from two Spanish words, buena for “good” and vista for “view”).

If one of your dreams is to swim in a white-sand beach with crystalclear waters and far from the madding crowd, then The Island Buenavista is a dream come true. As you loiter around the island, you can take refuge under the shade of coconut trees (they don’t bear nuts, so you are safe wherever you go), and feel the sun-kissed cottony sands. The nonchalant breeze from the sea cools your warm body.

Not far from the beach, you can enjoy watching the ecologically fragile coral reefs. The waters are teemed with marine life, which makes the island a remarkable haven for those who love diving.

On a clear day, you can go at the gazebo and stay there while having a communion with nature. Watch the adjacent island while sipping a cold pineapple juice or eating some Filipino delicacies.

As the day is set to end, take a glimpse of the pastel sunset. You can sit there and relax while gazing up to a velvet canopy of brilliant stars and silvery moon.

Prof. Armando A. Mortejo, a professor from the Holy Cross of Davao City, visited the place for the first time and said, “I fell in love with the island. [It is] very relaxing.”

Gigie R. Arcilla, a journalist who works abroad and recently returned to Davao, considered the visit as “stress reliever.” She explained, Hindi alas-tres ang ang oras ko ngayon. [My schedule today is not tied up at 3 p.m.]

Admittedly, I had been wanting to visit this island since fellow travelogue writer Jojie Alcantara described the place as sort of “Amanpulo.” Yes, that luxury beach hotel in Palawan where you can enjoy scuba diving and snorkeling on a private island.

The Island Buenavista is the Davao region’s counterpart. With a fixed rate for a night’s stay (a maximum of 10 persons), you can have the whole island. They say that the island gives a new dimension to the word “privacy” and “exclusivity,” since guests may “own” the island for a certain period.

It can happen that there’s nobody else on the island, except you and the Buenavista staff.

Going to The Island Buenavista from Davao City takes about almost an hour. Ferry from Sasa whart to Babak in Samal takes about 15 minutes. Land transport from Babak to Anamarina, the exclusive jump-off, is 20 minutes.

It takes another 15 minutes or so from Anamarina to the island.

A PERFECT place for kayaking

SWIMMING pool at the center of the island

THE author in one of the beach huts

m&Entertainment IBA CELEBRATES LOCAL HERITAGE STA A VIEW

tourism@businessmirror.com.ph • Monday, July 27, 2015 A7

PAYNAUEN Duyan Festival Queen

Photos by Gigi Paler

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HE municipality of Iba, the capital town of Zambales, recently celebrated the Paynauen Duyan Festival as part of the town’s annual foundation-day observance.

“Paynauen” is the ancient Zambal name of Iba, which meant place of relaxation, which was located by the banks of Bancal River, while duyan refers to the indigenous hammocks used by the natives.

Indigenous Ayta tribes were among the township’s early settlers who lived in the hinterlands and in the vicinity of Mount Pinatubo area.

Incepted in 2005, the Paynauen Duyan Festival rediscovers the origins of the town to give local folks a sense of history and pride of place.

The focus of the weeklong festivity is the street parade, which showcased dancers garbed in pre-Spanish costumes depicting precolonial livelihood activities, such as foraging, hunting, agriculture and fishing.

One of the event’s highlights is the coronation of Gng. Paynauen International, which crowned the ambassadress of goodwill and tourism of Iba overseas. US-based Annabelle Macadaan Ramos Agliam was crowned by Miss International 2005 Precious Lara Quigaman.

Present-day Iba was established in 1611 by the Spanish colonizers and was named such because of the abundance of kamias or iba trees in the locality. In 1860 the town’s administration was turned over to the Dominican priests until the civil government took over.

It was later made the cabecera of Zambales, because of its strategic location being on the central part of the province.

On August 28, 1901, American Civil Gov. William Howard Taft held the historic session of the Second Philippine Commission at the Saint Augustine Church in Iba, formally establishing the Province of Zambales under the United States government.

The postcard-pretty Saint Augustine Cathedral, the seat of Roman Catholic Diocese, takes pride in its ecclesiastical museum, which is a repository of the church’s religious history.

Situated by the coast of the West Philippine Sea, Iba is regarded as the “Beach Capital of Northern Luzon” with its 6-kilometer stretch of fine gray sand ideal for various water sports and beach activities.

AGNAYA Beach in Iba

SAINT Augustine Cathedral of Iba SUNSET at Iba beach

PAYNAUEN Duyan Street Dancing Parade

It also takes pride in its breathtaking golden sunsets framed in the horizon of the sea on the west, and the undulating Zambales Ranges on the east.

The birthplace of former President Ramon Magsaysay, Iba has a

couple of ancestral homes, namely, the Trinidad and Camara houses, which have survived the ravages of time, and serve as living museums, giving visitors a glimpse of the genteel lifestyle of Zambales.

TRINIDAD ancestral house

DAVAO AIMS FOR WORLD-CLASS TOURISM SERVICES

D

AVAO is improving its tour-guide services to attract more visitors, create more jobs and put the province on the map as a global travel destination.

“Davao is considered as one of the safest cities globally, with some of the world’s most beautiful beaches, best seafood and amazing ecotourism attractions,” said GeneRose Tecson, president of the Guide Union for Inbound Destination and Ecotourism Inc. (GUIDE) “Tour guides are recognized as important ambassadors and, by providing them with world-class training, we hope to take a big step toward making Davao one of the region’s most desirable cities for tourists.”

To upgrade the quality of its services, GUIDE Davao recently concluded a series of training program on tour-guiding services using the tourism-skills grant from the Department of Tourism (DOT). Funded by the government of Canada and administered by Asian Development Bank (ADB), under the Philippines Improving Competi-

tiveness in Tourism (PICTourism) program, it was designed to support the government’s effort to achieve inclusive growth and create employment opportunities in tourism.

“More than providing financial assistance to support professional skills training, the grant will usher in jobs and opportunities for growth for young Davaoeños,” Tecson said. “Using what we learned from the training, we seek to expand training and mentoring to junior tour guides in various cities and municipalities in the Davao region and help develop a new breed of tourism industry workers.”

Tecson said that, while members of their group are licensed and accredited by the DOT and have received previous trainings, they seek to benefit from more relevant training courses to achieve worldclass status. With the help of the skills grant, they conducted workshops on personality development, quality in communications, security awareness, train the trainers and professional tour guiding.

For Personality Development, Quality in Communications and Train the Trainers, the group enlisted the services of Davaobased Joji Ilagan Career Center Foundation Inc. Meanwhile, to improve their skills on tour-guiding techniques, the group was trained by US-based multilingual tour manager and tourist-guide trainer Maricar Donato.

As a result of the trainings, GUIDE Davao generated more awareness on its group, increasing its membership by up to almost 50 percent. With the help of DOT-ADB-Canada grant, GUIDE Davao hopes to improve its services and training programs to align with the standards of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Tourism, as well as the newly implemented standards of the DOT. GUIDE Davao also hopes to become a key driving force in making Davao known more globally, with tour guides as the province’s fifth icon. Davao is best known for its durian fruit, the waling-waling orchid, Mount Apo and the Philippine Eagle.

TOUR guides in training

TheElderly

A8

Monday, July 27, 2015 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

PHL lacks facilities to support homeless elderly

By Faye Carreos and Lea Salvosa | Special to the BusinessMirror

D

Conclusion

AISY Caber, a social worker from Golden Reception and Action Center for the Elderly and other Special Cases (Graces), said Graces has admitted clients as far as the Cordillera Administrative Region due to lack of facilities.

In Quezon City alone, with a senior-citizen population of almost 152,000, there are only two recognized elderly homes, one of which is Graces.

Fundacion de Oro del Credo, situated in Fairview, Quezon City, is a private institution.

Tucked behind one of largest shopping malls in the country is Graces, a humble haven, which serves as a temporary home for the abandoned, neglected, lost and unattached. Here, they find a home among people who have

Quezon City Eye Center official says PhilHealth figures are bloated

suffered a similar fate.

More than enduring decrepit facilities inher ited by Graces from Golden Acres, the desolation of the elderly continues with the collective experience within the institution.

The elderly, given their wealth of experience and wisdom, never run out of stories to tell and most of them look for someone who would listen to their tales.

Especially in Graces, where the clients were abandoned or suffered neglect, companionship

remains a premium. However, with the clear shortage of social workers in the facility, it is almost impossible to entertain every possible story stored inside what’s left of the elderly’s untarnished memories.

“They require a lot for attention, and you really need a lot of patience.

It is tough because everything for them is urgent and we [social workers] have to let them understand that they’re not the only ones we’re handling,” she said.

There are only five social workers in Graces: The nursing home’s officer in charge, a supervisor and three full-time social workers.

Caber herself handles 58 cases.

Alonto, the supervisor, had to take over some of the cases to ease off the load from the other social workers.

“I consider this a call of service because of the shortage of social workers who [have] interest in this [sector],” Alonto said.

Adding to the dilemma are the various demands of the elderly that require attention. Caber said that working with the elderly sector is a challenge, given the

demanding nature of the people within the sector. Coming from different backgrounds, the elderly are accustomed to their own lifestyles and some even experience a culture shock upon admission to the care facility.

“There are some clients, especially the walk-ins, who think that the life inside an institution is easy. Some people even inquire about admitting their relatives to the institution and we tell them that it’s not always the solution,” Caber said.

More impor ta nt, w it h t he rising number of abandonment cases in the country, the number of senior citizens admitted in Graces steadily increases. As numbers go beyond the target number of clients for the year, as anticipated during the budget planning for the fiscal year, the first to run out are supplies and basic commodities.

Graces, being originally a diagnostic, assessment and temporary shelter only, survives with a limited budget from the government, which is more often than not, insufficient to provide for

Lost hearing did not cause loss of Len’s zest for life

LEN works with other beauticians at Remy’s Beauty Lane at the shopping center in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus.

Story & Photo

by Justine Anjanique P. Jordan

A

T the age of 63, Len continues to work in the boisterous environment of a salon. Chatter among beauticians, audio on the television and the whir of hairdressing equipment are all crammed into the studiosized room.

Yet, despite working in that salon for years, Len has heard none of these noises.

One Thursday morning, as Len stroked this customer’s nails with red paint and great focus, I kept trying to get her attention, but to no avail.

Edith Traballo, a colleague and self-proclaimed “best friend” of Len, then approached me saying, “Hindi ka maririnig niyan.”

Len had lost her hearing even before she started clipping and painting nails at Remy’s Beauty Lane, a brightly lit salon inside the shopping center of the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman. A beautician, she’s been doing manicure and pedicure at the customer’s instructions, which she receives and understands by reading their lips, for some 40 years already. She lost her hearing back in high school, when she overdosed on a drug that was supposed to cure her cough.

Going against the doctor’s advice, which was to use only half the bottle of the prescribed medicine a day, the nurse of a health center in Camalig, Albay, told Len it

was all right to use up the entire bottle, just once, but that if she wanted to, Len could consult the doctor before she agreed to the nurse’s suggestion.

“Ang sabi sa’kin, pwede namang ubusin ’yung whole bottle, pero hindi araw-araw. Sabi ko, subukan. Nasubukan,” she said.

Len was living with her grandmother at the time. Her mother died when she was little and her father, who died much later, was barely visible to her and her five siblings as they grew up and got older. So, Len found it difficult to open up about the situation to her lola, her guardian, especially with the friendship of her grandmother and the nurse in the way.

Rachel Hernandez, a caregiver at Ayala Alabang and a graduate of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, said the reason why some nurses give their own medical advice, despite the doctor’s instructions and patients allow them, is that they prefer the faster route.

“May nakausap din akong patient na sinabi niya na bakit nga ganoon. ’Yung sa kanila, uso ang shortcut.

Kung sa shortcut ako gagaling, e di doon na ako sa shortcut,” she said.

Len said her hearing worsened over the years, but that it significantly changed before she graduated high school.

“Medyo tumunog na ’yung tenga ko. Tapos nung tumagal-tagal, malapit na sa graduation namin, hindi na ako masyadong nakarinig hanggang naka-graduate ako, hanggang ngay-

on—grabe ngayon,” she said.

Len’s loss of hearing made her reluctant to go outside the house for quite some time, and it took a bit of prodding from her aunt before she finally agreed to interact with people willingly again, she said. Her aunt had hopes of her regaining her sense of hearing; however, it never came back, and not even hearing aids would do the trick.

“Hindi kaya kasi ’yung tunog parang gumu-Gong!” she said But her situation clearly did not hinder Len from getting a job.

“Hindi naman ako masyadong nahirapan kumuha ng trabaho kasi ’yung kapitbahay namin may sariling parlor.

Kinuha niya ako para magtrabaho sa parlor niya. Ngayon, pinapunta ako ng kapatid ko dito sa Maynila, dito sa UP. Matagal na ako,” Len said.

In the 40 years that Len has been working at Remy’s Beauty Lane, she built good friendships with her colleagues, some stronger than others.

Edith recalled how her chats with Len would be family and problems.

It’s not difficult to communicate with her best friend, she said.

“Kasi nung sinabi nila na lipreading siya, ‘pag magsasalita ako, haharap ako sa kanya. Haharapin mo lang siya para makita niya ang bukas ng bibig mo,” Edith said.

Although content with her life at present, Len said she misses the sound of the radio, as well as the sound of people’s voices, but nonetheless, she continues to move forward, bearing in mind the ephemerality of life through her parents’ death.

our life. In their most vulnerable years, this is the time when the elderly need utmost care and attention—and no situation, especially not the lack of attention and action devoted to resolve the issues of the sector, must hinder them from receiving such.

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Treating PhilHealth members is not a business venture–exec

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A

N official of the Quezon City Eye Center (QCEC) on Thursday said the amounts being cited by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) regarding the claims of some eye clinics for cataract surgery procedures were bloated.

QCEC owner Dr. Raymond Evangelista told the media after the Senate inquiry on the suspicious P2-billion claims of hospitals and clinics with PhilHealth, said he had documents to prove that PhilHealth’s figures were “grossly inaccurate.”

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

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

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

“As far as I know, the figures presented by PhilHealth to the Senate hearings for another eye center, Pacific Eye Center, is also bloated by P62 million,” Evangelista said during a chance interview.

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

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

the needs of the elderly admitted in the facility.

Food, one of the basic needs provided by the facility, remains a problem specifically for the elderly who have poor appetite and would sometimes request for items that are not available at the center.

“We are unable to give them everything,” Caber said apologetically. “What we have in the center, we give it to them because it is for them. We try to explain to them that we’re not being selfish; it’s just that the institution has limitations,” she said.

The facility, although subsisting on a small budget, continues to thrive through the help of donors, who take pity on the elderly and what they have to endure.

“We’re thankful that at least, we never run out of donors. We have a lot of visitors who are [moved] by the situation of the elderly. They provide us with assistance and it’s already a big thing since without them, we wouldn’t survive,” she said.

No one wants to be forgotten, especially not in the twilight of

HE Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) calls on accredited doctors and hospital facilities to focus on their mission of providing quality health care to patients and make the goal of earning a secondary one.

Dr. Israel Francis A. Pargas, PhilHealth officer in charge and concurrent vice president of corporate affairs group, said his fellow doctors should take the lead in proving that treatment of patients is not a “business” venture.

“We are calling on doctors and even facilities to exemplify more good examples of treating the patients as a ‘public service for health’ and not just really for the mission of earning money.…Kasi kung ang magiging perception sa ating mga doctors ay gusto lang kumita, ay hindi maganda,” Dr. Pargas said.

Doctors could still earn with dignity as they provide excellent, honest and quality service, which are really needed by the patients availing themselves of the benefits of being a PhilHealth member.

He said his call to the doctors and facilities was part of their effort to protect the fund of PhilHealth from certain allegedly unscrupulous physicians who commit scams to collect large amounts of money from PhilHealth reimbursements.

Background on PhilHealth appeal to doctors to not engage in giving service as a business: Recently some physicians and even hospital facilities were called for investigation in the Senate due to findings that some eye doctors (ophthalmologists) involved in the strategy of conducting cataract surgeries just for the purpose of collecting high amounts of reimbursement from PhilHealth.

Based on the investigation, it was also learned that some of the innocent victims were senior citizens who were brought to the hospital facility through the “hakot system” of seekers.

The seekers looked for senior citizens who were PhilHealth members and convinced them to seek eye consultation. There were also some findings that the patients who underwent cataract surgeries without their knowledge and were just informed that their eyes will just undergo checkup.

Allegedly also, there were also findings in the investigation that the cataract operation led to blindness and the doctor who conducted the surgeries did not have a follow-up with the patient.

What is the role of PhilHealth in the payment of eye surgery case rate?

Cataract surgeries are paid by PhilHealth under the in-patient benefits for every PhilHealth member.

For one eye cataract operation, PhilHealth is obligated to pay P16,000 to the hospital and doctors fees as a health coverage.

If the eye cataract operation will require both eyes, that amount will be doubled and become P32,000.

In the Senate investigation, there was also a case where a newly graduate doctor who performed the eye surgeries had made a claim of P36 million in one year alone.

How PhilHealth is safeguarding its fund/protecting member?

The investigation was called for after the monitoring procedure of PhilHealth noticed the rise of number of PhilHealth claims for eye cataract surgeries.

In the latest data of the most number of benefit claims for PhilHealth, eye cataract surgeries turned to be in the top four in the list. “These all came out also upon the monitoring and audit findings, which is an integral part of our function,” Pargas said.

He said that PhilHealth itself had agreed for the investigation as a protective mechanism to ensure that funds being paid by every PhilHealth member, and funded for by the sin tax revenue are not abused and misused on “questionable claims” and procedures.

He said that aside from the audit system, they were also intensifying their efforts in ensuring that repetition of such incidence would not happen, or if ever, the one behind it would be punished.

He added that right now, they had instituted some reforms like having “visitorial powers” to hospitals and facilities.

“With that visitorial powers, we have staffs checking on hospital charts, medical and financial records for verification,” he said.

He also said that it would also help if a concerned PhilHealth member participated in reporting if they know of some who were involved in planning, execution of scams just to collect higher PhilHealth reimbursements, especially on just ordinary illnesses, but turning them as complex ones just to collect big reimbursement from PhilHealth.

What is PhilHealth?

PhilHealth is a health-insurance coverage that provides health protection for its members.

It pays the hospitals by reimbursement the professional fees of doctors and other costs incurred by the hospitals and facilities, such as medicines used for the procedures done to the patient covered through the case rates. PNA

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The Regions BusinessMirror

Monday, July 27, 2015 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo A9

Duterte irked by North Cotabato solon’s order to assault evacuated Lumads

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AVAO CITY—A visibly displeased Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte described as “irresponsible” the act of North Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco to direct an assault on Friday to a religious compound that injured tribal evacuees, policemen, a pastor, and other religious personnel of a Protestant church here.

He said he would be only pleased “to educate her” on the proper handling of the affairs of Lumads and the politics surrounding the evacuation of the Ata-Manobos to the Haran compound of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP). “I would not like to ridicule your irresponsibility, but I would like to educate you, if you may, on the nature of the evacuation of these Lumads,” he said on his regular Sunday public-affairs program at the ABS-CBN station here.

Duterte blamed Catamco, a member of the Congress Committee on Indigenous Peoples, for the police assault on the compound which served as evacuation area for an estimated 700 Ata-Manobos from Talaingod, Davao del Norte and other tribal families in southern Bukidnon, who all sought refuge from alleged military harassment.

“I already told you and advised you to wait for me, because it is not a simple case of evacuation,” he said.

He said Catamco was adamant to proceed with removing the tribal evacuees, adding that Catamco “would not like the Lumads to be still there during the State of the Nation Address of President Aquino.”

“Let me tell you now that while there are Lumads who support the

government, there are also some of them who do not,” he said, explaining that the evacuees were among those being hunted down by government-formed militia and paramilitary members recruited from the tribal communities.

The latter, called Alamara, and based in Davao del Norte, were seen outside the UCCP compound, and many of them were also seen in a video footage smashing their wooden sticks at Ata-Manobo evacuees who barricaded the gates of the Haran compound. Leaders of Ata-Manobo evacuees refused to heed the order of Catamco to allow their members to go home, during a dialogue on Thursday.

Police later assaulted the compound on Friday, but were met by a line of tribesmen and members of militant groups, and a UCCP pastor said plainclothesmen pulled him aside and tore his polo shirt.

The human-rights group Karapatan said it would file charges against those who assaulted the compound, as the police warned it would also do the same. Duterte said, however, that police should be spared from being charged in court.

“I would not say, they were used, but they did it because they have to obey orders,” he said.

City hall sources said the city police were earlier directed to keep their distance from the Haran compound, but police sources also said it was the regional police command that gave the orders to assault the compound. The Department of Social Welfare and Development said they asked the police to help them “rescue” the Lumads. Manuel T. Cayon

Smart beefs up training of emergency response team in North Luzon

Correspondent

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LARK FREEPORT— Smart Communications Inc. has beefed up its capability to respond during disasters and rescue operations in this free port, as the leading wireless network tapped a local group to train its North Luzon Emergency Response Team (ERT) on driving four-by-four vehicles.

Rowel Selom, Smart area manager for operations and maintenance in Central Luzon and head of the ERT, said the Angeles City-based Club Overland off-road sports team gave “actual” trainings and lectures to their 22 engineers-ERT members along the Sacobia river over the weekend.

Selom said the ERT-North Luzon, which handles the maintenance and operations of Smart cell sites in North and Central Luzon, were trained on descending and ascending, river crossing, recovery and other techniques. Selom thanked the 40-member Club Overland, headed by businessmen Dale Nepomuceno Antonio, president; and JC Soliman, vice president.

“The ERT members were happy after the one-day training because they learned a lot.

We want to train better to help us respond well during operations as part of Smart’s corporate social

culled-out layers as broilers for meat purposes at the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal in Bambang town. Many prefer culled layers for their eggs and exotic taste. LEONARDO PERANTE II

Foreign chambers ask two carriers to build Davao hub

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By Manuel T. Cayon | Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—Three foreign chambers developing an investment corridor here have jointly asked the country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines and budget airline Air Asia to establish a flight hub to rev up trade and commerce in the Philippine south and help decongest the national capital.

Philip S. Dizon, president of the Davao chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce, said the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in

SMART Communications Inc. engineersdrivers undergo training on rough terrain and rivers along the Sacobia river at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga. JOEY PAVIA

By Joey Pavia

MOBILE POULTRY An enterprising tricycle trader sells

responsibility,” Selom said. He added that the Smart’s ERT was established in 2011.

“We realize that any time we can be used during emergency cases to rescue or bring help to affected communities during calamities and disasters. That’s why the ERT was born. We have the people, equipment, four by four vehicles and commitment,” Selom said. He added that they have satellite phones “in case cell phone signals are down or not available in the area.”

Selom said the North Luzon-ERT had responded during the recent deadly typhoons in Pangasinan (Pepe), South Luzon (Yolanda) and Laguna (Glenda).

Selom said the ERT based in Metro Manila and South Luzon will undergo the same training in Pampanga. He said the ERT in the Visayas and Mindanao will have its training in their respective area.

Soliman said their club was aided during the training for Smart engineers by Larry Mendiola, a champion driver, expert mechanic and respected trainer of four-by-four drivers. “Our group is lean because we want to maintain passion and commitment,” he said.

Antonio said “the training was necessary because there is a lot to learn and up to now we continue learning how to effectively drive four by four vehicles.”

Mindanao and the European Chamber of Commerce have jointly signed a letter on Friday here to ask the two airlines to put up their hubs here.

“This city is the nearest point to destination in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan,” he said.

The letter was drafted on Friday during the joint meeting at the Park Inn by Radisson here of the three chambers of commerce of the US, European Union and Japan, which also briefed 25 foreign investors to a visit of industrial estates and investment sites in the Davao Region. Dizon said the letter just asked them to “take a look at the possibility of putting up a hub here for their destinations in Asia.”

Dizon said the chief operation of Air Asia has communicated to them that he would meet here the representatives of the foreign chambers on July 30 to look into that possibility. The meeting of the foreign chambers here was attended also

by Ebb Hinchliffe, president of the

American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines; and Keisuke Nakao, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Mindanao, which initiated the coming of the mostly Japanese investors.

The European Chamber of Commerce and Julian H. Payne, the president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce also came here to witness the briefing of the investors.

Payne signed up interest to explore the likelihood of making the underutilized international airport here as their hub for Asian flights, the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. said.

Davao City is currently a hub of Cebu Pacific Air, but only for some domestic destinations. Silk Air has an existing Davao City to Singapore flight, and for some period, the city also served the missionary route to Manado in Indonesia.

Nueva Ecija town mayor, 6 other execs suspended by Ombudsman T

ALUGTUG, Nueva Ecija— The mayor of this town, who recently succeeded the elected chief executive for being dismissed by the Ombudsman, found himself in deep trouble after the same office imposed upon him, along with some municipal councilors, a 90-day suspension over alleged grave abuse of authority, grave misconduct and dishonesty.

Town Mayor Reynaldo Cachuela, and councilors Flora F. Cinense, Maximo B. Ancheta Sr., Maximo T. Ulzano, Philip F. Bilegra and Leo G. Monta, all of the Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija (Balane) and Sangguniang Bayan (SB) secretary Norberto P. Baldovino, were suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman.

The suspension order was served

by Dr. Abraham A. Pascua, Department of the Interior and Local Governments (DILG) assistant regional director for Central Luzon and concurrent DILG provincial director, based on a directive of DILG Regional Director Florida M. Dijan.

Dijan also issued a separate order, directing Vice Mayor Benjamin Gamit Jr. and Councilor Alberto G.

Estillore as acting mayor and vice mayor, respectively.

Cachuela and his suspended allies, however, did not accept their suspension orders.

He said he was rejecting the orders in protest over the lack of due process by the Office of the Ombudsman. “We were never given a chance to air our side. There is travesty of justice,” he lamented.

Ancheta said the cases were filed on May 11 and June 29, the suspension order came out without furnishing the respondents a copy of the complaint.

“Meaning, the suspension came ahead of the complaints,” he said.

The mass suspensions were ordered by Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard A. Mosquera, dated on June 23 and were enforced only on Friday.

The suspensions stemmed from the complaints filed on April 11

by Gamit, Estillore and Councilor Gerry B. Agpalo, all of Balane’s rival party, Unang Sigaw Partidong Pagbabago of Gov. Aurelio Umali.

At the time the complaints were filed, Cachuela was the vice mayor.

He became mayor last May following the dismissal of then-mayor Quintino Caspillo for nepotism.

In their complaints, the three claimed that the appointment of Rhea Jasmine B. Tobias’s as municipal budget officer was endorsed for confirmation to the SB by Caspillo on April 20.

On motion of Ulzano, the SB deferred action on her appointment pending resolution of an appeal made by another candidate for the post, Dante Enipto.

However, two days later, an SB resolution denying Tobias’s appointment was suddenly presented to all the councilors for their signature, the complaint stated.

The complainants said the resolution did not reflect the matters agreed upon by the members present in the April 20 session, describing the said resolution as “twisted, mangled and distorted.”

They said they demanded the resolution corrected, but the respondents ignored them and even falsified the document by making it appear Cinense participated in the deliberation just

to satisfy the required number of votes to pass a resolution.

Cinense admitted that she was absent during the April 20 session, but claimed that there was a quorum. She said it was Estillore who moved for the deferment and not Ulzano.

Baldovino confirmed Cinense’s allegations. He said 8 out of 10 councilors were present when the quorum was at five.

Those present, he said, were Cachuela, Gamit, Monta, Ulzano, Bilgera, Agpalo, Estillore, Ancheta.

Baldovino also questioned that the order suspending Cachuela was when he was still the vice mayor.

A clarificatory question should have been raised with the Office of the Ombudsman, since the violation was supposedly committed when he was vice mayor, not mayor.

Baldovino said granting there was a violation, it was only a light offense to constitute such a stiff penalty. He said there was no personnel selection board which should have conducted a selection process as stipulated by Civil Service Commission’s rules and regulations. PNA

A10 Monday, July 27, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Blame China

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eopolitical and economic life for countries like the Philippines was much easier before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The world was divided into two camps, either under the USSR or the United States. “Third World countries” had to make a choice, except notably India, which was large and important enough to play both sides.

If a nation wanted more economic aid, all it had to do was to begin making slight overtures to the other side and their benefactor would up the money.

Certainly, the world suffered being in the middle of the war of the giants, like the case of Vietnam and Afghanistan. However, in other ways, there was more clarity and the geopolitical choices were much simpler.

In the good old days, you could blame either the US or the USSR for global problems. Today the game has become more complicated.

Russia is blamed for creating major problems in Europe because of its involvement in Ukraine. But the US did everything it could to replace the former pro-Russian government. The European Union needs its economic relations with Russia, but it also wants close security ties with the US. Every nation can blame the US for creating the conditions that have led to a global economic meltdown in the last six years. But, those same nations benefited from US economic policy on the way up.

Throughout the Cold War and to the current day, one could see some “method in the madness” of Russian and American policy and actions.

But recently China has gone to the point where its leadership must be questioned as to its competency, if not its sanity.

China’s efforts to build stronger ties with Russia and the Central Asian nations is a good idea, both domestically and internationally. But then, China continues to support the loose-cannon country of North Korea, and is doing all it can to alienate Southeast Asia. To pursue this policy to offset potential US moves in Asia is already counterproductive.

To give a false impression of its economic strength and policy wisdom, China’s government has spent nearly 10 percent of its 2014 gross domestic product (GDP), trying to prop up its collapsing stock market.

It has spent $1 billion for every one-point increase of the Shanghai Composite Index since July 8. The top 12 Chinese companies are all government-owned. This is madness.

Unfortunately, because of the global rush to economically align with China, the effect of bad Chinese policy is starting to spread.

Australia’s GDP growth closely matches China’s GDP growth. China is supposedly the No. 1 global investment magnet, but 48 percent of foreign businesses fail in China within two years of entering into that market.

We have given China its power. The Philippines fights for its territorial rights against a de facto invasion, yet is dependent on China to manufacture rolling stock for its light-rail system. The global economic chaos has now moved to Asia, and we can put the blame on China.

PCSO in Panay Island: Branch opening, ambulance donation Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

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rom the air, Panay Island is a colorful patchwork of redand-blue roofs and green fields that beckon visitors with the promise of friendly people, good food and interesting times.

I visited the island last week with fellow Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Director lawyer Francisco G. Joaquin III and other agency officials and employees to conduct branch opening and ambulance-donation activities.

On July 20 our first stop was Kalibo, Aklan, to turn over 10 ambulances to Vice Gov. Gabrielle Calizo, local government unit (LGU) officials and hospital chiefs. The recipients were the municipalities of Altavas, Balete, Nabas, Madalag, Libacao, New Washington, Malay, Ibajay, Numancia and the Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital.

From there we proceeded to the province of Capiz, where we were met by Gov. Victor A. Tanco. A simple ceremony was held in the provincial capitol’s Hall of Governors to turn over eight ambulances to the LGU officials of Ivisan, President Roxas, Cuartero, Panay, Maayon, Panitan, the Camp Peralta Station Hospital and Roxas City.

In his welcome address, Tanco thanked the PCSO for the ambulances, which he said would be a great help to the people of the province,

especially during times of emergency.

In return, we thanked him for his support of our agency in many ways, one of which is providing free office space for the PCSO Aklan branch office right within the capitol building itself, a few steps away from the main entrance doors and thus easily seen by the public.

Having delivered my remarks in Hiligaynon, I was promptly and lightheartedly “adopted” by Tanco as a “son of the province.”

On July 21 we traveled to the province of Antique for another ambulance-donation turnover ceremony and a milestone occurrence—the formal inauguration of the PCSO branch office in the town of San Jose de Buenavista (or simply San Jose).

Upon our arrival, we were greeted

by San Jose Mayor Rony L. Molina and former Gov. Exequiel Javier.

We all trooped to the newest PCSO branch office for a Mass said by Bishop Jose Romeo O. Lazo.

In his blessing at the end of the Mass, the bishop said something that struck me as most apt: “I hope that in Antique, and all over the country, the PCSO will be known as the Philip-

pine Charity Service Office.” That is, indeed, the mission of the agency—to be of service to Filipinos nationwide.

The opening of this branch, headed by Elma Gutierrez, makes it the PCSO’s 47th and the fourth on the island of Panay, meaning that all provinces on the island now have a PCSO branch office, for the convenience of residents.

Before the PCSO’s present administration started branch expansion in 2012, there were only 25 branches, making it difficult for people to access the PCSO’s services. For instance, the only office in the area back then was in Iloilo; it meant that people from Antique would have to take a threehour bus ride, while people from the island-province of Guimaras would have to take a long land trip, depending on where on the island they lived, and a ferry to cross to Iloilo.

The Mass and PCSO Antique office blessing were followed by an ambulance-turnover ceremony, where the PCSO gave nine ambulancestothemunicipalities of Anini-y, Barbaza, Lauaan, Bugasong, Patnongon, San Remigio and San Jose de Buenavista, and to the Sebaste Community Hospital and A ngel Salazar Memorial General Hospital.

Molina expressed his “sincere gratitude to the PCSO leadership” for the ambulances and the branch office, which makes “PCSO’s services visible in the Western part of Panay.”

On July 22 we held another ambulance turnover, this time at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol, where we were greeted by Iloilo Gov. Arthur D. Defensor Sr. and Guimaras Gov. Samuel T. Gumarin.

Liberals abandon religious liberty

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By Ramesh Ponnuru | Bloomberg View

he American tradition of religious freedom has long included exemptions from laws that impose a burden on the exercise of faith. The Volstead Act implementing Prohibition, for example, made an exception for the sacramental use of alcohol. In recent years, though, liberals have started to turn away from that tradition—and come up with ever more inventive ways to justify doing so.

Democratic-appointed judges are voting to deny religious exemptions on spurious grounds. The ACLU says it no longer supports the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law that passed nearly by acclamation in 1993. It is still enthusiastic about protecting Sikhs in prison who don’t want to have their beards shaved. But it doesn’t want Christian conservatives to use the law to avoid paying for their employees’ contraception.

Most liberals don’t want to think of themselves as hostile to religious liberty, or to say that they’re only against it when it’s invoked by conservatives.

So they’re telling themselves a story in which conservatives are abusing the religious-liberty tradition to make new and dangerous demands. Liberals, on this view, are “standing by conscience while recognizing its new role in culture-war conflicts,” to quote an essay by Reva Siegel and Douglas Ne-

jaime in The American Prospect, a liberal magazine. But this story doesn’t withstand modest scrutiny.

Siegel and Nejaime provide an impressively elaborate rationalization for the new liberal approach. They raise several supposed distinctions between the good old religious-freedom claims and the bad new ones. The old ones, they say, were made for “minority religions” with “unconventional beliefs,” not for “opponents of abortion.” They were not “entangled in culture-war politics.” It is not at all clear, though, why opposition to contraception shouldn’t count as an unconventional belief in contemporary America. Nor is it clear why religious freedom becomes less valuable when it involves divisive issues; the reverse would seem to be true.

The authors suggest that the old religious-freedom claims involved issues that legislators hadn’t considered when they passed the laws

from which exemptions were sought.

When Congress passed antidrug laws, for example, it wasn’t thinking about Native American religious adherents who use peyote in their ceremonies.

They needed special protection, and they got it from the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. But some of the new religious-freedom controversies follow the same pattern. Congress didn’t thoroughly debate the consequences of the contraceptive mandate for religious groups when it passed the Affordable Care Act. The law didn’t explicitly include a contraceptive mandate at all. (It provided the Department of Health and Human Services with regulatory authority that it used to impose the mandate.)

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has recently decided that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, unbeknown to everyone involved in passing it, forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. If the courts come to agree with that judgment, we’ll have a new ban without Congress ever debating how to handle religious groups’ concerns.

The root problem, for Siegel and Nejaime, is that the new religious-freedom claims are often based on arguments about complicity with what some religious adherents consider immoral.

Catholic nuns seek to avoid facilitating

Iloilo received 22 ambulances for the city of Passi; municipalities of Bingawan, Badiangan, Anilao, Lemery, Balasan, Maasin, Igbaras, Dingle, Estancia, Carles, Oton, San Rafael and Dueñas; and for Western Visayas Medical Center, Federico Roman Tirador Sr. Memorial District Hospital, Aleosan District Hospital, Dr. Ricardo V. Ladrino Memorial District Hospital, Western Visayas Sanitarium, San Joaquin Mother and Child Hospital, Iloilo Doctors College and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines at Iloilo Airport.

Guimaras received four ambulances for the municipalities of San Lorenzo, Sibunag, Nueva Valencia and Buenavista.

With his concern for his constituents being “health and quality of life,” Gumarin said, “Finally, we now have one of the ingredients for the delivery of basic services—ambulances—and they are brand-new. The ones we’ve been using are 10 to 15 years old. In behalf of Negros, I thank the PCSO and our beloved President…. Rest assured that we will do our best for development up to the barangay level.”

The PCSO’s long-term goal is to open a branch office in every province, to better serve the people by reducing their cost and effort to reach the PCSO. Likewise, we aim to provide each municipality with an ambulance.

Both are stretch goals, but we believe we can reach them with the help and support of the people we serve.

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II is the vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

contraception; some Christian bakers don’t want to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, because they think it would amount to blessing their union.

These complicity-based claims inflict harms on other parties: employees who want contraceptive coverage, gay couples trying to get married.

But religious exemptions often entail costs to other parties. Letting churches discriminate on the basis of religion will cause some people to miss out on jobs. Letting priests refuse to testify about what they’ve heard in the confessional could cause serious harms to some people. Allowing conscientious objectors out of participating in wars— something we’ve historically done precisely because those objectors don’t want to be complicit in activity they consider immoral—means that other people have to make sacrifices that are potentially even bigger than having to pay for contraception out of pocket, or to find a baker a few blocks away.

Liberals have played an honorable part in the historical tradition of religious freedom, and it would be best if they kept doing so. If they want to toss that freedom aside, though, they should be honest with themselves and the rest of us, and just admit that they don’t value it as much as they value bossing conservative Christians around.

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Monday, July 27, 2015 A11

One step backward, two steps forward Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan

legally speaking

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very unfortunate event does not give rise to lawsuit”— Mills Lane, district court judge and TV personality.

This quote might come in handy whenever we encounter some “unfortunate event”. Let us say you happen to be the head for legal affairs in your company. You filed a civil case against another company at a regional trial court (RTC). You meticulously presented all your evidence and excellently proved your case. On the part of your opposing counsel, he was not able to substantiate his company’s defense and failed miserably to rebut your allegations.

You were very sure that you will receive a favorable decision from the RTC judge. However, lo and behold, you receive a decision stating that you lost. Something smells fishy.

Is it good business practice for your company to file an administrative case against the judge?

You better think twice.

The more common administrative cases filed against judges nowadays are gross ignorance of the law, gross misconduct and bias and/or partiality. Although these cases could be easily filed (you could even file these cases even without the assistance of a lawyer), they are very difficult to prove.

For instance, in gross ignorance of the law, you are mandated to prove the following elements: (1) that the subject order or actuation of the judge in the performance of his official duties must not only be contrary to existing law and jurisprudence, but more important, (2) the same must be attended by bad faith, fraud, dishonesty or corruption.1 For liability to attach for ignorance of the law, the assailed order, decision or actuation of the judge in the performance of official duties must not only be found erroneous, but more important, it must also be established that he was moved by bad faith, dishonesty, hatred, or some other like motive.2 With respect to gross misconduct as an administrative offense, misconduct implies malice or wrongful intent, not mere error of judgment.3 Thus, there must be a showing that a judge had corrupt motives.

Finally, if you are intending to file a case for partiality, the Court in the case of People v. CA and Pacificador4 reiterated the parameter that mere suspicion that a judge was partial to a party is not enough; there should be adequate evidence to prove the charge; there must be showing that the judge had an interest, personal or otherwise, in the prosecution of the case at bar; and, to be disqualifying, the bias and prejudice must be shown to have stemmed from an extrajudicial source and result in an opinion on the merits on some basis other than what the judge learned from his participation in the case.

So, if all you have are mere speculations that a judge is guilty of these

violations, you better forget filing these cases, as the Supreme Court in the case of De Jesus v. Guerrero III5 categorically stated that “[t]he basic rule is that mere allegation is not evidence and is not equivalent to proof. Charges based on mere suspicion and speculation, likewise, cannot be given credence. Hence, when the complainant relies on mere conjectures and suppositions, and fails to substantiate his allegations, the administrative complaint must be dismissed for lack of merit.”

It is also sound business practice that if you don’t have strong evidence that the judge committed these infractions, you should give him a break, because to allow such scenario will be prejudicial to the administration of justice, since the judge will be preoccupied in answering your baseless allegations or justifying his decisions or orders, instead of focusing on his duty as a magistrate, ultimately depriving him of the very precious time he needs to attend to the judicial functions in his court.

Thus, it is more beneficial for your company to devote time and resources to exhaust judicial remedies, like appeals or motion for reconsideration, rather than personally attacking the judge. Moreover, if you take this route, it is possible that the higher court could make a finding that the judge gravely erred and, thus, will provide you with a stronger basis in filing an administrative case.

I started my column with a quote, and I would want to end it with a quote. As Jean de la Bruyere stated, “Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property."

Amante-Descallar v. Ramas, A.M. No. RTJ-08-2142 [OCA-IPI No. 08-2779RTJ], March 20, 2009.

2 Spouses Daracan v. Judge Natividad, A.M. No. RTJ-99-1447, September 27, 2000.

3 Dayawon v. Garfin A.M. No. MTJ-011367, September 05, 2002 4 G.R. No. 129120, July 02, 1999.

5 G.R. No. 171491, September 4, 2009.

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Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free fire

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nd, finally, as a last nail on the coffin of the European Union (EU), as anything more than the Fourth Reich under a namby-pamby name with a flag of yellow stars on a blue field instead of a swastika on a red, Tariq Ali reports in the London Review of Books that the Greek debt is, in large part, a German debt. The dashing and handsome former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis—what’s with the Greeks and not voting for ugly politicians?—yes, Varoufakis said that, street riots notwithstanding, which usually invites military intervention, coups are a thing of the Greek past because banks have replaced tanks.

He was right and wrong.

Right because banks toppled democracy in Greece; specifically the German and French banks holding a lotta Greek debt.

But he is wrong because, in the past 10 years, French and German arms industries bribed Greek governments to buy their weapons before they become obsolete in the age of drone warfare. Greece is awash in tanks.

In 2009 Greece spent €8 billion, or 3.5 percent of gross domestic product, on defense. The Greek defense minister went to jail; the French and German companies paid small fines.

The German-paid Western media, like Bloomberg, has railed at Greek tax evasion. And yet, the biggest tax evader is the giant German construction company that runs Athens airport, which

tested by the rise in the strength of the Kurds, who are estimated to make up between 20 percent and 25 percent of Turkey’s population of 78 million. The Kurds, who have had American backing since the first Gulf War in 1990, are, relatively speaking, the most organized military force in the Iraq-Syria maelstrom at the moment. Turkey’s internal political situation is not especially healthy. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party failed in the June 7 elections to gain the majority it sought. Six weeks have passed without its yet having formed a governing coalition with one or more of the other parties eligible based on the elections. There is some thought that Erdogan would like to try the Turkish electorate again with snap elections rather than create a coalition.

In the meantime, Turkey drifts to some extent in violent, turbulent regional seas that wash into a Turkey itself not well set up to address its external or internal problems. As a friend and Nato ally, the United States should beware. TNS Editorial

has not paid value-added tax (VAT) for 20 years. It owes €500 million in VAT arrears alone. It has refused to remit €1 to the Greek social-security system.

Indeed, the aptly named Hoch thieves corporation has a total debt to the Greek government of over €1 billion. Talk about deadbeats…oh, sorry, we’re only talking about Greeks, not Germans, who never paid a foreign debt in their entire 200-year existence.

Ali thinks that Alexis Tsipras was never serious about the referendum and was surprised by the resounding “No” vote. I don’t think so. Tsipras was not aiming for just a bailout. He was aiming at showing the EU and the euro zone for what it really is and thereby lay down the foundation, not just for a “Grexit,” but “Euroexit.”

To survive and thrive, Greece— like Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy—needs the rest of Europe to defect from the EU, so it can do business one-on-one with other independent European economies on a level playing field, instead of one against many on field tilted toward the fattest player—Ger-

many. This is the essence of antitrust legislation. Some players are too big to play and should either be broken up or isolated.

As China keeps telling us, bilateral is better than multilateral. Bilateral is dialogue, and something may come of it. Multilateral—like The Hague—is just spitting in the wind.

At the moment, China is funding the transformation of Ecuador into a major energy supplier to the world. To be sure, the New York Times piece reporting this cautions that Chinese loans and investments come with strings.

Well, Western loans and investments don’t come with strings— they are entirely made up of strings and are served to borrowing countries as a ball of string, which, when strung out, is all string and nothing else inside. Look at any Western loan. Western loans and, worse yet, assistance are entirely composed of “conditionalities,” the chief of which is that the loans or assistance must mostly be paid out as salaries to Western advisers or for purchases of overpriced Western equipment.

The Data Privacy law: A story of forsaken opportunities

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Trouble in Turkey: Monday’s explosion is only one of its problems urkey, a Nato member, is currently in the eye of a storm in Middle East politics and not in top-notch shape itself in internal political terms.

The latest tragedy occurred on Monday in Suruc, just across the border from the much-fought-over city of Kobani in Syria. A suspected Islamic State (IS) suicide bombing killed at least 30 people and injured nearly 100 more, in an area where considerable fighting has taken place among anti-Syrian government rebels, Kurdish militias and forces of the IS, which Turkish government forces find difficult to control.

Turkey has borders with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Iran, Iraq and Syria, the latter two homes to hot wars. Turkey is estimated to be 72-percent Sunni Muslim. Its politics since the fall of the Ottoman Empire have been a contest between secularists and Islamists, with the current largest political party, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, considered more Islamic in its orientation.

Turkey’s equilibrium is also being

Spitting in the wind

Erik Moeller Nielsen

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view from the 19th floor

he Data Privacy Act of 2012, or Republic Act 10173, that became law on September 8, 2012, is the Philippines’s first data-privacy law.

The law protects individual personal information in inform at ion a nd commu n ic at ions systems in the government and private sector. It mandates the creation of a National Privacy Commission (NPC) to administer and implement the provisions of law, and to monitor and ensure compliance with international standards for data protection.

Its major proponent, Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, said the law establishes a policy framework that protects Internet freedoms, while making sure the Internet remains safe.

Angara noted that the law was patterned after the European Parliament and Council’s Directive 95/46/EC and the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation’s Information Privacy Framework standard.

Champions of the Data Privacy Act see this landmark piece of legislation as key to securing urgently needed investments in the Philippines’s still booming information technolog y-busi-

ness-process outsourcing-knowledge and process management (IT-BPO-KPM) industry by addressing investor concerns about the lack of protection of personal data. Its major beneficiary is the country’s IT-BPO-KPM industry, the main driver of growth in the services industry.

The IT-BPO-KPM industry was worth $19 billion in 2014, posting an 18-percent growth over 2013. It accounted for 7 percent of the Philippines’s total gross domestic product in 2014. The country remains as the global leader in contact centers since 2010.

The IT-BPO-KPM industr y, which employs some 1.2 million Filipinos, is expected to earn $21.3 billion in 2015.

The Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (Ibpap) promptly welcomed the new law, describing it as an “important step to increasing confidence among foreign investors.” It also said the law brings the Philip-

pines to “international standards of privacy protection.” Ibpap is the umbrella organization of the IT-BPO -K PM industr y, whose mission is to make the Philippines the No 1 destination for voice a nd nonvoice ser v ices worldwide.

The laudable impacts of the law on the country and the ITBPO -K PM industr y, however, have been nullified because the government has been either unable or unwilling to issue the vital implementing rules and regulations (IRR) needed for the law to take effect.

The IRR is needed to provide clear guidelines on dealing with data breaches; establishing data-breach policies and response protocols; and crafting safety standards, among others. Without the IRR; the law remains a piece of paper. It has remained in this sad state since September 8, 2012.

What is clear, however, is the main reason the Aquino administration is sitting on its hands as regards the IRR. The IRR will have to be implemented by the new NPC. This commission was to have drawn up the IRR within 90 days from the passage of the law, or by December 2012.

Its main task was to monitor the implementation of the Data Privacy law.

That’s all well and good, but the only thing wrong is this NPC is supposed to be a unit of the

Department of Information and Com mu n ic at ions Tec h nolog y (DICT) that the Aquino administration has chosen not to create since it took office in 2010. The law also provides that if the DICT is not in place, the Office of the President can create the NPC— which has not happened also.

Meanwhile, the Senate has approved a new DICT legislation.

Unfortunately, the House bill is still resting in “committee.”

It is hoped that once the House moves, the DICT can be formed this time, as business needs the implementation of the Data Privacy law so that data privacy can become more secure to allow big data to come to the Philippines, creating new revenue streams, new jobs and more investors.

For IT-BPO-KPM to move forward, the administration’s resistance to the DICT must end.

There is clearly much to be gained by issuing the IRR needed to enforce the law, even if this means establishing the DICT. The Aquino administration has to understand, too, that the creation of the DICT is not expanding the bureaucracy. On the contrary, quite a number of government agencies involved in the IT and telecom sector can be dissolved once the DICT gets active.

Erick Moeller Nielsen is vice president of the board of directors, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.

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A12 Monday, July 27, 2015

BBL, 2016 budget high on Aquino’s last Sona P

By Butch Fernandez

resident Aquino, in his final State of the Nation Address (Sona) before a joint session of Congress on Monday, is expected to bat for passage of the controversial Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), an administration bill setting up a new Muslim entity that got derailed by the “massacre” of 44 police commandos

by Moro rebels in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on January 25.

Malacañang officials declined to give a preview of the major issues that Mr. Aquino would tackle in his sixth and last Sona, even as administration lawmakers anticipate a fresh pitch from the President for the

BBL, with congressional support for the Palace-backed proposal sharply eroded in the wake of the so-called Mamasapano massacre.

Lawmakers representing districts outside the proposed-to-be-abolished

Drilon confirmed that the senators “will give the highest priority” to at least six bills soon, as Congress resumes regular sessions, including the Bangsamoro basic law and the 2016 budget.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) were reported to have indicated to their colleagues in informal caucuses that overwhelming public sympathy for the 44 slain Special Action Force commandos killed during a mission to nab a high-value terrorist may outweigh their desire to vote for the BBL. Apart from the BBL, President Aquino is also expected to push early passage of other major administration bills, particularly the P3-trillion national budget for 2016.

Earlier, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon confirmed that the senators “will give the highest priority”

to at least six bills soon, as Congress resumes regular sessions, including the BBL and the 2016 budget, as well as “the creation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology; the amendments to the built-operate-and-transfer law to strengthen our private-public partnership; the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration modernization; and the Freedom of Information bill.”

According to Drilon, the Senate would move to “strengthen the country’s economic fundamentals and invite more private participation to infrastructure development, [as we] work on the proposed Public-Private Partnership Act and the amendments to the Acquisition of Right-of-Way Act to speed up the process for government infrastructure projects.”

The Senate President added: “We would also push the passage into law of the Customs and Tariff Modernization Act and the Tax Incentives Monitoring and Transparency Act, to enhance trade and commerce

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BANKS TIGHTENED REAL-ESTATE LOAN GUIDELINES ANEW

By Bianca Cuaresma

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he granting of loans among banks proved more restrictive yet again under the second-quarter survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

This, the BSP said, marked the 12th consecutive quarter that the country’s lenders indicated a net tightening of credit standards under the difusion index or DI approach.

The net tightening of overall credit standards for commercial realestate loans was attributed by respondent-banks to perceived stricter oversight of banks’ real-estate exposure to banks’ reduced tolerance for risk,” the BSP said. The tighter credit standards were evident in the banks’ more restrictive provisions for collateral and loan covenants, along with wider loan margins, shorter loan maturities and increased use of interest-rate floors for commercial real-estate loans.

BSP Gov. Amando M. Tetangco Jr. had been extra vigilant the past three or four years against any unwarranted rise in lending to the realestate sector for fear of the buildup of price pressures and subsequent bursting. Various analysts and experts have since cast a keen eye on the sector, and quite a few came away with the impression that real-estate prices have, indeed, inflated to rather unreasonable levels. Similarly, the BSP said credit standards for housing loans showed a net tightening in the second quarter, as well.

The tighter credit standards for housing loans were attributed by respondent-banks to perceived stricter financial-system regulations along with banks’ reduced tolerance for risk and deterioration in the profile of borrowers. For the next quarter, respondent-banks expect unchanged credit standards for housing loans. Loan demand for both commercial and household real-estate loans was seen to be steady during the month, while a number of banks expect an increase in loan demand for real estate as the economy continues to grow.

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Ayala unit gives support to DOE’s CSP scheme

By Lenie Lectura

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he development arm of the Ayala group in the energy sector is in favor of the Department of Energy (DOE) circular that requires competitive selection process (CSP) in securing powersupply contracts.

“We are obviously in favor, and we don’t see that any different from what is already happening in the PPP [public-private partnership], as long as it will be managed properly,” AC Energy Holdings Inc. President John Eric Francia said. Conglomerate Ayala Corp. has participated in a number of PPP projects under the Aquino administration.

From experience, Francia said the “only downside is that PPP infra is slow. This is to make sure that there are no loopholes.” The CSP requires all distribution utilities (DUs) and electric cooperatives (ECs) to bid out their power requirements, instead of entering into negotiated contracts with power producers or generation companies (gencos).

The way CSP is envisioned to work is that the bidding will be conducted by a third party duly recognized by

the DOE and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). International Finance Corp. has been tapped by the DOE to conduct a study on the implementing rules for the CSP. The results of which will be forwarded to the ERC. Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is a DU that sources the majority of its power requirements through bilateral contracts. It is against the mandatory implementation of CSP, saying that it will best work if implemented voluntarily.

“Our view is it doesn’t promote the best interest of consumers. It’s a nice concept, an attractive concept, but do it on a voluntary basis. We respect the intentions of the CSP, but make it voluntary,” Meralco President Oscar Reyes earlier said.

Francia said the next crucial part is the drafting of implementing rules and regulations. “The devil is in the details. A lot of details and variables need to be thoroughly studied, so that the intent and the spirit of the circular is addressed properly.”

Francia was referring to the IRR, which the ERC has 120 days from June 30 to craft. Meralco hopes that the ERC will not mandate DUs to take

part in the auction and, instead, heed its call to implement the scheme on a voluntary basis.

Meralco officials said the CSP scheme is unfair, because only the DUs and the ECs are mandated, but not the gencos. “What if the participating gencos are flippers, or those that are not serious? How can the DUs, such as us, get the best rate for our consumers?” they lamented.

Francia said power producers, such as AC Energy, should not be mandated to also participate in the CSP. “According to the DOE circular, it’s not mandatory for the gencos. So, we can sell to contestable customers or at the WESM [Wholesale Electricity Spot Market]. I don’t think it should be mandatory,” he commented.

When asked if Meralco would volunteer to adopt the CSP, Reyes said the most appropriate model for Meralco would be “a mix of bilateral, voluntary CSP and the WESM.” Reyes pointed out that different utilities have different requirements. “Will the template for CSP fit everyone? Are we sure that all gencos that will participate are serious? We are only mindful of what’s best for the consumers.”

P-Noy to miss most of his 2016 targets. . .

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that, of the 29 social-development targets, 15 may not be achieved by 2016.

Around six indicators have low probability of being achieved under the target of Improving Access to Quality Health and Nutrition Services and Access to Quality Education, Training and Culture.

Under health and nutrition services, the indicators that may not be achieved next year are lowering maternal mortality rate; infant mortality rate; prevalence of underweight children under five years old; and proportion of households with per capita intake below 100 percent dietary energy requirement, among others.

On Quality Education, Training and Culture, the country may not achieve indicators on improving the net enrollment rate in elementary and high-school levels; the achievement rate in the elementary and secondary level; and proportion of higher-education institution faculty with master’s and doctorate degrees.

The low performance in social indicators also reflect problems in attaining some of the economic targets of the Aquino administration.

The government has a low probability of attaining its gross domestic product (GDP) targets of 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent in 2016, as well as its goal of cutting poverty incidence to as low as 18 percent to 20 percent.

The country’s economic growth has slowed to 5.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015. The government has also downgraded its economic targets this year and next year to 7 percent to 8 percent. In terms of poverty incidence, the latest data showed that 25.2 percent of Filipinos are considered poor. This was based on the 2012 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) conducted by the PSA. The country also has a low probability of meeting the exports-to-GDP ratio, both in nominal and real terms.

The nominal exports-to-GDP ratio target is 51.6 percent by 2016. But as of the first quarter

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of 2015, the ratio was pegged at 29.2 percent.

In real exports-to-GDP ratio terms, the country must increase this to 64.3 percent by 2016. However, in the first quarter of 2015, this was only at 46.1 percent.

The PSA data was based on the StatDev 2014 performance of the Aquino administration for the first three years. This contains 223 indicators, covering the nine PDP sectoral chapters. Based on the submissions of data source agencies, there were 151 indicators with up to 2014 data.

Out of these updated indicators, 63 posted good probabilities of achieving their respective targets; 32 registered average performances of hitting their targets, while 56 had low probabilities of reaching their targets.

The PDP is the country’s medium-term macroeconomic blueprint. The plan charts the direction of the country’s economic and socialdevelopment targets throughout the duration of every administration.