BusinessMirror January 17, 2015

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Pope Francis arrives at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Intramuros, Manila, on Friday, onboard a customized Isuzu D-Max LS pickup truck donated by Gencars Philippines, sister company of the BusinessMirror, while thousands of Filipinos welcome him with excitement and jubilation. Francis celebrated a holy Mass with bishops, priests, nuns and seminarians as part of his apostolic mission to the Philippines. See story below, and related pictures on A4 and A5. AP

‘UNWARRANTED’ MONEY-SUPPLY GROWTH TO HAVE MINIMAL IMPACT ON INFLATION

INSIDE

Prices seen stable over policy horizon

obama, cameron meet amid terrorism threat in Europe, U.S.

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he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) ruled out on Friday the threat of price instability over the policy horizon on the basis of unwarranted money-supply growth, referred to as M3 by economists, as its ability to feed socalled asset or price bubbles has effectively been restrained.

BusinessMirror

World The

ICE-CARVINGS FEST

B3-1 | Saturday, January 17, 2015 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

A woman walks past lights decoration set up as part of an ice-carvings festival held inside the Worker’s Stadium in Beijing on January 14. AP/NG HAN GUAN

Obama, Cameron meet amid terrorism threat in Europe, US

AT LEAST 50 EBOLA HOT SPOTS REMAIN, BUT NEW CASES FALLING

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NITED NATIONS—At least 50 Ebola hot spots remain in the three hardest-hit West African countries but new cases are declining and the deadly disease will be defeated, the UN’s Ebola chief said on Thursday.

The latest report from the World Health Organization (WHO) showing reductions in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone “is very good news,” Dr. David Nabarro said in an interview with the Associated Press.

In the week ending January 11, WHO said Guinea reported its lowest weekly total of new Ebola cases since mid-August. Liberia had its lowest total since the first week of June and no confirmed new cases for the final two days of the week. And new cases in Sierra Leone declined for a second week to the lowest level since the end of August.

But Nabarro cautioned that “there are still numbers of new cases that are alarming, and there are hot spots that are emerging in new places that make me believe there is still quite a lot of the disease that we’re not seeing.”

There are “at least 50 micro-outbreaks” under way, and the chains of transmission of the virus “have still got to be understood,” he said.

The Ebola outbreak has been the worst in world history. According to the latest WHO report released on Wednesday, there have been more than 21,000 cases and 8,300 deaths. The death toll in Liberia as of Sunday was 3,538, followed by Sierra Leone with 3,062 deaths and Guinea with 1,814.

The key, Nabarro said, is getting local communities to change their traditional healing rituals and funeral and burial practices which involve a lot of contact with body fluids that spread Ebola.

In some cases, evidence suggests that as many as 50 people have become infected at a single funeral, he said.

Nabarro said the national and

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ASHINGTON— Growing fears about the specter of terrorism in Europe and the West are lending themselves to a sense of transAtlantic solidarity as President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron meet at the White House.

Close and easy partners, Obama and Cameron have long touted their congenial relationship as a sign of the strong alliance between the US and the UK. During two days of meetings in Washington, the two are aiming to promote economic growth and global trade even as trickier issues like Islamic extremism and cybersecurity take over much of the agenda.

In conjunction with the visit, the two leaders are announcing plans to hold joint cyber “war games,” starting later this year with a mock attack on banks.

Cameron arrived at the White House on Thursday evening, and after being greeted by Obama in the Oval Office, the two sat down for a working dinner of herb-encrusted lamb and pickled wild mushrooms, with warm pear cake for dessert.

On Friday they were to hold a more formal meeting in the Oval Office before taking questions from the American and British press.

Their meeting comes as both the US and Europe are on edge over last week’s terrorist attacks in France, where 17 people were slain in attacks spurred by a satirical newspaper’s caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Fears of additional attacks by Islamic extremists only grew on Thursday when police in Belgium killed two suspects during an antiterror raid launched to preempt what officials called a major impending attack.

“The terrorists know only how to destroy, but together we can do something infinitely more powerful: build security, strengthen justice and advance peace,” Obama and Cameron wrote in The Times of London in a joint editorial ahead of their visit. “The United States and Britain will continue to work closely with all those who believe in peace and tolerance.”

Yet the issue of cybersecurity, freshly relevant in the wake of a hack

PRESIDENT Barack Obama (right) walks with British Prime Minister David Cameron on the West Wing Colonnade of the White House, on January 15. AP/EVAN VUCCI

attack on Sony blamed on North Korea, threatened to test the ability of the two leaders to display a united front.

Ahead of the visit, Cameron announced that the US and UK will stage cyber war games together and launch a joint “cyber cell,” where officials from the FBI and the National Security Agency will team up with Britain’s GCHQ and MI5 intelligence and security agencies to share information on cyberthreats.

The first round of war games, scheduled for later this year, will simulate an attack on banks and the financial sectors in London and New York, with more exercises to follow later to test the resilience of national infrastructure.

“This is about pooling our effort so we stay one step ahead of those who seek to attack us,” Cameron said.

But on the related issue of encryption, Cameron was coming to the White House with a request in hand. Cameron has said he plans to

ask Obama to press US technology companies like Google and Facebook to allow governments to snoop on encrypted communications.

Such notions hit a nerve in the US, where Obama was forced to order changes to US intelligence collection practices after widespread outrage at revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) was scooping up phone records of millions of Americans. Disclosures by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden also showed that several US Internet businesses identified were giving NSA access to customer data.

White House Spokesman Josh Earnest wouldn’t say whether Obama would support a government “backdoor” to get around encryption and allow authorities to monitor communications that might be helpful to protect national security, but said the issue would surely come up in Obama’s meeting with Cameron. AP

international campaign for safe healing and burial practices, isolation of suspected cases, and quick treatment for Ebola victims is working. But he appealed for greater global support including “virus detectives” who can identify where there are cases, “anthropologists who can tell us how the communities are reacting,” and managers to make sure treatment centers are adequately equipped.

“We saw a big shift in behaviors in Liberia in November and December,” he said. “We’re now seeing a big shift of behaviors in much of Sierra Leone, though there are still one or two communities that are reluctant to change behavior. And we’re beginning to see a big shift in behaviors in Guinea, as well.”

However, the goal of isolating and treating 100 percent of patients and conducting 100 percent of burials safely by January 1 was missed. That’s “a sign of the task still to be done,” Nabarro said.

“Of course, 100 percent of safe burials and 100 percent of everybody quickly under treatment are still the directions that we’re aiming at,” Nabarro said. “And I do really anticipate that in much of the region, we will be there in a very short distance in the future, and that’s why the number of cases is coming down and will continue to come down, and we will before long see an end to this outbreak.”

Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma predicted this week that his country would be Ebola-free by WHO standards by May, which means zero new cases for a period of time.

Nabarro said Koroma’s judgment “is based on the way the local communities are embracing the response.”

“I personally would respect his judgment and his prediction,” said Nabarro, who just returned from a 10-day visit to West Africa including all three hard-hit countries. “I’m very wary myself to make predictions because I just don’t have the information.” AP

End of holiday shopping season boost applications for US jobless aid

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ASHINGTON—The end of the holiday shopping season led to more Americans seeking unemployment benefits last week, raising the number of applications to an 18week high. Still, the number remains near historically low levels.

The Labor Department said on Thursday that applications for benefits jumped 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 316,000.

The four-week average, a less volatile

measure, rose 6,750 to 298,000. That average has plunged 11.4 percent over the past 12 months and has remained near historically low 300,000 levels since September.

The recent trend suggests that employers expect solid economic growth to continue, causing them to hold onto their workers and possibly increase their headcounts.

The four-week average “still suggests

is weakening a bit, although the weekly data can be even more volatile than usual around this time of year,” said Jim O’Sullivan, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.

In its report last week on December employment, the government said the economy added a robust 252,000 jobs last month, plus a combined 50,000 more in October and November than it had previously estimated. The unemployment

solid job growth above 200,000 per month,” Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said.

However, economists are also weighing whether the increase primarily reflects a slight downshift in the pace of hiring or the regular difficulty in seasonally adjusting the impact of retailers and shipping firms letting go of holiday workers.

“The rise in claims will keep us on alert for the possibility that momentum

rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent in November.

The unemployment rate is at its lowest point since 2008, and the addition of nearly 3 million jobs during 2014 was the highest annual total since 1999.

There are some signs that the current pace of hiring appears likely to continue.

Job openings rose 2.9 percent to 4.97 million in November, the most since January 2001, the government said on Tuesday.

An increase in vacancies usually corresponds with faster job growth.

Still, wage growth has lagged behind hiring. Average wages rose a mere 1.7 percent over the past 12 months and actually fell between November and December. The result is that incomes are barely outpacing overall inflation, which, with consumer prices up just 1.3 percent year-over-year, remains below the Federal Reserve’s 2-percent target. AP

world

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LEBRON, CAVS SPOIL KOBE AND CO. Sports BusinessMirror

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| SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

THE Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and the Cavaliers’ LeBron James clash in a piece of action during their game on Thursday. AP

LEBRON, CAVS

SPOIL KOBE AND CO. B M B Los Angeles Times

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MILWAUKEE’S Jerryd Bayless cries out as he vies for the ball against New York’s Lou Amundson at the O2 Arena in London on Thursday. AP

6 years for Pakistani in multimillion-dollar NBA fraud

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OLUMBUS, Ohio—A federal judge handed down a six-year prison sentence on Thursday to a man who portrayed himself as a member of a wealthy Pakistani family while running a multimillion-dollar investment scam involving three former Miami Heat players and the team.

Judge Edmund Sargus also ordered Haider Zafar to pay $15.7 million in restitution to his victims and three years supervision after his release. Zafar, 36, a legal US resident, could face deportation to his native Pakistan after leaving prison.

Zafar defrauded former basketball players Mike Miller, James Jones and Rashard Lewis in 2013 by promising to invest millions of dollars in various business opportunities, according to the government. He also received a $1-million, three-season Heat ticket package he never paid for, the government said.

Zafar pleaded guilty last year in federal court to five wire fraud charges that each carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence. That case was consolidated with another against Zafar, in which he previously pleaded guilty to swindling a Washington, D.C., businessman out of $10 million between 2008 and 2010.

Zafar apologized for his actions.

PREMATURE START

Andrew Fine, a lawyer representing the businessman and the former Heat players, has argued for a longer sentence.

Zafar’s attorney Sam Shamansky argued for a sentence closer to four years, saying Zafar had overcome tremendous personal obstacles, including being left penniless by family members, when he emigrated to the US as a young man. He also said Zafar had struggled with addictions to painkillers after an accident.

Testimony by an FBI agent portrayed Zafar as a man who talked big as he persuaded the former players to give him millions of dollars for investments that never materialized.

Zafar boasted of $35 million in a Swiss bank account and luxury residences in New York City and Miami and was often seen being chauffeured in a yellow Ferrari, a white Bentley and a black Escalade, FBI agent David Fine testified last year.

Zafar convinced Miller to give him $2.6 million, Lewis to give him $4 million and Jones to give him $1.5 million, all for an investment opportunity that Zafar said would “quickly obtain a significant return.” But rather than reimburse the Miami Heat or three individuals, Zafar used the money “for his personal use and benefit,” Fine said. AP

Assistant starter Cash Vaughan (front) and jockey Alex Birzer take a premature ride as Ecleto Red bursts from the gate before the start of the third race on the opening day of horse racing season at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on Thursday. No one was injured and the horse reset and ran the race. AP

OS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Lakers’ season already started sinking when Kobe Bryant was forced to acknowledge something.

The sad comparisons to the end of Michael Jordan’s career were “reachable content,” he said back in November, understanding the parallels between Jordan’s two nondescript years with the Washington Wizards and his own marooning on the Lakers’ talent-strapped island.

Then came the mutiny of his body.

His successes this season have been fewer and farther between, buried among eight-for-30 shooting efforts, nine-turnover games and more recently a three-for-19 shooting night.

He uncorked an old one on Thursday, handing out a career-high 17 assists in his 19th National Basketball Association (NBA) season, but the Lakers lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 109-102, at Staples Center.

Bryant also had 19 points on seven-for-14 shooting and only three turnovers as fans excitedly yelled “We want Kobe!” in unison when he was on the bench and the now less-familiar “M-V-P” chant when he was on the court in the fourth quarter.

Bryant even took more than a few shifts on defense trying to guard the bigger, bulkier and certainly younger LeBron James. It didn’t stop the Lakers (12-28) from slipping to 6-15 at home.

His previous career-high was 15 assists in 2002 against Washington. Jordan was on that Wizards team, scoring 22 points that night but making only eight of 20 shots in a Lakers victory.

As Bryant struggled with accuracy and game-to-game sustainability—he sat out six of the previous 12 for rest reasons—James was watching.

Bryant provided perspective from afar on aging in the NBA. “You prepare every day like it’s your last,” James said.

“You’ve got to be smart about it. Your body will let you know when it needs time.”

James, who turned 30 a few weeks ago, had 36 points, five rebounds and five assists on Thursday as the Cavaliers (20-20) broke a six-game losing streak.

He said he wasn’t recruited by Bryant to join the Lakers as a free agent last summer but still added some accolades.

“I’m a huge Kobe fan. I love the way he approaches the game. It’s great

having him in the league,” he said. “Last year it wasn’t as great, just not having him out there. He’s a big part of what we all do.”

Lakers Coach Scott has known Bryant since the fresh-faced teenager showed up in Honolulu for training camp in 1996. He has seen the outbursts over the years, born of a desire to win more NBA championships than can be counted on one hand, and he senses a new Bryant—a humbled one.

“I think he’s dealt with it extremely well. I think he understands he’s still a hell of a basketball player, but he’s not what he used to be,” Scott said. “He can’t play 40 minutes a night. He can’t play four out of five nights.

“The maturation of Kobe Bryant is starting to understand who he is, but he also wants to play and go out on a high note. He doesn’t want to limp out.

That’s one of the main reasons we’re doing what we’re doing right now.”

True to Scott’s word, Bryant didn’t play more than 32 minutes on Thursday, his in-game ceiling the rest of the season. And he won’t be with the team on Friday in Utah for the second night of a back-to-back.

“Yeah, I heard the fans,” Scott said. “I wanted to say, ‘I want him too.’ I know how much he means to us but I also know that in the long run it’s going to be the best thing for us.”

Kevin Love, a potential free agent in July, had 17 points and seven rebounds for Cleveland. Kyrie Irving added 22 points.

Jordan Hill had 20 points for the Lakers.

In London, OJ Mayo scored 22 points, Brandon Knight had 20 points and six steals, and the Milwaukee Bucks routed New York, 95-79, on Thursday night, extending the Knicks’ franchise-record losing streak to 16.

With the Knicks showing why they have lost 26 of 27 games and are an NBA-worst 5-36, the contest was a poor advertisement for the NBA in its annual London game that showcases its brand overseas.

The Knicks missed their first 10 shots—three in a six-second span—and gave up 14 offensive rebounds, 10 in the first half. The Bucks took a 12-0 lead, were up by 24 in the second quarter and never let New York closer than 11 the rest of the way.

The return of Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire did little to spark New York.

Anthony led the Knicks with 25 points. Stoudemire was scoreless in eight first-half minutes and didn’t play after the break. Anthony missed the previous six games because of a knee problem, and Stoudemire had been sidelined since December 25, also with a knee injury.

In Houston, James Harden scored 15 of his 31 points in Houston’s big first quarter as the Rockets beat Oklahoma City, 112-101.

Harden came just short of a triple-double with 10 assists and nine rebounds. Trevor Ariza added 17 points and four steals for Houston. The Rockets led 40-18 after one and bounced back after a loss to Orlando on Wednesday night that snapped a four-game winning streak.

Kevin Durant had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder. They have lost three of their last four games.

Sports

By Bianca Cuaresma

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BSP Deputy Governor for Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo particularly cited latest data showing M3 growth drastically cut to just 9 percent in November last year, from growth averaging a heady 15.4 percent last October.

The current level of cash circulating in one of the region’s most vibrant economies should not pose a risk to economic stability anymore, as this much liquidity should be sufficient to address the requirements of the growing economy without feeding asset bubbles, Guinigundo said.

The drastically decelerated monetary aggregate effectively gave the central bank breathing room within which to calibrate the monetarypolicy settings in a manner that delivers optimum growth for the $270-billion economy.

PESO exchange rates n US 44.8320

GUINIGUNDO: “We believe that, because of base effects and the previous policy moves of the BSP, we believe we will continue to see greater normalization of monetary growth.”

Guinigundo also said M3 growth from this point forward should “further normalize” and grow in singledigit fashion as the year unfolds.

“Well, that [base effects] is one explanation. The other is there was some mopping up from previous monetary-policy moves as the [deposit] reserve adjustment, increase in the special deposit rate [as well as] the policy rate.

Continued on A2

Pope prays for ‘abundant blessings’ for Filipinos

By Butch Fernandez & Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

P

ope Francis prayed for“abundant blessings” for President Aquino and the Filipino people when he went to Malacañan Palace during the second day of his visit and “apostolic journey” to the Philippines.

“On the President and people of this beloved land of the Philippines, I ask Almighty God abundant blessings of wisdom, discernment, prosperity and peace,” the pontiff said.

Francis personally wrote his brief prayer in the Palace guest book, which he signed after the welcome ceremony at the Kalayaan grounds where he was accorded full military honors as a visiting head of state of the Vatican.

At the receiving line during the welcome rites on Friday, President Aquino personally introduced the members of the Philippine delegation, which included Vice President Jejomar C. Binay and 25 Cabinet-rank officials. Dr. Alberto Gasbarri, Vatican chief organizer of the papal visit, introduced the

14-member papal delegation.

After signing the Palace guest book, Pope Francis and Mr. Aquino were ushered to the President’s Hall for a tête-à-tête. They then proceeded to Rizal Hall to deliver brief speeches to a general audience of senior government officials and members of the diplomatic corps, as well as the Senate and the House of Representatives.

In his speech, Francis called on Filipinos to reject the corruption that has plagued this Asian nation for decades and urged them to instead work to end its “scandalous” poverty, as he brought his message of social justice to Filipinos who cheered him wildly at every turn.

The pontiff said that more than ever, political leaders must be “outstanding for honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good.”

He said they must hear the cries of the poor and address the “glaring and indeed scandalous social inequalities” in society.

He challenged Filipinos “at all levels of society to reject every form of corruption, which diverts resources from the poor, and to Continued on A2

Meralco seeking 54.72 MW more for ILP this summer

By Lenie Lectura

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HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has signed up a committed interruptible load (CIL) of 209.72 megawatts (MW) from Interruptible Load Program (ILP) participants and is eyeing a potential 54.72 MW more.

In its latest ILP update dated January 8, the utility firm signed up 45 ILP participants with 163 services.

The five largest participants include SM Prime Holdings Inc. (57.96 MW), Robinsons Land Corp. (23.15 MW), Walter Mart Malls (14.30 MW), Ayala Land Inc. (9MW) and Rustan’s Supercenters Inc. (8.66MW).

ILP works by calling on business customers with loads of at least 1MW to run their own generator sets, if needed, instead of drawing power from the grid.

With the ILP, power supply from the grid not be consumed by participating customers will be available for use by other customers within the franchise area. Through this, the aggregate demand for power from the system will be reduced to a more manageable level, helping ensure the See “Meralco,” A2

n japan 0.3804 n UK 68.0101 n HK 5.7827 n CHINA 7.2330 n singapore 33.6324 n australia 36.5826 n EU 52.8031 n SAUDI arabia 11.9453 Source: BSP (14 January 2015)

News BusinessMirror

Saturday, January 17, 2015

A2

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Pope prays for ‘abundant blessings’ for Filipinos Continued from A1

make concerted efforts to ensure the inclusion of every man and woman and child in the life of the community.”

Corruption has wracked the Philippines since the 20-year rule of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who along with his shoe-loving wife and cronies, were suspected of stealing between $5 billion and $10 billion before being ousted from power in 1986.

The problem has festered amid a culture of impunity among powerful politicians and their allies, weak law enforcement and a notoriously slow justice system. But President Aquino won the presidency by a wide margin in 2010 on promises to rid the nation of corruption and poverty. Since then,

Congress has begun investigating highlevel politicians for corruption and three senators have been detained.

In his speech, Mr. Aquino said clergy themselves were part of the problem.

While the Catholic Church played a fundamental role in supporting opposition to Marcos, some priests “suddenly became silent” when abuses continued under Marcos’s successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, he said. Arroyo is currently detained on corruption and election sabotage charges.

President Aquino has waged a campaign against poverty, an issue close to the pope’s heart, but has also clashed with local Catholic leaders over a reproductive health bill that promoted use of artificial birth control. Congress, which is dominated by Mr. Aquino’s

Papal visit. . . Continued from A8

Sebastian, owner of a sari-sari store a few steps away from DLSU, pointed out how fortunate the Philippines is to be visited by Pope Francis. “We’re lucky because of all the countries in the world, he chose to come here,” Sebastian said in the vernacular. He said he would still open his store despite the sluggish sales—it was down 50 percent on Thursday—but on a limited period. Selling mostly chips and softdrinks, candies, and a limited number of school supplies, the store’s customers are usually students.

Sebastian proudly showed off his papal visit ID indicating that he was a marshal on Sunday, at the University of Santo Tomas, where the pope will be meeting with religious leaders and the youth. “Our Church asked us who wanted to volunteer to be a marshal on Sunday, so I did,” adding that his store is usually closed anyway on that day.

At least one fast-food chain found a way to make up for the lost day’s sales along the papal route to the Nunciature. Jollibee at the corner of Quirino Avenue and Taft Avenue, which had been closed all day on Thursday, opened after the pope’s motorcade passed by on his way to his official residence in Manila. Expectedly, the crowd who had been patiently waiting for hours for the pope’s arrival with just a minimal amount of food and drink, surged into the store to buy their dinner.

allies, passed the bill in 2012.

Pope Francis took the local church to task himself during a Mass for the clergy in Manila Cathedral, urging priests to reject materialism and embrace lives of poverty themselves as Jesus did.

“Only by becoming poor ourselves, by stripping away our complacency, will we be able to identify with the least of our brothers and sisters,” he said. “We are called to be ambassadors of Christ.”

One congressional investigation revealed that some bishops had personally requested support from Arroyo, including one who asked for an SUV [sport-utility vehicle] as a birthday gift purportedly to allow him to visit his flock.

The pope’s message will likely reso-

With a report from AP

We believe that because of base effects and the previous policy moves of the BSP, we believe we will continue to see greater normalization of monetary growth,”Guinigundo said.

“We should also make the point that the stock of liquidity is just there. So you have a stock of liquidity funding economic activities,” the deputy governor quickly added.

The normalization of monetary growth this year from peak growth averaging 30 percent in early 2014 was also seen broadly steady and should not exhibit surges or contractions over the policy horizon.

Latest data from the central bank show domestic liquidity growth averaging 9 percent in November last year. This was a significant deceleration from the 15.4-

Meralco seeking 54.72 MW more for ILP this summer Continued from A1

availability of supply during the anticipated power crisis next year.

The program represents a partial solution to the looming power shortage this summer. The ILP, however, does not guarantee zero brownouts, as the program is implemented only when power demand triggers a red alert as power supply dwindles.

A red alert means there is a power deficiency.

Meralco continues to encourage 31 more prospective ILP participants contributing a potential 54.72 MW. The utility firm has yet to decide if it will extend the January 31 deadline within which interested ILPs sign up with the utility firm.

“We will assess what we’ll do as we approach January 31. Currently,

JANUARY 17, 2015 | SATURDAY

Tropical Storm is a cyclone category with winds of 64 - 118 kph.

percent expansion in October.

Money supply growth in November was the slowest in more than two years or since October 2012 when this grew by 8.7 percent. Continued liquidity growth in November proved also below the government target for M3 growth of 18 percent or 15 percent as earlier bared by central bank officials.

This also represented a significant slowdown from the 38 percent peak M3 growth in January 2014 that prompted the central bank to deploy liquidity control measures such as a hike in the deposit reserve requirement and on special deposits account interest rate during the period. Money supply in absolute terms as of end-November 2014 totaled P7.3 trillion. The BSP will convene the next policy rate meeting on February 12, its first such meeting for the year.

Continued from A1

nate in a country where, according to government statistics, nearly a quarter of the Philippines’s 100 million people live on just over $1 a day.

Following the Mass at the Manila Cathedral, the pontiff made a surprise visit at Tulay ng Kabataan (TNK) Foundation Inc., a non-governmental organization located just beside the cathedral. TNK, which was founded by a Jesuit priest, has been caring for the “poorest children of Metro Manila” since 1998.

Francis met and entertained some 300 children in the TNK. Fifty kids received kisses and a hug from the pontiff. “[The visit] was spontaneous. Yes, very spontaneous. I am very lucky,” said Fr. Matthieu Dauchez, executive director of the TNK Foundation.

we’re coordinating with the different retail electricity suppliers (RES), who are all working hard to finalize and sign their MOAs (memorandum of agreements) within the next couple of weeks,” Meralco utility economics head Lawrence Fernandez said in a text message.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said there have been expressions of commitment for signing between so-called contestable customers and their respective RES. DOE Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla has already expressed his appreciation of the participants for being part of the solution by firmly confronting the imminent power shortage this summer.

Contestable customers are those with monthly average peak demand of at least 1 MW. They are allowed to choose the supplier of their energy requirement

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

TODAY’S WEATHER

Prices seen stable over policy horizon

JAN 18 SUNDAY

JAN 19 MONDAY

METRO MANILA

20 – 31°C

19 – 29°C

TUGUEGARAO

19 – 28°C

19 – 28°C

tribute to all contestable customers in its franchise area. The corresponding distribution charge due to Meralco for rendering the service will be reflected in the RES’s monthly bill.

Moreover, all power distributionrelated concerns, like scheduled and unscheduled interruptions, new service applications for electricity, application for increased power requirements and energizing new facilities, will still be coursed by the contestable customers to Meralco.

Presently, there are still ongoing negotiations for prospective participants, the DOE said. The energy chief said several meetings and invitations have been scheduled to secure more participants before the end of the January.

Petilla is optimistic that continued encouragement will lead to the entry of more ILP participants.

under the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) regime.

The suppliers, whom the contestable customers will choose, are called the RES. They will directly negotiate and contract on a wholesale level with power generation companies so they can sell electricity to contestable customers at competitive rates.

These rates will be reflected in the generation-charge portion of the bill, which typically comprises at least a percent of the monthly electric bill.

When a contestable customer chooses an RES to supply his needs, the RES will also be in charge of the customer’s monthly billing and collection of payments. Prior to RCOA, the tasks of energy sourcing, supply, billing and payment collection was done by the local distribution utility, Meralco.

Meralco said it will continue to dis-

JAN 20 TUESDAY

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

JAN 18 SUNDAY

JAN 19 MONDAY

JAN 20 TUESDAY

20 – 30°C

METRO CEBU

23 – 29°C

24 – 30°C

24 – 31°C

18 – 28°C

TACLOBAN

23 – 29°C

23 – 28°C

23 – 29°C

20 – 28°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

23 – 30°C

23 – 30°C

23 – 31°C

METRO DAVAO

24 – 31°C

25 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

TROPICAL STORM AMANG WAS ESTIMATED AT 475 KM EAST OF BORONGAN, EASTERN SAMAR. (AS OF JANUARY 16, 5:00 PM)

LAOAG

BAGUIO

LAOAG CITY 21 – 31°C

TUGUEGARAO CITY 20 – 29°C

SBMA/ CLARK

BAGUIO CITY 13 – 21°C SBMA/CLARK 22 – 30°C METRO MANILA 19 – 30°C

TAGAYTAY CITY 17 – 28°C

TAGAYTAY

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Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Saturday, January 17, 2015

A3

‘Make youth feel Church is source of hope’ Groups march to Mendiola as Aquino fetes Francis

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OUTH activists marched alongside other people’s organizations on Friday morning to tell Pope Francis about the real state of the nation.

Members of the League of Filipino Students (LFS), Anakbayan, Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, Kabataang Artista Para sa Tunay na Kalayaan and Kabataan Party-list group marched to the historic bridge while President Aquino and Pope Francis were meeting in Malacañang.

The pope paid a courtesy call on Mr. Aquino as he started the first full day of his visit to the country, which has a large Roman Catholic majority. LFS said the protest was intended to reveal to His Holiness the real face of poverty and oppression in the country, and reminded “the paranoid Aquino administration of the problems it’s trying sweep under the rug.”

Charlotte Velasco, who speaks in behalf of LFS, said “the poor suffer under a system riddled with corruption, oppression and greed perpetuated by the Aquino administration. The paranoid regime employs overkill efforts to hide this truth from the pope, so we have gathered together and braved the streets to dispel them.”

“The pork-barrel chief Aquino will surely not listen to Pope Francis’s remarks regarding the dismal Typhoon Yolanda relief. The anti-poor President will probably shun the pope’s calls for land for the tillers, decent jobs, accessible education and clean government,” she continued.

LFS maintained that the youth and the people’s struggles will not be forestalled by the regime’s overkill security for the papal visit.

Velasco added they want Pope Francis, who is known to be vocal on social issues like education, as an ally in their fight for accessible and affordable quality education.

“If Aquino thinks that our fight for education will be suspended due to the papal visit, then he’s wrong. The Filipino people has found an ally in Pope Francis and we want him to join us in our crusade for better social services, respect for human rights and justice for all,” she continued.

LFS also denounced President Aquino’s apparent hypocrisy as he received the pope and denounced the National Police for its violent dispersal of peasants belonging to Kasama-Southern Tagalog, who marched from Baclaran to greet the pope.

“Once apprised of the Aquino administration’s negligence in helping the disaster victims and its policy of putting more financial burdens on the people through higher train fares, increased water rates and the impending hikes in power rates, Pope Francis would certainly sport a grim frown in his meeting with Aquino,” Velasco stressed.

“Pope Francis should notice how Aquino ordered the putting up of metal fences, concrete barriers and the deployment of up to 50,000 policemen and soldiers to discourage the urban poor from seeing Pope Francis. He would then figure out that they’re not there for his protection and that there is indeed a great divide between the regime and the poor in the country,” she argued.

LFS urged the youth and other sectors of society to welcome the Pope’s visit not only in faith but also in action.

P

By Joel R. San Juan

OPE Francis on Friday asked young priests, seminarians and religious groups to guide the youth, especially those who may be “confused and despondent,” and make them feel that the Church is their source of hope.

The pope made the appeal during his first Mass in the Philippines that was held at the more than 400-yearold Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, or Manila Cathedral, which was attended by more than 1,000 priests and nuns.

He also asked them to “be present to those who, living in the midst of a society burdened by poverty and corruption, are broken in spirit, tempted to give up, to leave school and to live on the streets.”

“Here, I would like to address a special word to the young priests, religious and seminarians among us.

I ask you to share the joy and enthusiasm of your love for Christ and the Church with everyone, but especially with your peers. Be present to young people who may be confused and despondent, yet continue to see the Church as their friend on the journey and a source of hope,” Francis said.

The youth comprise majority of the members of the Church in the country.

The pope arrived at the Manila Cathedral at exactly 11 a.m. and was greeted by the ecstatic crowd with cheers and chants of “Pope Francis.”

The pontiff finished his Mass

at around 12:30 p.m. and left the premises to return to the Apostolic Nunciature, his official residence in Manila.

The crowd sang “Tell the World of His Love,” which was the official theme of Saint Pope John Paul II’s visit in Manila back in 1995, while waiting for the pope to get out of the Cathedral after the Mass.

While the pope was celebrating the Mass, several people collapsed and were given immediate medical treatment after the heat, fatigue and lack of sleep took its toll on them.

Some of those who were in the crowd arrived at the Manila Cathedral premises as early as 3 a.m.

Before the pope’s arrival, personnel of the Air Force Explosives Ordnance Disposal Unit asked photojournalists to “click” each of their cameras as part of the security measures for the pope.

Do you love me?

ALSO during his homily, the pope thanked the Filipino people for showing their love to him.

“Do you love me?” the Holy Father asked his audience, to which they replied “yes.”

FR. Federico Lombardi (center), Vatican spokesman, answers questions during a media briefing at the Diamond Hotel in Manila. With Lombardi are Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara (left), chairman of the Papal Visit Committee on Information and Media, and Fr. Joe Quilongquilong, a member of the committee. CLAUDETH MOCON-CIRIACO

He answered back: “Thank you.”

“I greet all of you with great affection. And I ask you to bring my affection to all your elderly and infirm brothers and sisters, and to all those who cannot join us today,” the pope told the clergy present. He also urged all the clergy to reject worldly perspectives and materialism in order to see all things in the light of Christ.

“How can we proclaim the newness and liberating power of the Cross to others, if we ourselves refuse to allow the word of God to shake our complacency, our fear of change, our petty compromises with the ways of this world, our ‘spiritual worldliness,’” he said.

He also encouraged the clergy to proclaim the beauty and truth of the Christian message to a society

which is tempted by “confusing presentations of sexuality, marriage and the family.”

“As you know, these realities are increasingly under attack from powerful forces, which threaten to disfigure God’s plan for creation and betray the very values which have inspired and shaped all that is best in your culture,” the pontiff stressed.

With Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Airport cop carrying gun WWF: Time to reflect on climate solutions near papal route nabbed

By Marvyn N. Benaning Correspondent

A

N airport policeman who was carrying his 9mm service pistol was arrested on Thursday evening while attempting to cross a concrete barrier near the Manila Domestic Airport.

The policeman told investigators he wanted to get a closer look at the papal motorcade.

The motorcade was scheduled to pass the area at between 6 and 6:30 p.m.

The Sri Lanka Airlines Airbus A340, bearing the pope, landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) at 5:25 p.m.

After a brief welcome ceremony at the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing hangar in Villamor Air Base, the papal entourage proceeded to the Apostolic Nunciature, passing through Sales Street and then on to the Manila Domestic Airport Road, before proceeding toward Roxas Boulevard.

The Naia Media Affairs Division identified the arrested policeman as Cpl. Virgilio Perez of the Manila International Airport Authority.

Perez told Pasay City police investigators that he badly wanted to cross the barrier to get a closer look at the pope.

The authorities earlier declared that it would be illegal to cross the barrier for security reasons.

However, when Perez insisted on going through, the police arrested him and found the pistol and a magazine with 14 rounds of ammunition in his backpack.

Perez was not on duty when arrested. He was not in uniform and, thus, not allowed to carry a gun.

He is now facing charges for violating Republic Act 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.

Recto L. Mercene

T

HE World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has rallied the Catholic faithful to reflect on climate solutions, claiming that the visit of Pope Francis is an appropriate time for such a reflection.

Anchoring the northern tip of the Coral Triangle along the Pacific Typhoon Belt, the Philippines is the third most vulnerable country to climate change, WWF said.

It is hit by a maximum of two dozen typhoons annually, with the average number placed at 20 every year. WWF claimed that two months before Typhoon Yolanda barreled through Easterm Visayas and much of Central Philippines, WWF and Tacloban City leaders predicted the possible arrival of a megatyphoon within a decade.

The prediction proved to be wrong since the typhoon—which slammed into Tacloban City, took nearly 7,000 lives, with many more people still missing, and caused $14 billion in damage

to properties, farms, fish pens and rural infrastructure—arrived in only two months. WWF added that these days in Asia, typhoons have grown stronger, even as longer droughts have forced rural residents to migrate to cities, and floodings have ruined many lives and forms of livelihood.

Whether or not the Philippines is a major carbon emitter is beside the point, the group stressed, but it is a fact that many countries that contribute the least to global carbon emissions are the most vulnerable.

The situation has worsened as these countries have fewer resources to deploy in coping with disasters.

WWF believes in proactive — rather than reactive—climate solutions.

Philippine climate-adaptation efforts include a four-year, 16-city study to prepare the largest Philippine cities for climate impacts. Climate mitigation will be crucial.

“While the Philippines contributes less than 0.35 percent of the global greenhouse-gases emissions, its share will spike due to economic and population growth coupled with

rapid urbanization,” WWF predicted.

In 2013 WWF led a global campaign called “Seize Your Power,” which called on financial institutions, private investors, pension and sovereign wealth funds, plus governments to significantly increase investments in renewable energy while divesting from fossil fuels.

“This year the initiative lives on through WWF-Philippines’s ‘Seize the Wind’ campaign, which aims to convince public-sector players to enhance support for local wind power projects,” WWF added.

“The world must learn from typhoons Ondoy, Sendong and Yolanda—lessons paid for in lost lives and livelihoods,” said the WWF-Philippines Climate Change and Energy Program head, Angela Ibay.

“The pope’s visit to Tacloban shows that the Church cares deeply about people affected by climate change— many living in vulnerable, developing nations. The onus is on negotiators and leaders in Paris this December.

Lives will be saved should they do what is right,” Ibay added.

Upgrade, revision of Natl Apprenticeship Program pushed

T

HE government must sustain and upgrade its programs providing skills and opportunities to the country’s youth as the backbone of national development, lawmakers said.

The House of Representatives is expected to endorse the Senate passage of House Bill (HB) 5303, which provides for a “revised apprenticeship program in the country.”

“The main objective of the bill is to reform the National Apprenticeship Program by providing the youth with skills and access to employment, and provide enterprises with a mechanism to ensure a continuous supply of skilled manpower,” the authors said.

HB 5303 seeks to repeal Chapters I and II of Title II of Presidential Decree 442, as amended, otherwise

known as the Labor Code of the Philippines. The bill, a substitute measure to HBs 221, 1594 and 2227, is collectively authored by eight congressmen. The consolidated measure was successfully steered in the plenary session on second reading last December 17 by the sponsoring House Committee on Labor and Employment, chaired by National Unity Party Rep. Karlo Nograles of Davao City, with the able plenary defense by its principal authors.

The bill, awaiting final reading approval come opening of session on January 20, identifies enterprises with program registered with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) as the entities that can train apprentices instead of employers in highly technical industries only.

Likewise, it sets the duration of the training according to the complexity of the skills to be learned by the apprentices, thereby expanding the maximum training period of six months only. The proposed statute also enumerated the content of the apprenticeship contract instead of generally stating that it should conform to the rules issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The bill also introduces a provision that the contributions to the training allowance by government agencies or non-governmental organizations or both shall be considered in computing the training allowances of apprentices presently placed at 75 percent of the minimum wage.

There is also a provision setting the grounds, and the rules and procedure for the termination of the

apprenticeship agreement.

The bill provides for the issuance of training certificates to apprentices who have completed the apprenticeship program comparable to the completion of a training program in technical vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, and the award of equivalent unit credits in the formal system of education.

Likewise, the bill includes a provision on compulsory apprenticeship in certain occupations when national security or requirements of economic development so demand.

HB 5303 provides as an incentive to participating employers an additional deduction from the gross income, instead of taxable income, of one-half of the labor training expenses, provided that: a) the employer shall be exempt from the payment of

apprenticeship fee, and b) such deduction shall not exceed 10 percent of the training allowance of the apprentices instead of the direct labor wages.

Another salient provision requires participating entities in the apprenticeship program to provide a disability and/or accident insurance policy in favor of the apprentices during the apprenticeship period.

The bill states that any violation of the proposed Act or its rules and regulations shall be subject to the general penalty provided for in the Labor Code as amended.

Among other penalty clauses, the bill states that enterprises found offering unregistered apprenticeship programs shall be subjected to program closure proceedings without prejudice to the filing of administrative, criminal or civil liabilities. PNA

Ne

Business

A4 Saturday, January 17, 2015

POPE URGES PHL LEADERS TO SHUN CORRU

PHOTO BY NONOY LACZA

MALACAÑAN PHOTO

POPE’S PRAYER FOR PHL

Pope Francis signs the official guest book of Malacañan Palace prior to his formal meeting with President Aquino on Friday. The pope personally wrote a brief prayer as he sat down to sign after the welcome ceremony at the Kalayaan grounds, where the pontiff was accorded full military honors as a visiting head of state of the Vatican. Francis prayed: “On the President and people of this beloved land of the Philippines, I ask Almighty God abundant blessings of wisdom, discernment, prosperity and peace.” After the Palace meeting, the pope proceeded to the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Intramuros, where he officiated a Mass attended by bishops, priests, nuns and seminarians as part of his apostolic mission. The pope was scheduled to hold a Meeting with Families and officiate his second Mass for the day at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

On Saturday the pontiff is scheduled to be with Supertyphoon Yolanda survivors in Tacloban City, Leyte.

AP

PHOTO BY NONIE REYES

PHOTO BY ALYSA SALEN

MALACAÑAN PHOTO

PHOTO BY NONIE REYES

AP

ews

sMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Saturday, January 17, 2015 A5

UPTION, TELLS FAMILIES TO STAY TOGETHER

MALACAÑAN PHOTO

MALACAÑAN PHOTO

PHOTO BY NONIE REYES

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Saturday, January 17, 2015

editorial

The papal welcome

T

HE welcome of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Philippines was an event of “pomp and circumstance” mixed with diplomatic protocol and celebration. With thousands at the airport and millions watching on television struggling to get a glimpse of Pope Francis, the pictures of the pope peeking out of the airplane window reminded us of how we react when a long-lost relative arrives from abroad.

The greeting between Pope Francis and Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, archbishop of Manila, was obviously an exchange between two men who know each other well. Also in the official welcome were orphans and Cabinet members, prompting barbs on social media about Philippine poverty and our sometimes less-than-honest politicians. But that is as much a part of the Philippines as all the rest of the ceremonies and cannot be ignored either.

As the pope entered one of his three Philippines’s “popemobile”, provided by Isuzu Philippines and Isuzu Gencars Inc. (a sister company of the BusinessMirror), the vehicle looked both futuristic and familiar. It was almost a hybrid between 21st-century technology and design and our old comfortable “owner-type”.

The 11-kilometer trip on the route from Villamor Air Base to the Apostolic Nunciature was truly the official Filipino greeting. Nearly 9 million Filipinos lined the route to welcome, get a glimpse of, and simply share in the moment of being in the brief presence of their pope.

The ridiculers will scorn the affection that all these ordinary Filipinos have for this one man in a prominent and extraordinary position. But if you asked any of those along the motorcade route, they probably would tell the scoffers that this was a once-in-a-lifetime event to see someone they admire and respect and feel an affinity to.

Watching Pope Francis pass the hundreds of thousands lining the streets may have been the best public relations the country could have hoped for.

Of course everyone was on their best behavior for their VIP guest. But nonetheless, the crowds were passionate, orderly, respectful and disciplined, traits we have but that we sometimes fail to display.

If you happened to be among the throne of well-wishers, it was impossible not to feel this was a personal experience for those who attended. It was not a million people greeting the pontiff but one person multiplied a million times. Each of the million also seemed to take a personal responsibility for the event. While there were no particular incidents of bad behavior, the collective anger toward anyone who tried to ruin the party would have been monumental.

The many activities on Thursday and Friday will culminate in Sunday’s celebration of the Mass at Quirino Grandstand. Thursday’s welcome was a great beginning.

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The Swiss ‘Sweet Meteor of Death’ John Mangun

N

OUTSIDE THE BOX

EAR the end of 2014, I wrote “I am planning for a more turbulent 2015.” I expected that to be the tone of different possible scenarios and not a fulfilled prediction—at least not this early in 2015.

The past week, we have seen the Dow Jones Industrial Average index make a 950-point daily swing.

Gold has broken above a 26-month downtrend pattern. Crude spiked 10 percent and retraced downward that same 10 percent in a matter of a few hours.

On Thursday the central bank of Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank (SNB), dropped the “Sweet Meteor of Death” on the financial and currency markets by removing its exchange rate cap against the euro.

More quietly but of significance, India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India lowered interest rates in the face of lower inflation and to encourage more lending to spur economic growth.

The policy change of the SNB is probably of little interest to you.

But let me explain it to you this way. The impact of the SNB move is practically the same as President

Manuel L. Quezon suddenly announcing that the Philippines is joining with Japan and declaring war on the United States.

Three years ago, the SNB began to “cap” the exchange rate of the Swiss franc (CHF) against the euro (EUR).

That is, the SNB would intervene to keep the CHF from appreciating against the euro beyond CHF1.20 to €1. In effect, the Swiss were supporting the global exchange rate of the EUR with its own money.

Certainly, there were advantages to the Swiss economy in that its exporters to advantage of an artificially weak CHF that made their export products more competitive and desirable. However, the Swiss economy has been subject to deflationary pressures for some time because of this policy. That means that the Swiss economy has not been able to grow as fast as perhaps it should have because poor economic growth in the

European Union (EU) has spilled over to Switzerland.

The European Central Bank has been trying to fully implement its own version of money printing and quantitative easing through a policy that is being called Outright Monetary Transactions. This would allow the ECB to directly buy sovereign debt.

The program has been held up by legal challenges primarily from Germany as it is in violation of several national laws, as well as other EU treaties. This past week, the European Constitutional Court of Justice ruled that the ECB has unlimited authority to massively inflate (read print) the euro.

The SNB has valid fears that it will be forced to spend more to support the EUR as the ECB prints and prints and the SNB may wind up holding more “worthless” euros.

The SNB has basically supported major central bank monetary policy for three years and now has broken away from the ECB, the US Federal Reserve, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). That is why I compare this move to the Philippines allying with the Japanese.

The Swiss are now in a better position to join with Russia, China, and even countries like the Philippines to pursue an independent monetary that is more in its own self-interest rather than supporting the economic losers like the US, Japan and the EU.

Asian democracy surrounds China

By James Gibney Bloomberg View

S

OME Chinese commentators have brushed off the defeat of Mahindra Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s pro-Chinese president, as a tactical setback to China’s economic and strategic expansion in the region. And it’s true that Sri Lanka will continue to need, and to benefit from, Chinese investment.

The real threat posed to China by Rajapaksa’s surprising loss, however, is different. This marks the third big Asian election in the last 12 months in which voters have installed a new leader: first in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi thumped the incumbent Congress Party; then Indonesia, where Joko Widodo, an outsider, won over voters with his record of competence as governor of Jakarta; and now Maithripala Sirisena’s upset victory in Sri Lanka. That kind of turnover at the top must give pause to China’s Communist Party leaders, who see the mandate of

heaven as an institutional birthright.

A look at the map is instructive: As Freedom House notes, “Over the past five years, the Asia-Pacific region has been the only one to record steady gains in political rights and civil liberties.” On China’s border, autocratic Myanmar has just gone ahead with the first municipal elections in six decades in Yangon, its biggest city and plans to hold general elections in late 2015. In Taiwan the ruling nationalists (who favor closer ties with mainland China) just got a drubbing in local elections. In China’s near abroad, Afghanistan’s recent

election—for all its flaws—also marked a significant step forward for its fledgling democracy.

China itself is wrestling with how to keep officials honest without a free press and how to hold them accountable for their performance without elections. Since Deng Xiaoping’s revolutionary ascendance in 1978, China’s Communist leadership has made mind-boggling gains in reducing poverty and increasing economic output. But the severity and extent of President Xi Jinping’s current anticorruption campaign, not to mention its politically motivated targeting, reflect the inevitable shortcomings of China’s top-down approach to governance, which has also imposed enormous costs on its citizens’ human freedoms. As an Economist editorial recently noted, the use of targets to ensure bureaucratic performance has led to, among other things, “wasteful overinvestment and environmental disaster…

This is a big deal.

The global financial institutions and the governments counted on the SNB to go along with the big boys and do what it was told and are now facing billions of dollars of losses due to the Swiss bank’s move.

By not informing the IMF or the ECB prior to the announcement, the SNB has undermined the credibility of both organizations as the coordinators of global exchange-rate stability. But its own credibility has been significantly weakened in that the “Old Boy’s Club” of the major central banks has been challenged by a Western country and not just Russia and China or even Brazil.

What does it potentially mean for the Philippines?

Up until two days ago, the Swiss franc was a safe haven. As the few safe havens left continue to fall, genuine safe havens of countries with genuine productivity—fueled economic growth, increasing corporate profits, stable currencies and sensible monetary policy will become more attractive. And contrary to what some of the gloom-and-doomers say, that describes the Philippines.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com.

Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

and the illegal barbarism of forced abortions.” At the opposite extreme is a remarkable column by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who waxes over the one-party state’s displacement of the US as the world’s largest economy without shedding a single tear over how this was achieved.

China recently succeeded in squelching demands by protestors in Hong Kong for greater freedom of political choice, in this case largely without resorting to brute force. In times past, when outsiders have criticized such behavior, they have been met with two responses: “Don’t interfere with China’s internal affairs” followed often by the admonition that such criticism will “hurt the feelings of 1.35 billion Chinese people.”

That’s a lot of people. But it’s also a lot fewer than the 2-billion-plus Asians, who live under leaders more or less of their own choosing. They may be onto something.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Beware! Pope Francis strongly abhors corrupt practices act Cecilio T. Arillo

database

F

OR some people in this country who have not given up the culture of kickback and other corrupt practices acts, better be warned because Pope Francis strongly abhors these evil acts.

It can be recalled that in one of his fiercest homilies after he was elected in March, the Pontiff said Christians who led “a double life” by giving m oney to the Church while stealing from the state were sinners who deserved to be punished.

Quoting from the Gospel of St. Luke in the New Testament, “Jesus says: It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea.”

While the Pope did not infer corruption within the Roman Catholic Church, his strong remarks came just days after a scandal erupted inside an ancient religious order linked to the Vatican as he forged ahead with a determined effort to root out cronyism within the Holy See and financial irregularities in the scandal-tainted Vatican bank.

The Pope likened people engaged in corruption as “whitewashed tombs,” saying “they appear beautiful from the outside, but inside they are full of dead bones and putrefaction.”

“A life based on corruption was ‘varnished putrefaction,’ the Pope said, the second time in just a few days that he had targeted the evil.

He made the fierce remarks during his daily morning Mass inside Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where he chose to live after spurning the much grander apostolic apartments on the other side of St Peter’s Basilica.

“Those who take kickbacks have lost their dignity and give their children dirty bread,” the Pope said, using strong words for Catholics who grew wealthy from graft and used tainted money to shower their children with gifts and send them to expensive schools.

“Corruption was as much of an addiction as taking drugs,” he said, as he prayed thereafter “that the Lord may change the hearts of those who worship the kickback god.”

According to Vatican records, the most recent scandal to hit the Church was recently exposed when the head of a 440-year-old religious order was arrested on suspicion of bringing trumped-up charges against rivals in an attempt to be re-elected.

Renato Salvatore, 58, was allegedly so desperate to be re-elected Superior General of the Camillians, also known as the Order of Ministers to the Sick, that he invented false charges against two

rival priests who were opposed to his nomination, the records said.

The records further revealed that “unfounded charges resulted in the two priests, Rosario Messina and Antonio Puca, being hauled off to a police station in Rome, with the result that they were unable to cast their votes against Fr. Salvatore at a general assembly of the order.

Members of the order wear black cassocks emblazoned with red Crusader-style crosses—the origins of the Red Cross symbol.”

Pope Francis moved promptly on the corrupt financial and banking procedures that plagued the Vatican, taking important steps toward a more effective oversight and cracking down on money laundering, winning praises from financial experts, watchdogs and journalists.

After that, the Pope took a step further by instituting new standard operating procedures for all Vatican departments, including a requirement for each department to produce an annual budget “providing a reliable picture of its assets and expenditures” which were unthinkable before he took the Vatican helm.

Vatican records showed that Francis is unquestionably fixing the mess he inherited, surely displeasing “gentry liberals eager for the Pope to validate their worldview, but it’s a huge story, and one Francis should get much more credit for than he so far has.”

In a recent review article, the prestigious American Interest Magazine said: “Vatican’s history of financial scandal is only to a limited extent related to occasional acts of brazen corruption. More often, it’s a product of a culture in which all sorts of objectively suspect behaviors aren’t even seen as problematic—steering contracts to friends or relatives instead of abiding by a competitive bidding process, for instance, or not asking a monsignor where the wads of cash come from that he wants to park in his Vatican bank account.”

Retrospectively, the Pope is certainly building up a strong anticorruption legacy in a decisive manner in the Vatican’s contemporary history.

Evangelii Gaudium Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER 47th part

The common good and peace in society

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E have spoken at length about joy and love, but the word of God also speaks about the fruit of peace (cf. Gal 5:22).

Peace in society cannot be understood as pacification or the mere absence of violence resulting from the domination of one part of society over others. Nor does true peace act as a pretext for justifying a social structure which silences or appeases the poor, so that the more affluent can placidly support their lifestyle while others have to make do as they can. Demands involving

the distribution of wealth, concern for the poor and human rights cannot be suppressed under the guise of creating a consensus on paper or a transient peace for a contented minority. The dignity of the human person and the common good rank higher than the comfort of those who refuse to renounce their privileges.

When these values are threatened, a prophetic voice must be raised.

A

FTER months of preaching monetary discipline to fend off inflation, Raghuram Rajan shocked India today by unexpectedly slashing the benchmark repurchase rate to 7.75 percent from 8 percent. Close observers shouldn’t have been surprised. India’s central banker, who famously predicted the 2008 global crisis, warned in an op-ed just on Thursday that several of the world’s major economies were “flirting with deflation,” with dire implications for emerging markets like his. The threat of global “secular stagnation”—combined with lower prices in India—no doubt prompted him to act.

The question is why Rajan’s peers across the region don’t appear to appreciate the danger. Just today, South Korea’s central bank courted its own deflationary funk by holding

benchmark interest rates steady at 2 percent, even as consumer prices advance at the slowest pace since 1999. While energy costs in Indonesia are rising due to the lifting of

Progress in building a people in peace, justice and fraternity depends on four principles related to constant tensions present in every social reality. These derive from the pillars of the Church’s social doctrine, which serve as “primary and fundamental parameters of reference for interpreting and evaluating social phenomena”.[181] In their light I would now like to set forth these four specific principles which can guide the development of life in society and the building of a people where differences are harmonized within a shared pursuit. I do so out of the conviction that their application can be a genuine path to peace within each nation and in the entire world.

To be continued For comments, e-mail caritas_manila@yahoo.com. For donations to Caritas Manila, call 563-9311. For inquiries, call 563-9308 or 563-9298.

Fax: 563-9306.

By Zara Kessler Bloomberg View

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HAT’S keeping women from the top ranks of US business and politics? On Thursday the Pew Research Center released a report on women and leadership, which included some intriguing bits.

When asked in November about reasons “Why there aren’t more women in top executive business positions,” only 23 percent of American adults surveyed said a major reason is that “women’s responsibilities to family don’t leave time for running a major corporation.”

Another 35 percent thought family was a minor reason, while 40 percent thought it wasn’t a reason. Similarly, only 17 percent agreed that the relative scarcity of women in high political offices stems largely from family responsibilities. Another 32 percent thought it a minor reason, with 48 percent believing it wasn’t a reason at all. Instead, more commonly cited factors were women

being held to higher standards and an unreadiness to choose women for top positions.

The paucity of female leaders probably has roots that stretch far deeper than the family tree. But, surely, some women never even get within shouting distance of “high political offices” or “top executive positions” because they’ve already been sidetracked by childbirth. In an October 2013 Pew survey, 40 percent of current or past working mothers said being a working mother made it harder to advance in their jobs or careers.

Claire Suddath delves into our nation’s maternity-leave problem in the newest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek. The US is the world’s only developed country that does not provide some form of paid maternity leave. Yet better maternity leave isn’t a sure path to advancement either.

A woman in Sweden, where parents are allowed 480 days of paid leave between them, told Suddath, “It’s understood that a woman who becomes a mother cannot have the same career as a man.”

One potential solution is for women to delay child rearing. In the new Pew report, 46 percent of adult millennials (born after 1980) suggested that women desiring to reach top executive positions in business are better off having kids later in their careers, compared with 30 percent of those in the Silent generation (born 1928-1945). About one in five adults overall thought that women seek-

What does India know that the rest of Asia doesn’t?

BLOOMBERG VIEW

Nor is peace “simply the absence of warfare, based on a precarious balance of power; it is fashioned by efforts directed day after day towards the establishment of the ordered universe willed by God, with a more perfect justice among men”.

[179] In the end, a peace which is not the result of integral development will be doomed; it will always spawn new conflicts and various forms of violence.

People in every nation enhance the social dimension of their lives by acting as committed and responsible citizens, not as a mob swayed by the powers that be. Let us not forget that “responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation”.[180] Yet becoming a people demands something more. It is an ongoing process in which every new generation must take part: a slow and arduous effort calling for a desire for integration and a willingness to achieve this through the growth of a peaceful and multifaceted culture of encounter.

A7

It’s still lonely for women at the top

The writer can be reached via cecilio.arillo@gmail.com.

William Pesek

Saturday, January 17, 2015

fuel subsidies, economist Daniel Wilson of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group warns that prices overall are set to slow or fall: “Disinflation synchronisation is in sight and it will be severe,” he says.

From Beijing to Bangkok, Asian central banks seem too blinded by longstanding inflation fears to recognize the trends inexorably pushing prices downward.

In a world of plunging commodity prices and weakening global demand, Asian economies that have traditionally depended on exports are going to have to do all they can to gin up growth. Since most of the tools available to governments—increasing spending, lowering trade barriers, loosening labor markets— can’t have an immediate impact, the burden falls on central banks to act. That’s the only sure way to ease strains in credit markets, relieve hard-pressed borrowers and

boost investments.

So why aren’t they? An overly doctrinaire fear of inflation explains much of the reluctance. Take the Philippines, where consumer prices are rising just 2.7 percent and the economy is growing 5.3 percent.

On December 12, central bank Governor Amando Tetangco said cheaper oil gave him “some scope” to leave interest rates unchanged.

Since then, Brent crude has fallen to about $48 a barrel, the World Bank has downgraded its 2015 global growth forecast to 3 percent from 3.4 percent and Europe has neared a new crisis. Last week, the Philippines government sold $2 billion of 25-year debt at a record-low yield of 3.95 percent. Markets aren’t always right, but it sure seems time for Tetangco to move the benchmark rate below 4 percent.

Another reason: bad memories of 1997. Back then, ultraloose

ing to climb to the top of the business ladder are better off not having kids at all.

Forgoing children has obvious downsides for society, such as jeopardizing its continued existence. So what other policies work? Suddath wrote that offering fathers leave makes it less likely that employers

will hesitate to hire young women.

The same logic could be applied to promotions, though all of this seems contingent upon enough men utilizing the option. Today President Barack Obama made the symbolic gesture of signing a presidential memorandum directing federal agencies “to advance up to six weeks of paid sick leave for parents with a new child,” according to a White House fact sheet.

Still, our nation’s babies are not holding up the glass ceiling alone.

The new Pew report notes that, given the choice, 53 percent of all adults (and 48 percent of millennial adults) selected the projection that “even as more women move into management roles, men will continue to hold more top executive positions in business in the future” over the notion, that with more women going into management roles, it’s only a matter of time before as many women as men fill top business positions. Sure, according to the report, 73 percent of adults expect the country to elect a female president in their lifetime.

But, for young American women, it’s still a long and winding corridor to the corner office.

monetary policies helped spark the Asian crisis. In the years since, governments have amassed foreign-exchange reserves—just 10 Asian economies hold more than $7 trillion—and central bankers have maintained conservative rate regimes. Such prudence is understandable given worries about the Federal Reserve tightening too fast, the euro crashing or China’s shadowbanking system imploding. Easing would mean forsaking two decades of economic doctrine preached by Western governments and organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But Asia faces a fundamentally different world now, characterized by what IMF head Christine Lagarde calls a “new mediocre.” Developed nations aren’t bouncing back from 2008 as hoped. Governments from Washington to Tokyo are being whipsawed by the fiscal-austerity-versus-

stimulus debate.

The deflationary forces coursing around the globe have rendered Asian economies less vulnerable to inflation than in 1997. And while much more needs to be done, upgrades to financial sectors and improvements in infrastructure and general efficiency make the region’s economies a bit less prone to upward price bursts.

The real threat has changed. As Japan has shown and Europe may soon discover, deflation can be a lot harder to defeat than inflation. In his op-ed, Rajan lamented the “palpable sense of gloom in the developed world, a feeling that growth is unlikely to take off in the foreseeable future.”

He’s right that major economies need to do much more to shake off that pessimism. His counterparts in Asia, though, need to act far more boldly as well.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, January 17, 2015

crude heads for longest weekly losing streak since 1986 amid glut

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il headed for the longest run of weekly declines since March 1986, as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) forecast weaker demand for its crude, adding to signs that a global supply glut that spurred last year’s price collapse may persist.

Futures swung between gains and losses in New York and are set for an eighth weekly drop. Demand for oil from the Opec will average 28.8 million barrels a day, the lowest in 12 years, the group said in a report on January 15. Venezuela, one of Opec’s 12 members, is seeking to coordinate a plan to calm prices, according to President Nicolas Maduro.

Oil fell almost 50 percent last year, the most since the 2008 financial crisis, as supplies swelled amid the fastest pace of US production in more than three decades while Opec resisted calls to cut output.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Société Générale SA were among banks to reduce their price forecasts this week.

“It’s a broader global poker game in oil markets—the first to blink loses,” Michael McCarthy, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by phone. “Opec has

gotten away with its cartel actions for many decades now and there are clear signs that it’s no longer working. Their power over the oil price is being vastly eroded.”

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery was at $46.42 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 17 cents, at 2:12 p.m. Singapore time. The contract slid $2.23 to $46.25 on January 15. The volume of all futures traded was about 27 percent above the 100-day average.

Prices are down 4 percent this week.

Brent for March settlement was 15 cents higher at $48.42 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The February contract expired on January 15 after decreasing $1.02 to $47.67. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $1.50 to WTI for the same month.

Opec, which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s crude, pumped 30.2 million barrels a day in December, an increase of 140,000 barrels led by gains in Iraq, according to the report. The group’s share of the global oil market will shrink to 31.2 percent this year from 31t.9 percent in 2014, it estimated.

Bloomberg News

Price of construction materials down in Dec on cheaper oil–PSA

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By Cai U. Ordinario

holesale prices of construction materials sold in the National Capital Region (NCR) declined in December last year due to lower fuel prices, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA said the Construction Materials Wholesale Price Index (CMWPI) contracted by 0.1 percent in December 2014, from a 2.4-percent increase a year ago.

“The downtrend was due to 14.9-percent decline in fuels and lubricants index. Slower annual increments were also noted in the indices of cement at 2.3 percent and tileworks, 2.7 percent,” the PSA said.

The contraction in December slowed the full-year growth of the CMWPI to only 1.9 percent in 2014.

The figure, however, was higher than the 1.8-percen thike posted in 2013.

Last year the sand and gravel index increased to 4.3 percent; concrete products, 2.4 percent; hardware, 2.3 percent; and plywood, 2.7 percent.

Other indices that posted annual hikes were lumber at 5.1 percent; galvanized iron sheet, 3.9 percent; glass and glass products, 2.2 percent; electrical works, 3.2 percent; plumbing fixtures and accessories, 6.1 percent; painting works, 1.2 percent; and PVC pipes, 3 percent.

“The annual average growth of fuels and lubricants index further dropped by 1 percent. The rest of the commodity groups had lower annual average increments during the year with the indices of asphalt and machinery and equipment rental having a zero growth,” the PSA said.

On a month-on-month basis the wholesale prices of select construction materials in the NCR declined by 0.8 percent last December. The PSA attributed this to decreases posted in the indices of fuels and lubricants and cement at 7 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

However, higher monthly increases were seen in the indices of hardware and reinforcing steel at 0.2 percent; plywood, 0.5 percent; plumbing fixtures and accessories, 0.6 percent; and PVC pipes, 0.1 percent.

The CMWPI is a variant of the general wholesale price index that measures changes in the average wholesale prices of construction materials.

The data is used for the computation of price estimates of construction materials for various government projects as indicated in Presidential Decree 1594.

Pope Francis’s visit brings out winners, losers in business

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

Special to the BusinessMirror

Y

OU win some, you lose some.

As the entire length of Taft Avenue from Pablo Ocampo Street (Vito Cruz) to Quirino Avenue was closed to traffic during the five-day visit of Pope Francis in the country, most businesses in the area were already reporting massive financial losses on Thursday, the day of his arrival.

The area was closed because the pope was residing in the Apostolic Nunciature—the Vatican embassy —while he was in town.

There were a few who managed to make brisk business, though.

Melissa Principe, who has been living across the Apostolic Nunciature since 1971, had placed a stall right outside the gate of her family’s compound since Wednesday and was selling T-shirts, hats, button pins and other souvenir items bearing Pope Francis’s image, as well as pancit habhab, a specialty of Lucban, Quezon. She bought the plain T-shirts in Divisoria, had them printed, and was selling them for P250 each. She said those who have bought her T-shirts and other papal souvenirs were traffic aides from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and police personnel tasked to ensure security in the area, and passersby who were making their way to the corner of Taft and Quirino avenues to wait for the papal motorcade.

“We will be open 24 hours throughout the duration of the papal visit,” Principe said, as there would still be a number of security personnel who would be on duty along Taft Avenue at all hours of the night and day, guarding the perimeter of the Apostolic Nunciature. She also expected to satisfy the midnight food cravings of the nearby condominium residents.

Other businesses near the Apostolic Nunciature, however, were not as lucky as Principe.

Tapa King at the corner of

Estrada Street right across De La Salle University (DLSU), recorded a massive 80-percent drop in sales on Thursday alone. Store Manager Jim Ray Magno told the BusinessMirror: “It’s really slow today.

Usually we hit our sales target of P60,000 every day [operating from 8 a.m. to 12 midnight]. But today [Thursday], as of 4 p.m., our sales reached only P12,000.” He said most of the day’s sales were deliveries to students of DLSU who live in the area, while their few dine-in customers were MMDA personnel.

Magno added that he already allowed most of his staff to go home, as some of them lived quite a distance from the 80-seater store.

There were only six employees of the usual 12 employees left, most of them crowded around an overhead TV screen, as they monitored the news of the pope’s arrival.

“It’s really a huge loss,” Magno said, “but I guess it’s just okay since this is for the pope. How many times does a pope visit the Philippines?” He said the company is still monitoring the situation before deciding whether or not to keep the store open or closed during the papal visit.

The Shell gas station along Taft Avenue near the corner of Dangonoy Street was totally closed for the entire duration of the papal visit, with just a duty manager and one employee standing guard. Pao, the attendant, said on the average they get about 500 customers a day, most of them jeepneys, Taft being a busy line along the BaclaranDivisoria/Baclaran-Santa Cruz/ Baclaran-Quiapo routes.

By the BusinessMirror’s estimates, losses of the gas station would amount to at least P200,000 a day, or close to P800,000 during the five-day papal visit, based on the cost of diesel of P27.75 per liter. Pao said most jeepneys load up between P300 and P500 worth of diesel.

Despite lower sales, Ronaldo See “Papal visit,” A2

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Lagarde: High debt, lack of jobs threaten global growth CHRISTINE Lagarde, International Monetary Fund managing director, said on Thursday that cheaper oil and strong US growth aren’t enough to counter those threats.

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ASHINGTON—Twoproblems stemming from the 2008 financial crisis— heavy government borrowing and high unemployment—still pose challenges to the global economy and require bold action, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director, said on Thursday that cheaper oil and strong US growth aren’t enough to counter those threats.

“We believe that global growth is still too low, too brittle and too lopsided,” she said in remarks before the Council on Foreign Relations.

Europe and Japan potentially face years of slow growth and ultralow inflation, she said, while the United States “is the only major economy that is likely to buck that trend this year.”

Her warnings came after the IMF’s sister organization, the World Bank, on Tuesday lowered its forecast for international growth.

The World Bank now expects the global economy to expand 3 percent in 2015, down from a 3.4-percent estimate in June. The bank cuts its forecast because of stagnation in Europe and Japan and slower growth in China.

The IMF will issue its own update to its forecasts next week.

Cheaper oil should leave consumers in most wealthy nations with more money to spend on other goods, thereby supporting their economies, Lagarde said. But there are downsides as well, she added. Falling gas prices are pushing the 19 European nations that share the euro currency closer to deflation, a destabilizing fall in prices and wages.

The threat of deflation in Europe “bolsters the case” for the European Central Bank (ECB) to provide more stimulus, she said. Next week the ECB is expected to launch a bondbuying program intended to reduce borrowing costs for businesses, households and governments.

While the ECB is acting to ease rates, the US Federal Reserve may raise them later this year, Lagarde noted. Those opposing actions could cause widespread volatility in currency values and interest rates.

On Thursday Switzerland’s central bank caused violent swings in currency markets by announcing that it would no longer peg the Swiss franc to the value of the euro. That was an illustration of the interconnected nature of world financial markets. Switzerland acted largely because the expected stimulus by the ECB will likely lower the value of the euro.

That would make it more expensive to keep the Swiss franc from rising in comparison to Europe’s common currency.

Lagarde warned that many emerging markets could face a “triple hit” from a strengthening dollar, higher interest rates and volatile capital flows.

Many companies in developing countries have borrowed in dollars in recent years. Those loans would become harder to repay if the dollar rose in value compared with local currencies those companies do business in.

Lagarde also urged governments to take tough steps to restructure their labor markets, which in many cases would make it easier to hire and fire workers. AP