BusinessMirror February 24, 2015

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

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

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The do’s and don’ts of decorating with a roommate B D C Domaine LOVER of Scandinavian simplicity and a maximalist walk into an apartment.

What happens next? Well, if they’re brand-new roommates, some tests of patience and understanding may lie ahead. Whether you’re cohabitating out of choice or necessity, sharing a space can be tricky—especially when you have wildly different tastes. The situation is fraught with challenges, and feelings often get hurt. To help, we’ve asked friends and coworkers who survived their own roommate situations for tips on how to make it work. Read on for all the do’s and don’ts to keep cohabiting friendly and conflict-free!

■ DO: PLAN AHEAD. “Keep in mind how you’ll split things up once you go separate ways! If you and your roommate each buy three dining chairs for a total set of six, you’ll walk away with a strange number of chairs, and the style may be out of stock by then.”—Kat ■ DO: GET INSPIRED. “Create a secret Pinterest board with your roommate for decorating inspiration!

This is obviously a great tool for instant inspiration, but it also allows you to get a better sense of your roommate’s taste and personal style.”—Michelle ■ DO: FIND COMMON GROUND. “Try to find common ground when it comes to decorating. Try talking about your taste in art, music, fashion and who knows what commonalities you’ll uncover.”—Jasmin ■ DO: BE CLEAR FROM THE START. “Be clear from the start if you plan on taking the decorating reins.

I lived with a roommate who had little to no sense of style (and I mean that in the nicest way possible—she really didn’t care about design), so we agreed from the beginning that I would be responsible for decorating. It took expenses off of her plate, and I enjoyed it.”—Julia ■ DO: CONSIDER THE DETAILS. “Decorate your bathroom. You live in a house, not a hospital.

Buy cookware and utensils that are actually useful.

A doormat is your first line of defense against dirt and grime from the (not-so-great) outdoors. Get a

A

good one!”—Patrick ■ DO: CONSIDER YOUR LIVING MATE. “Be ready to make adjustments to accommodate your new roommate. The biggest thing for me was realizing I can’t have small, dainty furniture anymore (he’s 6-foot-4).

So making those changes really made him feel more comfortable, and forced me to get rid of some furniture that I didn’t really need—like my freakishly small Lucite coffee table.”—Jasmin ■ DO: ASK FOR AND RESPECT OPINIONS. “Sometimes, all someone wants is to be asked before a new item pops up into the space. Depending on your

particular relationship with your roommate, you may choose to heed, or ignore, said expressed opinion. But it doesn’t hurt to ask.”—Kate ■ DO: ASK A THIRD PARTY FOR HELP. “If you’re living with just one other person, making decorating decisions can get tricky. Without resorting to flipping a coin for it, invite a truly objective third party to come in and help make the final call. That ‘where should the sofa go’ dilemma may suddenly simplify.”—Sarah ■ DO: KEEP IT SIMPLE. “When in doubt, if you’re living with people who have wildly different taste

than you, keep major décor to a minimum.”—Susan ■ DON’T: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SHARED SPACE. “No, the living room is not the place to park your bike, or leave your projects strewn about, for months on end. Find a more agreeable solution that maintains the neutrality of common spaces like the living room, kitchen, bathrooms, etc.”—Cate ■ DON’T: SPLIT THE COST ON PRICEY PIECES. “Don’t go halfsies on pricier pieces if you can avoid it. It’s fine to split the cost of things like bath mats and trash bins [items that probably won’t have a life beyond your current living situation]. But you should take turns buying bigger, more expensive pieces. That way, when you go your separate ways, you won’t have to deal with the headache of trying to divvy things up evenly, or calculating the depreciated value of a sofa if someone wants to buy the other out.”—Shannan ■ DON’T: BE PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE. “If you’re harboring negative thoughts toward something in your home, don’t sit on it. It’s best to have it out and find a way to compromise rather than complain to your friends, or other roommates, about it all of the time.”—Susan ■ DON’T: FORCE YOUR AESTHETIC ONTO YOUR ROOMMATE. “Whatever you do, don’t be a decorator dictator [even if you lived there first]. Make it a point to invite your roommate to go shopping with you, even if you aren’t looking to buy. It was a nice way to get a feel for what you have in common, décor-wise, without making any commitments.”—Jasmin ■ DON’T: TAKE IT PERSONALLY. “As a rule of thumb, if you are putting something in a common space, accept that your roommate may hate it. If there is a piece that you hold particularly dear, perhaps it is best kept in your bedroom.”—Jared ■ DO: INVEST IN YOUR LIVING SPACE. “It can be tempting to treat a shared living space as a temporary or transitional space. But the fact is obvious: This is your home, the place you spend lots of time.

Respect it. This means treating it with love, care and attention. Take the time to decorate. No one wants to live in a barren space.”—Natalie

Affordable ways to glam up your rental

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B C H | Tribune News Service

❹

A passage to India ❶

FABRIC woven

chest

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GOLD, red and amber glass metal lanterns

THE crafts of India are diverse, rich in history and religion. Reflecting the influence of different empires, Indian crafts are part of the culture and tradition within rural communities.

The adventure continues as L’Indochine’s takes us on a passage to India with its latest collection of expertly curated and exquisitely designed home accessories, along with sublime fashion and accessories.

India’s textile tradition is varied, rich, and can be traced back to the Indus Valley civilization.

The past traditions of textiles and handlooms can be seen among the motifs, patterns and designs, and the old techniques of weaving still used by Indian weavers today.

Silk fabrics from south India were exported to Indonesia during the 13th century.

India also exported printed cotton fabrics to European countries and the Far East before the coming of the Europeans to India.

During colonial times, the British East India Company traded Indian cotton and silk fabrics, including the famous Dacca muslins.

L’Indochine’s Indian collection weaves wonders with pillow cases with block prints, and quilts and blankets using mirror embroidery.

Traditional techniques and modern ideas

YOU love where you live and want to incorporate your own décor and taste. Just because you rent your residence as opposed to owning it doesn’t mean you have to give up style and great design. The key when decorating your rental dwelling is to incorporate what I call “portable design.” In a nutshell, items that you can take with you when you move out.

Here are some of my top tips: ■ Replace hardware pulls on kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Replacing cabinet knobs can not only add a sense of style, but it can also go a long way to creating a fresher, updated look. All you need is your new knobs and a screwdriver. Keep the old ones, and just swap them out when you move out.

■ Prime/paint cabinets. This is one you will want to run by your landlord first, but painting cabinets can truly transform a space without having to replace them.

■ Paint walls. This is an easy one—nothing helps to make a space your own more than your own individual colors. When you are done, all you have to do is grab a gallon of white paint.

■ Add attractive sheet vinyl flooring. When I moved into my first rental in New York City, this was one of my first upgrades. When living in a rental, retiling is typically not an option, and adding vinyl flooring can be the perfect simple, affordable upgrade. I suggest adding large rectangular shaped tiles (more elegant than squares).

■ Replace an old sink with a new one such as pedestal sink. Want a fresh look in your bathroom? Consider purchasing an attractive pedestal sink. You could swap your old one back in or leave behind. Your landlord may even be willing to purchase it back from you.

■ Replace light fixtures such as wall sconces and pendants. Many rental residences have light fixtures that are bare and basic. I suggest purchasing attractive, affordable fixtures from a big box store and installing them using a professional electrician. When you are done, just swap the old ones back in.

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also make unique statement home accessories like fabric woven chests, tables and benches.

The art of metal work, meanwhile, has flourished in India for over 5,000 years and today can be seen richly engraved iron and brass bowls, samovars, plates, and trays from Kashmir; as well as brass items with intricate etching from Uttar Pradesh. Jaipur is the main center for brass engraving and lacquering in Rajasthan; while the art of koftagari or damascening work is practiced in Alwar.

L’Inodchine’s brass, metal and glass lanterns will bring a cozy ambiance, as well as a touch of the exotic to your home.

Whether you’re planning to add a touch of the exotic to your home or searching for an exquisite gift, join in on an exquisite journey and check out the India collection at L’Indochine stores in SM Aura Premier and SM Mega Fashion Hall.

■ Cathy Hobbs (www.cathyhobbs.com), based in New York City, is an Emmy Award-winning television host and a nationally known interior design and home staging expert.

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UNITED STATES WEST COAST SEAPORTS IN FULL OPERATION BusinessMirror

The

B3-1 | Tuesday, February 24, 2015 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

END OF WINTER HOLIDAY Young men fight with hay stuffed

Al-Assaf: G-20’s focus on growth to create more jobs

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EDDAh—Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Ibrahim AlAssaf has emphasized the endeavors being made by Group of 20 (G-20) to speed up global economic recovery.

“We have to stimulate economic activity to avoid negative impact of the global financial crisis...and focus on growth to create more job opportunities to citizens,” he said.

Addressing the first consultation forum of G-20’s business sector, he said the G-20 has identified 12 priorities, including long-term investment, especially in infrastructure projects, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and greater efforts to create more jobs and expand trade relations.

Al-Assaf expressed his happiness over Turkey’s assumption of the organization’s presidency this year. “I renew my support for the three priorities set by the presidency: Implementation, investment and comprehensive growth.”

These points along with the three foundations—continuity, comprehensiveness and coherence—on which the Business Group (B20) is built, would strengthen the organization to play an effective role in boosting global economy, he said.

“Saudi Arabia will be an active participant in the work to achieve this excellent vision,” the minister told the gathering attended by government and business leaders. The Council of Saudi Chambers and Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly organized the forum. Speaking about Saudi Arabia’s efforts to boost economic growth, Al-Assaf said: “We have a strategy for growth accompanied by an investment program and we intend to continue this program despite a drop in oil prices. In addition, we have taken measures to support SMEs and enable them to obtain finance. Moreover, we continue to invest in education, health, employment and social development programs.”

Al-Assaf highlighted the importance of economic growth to create jobs and the private sector’s role in accelerating economic development. he described SMEs as the biggest source of jobs and called for greater efforts to make use of its potential.

“The global recovery is still below the desired level, while the number of new jobs added by the modern technology is less than the number of jobs that have been replaced by technology,” he said. TNS

United States West Coast seaports in full operation

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AKLAND, California—The seaport in Oakland, California, appeared to have joined 28 others on the US West Coast in resuming its normal operations on Sunday night after work disruptions earlier in the day, officials said.

Additional orders for labor were coming in especially at the larger ports to make up for a backlog caused by a month-long contract dispute, which disrupted trade with Asia.

But it will take several months for ports, such as Los Angeles and Long Beach—America’s largest—to clear the backlog, which swelled as the two sides quarreled over a new deal.

An arbitrator had ordered a return to work on the 7 p.m. night shift after finding that longshoremen in the San Francisco Bay Area took part in illegal work stoppages that included taking breaks at the same time, among other

actions reducing productivity.

Employers dismissed those employees for the day.

In Oakland it was not yet clear whether all terminals were operating normally, but it appeared that most were, Port of Oakland spokesman Mike Zampa said.

Zampa’s tone had shifted markedly from earlier in the day when he said port officials were “bitterly disappointed” at labor slowdowns that were “just not right” after a tentative agreement was reached with maritime companies on Friday.

The Port of Oakland handled

Booting up: Laptop security hole puts buyers at risk, damages trust in company

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hEN the government issues a warning about someone else’s potential electronic spying, you’re bound to feel as if we’re teetering on the edge of a 1984 dystopia.

But that’s exactly what happened on Friday, when the Department of homeland Security warned that Lenovo—a highly regarded manufacturer of computers—had “spyware” preinstalled on consumer laptops that could expose secure communications to hackers. Companies pay big bucks to preload their insidious programs on computers.

In this case, the controversial software came from a Silicon Valley start-up called Superfish, which

has pioneered visual recognition technology. Its software captures images of products that users view online and then shows them ads for similar products. Security experts say Superfish also installs its own fake certification on computers to trick Internet browsers into giving it access to secure connections. Even worse, the Superfish software on certain Lenovo laptops also allows hackers access to those connections.

The software has security holes that enable hackers to spoof secure websites and steal critical data. So when users visit secured or encrypted web sites, such as banks and creditcard companies, their information can be easily stolen, according to

security experts and the government. “This means web sites, such as banking and e-mail, can be spoofed without a warning from the browser,” wrote the cybersecurity division of homeland Security in a statement, calling the Superfish program a “critical vulnerability” that could allow a remote attacker “to read all encrypted web browser traffic, successfully impersonate [spoof] any web site, or perform other attacks on the affected system.”

For its part, Superfish has said the vulnerability was “introduced unintentionally by a third party.”

Lenovo has apologized to customers and released a software tool on Friday allowing customers to remove

the Superfish code from their laptops. Both Superfish and Lenovo are in damage-control mode. And neither has adequately taken responsibility for the spyware scandal.

The truth is there’s no reason any noncritical software should be bundled with laptops to begin with.

At best, this scandal exposes a chilling lack of oversight on what gets installed on machines. At worst, it exposes something nefarious. Either way, Lenovo has sold out its customers. This controversy couldn’t come at a worse time for Lenovo as the company faces growing competition from Microsoft’s Surface line of PCs. Those computers, by the way, do not come with adware whatsoever. TNS

about 10 percent of cargo at West Coast docks in 2013, according to the association’s most recent data.

A tentative deal was struck late Friday. By Saturday night, workers in Oakland and the other ports from San Diego to Seattle were starting to clear the backlog.

West Coast seaports handle roughly one-quarter of US international trade, an amount worth about $1 trillion annually.

More than 1,000 dockworker assignments were filled on Sunday at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, more than double the number of recent Sundays. More than 2,000 were expected to be filled on Monday, port officials said.

“There’s a lot of work to do and a limited labor pool. But it’s being distributed between the two ports and the cargo containers between both LA and Long Beach as equitably as possible,” Phillip Sanfield said.

Earlier the leader of the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s largest, said it would take three months “to get back a sense of normalcy,” following a labor dispute between

dockworkers and employers.

The volume of cargo that West Coast dockworkers and their employers must clear, now that they’ve reached a tentative contract agreement on Friday evening, is staggering. Put in a line, the containers would stretch 579 miles (930 kilometers). Stacked up, they’d rise nearly 250 miles (400 kilometers)—about the orbiting altitude of the International Space Station.

And those are just the ships waiting for dock space at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. There are smaller, though substantial, backups in San Francisco Bay and Washington’s Puget Sound. The Port of Oakland reckoned it would take up to eight weeks to recover.

In recent weeks, companies that operate marine terminals cut night, weekend and holiday shifts — saying they did not want to pay overtime for what amounted to a “strike with pay.” That was a reference to what they said was a worker slowdown that began in November. The union said longshoremen were abiding by all safety rules. AP

Coca-Cola bottler suspends operations in Mexican city

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eXiCO CitY—Coca-Cola’s largest bottler in Mexico has temporarily suspended operations in the capital of the embattled state of guerrero, following attacks on its workers and its trucks. Alma Beltran, a spokesman for Coca-Cola Femsa SA, says the decision to stop supplying Chilpancingo was to “guarantee the safety of our personnel”while the viability of operations in the area is evaluated. the decision comes amid protests in the southern state around the disappearance of 43 students. Protesting students and teachers have regularly blockaded roads and taken over vehicles delivering everything from milk to snacks. the conflict reached a new level on Wednesday when protesters temporarily

detained employees of Coca-Cola in response to what they said was a theft report filed by the company. ten people were injured during what police described as an attempt to attack Coca-Cola’s offices in Chilpancingo. the conflict ignited anger in a business sector already frustrated by struggles to operate in the social turmoil.

Since the students disappeared on September 26, Coca-Cola has lost 250 trucks to robberies or attacks, according to the employers’ Confederation of Mexico in guerrero. Protesters have also attacked other big companies, such as Comercial Mexicana department stores, Oxxo convenience stores and trucks for Bimbo, one of the largest food conglomerates in the world. AP

WORLD

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BusinessMirror

By Martin Rogers

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USA Today

IME waits for no man, supposedly, but it hung around just long enough for boxing’s most anticipated, most frustrating and most compelling fight to get made.

Yet, the protracted wait that interspersed the first rumblings of a showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in 2009, and the contest’s ultimate unveiling on Friday, creates a key issue in itself surrounding the buildup to the clash in Las Vegas on May 2.

With Mayweather turning 38 on Tuesday and Pacquiao 36, this might be an epic meeting of the two biggest names in the sport, but two fighters squaring off in the heart of their prime it certainly is not.

Boxing is a complex game and a complex business, hence the puzzling time lapse before this fight, years after it probably should have actually taken place. The fight game’s intricacies within the ring are often hard to fathom as well, which is why the subtle machinations of Father Time could determine whether it is the brash

American or his Filipino foe who emerges as victor.

“If you look at boxing history, then fighters with a defensive style like Mayweather tend to last a little better,” said longtime HBO commentator Larry Merchant. “That, in itself, makes him the favorite.

They will both be motivated, but sometimes you can never tell when age will catch up.”

Mayweather’s silky skills and elusive footwork have made him the preeminent star of his generation, while Pacquiao’s high-octane style and dangerous left hand have given him a higher knockout ratio.

However, neither man has knocked out an opponent since Mayweather flattened Victor Ortiz in a controversial 2011 victory, flooring the Mexican as he tried to touch gloves in apology following a foul.

Pacquiao has fought nine times since stopping Miguel Cotto in 2009, although he did send Chris Algieri tumbling to the canvas six times when they met in Macau last November.

Amir Khan, the British boxer who hoped for a matchup with either Mayweather or Pacquiao if, as seemed inevitable for so long, the big fight continued to be a pipe dream rather than reality, insisted the age of

the fighters could play a strong part in the outcome.

“You never know, Mayweather might get old overnight,” Khan told the Daily Mail. “He’s shown he is getting caught more so he is not invincible.”

Over the course of the next two-and-a-half months, preparation will be key, with the contest hinging on a battle of minds and wits for the men in the corner as much as the boxers themselves. Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach told USA TODAY Sports in November that he had already begun to break down tape of Mayweather and asserted that age would indeed play a crucial role.

“You never know for sure how getting older is going to affect someone and there are a few things I have seen with Floyd,” Roach said. “No fighter is the same in their late 30s and when they were in their 20s. I think time maybe helps Manny’s style a little more.”

He may have been referring to Mayweather’s reliance on his fleet of foot and ability to dodge punches. However, if the pound-for-pound champion has drastically slowed, he has shown little evidence of it in recent times.

Mayweather dominated Marcos Maidana in two matchups last year and pummeled bigger but slower

Saul Alvarez in September 2013. Pacquiao has responded strongly after being knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.

“Manny is the favorite because he is a little more versatile than Floyd at this point in his career,” former world champion Shawn Porter told Boxing Scene.

“Manny does a little bit of everything, and does it from a southpaw position.”

The hype machine for boxing’s biggest fight in years has already cranked into gear. Much of the minutiae of the contract surrounded the promotional aspect and how it will be handled, even down to Mayweather being allowed to announce the fight first on his social-media platform.

No bout has had this level of anticipation since Mayweather took on Oscar de la Hoya in 2007, and, if it turns out to be an all-time classic, it could do wonders for the sport’s popularity. However, Merchant fears Mayweather’s defense-first approach could affect the entertainment value.

“It takes both fighters to have the same mindset to make it a classic,” Merchant said. “It would be disappointing if people got all excited about the fight and then it was a letdown.”

Arum, moonves boxed mAyweAther into A corner At one point in the long negotiation process, bob Arum says a Floyd mayweather Jr.-manny Pacquiao fight now wouldn’t be worth as much as several years ago.

By Greg Logan Newsday

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F you ask me, Bob Arum and Manny Pacquiao, as much as Les Moonves, were the ones who forced Floyd Mayweather Jr. to step up to the plate for their May 2 fight in Las Vegas or look cowardly.

CBS President Moonves holds sway over subsidiary Showtime, which has Mayweather under contract, and his was the voice of reason, according to everyone involved in the negotiations, including Arum.

The Top Rank promoter, who controls Pacquiao, invoked Moonves’s name frequently before Pacquiao’s last fight against Long

Island’s Chris Algieri as the man who could make everyone understand how stupid it would be to pass up a $200-million payday for Mayweather-Pacquiao.

As if that took a lot of explaining.

But what’s another $120-million purse to Mayweather, who has enough money to last several lifetimes, compared to the zero at the end of his 47-0 record? That’s really what six years of his footdragging was all about.

A Mayweather-Pacquiao bout in, say, 2010, when Pacquiao was coming off his 12th-round total knockout (TKO) of Miguel Cotto, would have been far better. Mayweather had just won a unanimous decision over Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao’s longtime nemesis. Instead, Mayweather fought aging Shane Mosley and Pacquiao moved on to Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito.

And so it went for the next four years. Mayweather maintained his unbeaten status, and Pacquiao lost a controversial decision to Tim Bradley in June 2012 and was knocked cold by Marquez in December 2012.

The bloom definitely was off the rose until Pacquiao defeated Brandon Rios, won a Bradley rematch to regain his World Boxing Organization title and dispatched Algieri, all by 12-round decisions.

At this stage, Mayweather and Pacquiao are approaching their expiration dates. Mayweather’s last stoppage came in 2011 against Victor Ortiz, and Pacquiao’s last TKO dates to 2009 against Cotto, a span of 10 fights.

At one point in the long negotiation process, Arum said a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight now wouldn’t be worth as much as several years ago.

He knew better. The sport was starved for it.

There is no better match available.

Mayweather still tops every pound-for-pound rating, and Pacquiao is either second or third in the estimation of most experts.

In the past, Mayweather’s disinclination to fight Pacquiao widely was viewed as his fear of the Filipino’s speed. But Mayweather might have outsmarted himself if he was waiting for Pacquiao to slow down.

It’s true Pacquiao was stretched cold three years ago

by Marquez, who barely touched Mayweather in their lopsided 2009 fight, but Mayweather likely has slowed down the most. He never was a huge power puncher, and Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, contends Mayweather’s legs aren’t what they used to be.

Mayweather remains a great defensive fighter, but Pacquiao’s last two opponents, Bradley and Algieri, have said the Filipino still has plenty of speed and hits with surprising power. At 5-foot-6 1/2, Pacquiao is shorter than the 5-foot-8 Mayweather, but his combination of speed and ability to punch from odd angles will present problems Mayweather never has faced.

It might have been a better fight five years ago, but it’s still the best boxing can offer now.

Mayweather deserves to be favored based on his unblemished record and his aura of invincibility. But it’s difficult to place much faith in Mayweather’s swagger when he obviously resisted making the fight for so long until the business interests of Showtime and HBO eventually boxed him into a corner.

If Mayweather is “TBE”—the best ever—as he claims, he should be more than equal to the task. But thanks to the persistence of Pacquiao and Arum—and an assist from Moonves—Mayweather now must prove it in the ring.

cbs President Les moonves holds sway over subsidiary showtime, which has Floyd mayweather Jr. under contract.

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and inadequate power-generation infrastructure in the Luzon grid, resulting in increasing forced outages and longer scheduled shutdowns of power plants,” Reyes said.

Meralco recorded 83 forced power-plant outages and 52 scheduled power-plant shutdowns last year. Most of the power plants are very old, which is the reason they conk out. “What has not been evident before, which now has come to light, is really the effect of aging Continued on A2

GOVT ON TRACK TO EXCEED PPP TARGETS SET BY P-NOY

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mAnny PAcQuiAo could be the favorite because he is a little more versatile than Floyd mayweather Jr. at this point in his career.

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| Tuesday, February 24, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

PAST THEIR PRIMES?

With Floyd Mayweather Jr. turning 38 on Tuesday and Manny Pacquiao 36, this might be an epic meeting of the two biggest names in the sport, but two fighters squaring off in the heart of their prime it certainly is not.

op officials of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) disclosed on Monday that Luzon will continue to have a power-supply problem until 2018, and expressed hope that the situation will not deteriorate further given the state of the region’s power infrastructure.

By Cai U. Ordinario

PAST THEIR PRIMES? Sports

By Lenie Lectura

“This year would be the tightest year. There is some degree of continued tightness even up to next year, in 2016 and in 2018,” Meralco President Oscar S. Reyes said.

Luzon is bracing for a tight power supply this year, because of the scheduled 30-day Malampaya natural-gas facility shutdown starting March 15. Apart from this, there are several power plants that are scheduled to undergo maintenance shutdown.

“The country’s economic growth has also put pressure on the aging

World

bags during festivities to mark Maslenitsa celebrations, or Shrovetide, in the village of Ozertso, in outskirts of Minsk, Belarus, on February 22.

Maslenitsa is a traditional Russian and Belarusian holiday marking the end of winter that dates back to pagan times. AP/Sergei gritS

P25.00 nationwide | 7 sections 32 pages | 7 days a week

Power supply tight till 2018

THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF DECORATING WITH A ROOMMATE D

TfridayNovember

Tuesday, February18, 24,2014 2015Vol.Vol.1010No.No.40138

MERALCO HOPING SITUATION WILL NOT DETERIORATE FURTHER GIVEN LUZON’S AGING, INADEQUATE POWER INFRA

INSIDE

EAR Lord, it is wonderful to know that all other human beings also, though they are not baptized, have a sacredness and dignity of their own because they, too, have been created in God’s image and likeness. They, too, therefore, must be treated with love and respect. We have the duty to avoid any thought, word or action that profanes the sacredness of every human being. Amen.

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he Aquino administration is on track to exceed the target it set under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program, with more projects expected to be awarded next year once the PPP Act is passed.

PPP Center Deputy Executive Director Eleazar E. Ricote told reporters at the sidelines of the Philippine Infrastructure Seminar on Monday that several lawmakers have already supported the passage of the PPP Act, which will institutionalize the government’s PPP initiative, including the revolving Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF).

PESO exchange rates n US 44.2060

The PDMF is a revolving fund that is used to help agencies design PPP projects. The fund can be used to finance the procurement of transaction advisors that are a key to designing PPPs. The facility was initially funded by the Philippine government and the government of Australia, under the Capacitybuilding Technical Assistance project from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Canadian government.

Ricote said 40 PPP projects have obtained funding from the PDMF. He added that there are currently 22 international firms that comprise the PDMF panel of transaction advisors.

Continued on A2

makati’s caracol Dancers wearing costumes pose as they perform during the start of the annual Caracol Festival in suburban Makati City on Sunday. The event aims to promote public awareness on environmental issues and cultural heritage. AP/Aaron Favila

SM Prime net income rose 13% in 2014

By VG Cabuag

S

M Prime Holdings Inc., the property arm of the Sy family, said its profit last year aggregated P18.4 billion, 13 percent higher than the previous year’s P16.2 billion.

The country’s largest property developer reported on Monday that its consolidated revenues reached P66.2 billion, 11 percent higher than end-2013 figures of only P59.64 billion.

“The encouraging financial performance in 2014 reiterates that the transformation of SM Prime into a property conglomerate is bearing fruit and trending above management expectations. We expect this performance to be surpassed this year, as the company pursues its 2015 expansion plans,” said Hans Sy, SM Prime president.

Rental revenues from retail and commercial spaces grew 13 percent to P36.5 billion, from P32.2 billion. Rental revenues accounted

for more than half of SM Prime’s consolidated revenues.

The company benefited from the expansion of its mall network and on its existing malls the past two years, including its premier mall in Taguig; other shopping centers, such as those in BF Homes in Parañaque City; the expanded area of Megamall in Mandaluyong City; and new facilities in Cauayan in Isabela province and Angono in Rizal province. These malls have a combined gross floor area of 564,000 square meters.

“Growth was also partly due to its Two E-com Center at the Mall of Asia Complex, which opened in 2012, and is now fully occupied.

Meanwhile, same-store rental grew by 7 percent, sustaining the growth posted in 2013,” the company said.

The housing group, meanwhile, which accounted for 33 percent of consolidated revenues, saw sales reach P22.2 billion, a 7-percent increase, mainly driven by the increase in the pace of construction of sold

units in its development in Taguig City, Pasay City and Quezon City.

Meanwhile, reservation sales hit P35.9 billion in 2014, from only P26.3 billion in 2013. Most of the reservation sales were from Shore Residences and Air Residences projects in Pasay and Makati, respectively.

The mall’s cinemas generated ticket sales of P4.3 billion, an increase of 14 percent during the period. The increase was driven by the opening of additional digital cinemas in the new and expanded malls, as well as by the launch of international and local blockbuster movies, SM Prime said.

Excluding the new malls and the expansions, same-store cinematicket sales grew by 10 percent.

Amusement and other revenues, meanwhile, increased by 8 percent to P3.3 billion, due mainly to the strong patronage of amusement riders and the additional recreational facilities provided by management in the various malls.

See “SM Prime,” A2

n japan 0.3714 n UK 68.0640 n HK 5.6986 n CHINA 7.0746 n singapore 32.5044 n australia 34.4552 n EU 50.3153 n SAUDI arabia 11.7839 Source: BSP (23 February 2015)

News

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

A2

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Govt on track to exceed Ppp targets set by P-Noy

Continued from A1

“The passage of the PPP Act will strengthen the current framework, provide some more stability and predictability in terms of process because the PDMF will be institutionalized, [as well as] the PPP Center.

In other words, the concern about sustainability will significantly be addressed by a more prominent law,” Ricote said.

He noted that at the current pace

SM Prime. . .

of the government’s PPP Program, the administration is likely to exceed its 2016 PPP targets.

The Aquino administration aims to hand over 10 PPP projects to the private sector for operation and maintenance by 2016.

It also aims to complete 5 PPPs; sign contracts for 15 PPPs; and have as much as 50 projects in its PPP pipeline also by 2016.

“In the pipeline that I showed, it’s not 50 but 61; then for the 15

Oil surplus. . .

Continued from A1

Cinemas and amusement sales account for 12 percent of SM Prime consolidated revenues.

The company said it incurred costs and expenses of P38.6 billion, 8 percent higher than last year’s P35.7 billion. The bulk of the increase came from depreciation expenses attrib-

Australia. . .

contracts signed, it’s now nine. Given the pipeline, we will exceed the targets,” Ricote said. Data from the PPP Center showed that a total of 61 PPP projects, worth at least $26.67 billion, are included in the pipeline.

Included on the list are nine awarded PPPs worth $2.89 billion; two PPPs worth $2.13 billion for implementation; and 11 projects under procurement worth $6.31 billion.

Further, Ricote said five projects

uted to the new malls added the past 12 months.

Film rentals were also higher as this corresponded to the growth in cinema ticket sales in 2014.

Consolidated cost of real estate was P12.3 billion in 2014, up by 3 percent from last year, it said.

WTI for April delivery was 15 cents higher at $50.96 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The March contract expired on Friday after decreasing 82 cents to $50.34. The volume of all futures traded was about 18 percent below the 100-day average.

Libya, Opec’s smallest producer, pumped 300,000 barrels a day in January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Workers fixed a pipeline linking the Mesla and Sarir fields to Hariga that was shut after a blaze probably caused by sabotage, Mohamed Elharari, a National Oil spokesman, said by phone from Tripoli.

Oman is boosting output as the global price rout is over, Salim Al Aufi, an undersecretary at the Oil and Gas Ministry, said in an interview in Muscat on Sunday. The nation’s production this year will be 4 percent higher than in

Continued from A8

2001 have occurred in the last six months. At least 110 Australians have gone to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside extremists, and the nation’s security agency is juggling more than 400 high-priority counterterrorism investigation—more than double the number a year ago, Abbott said.

Earlier this month two men were charged with planning to launch an imminent, IS-inspired terrorist attack in Australia, after Abbott said they appeared on a video threatening to stab the kidneys and necks of their victims. AP

terrorism and clamp down on “hate preachers,” or groups that incite religious or racial hatred.

Australia’s government raised the country’s terror-warning level last September, in response to the domestic threat posed by supporters of the Islamic State (IS) group. Last September the group’s spokesman, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, issued a message urging attacks abroad, specifically mentioning Australia.

Abbott warned that the terrorism threat in Australia has escalated, noting that one-third of all terrorism-related arrests since

Continued from A8

The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $9.50 to West Texas Intermediate, the US marker grade.

Crude supply

worth $6.69 billion were already approved for rollout, or are just awaiting the issuance of the Invitation to Prequalify to Bid, and two projects worth $8.65 billion have been submitted for approval of relevant government agencies.

There are also 13 projects with ongoing studies; six projects that are currently procuring consultants; and 13 projects under conceptualization.

All these projects do not have cost estimates as of press time.

2013, according to data from BP Plc.

Rig count

The number of rigs targeting oil in the US shrank by 37 to 1,019 last week, data from Baker Hughes Inc. showed on Friday. That’s the fewest in service since July 2011. Drillers have idled 556 machines last December 5, a 35percent reduction.

United Steelworkers plans to restart talks this week to resolve a labor dispute amid the nation’s largest strike since 1980, according to two people familiar with the talks. The union, representing workers at more than 200 refineries, fuel terminals, pipelines and chemical plants across the US, has rejected seven contract offers from Royal Dutch Shell Plc., which is bargaining on behalf of companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.

The work stoppage, which started on February 1 at nine sites from California to Texas, has expanded to 12 refineries and three other facilities. A deal would end a strike at plants that account for almost 20 percent of the country’s refining capacity. Bloomberg News

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST FEBRUARY 24, 2015 | TUESDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING SOUTHERNLUZON AND THE EASTERN SECTION OF VISAYAS AND MINDANAO. (AS OF FEBRUARY 23, 5:00 PM)

Northeast Monsoon locally known as “Amihan”. It affects the eastern portions of the country. It is cold and dry; characterized by widespread cloudiness with rain showers.

METRO MANILA

21 – 32°C

22 – 32°C

TUGUEGARAO

19 – 32°C

20 – 32°C

LAOAG

LAOAG CITY 21 – 30°C

SBMA/CLARK 22 – 31°C METRO MANILA 20 – 32°C

TAGAYTAY CITY 18 – 28°C

22 – 30°C

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Continued from A1

power plants.... We are in a tight situation right now. Recently, there have been renewed warnings of potential brownouts,” Reyes added.

Moreover, the new generating capacity has not matched the growth in peak demand in 2014 of 3.3 percent in the Meralco franchise area to 6,121 MW, and 5 percent in the Luzon grid to 8,717 MW, adding pressure on power supply and reserves in 2015.

Meralco’s own way to address an increasing demand in its franchise area is to enter into additional Interim Power Supply Agreements with power producers, even as it looks to Meralco PowerGen Corp. and other generators to construct and commission new plant capacities at the earliest possible time.

In July last year, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla announced the probability of a looming power shortage of at least 700 MW that will affect Luzon during summer this year. The scarce energy reserve has pushed the government to come up with alternative solutions to avert the crisis, including the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) for large commercial electricity consumers.

As of latest count, Meralco’s interruptible load capacity stood at 617 MW, is equivalent to the power generating capacity of the Sual power plant, the country’s biggest power plant.

FEB 27 FRIDAY

23 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

20 – 31°C

TACLOBAN

23 – 29°C

22 – 29°C

23 – 30°C

22 – 31°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

18 – 29°C

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15 – 23°C

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SBMA/ CLARK

23 – 31°C

23 – 32°C

23 – 32°C

ZAMBOANGA

19 – 29°C

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

LEGAZPI

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 23 – 30°C

METRO CEBU 22 – 29°C

TACLOBAN CITY 23 – 28°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 19 – 29°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY 23 – 32°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD

23 – 29°C

23 – 30°C

SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

6:16 AM

6:03 PM

11:18 PM

10:22 AM

19 – 29°C

23 – 31°C

NEW MOON HALF MOON

FEB 19

24 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

FEB 26

1:14 AM

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers

24 – 31°C

23 – 32°C

23 – 32°C

Cloudy to at times cloudy with rain showers and/or thunderstorms

Weekday hourly updates: 6:00 AM on Balitaan, 7:00 AM & 8:00 AM on Good Morning Boss!, 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM on News@1, 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM, and 6:00 PM on News@6

www.panahon.tv

SABAH CELEBES SEA

9:06 AM

0.15 METER

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rain showers and/or thunderstorms

Watch PANAHON.TV everyday at 5:00 AM on PTV (Channel 4).

METRO DAVAO 24 – 31°C

LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

7:47 AM

24 – 30°C

FEB 27 FRIDAY

23 – 30°C

15 – 23°C

18 – 29°C

FEB 25 FEB 26 WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

22 – 32°C

BAGUIO

TAGAYTAY

Meralco Chairman Manuel Pangilinan stressed that the ILP cannot guarantee a brownout-free summer given that the implementation of the program is voluntary.

“As of latest count, Meralco’s ILP has reached 617 MW. The important thing here is for [ILP participants] to respond when called. If they do, rolling brownouts could hopefully be minimized. We don’t have compulsory powers. We don’t” want to give them the impression that there will be no brownouts.”

As early as January 2013, Meralco officials had warned of tight power supply in the Luzon grid by the summer of 2015. Shortly after that warning, the Department of Energy (DOE) disputed this by saying there is enough supply of about 800 MW. However, the DOE said later that it anticipates a powersupply problem that will occur in the summer months of 2015.

Last week the DOE said over 1,000 MW of additional power-generating capacity will be available in the Luzon grid during summer this year.

Recently, the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association President (Pippa) said from April 5 to 15 will be the “critical period” because high demand will coincide with the one-month maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya gas field. An increase of P1 per kilowatt-hour in generation charge is likely to happen, Pippa President Luis Miguel Aboitiz said.

METRO CEBU

LEGAZPI CITY 22 – 29°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 23 – 31°C

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

METRO DAVAO

TUGUEGARAO CITY 19 – 32°C

BAGUIO CITY 14 – 23°C

FEB 25 FEB 26 WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

Power supply tight till 2018

@PanahonTV

2:06 AM

0.78 METER

Partly cloudy skies

The Nation BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

briefs Text conversation RESIGNED National Police chief Alan Purisima revealed on Monday the exchange of text messages between him and President Aquino during the Mamasapano gun battle on January 25.

At the resumption of the Senate inquiry into the bloody Mamasapano encounter that left 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers dead, Purisima said he first informed the President about the implementation of Oplan Exodus through short message service or text at 5:45 a.m. on that day.

In the same first SMS to the President, Purisima informed Mr. Aquino of the killing of international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, who was the prime target of the operation.

President Aquino, however, asked why Basit Usman, the other target, got away.

Purisima also clarified that he was not directly involved in the operation, but was merely relaying to President Aquino the information he received from the ground, including from the relieved SAF commander, Director Getulio Napeñas and the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command chief, Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero. PNA

‘name new national police chief soonest‘

LIBERAL Party Rep. Roman Romulo of Pasig City has urged Malacañang to waste no time in naming a new National Police (PNP) chief, “to fully restore order, discipline and the chain of command, and to move the 149,000-member force forward.”

“Malacañang has to appoint a new National Police chief at once, considering that the next presidential election is just 15 months away, and whoever is named may need at least six months to get accustomed to the job,” Romulo said. Elections in the country are often marred by campaign violence, including political killings and other mayhem.

“We expect the forthcoming new National Police chief to push hard for a reenergized force, whose officers are wholly committed to the utmost benchmarks of competence, skill, conduct and behavior,” Romulo said.

News reports showed that at least seven senior officers are being considered to replace Director General Alan Purisima, who resigned amid the controversial Mamasapano bloodbath that led to the death of 44 Special Action Force (SAF) commandos on January 25.

The seven potential replacements are officer in charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina; Deputy Director General Marcelo Garbo Jr.; and Directors Carmelo Valmoria, Ricardo Marquez, Benjamin Magalong, Danny Constantino and Juanito Vaño. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Palace not ready to pin blame on who kept Aquino in dark on Mamasapano

M

By Butch Fernandez

ALACAÑANG indicated on Monday that it is premature to pin blame on specific officials for having kept President Aquino in the dark about the real situation in Mamasapano, as police commandos who had completed their mission to get Malaysian terrorist Marwan were suddenly pinned down by heavy gunfire from Moro rebels.

“It is best to await the full results and report of the Senate and the [National Police] Board of Inquiry,” Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said.

Coloma made the suggestion, when asked if the Palace felt the President was badly served given the revelations at Monday’s Senate hearing on cellular-telephone short message service or text exchanges between police and military officers, indicating apparent gaps in the information provided to Mr.

Aquino about the January 25 Mamasapano operation.

During the hearing, several senators noted that subsequent exchanges between police and military officials gave a spotty picture of the situation, triggering a debate on whether the President was misled into thinking that artillery backup from the Armed Forces was already providing cover to extricate the Special Action Force (SAF) commandos, which lost 44 of its men in a protracted firefight with the Moro

Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and its breakaway Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

At least five civilians also died in the crossfire.

Asked if President Aquino will now set the record straight, as he had promised last week, Coloma would only reaffirm that “the President is committed to ferreting out the truth.”

Earlier, President Aquino was reported to have acknowledged getting initial reports about the firefight in Mamasapano upon receiving a text message from then-suspended National Police chief Alan Purisima on early morning of January 25.

But senators were told that both Mr. Aquino and the Armed Forces officers were not fully appraised of the gravity of the situation on the ground, as they were only informed that the SAF commandos, after successfully completing their mission, were fired upon by rebels as they were extricating from international terrorist Zulfikli bin Hir’s alias Marwan, hideout in the known MILF territory.

‘Moro front cannot impose punishment’

A MEMBER of the House Ad Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) said on Monday

that the MILF cannot assert any unilateral authority in imposing discipline and punishment for its members who were involved in the Mamasapano gun battle, saying it is a violation of the peace agreement.

Liberal Party Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles of Davao City said that the authority to investigate and punish violators of the peace deal rests solely on the joint governmentMILF peace panel, and the punishment can only be determined and imposed by Philippine courts.

“The MILF can not say that they will be the ones to discipline their own members. Because what is clearly stated in the peace agreement is that it will be the joint governmentMILF team that will investigate and punish violators of the peace agreement. This is not a one-way street,” said Nograles, a lawyer.

He said the continuing refusal of the MILF to abide by the terms and set in the peace agreement could have a huge effect on the passage of the BBL, as many members of Congress, including those who are rabid supporters of the proposal, are now in a dilemma if the MILF can really be trusted to run an autonomous Bangsamoro entity.

Based on the provisions of the Manual of Instructions for Coordinating Committee on the Cessation

of Hostilities (CCCH) and local monitoring team, “it shall be the responsibility of the government-MILF peace panel to take immediate and necessary action to stop any violation and punish respective forces or military field commanders who violate the implementing guidelines.”

On the other hand, it is the CCCH that should inform the governmentMILF peace panel of any governmentMILF forces or field commanders committing violations of the implementing guidelines on the security aspect of the peace agreement.

“Clearly, it is the joint peace panel of the government and the MILF that will investigate and punish the violators. Our government would be crazy if we allow such a lopsided interpretation of a peace agreement in favor of the MILF that will tie our hands down, that will not allow the Philippine justice system to prevail and will not give justice to our Filipino comrades,” Nograles said.

“They are not excluded from the jurisdiction of Philippine courts, they are not excluded from the Philippine territory. We have laws that have to be respected. The peace agreement does not give blanket amnesty, and neither does it give the license to kill,” Nograles added.

With Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

JBC nominates five for Sandiganbayan seat

T

RELIEF FOR FIRE VICTIMS

Maynilad personnel distribute water jugs to families affected by the February 16 fire that hit Barangay 201 in Pasay City. The West Zone water concessionaire extended help to the victims of the fire that razed 300 houses.

Govt eyes fare hike Tribesmen’s access to justice for PNR commuters better under revised rules

By Azer N. Parrocha Philippines News Agency

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

he Philippine National Railway (PNR) might just be the next to implement a fare hike following fare increases in the country’s three other rail systems in January, according to a transport official.

Fare is expected to increase by P10 to P15 from Tutuban in Manila to Calamba in Laguna, the PNR management said, but did not mention a timetable for its implementation.

PNR General Manager Joseph Allan Dilay, in an earlier interview, said the long-overdue fare hike would help reduce the gap between what were collected and what were spent to service its 24 million passengers per year.

Despite the increase, Dilay stressed that the PNR remained to be among the cheapest means of transportation in Metro Manila compared to an air-con bus ride.

While a bus ride from Tutuban to Calamba would cost passengers over P100, taking the PNR would only cost P60 maximum.

He also said the fare hike would allow the management to implement upgrades for turnstiles in major stations, benches and roofing among other improvements.

The management is also set to meet with stakeholders for a public consultation on the proposed fare hike.

PNA

RIBESMEN will have better access to justice under the revised rules of procedure of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

NCIP Chairman Leonor T. Quintayo made this statement during the launch of the 2014 Revised Rules of Procedure of the NCIP at the Department of the Interior and Local Government building in Quezon City on Monday.

Quintayo said the new rules of procedure clarify vague provisions under the old rules of procedure that was crafted in 2003.

She said that, after a decade since the 2003 rules took effect, many problems emerged, prompting the NCIP to conduct a thorough assessment, with the end view of coming up with a revision that would enhance tribal members’ access to justice.

“With the revised rules, issue on jurisdiction [of cases] becomes clear. Also, the revised rules give more importance to the beliefs, customs and traditions of the indigenous peoples,” she said.

The NCIP is the primary government agency that formulates and implements policies, plans

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Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Tuesday, February 24, 2015 A3

T

and programs for the recognition and protection of the rights and welfare of indigenous cultural communities and individuals.

The crafting of the revised rules of procedure is supported by European Union (EU), through the EU-Philippine Justice Program.

Some of the emerging issues, which the revised rules of procedure aim to address, involve delay in the resolution of pending cases at the regional level. The revised rules, she added, promotes alternative dispute resolution of cases at the regional level.

Quintayo said some 70 percent of cases filed before the NCIP are related to land dispute, which includes encroachment of ancestral domain claims or rights of various tribal groups across the country.

In the NCIP’s commission en banc alone, she said, around 400 cases are pending resolution, and most of them involve land dispute.

The NCIP is responsible for the issuance of certificate of ancestral land or domain titles.

It is also the primary government agency responsible for the issuance of certificate as a precondition for the use of lands covered by a certificate of ancestral domain title or territories being claimed by tribal groups.

By Joel R. San Juan

HE Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on Monday came out with five nominees for the post in the Sandiganbayan that was vacated by former Associate Justice Gregory Ong, who was dismissed by the Supreme Court (SC) for his links with alleged pork-barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

On top of the list are Judge Philip Aguinaldo of Branch 207 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Muntinlupa and Judge Mary Ann Corpuz-Mañalac of Branch 141 of the RTC in Makati City.

Aguinaldo and Mañalac both got the nod of all the members of the seven-man JBC panel.

Aguinaldo obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law in 1979, where he graduated cum laude.

On the other hand, Mañalac was one of the 2013 Judicial Excellence awardees.

Also on the short list were Judge Bernelito Fernandez of the RTC in Quezon City, Assistant Solicitor General Sarah Jane Fernandez and Justice Undersecretary Jose Justiniano.

Justiniano is said to be one of the strong contenders for the post, owing to his role as prosecutor in the impeachment trial of thenChief Justice Renato Corona and for being part of the prosecution handling the plunder cases against Sens. Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., in connection with the alleged pork-barrel scam.

The panel, chaired by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, will choose from 35 applicants and nominees for the post.

The short list will be submitted to President Aquino, who is mandated by the Constitution to fill up a vacancy in the Judiciary within 90 days upon occurrence.

It can be recalled that Ong was dismissed from the service by the SC for gross misconduct, dishonesty and impropriety for violating the new code of judicial conduct.

The case stemmed after pork-barrel scam witnesses testified before the Senate that Ong met Napoles twice after acquitting her in a malversation through falsification of public documents case, involving the sale in 1998 of 500 Kevlar helmets to the Marines.

No Army personnel involve in coup plots–Detoyato

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HE Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Noel Detoyato, assured on Monday that no active duty personnel are involved in coup plots, adding that the troops are too busy attending to their constitutional mandate, which is to protect the people and country from all forms of internal and external threats.

“No active-duty Army personnel, officers and enlisted are involved in these coup plots,” Detoyato said.

Besides, joining coup plots or any destabilization attempt is not part of the Army Transformation Roadmap (ATR) that the troops are now busy with, he said.

The ATR aims to develop capabilities needed to support the Philippine Development Plan, Philippine Defense Reform, Armed Forces Transformation Roadmap and Internal Peace and Security Plan Bayanihan.

“It [ATR] embodies the Army’s sincere commitment to pursue genuine reform and transformation founded on good governance and performance excellence,” said the

Army commander, Lt. Gen. Hernando DCA Iriberri.

Iriberri said that the ATR promotes an Army that focuses on the institution, rather than personalities, considers long-term strategies and approaches all matters from a system’s perspective to address interconnected priorities than single issues.

The ATR also seeks for the Army to become a “world-class Army by 2028.”

Iriberri pointed out that the Army Governance and Strategy Management Office was established in 2012 to oversee and manage the implementation of the ATR. The strategy is being cascaded down to the levels of units, offices and individuals and subsidiary performance scorecards being aligned with that of the enterprise, he added.

“This is being done through various projects and activities, framework systems and processes that it designed to institutionalize the Performance Governance System.” PNA

Economy

A4 Tuesday, February 24, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

SC tackles IBP plea to void PCOS ‘midnight deal’

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By Joel R. San Juan

competitive bidding.

Meanwhile, the C3E branded as a “rip-off” the P268.8-million contract for the diagnostic of the PCOS machines.

C3E co - convener Me lc hor Magdamo said it appeared that the contract was disadvantageous to the government and that the people were cheated on based on the details that were revealed during a recent hearing of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) on automated elections.

Contrary to Comelec and Smartmatic’s assertions that the contract covers all the 82,000 PCOS machines, Magdamo cited the confirmation from Smartmatic President Cesar Flores during the hearing that not all 82,000 machines will be diagnosed but only those initially identified as having defective mylar parts which they alleged to be the source of digital lines in the electronic image of the ballots.

Magdamo said Comelec officials and Smartmatic admitted before the committee co-chaired by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III and Rep. Senen Sarmiento that the contract for the diagnostic, preventive maintenance, repairs and replacement of the machines covers only four percent or around 3,300 “It was a clear rip off,” Magdamo described the contract that was signed by former Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes days before retiring on February 2.

Magdamo said the “midnight deal” gave Smartmatic the blanket authority to dictate the terms of refurbishment to the disadvantage of the Comelec.

Act ing Comelec C ha ir man Christian Lim told the JCOC that the Comelec initially wanted the

delivery of heavy equipment boosts palawan’s infra build-up drive

The venture aims to expand the capacity of the railway system by adding more coaches to each train, allowing it to carry more cars at faster intervals. The multimillion-dollar expansion plan, hence, will double the capacity of the line to 700,000 passengers a day from the current 350,000 passengers daily.

It was submitted in 2011, but the transportation agency’s chief back then rejected the proposal.

It is now being reviewed by both the legal and technical experts from the DOTC, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said, noting that his office is not too keen on accepting the unsolicited proposal.

He stressed that the government is “better off with open, transparent and competitive bids,” but as per the legal division of his office explained, an amendment to the build-lease-transfer agreement with MRTC, the owner of the train system, is still possible.

The amendment, however, needs to meet two criteria: that the revision would not result in a disadvantageous deal to the government, and that the changes in the contract would not be substantial.

The proposal of the infrastructure giant to improve the line involves a substantial

sweat because the contract guarantees payment of the amount regardless of the condition of the counting machines,” he said.

“Under any circumstances, we’ve been had. It was a swindle. The government is robbed of the people’s money in favor and to the advantage of Smartmatic,” Magdamo said.

“Obviously, the Comelec rendered itself helpless when Smartmatic arrogated unto itself the authority to dictate the terms of the refurbishment project,” Magdamo said.

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY— Infrastructure projects in Palawan got another major boost with the recent arrival of 78 brand-new light and heavy equipment facilities purchased by the provincial government.

Provincial Information Officer Gil Acosta said on Monday that the light and heavy equipment facilities were delivered on February 19 by a cargo vessel that directly came from China.

The first batch of 66 heavy equipment arrived in this city on January 6 from Japan; followed by the second with 69 on January 18; and the third with 50 on January 31 from Manila.

The fourth batch, he said, was composed of 18 units of 14T angle dozer for road openings; 23 units of 14T straight dozer for road widening; 10 units of 14T low ground pressure dozer that is perfect road support during the rainy season; and 27 units of 9.5T six-way dozer for road maintenance and finishing.

Acosta said they expect that in March, 59 units of light-heavy equipment will arrive as fifth batch that will come from Brazil. This will be composed of trucks, graders and compactors.

The last batch of 20 compactors and graders is also expected to arrive before March ends to complete the 341 requirement of the provincial government for infrastructure development. PNA

rail experts including those from MTR Corp. Ltd., the operator of the railway system in Hong Kong, concluded.

The state of the railway line was poor enough to discourage prospective maintenance contractors from joining the auction for the P2.38-billion MRT upkeep deal. The maintenance contract was snubbed twice by railway maintenance providers such as Busan Transport Corp., Mosan-Inekon Phils Ltd. Co., SMRT International Pte. Ltd., Miescorrail Inc., and D.M. Consunji Inc. In order to address the present woes of the MRT, the government currently in the process of is rolling out a P9.7-billion multiyear venture to overhaul the line. The complete makeover is expected to be done within the term of President Aquino.

The train system has been operating at overcapacity since 2004.

Currently, the line serves nearly 550,000 passengers per day, it even reached, at one point last year, the 650,000-daily passenger mark. It has a rated capacity of 350,000 daily passengers.

Meanwhile, the MRT-3 rehabilitation program will start within two weeks, an official said on Monday.

MRT General Manager Ramon Buenafe, in an interview with reporters

at the sideline of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development hearing on MRT operations, however, clarified that the MRT-3 operations will not be shut down during the rail rehabilitation. Operations will only be shortened during weekends.

“We are also set to conduct a time and motion study to know the length of the rehabilitation program,” Buenafe said.

Once the repairs begin, he said that MRT will close early on Saturday at 9 pm, instead of 10 pm, and start late at 12 noon on Sunday.

“We will announce when it [rehab plan] will take effect,” he said.

Buenafe said the MRTC hopes to finish the repairs before the end of 2015.

According to Buenafe, once the welding kits--which are expected to be delivered on Friday—are obtained, the rehabilitation will be implemented.

Last week, the MRT 3 suffered at least three glitches.

Abaya, in an interview with ANC, said at least 6,000 linear meters of rails need to be replaced, with 150 meters of rails to be replaced every weekend.

He added that the DOTC is planning to maximize the MRT’s closure during the Holy Week to complete the project.

With Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Bienvenue

French flags fly at the Luneta Park in Manila ahead of French President François Hollande’s two-day state visit on February 26 and 27 to expand and strengthen bilateral ties between France and the Philippines, and to highlight the Manila as a partner in the fight against climate change. The historic visit will be the first by a French head of state to the country since Philippine independence in 1946.Nonie Reyes

mylars of all the 82,000 PCOS machines be replaced but it was rejected by Smartmatic.

“What we were saying is that in the coverage of the contract is that the Mylars that have been affected will be changed. But what we are intending is that even the mylars that are not affected, we want to change all the mylars of all machines to ensure that it is brand new. That is not covered in the contract. What they’re saying is, what they will replace are those that were infected with a dig-

ital line,” Lim was quoted as saying before the committee.

When asked by Pimentel on the scope of work, Flores admitted that “only those that are damaged" are covered by the contract.

The C3E also said that Smartmatic would easily earn more than P200 million in case none of the PCOS machines will be declared defective.

“In that case, Smartmatic need not replace any PCOS and they would have earned P231 million no

‘Govt should not get in the way of MRT Line 3 rehab’. . .

“We submitted a proposal for a fast-track rehab and upgrade of the MRT 3 to the DOTC [Department of Transportation and Communications] from MRT Holdings Inc., the owner of MRTC. With us in this proposal is Sumitomo Corp. and Globalvia of Spain,” Sobrepeña said in a phone interview.

“The proposal of MPIC, which we have a cooperation agreement with, is a much larger offer; the grand plan could come in later. For now, my priority is to fix the line and prevent any other accident. But I will support any company that proposes to upgrade the MRT,” he added. “Under our proposal, Globalvia and Sumitomo will run and maintain the system.”

The holding company of the businesses of tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan submitted last week its $524-million offer to overhaul the most congested train line in Metro Manila.

The infrastructure giant, which has interests in power, toll roads, water and health care, proposed to defray the upgrade costs of the train system and release the government from the bondage of paying billions of pesos in equity rental payments.

The group intends to spend $52 million to overhaul the line and improve the train line’s poor services.

dnd to acquire 12 units of 155-mm towed howitzers

IN line with efforts to improve the Army’s direct and indirect fire support capabilities, the Department of National Defense (DND) has announced that it is acquiring 12 units of 155-mm towed howitzers.

The contract worth P438,620,000 includes 240 155-mm high explosive shells and integrated logistic support.

Funds will be sourced from the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Fund, DND Bids and Awards Committee Chairman Undersecretary Natalio C. Ecarma III said.

Interested bidders must have completed a similar project within the past five years.

Winning bidders are required to deliver the guns within 360 days of the opening of the letter of credit.

Prebid conference is set on March 5, while bid opening and submission is on March 19.

Both will be held at 10 a.m. at the DND BAC Conference Room, DND Building, Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City. PNA

HE Supreme Court (SC) is scheduled to deliberate on Tuesday the petition filed by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) seeking to declare as illegal the Commission on Elections’s (Comelec) award of P268.8-million contract to technology provider Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM) for the diagnostic of all the 82,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) voting machines without conducting a public bidding.

The 15-man High Tribunal will determine during its regular en banc session whether there is a necessity to grant IBP’s prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order as immediate relief against the implementation of the contract signed by virtue of Comelec Resolution 9922.

In its petition, the IBP, an organization of the country’s lawyers, argued that Comelec Resolution 9922 should be declared null and void for being violative of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act. Earlier, the Court has directed the Comelec and Smartmatic to comment on the petition filed by election watchdogs Citizens for Clean and Credible Elections (C3E) seeking to blacklist the latter from participating in any bidding process for next year’s elections, and to nullify the contract for PCOS’s diagnostics.

Smartmatic is eyeing to bag contract for the procurement of the Optimal Mark Reader and Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) Machines and the procurement of papers, or the lease of Election Management System and PrecinctBased DRE Technology.

Aside from IBP and C3E, another election watchdog Automated Election System (AES) Watch has also filed a similar petition before the Court.

The SC has ordered the consolidation of the petitions filed by C3E and AES. The petitioners argued that the award of contract to Smartmatic for the diagnostic of the PCOS machines contravened RA 9184 as it brushed aside the requirement of a

briefs

amendment to the MRT contract.

For one, the group wants to extend the concession period of the contract to another 25 years, hence, a 15-year extension of the current period.

With this, the DOTC needs to review the proposals with utmost care.

For now the government will continue to execute the multibillion-peso takeover of the train system, despite the lack of funding for the initiative.

“It’s not a roadblock; funding is not a roadblock,” Abaya reiterated, explaining that what remains to be done is to complete several components of the buyout.

“First, a memorandum of agreement needs to be signed by the DOTC and the government financial institutions or GFIs, essentially Land Bank and the Development Bank of the Philippines, and finance department,” he said.

“Legally, it should be checked off by the Office of the Solicitor General, and then we’ll enter into a compromise agreement with MRTC.” President Aquino’s Executive Order 126 called for the government to buyout all the shares and the bonds in the railway company.

It also required the state to strike up a compromise deal with the private partner to end the ongoing arbitration

continued from a8

case in Singapore that was lodged against the state in 2008 due to its failure, as the operator of the line, to pay billions of equity rental payments to the owner of the rail system.

“We need to execute both in the arbitral and local arenas. We still want to execute because there’s a pending order on that,” Abaya said.

Should the buyout be completed in 2016, the transportation agency may then bid out the operations and maintenance contract of the line, thereby tapping private-sector efficiency and customer service orientation for operational needs, while retaining regulatory functions for passenger protection with the government.

But, for Sobrepeña, the buyout is not the solution to the ailing 15-yearold train facility, calling the takeover a flawed initiative.

Instead, the government must focus on improving the line, which ferries more than half-a-million passengers daily.

Everyday, passengers complain of long queues caused by the lack of light rail vehicles, an inefficient ticketing system, humid train cars, faulty elevators and escalators, and rude tellers.

The train system even poses risks to the safety of the riding public, several

Economy BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

briefs peso sustains sideways close vs greenback

The sideways close of the Philippine peso to a US dollar continued on Monday after the local unit finished the day at 44.27 from last Friday’s 44.24.

A trader said that investors remain cautious, even after creditors have given Greece a four-month leeway for its bailout program, which was originally scheduled to end on February 28. ”Greece still has to submit a list of reforms that it considers will aid its economy and until it has been okayed by the Eurozone financial ministers and the International Monetary Fund.

Greece is not yet off-the-hook,” the trader said.

For the day, the peso opened at 44.23, little changed from the 44.20 in the previous trading.

Its starting level is the local currency’s strongest trade for the day, while weakest stood at 44.27.

This brought the day’s average at 44.25, a tad weaker than the 44.21 at the end of last week.

Volume of trade reached $334.1 million, lower than the $571.7 million last Friday.

For Tuesday, the peso is seen to trade between 44.20 and 44.40. PNA

villar seeks probe into reforestation program

Rep. Mark A. Villar of Las Piñas on Monday filed a resolution directing the House Committee on Reforestation to investigate the status of the National Greening Program (NGP).

In February 2011, President Aquino issued Executive Order 26 declaring the implementation of the NGP. The program sought the planting of some 1.5 billion trees covering about 1.5 million hectares for a period of six years, from 2011 to 2016.

However, Villar said that a study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) have uncovered that the NGP is barley meeting its goal.

“The National Greening Program is a commendable program which seeks the restoration of our lost forests. However, it will be nothing but a piece of paper if it is not implemented properly,” Villar says.

According to Villar’s resolution, the survival rate of the planted seedlings is only 61 percent, a far cry from the desired rate of 85 percent.

The resolution also states that from 2011 to 2013, the goal of the NGP was to plant 600 million seedlings. However, only less than two-thirds of the goal was planted.

“There were even reports that the reforestation sites were burned down purposely so that reforestation efforts will continue, and settlers who are hired to plant seedlings will not lose their jobs. Clearly, this calls for an investigation,” he pointed out. PNA

poea suspends agency for recruiting hotel employees to work as hsw The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) slapped a preventive suspension on Raysa International Smart Employment Services for violation of recruitment laws.

POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, in news a statement, said Raysa International was suspended for recruiting and deploying hotel employees that eventually end up working as household-service workers (HSW).

With this, the POEA motu propio filed various recruitment violation cases against the recruitment firm after receiving a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Jeddah about the letter from Al Jahora Al Raqia Hotel in Saudi Arabia complaining that the agency illegally deployed Filipino workers under the name of the said hotel.

He said that the private company is facing charges of misrepresentation, falsification, unauthorized recruitment activity, and deploying workers to principals not accredited by the POEA. PNA

Tuesday, February 24, 2015 A5

BCDA targets Green City Phase 1 award in Q1

G

By Cai U. Ordinario

overnment-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC) Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) aims to bid out and award the first phase of the Clark Green City (CGC) development this quarter.

BCDA President Arnel Paciano Casanova told reporters at the sidelines of the Philippine Infrastructure Seminar that the terms of reference (TOR) of the contract will be published on February 26.

The TOR will include a requirement for a bidder to make a minimum P500-million-worth up-front payment to the BCDA to secure the contract.

“We’ve published the invitation to bid already for Clark Green City.

That’s the contract we aim to sign in the first quarter,” Casanova said.

The BCDA issued an invitation

to bid to companies that want to be its equity partner in developing the first phase of CGC on Thursday last week.

Under a joint-venture public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement, the BCDA will own 45 percent of the development and the remaining share of 55 percent will be granted to the winning bidder.

Alongside efforts to look for a joint-venture partner for the first phase of Clark Green City, the BCDA is also looking for partners for the Clark Rail Transit System linking CGC to Malolos, Bulacan.

Casanova said they are in the process of conducting exploratory talks with rail operators like Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR).

Building the 55-kilometer Clark Rail Transit System will connect CGC to the government’s NorthSouth Commuter Railway (NSCR).

This is part of the aim of the BCDA to encourage sustainable modes of transportation in CGC. “CGC will give least priority to individual car usage and encourage mass transit and biking as alternative modes of transportation,” Casanova said in his presentation on Monday.

A lternative-transport solutions are just among the few features of CGC that sets it apart from other business districts in the country.

Casanova said the development has already attracted several developers to build various industrial, residential, commercial and institutional projects in the 9,450-hectare smart city.

He said some of the developers who have expressed formal interest to undertake projects in the new business district include Robinsons

Land and Century Properties.

The BCDA envisions CGC to be a destination where nature, lifestyle, business, education and industry converge into a global city, based on principles of sustainability.

The government aims to develop the new metropolis into a city that protects and enhances the delicate balance between nature and built environment.

Transition

THE BCDA also assured there were will be no business disruptions inside Camp John Hay, as it takes over the management from Sobrepeña’s CJH Development Corp. (CJHDevCo).

In a news statement, the BCDA said it is now dealing with utilityservice providers in Camp John Hay, and is also in talks with locators for the smooth transition of management of the said property.

The BCDA will be taking over Camp John Hay after the Arbitral Tribunal had a unanimous vote for CJHDevCo to vacate the former US military base and turnover all facilities and developments in good and tenantable condition to the government.

DOTC exec: Stronger govt, private sector tie-up needed to address supply bottleneck

A

top official of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said during the recent Eighth Philippine Ports and Shipping Conference that strong cooperation between the government and the private sector is needed in addressing the country’s supply-chain bottleneck problems.

Transportation Undersecretary for Project Implementation and Special Concerns Office Julianito Bucayan Jr. said both sectors should truly recognize and effectively play their role into coming up with a win-win solution in addressing every concern affecting the Philippine supply chain.

Bucayan stressed that a sound and harmonious relationship between the government and the private sector is a key factor in making the country move toward achieving its dream of being a major global player in the shipping and shipbuilding industries.

“One of the good examples of a good government and private-sector partnership is the issue of port congestion, wherein both sectors agreed to sacrifice certain aspects of their operations to solve port congestion,” he explained.

“As we continue to move forward, both the government and the private sector agreed to continue to give timely solutions in order to prevent such situation to happen again,” Bucayan said.

“We believe that if the government and the private sector have sound relationship, we can easily address issues of trade bottlenecks not only in the Philippines but also in the BIMP-Eaga [Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asean Growth Area] as it offers very good growth areas now and in the future,” he added.

“We have been talking to Beneco [Benguet Electric Cooperative] and other utility service providers to ensure that there will be no disruption [in business],” John Hay Management Corp. (JHMC) vice president and COO lawyer Michelle RegalaNiebres said.

BCDA Head of Legal Services lawyer Peter Paul Andrew Flores said that the BCDA has mapped out options for Camp John Hay locators. He, however, declined to give further details until the options are finalized.

The BCDA stressed that the government has no plans of shutting down businesses inside Camp John Hay, saying it has also asked locators to coordinate with the BCDA to assess their relation with CJHDevCo for orderly transition.

“The BCDA asked investors to provide them a record of their lease contracts with CJH Development Corp. so that the state-run firm can start an inventory and determine how to proceed. While CJHDevCo’s original agreement was only for a 25year lease, it had sold 50-year leases to its investors,” the BCDA said.

With PNA

Bill allows intl ships to dock in multiple local ports

By Jelly F. Musico

Philippines News Agency

T

Summer boom

Workers labor at a construction site in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. The Department of Trade and Industry has reminded consumers to use construction materials compliant with government standards or those with Philippine Standard and Import Commodity Clearance marks. This reminder was given ahead of the expected summer construction boom. ALYSA SALEN

Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) General Manager Juan C. Sta. Ana, for his part, echoed Bucayan’s assertions. “This Ports and Shipping Conference will tackle and open up new trends and opportunities in the ports and shipping sector, and the the PPA is fully committed to achieve those trends and opportunities,” Sta. Ana said.

“Government and private-sector partnership is vital, particularly as we gear toward green and sustainable port operations, as well as adopting best practices and norms of today

toward a fully revolutionized port operation,” he added.

As a testament to a good publicprivate partnership, utilization levels at the Manila South Harbor (MSH) and the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) continue to dwindle to normal levels.

As of last Friday, utilization was at 76.5 percent, or approximately 62,300 twenty-foot equivalent units, (a combination of laden and empty containers) inside the MSH and the MICT. The level was 3.5 percentage points lower than the 80-percent utilization

level target set by the Cabinet Cluster on Port Congestion The combined number of vessels waiting at pilot stations, likewise, declined to five, excluding vessels currently at berth with a combined total of 10 ships.

Vessel turnaround time still remains at two days, while the average yard productivity for both ports is at 18 moves per hour per crane.

“The continued decline in the utilization level of the Manila ports is a clear manifestation of a healthy government and private-sector partnership,” Sta. Ana said. PNA

he Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill allowing foreign vessels to dock in multiple ports in the country, provided their cargoes are duly cleared by the Bureau of Customs for import or export.

The Senate Bill (SB) 2486 will amend Section 1009 of Presidential Decree 1464, otherwise known as the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978, which aims to introduce much-needed reforms in the shipping industry.

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said the measure was part of efforts to sustain the country’s economic growth and prepare for the Asean economic integration slated to start this year. ”Improving our shipping industry and logistical capacity will position the country, in the global market and improve the flow of goods and services in the country, which will help businesses and ordinary Filipinos alike,” Drilon said.

“This is our first step in our effort to further unlock the shipping industry, let it grow and thrive, and make it as efficient as possible as we anticipate more trade, more economic activity and real inclusive growth for the Filipino people,” said Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino III, sponsor of the bill.

Aquino said that the measures would answer the call of President Aquino and various stakeholders to enhance the country’s maritime transport industry. PNA

Tubbataha payment may be squandered, Palawan bishop warns

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

A

bishop on Monday called on the public to keep a close watch on the spending of the P87million fund, which the US government paid for the damages wrought by the USS Guardian at the Tubbataha Reefs National Park in 2013.

Bishop Pedro Arigo of the Prelature of Puerto Princesa expressed hope that transparency and accountability on the spending of the money will be observed.

Given the culture of corruption eating away at the country’s system, Arigo said, he cannot help but raise the alarm on how authorities intend to use the huge amount.

“We know all too well the unfortunate way with which funds are handled in this country.… We really do hope, however, that each centavo of the P87 million will be duly accounted for and really used for repairing

and conserving the Tubbataha Reef,” Arigo said in an article posted on a Catholic church web site.

In his recent interview over the Church-run Radyo Veritas, Arigo shared that he had heard of existing technology capable of quickly reviving the damaged corals which ordinarily take several generations to grow.

The Puerto Princesa bishop stressed that the Catholic Church is one with concerned anticorruption groups in ensuring that the money will be spent accordingly.

Moreover, Arigo has invited the lay faithful to get themselves involved in the Ugnayang Barangay at Simbahan (UBAS) which will give them an opportunity to be part of a team that monitors and campaigns for government transparency and accountability.

On January 17, 2013, the US Navy minesweeper USS Guardian reportedly ran aground at the UNESCO-declared World Heritage Site, damaging an area of 2,345.67 square meters, or 25,248.6 square feet, of coral reefs.

Good start

Brand-new cars waiting to be driven off are parked at a car dealer’s lot in Pasay City.

Recent reports show that the local auto industry is off to a good start, as sales in January surged 19.3 percent. A report issued by the joint marketing committee of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association showed the industry sold 18,662 units in January, compared to 15,647 units during the same month in 2014. Nonie Reyes

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Tuesday, February 24, 2015

editorial

Start with the courts

A

LL three branches of government—Executive, Legislative, and Judicial—have problems and deficiencies of efficiency and effectiveness.

While it is easier to blame the people, now or in the past, who are part of these institutions, if the system needs repair, there will be failures regardless of who is in charge.

Reform has been a key issue for many years. But what has been accomplished in the name of ‘reform’?

The foundation of any government which is responsible to and gains its legitimacy from the people is the legal system as administered by the judiciary. Laws made by and from a duly elected legislature can become just words on a piece of paper unless there is a strong, independent, and effective judiciary.

The Philippines considers itself a nation of laws but in practice it does not always work that way. From an article in the BusinessMirror on February 21: “The Heritage Foundation—an international research think tank based in Washington, D.C., which analyzes and formulates public policies based on free enterprise—said that while the country (the Philippines) has made distinct advancements in several areas of the economy, a lot of international investors still shy away from the Philippines owing to the poor implementation of laws in the country.”

We sometimes think of the Philippine judicial system as having some problem with corruption among its judges. But that is not the most serious issue of the problems with our judiciary. The heritage foundation, after a visit to the country said that the Philippines adherence to the rule of law was “far below the world average.” This is a terrible assessment about our country particularly with the efforts to gain more foreign investment.

The report spoke of influence peddling and court corruption but it may be that this is the symptom rather than the disease.

The idea that “Justice delayed is justice denied” is an legal tenet tracing its roots back at least 2,000 years to Hebrew Rabbinic literature and is found in the English Magna Carta of 1215. It is often that delays in the judiciary making rulings that often lead to the influence peddling and court corruption that the Heritage Foundation talks about. We know that sometimes court decisions both in timeliness and outcome can come to the highest bidder. That is not acceptable.

Every Supreme Court Chief Justice has vowed to move forward in solving the problem of case backlog and yet, we are still far behind where we should and need to be.

Reform in government should start with the judiciary because without a sound and properly functioning legal system, other reforms cannot be properly supported.

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Government must take cue from private sector Manny B. Villar

THE Entrepreneur Conclusion

S

OME holidays are good business and one that increases the vibrancy and intensity of the business sector both here and abroad is the Chinese New Year, which fell on February 19 this year.

Luck is the word that is mostly used in connection with the Chinese New Year. That’s many people flock to the stores in Binondo to buy the items that are expected to bring good luck, including success in business or prosperity.

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2015 is the Year of the Sheep, which is also referred to as the Year of the Ram or Goat. I saw a television show last week where a Chinese lecturer said the Chinese has one word for sheep, ram or goat.

Every year, Chinese astrologers make predictions on what businesses would perform well. For 2015, wood industries are expected to shine, which makes this year the Year of the Wood Sheep. Wood industries cover a broad range of activities, including virtually all products made from wood or plants like food and paper, and professions related to such natural products like housing.

While astrologers predict the things that will bring good luck, they also emphasize that real success or prosperity comes from hard work.

Speaking of luck, it seems we have had a string of good luck since last year, including the visit of Pope Francis. Largely because of the substantial decline in oil prices, the inflation rate has gone down, which in turn, has allowed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to keep interest rates low.

Government spending accelerated in the last three months of 2014, which enabled the economy to grow by 6.1 percent in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP).

I believe GDP growth could have breached the 7-percent level if the government spent as much in the first three quarters as it did in the fourth. A drop or increase of 1 or 2 percent in GDP growth would have a serious psychological impact. For example, if GDP grew by only 5 percent in the fourth quarter instead of 6.9 percent, the enthusiasm or optimism among investors could evaporate.

Earlier, I said my prognosis for the economy for 2015 and 2016 is good, because the odds are stacked up in our favor. Last week, I urged the government to ride on the vi-

brancy of the private sector to push the economy back on the fast lane.

Based on what I’ve seen and read, I’m glad that the government is moving in this direction.

Money will not be a problem for the government. In addition to the P2.6-trillion national budget for 2015, it has also enacted a supplemental budget of P22.5 billion.

Three departments will receive substantial amounts for their respective infrastructure programs: the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Inadequate infrastructure has been a major obstacle for economic growth for the Philippines for many years. Under the 2015 national budget, the DPWH will receive more than P300 billion, of which P185.8 billion will be used for the completion of all national roads and bridges.

The DOTC’s P59.5-billion budget includes P10.6 billion for the rehabilitation of the railways systems and P15.4 billion for airport and seaport projects.

The DA will receive a total of P89.1 billion, which will support the construction of farm-to-market roads, fish ports and irrigation facilities.

The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program is also moving faster.

Last month, the DOTC awarded the contract for the P2.5-billion Southwest Terminal of the Integrated Transport System to MWM Terminals to the consortium of Megawide Construction Corp. and WM Property Management Inc. The notice of award will be followed with the signing of a conces-

sion agreement, after which the contractor will have eight months to start construction. The project is part of the government’s goal to reduce vehicle volume and improve the traffic flow along Metro Manila’s major routes especially in Edsa.

The government has previously awarded eight PPP projects: the Naia Expressway, Daanghari-SLex Link Road, PPP for School Infrastructure Project Phases I and II, Modernization of Philippine Orthopedic Center, Automatic Fare Collection System, Mactan-Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal Building and the Operation and Maintenance of LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension.

Last month, the Investment Coordinating Committee–Cabinet Committee approved the P374.5 billion Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit System Loop (MTSL) Project. The 12-kilometer subway will connect the Bonifacio Global City, Makati Central Business District and the Mall of Asia area in Pasay City.

Other PPP projects in the PPP Center pipeline that were approved by the ICC-CabCom are: the P170.7-billion North-South Railway Project, the P19.33-billion Motor Vehicle Inspection System and the P1.16-billion Civil Registry System–IT Project.

In sum, the government has the resources, the projects have been identified, and the only thing left is to turn the plans into reality. With the current vibrancy of the private sector, there is no reason why the Philippine economy cannot move forward at an accelerating pace.

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail.com or visit www. mannyvillar.com.ph.

Obama needs to address issues people of color face

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N his final term as president, Barack Obama has spent more time and energy voicing the concerns of minorities.

It’s what people of color have wanted him to do since 2008, when he became the first African-American elected to the Oval Office.

Events of 2014 made his speaking out essential.

The slaying of black 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9 by a white Ferguson, Missouri, police officer and the protests and unrest that followed were things Obama couldn’t ignore. The president called for calm after violence erupted once a state grand jury decided against charges in Brown’s death.

Calls for calm followed a New York grand jury deciding not to file charges in the July 17 choking death of 43-year-old Eric Garner. It was videotaped on a cellphone with Garner being wrestled to the ground by police. Garner repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe.”

Everyone in white America may not understand Obama’s actions, and

some may hate him for giving voice to so many African-Americans’ longstanding concerns that black lives in this country should matter. During Black History Month, the president’s speaking out on these issues is greatly appreciated.

People magazine recently even quoted Obama and his wife, Michelle, saying events of last year caused them to talk publicly about discussions they have with their daughters, Sasha and Malia. “This has been an ongoing conversation that we’ve had since they were young,” Obama said.

He said that their daughters’ generation, like Generations X and Y, see issues of race differently from African-American baby boomers and their parents. “They take for granted that being treated differently because of their race makes no sense,” he said. Yet, the “vestiges of slavery and Jim Crow” are very real concerns. Although things are better than they have been for past generations of people of color, “those biases are still there.”

It’s important for parents to have

that talk with their black and biracial children so the kids will know how to handle racism, discrimination and bigotry when confronted with it. They shouldn’t internalize it as their problem.

Racism is America’s Sisyphean problem. African-Americans and other people of color have to know how to maneuver around it in order to succeed.

The president is right when he said about his daughters: “We don’t want them to be constrained by any stereotypes. So when something like Ferguson or the Trayvon Martin case happens, around the dinner table we’re pointing out to them that too often in our society black boys are still perceived as more dangerous, and that it will be part of their generation’s task to try to eradicate those old stereotypes.”

Each generation of Americans has to own the responsibility to try to squash the racism that has impeded progress and potential in this country. Change has been glacial with a lot of backsliding.

“These incidents in the black community, this is a regular course of life,” Obama said. “These are challenges that we still face as a country.”

Obama shared a personal story.

“There is no black male my age, who’s a professional who hasn’t come out of a restaurant and is waiting for their car and somebody didn’t hand them their car keys.”

I’ve been there. It happens so often that black comics add it to their routine. Michelle Obama recalled for the People interview being asked as first lady in a Target store by another shopper to get something from a shelf for her.

Obama called them “small irritations or indignities” compared to what people of earlier generations’ suffered. Many people of color today don’t dwell on the slights just as our parents didn’t. We still hope that one day we will be seen and appreciated for the value that we bring to this country as Americans. Yes, we have a black president, and there has been a lot of progress. But we’re still waiting, still hoping. TNS

Opinion BusinessMirror

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China may be stalling out and that’s OK William Pesek

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BLOOMBERG VIEW S Premier Li Keqiang guides China toward lower growth rates, economists everywhere are grappling with this question: How slow is too slow for the world’s second-biggest economy?

Number-crunchers have traditionally believed that China must grow at least 7 percent to 8 percent annually to generate enough jobs and prosperity to keep protesters from flooding Tiananmen Square. But what if China is already operating at a significantly lower rate of output– more like 5 percent–without a significant uptick in unrest? And what might that mean for Asia’s economic outlook over the next five years?

The consultancy Oxford Economics has created a “Li Index” that tries to estimate Chinese growth by using measures such as electricity output, credit growth and rail freight. Contrary to the official headline GDP number, those data suggest Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) growth has been stumbling along under 5 percent for a few months now. While some may quibble with the index’s emphasis on heavy industry, the fact is that official Chinese GDP and trade data aren’t a whole lot more reliable.

If Oxford is right, that means there may be a much lower threshold for preserving social stability in China than previously assumed.

The consultancy’s explanation, while highly technical, boils down to this: China’s shrinking population and the slowing of migration to cities means there are enough jobs to go around, even as GDP growth also eases. “With population growth slowing, in particular growth in the working-age population, the rate of growth needed to preserve urban employment is likely to slow to around 5 percent by 2020,” says Oxford’s Clare Howarth.

While the United Nations claims China’s working-age population won’t start shrinking until 2016, econometric analysis suggests otherwise. Between 1979 and 2013, for example, urban employment grew about 3.7 percent a year relative to GDP growth of about 9.8 percent.

That encouraged the view that high growth rates were needed to generate acceptable levels of employment and maintain stability. As recently as 2013, Li indicated that growth well above 7 percent remained a critical

While the United Nations claims China’s working-age population won’t start shrinking until 2016, econometric analysis suggests otherwise. Between 1979 and 2013, for example, urban employment grew about 3.7 percent a year relative to GDP growth of about 9.8 percent. That encouraged the view that high growth rates were needed to generate acceptable levels of employment and maintain stability. As recently as 2013, Li indicated that growth well above 7 percent remained a critical priority for Beijing. priority for Beijing.

Now, though, as I noted in an earlier piece, labor scarcity in cities is leading to big wage gains for lower-income workers. China may run out of cheap labor sooner than anticipated; the evidence points to urban population growth approaching only the 2 percent mark between 2014 and 2020.

At the same time, there’s ample reason to believe China’s GDP is already overstated, as Oxford claims.

The ratio of urban employment growth to GDP needed to avert protests may thus also be exaggerated.

It’s entirely possible that urban population dynamics–and social stability–over the next several years can be sustained by 4.5 percent to 5 percent growth.

This is both bad news and good news for the global economy. Bad news, because a Chinese slowdown will rob the world of another vital growth engine amid already tepid demand. Good news, because Li and President Xi Jinping have more latitude to rebalance the economy.

They’ll need to take advantage of that opportunity, though. Already middle-class incomes are stagnating in China. Unless the country can ultimately create better-paying jobs, particularly in the services sector, this period of labor calm won’t last forever.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Shortchanged on longevity Edgardo J. Angara

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ROUND the world, more people can expect to live longer due to various medical breakthroughs and technological advances. Time magazine recently suggested that if current experiments on mice can be replicated on humans, a baby born today could live 142 years.

This notwithstanding, life expectancies have already lengthened at a rate never before seen in human history. An American today has an average lifespan two decades longer than in 1925, while a person from East Asia can expect to live up to 74 years old–nearly three decades more than their counterparts born before 1950.

Laura L. Carstensen, Director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, wrote that with longer life expectancies come the challenge and opportunity to evolve from a world “built quite literally for and by the young”

to one able to provide a good living for all ages, even for “populations that live to 100 years and beyond.”

A radically new set of social norms and policies will be needed.

Carstensen said that the “culture that guides us today—that tells us when to get an education, marry, have children, buy a house, work and retire—is profoundly mismatched to the length of the lives we are living.”

Some parts of the world are ahead of the curve. A Milken Institute study identified Madison, Wisconsin, as the best city in the United States in which to grow old—given seniors

enjoy easy access to healthcare, education and transportation.

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) lists under its Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities some 21 places across the globe where elders’ participation, health, security and independence are promoted through public policy and services.

In the Philippines, with the Senior Citizens Act providing support for the elderly, we have preserved and perpetuated our protective culture for our seniors, who in 2014 numbered 6.6 million. However, it appears we have yet to benefit from the global longevity boom.

According to World Bank data, life expectancies at age 60 have changed very little, while our neighbors have seen theirs rising in the past two decades. In 2012, a Filipino senior citizen was expected to live another 17 years—in fact a year less than in 1990. In contrast, their Vietnamese and Singaporean counterparts could see up to 21 more years, while for a Thai senior, another 23 years.

Quality of life is also problematic.

The country ranked a low 44th out

Who won in Camp John Hay case?

Ernesto M. Hilario

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ABOUT TOWN

ASES Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President Arnel Paciano Casanova recently claimed victory in the state-run agency’s longstanding legal dispute with its private partner Camp John Jay Development Corp. (CJHDevCo) after the arbitral tribunal of the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. (PDRCI) affirmed on Feb. 11 the rescission of the 1999 lease agreement between the BCDA and CJHDevCo.

According to the BCDA honcho, CJHDevCo should immediately vacate the CJH Special Economic Zone (CJHSEZ) it has been running for almost two decades in Baguio City–and for the locators to ignore CJHDevCo and to transact business only with the BCDA. But is it really a victory for BCDA? What the BCDA wants is to immediately take over the 247-hectare economic hub in Baguio City even before the PDRCI’s revocation of the lease accord could become final by way of a Writ of Execution to be issued by the appropriate court at the end of a transparent judicial process.

The projected BCDA move will be an example of reverse privatization that violates Republic Act 7227, or

the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992, and undermine the law’s mandate for the BCDA to privatize former military camps to generate funds for the AFP modernization program.

Moreover, if the BCDA insists on ejecting CJHDevCo from the former American rest and recreation facility, the biggest losers would be, first of all, the armed forces because this would set back its modernization program. Second, the BCDA move send the wrong signal that the government’s PPP program is not working at all. And third, it would cause financial troubles for Baguio City, which wants to collect its overdue 25 percent share of all JHSEZ rentals paid to the government.

The PDRCI’s arbitral tribunal’s February 11 decision says the lessee (CJHDevCo) should return the estate to its lessor (BCDA), inclusive of all new constructions and permanent improvements that CJHDevCo had built on the property to the tune of P5 billion ever since securing its lease contract 19 years ago. But what the BCDA glosses over is part of the decision which says that the BCDA should refund in full to CJHDevCo a total of P1.42 billion in rentals it had paid since 1996. The PDRCI panel, although affirming the invalidation of the warring parties’ JHSEZ lease accord, threw out the BCDA claim that CJHDevCo owes the government P3.3 billion in overdue rentals.

There are 118 business enterprises like business process outsourcing firms, restaurants and retail shops along with 85 residential buildings owned by private sub-lessees at the CJHSEZ. CJHDevCo Chairman Robert John Sobrepeña has expressed support for the PDRCI ruling:“We feel vindicated by the Arbitration Tribunal in upholding our position that CJHDevCo does not owe any P3.3 billion back rentals to the BCDA.” At the same time, he assured CJHDevCo’s locators of continued protection as they acquired CJH subleases in good faith: “We assure our buyers, locators and sub-lessees that

Obama set the immigration trap, and the GOP walked in

By Tamar Jacoby Los Angeles Times/TNS

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N Monday, a federal judge in Texas blocked President Obama’s latest executive actions on immigration. This is a short-term win for Republicans, who rightly believe the president lacked the authority to act unilaterally. But it does nothing to change the underlying political dynamic–Republicans have won a battle, but they’re still at risk of losing the immigration war.

The contrast between Democrats and Republicans is stark and getting starker every day. A Democratic president is fighting to shield unauthorized immigrants from deportation. If it weren’t for the court order, an additional 600,000 Dreamers who came to the United States illegally as children could have applied for legal status starting Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are headed into their sixth week trying to pass a measure that would pave the way for deporting not just the Dreamers, but all 11 million immigrants living illegally in the US. It’s a contrast sure to haunt the GOP through November 2016 and beyond.

The irony, particularly bitter for Republicans, is that it’s not an accurate picture of the party. Most GOP representatives in Congress support

relief for Dreamers, and many, perhaps most, support legal status for unauthorized immigrants.

But congressional Republicans are caught in a trap. They’re fighting for a policy most of them don’t believe in as a way, they think, to strike back at the president–but in the end are hurting themselves more than they could ever hurt Obama.

Ten years ago, when the GOPcontrolled House of Representatives passed a draconian immigration enforcement bill named for Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), most Republican lawmakers supported its provisions criminalizing immigrants and opening the door to mass deportations.

But the GOP has undergone a sea change since 2005: a slow, steady, bottom-up rethinking of the immigration issue. Today, not just

national figures like Jeb Bush but most rank-and-file Republicans in Congress understand the need for far-reaching immigration reform.

Last June, when reform advocates conducted an informal whip count, they found more than half of House Republicans prepared to vote for a path to legal status for some unauthorized immigrants.

So how did Republicans get trapped? Obama set the snare, but the GOP walked in of its own free will.

Obama surely knew that the immigration executive orders he issued in November would infuriate Republicans. He could have sent the same proposal up to Capitol Hill as a bill: legal status rather than citizenship for some but not all of those here illegally. It might just have passed if it had come up for a vote last year.

But that would have taken immigration off the table as a wedge issue, leveling the playing field between Republicans and Democrats. So instead, the president acted unilaterally, knowing the GOP would see that as a brazen abuse of authority– a violation the party had to fight, no matter what the consequences.

Republicans are right, as the Texas ruling confirms. But being

right isn’t always enough in politics–you also have to win the war of perceptions. And right now, the GOP is losing that war–big time.

Americans aren’t hearing the message about the president’s abuse of authority. They’re hearing the GOP

grants. A few small steps to fix the legal immigration system would signal that Republicans know there’s a problem and want to be part of solving it–that they recognize the benefits immigrants bring, especially legal immigrants.

An ideal package would start with enforcement, on the border and in the workplace. But it would also include some answers for what’s broken. Among the possibilities: streamlined visas for skilled professionals, some relief for produce growers who rely on migrant workers, and something to address the needs of employers in other sectors who depend on less-skilled immigrants to keep their businesses open and growing–perhaps a small temporary-worker program for cities and counties whose economies have bounced back to full employment. say it hates immigrants.

What can Republicans do? How do they get out of the trap?

Turn the tables on Obama. Come together as a party and pass some constructive immigration measures, then send those bills to the president and let him look like the obstacle to progress.

This wouldn’t have to be comprehensive immigration reform. It wouldn’t even have to include legal status for unauthorized immi-

An ideal package would start with enforcement, on the border and in the workplace. But it would also include some answers for what’s broken. Among the possibilities: streamlined visas for skilled professionals, some relief for produce growers who rely on migrant workers, and something to address the needs of employers in other sectors who depend on lessskilled immigrants to keep their businesses open and growing–

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of 96 nations in the 2014 Global AgeWatch Index, a survey on the wellbeing of the elderly. At 76th out of 96, we scored particularly low in the health domain.

Even though the Accessibility Law (BP 344) mandates that all buildings be accessible through ramps and lowincline stairs, the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) recently said that only 40 out of 1,200 local government units (LGUs) are compliant with the minimum standards of the law.

Last year, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported that up to 70 percent of Filipino seniors have to keep on working for lack of or inadequate pensions. Among those who do, up to 52 percent find their compensation still inadequate.

For sure, we are a young nation.

This singular demographic fact is expected to drive economic development in the next fifty years. Politicians and policymakers should start drawing up a smart development roadmap. Our seniors should not be left behind.

E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com.

their rights to the properties they acquired and are now using in John Hay will continue to be protected and respected.”

Sobrepeña said the BCDA should sustain CJHDevCo’s vision for the JHSEZ to become the “leading ecotourism destination in Northern Luzon” and continue nurturing the almost half-million pine trees that CJHDevCo has taken good care of in the course of its almost two-decade stewardship.

“When we turn over the Camp to BCDA after the P1.42 billion award is paid to us, BCDA will take care of the 480,000 trees we will leave behind. When we took over the Camp in 1996, there were 250,000 trees in the Camp. During our stewardship of the Camp, we planted 230,000 more trees. Thus, when we eventually turn over Camp John Hay to BCDA, the Camp would be in perfect environmental condition.”

In conclusion, Sobrepeña said: “It has always been our position that the trees in John Hay are the Camp’s most treasured assets. The pine trees are what have set John Hay unique among other destinations. The presence of these trees posed the greatest challenge to our development plans as we believed these trees should not be cut.”

E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com.

perhaps a small temporary-worker program for cities and counties whose economies have bounced back to full employment.

The president would mock all these measures if they landed on his desk alone, without some form of legalization for unauthorized immigrants. But if he vetoed the bill, he’d be the problem–Democrats rather than Republicans would be the Party of No. Of course, some conservatives on talk radio and elsewhere would also mock a change of course by Republicans–to them, any effort to get out of the trap would betray a lack of resolve. But when the course the party is on isn’t working, sticking to it is just foolish, not brave or principled.

Republicans don’t need to stand down. What they need to do is fight smarter. The good news: There’s a better way to beat the president and vote for what you believe on immigration–to do the right thing and get credit for it from voters looking for lawmakers who can come through with solutions.

Tamar Jacoby, a registered Republican, is president of ImmigrationWorks USA, a national federation of smallbusiness owners in favor of immigration reform.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

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Oil surplus up as Libya, Oman hike production

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il traded near $60 a barrel in London after the first weekly decline in a month as Libya restarted a crude pipeline after a fire and Oman said it will increase production by as much as possible.

Futures swung between gains and losses after a 2.1-percent drop last week. Oil fields in eastern Libya resumed pumping to Hariga port after a pipeline was repaired, according to state-run National Oil Corp. Oman, the biggest Middle East producer outside of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), plans to raise output to 980,000 barrels a day this year, a ministry official said.

Rising supply is contributing to a global surplus that drove crude into a bear market in 2014. Opec, whose 12 members ship about 40 percent of the world’s oil, has signaled that it’s prepared to let prices fall to a level that would force record American output to slow. US drillers have idled rigs the past 11 weeks even as Brent recovered this year.

“It’s very much a production- or supplydriven story right now in oil,” Mark Pervan, the head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Melbourne, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “The demand side is actually quite flat and we’re seeing a lot of supply in the system.” Brent for April settlement was at $60.45 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, up 23 cents, at 4 p.m. Sydney time. The contract climbed 1 cent to $60.22 on Friday.

See “Oil surplus,” A2

BSP to shield banks from external shocks

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By Bianca Cuaresma

he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is preparing a set of reforms for the banking sector centered on shielding the industry from stresses in the external front and help them compete with banks in the region.

In a recent speaking engagement, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the central bank is focusing on still more bank reforms to further enhance the ability of the lenders

to respond to global issues.

“We will continue to pursue reforms in the banking sector. Our objective is to enable our banks to better withstand stresses of external origin and

to compete in a more integrated regional arena,” Tetangco said.

He said the BSP already adopted several measures last year to this end, including the hike in the minimum capital for banks and the adoption of a comprehensive credit-risk management.

While the central bank governor did not bother on the details, he nevertheless said other reform measures in the pipeline include so-called Basel 3-related reforms.

Just this year, the central bank implemented the terms of the Basel 3 accord mandating still more stringent capital norms on all banks.

One measure—which aims for a higher quality of capital among banks—mandated raising the socalled common equity tier (CET) 1 ratio to the total capital adequacy

requirement of banks.

CET 1 is the highest form of capital accepted under the Basel 3 accord.

Other BSP officials also earlier said that aside from more stringent capital rules under the Basel 3 accord, the BSP will also implement reforms in the handling of liquidity and on leverage ratios soon. The BSP, according to Tetangco, is also wary of the banks’ leverage among households and firms, and their exposure to the real-estate sector.

“To mitigate these risks, the BSP will continue to its mix of micro- and macro-prudential tools, as well as surveillance mechanisms taking in consideration their potential impact on liquidity and overall financial conditions,” Tetangco said.

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people hostage inside the café, forced them to hold up a flag bearing the Islamic declaration of faith, and demanded he be delivered a flag of the Islamic State (IS) group. Monis and two hostages were killed.

The government review found no major faults with multiple agencies that failed to detect Monis was a threat, despite the fact that he was out on bail on sexual assault and accessory to murder charges. But Abbott acknowledged the system itself had failed, saying Monis should never have been allowed into Australia, should not have been out on bail

‘Govt should not get in the way of MRT Line 3 rehab’

SOBREPÉNA: “We submitted a proposal for a fast-track rehab and upgrade of the MRT [Metro Rail Transit] 3 to the DOTC [Department of Transportation and Communications] from MRT Holdings Inc., the owner of MRTC. With us in this proposal is Sumitomo Corp. and Globalvia [Infrastucturas] of Spain.”

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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and should not have been able to get a gun.

“It’s clear that in too many instances, the threshold for action was set too high. And that the only beneficiary of that was the Martin Place murderer himself,” Abbott said. “We cannot allow bad people to use our good nature against us.”

The measures announced on Monday would revoke or suspend Australian citizenship for dual nationals who fight alongside terror groups overseas, ax welfare payments and consular services to those involved in

he owner of Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 supports the proposal of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) to upgrade the most congested railway line in the Philippines, even if it means his separate “quick fix” scheme would be snubbed by the state.

MRT Holdings II Inc. Chairman Robert John L. Sobrepeña welcomed the idea that the government is now opening its doors to private sector proposals to overhaul the mass-transit system, despite the state’s firm stance against unsolicited deals.

However, his group is more keen on implementing its own proposal to provide a quick fix to the ailing system.

Along with foreign firms Sumitomo Corp. of Japan and Globalvia Infrastructuras of Spain, Metro Global Holdings Inc. is proposing to “fix” the ailing system through a $150-million investment that involves the procurement of a total of 96 new train cars and the rehabilitation of the existing 73 coaches, increasing its capacity by fourfold to 1.2 million daily passengers.

See “Australia,” A2

Continued on A4

Australia to tighten immigration laws in counterterror bid ustralia will strengthen immigration laws and crack down on groups that incite hatred under a raft of counterterrorism measures introduced on Monday in a bid to combat the threat from homegrown terrorists.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the nation’s new anti-extremism strategy following the release of a government review into December’s deadly siege at a café in Sydney’s busy Martin Place plaza.

Man Monis, an Iranian-born, self-styled cleric with a long criminal history, took 18

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