Businessmirror october 07, 2015 by BusinessMirror

Sans stiffer penalties vs illegal fishing, PHL could lose sardines, ‘bagoong’ special report By Alladin S. Diega

Conclusion

dopting sustainable policies could increase the number of healthy fish stocks. Experts said that, if countries would adopt measures to restore the health of oceans and address illegal fishing, global fish stocks could be replenished by 2050. “Science-based limits, habitat protection and limits on bycatch will pay off in terms of healthy fish stocks, food, and also profits,” Jackie Savitz,

nonie reyes

vice president of Oceana International, said in a separate statement. According to Pedro Rosales, chairman of Pangisda Pilipinas, an organization of small fishermen, they want to adopt sustainable fishing practices to secure their livelihood. “The fishermen’s umbilical cords, including that of their families, are tied to the waters, and it is with their interest, our interest, to maintain the bountiful harvest of the sea by a science-based regulation,” Rosales said. International efforts have been

Correspondent

Continued on A2

BusinessMirror

three-time rotary club of manila journalism awardee 2006, 2010, 2012

U.N. Media Award 2008

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A broader look at today’s business

Thursday 18,October 2014 Vol.7,10 2015 No. 40 Wednesday, Vol. 10 No. 363

P25.00 nationwide | 6 sections 32 pages | 7 days a week

BSP rules out rate tweaks as inflation slows further By Bianca Cuaresma & Cai U. Ordinario

nflation crept closer to zero in September, averaging still lower to 0.4 percent from 0.6 percent in August, and an event the nation’s economists attributed to more tempered price movements on food, power and imported oil.

INSIDE

new power address BusinessMirror E1 | Wednesday, October 7, 2015 Editor: Tet Andolong

ALVEO Financial Tower

Alveo develops a new power address

B R R R

YALA Avenue, the country’s Wall Street, remains the country’s power address of many business organizations whether local or foreign. As part of its thrust to bring dynamism, vibrancy and innovation to the premier business center, property titan Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), through subsidiary Alveo Land, has recently launched the Alveo Financial Tower. Located at 6794 Ayala Avenue, the new 49-story skyscraper will offer premium-grade workspaces to the top business organizations in the country that aim to boost their image and éclat. “Alveo Financial Tower will be a major component of City Gate. This corporate creative district is at the new rejuvenated northern gateway of Ayala Avenue, tailor-fit for contemporary and cosmopolitan worklife culture,” said Jennylle Tupaz, head of Project Development Group for Alveo Land. “City Gate includes 81,000 square meters dedicated to leasable office spaces and 14,000 sq m for premium retail options. It will feature lush and prominent civic spaces designed for convergence, a rarity within the modern concrete jungle of Makati City. Vibrant residential developments will also rise along the district with Alveo Land’s own Kroma Tower and The Lerato. A

312-suite Seda-brand Ayala hotel is also included in the scheme, as well as interactive elevated walkways that interconnect the district and stretches all the way to Ayala Center,” Tupaz added. After acquiring the former Jaka Tower site, Alveo left no stone unturned and commissioned internationally acclaimed and Seattle-based structural consultant Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA) and prominent local engineering firm Sy^2 + Associates to perform conduct structural integrity tests on the existing structure. Sy^2 and MKA conducted independent studies to assess the structure of the building that was constructed in 1996 and scheduled for completion in 1999. After conducting a three-month rigid screening process, the two firms reported the building owned by the family of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile had sturdy structures and fit for use.

CITY Gate

Winning features

TUPAZ said Alveo is confident Ayala Avenue’s new power address will be a big hit in the corporate world. It has a total size of 2,400 sq m, featuring 48 floors plus a utility roof deck totaling 63,739 sq m of gross floor area. There are 363 office units for sale and the tower’s

turnover is slated for 2020. “Ayala Avenue is the most coveted corporate address and the primary engine of Philippines’s unrivaled business capital and home to top local and foreign corporations. With Alveo Financial Tower strategically located in this thriving business locale, it offers ultimate accessibility and networking opportunities along with a prestigious signature address for future locators,” Tupaz noted. Tupaz said the Alveo Financial Tower will contain exemplary features such as the spacious fourvolume signature lobby with a considerable ceiling height at 12.7 meters. Moreover, she noted the full fifth floor will be a huge business center with dedicated conference rooms and modular largeformat meeting facilities. To allow business leaders to unwind and relax, Alveo will put up an executive dining lounge on the 17th floor—

GRAN EUROPA ROLLS OUT NEW PHASES

AMELLA has recently unveiled new phases of its 250-hectare flagship project in Cagayan de Oro, Gran Europa, to offer a wider range of valuefor-money house and lot packages to homebuyers. The newly opened La Mirande Trails—a 14.9-hectare expansion in the masterplan—offers an upgraded lifestyle to homebuyers, with its bigger house and lot packages (with floor areas ranging from 125 square meters to 200 sq m) from a new line of model homes called Grande series. It also offers the immensely popular value-for-money Camella homes

series, with the guarantee of quality living in a safe and secure community. Meanwhile, a much more affordable house and lot packages perfect for starting families will be offered in the 2.7-hectare expansion in the Lessandra Heights phase. “We are continuously striving to provide more options of quality and value-for-money homes here in Gran Europa and we have expanded our reach to cater to more Filipino families. We are creating more opportunities for families to live an upscale lifestyle in a self-sustaining community with complete amenities,” said Emelia Lustado, Camella

complete with an outdoor deck for more cozy-client meetings. In tune with the times, Tupaz stressed the Alveo Financial Tower will be developed into an intelligent and high-technology structure equipped with the latest technologies such as the Radio Frequency Identification. Furthermore, she said the building will have a higher parking ratio to ensure ample space for both tenants and guests, among other officegrade considerations. Alveo will also implement sustainable architecture to the new edifice similar to the renowned Nielson Tower, which has since transformed from an iconic airport terminal in the 1940s to the Blackbird, a lavish new restaurant serving fine dining and gastronomical fare. To complement sustainable architecture, Tupaz said the Alveo Financial Tower will be aiming for the leadership in energy and environmental design certification to ensure all amenities will be sustainable and energy efficient. Furthermore, Tupaz said the structure will have a pollution-control management system to businesses and organizations can operate at peak performance.

ALVEO Financial Tower

By getting the green light from Sy^2 and MKA, Tupaz reported Alveo embarked on a groundbreaking vision of sustainability utilizing innovations and practices to create an elegant contemporary skyscraper, which will serve as a design catalyst for the modernization and regeneration of Ayala Avenue. “We are excited to contribute to and drive sustainability in architecture in the Philippines, and hopefully pave the way for other developers to follow a similar path of innovation and architectural reuse,” Tupaz said.

Northern Mindanao Cluster Head. Gran Europa is a Mediterraneaninspired masterplanned community located strategically along Lumbia Road in Cagayan de Oro City. Recently, a barangay road was opened to the public making it more accessible. Besides its amenities, such as the clubhouse with swimming pool, basketball court and parks and playgrounds in the village, it also has its own church, the Saint Vincent Ferrer Parish and its own school, the Georgia Academy. Moreover, a Village Center inside the community, which has a supermarket, a

salon and spa, bakeshop, pharmacy and pizza parlor, caters to the various needs of its homeowners. Also, the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) School will soon be opening here. “Truly, Gran Europa is not only a residential development, but a masterplanned city in itself, where all that you need is right at your doorstep,” Lustado said. Camella has built more than 300,000 homes in 35 provinces and 90 cities and municipalities. Through the years, it has created an immense selection of affordable, high-quality homes with

A golden opportunity for investment

BEING the sole new consolidated office for sale option on Ayala Avenue, Tupaz said Alveo Financial Tower offers good investment returns expected to be as high as 6 percent (based on current lease rates in the Makati Central Business District). “With its much-coveted location on Ayala Avenue, Alveo Financial Tower becomes a rare investment opportunity for businesses wanting to be part of the most prestigious corporate address in the country,” Tupaz said. She reported the recent priority selling event of the Alveo Financial Tower held on September 27 was a behemothic success generating over P5.8 billion in total sales. A typical office space was sold at an average of P240, 000 per sq m, or P27.8 million for an average unit size of 116 sq m during the one-day exclusive event. Serving as the culmination of Ayala Land’s new P20-billion corporate creative node, the Alveo Financial Tower provides a harmonious connection to businesses and enterprises to a complete and lively mixed-use district that includes diverse retail establishments, premium hotel accommodations, upscale condominium residences and integrated green open spaces.

property world-class setting and innovative masterplanned city developments in the Philippines—each one carrying Vista Land’s expertise in space planning, carefully

thought out and sustainable architecture, and an innate knack for selecting the most accessible and attractive locations. www.camella.com.ph.

casting chromecast The spirit reveals Christ

ATHER in Heaven, we praise and thank You for Your Son who dwells in us. We believe that the spirit reveals Christ to us and in us. John 16:14-15 states that “He will take from what is mine and declare it to You. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason, I told You that He will take from what is mine and declare it to You.” At times we really do not understand what Your message is, but our faith is so deep to acknowledge Your word. Amen. THINGS THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES, GEMMA AND LOUIE M. LACSON

Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

“Somebody’s happy with her new toy #Chromecast”

used to set up a party at home with the TV set as instant DJ or VJ, enjoy family game-time with smartphones as controllers, watch shows that only selected users can hear, and view Chromecast-ready apps. Chromecast is compatible with Android devices, tablets, iPhones, iPads, Apple or Windows laptops or Chromebooks, allowing users to cast their favorite entertainment and apps to the big screen. To use Chromecast, customers can plug-in the device to an HDMI TV and a power source, download the app on a smartphone device, tablet, or laptop; authenticate the code, and click the cast icon on their apps to view content on TV. Filipinos can enjoy the following apps which are Chromecast-ready: ■ TV and movies: HOOQ, CrunchyRoll, Stream2Cast, AllCast, Flixster, Dailymotion, Viki, SkyOnline and more. ■ Games: “Just Dance Now,” “Monopoly Dash,” “Wheel of Fortune,” “Rube,” “Catch Phrase Blitz,” “FitFlap,” “Scrabble Blitz,” “Alien Invaders,” “Big Web Quiz” and more. ■ Sports: NBA App, MLB, Red Bull TV and more. ■ Photos and videos: YouTube, Chrome, Piccastr, BubbleUPnP, Pixlr, Lyve, Avia, Picture Cast, DayFrame and more. “We are excited to be working closely with Google to bring Chromecast to Filipinos who are huge fans of everything entertainment: from movies, TV shows, games, sports, to photos and videos. With Chromecast, our customers get instant access to quality entertainment experience at home as they get to see their favorite content and apps from the small screen to the big screen. Offering Chromecast supports our commitment to enable the Filipino digital lifestyle further as we provide our customers a platform to enjoy entertainment at the comfort of one’s home,” says Dan Horan, senior advisor for Consumer Business at Globe. The telco’s global content partners are also

LAUNCHING Chromecast as an offering from Globe with its home broadband plans are (from left) Globe Senior Advisor for Consumer Business Dan Horan, Google Philippines Country Manager Kenneth Lingan, and Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu.

Chromecast-ready, allowing customers to enjoy thousands of movies and TV series on HOOQ, watch live and on-demand NBA games via the NBA League Pass, and stream music and video content on YouTube. Soon, Globe customers can get the Chromecast for free starting at Globe Home Broadband Plan 1299 with free access to HOOQ as well as across all Home Broadband Plans with free access to HOOQ and Spotify or the NBA League Pass. Meanwhile, Platinum Home Broadband customers can avail themselves of the Chromecast for free starting at Plan 3749 to Plan 9999 with free access to HOOQ, Spotify and the NBA League Pass. Globe’s latest partnership with Google was the big reveal at the “Wonderful World of Globe: The New Connected Life”, the seventh iteration of what has become an annual event for the mobile lifestyle purveyor. The event was held in late September at the SMX Convention Center in SM Aura Premier. Of course the partnership with Google was not the only thing the telco giant talked-up; its other new service offerings enjoyed their moment in the spotlight as well. These include: Shopify, an end-to-end e-commerce solution that should appeal to budding entrepreneurs like our Gianna Maniego; Seats, a restaurant booking service; and, more interestingly,

KonsultaMD, a 24/7 medical “service” manned by skilled and licensed Filipino doctors whom, for a minimal fee of P15 weekly, you can call to consult with a medical/health concern (there is a P1-per-minute charge for the call—and we don’t want to hear any harrumphing about the charge, please, when just about everyone splurges on those fattening frappuccinos several times in a day); and GOcery, which brings online shopping beyond the realm of clothing and gadgets and furniture to include everything you typically find in a grocery or a supermarket. (Currently, the GOcery service is limited to residents in Bonifacio Global City, but assurances were given at the Globe event that other areas in the metropolis will be serviced soon enough.)

WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY GERARD RAMOS

Google introduces Pixel C tablet, new Nexus phones

B M O’B San Jose Mercury News

AN FRANCISCO—Google introduced a tablet-laptop hybrid last week, along with two new Nexus phones and updates to Chromecast that together marked the company’s first big product launch since reorganizing under parent company Alphabet. Emphasizing a push by the company to build its own in-house hardware, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced the new tablet, called Pixel C, that is powered with Google’s Android operating system and is likely to compete with Microsoft’s Surface and Apple’s iPad Pro, all of which transform into laptop-like devices with the addition of a keyboard. “There’s no kickstand,” said Andrew Bowers, a Google product director, as he demonstrated how the lightweight keyboard magnetically attaches. “I can hold it by the tablet, I can hold it by the keyboard, I can hold it upside-down.” He said the 10.2-inchscreen device goes on sale in time for the holidays—$499 for the tablet and an additional

$149 for the keyboard. The company also introduced two new phones in its Nexus line, which is now five years old but has been used as more of a showcase of Google’s edgiest technology than a big market mover. But that could change, said the Google executives who revealed the 5.2-inch Nexus 5X (starting at $379), the premium 5.7-inch Nexus 6P (starting at $499 and made of “aeronauticalgrade anodized aluminum”) and a back-to-back series of new and updated features in the hotly anticipated but relatively low-key launch event inside a photography studio near San Francisco’s Mission District. Both phones take advantage of one of Google’s strengths—the artificial intelligence and machinelearning capabilities of its latest version of Android, named Marshmallow, which launches this week. Both phones are also able to use Project Fi, Google’s new wireless service (starting at $30 a month), and fingerprint sensing to unlock the phone and use the Android Pay system for buying items at store payment terminals. GOOGLE’S NEW PRODUCTS ■ Android Marshmallow: The latest

version of Google’s mobile operating system will be available on new model Nexus phones and eventually other Android-powered phones. It includes an advanced version of the Google Now personal assistant. ■ Nexus 5X: Made by South Korea’s LG Electronics, the 5.2-inch smartphone starts at $379. It has a 12-megapixel camera, fingerprint sensor for locking and mobile payments, a USB Type-C charging port. ■ Nexus 6P: Made by China’s Huawei Technologies, the sleek, premium 5.7-inch smartphone starts at $499. It has a 12.3-MP camera, fingerprint sensor for locking and mobile payments, a USB Type-C charging port. ■ Pixel C: Google’s first Android tablet ($499) also transforms into a laptop with $149 magnetic keyboard attached. The search giant’s answer to Microsoft Surface and Apple’s new iPad Pro. ■ Chromecast Audio: Along with updating its digital media playing Chromecast plug-in stick, Google’s media universe expands with the new Chromecast Audio circular device—meant to resemble a vinyl record—that allows streaming music to play from a home audio system. ■

life

can women have it all? Image BusinessMirror

D4 Wednesday, October 7, 2015

‘Domestic reforms key to attracting investments’

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side from forging free-trade agreements (FTAs) with European countries, the government must also implement the necessary reforms to make the country more attractive to foreign investors, the Nordic Business Council Philippines (NBCP) said on Tuesday. While the NBCP is optimistic about the Philippines’s efforts to expand trade ties with European countries, it stressed the need to prioritize policy and regulatory changes. “Any movement toward a more liberalized free trade is a welcome development, as it could open more doors to the Nordic region,” NBCP Executive Director Joona Selin said. “On the policy side, what usually matters are the domestic trade and investment scenario, because even if we push Continued on A8

ShoWn in photo are (from left) Takuya Segawa, FJg international president; Sidney Scott Stelton, assistant to the president, Karada Philippines; hanna Stelton, general manager, Karada Philippines; Megumi Komaki, Karada Japan president; William Stelton and hiroaki naruse, Karada regional manager.

Can women have it all? By Jen Weigel | Chicago Tribune

AN women really have it all? We posed the age-old question to three female business leaders; here is an edited transcript of those conversations. n Nicole Loftus, founder and CEO of Zorch International: “Not only can we do it all, but it’s our duty to be examples to other women that we should do it all. I have many female friends who are the breadwinners in the family with three kids, working full time, and the husband still thinks the woman should be tending to the house and taking care of a sick kid. How are we going to change this paradigm if we don’t set different examples? “The No. 1 way to be successful both at home and at work is to make a list of what matters most to you, and then outsource as much as you can from the bottom of the list. So you’re doing what’s important to you, and leaving the tasks like cleaning the house or grocery shopping to someone else. “And I think we have to keep our private life and our work life very separate. My message to women is, ‘Quit your [whining].’ We’re trying to close this deal, so does your child understand that this deal will help put them through college? It’s a great lesson for the kids to learn

that mom and dad will have to switch because work is important to mom. Just like work is important to dad. There’s still so much discrimination—and I know people might be upset with me for saying this, but I think we have an obligation to push ourselves and get to work. We have an obligation to the women who pushed before us and to the women of our future. Then our kids will grow up and understand that men and women are no different in the workplace.” n Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods: “If we want to have women in strong careers then we also need men who are willing to help with the balance in the workplace and in the [home]. One of the single most important things you can do for a successful career is to have a partner who respects and believes that your profession is as important as his. “I think it’s great for kids to see that men can be the caretakers and be hands-on with household duties and that mommy can go to work. We have that in our home. My kids have this strong role model at home and they see that mom has a powerful career.... Technology has afforded us this flexibility that we wouldn’t have been able to have 20 years ago. “For me, it will be a utopia when women are running 50 percent of the corporations and government, and men are running 50 percent of the households.”

n Karen Wells, CEO of the business consulting firm The AIW Group and retired vice president of menu innovation and nutrition for McDonald’s USA: “You absolutely cannot have it all. I became an executive at McDonald’s when our children were young, and when I said ‘yes’ to being an executive, I knew that I was saying ‘no’ to being at home with the children. “A defining moment for me two years ago was when my daughter was crying as I was kissing her good night, she said she was talking to her friends at school about memorable moments with their moms and she couldn’t come up with any. Now that doesn’t mean we didn’t have great moments, but it was the dayto-day events I missed. I was never home to help with homework, or able to tell a story every night. Now I can go to the basketball and volleyball games. We sit down to eat as a family. And now that my children are teens and pre-teens, I could never have forecasted how much their needs have changed. The need for more dialogue at this age is so important, and there’s no doubt in my mind that I would have missed it had I stayed in my corporate job.... I work now, but on my own terms. Now I say ‘no’ to the corporate track and say ‘yes’ to family time. And I absolutely have not looked back, I don’t regret it at all.” n

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Read this before you take that second job THE holidays are coming, and you’d like to bring in a little more income. So how about taking a second job? Experts say the extra money is not the only factor you should consider. n Prioritize your day job. “You cannot make two things your No. 1 priority,” said business strategist Carol Roth, author of The Entrepreneur Equation. “The day job comes first. The last thing you want is to fall out of favor or get demoted because you can’t stay late or work on an extra project.” And experts say you should avoid choosing a second job that is too similar to your primary profession. “You want to be sure not to get a job with a competitor,” said Meade Kelley, the Chicago branch manager for staffing firm Robert Half International. “The employer you are currently with might be worried the other company could steal you. You don’t want to raise concerns.” Roth said full disclosure with your primary employer is always best. “You may find that your current employer offers to give you more projects or hours to bump up your income so you don’t have to go somewhere else because they don’t want to risk losing you,” Roth said. “It could be an opportunity to have a dialogue about other opportunities within your current job,” Kelley said. n Factor in the added costs. That includes child care, gas, parking and a uniform. “People see a wage and think that’s all going in their pocket, but they don’t take into account the hidden expenses that go along with it,” Roth said. “Make sure they pay off so you get enough

image incremental money into your pocket.” n Take care of yourself. “The holidays are busy as it is,” Kelley said. “If you have a full-time job and want to take on an additional job, you need to be sure you’re not overextending yourself.”Fatigue is not the only thing to consider. “You have to remember that your quality will sometimes decline with the quantity that you take on,” Roth said. “You need to set parameters because it’s not worth sacrificing your reputation or wellbeing for pocket cash.” n Remember the tax implications. “Many people don’t realize that if you bring in more money, it just might bump you into a higher tax bracket,” Roth said. Consult with your accountant first.

n Cast a wide net. While retail jobs seem like a no-brainer, Kelley said there are other options to consider. “This time of year we see a peak in requests for yearend accounting help,” he said. Other needs: receptionists, office assistants and file clerks. “Near the end of the year, corporations are looking to get organized and have all their paperwork and accounting in order.” n Consider your family. They need to be onboard with your plans. “More time at work means less time for personal life, family and overall socializing,” Roth said. “You may be doing this so you can get them an extra gift, but they may say, ‘Forget the gift, I’d rather spend more time with you.’”

Jen Weigel/ChiCago Tribune

BusinessMirror media partner

Kent Primor (left), market research and communications specialist of Nordic Business Council Philippines (NBCP); and Joona Selin, NBCP executive director, field questions from reporters and editors of the BusinessMirror and Philippines Graphic at the BM Coffee Club forum on Tuesday. The NBCP will start its regular BusinessMirror column next week. ROY DOMINGO

All set for Apec leaders’ meet in November

Karada Japan President pleased with success in PhL MeguMi KoMaKi, president of Karada Japan, was in town recently to visit the Philippine branches of Japan’s leading seitai body therapy salon. Karada is sought by many for its unique approach to health and wellness that integrates such ancient healing principles as chiropractic care and seitai. accompanied by Karada Philippines President William Stelton and assistant to the President Sidney Stelton, Komaki was pleased by how Karada has been embraced by many Filipinos, noting the steady stream of customers coming seeking relief and healing. “i am very happy to know that Karada has been doing exceptionally well in the Philippines. in Japan, Karada is very popular for its natural healing benefits and restoring the body’s inner balance. Filipinos are like Japanese in that they also give great importance to wellness and quality of life, which is why we are grateful for this opportunity...to share what we know and help others live optimally,” Komaki said. Karada Japanese Body Therapy Centers (goo.gl/ qDHANO) are staffed by therapists who have undergone extensive training by a Japanese trainer certified by Karada Japan. These therapists perform various treatments that focus on proper body alignment and improved muscle function. one such popular treatment is the patented aP Balance, a Karada signature which works by realigning the atlas (the first cervical bone), and the pelvis, which is the base of the body. This treatment restores balance, improves posture and enhances one’s mobility. With the success of Karada in the Philippines, plans are already under way to open more branches not only in Metro Manila but also in key destinations in the country such as Boracay. Karada’s new branch at eight Forbes Town Branch in Bonifacio global City was opened in September. “a lot of our clients have been asking if there’s a Karada near their place. and so, one way of bringing our services to more people is through expansion. We’ve carefully chosen key locations where we will put up our branches, making sure that these are easily accessible and very convenient,” William Stelton noted.

Continued on A8

Casting about with Chromecast ND so were we greeted when we checked our Instagram account recently, the post belonging to @soulwarden, also known as Gianna Maniego, one of the marvelous people we follow in the social-media landscape, and also former newspaper editor, budding entrepreneur and a cherished contributing writer in this part of the paper. As a gadget junkie, we were instantly jealous of her new toy, which belongs to a line of devices developed by Google that allows audio/video content to be played on a high-definition television or home audio system from one’s smartphone, tablet or laptop via a WiFi connection. This process has been dubbed “casting” (obviously from “broadcasting”), and the tech giant unveiled the first Chromecast device in 2013—a dongle that was attached to the HDMI port of a TV for the joys of casting to quickly commence. This simplification of streaming technology easily won widespread acclaim from the global tech media. Since its unveiling, Google’s Chromecast device has found its way into homes around these parts, with consumers buying the device either during a trip to Hong Kong or the US, or in the robust gray market in Greenhills. Now, if you have been itching to get your mitts on this streaming wonder but are iffy about the obvious risk in going gray, as we have been, you will be pleased to know that Globe Telecom, the country’s top mobile brand and a purveyor of the Filipino digital lifestyle, is bringing Chromecast to the Philippines to offer Filipinos a new way to stream their favorite entertainment content at home. With Globe making Chromecast available to subscribers, customers can now cast their smartphone, tablet, or laptop to a bigger screen for a better and more inclusive viewing experience. The device can also be

Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo said inflation could already have bottomed out and that a trend reversal may be expected in the fourth quarter. The 0.4-percent inflation report was within forecast for September, ranging from 0.2 percent to 1 percent. This also represented a further decline from the 0.6-percent inflation reported in August and the seventh such reduction in a series. “Based on our latest forecasts, we should see inflation bottoming out on account of the impact of El Niño

By Catherine N. Pillas

PATRICK DEWITT’S ‘UNDERMAJORDOMO MINOR’ WINKS AT FAIRY-TALE CONVENTIONS »D2

BusinessMirror

This helped strengthen the neutral monetary-policy stance of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), one of whose most senior officials effectively ruled out on Tuesday any more interest-rate adjustments when the seven-man policy-making Monetary Board meets again to set the rate at which they borrow from or lend to bank five weeks from today. In reaction to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) announcement that September inflation fell still lower in September, BSP Deputy Governor for the Monetary Stability

leader of the House of Representatives said the government has made the necessary preparations to accommodate some 7,000 visitors who are expected to flock to the Philippines during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) L eaders’ Meet i ng i n M a n i l a next month. Vice Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations and Liberal Party Rep. Dakila Carlo E. Cua of Quirino, who defended the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) P3.5billion budget for 2016, said the

PESO exchange rates n US 46.5800

agency made the assurance that the Philippines is ready for the Apec meet on November 18 and 19. Cua made the pronouncement in response to the query of Partylist Rep. Jonathan A. de la Cruz of Abakada during the DOT budget deliberations in the plenary.  “Such event will have approximately 7,000 visitors,” Cua said.  With such huge number of visitors coming, de la Cruz asked DOT officials if the government is ready to accommodate all 7,000 Apec guests arriving next month. “Are there enough rooms that meet international standards for the 7,000 expected visitors?”

Citing Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr., Cua said there had been 28 Apec conferences held in the country so far, and each event had an average of 500 participants. Earlier, the Palace declared November 18 and 19 as special nonworking days in the National Capital Region for the Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting, which will be attended by 21 world leaders. Apec is a regional economic forum established to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia Pacific.  Meanwhile, de la Cruz urged the DOT to conduct a feasibility study on the country hosting world pool

events in the country and other sports events on a regular basis to attract more tourists to come to the Philippines.  He said the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) is in the best position to undertake such activities.  On the other hand, Cua said Jimenez had asked the TPB to conduct a feasibility study on the matter.  Meanwhile, of the P3.588billion proposed DOT budget for 2016, P2.746 billion shall go to maintenance and other operating expenses, P465.1 million to capital outlays, P374.7 million to personnel services and P1.5 million to financial expenses.

PHL right at the door of US-led TPP–DTI DOMINGO: “We’re waiting for it to open, and as soon as it opens, we’ll start discussions.”

he Philippines remains interested in joining the megatrade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), when it opens up to new members, outgoing Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said. “As far as the TPP is concerned, there was an announcement of an agreement of talks last night, but that will take some time to conclude, because each of those countries has to go through each of their processes of approval. So the TPP will still take time. But the Philippines has indicated very clearly that we want to join the TPP,” Domingo said at the Board of Investments’ 48th Anniversary held on Tuesday. While Domingo clarified that the accession protocol for new members is still far from being fleshed out by TPP members, the Philippines is “right at the door” of the TPP. “We’re waiting for it to open, and as soon as it opens, we’ll start discussions,” the trade secretary added. As a way of preparing for the possible entry, the Philippines already had technical consultations with six of the 12 TPP members, including the United States. The Philippines has so far held technical consultations with Malaysia, Australia, the US, New Zealand, Mexico and Canada. The Philippines has also expressed interest in forging free-trade agreements with Canada, Peru and Chile—seen as “building blocks” toward the TPP. The TPP trade pact has remained a highly secretive deal, with the text only known to negotiating members. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to push through structural changes to recharge Japan’s economy got a boost after negotiators reached a deal on the TPP. The ambitious trade deal, if ratified by lawmakers in the 12 member-nations, gives Abe more ammunition to fight opposition in the agriculture sector while widening Japan’s market for exports of cars and auto parts. Attracting overseas investment, and expanding exports through structural shifts and deregulation are key to Continued on A8

n japan 0.3868 n UK 70.5408 n HK 6.0103 n CHINA 7.3198 n singapore 32.8097 n australia 33.0167 n EU 52.0951 n SAUDI arabia 12.4247 Source: BSP (6 October 2015)

BMReports

A2 Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Sans stiffer penalties vs illegal fishing, PHL could lose sardines, ‘bagoong’. . . Continued from A1

instrumental in bringing to the local consciousness the need to regulate the country’s fish stock, which is closely tied to the global marine stock as fish distribution—from spawning to maturity—does not follow the geographical borders of land above, according to Arsenio Tanchuling, executive director of non-governmental organization (NGO) Tambuyog Inc. Tanchuling said that it started in 1995, when the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published its Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

According to a FAO document, the widespread introduction in the mid-1970s of exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and the adoption in 1982, after long deliberations, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) provided a new framework for the better management of marine resources. The new legal regime of the ocean gave coastal states, which include the Philippines and Indonesia, rights and responsibilities for the management and use of fishery resources within their EEZs, which embrace some 90 percent of the world’s

marine fisheries. In its document, the UN body said that in recent years, world fisheries have become market-driven, dynamically developing sector of the food industry and coastal states have striven to take advantage of their new opportunities by investing in modern fishing fleets and processing factories in response to growing international demand for fish and fishery products. By the late 1980s it became clear, however, that fisheries resources could no longer sustain such rapid and often uncontrolled

exploitation and development, and that new approaches to fisheries management embracing conservation and environmental considerations were urgently needed. The situation was aggravated by the realization that unregulated fisheries on the high seas, in some cases involving straddling and highly migratory fish species, which occur within and outside EEZs, were becoming a matter of increasing concern. The Committee on Fisheries, at its 19th Session in March 1991, called for the development of new concepts which would lead to responsible, sustained fisheries. Subsequently, the International Conference on Responsible Fishing, held in 1992 in Cancun (Mexico), further requested the FAO to prepare an international Code of Conduct to address these concerns. Later, the UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks was convened, to which the FAO provided important technical backup. In November 1993 the Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas was adopted. Adopting the code is voluntary. However, certain parts of it are based on relevant rules of international law, including those reflected in the Unclos. The Code also contains provisions that may be or have already been given binding effect by means of other obligatory legal instruments among the parties, such as the 1993 Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas. Three years after the Code was endorsed by the FAO, the Philippines enacted Republic Act (RA) 8550, or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998. In 2001 the UN-FAO came up

BusinessMirror

with the International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU). The IPOAIUU is a voluntary instrument that applies to all states and entities and to all fishers. Following the IPOA’s introduction, the nature and scope of IUU fishing was addressed. Several measures focus on all state responsibilities, flag state responsibilities, coastal state measures, port state measures, internationally agreed market-related measures, research and regional fisheries management organizations. Special requirements of developing countries are then considered, followed by reporting requirements and the role of the FAO. Seven years after, in 2008, the FAO, through Council Regulation 1005, established a community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending earlier regulations. It noted that IUU depletes fish stocks, destroys marine habitats, distorts competition, puts honest fishers at an unfair disadvantage and weakens coastal communities, particularly in developing countries. Under the new regulation, loopholes that allow illegal operators to profit from their activities were closed. The measure entered into force in January 2010, with the FAO directly working with all stakeholders to ensure coherent application of the IUU regulation. Only marine fisheries products validated as legal by the competent flag state or exporting state can be imported to or exported from the EU, for example. Tanchuling told the BusinessMirror that this development was very important, because the Philippines is exporting to Europe a huge amount of marine products, particularly fish. The pressure from the European market for sustainable

fishing was largely instrumental in pushing the local fish industry against IUU fishing practices. An IUU fishing vessel list is issued regularly, based on those identified by Regional Fisheries Management Organizations. The IUU fishing regulation also offers the possibility to blacklist states that turn a blind eye on illegal-fishing activities. EU operators who fish illegally anywhere in the world, under any flag, face substantial penalties proportionate to the economic value of their catch, which deprive them of any profit. In 2013, under Executive Order 154, the Philippines adopted a national plan of action to prevent, deter, and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and for other purposes. Tanchuling also said that with the passage of the amended fisheries law, or RA 10654, he is still not sure if the basic economic relationship between shipowners or operators, fish workers and ship captain was resolved. “For example, in a typical commercial fishing operation, the total expenses for the single operation, which is usually 50 percent of the total gross, is automatically deducted. The remaining 50 percent will be divided with one part going to the fishworkers, one part to the captain, another to the owner or operator, and a separate one part allocated for the ship and equipment used,” Tanchuling said. Should there be “ loses, or po-tential catch unrealized because of typhoons and subsequent governing warnings against fishing from previous ventures into the sea, all of it will be will be deducted as cost of the operation, which is not difficult to understand why the fishworkers are no better off than their more independent artisan or small fisherman counterparts,” he added.

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The Nation BusinessMirror

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Wednesday, October 7, 2015 A3

Mercado files plunder case against Binay, BSP officials

By Recto L. Mercene & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

ORMER Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado on Tuesday filed before the Ombudsman a plunder complaint against Vice President Jejomar C. Binay and 16 members of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines-National Executive Board (BSP-NEB) in connection with the allegedly questionable deal between the BSP and Alphaland Development Inc.

This, as the camp of Binay said that if anyone was to be charged over the land deal between the BSP and Alphaland, it should be Mercado himself. “If anyone should be charged, it should be former [Makati] Vice Mayor Mercado. It is clear that he was the one who arranged the [transaction] documents and asked for bribes from Alphaland, according to the latter’s official, Mario Oreta,” lawyer Rico Quicho, the Vice President’s Spokesman for political affairs, said. In an 11-page complaint, Mercado accused Binay and 16 members of the BSP-NEB of violation of Republic Act 7080, or the antiplunder law. The complaint is the fifth plunder complaint against Binay. Mercado said the respondents acted in conspiracy in order to enter into questionable sale agreement of BSP’s 1-hectare Malugay property in Makati with Alphaland. In 1976 BF Goodrich Philippines donated the 1 hectare lot to the BSP. “There are two proofs which incontrovertibly established that BSP and Ampi [Alphaland Makati Place Inc.] had entered into a sweetheart deal in furtherance of which BSP’s interest was nailed at P600 million, well below its market value: a) the mortgage of Malugay property for P1.7 billion and b) the Senate testimony of Ampi President Mario Oreta and BSP’s 15-percent share in the joint venture is already valued at P3 billion,” the complaint said. “In 2011 the respondents, as members of the BSP-NEB, approved the sale of its interest in the Malugay property to Alphaland for only a measly sum of P600 million,” Mercado added. The BSP officials charged with Binay include Senior Vice President Wendell E. Avisado, Vice President for Luzon Del R. de Guzman, Vice President for the Visayas Arturo V. Umbac, Vice President for Mindanao Miguel J. de Jesus, National Treasurer Enrique B. Lagdameo, Chief National Commissioner Pedro D. Destura, International Commissioner Dale B. Corvera, Secretary-General J. Rizal C. Pangilinan, National Program Commissioner Pepito M. Carpio, National Public Relations Commissioner Maximino J. Edralin Jr., Assistant National Treasurer Jose Eduardo C. Delgado, Deputy

Young Zamora breaks away from Estradas

an Juan City will be free from the shackles of corruption and control of the Estrada-Ejercito family” after 46 years. Thus said San Juan City Vice Mayor Francis Zamora, when he announced his mayoral bid in 2016 elections at San Juan Gymnasium on Tuesday. “Simula sa araw na ito malaya na ang San Juan sa isang pamilya na pilit tayong sinasakal,” Zamora said, as he urged some 1,000 supporters to also “stand and fight” now that they have an alternative local candidates who stood first to fight the Estrada family, including his father Partido Magdiwang Rep. Ronaldo Zamora of San Juan, who is seeking another term. Zamora will facing anew the cousin of Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Janella Ejercito. Zamora, 37, also challenged Mayor Guia Gomez to face him in a public debate. If given a chance to serve as mayor, Zamora said that his top priority will be education, health and investment, among others. He assured that the progress of the city will also be felt by the people in the grassroots. When sought for comment, Gomez urged Zamora to prove his claim, noting that he has been part of the administration when she started as mayor. She also declined the challenge of Zamora for a public debate, saying, “It’s not my cup of tea.” Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Marikina City hosts engineering summit

OASTING to be the second Singapore, Marikina City was chosen to host the Civil Engineering Summit 2015 and 12th National Capital Region Technical Conference on October 8 and 9. The summit will be held at the Marikina Convention Center. With the theme “Vision for the Future of Filipino Civil Engineers,” the summit will gather experts, academicians, technology providers, businessmen, practitioners, policy- and decision-makers under one roof. Former President Fidel V. Ramos, a civil engineer, will be the guest of honor and speaker. Ernesto S. de Castro, convener and Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) director for research and development, said the summit will prepare the civil engineers of today to meet the challenges of the future in the delivery of services worldwide, and perform critical role in economic development through design and construction. The summit was jointly organized by the PICE Research and Development Office and NCR PICE chapters, hosted by PICE East Metro Manila Chapter, headed by Gilbert B. Magbutay. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Chief National Commissioner for Luzon Romulo V. Brillantes, Deputy Chief National Commissioner for Visayas Remedios L. Petilla, Deputy Chief National Commissioner for Mindanao Henry C. Dy, National Executive Board Member Jose Maria C. Gastardo and National Executive Board Member Emeritus Roberto M. Pagdanganan. Quicho also said that it has been established in the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee hear-

ings that Mercado asked for personal benefit from Alphaland, and that the officers of the BSP and Alphaland have categorically denied Binay’s participation in the said transaction. Quicho said that, like all the other allegations against the Vice President, the newest complaint has no basis and will be immediately shot down in a fair trial. He added, however, that given the way the

Ombudsman has acted on the allegations against Binay, the Vice President is not expecting any fair treatment. “In a fair hearing, these allegations, like the previous ones, would be dismissed but the Ombudsman is part of the conspiracy to attack the Vice President and deprive the people of the opportunity to experince his brand of pro-poor and competent leadership,” Quicho added.

Economy

A4 Wednesday, October 7, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

AboitizPower sets sights on Vietnam, Myanmar as electricity glut hits PHL

boitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower) will build plants in Indonesia and scout for ventures in Vietnam and Myanmar, as the Philippines’s second-largest electricity producer expands in Southeast Asia while expecting an oversupply at home. The company would spend an estimated $4.5 billion to add 1,600 megawatts (MW) of capacity and help meet its target of a 4,000- MW portfolio in its home country by 2020, Chief Executive Officer Erramon I. Aboitiz said. It may invest $500 million in equity for projects in Southeast Asia in five years, he said. “We want to stay close to home,” Aboitiz said in an interview in his office in Taguig City on Monday. Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar are “the countries that pose the best opportunity for us. We’ve chosen Asean because we can add value in these places.” From trading abaca more than a century ago to expanding into shipping, banking and power, Aboitiz joins other Philippine companies like Ayala Corp., Universal Robina Corp. and Emperador Inc. in pursu-

ing regional ambitions as their home markets become small. “Project returns in the Philippines may not be as attractive, so they go outside for better returns,” George Ching, a utilities analyst at COL Financial Group Inc., said by phone. “Myanmar and Vietnam are similar to the Philippines. These economies are in need of infrastructure and power projects, and these markets are also almost similar in size.”

Electricity demand

Demand for electricity in the Philippines rose 42 percent in the 10 years to 2013, almost three times as much as the 15-percent growth in generating capacity. Tight supply and the resulting periodic outages prompted San Miguel Corp. and Ayala Corp. to invest in power. Even Manila Electric Co., the

country’s largest power retailer, has started to build plants after being out of the generation business after leaving the sector more than 40 years ago. “If you look at the current plans of people, and say that all of the plants that people say are going to build will be built, then I think there is going to be an oversupply,” Aboitiz said. A glut may happen in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao as early as 2018 and by 2020 in the main Luzon island, he added. Power is “like many other businesses where the growth or expansion will always be lumpy,” Aboitiz said. “There might be times that there’s going to be oversupply, then the market will continue to grow, and then you catch up. I am not too concerned. We’re building as scheduled.” AboitizPower joined PT Energi Infranusantara in a study to explore and develop a potential 127-MW hydropower project in Central Sulawesi in Indonesia, and agreed to explore and develop a geothermal plant in East Java with a partner, the company said in separate statements in September. Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., the holding company of a range of family businesses that include banking and food, is bidding for airports, rails and roads, as the Philippines seeks to boost

infrastructure spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product by 2016.

Investment plans

The group is on track with plans to invest P60 billion, or $1.2 billion, this year, with almost 90 percent of the amount allotted for its power unit, he said. AboitizPower’s profit fell 23 percent in the second quarter to P3.7 billion, dragging its parent’s profit 19 percent lower. Its acquisition of Lafarge SA’s assets in the Southeast Asian nation is part of the foray into infrastructure, Aboitiz said, expecting cement demand to increase between 7 percent and 8 percent annually in the next 10 years. Aboitiz in July said it’s investing P24 billion in the transaction done with CRH Plc. Cement sales rose 12.5 percent to 6.21 million tons in the second quarter, accelerating from a 9.6-percent increase in the first three months of the year, the Philippine Star reported in July, citing an industry group. “If infrastructure continues to develop, if the housing market continues to go the way it is today, we feel the requirement for cement is going to be quite good,” Aboitiz said. “We definitely will need to increase the capacity of our cement plants.” Bloomberg News

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SC to Palace: Defend ‘pork’ allocations in 2015 GAA

By Joel R. San Juan

HE Supreme Court (SC) directed the Palace and Congress to answer the petition filed by the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) and several others seeking to scrap several provisions in the 2015 General Appropriations Act (GAA) that resurrected the illegal pork-barrel fund through lump-sum appropriations. The order was issued on Tuesday during the Court’s regular en banc session attended by eight associate justices. Associate Justice Arturo Brion presided over the deliberations. Aside from the Palace and Congress, also ordered to comment within 10 days on the petition was the Commission on Audit (COA). Only eight justices of the SC participated in the en banc sessions since seven of the justices were on leave, including the four most senior justices namely, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. Aranal-Sereno, Justices Antonio T. Carpio, Presbitero J. Velasco Jr. and Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro. The Court did not act on the prayer of Philconsa to issue a temporary restraining order enjoining the Executive branch from further implementing Sections 65, 70 and 73 of the 2015 GAA and special provisions for special purpose funds. The petitioners are led by Philconsa President and Leyte First District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. Romualdez was joined by former Sen. Francisco Tatad, former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, former National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and Catholic Archbishops Ramon Arguelles, Fernando Capalla and Romulo de la Cruz in filing the petition. They also asked the Court to order

the COA to issue notice of disallowance to all disbursements and releases from the assailed GAA provisions. The petitioners also said show-cause order should be issued against Congress and Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad for “flagrant disobedience, resistance and disregard of the decisions of the Supreme Court in the [Priority Development Assistance Fund and Disbursemen Acceleration Program cases].” Section 65 of the GAA provides for lumpsum appropriations, while Section 70 defines savings as portions or balances of any unreleased appropriations in the GAA that were not obligated. Section 73, on the other hand, contains rules in the realignment of allotment classes and reprioritization of items of appropriations. Philconsa asked the HighCourt to declare all three provisions as unconstitutional. Petitioners said that an examination of the 2015 budget showed “scandalous and unconscionable freight” of lump-sum appropriations amounting to P424,144,763,000 “cleverly embedded” in nine strategic departments and two agencies of the executive department, which the group said were “highly vulnerable to the whirligig of transactional, rent-seeking and patronage politics.” “This case is the golden and historic occasion for the Supreme Court to establish an impregnable wall to block the genre of conscienceless politicians and politics to politicize, pollute and desecrate the Constitution in the preparation and implementation of the GAA,” read the petition. The name of respondents were Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Abad, Congress and the COA.

FVR lauds Subic’s tourism, job generation programs

briefs

By Henry Empeño

p850-m fund allotted for 3,201 phd, ms scholars The government has set aside some P850 million next year to finance the studies of 3,201 scholars taking up masteral and doctoral degrees in science, engineering and mathematics under the scholarship program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). This will allow 2,407 Masters in Science (MS) and 794 Doctor in Philosophy (PhD) students to pursue higher studies. “These MS and PhD graduates in science form the bedrock of our development. If we want to grow, this is one urgently needed human capital we must develop,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto said. “India and China are churning out science and engineering graduates by the hundreds of thousands. They form the tip of the spear of their competitiveness,” he said. In addition, the DOST will also be spending P1.33 billion for the tuition, monthly stipend and other allowances of 16,557 students enrolled in sciencerelated undergraduate courses. Recto said the DOST’s scholarship program also supports 6,493 students in 14 Philippine Science High School (PSHS) campuses. The budget of the PSHS system will increase from P1.08 billion this year to P1.91 billion next year, Recto said. “We’re increasing the budget of PSHS by almost a billion pesos.” Of PSHS’s 2016 budget, P254 million is earmarked for the monthly stipend, uniform, transportation allowances of PSHS scholars, Recto explained. Recto chairs the Senate finance subcommittee hearing the DOST’s proposed P17.9 billion for 2016. Recto Mercene

binay presidency to push for teachers’ salary hike

The camp of Vice President Jejomar C. Binay has laid out plans to improve teachers’ welfare, including a raise in basic salary. “The Vice President will ask the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council, which he plans to convene immediately under his presidency, to include bills increasing teachers’ salaries and benefits among other priorities,” Joey Salgado, media affairs head for the Office of the Vice President, said. “We are looking at adjusting the salary of a Teacher 1 from the salary Grade 11 [P18,549] to at least salary Grade 19 [P33,859],” he added. He noted that low compensation forces many educators to leave their profession and the country for jobs abroad. Teachers last received a salary increase in 2012. “Binay intends to provide teachers increased instructional materials allowance, study grants for their children, tax exemptions for additional benefits given to them and funeral assistance through discounts in burial services,” Salgado added. The Vice President also plans to give public-school teachers study leaves with pay every so many years, to enable them to upgrade their knowledge and teaching skills. Implementing these plans entails a huge budget that’s why Vice President Binay would push for a 20-percent increase in the share of the education budget. “Several bills on education are now filed in the Senate, including Sen. Nancy Binay’s Public School Teachers’ Incentives Act of 2013,” Salgado said. Recto Mercene

Correspondent

UBIC BAY FR EEPORT— Former President Fidel V. Ramos has praised the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) for effectively promoting local tourism and providing jobs to thousands of residents in Central Luzon. Ramos, who has been credited for placing Subic on the tourism map when he successfully brought the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to the free port during his presidency in 1996, arrived here for the Global Youth Forum 2015 on Thursday at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center. “Tourism is a business where people make profit and create jobs,” Ramos told over 700 forum participants, which included students and teachers from various colleges and universities, as well as representatives from tourism-related businesses and organizations from as far as South Cotabato and Zamboanga City. Ramos said Subic’s role in attracting visitors from all over the country and abroad has helped the Philippine tourism industry in providing jobs to millions of Filipinos. T he for mer president a lso pointed out that tourism is now one of the world’s biggest industries and that by the year 2020, there will be about 1.6 billion people traveling around the world and spending about $2 trillion. He also told forum participants that despite the high prices of commodities, people can be thankful that there are government agencies like the SBMA and the Department of Tourism (DOT) that provide people with means of livelihood. Meanwhile, Tourism Undersecretary Benito C. Bengson Jr., who was also with Ramos for the occasion,

Former President Fidel V. Ramos, along with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman Roberto Garcia, views some pictures taken during his visits to the Subic Bay Freeport during his presidency. Henry Empeño

said the tourism industry is the largest income generator in the country today—with about P275 billion last year in terms of income—by providing one tourism-related job for every 10 Filipinos. Bengson then urged everyone to continue supporting the tourism industry by helping promote local tourism attractions on their network accounts like Facebook and Instagram. “If one will post on Facebook or Instagram the beautiful places they visited, he or she will actually be promoting the places with 10 of his or her friends, who then will share the same to their friends and so on,” he said.

After the forum, Ramos took time to visit SBMA offices, where he was briefed by SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia on the economic developments in the Subic Bay Freeport. The Global Youth Forum 2015 was organized by the International School of Sustainable Tourism, DOT, Tourism Promotions Board of the Philippines and Agrea Agricultural System Intl. Inc. to create awareness among the youth of the many opportunities in the tourism industry, to highlight lessons learned from successful tourism ventures, and expose government workers to best practices and success stories.

The three-day activity featured discussions on topics like “The Country’s Future-Getting Youth into Tourism Jobs”; “Sowers of ChangeEducation”; “Creating Opportunities for Dialogue and Encounter-Social Media and IT”; “Economic Development in the Countryside versus Environmental Concerns”; and “Global Market for Local Talents- Asean Youth on the Move.” The speakers included Efren Peñaflorida, the CNN Hero and founder of Kariton Foundation; Pocholo Gonzales, author and public speaker on youth culture, media and technology; and Durrie Hassan, executive director of Carlton Mansfield Ltd., Malaysia.

South Cotabato provincial board OKs ₧2.49-B investment program for 2016

ENERAL SANTOS CITY—The South Cotabato provincial board has approved an investment of around P2.49 billion for the local government’s priority programs and projects next year. Board member Vicente de Jesus, chairman of the board’s committee on finance and appropriation, said on Tuesday such funding comprises the provincial government’s Annual Investment Program (AIP) for 2016.

He said the AIP, which was crafted by the executive department, was earlier endorsed to the board by the Provincial Development Council (PDC), which is the province’s highest development policy-making body. The PDC, which is chaired by South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes, is composed of the province’s mayors, provincial officials and representatives of non-governmental and people’s organizations.

The AIP, as defined in the guidelines on provincial/local planning and expenditure management and the budget operations manual for local government units (LGUs), is the annual slice of the local investment development program of the LGUs. It constitutes the total resource requirements of the LGU consisting of the annual capital expenditures, which as well as the regular operating expenditures, which will serve as basis for the preparation of the annual budget

and supplemental appropriations. “The AIP is the main basis of our budget for next year. It covers the provincial government’s operations, delivery of regular and continuing services, and proposed public investment programs and projects,” de Jesus said. The official said the approved AIP is a component of six-year Provincial Investment Program for 2014 to 2019. He said it focuses on five development sectors that comprise social; administration;

economic; technical infrastructure; environment management and disaster risk reduction/climate change adaptation (DRR/CCA). The social-development sector received the biggest allocation with P1.1 billion, followed by development administration with P640 million, technical infrastructure with P562.52 million, environment management and DRR/CCA with P175 million, and economic development with P118.7 million.

Around P5.13 million was set aside as assistance to national government agencies based in the province. De Jesus said among the major projects lined up under the 2016 AIP is the rehabilitation of the provincial in Koronadal City. He said the local government will specifically commission a private architectural firm to come up with a design for a new building of the provincial hospital that has a proposed development cost of around P200 million. PNA

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M.I.C.P. earned P331.89M from auction of smuggled goods from Jan. to Sep.

DOE to Meralco: No extension of Oct. 27 deadline on issuance of CSP guidelines

By Joel R. San Juan

Countdown to Christmas Personnel of the Department of Tourism (DOT) on Monday try the hot and cold chili ice cream created by the

1st Colonial Grill restaurant along Rizal Avenue in the Old Albay district of Legazpi City. The ice cream, among other products from the Southern Tagalog region, was featured at the DOT’s “Countdown to Christmas” celebration, which opens its doors for the public to revel in and avail themselves of the best tourism products and services from the Philippines’s 16 regions in time for the Christmas season. PNA

House leaders ask Aquino to certify 2016 budget bill as urgent By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

ouse leaders asked President Aquino on Tuesday to certify the 2016 proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) as urgent, after lawmakers failed to muster the quorum to approve the budget bill. At a news conference, Majority Leader and Liberal Party Rep. Neptali M. Gonzales II of Mandaluyong City said that with an urgent certification from Mr. Aquino, lawmakers can approve the proposed 2016 P3.002trillion GAA, or House Bill 6132, on second and third reading before Congress goes on break on Friday. Gonzales pointed out that an urgent certification request is actually a strategy for the House members to immediately transmit to the Senate the proposed budget. “I requested a certification to make the budget bill an urgent measure because of the difficulty of passing it on third and final reading. We have an erratic schedule and November 3 [resumption of session] falls on [a] Tuesday. I don’t know if there are enough people [lawmakers], we will have difficulty to transmit that to the Senate,” Gonzales said. Both chambers of Congress will go

on a break starting October 10 to November 2 in consideration to the scheduled filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) from October 12 to 16 for the May 2016 elections. The majority leader, however, said that as of Tuesday, the House of Representatives was still awaiting the President’s certification. House Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte Jr. said that the leadership will approve the national budget on third and final reading this Friday if President Aquino certifies it as an urgent. “The second reading approval of the national budget is assured and we will try for third reading. Our colleagues are committed to pass the national budget before we adjourn this week and we will not remiss on our legislative duty,” Belmonte said. The proposed budget for 2016— which is 15.2 percent higher than the P2.606-trillion 2015 national budget—is the Aquino administration’s blueprint for greater inclusive growth and reform expansion in the country. Based on allocation by sector, social services will have the biggest budget allocation of P1.1059 trillion, which is 36.8 percent of the proposed budget. It covers education, health care, housing,

Ginez says LTFRB ready to face graft charges for allowing Grab, Uber to operate By Azer N. Parrocha Philippines News Agency

By Lenie Lectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) has thumbed down a proposal of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to extend the October 27 deadline for the DOE and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to issue the implementing guidelines (IG) for the competitive selection process (CSP), a policy that mandates all distribution utilities (DUs) to bid out their power requirements.

LINA: “The bureau is pleased with the strong interest from bidders and the favorable prices we are getting for the goods we auction. ”

HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) announced on Tuesday that the Manila International Container Port (MICP) has collected a total of P331.89 million in revenue from auctions of illegally imported goods for the period of January up to September. The BOC said 809 containers that can neither be sold through public bidding nor donated to the Department of Social Welfare and Development went through public auctions. For the month of September alone, the BOC said the MICP earned a total of P112.13 million from the public auctions of nine 20-foot and 21 40foot container vans of seized goods. MICP-Auction and Cargo Disposal Division (ACDD) Chief Gerardo Macatangay said the district is making record collections from public auctions. He noted that annual revenue from auctions in 2010 was at P22.2 million, while in 2011 it increased to P58.7 million and went down to P16.4 million in 2012. The year after, proceeds slightly increased to P25.4 million. “When I was appointed in 2014, MICP public-auction sales revenues shot up at P580.2 million. From 2014 to date, our division has contributed a phenomenal P912 million. We’re not even done with 2015 yet, but we’re already at P331.89 million,” he said. The MICP-ACDD is set to hold a public auction sale of 124 containers of imported sugar. “We are expecting more than P160 million representing proceeds from these auction sale,” Macatangay added. “The bureau is pleased with the strong interest from bidders and the favorable prices we are getting for the goods we auction. We intend to expedite the disposition of forfeited goods to rev up revenues, free up the much-needed space at the ports and contribute to the decongestion drive being undertaken by the Aquino administration,” Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina said. The bureau is yet to receive auction sales reports from other district collectors.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015 A5

he Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Tuesday said it is prepared to face findings of the Office of the Ombudsman into alleged graft and corruption charges of the Board for allowing the operations of app-based ride-sharing services Grab and Uber without fixing fare rates. In an interview with reporters, LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez said he will not comment on the issue until the Board receives the final copy of the filed complaint. “I cannot make a categorical comment about it [yet],” Ginez said, noting that he was aware of the case filed against him and LTFRB board member Ronaldo Corpus. “Once we receive a copy of the complaint, then we will file our answer,” he added. “We are going to defend all these cases that are being filed against the agency.” The complaint was earlier filed by transport group Alliance of Concerned Transport

Organization President Efren de Luna. In a seven-page rap, de Luna charged that the Board violated the Public Service Act which requires the Board to propose fare rates for public-utility vehicles before being allowed to operate. He also pointed out that Grab and Uber could take advantage of passengers by charging them excessive fares. Grab and Uber are both transport network companies whose partner vehicles operate as Transportation Network Vehicle Services (TNVS) under the new transport categories implemented on May. Vehicles under the TNVS category are required to install global positioning system devices screens. Its drivers are, meanwhile, required to issue e-receipts and secure passenger insurances under LTFRB. Also under the TNVS category, vehicles should not be older than seven years. Only sedans, Asian- utility vehicles, sportsutility vehicles, vans, or similar vehicles will be allowed.

and social welfare and employment. Economic services took the secondlargest budget allocation with P829.6 billion, which is 27.64 percent of the proposed budget. Transport and communications infrastructure will get the bulk of this budget. General Public Ser v ices w ill get P517.9 billion, debt burden P419.3 billion and interest payment P392.8 billion. Last, defense will get P129.1 billion. This allocation will fund the Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization in light of the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea. By department allocation, the top 10 departments are Department of Education, P435.9 billion; Department of Public Works and Highways, P394.5 billion; Department of National Defense, P172.7 billion; Department of the Interior and Local Government, P154.5 billion; Department of Health, P128.4 billion; Department of Social Welfare and Development, P104.2 billion; Department of Agriculture, P93.4 billion; Department of Finance, P55.3 billion; Department of Transportation and Communications, P49.3 billion; Department of Environment and Natural Resources, P25.8 billion; and Department of Science and Technology, P18.6 billion.

During Tuesday’s public consultation on the draft IG of DOE Circular 2015-06-008, “Mandating all DUs to undergo Competitive Selection Process in Securing Power Supply Agreement,” the agency is determined to come out with the rules governing the implementation of CSP three weeks from now. “We will take note of that, but there are other clarifications or defaults that we have to come out by which we can release by October 27,” Energy Undersecretary Mylene C. Capongcol said in response to the concern raised by Ronald Vallez, a Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) lawyer. Vallez told Capongcol and ERC Executive Director Francis Saturnino C. Juan that both government agencies need not rush the issuance of the IG, amid the alarming concerns raised by various stakeholders. “Perhaps, we can defer the October 27 deadline. I don’t see any urgency on why we have to rush this. There is nothing in the law to meet the October 27 deadline. Maybe we can address all issues first and have clear answers so it will be clear to everybody,” Vallez said. The ERC, Juan said, would issue supplemental guidelines other than the IG that will be released on October 27. “We took note of all comments and we are studying what can be issued by October 27, and what can be supplemented in the succeeding issuances of both DOE and ERC,” said Juan, while he stressed that the bidding would take place once all of the guidelines are issued. Meralco raised anew that the CSP should be implemented on a voluntary basis. Vallez assured that the rates Meralco are charging to its more than 5 million customers is the least cost available in the market today. “It is a big question where this will redound to benefits to consumers

because, right now, Meralco rates are proven to be the least cost to consumers,” he said. At one point during the public consultation, Meralco First Vice President Ivanna G. de la Peña challenged consumer groups to engage into a dialogue with her just to prove that securing power-supply agreements (PSAs) via bilateral agreement is the best and least cost that can be offered to its customers. Meralco rates, she pointed out, has been declining recently. “The results of the bilateral contracts have shown significant reduction in rates. So now there is a question that if we go with CSP with a third party that we do not know will this result in least cost? This is why we resist being forced into something that is yet unknown,” said de la Peña. Under the draft IG, a third party, which will be appointed by the ERC and the DOE, will conduct the bidding. The ERC said the third party shall compose a team of foreign and/or national experts with vast experience in open and competitive bidding as lead auction design advisor and auction manager in at least five separate successful auctions for power-supply contracts of electric utilities preferably in other countries that have implemented auctions, such as Chile and Brazil. T he t h i rd pa r t y mu st b e equipped with comprehensive knowledge of the legal and regulatory framework for the Philippine electric-power industry. Basically, the tasks of the third party are to develop the CSP design for the PSAs, develop bidders’ qualification criteria, draft and propose the CSP rules, develop and propose the PSA template, and manage the conduct of the CSP up to the award and execution of the PSAs.

briefs legazpi, albay hosts p.a.t.a. new TOURISM FRONTIERS FORUM IN OCT.

Legazpi, Albay will host the New Tourism Frontiers Forum 2015 of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata), the biggest travel organization in the world, from November 25 to 27. The Department of Tourism said in a news statement that Legazpi City is a fitting host city since it is a United Nations Global Model for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. Albay is ranked among the first-class provinces in the country and among the fastest-growing tourist destinations in 2013. Legazpi City also recently hosted the UNWTO-Asean International Conference on Tourism and Climate Change. Aside from being home to the perfectly cone-shaped Mayon Volcano, Legazpi City is also known as the “City of Fun and Adventure.” The forum will be led by Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr., who will deliver the opening address and speak on the “Successful Destination Marketing Campaign Trend” at the Oriental Hotel in Legazpi, Albay. Jimenez described the forum as “timely” and “relevant” as the department stepped up its marketing efforts for its destination-based campaign and its launch of Visit the Philippines Again 2016 next year. “Destination marketing is a daunting task as it involves selling an experience, both tangible and intangible. The Philippines prides itself of having a unique biodiversity, rich natural resources and wide variety of product offerings for tourists,” Jimenez said in a statement. PNA

SM OPENS FIRST LARGE-SCREEN CINEMA IN CABANATUAN CITY

SM Cinema will launch the first large-format cinema on Friday in Cabanatuan City—a giant digital screen almost 30 percent bigger than the regular theater’s screen size. Cabanatuan folks will be the first to experience SM Cinema’s very first large-format screen at the to-be-launched SM Cabanatuan. Branded as “SM Large Screen Cinema,” the super-sized screen stretches the limits of one’s peripheral vision to the maximum and gives the audience a larger-than-life experience. Capable of 3D movies on its high-resolution format, SM Large Screen Cinema uses a silver screen which ensures brighter and clearer images on display, and uses a superb sound system to deliver an immersive and unparalleled sound experience. A standard SM Large Screen Cinema setup has accommodations for 507 guests and seating patrons in a stadium-like setting much similar to an IMAX theatre. Also offering high-quality theaters, SM Cinema will be opening five fully digitized theaters in Cabanatuan City that promise to deliver the best possible movie-watching experience. SM Cinema Cabanatuan will have 294 well-appointed seats per theater, making certain that all patrons will enjoy the view from any seat they choose. As a standard in all SM Cinemas, the facility apportions an area dedicated to persons with disabilities to accommodate all varieties of guests. PNA

A6 Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Increasing exports superior to expanding domestic absorption

asic economic theory is neat and straightforward: when the rest-of-the-world (ROW) account collapses, expand domestic absorption. And vice versa. In practice, expanding domestic absorption to compensate for the loss in the ROW account is never successful. The ROW account is always more powerful in stimulating economic growth than the domestic accounts of consumption, government expenditures and investment. Japan seems to be the best illustrative example of this phenomenon. After yielding to United States pressure to revalue the yen—from ¥250 to ¥85, in the 1990s—in order to reduce its reliance on export markets for continuing industrial growth, Japan has remained in the economic doldrums, notwithstanding massive efforts to expand domestic absorption. China appears to be something else, but its end will be the same. China resisted US pressure to revalue the yuan and redirect development efforts to the domestic sectors for far too long until its external sector blew up, making it necessary for China to devalue the yuan and begrudgingly redirect its industrial policy to the development of its internal markets. Better late than never for China, but the road ahead will be rocky. That is why a recent statement coming from the Department of Trade and Industry forecasting that Philippine exports can increase to $100 billion per year in the next two or three years, plus a recent statement attributed to the president of the Philippine Exporters Association, Sergio Ortiz-Luis, that Philippine exporters are ready to respond to the challenge of global markets are worth all the support that we can give them. The recent statement from the diplomatic representative of the European Union in the Philippines encouraging us to take advantage of special preferences given to Philippine export products in the euro market should give reinforcement to our stand. This call to export expansion may sound odd to those overwhelmed by the image of a shrinking world economy incapable of absorbing exports. Wrong. Even if it appears dying, a diverse global system will always have stimulative impulses somewhere. The fact of the matter is that our exports are the lowest among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, except Lao PDR and Myanmar, on a per capita basis, as witness: Exports per capita, 2013 Singapore $76,448 Indonesia $734 Brunei 28,190 Cambodia 611 Malaysia 7,662 Philippines 543 Thailand 3,351 Lao PDR 390 Vietnam 1,479 Myanmar 185 Injecting a bit of realism to our self-congratulatory tendency will awaken us to the fact that raising our exports to $100 billion in three years will not even bring us to the level of Vietnam today. Let’s not take too much pride in outstripping Laos and Myanmar. These two countries rejoined the community of nations only recently. Exports remain the best way for sustaining the development of our economy, creating jobs for millions of our countrymen and countrywomen, and introducing stability to our society. Let’s energetically explore export markets to achieve the goals of prosperity for the Filipino people.

Protecting the pension fund for future generations Susie G. Bugante

All About Social Security

ast week was an interesting one when we witnessed the Senate leadership warn against the possible bankruptcy of the Social Security System (SSS) should the P2,000 across-the-board increase in pensions proposed by House Bill 5842 be passed into law. This is a welcome development for the SSS when key lawmakers expressed support for preserving the long-term viability of the pension fund amid calls for the SSS to implement an acrossthe-board pension hike of P2,000 without clear provisions on the source of immediate funding for such an increase. According to recent reports, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon and Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile both expressed concerns on the impact of the proposed P2,000 pension increase, which would shorten the SSS fund life to just 13 years from the present projection of until 2042 to only until 2029. It should be emphasized that the SSS is not opposed to measures that

will enhance monthly pensions and other benefits of members, as long as these would not compromise the SSS’s actuarial life. In fact, last year the SSS granted a 5-percent acrossthe-board increase in pensions, covering all its 1.9 million pensioners effective June 2014. Continuing reforms seek to enable the system to effect more pension increases without putting the SSS fund life at risk.

The state-run institution is wary of steep benefit increases that in the past had shrunk the SSS fund life from perpetuity status—pertaining to a fund life of at least 70 years—to as low as 16 years, as reflected in the 1999 SSS actuarial valuation. Over the years, the SSS is bringing its fund life back to perpetuity. International pension-fund standards dictate an ideal fund life of at least 70 years as a guarantee that workers paying social-security contributions today can look forward to benefits when they retire 30 or 40 years from now. While the Social Security Law provides that the government would step in should there be shortfalls in benefit payments, it would be unwise to drive the fund closer to the possibility through drastic benefit increases that may ultimately transfer the social-security burden to taxpayers. As succinctly put by Enrile, “The difference in the projected funds to projected benefits will increase from P1.6 trillion to P2.7 trillion, based on

Exploring a new services agenda Guillermo M. Luz

N the run-up to the Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting and the Apec CEO Summit in November, we have been working closely with the government in organizing a series of roundtables and dialogues between government officials and private-sector executives from across Apec. Since May, these meetings have been timed to run alongside the meetings of senior officials and ministers. One of these was a series of three forums on the importance of services as a contributor to the economy. At the Apec Business Advisory Council, we have looked at two new concepts which we think provide a fresh perspective on trade in services. The first is the “New Global Worker.” This explores the notion that work and, therefore, the worker are being redefined. This has broad implications on many things, including the education and training of future workers and where work even takes place. The second concept is “Earn, Learn and Return.” This explores circulatory movement of labor, where people move from place to place around the world, earning a living, learning new things, and returning home to apply their lessons and experience. There are at least three drivers for these new concepts. The first is demographics. There are differences between aging and younger populations across economies. Developed countries tend to have lower population-growth rates and older populations than developing countries. This can have a large effect on the availability of workers in some places. The second is technology. Technology is redefining what jobs and work are and

where it takes place. It is generating new requirements for skills and competencies. Even within a sector—say, manufacturing or power-plant operation or engineering—certain skills will no longer be in demand, while other skills will be created. The net effect is the creation of the new global worker. Third, in today’s global value chain, products are manufactured everywhere. Services are performed anywhere. Components are created in several locations, while assembly may take place in an entirely different location. The net effect is that there is a job/ skill mismatch globally and domestically across the world. Where these gaps exist, some of them can be addressed by services performed in different economies (e.g., the job moves to worker; outsourcing) or through labor mobility (e.g., the worker moves to the job). Given these three trends, we need to ask ourselves four important questions in our approach to mobility. How can we make mobility rewarding for more workers, and not just the highly skilled worker? How does mobility facilitate the growth plans of an aspiring global

business ? And how can worker mobility help both sending and receiving countries achieve their economic and social goals? Can freer movement of people lead to Inclusive growth globally ? The fact is, mobility is already happening. The Philippines is, of course, just one example. We have approximately 10 million overseas Filipinos stationed in over 100 countries, remitting over $20 billion a year to families here. But it’s not just countries sending people abroad. Companies are doing it, too. Global companies and multinationals are moving staff around for a number of reasons. They want to plug their own internal skills shortages. They also want to accelerate global thinking in their own company and build up their leadership pool internally. International assignments help build up those skills. Moreover, a growing number of companies, even small companies and start-ups, are attempting to go global. Workers themselves are looking for flexible international assignments. Instead of long-term asssignments, there are now short-term project assignments. Middle managers are now being sent overseas, not just senior executives. And don’t forget: millennials love to travel. What are the implications of mobility on the global economy and businesses?

current valuations. Evidently, 2029 is a decade away. But the very delicate question that we must consider is how do we responsibly address the needs of our present constituents while protecting the welfare [of] generations?” Clearly, there is a need to implement reforms that will make the SSS more responsive to the needs of its pensioners and members. Many of the reforms to strengthen the pension fund require congressional action. Hence, Congress should amend the SSS Charter to give the agency greater flexibility and ability to enhance benefits to members without jeopardizing its long-term viability. For more information about the SSS and its programs, call our 24-hour call center at (632) 920-6446 to 55, Monday to Friday, or send an e-mail to member_relations@sss.gov.ph. Susie G. Bugante is the vice president for public affairs and special events of the Social Security System. Send comments about this column to susiebugante.bmirror@gmail.com.

Aside from the obvious pressure it will place on education and training, there will be implications in other aspects. To what extent will qualifications and credentials need to be standardized and harmonized? This is an obvious area for the national governments seeking to protect domestic labor markets but industry sectors and multinational companies may already be putting in such standards for their workers. What impact will mobility have on compensation? Connected to that, while we need portability of skills, what about portability of benefits (e.g., health insurance, retirement, bonuses, etc.)? As people move around, will their benefits move around with them? For the Philippines, these are important questions to ask. With almost 10 percent of our population living abroad, an economy still dependent on overseas remittances, and a growing domestic services sector catering to international clients (e.g., business- and knowledgeprocess outsourcing), we need to embrace the concepts of the New Global Worker and Earn, Learn and Return. More important, we need to understand that mobility is a two-way street. We shouldn’t be asking for access to overseas services markets if we are not prepared to open up our own markets to foreign service providers and professionals. The trade-off for international access to markets is increased competition domestically. At the end of the day, maintaining barriers to services raises the cost of goods and services in a domestic economy. It makes sense to remove those barriers while going after other markets. Guillermo M. Luz (gm.luz@competitive.org.ph) is private-sector cochairman of the National Competitiveness Council and COO of the Apec 2015 CEO Summit.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

The bancassurance regulatory framework

3 who made a revolution Teddy Locsin Jr.

Atty. Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM Part two

Passage of Amended Insurance Code

ith the passage of the Amended Insurance Code (IC) and its effectivity on September 20, 2013, the term bancassurance was given a statutory definition for the first time. Section 375 defined bancassurance as “the presentation and sale to bank customers by an insurance company of its insurance products within the premises of the head office of such bank duly licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [BSP] or any of its branches under such rules and regulations which the Commissioner and the BSP may promulgate.”

Notably, under Section 377, bancassurance was placed under the joint supervision of the IC and the BSP. Section 375 also clarified that “a bank is not required to have equity ownership of the insurance company.” For the protection of consumers, “[p]ersonnel tasked to present and sell insurance products within the bank premises shall be duly licensed by the Commissioner.”

BSP Circular 844, dated August 11, 2014

AN amendment of the rules on crossselling was introduced by BSP Resolution 1207, dated August 1, 2014. Thus, amending the Manual of Regulations for Banks (MORB) and BSP Circular 801. BSP Circular 844, dated August 11, 2014, extended the coverage of “financial products” to include collective investment schemes. Under the amended subsection X172.2, “collective investment schemes [CIS] of financial product providers belonging to the same financial conglomerate may be cross-sold inside bank premises.” These CISs refer to: a) mutual funds registered with the Security Exchange Commission; b) unit investment trust funds as authorized by the BSP; and c) variable unitlinked (VUL) life-insurance policy as governed by the IC. Thus, for the first time, a regulatory framework on the sale of investment-linked or VUL insurance products in banks was issued. Under subsection X172.1, a financial conglomerate “refers to a group of interrelated entities providing significant services in at least two different financial sectors [banking, securities and insurance]. A banking group is subsumed within the context of a financial conglomerate.” “Unless otherwise provided, financial products should be created by a financial product provider belonging to the same financial conglomerate” [subsection X172.2]. The objective is to lessen exposure to investment risks. As provided under subsection X172.2, “[s]imple insurance products such as traditional life [whole life, term, endowment], nonlife [marine, fire, casualty, suretyship], and other similar protection-type insurance products, except variable insurance contracts, as governed by the Insurance Code are considered as simple retail financial products. These may be cross-sold inside bank premises regardless of whether the financial product provider belongs to the same financial conglomerate or not.” Subsection X172.6 added the new provision on cross-selling of CIS and its suitability to customers. In recognition of possible exposure to investment risks, “enhanced consumer protection standards” were deemed necessary. In pursuit of consumer protection, a number of measures were introduced as “minimum practices” by insurers. First, the potential client must be provided with a Product Highlight Sheet which summarizes the important features of the financial product. Second, the insurer should undertake a Client Suitability Assessment on the potential client. Third, the potential client should be given an Investment Policy Statement (IPS), which should reflect his investment directive. Fourth, the insurer should disclose all possible conflict of interest. Fifth, there should be a Standard Disclosure

Statement, which should advise the potential client of the risks involved. Under subsection X172.7, whenever applicable, the bank and the insurer (financial product provider) must belong to the same financial conglomerate. Under subsection X172.8, banks engaging in cross-selling must have a CAMELS composite rating of at least “3” or its equivalent and without major supervisory concerns.

Microinsurance products under the 2012 MORB

Section 2172 provided the framework for the sale of microinsurance products by thrift banks. Thrift banks were allowed to “sell microinsurance products as defined under the Insurance Commission’s Memorandum Circular 1-2010 dated January 29, 2010, provided that the microinsurance product is duly approved by the Insurance Commission.” Thrift banks “can also service [i.e., collect premiums and pay claims] microinsurance products as collection and payment agents pursuant to Section 53.3 of the General Banking Law” (BSP Circular 683, dated February 23, 2010). The provisions of Section 2172 shall also apply to rural banks and cooperative banks (Section 3172). Note that BSP Circular 682 (Rules and Regulations for Cooperative Banks), dated February 15, 2010, provided in Section 9: “Consistent with existing rules and regulations applicable to banks other than universal banks on limits on investments in the equities of financial allied undertakings under Section X, 378 of the MORB, a Cooperative Bank with existing investments in insurance companies, including insurance cooperatives shall not increase but may reduce and once reduced, shall not increase such equity holdings: Provided, that the entire equity holdings shall be divested within a period of five years from the effectivity of this circular.”

Circular Letter 2015-20

TO implement the new provisions on bancassurance, Circular Letter 201520, dated April 27, 2015, was issued by the Insurance commissioner. Notably, it was provided that the terms bancassurance and cross-selling can be used interchangeably. It also provided that variable life or VUL insurance contracts “shall not be deemed to be a security or securities as defined in The Securities Act or in the Investment Company Act.” While bank employees have been allowed to make “preliminary” presentations, they are “not allowed to conduct substantial presentation of insurance products, which involves discussion on the details and particularities of insurance products.” Moreover, “bank employees may not conclude any contract and must refer such conclusion to the insurance agent.” In furtherance of consumer protection, Section 5 of the circular also provides for an “enhanced consumer protection requirements for VULs.” Among the requirements would be the presentation of the Product Highlight Sheet and the IPS to the potential client, and the conduct of a Client Suitability Assessment to avoid mis-selling. Dennis B. Funa is currently the deputy insurance commissioner for Legal Services of the Insurance Commission. E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com

Free fire

dd this to the accolades the movie has gotten, Heneral Luna is a fucking masterpiece.” It is the miracle of what a low-budget movie can achieve with flawless acting and a brilliant script that shows Tagalog is not exhausted in the circular claptrap of our young politicians. Tagalog has a far wider range for poetry and rhetoric than anyone suspected listening to its misuse and abuse of late. That the battle scenes were on a small scale, within comparatively modest spaces, might be appropriate since our revolutionary battles never involved the vast numbers, staggering logistics and level of mechanization deployed in the Mexican revolution, where Pancho Villa used machine guns, howitzers, trains and at least a quarter of a million men and horses across the length and breadth of Mexico, thereby inviting the curiosity of German, Japanese, American and French military observers interested in what the next war will be like. The actor who played Luna gave an unfailingly credible performance

of volcanic temper, poetic sensibility, and a melancholy sense of invited doom as the hero rushes to the fate he is begging for at the hands of equally proud, equally pedigreed and equally feelingentitled notables. He doesn’t just step; puñeta, he stomps on their toes with his boots. But the movie should’ve hinted that Luna in Europe might have observed Prussian military maneuvers. They were all the rage after the Prussian victory over the French at Sedan in 1870. That might explain his generalship. Aguinaldo was portrayed with a hissing sibilant snakelike coldness, that yet leaves room for the interpretation that, after all, Aguinaldo was right like Stalin to eliminate Luna the way Leon Trotsky was done

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

as he was sinister), was initiated by Field Marshal von Hindenburg, who urged the white powers to unite instead of fight each other to reduce the numbers of the colored races to manageable levels of docility and slavery. Yes, birth control has racist roots and for colored Filipino legislators to espouse it is a kind of joke on their race. The movie does historical justice to Luna’s unremembered lieutenants, the likes of Alejandrino, brave like Marshal Ney but not inconstant. He fought ferociously for Napoleon until the latter surrendered; Ney switched to his enemies but rejoined Napoleon when the latter returned from Elba to fight for him again with the same brilliance and daring at Waterloo. He survived despite every attempt to get himself killed so as to cover himself with glory in defeat. The British just put him up against a wall and shot him. The movie also explains the prestige of Quezon of the Army of the Republic when he became president of the Commonwealth. But enough of this. Just watch the movie and support the effort to recover our past, not with dull writing but in moving pictures, so we can plot our future less foolishly than our forefathers made the past.

(their victories in the field notwithstanding). Revolution cannot be left to romantics or war only to generals. After all, Gregorio del Pilar, who was a Confederate raider in his panache, stayed loyal to Aguinaldo. To watch this movie is a rare treat that nobody should deny themselves. It segues from cinema to stage drama to poetic declamation without a hitch or awkward moment. It is a kind of education, if not always of history as it happened, then of revolutionary sensibilities as they were then. Watching it is an act of patriotism. This movie should be shown in every military camp in the country. I thought the explicit references to Buencamino, whose son was my father’s war buddy and best friend, and of Paterno, will cause needless pain. But the third part of what promises to be a trilogy of the Three Who Made a Revolution (to borrow the title of a famous study of the Russian Revolution) might give justice to the role of realists in a hopeless fight. Fifteen years after we surrendered, Germany surrendered to the United States and the other likely fate of our nation was a sale to Germany, which, even then, already adopted genocidal policies against inferior races. In fact, the birth-control movement by the famous slut, Margaret Sanger who slept with Goebbels (a man as ugly

El Niño might rescue global growth

By Mark Gilbert | Bloomberg View

eather forecasters are fairly confident that the world is experiencing the strongest El Niño since 1997 to 1998, a climate pattern that features increased ocean temperatures and disruptive rainfall and drought events around the world. You’d expect anything that wreaks meteorological havoc to drive up food prices. But surprisingly, it may also boost both inflation and GDP—which if true would be great news for central bankers struggling to combat the twin threats of faltering growth and stagnating consumer prices. Economists Paul Cashin, Kamiar Mohaddes and Mehdi Raissi published an International Monetary Fund paper earlier this year making just that case. They argue that weather patterns are important for the global economy and that El Niño events typically lead to higher growth and faster inflation in the following year. Our focus on El Niño weather events is motivated by growing concerns about their effects not only on the global climate system, but also on commodity prices and the macroeconomy of different countries. The economic consequences of El Niño shocks are large, statistically significant, and highly heterogeneous across different regions. El Niño has different consequences for different nations. In Australia, drier summers mean more bush fires and reduced wheat exports. Drought in Indonesia hurts coffee, cocoa

and palm oil crops, as well as nickel production that’s dependent upon hydro-powered mining. Heavier rains in Chile make it harder to dig copper out of its mountainous regions. There are also unexpected positive effects. The effect on Peru is both positive and negative; the world’s biggest exporter of the fish meal that’s used in animal feed suffers as coastal waters rise, but benefits as wetter weather boosts agricultural output. Argentina’s soybean production gets a boost, while rising oil prices are good news for Canada. Jonathan Allum, a strategist at Nikko Securities in London, summarizes their findings: If El Niño is, surprisingly, positive for growth, it is also, less surprisingly, positive for inflation. Given that we are all worried about global deflation, this may not be a bad thing. On a worldwide basis, the report says El Niño is unambiguously good

for those wanting higher commodity values, including both oil and nonfuel prices. Demand for coal and crude rises as hydroelectric and thermal power output declines, at the same time as farmers needing to pump more irrigation water boost fuel demand and reduced foodstuffs supplies lead to higher prices. For most countries in the study, that in turn stokes faster inflation in the quarters following an El Niño event:

The biggest surprise in the report is the finding that most of the world enjoys a bounce in growth in the year after El Niño. The US, the economists found, gets wetter weather in California (which helps crops), fewer disruptive tornadoes in the Midwest, and fewer hurricanes slamming into the East Coast. The 1997 to 1998 weather pattern added $15 billion to the US economy, or 0.2 percent of GDP. That boost in turn benefits Canada, which depends upon the US for 67 percent of its trade, and Mexico, at 68 percent. The El Niño winners outstrip the losers; and the net effect is a better global economy—albeit with the caveat that predicting the drivers of growth and their likely path is about as easy as foretelling next month’s weather. Last week Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned that investors aren’t paying sufficient attention to the long-term implications of climate change. Maybe investors and central bankers should also take into account the shorter-term implications of the world’s current weather system.

PSA corrects chicken-meat imports data MAIL

his is in reference to the article posted in BusinessMirror dated October 5, 2015, entitled “Chicken-meat imports up 105.75 percent in H1–PSA,” written by Ms. Mary Grace Padin. We would like to make an erratum on the data on chicken importation released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) through the Chicken Industry Performance Report Error

was due to wrong encoding of data. First-quarter 2015 imports should be 44,217,927 kg instead of 41,306,020, while second-quarter importation amounted to 36,929,881 and not 93,675,739. Hence, the first half of 2015 only increased by 23.69 percent. Attached to this letter are the corrected tables on the data on importation. In line with this, we would like to request to reflect this correction on your

article. We sincerely apologize for the mistake. Rest assured that we will be more careful in the validation of the data that we will be releasing in the future. We hope that you will continue to support the PSA. Nenita T. Yanson Chief, Livestock and Poultry Statistics Division Philippine Statistics Authority

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Wednesday, October 7, 2015

PHL to weather fallout from commodity rout

he Philippines and Vietnam are set to reap the rewards of diversifying their exports, helping fireproof the two economies from plunging commodity prices. Indonesia and Malaysia’s failure to do so now represents a risk to Asia’s 2016 outlook.

Two decades ago, commodities were about 50 percent of overseas shipments for both Vietnam and Indonesia. By 2014 Vietnam had cut that to less than 30 percent, while Indonesia’s was al-

most 60 percent. In the Philippines, a net commodity importer, the ratio was about 20 percent last year. Vietnam managed to reduce its commodit y ex port dependence by boosting sales of

electronics, mobile phones, textiles and footwear via a broader manufacturing base. Global commodity prices from oil to copper to coal have declined as demand from China wanes in response to an economic slowdown. The intensifying El Niño weather pattern could also result in the prices of natural gas and oil staying weak—due to warmer winters in North America—putting renewed pressure on Malaysia’s and Indonesia’s exports, HSBC Holdings Plc. said. “The commodity environment is going to drag on growth through 2016,” HSBC economists, led by Joseph Incalcaterra, said in a September 30 research report. “The Philippines should benefit the

‘Domestic reforms key to attracting investments’ . . .

these FTAs, we can’t seen an influx [of invetments] because of regulatory barriers in domestic trade and investments,” NBCP Marketing Research officer Kent Primor added. Among the barriers to foreign direct investments (FDI) usually cited by businessmen include constitutional limitations to foreign ownership and the restrictions contained in the Foreign Investment Nega-

tive List drawn up by the government. “I think the transparency of rules and regulations is a major discrepancy between the environment from the Nordic states and the Philippines. More liberal legislation on foreign ownership here would also see more FDI,” Selin said. Businessmen from Nordic states are increasingly showing interest in the Philippines. In February a business delega-

most, while Vietnam seems to be holding up well given the lack of crop disruptions. We continue to see the highest risks to Indonesia, where the effect on the real economy and consumption has yet to be fully felt.’’ GDP in Vietnam and the Philippines will expand by more than 6 percent this year and next, the fastest among major economies in Southeast Asia, the Asian Development Bank forecast last month. Indonesia’s economy will probably grow 5.4 percent in 2016, while Malaysia’s economy is seen expanding 4.9 percent. Vietnam’s GDP per capita was $2,052 in 2014, compared with Indonesia’s $3,492, according to World Bank data. Bloomberg News

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tion led by Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs Jan has Vappavuori visited the Philippines. The delegation consisted of businessmen from various sectors including energy, information and communication technology and mining. The Philippine government earlier pitched projects under the public-private partnership scheme to businessmen from Norway and Sweden.

The NBCP represents the Nordic states of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. It also represents the business interests of the Baltic states— Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Bilateral trade between the Philippines and the Nordic region was pegged at €526 million in 2013. This makes the Nordic region the sixth largest trading partner of the Philippines.

BSP rules out rate tweaks as inflation slows further Continued from A1

and the weak peso,” Guinigundo told reporters on Tuesday. The PSA attributed the record-low inflation to annual declines in the indices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels and transport. “With supply conditions remaining generally favorable and demand continuing to be manageable, we expect inflation to keep within our forecasts of 1.6 percent for 2015, 2.6 percent for 2016 and 3 percent for 2017,” Guinigundo said. “On this basis, the Monetary Board’s recent decision to keep monetary policy steady remains appropriate. Any development in the US Fed and China should be addressed by our preemptive moves last year which gave us the monetary space today,” he added. As a result, the local currency, the peso ,was little changed at 46.47 per dollar on Tuesday from the 46.48 on Monday on a volume of trade reaching $1.109 billion. But no matter the record-low inflation, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) warned this development may prove short-lived given the upside pressure the El Niño weather deisturbances have on food supply and prices. Inflation in the January-to-September period averaged 1.6 percent, or below the government target of 2 percent to 4 percent this year. “The government must ensure that food supply is sufficient by improving the level of inventories and efficiency of the distribution system,” Neda Director General and

Mendoza to head UN internal watchdog

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said. “Continued monitoring of drought occurrence in agricultural areas is necessary to ensure timely policy actions, including importation of rice and other basic commodities to augment domestic supply,” he added. The Neda director general added that expanding agriculture support structures from production areas to the demand centers will also further bring down the cost of transporting goods and services. As the El Niño intensifies, Balisacan said the government may consider increasing the number of agricultural workers as potential beneficiaries in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program to offset farm output losses. He said the government must also ensure that access to finance in the agriculture and fisheries sectors remains unhampered. “We expect the current low inflation environment exhibited in the first nine months of 2015 to persist throughout the rest of the year, more so as international oil prices continue to remain low and are not expected to increase significantly in the near term,” Balisacan said. Food inflation continued to ease in September 2015 to 0.7 percent from 1.1 percent following slower price adjustments in majority of its sub-items such as breads and cereals, fish, fruits and rice. The declining prices of regular milled rice due to sufficient supply partly supported the downward trend in overall food prices.

PHL right at the door of US-led TPP–DTI

ecretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he intends to appoint Heidi Mendoza, who has been a top auditor in the Philippines and at United Nations agencies, to head the UN’s internal watchdog body. Mendoza will become undersecretary-general for Internal Oversight Services for a five-year term once the UN General Assembly gives its expected formal approval. UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in announcing the appointment on Monday that Mendoza, a certified public accountant, has over 20 years of government service, particularly in the field of audit, investigation, fraud examination anticorruption and “integrity advocacy.” She currently heads the country’s Commission on Audit and chairs a key external auditing board for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Orga n i z at ion, World Hea lt h Organization and International Labor Organization. Mendoza will succeed Carmen Lapointe of Canada whose term ended in September. AP

www.businessmirror.com.ph

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MALAMPAYA 3 Zenaida Monsada (third from left), officer in charge of the Department of Energy, leads the ceremonial launch of the Malampaya Phase 3 Platform, a joint-venture project between Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX), Chevron Malampaya Llc. and Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC)-Exploration Corp., marking the start of gas production. The Malampaya Deepwater Gas-to-Power project is now on its 25th anniversary of service contract that ensures steady supply of natural gas to power the Luzon electricity grid. Present during the launch are (from left) PNOC-Exploration Corp. Chairman and CEO Mel Lopez, Royal Dutch Shell CFO Simon Henry, Spex Managing Director Sebastian Quiniones, SPEX Malampaya Project Manager Antoine Bleik, Chevron Indo-Asia Business Unit Managing Director Charles Taylor and Shell Companies in the Philippines Country Chairman Edgar Chua. Related story on B1. ALYSA SALEN

Big growth in outsourced medical services seen L

eaders of the Philippine outsourcing industry said on Monday they expect a big increase in business as the result of a new, highly detailed medical diagnosis coding system adopted by the US for insurance claims. The Philippines is the world’s leader in international call-center services. Its information- technology and outsourced-services industry is expected to employ 1.3 million people by 2016, when annual earnings are seen to reach $25 billion. The industry has been growing 15 percent to 18 percent yearly, earning $18.9 billion last year.

Dan Reyes, chairman of the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines, said the new US coding system will open up more processing jobs and the Philippines stands to gain because of its large pool of graduates in medical-related fields. Earnings have jumped 30 percent a year for the Philippine sector providing medical billing and other services to US companies, making it the fastest growing of outsourced services, said Jose Mari Mercado, the association’s president and CEO. It is followed by information technology, finance and accounting and contact-center operations.

Under the new system, the roughly 14,000 codes used by US health providers to represent diagnoses have been expanded to about 68,000 codes to capture more details of a patient’s chart. The codes, for example, can now distinguish between whether a goose or a parrot nipped a patient. The US government said the changes should help health officials better track quality of care, spot early warning signs of a brewing outbreak or look for illness or injury trends. Mercado said the industry is coming up with a new road map from 2017 to 2022

that will consolidate plans for different sectors such as health care, animation, contact centers, finance and accounting, and game development. The likelihood of maintaining or surpassing current growth rates “is very, very strong,” he added. The new road map will identify opportunities and needs to be done to address challenges including the lack of infrastructure, the loss of Filipino workers for better-paying jobs abroad, and adjusting to new business models that require more automation and robots, the industry leaders said. AP

Abe’s growth plans, as the nation is burdened with a shrinking and aging population. “This is a good start for Abe at a time when he has just shifted his focus to the economic agenda” after passing bills to strengthen the role of Japan’s military, said Junichi Sugawara, a senior research officer at Mizuho Research Institute in Tokyo. “The agreement will become a driving force for Abe’s administration.” After final talks in Atlanta, an agreement was announced on Monday on the TPP, a pact more than five years in the making designed to boost commerce among nations that produce 40 percent of global economic output. The deal was announced before elections in Canada later this month, and the US and Japan next year, which would have complicated passage of the agreement in those countries. “Reaching agreement is a great result not just for Japan but for the future of the Asia Pacific,” Abe said in Tokyo on Monday after the deal was announced, in comments on state broadcaster NHK. “We have been able to produce results in one of the greatest issues that has faced my administration.” Abe came into office in December 2012 with a three-pronged economic revival plan—unprecedented monetary easing, flexible fiscal policy and broad regulatory changes—to end the deflation that has dogged Japan for more than a decade. While his policies have weakened the yen, lifted stock prices and increased corporate profits, the economy has sputtered with contractions in four of the 10 quarters since he became prime minister. Catherine N. Pillas, Bloomberg News