Businessmirror november 5, 2014

B Liberia

Cases

4,020

Deaths C Sierra Leone

Cases

*

*

1,560

3,778

Ebola report Mali

D

Deaths

*

*

Cases

0

1

6,535 cases 1,510 deaths 5,338 cases 1 death

Deaths 1 case 1 as of Oct. 0 DEATHS NUMBER OF EBOLA CASES AND 31 Country / State / E D.R. Province

Probable/ 28 38 suspected Confirmed

Cases

Total of confirmed and 49 deaths probable/suspected

Congo** A Guinea

Deaths Cases

258*

1,409*

U.S.

Cases Deaths

0*

4*

-Texas/New York

Deaths Cases

0 4,020

1 2,515

Spain

Cases Deaths Deaths Cases

0 *

1*

6,535 cases

0 1,560

0 3,778

1 case * Exact data not available at this time 1,510 deaths

F

B Liberia

G

-Madrid

C Sierra Leone

Deaths Total cases since start of outbreak: 13,567* * Cases

0

1

ADeaths FRICA

0

1

28

38

Mali

D

D

E

Cases

AD.R.

Congo** C

Deaths

U.S.

Cases

B

F

Countries in current -Texas/New York outbreak Countries G Spain with past -Madrid outbreaks

0

Deaths

0

Cases

0

Deaths

0

F

4 cases 2,413 deaths

cases 4,951 Total deaths since start 5,338 of outbreak:

S PA I N

49 deaths G

**Separate outbreak

1 death 4 cases

1 1

1 case States with 0 cases

Provinces with cases

* Exact data not available at this time

Total deaths since start of outbreak: 4,951 © 2014 MCT

2006, 2010, 2012

U.N. Media Award 2008

The World BusinessMirror

Security chief killed in Mexican border state MEXICO CITY—Authorities in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas say a regional security chief and his wife have been killed by armed assailants.

Ricardo Nino Villarreal was the security chief for the area of Tamaulipas around Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas. The Tamaulipas state government said on Monday the killing took place on Saturday on a roadway in the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon. However, the bodies were not discovered in the couple’s car until Sunday. Nino Villarreal was a former general and was one of several ex-military officers designated as regional commanders as part of a plan announced in May to stem a wave of violence in Tamaulipas. Tamaulipas is home to the Gulf and Zetas drug cartels. AP

Burkina Faso: Military promises to hand over power OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso—Burkina Faso’s military said on Monday it will hand over to a transitional government under a leader chosen by all sectors of society to fill the power vacuum created since long-time President Blaise Compaore resigned and fled amid violent protests. The military appears to be in control as the opposition dropped its demands for the soldiers to cede power. Lt. Col. Isaac Yacouba Zida, the military’s designated leader, met with diplomats and African leaders and announced the country will be led by “a transitional body within the constitutional framework.” Zida, the No. 2 in the Presidential Guard, did not specify that the proposed leader would be a civilian and did not provide a timetable. The African Union’s Peace and Security Council decided on Monday to give the military two weeks to return the country to constitutional rule or face sanctions. AP

Australian leader blames IS for Sydney shooting CANBERRA, Australia—The shooting of a Shiite religious leader outside a Sydney prayer hall appeared to have been influenced by the Islamic State (IS)movement, Australia’s prime minister said on Tuesday. Rasoul Al Mousawi, 47, was blasted with a shotgun in the face and shoulder in a drive-by shooting outside the Husainiyah Nabi Akram Center in suburban Greenacre early Monday. AP

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Egypt, Gulf Arab allies eye antimilitant alliance

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more distant, and there are differences among the countries over the size of any force, funding and headquarters, and over whether to seek Arab League or UN political cover for operations, one of the Egyptian officials said. Past attempts at a pan-Arab military force have fallen apart.

Still, even if no joint force is agreed on, the alliance would coordinate military action, aiming at quick, pinpoint operations against militants rather than longer missions, the officials said.

The countries have already shown an unprecedented willingness to intervene together.

Egypt and the UAE cooperated in carrying out air strikes against Islamic militants in Libya during the summer, according to US and Egyptian officials, and last month Egypt carried out strikes of its own.

Egypt’s government has denied both operations. Egypt’s president, former military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, has warned repeatedly that Islamic extremists must be dealt with in multiple places, not just in Iraq and Syria.

In a September interview with the AP, he said “a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy in the region” is needed.

In Washington, asked if the US was aware of the discussions, Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said, “We’re not privy to that.

I wouldn’t speak to it.”

He would not elaborate. AP

AIRO—Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait are discussing the creation of a military pact to take on Islamic militants, with the possibility of a joint force to intervene around the Middle East, the Associated Press (AP) has learned.

Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have participated in those strikes in Syria. The officials said the alliance under consideration was not intended to intervene in Iraq or Syria but to act separately to address other extremist hot spots.

Three Egyptian military officials discussed details of the talks and a fourth confirmed their comments.

A Gulf official, who is aware of the discussions, also told the Associated Press that the governments were coordinating on how to deal with Libya, and the talks were “ongoing on wider cooperation on how to deal with extremists in the region.” He and the Egyptian officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks remain secret.

Talks on an alliance against extremists are well advanced, the Egyptian officials said. But the further idea of forming a joint force is

Russia recognizes Ukraine separatists, provoking new sanctions threat

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USSIA’S Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that it will “respect the will” of separatist voters in eastern Ukraine who elected leaders for their proclaimed independent republics in defiance of international warnings that their actions were illegal.

Moscow’s swift show of support for the separatists it is accused of arming and instigating drew new warnings from Germany and other European Union states that further sanctions may be imposed on Russia if the seven-month-old war with Ukrainian government forces intensifies. Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed off on a September 5 cease-fire deal with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and representatives of the breakaway regions.

Putin and other Russian officials portrayed Sunday’s vote for prime ministers and local assemblies for the two regions as envisioned in the cease-fire agreement signed in Minsk, Belarus, and brokered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). But the Minsk accord called for early lo-

cal elections in conformance with Ukrainian law, and the Kiev government, the European Union, the OSCE, the US and the United Nations all deemed the separatist votes illegal and illegitimate as they sought to establish the regions’ independence of Ukraine.

“We respect the will expression of the residents of [Ukraine’s] southeast. The elected representatives have got the mandate for the practical efforts aimed at the restoration of normal life in the regions,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Russian government called for “a stable dialogue” between the Ukrainian government and the new leaders of the separatist-occupied eastern regions and said Moscow is “ready to constructively promote the Ukrainian crisis settlement together with our international partners,” the TASS news agency reported.

In Berlin the German government swiftly confirmed that it “does not recognize these illegitimate elections,” said Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela

Merkel, who had called Putin on Friday to urge him to dissuade the separatists from undertaking the widely condemned vote.

“If the situation worsens, it may be necessary to consider intensifying the sanctions,” Seibert told reporters.

The separatists’ defiance and the Kremlin’s endorsement of the votes appeared to set Russia on yet another diplomatic collision course with the West just days after a major dispute between Moscow and Kiev on winter energy supplies was resolved under European Union mediation.

Russia’s Gazprom energy giant agreed on Thursday to resume natural gas deliveries to Ukraine in exchange for payment of about twothirds of its $5.3-billion arrears by the end of this year. Leaders of the separatist regions immediately proclaimed their alliance with Russia and also alluded to the possibility of negotiating an end to the armed conflict with Ukrainian government forces on condition Kiev cease challenging their authority over the territory they occupy.

Los Angeles Times/MCT

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GOOGLE’S ANSWER TO APPLE TV D

EAR Lord, when we feel we are unappreciated, remind us that we can feel differently. It could be just our own feeling, not the others’ feelings towards us. When we condition ourselves to feel differently, we think of it as a blessing, and at the same time, remember that we are created in God’s image and likeness. Amen.

OLDERHOOD.COM AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

»

Life

‘NIGHTCRAWLER,’ ‘OUIJA’ TIE FOR NO. 1 IN SLOW HALLOWEEN WEEKEND »D3

BusinessMirror

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

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Nexus Player is Google’s search-friendly answer to Apple TV

THE Nexus Player can become the big-screen branch of the Google Play experience.

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THE user interface is dynamic. A row of helpful recommended content from a variety of apps appears at the top.

Below that, there’s a row of recently used apps.

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B P D Los Angeles Times

HE Apple TV gets along brilliantly with other branches of the Apple family. Music and movies from iTunes automatically load onto Apple TV, and it enables iPhones, Macs and iPads to display onto a big monitor or television.

The Nexus Player, which went on sale on Monday for $99, is Google’s answer to the Apple TV. For owners of Android smartphones or tablets, the Nexus Player can become the big-screen branch of the Google Play experience. In a weekend of testing a review unit provided by Google, the Nexus Player appeared to be an impressive first incarnation of Android TV from a company that had struggled at TV endeavors until the launch of Chromecast last year. Chromecast, a tiny $35 stick that plugs into a TV’s HDMI port, acts as conduit to the Internet, but needs a connected smartphone, tablet or computer to function.

The hand-sized hockey puck called the Nexus Player can stand alone without a second device. The streaming media player, which still connects to a TV via HDMI, excels at search, recommendations and gaming.

Like Amazon’s Fire TV streaming media box, the Nexus Player comes with a remote control that can process voice searches. But Google’s powerful search engine means it can give the Nexus Player some extra features. It touts the ability to search not just for a movie (“Gravity”), but also interesting categories (“Oscar winners from 2010”).

The voice search also answered queries about scores of sports games, the weather, ages of celebrities and math functions. While the usefulness of these abilities might not be instantly obvious, it shows the wealth of functionality Google eventually could offer on the Nexus Player.

Imagine sitting down on the couch one night, telling your TV to order a pizza through the Domino’s app, asking it to launch the highest-rated new comedy movie available for streaming or requesting it to show an alert every time the score in the Raiders football game changes that evening.

The search function already shows show times for movies still in theaters, though there didn’t appear to be ticket-ordering functionality and the device thought

SONY selfie ambassador Bogart the Explorer enjoying his PROselfie with Xperia C3

Is this world’s best ‘selfie’ smartphone? it was in Mountain View, California, instead of Los Angeles. There won’t be a link to a trailer unless it’s on YouTube. In the same vein, search results don’t yet expand beyond the Google universe to Hulu or other apps. And, surely annoying to some, Google uses IMDb rather than Rotten Tomatoes as its source for ratings.

Another odd glitch: When displaying information about actors, say Will Ferrell, the Nexus Player often suggested searching the name on Google Play Music.

Clicking the link led to a blank page.

Searching by voice for the new Fox show Gracepoint turned out to be a chore. Google understood the request as “Grace.” On the positive side, the user interface is dynamic. A row of helpful recommended content from a variety of apps appears at the top. Below that, there’s a row of recently used apps.

On any screen, pressing the circle button on the remote launches the home screen in semi-transparency so viewers can still see the original content playing in the background while searching for something new. It’s nice to have that background noise going to avoid a lull in the living room.

The Nexus Player comes with $20 in Google Play store credit, which could be helpful for gaming enthusiasts, who want to buy the $40 optional game

controller for the Nexus Player or download some paid games. The included remote control does well for basic games, but the Nexus Player has the computing power to serve as a poor man’s Xbox, and, at that level, the gaming controller is a must for the racing or action games I tried out. It’s annoying that neither control device includes volume control, but that’s about the only reason I wanted to throw them at the wall.

The supply of non-gaming apps at launch is barely two dozen, including Netflix, Hulu and Pandora. Most of what users will be pushed to watch or listen to is content from the Google Play store or YouTube.

The app supply is due to grow. In the meantime the Nexus Player can already run hundreds of apps that are compatible with Google Chromecast.

The Nexus Player didn’t show up as a device on the Google Chromecast app on my Android smartphone, but load a Chromecast-compatible app, such as WatchESPN on a tablet or smartphone (or the Chrome Internet browser) and it will be able to display on a big screen.

Consumers in the market for a new television set should hold off purchasing the Nexus Player. Several smart TVs with Android TV built in are expected to launch in the coming months. ■

Apple’s Tim Cook comes out TIM COOK has announced that he is gay. In a first-person essay released on Thursday, Apple’s chief executive addressed his sexual orientation publicly for the first time. “Let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me,” he wrote in an essay titled “Tim Cook Speaks Up,” which was published in Bloomberg Businessweek.

Cook said he had been open about his sexual orientation for years, and that plenty of colleagues at Apple have known that he’s gay.

He said there wasn’t a particular

reason he chose to come out now, but noted that he thought about the question posed by Martin Luther King Jr., who said: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

“I often challenge myself with that question, and I’ve come to realize that my desire for personal privacy has been holding me back from doing something more important. That’s what has led me to today,” he said. In Silicon Valley, Cook’s sexual orientation doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The 53-year-old had been widely rumored to be gay for

years, but the tech world largely paid little attention to such chatter.

In June a CNBC television host was criticized for unintentionally outing Cook. During a discussion on air, cohost Simon Hobbs said: “I think Tim Cook is fairly open about the fact he’s gay at the head of Apple, isn’t he?” The gaffe drew an uncomfortable silence from the other hosts, before Hobbs said, “Oh, dear, was that an error? I thought he was open about it.”

Cook, who has been guarded about his privacy, said he would “like to hold on to a small amount of it.” But he also

knew coming forward could make a difference to those facing personal challenges.

“If hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality,” he said, “then it’s worth the trade-off with my own privacy.”

In the buttoned-up business world, Cook’s admission is notable: He is the only openly gay CEO in the Fortune 500, according to the Huffington Post.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

THAT the term “selfie” was declared in November 2013 as the “word of the year” by the Oxford English Dictionary—no doubt in acknowledgement of world that has gone selfie-obsessed.

Now, Sony Philippines, with selfie ambassadors Bogart the Explorer and Joyce Pring, introduces Xperia C3, which the company touts as “the ultimate new smartphone for selfies and social sharing” thanks to Sony’s leading digital imaging technology and interactive camera apps.

“The rise of selfies shows no signs of slowing down with its usage, increasing by 17,000 percent since 2012. We are excited to offer Sony’s first PROselfie Smartphone’ and play a part in this global phenomenon,” says Calum MacDougall, director of Xperia Marketing at Sony Mobile Communications.

The Xperia C3 produces perfect selfies wherever, whenever with a 5 megapixel wide-angle front camera (25 millimeter with 80-degree field of view), allowing you to capture more in the frame. With a unique soft flash, you can take flattering photos day or night by simply double tapping the back cover or using Smile Shutter, which you can then share with friends in three clicks.

Thanks to the front camera’s Superior Auto mode, pictures are automatically adjusted for suitable lighting conditions and the auto scene recognition function, which works with HDR and LED flash, makes sure you can capture the best selfies and selfie videos in any light.

Created with Cybershot leading camera expertise, the Xperia C3’s impressive 8MP main camera, featuring an Exmor RS for mobile image sensor, captures perfect pictures even in challenging lighting conditions.

With SteadyShot, all of your videos will come out smooth and distortion-free. The front camera also makes video calls with Xperia C3 crispy clear, with exceptional image quality on the large 5.5" HD display over ultra-fast 4G/LTE connection.

At just 7.6 mm and a mere 150 grams, this slim and sleek smartphone is perfect for people on-thego. Built with leading Sony technology, the Xperia C3 has a large, beautiful 5.5" HD in-plane switching stunning display optimized with Bravia technology, offering a great viewing experience from any angle.

Also, the Xperia C3 provides extensive usage to ensure you get the most out of your smartphone while on the move. Aside from this, Battery Stamina Mode 3.0 saves you battery by recognizing when you’re not using your display and automatically turning off functions you don’t need, while keeping the notifications you want.

life

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‘HISTORIC MILESTONE’

Sports

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BusinessMirror

‘HISTORIC MILESTONE’ L The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution that “supports the independence and autonomy of sport, as well as the mission of the International Olympic Committee in leading the Olympic Movement.”

AUSANNE, Switzerland—International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach hailed a United Nations (UN) resolution on sports and politics on Monday as a “historic milestone” that rejects the idea of political boycotts of the Olympics.

Bach welcomed the resolution adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly that “supports the independence and autonomy of sport, as well as the mission of the IOC in leading the Olympic Movement.”

The resolution states that “major international sports events should be organized in the spirit of peace, mutual understanding, friendship, tolerance and inadmissibility of discrimination of any kind and that the unifying and conciliative nature of such events should be respected.”

The IOC said the wording “clearly implies” that full participation at sports events is encouraged and “boycotts are incompatible with this UN request for respect of the values of sport.”

The US led a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the Soviets retaliated by boycotting the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Some politicians and activists called for a boycott of February’s Winter Games in Sochi over a Russian law that outlawed so-called gay “propaganda.”

“We highly welcome this resolution as a historic milestone in the relations between sport and politics,” Bach said in a statement. “We must form partnerships with political organizations based on this recognition of the autonomy of sport.”

The UN also recognized the Olympic Charter and Principle 6, the clause on nondiscrimination.

“As a sports organization, the IOC does not, however, have a mandate to impose measures on sovereign states outside its own fields,” the IOC said. “The Olympic Games can show the world and the host country that a peaceful society is possible.”

The IOC has enjoyed UN observer status since 2009. Bach spoke to the General Assembly in New York in November 2013.

Bach sent a letter to all 205 national Olympic committees urging them to work with their national political leaders to strengthen the autonomy of their sports bodies. In recent years, the IOC has suspended several national committees because of political interference.

“This relationship with governments requires that sport always remains politically neutral,” Bach said.

Kosovo athletes start training for Rio

A WEEk after gaining provisional recognition from the IOC, kosovo is already preparing in earnest for the 2016 Olympics.

Swimmers and table tennis players are in training in Pristina as kosovo gets ready to send an independent team to the games in Rio de Janeiro.

Memli krasniqi, kosovo’s minister of culture, youth and sports, says “now our athletes will be able to represent their country, represent their flag and compete with their national anthem.”

Despite objections from Serbia, the IOC executive board granted provisional recognition to kosovo last week. Full recognition will be voted on at the IOC assembly in Monaco in December—which should be a formality.

Lum Zhaveli, a 24-year-old swimmer, said, “I feel wonderful as an athlete because we are going to have a chance to compete against other athletes and finally become equal to all of them.”

Stockholm regrets withdrawal of 2022 bid

IF the IOC is willing to reopen the bidding to host the 2022 Winter Games, Stockholm would be happy to jump back into the race.

The Swedish capital pulled out in January after politicians refused to give financial backing, becoming the first of four cities to withdraw from a field that now has only two contenders—Beijing and Almaty, kazakhstan—in the running.

Stefan Lindeberg, president of the Swedish Olympic Committee, said on Tuesday that Stockholm would not have dropped out if it knew then about the changes in the bidding process that are currently being put into place by the IOC. Lindeberg said Stockholm would bid again now—if it had the chance—because of a “change in attitude” of the IOC as it revamps the candidate city procedure.

“If we would have the discussion in January that we are having now, I would say we would still stay in this [race],” he said at the Host City Bid to Win conference in London.

Since Stockholm’s withdrawal, krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine, and Oslo have also withdrawn their bids. Before that, cities in Switzerland Germany abandoned proposed bids after they were rejected in referendums. Many cities have been scared off by the $51-billion price tag associated with this year’s Winter Games in Sochi.

| Wednesday, november 5, 2014 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach hails United Nations resolution. AP

In an interview with the Associated Press (AP), Lindeberg said it would make sense for the IOC to reopen the 2022 bid process to allow Stockholm and any other interested cities to join the depleted field, but acknowledged that is unlikely to happen.

After Oslo’s withdrawal earlier this month, Bach ruled out reopening the bidding in the middle of the race. The host city will be selected next July at an IOC assembly in kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“There is one good argument to open up the bidding— to show the world that we are changing, and we want to do this change as quickly as possible, but I don’t think it will happen,” Lindeberg told the AP. “I can understand why [Bach] does not want to open the race, not wanting to show there is a crisis and whatever. I respect that.”

Bach is pushing a package of reforms—”Olympic Agenda 2020”—that will be voted on by the full IOC in December in Monaco. The changes include a bid procedure that Bach called “more of an invitation for discussions and partnership with the IOC rather than just an application for a tender.”

IOC Vice President Craig Reedie said Sweden would be free to propose a reopening of the procedure after the reforms are voted on, but added that any change is unlikely.

“It’s quite difficult to turn around to your two

existing bidders who have done everything correctly and say, ‘Sorry, we’d like to have a couple countries in here, so we’re going to change the rules,’” Reedie told reporters. “I think it’s complicated.”

Lindeberg said Stockholm would start focusing on a bid for the 2026 Winter Games. Sweden has never hosted the Winter Olympics, with Ostersund, Falun and Goteborg all having mounted failed bids.

“If there’s any country in the world that deserves to run the winter games, it’s Sweden,” Reedie said. “They have bid and bid and bid and they have never been successful. They are a major winter sports country.”

Lindeberg said Stockholm backed out in January because of concerns over costs, the environment, postgames use of venues, the environment and other issues.

“All the politicians saw was risk, risk and risk,” he said.

Lindeberg praised the reforms initiated by Bach on the bid process, the publication of the host city contract and the IOC commitment to provide $880 million in revenues to the host city.

“If you look at what happened since Stockholm pulled out in January, there is a change in attitude from the IOC,” he said. “We can see what Thomas Bach is communicating all the time and how eager he is to listen and discuss.” AP

© 2014 MCT

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URICH—Dubai-based airline Emirates will not renew its World Cup sponsorship with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

Emirates was Fifa’s airline partner for three World Cups from 2006 through 2014.

“This decision was made following an evaluation of Fifa’s contract proposal which did not meet Emirates’s expectations,” the airline said in a statement.

Fifa typically retains six top-tier commercial partners signing up for at least two World Cups.

The six 2014 World Cup partners—Adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates, Hyundai, Sony and Visa—combined to pay about $700 million for the four-year commercial cycle, according to figures in Fifa’s annual financial reports. Four have renewed through at least 2022, with Sony yet to sign.

Qatar Airways, from the 2022 World Cup host nation, could now replace Emirates.

Fifa declined to comment on “ongoing negotiations.”

The governing body said Emirates suggested in 2012 it would restructure its football sponsorship strategy, which was “a decision that Fifa respects.”

Emirates has major sponsorship deals with some top European clubs, including Arsenal, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. Still, Emirates stated on its web site that World Cup sponsorship “sits centrally to its football strategy.”

It hired Pele and Cristiano Ronaldo to front its marketing campaign for the 2014 tournament in Brazil. AP

sports SOCCER legend Pele fronts for Emirates’s marketing »campaign for the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

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BusinessMirror

Editor: Tet Andolong

ASEANA City

A DEMAND FOR OFFICE SPACE IN ASEANA CITY A

B R R R

SIDE from the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry, other industries are also trooping to Aseana City for office spaces.

Aseana City Managing Director Delfin Wenceslao said the 204-hectare complex has attracted services firms, from banks and finance houses to manpower recruitment, to relocate in the emerging-business district bounded by Roxas Boulevard on one

side and Manila Bay on the other.

Together with the Sy’s Mall of Asia Complex, Wenceslao said Aseana City’s growth has primarily been driven by BPOs in the past years. For over a decade now, BPOs have been driving the office sector in most

New home in Laguna

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PICTURESQUE and affordable dream home seems far from your grasp. But with Amaia, the economic housing arm of Ayala Land, you can turn that dream into a reality.

Keeping its promise to provide better living for more Filipinos, Amaia Land recently launched another affordable, yet of quality, development recently in San Pablo City, Laguna—Amaia Scapes San Pablo.

The launching of this third Amaia project in Laguna was attended

by Donna Ramirez, sales regional director; Milfa Pagsisihan, broker head; Nikko Reyes, project development manager for South Luzon; and Willy del Rio, from General Services Office of San Pablo City.

Amaia Scapes San Pablo is a horizontal development in Barangay. San Lucas 2, San Pablo City, Laguna—a site that gives homeowners a scenic envi-

ronment. It occupies 4.3 hectares of land with 313 residential units for its first sector. Buyers will have the freedom to choose from three house models, namely, Twin Pod, Bungalow Pod and Multi Pod. What makes this project suitable for new and growing families is its close proximity to commercial and business establishments, such as Puregold and San Pablo Market, saving your time and money from fare or gas expenses.

It is also ideal to raise your children because different educational institutions are just around the area, like Laguna College, San Pablo College and Laguna State Polytechnic University, among others.

Getting your dream home at Amaia is also pocket-friendly, since it offers different paying options, such as cash payment, deferred, Pag-IBIG, bank and in-house financing.

business districts in the Philippines.

With property values rising by as much as 9 percent to 14 percent in the more established business centers, “both BPOs and other occupiers are flocking to new subcenters like Aseana, where capital values have yet to peak,” he said in a statement. “We are encouraged to see non-BPO firms also seeking office space in our buildings. It means there’s growth all around.”

One of the prime locators in Aseana is London-based V. Ships, a leading global maritime-service provider that has over 25,000 onboard positions a month sourced by its international network of crewing offices all

over the world. V. Ships specializes in the outsourced technical-management marine services of high-value maritime assets, and the provision of a wide range of supporting technical, work force and commercial services.

With Filipino seafarers experiencing the highest demand in the global market, the company established its second-largest office in Manila, according to Jamie Stewart, group representative in the Philippines and commercial manager.

Monique Cornelio-Pronove, chief executive officer of Pronove Tai & Associates, assisted V. Ships in its search for new office space.

To prepare for a bigger number

of Filipinos to go onboard ships plying global trade routes, V.Ships is setting up a training floor at Aseana Two with simulators like a bridge and engine room, which will also have a culinary school. V. Ships set up these facilities to support Filipino recruitment firms, its partners in filling the strong demand from ship owners all over the world for crews trained in the Philippines.

A few office towers in the emerging and established business districts are set up for the crew management industry, said Pronove, whose firm has strong affiliations with multinationals based in Hong Kong, Singapore, the US and the UK.

Moreover, executives and partners of V. Ships commended Aseana City’s solid engineering foundations. Reclaimed from the sea by a consortium of Filipino, Belgian and Japanese partners, the area remains accessible through most climate conditions. It has remained free of storm surges, a quality appreciated by the new hotels that have also located in the district.

“V. Ships and a number of other similar companies envision Manila to be the crewing capital of the world and more. The rest of the real-estate industry needs to catch up with the demand of this booming industry,” Pronove said.

ASIA ENCLAVES HIGHLY COMMENDED AS ‘BEST CONDO’ Staying true to its mission of giving an affordable and balanced lifestyle, Amaia Scapes San Pablo prioritizes every family’s needs and happiness by providing a patio green for a fresher and greener environment. Also, homeowners don’t have to go far for recreational activities because there is a village patio equipped with a pavilion, swimming pool, basketball court and jogging path.

On top of everything, Amaia Scapes San Pablo puts everyone’s safety first before anything else. It is designed with guarded entrance and exits, a perimeter fence and tree-lined spine road. It is a quality residential project bearing the stamp of Makati Development Corp.

BuildPlus’ track record and experience, and is maintained by Ayala Property Management Corp. www.amaialand.com

AMAIA Scapes San Pablo is a new housing project that will provide its residents picturesque yet affordable homes.

PHINMA

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Wednesday, November 5, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 28

SIA Enclaves Alabang has been recognized as one of Southeast Asia’s “Highly Commended” condos under the Best Condo Development (Philippines) category in the recently held 2014 Southeast Asia Property Awards at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore.

Willie J. Uy, president and CEO of Phinma Properties, said, “This award is a great achievement for us. We were competing against real-estate developments that are two to five times more expensive, yet ASiA Enclaves proudly stands as equally deserving of this highly rated award.”

As one of the most prestigious award-giving bodies in the real-estate industry of Asia, the Asia Property Awards recognizes only the best property developments in the region and hosts counterpart property

awards in China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines.

According to Uy, “ASiA Enclaves Alabang remains the ideal home for the growing family, where you can find the essential luxuries of time, space and peace of mind.

This latest recognition of ASiA Enclaves Alabang as one of Southeast Asia’s highly commended condo developments affirms its position as offering only the best in affordable luxury.”

“As a developer, we offer quality condominiums for the affordable market. Our payment schemes are notable for being inclusive of all closing fees and miscellaneous expenses, with no hidden charges for all our developments. ASiA Enclaves Alabang embodies the best of essential and affordable luxury in the heart of the city, adhering to

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he largest association of Filipino businessmen has backed the government’s plan to rebid the P35.42billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) deal, noting that this would “maximize the economic benefits” of the state from the infrastructure project.

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President Alfredo M. Yao said the government stands to gain at least P8.45 billion from the fresh tender, as bids to build the thoroughfare would start from the said floor price.

“The P8.45 billion could be used by the government to fund rehabilitation efforts, such as those for Leyte,” he said, referring to one of the areas that Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) devastated in late-2013.

The PCCI’s position contradicts the statement released earlier by local and foreign trade groups, including the Makati Business Club and the Joint Foreign Chambers,

SUMMIT SECURITY A man walks past the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) logo in Beijing, China, on Monday. Beijing authorities are installing 1,000 face-recognition cameras,

banning kite-flying and suspending some factory production, as they seek to clear the city of dangers, dissent and smog during an Asia-Pacific summit deemed the capital’s biggest event since the 2008 Olympics. AP/Andy Wong

US deficit TOURISM REVENUES ROSE now down 13.6 PERCENT IN JAN-AUG to just 2.8% of GDP D

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

OFFICE SPACE IN ASEANA E1 Wednesday, November 5, 2014

A broader look at today’s business

Special to the BusinessMirror

FLYING TOWARD OPPOSITE DIRECTION

SAY CHEESE!

Source: One World Trade Center © 2014 MCT Graphic: Greg Good

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WORLD CUP SPONSOR EMIRATES ENDS FIFA DEAL

Racegoers pose for a photo in the members’ car park before the running of the Melbourne Cup at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday. AP

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NEW YORK—The silvery skyscraper that rose from the ashes of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks to become a symbol of American resilience opened for business on Monday, as 175 employees of the magazine publishing giant Condé Nast settled into their first day of work there. »B2-2

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

In this September 13 photo, US Secretary of State John Kerry (left) listens, while Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi talks before a meeting to discuss how Egypt can help in the fight against the Islamic State group at the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt. AP Photo/BrendAn SmiAlowSki

The alliance would also serve as a show of strength to counterbalance their traditional rival, Shiitedominated Iran.

Two countries are seen as potential theaters for the alliance to act, senior Egyptian military officials said: Libya, where Islamic militants have taken over several cities, and Yemen, where Shiite rebels suspected of links to Iran have seized control of the capital.

The discussions reflect a new assertiveness among the Middle East’s Sunni powerhouses, whose governments—after three years of post-Arab Spring turmoil in the region—have increasingly come to see Sunni Islamic militants and Islamist political movements as a threat.

The US Arab allies’ consideration of a joint force illustrates a desire to go beyond the international coalition that the US has put together to wage an air campaign against the

We feel differently

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PCCI backs Calax deal rebidding T

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FREETOWN, Sierra Leone—A doctor in Sierra Leone has died of Ebola, the fifth local doctor to die of the disease there, authorities said on Monday, as the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) announced it was doubling its staff in the three West African nations hard hit by the deadly virus. »B2-1

‘MAXIMIZATION OF ECONOMIC BENEFITS SHOULD BE PRIMARY CONSIDERATION NOT TECHNICALITY’

INSIDE

EIRUT—Al-Qaeda-linked militants pressed an offensive on Monday against Western-backed rebels in northern Syria, closing in on a vital border crossing with Turkey and exposing the weakness of mainstream opposition groups that the US hopes to forge into a fighting force to take on Islamic extremists.

The Nusra Front’s recent surge has overrun strongholds in Syria’s Idlib province of two prominent rebel factions that proved unable to repel the assault despite getting arms and training from the US. The opposition groups’ collapse marks a significant setback to Washington’s plan of partnering with more moderate brigades to fight the Islamic State (IS) group and other radicals.

The Nusra Front—a bitter and bloody rival of the IS group despite their shared extremist ideology— was massing its fighters on Monday in the town of Sarmada near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing after sweeping through rebel-held towns and villages over the weekend. As the extent of the rout became apparent, reports also emerged that some rebels had pledged allegiance to the al-Qaeda affiliate.

The fighting takes place against the backdrop of US-led air strikes to roll back and destroy the IS group, which has seized huge chunks of territory spanning Syria and Iraq.

That effort has recently focused on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani on the Turkish border, where fighting has raged since September. AP

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three-time rotary club of manila States with cases journalism Graphic: Staff awardee Source: World Health Organization, Reuters

Islamic State group massacres more families

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World Trade Center reopens, 13 years after attack

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BAGHDAD—Islamic State group militants shot and killed 36 Sunni tribesmen, women and children in public on Monday, an Iraqi official and a tribal leader said, pushing the total number of members slain by the extremists in recent days to more than 200. Sheik Naim al-Gaoud, a senior figure in the Al Bu Nimr tribe, said the militant group killed 29 men, four women and three children, lining them up in the village of Ras al-Maa, north of Ramadi in Anbar province. The tribal leader said that 120 families were still trapped there. “These massacres will be repeated in the coming days unless the government and its security forces help the trapped people,” al-Gaoud said. AP

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With capacity at less than 60% the owners are cutting rent from $75 a square foot to $69 hoping to attract renters.

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our certifications in quality, safety and environment,” Uy said.

Along with its Asian-inspired design aesthetics, easily accessible location and distinctly cosmopolitan atmosphere within a low-density community, ASiA Enclaves Alabang is widely acclaimed for its upscale residences and true affordability.

Emphasizing that condo living should not compromise living space, ASiA Enclaves Alabang offers larger units for essentially the same price as smaller units. According to Uy, the official launch of the Sato Premier Suites will be held this November, which features the largest single units in the project. The Sato Premier Suites will offer two-to three-bedroom units as large as 54-square meters, 58 sq m, and 76 sq m, while still retaining the affordable luxury that ASiA Enclaves Alabang is known for.

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obust economic growth has helped push the US budget deficit down to the lowest level since 2008, marking the sharpest turnaround in the government’s fiscal position in at least 46 years.

The shortfall of $483.4 billion in the 12 months ended September 30 was 2.8 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) of $17.2 trillion over the same period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg using Commerce Department figures. The figure peaked at 10.1 percent of GDP in December 2009.

“That’s what happens when the government is holding itself back on spending and the economy is improving,” said George Goncalves, head of interest-rate strategy at Nomura Holdings Inc. in New York. “The question is: Is that as good as it gets, or will the deficit continue to shrink?”

See “US deficit,” A4

PESO exchange rates n US 44.9600 n japan 0.3946

ESPITE the continuing sluggishness of visitor arrivals in the country, a total of P144.4 billion in tourist receipts were generated in the first eight months of the year, up 13.6 percent from the P127.1 billion in the same period in 2013.

Latest data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed South Koreans as the biggest spenders in the country, at P41.6 billion; followed by visitors from the US, P28.5 billion; Australia, P8.93 billion; Japan, P7.41 billion; and mainland China, P6.5 billion.

Also, noteworthy tourism-revenue generators were visitors from the United Kingdom, P5.4 billion; Canada, P5.33 billion; Germany, P3.17 billion; Singapore, P2.66 billion; and Saudi Arabia, P2.5 billion.

The DOT said that, for the month of August alone, visitors spent an average of P4,160.08 per day, but failed to provide any comparative figure for August 2013.

Tourists staying longer

The agency also said, visitors stayed an average of 10.73 nights this August, some 11 percent longer than the average stay of 9.67 nights in

August 2013. The DOT has been missing its visitor arrivals targets in the past years due to political skirmishes, natural calamities and diplomatic issues, pushing it to focus on getting foreign tourists to stay longer and spend more in the Philippines.

From January to August 2014, there were 3.27 million visitor arrivals in the country, a mere 2.72-percent growth from the same period in 2013, and casting more doubt the DOT would be able to reach its 6.8 million tourists goal for 2014.

A private tour operator blamed it on the delayed implementation of the government’s marketing campaigns.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Cesar Cruz, president of the Philippine Tour Operators Association (Philtoa), said the “Tourism Promotions Board [TPB] only went full blast in its promotions last year. The phasing of the promotions was very slow; they’re only coming out now. It should have been dynamic and continuous, but there was a long gap from the ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ [brand campaign launched in 2011] to its destination-based promotions. Now they are coming out with 20 destinations [to market abroad].”

See “Tourism,” A8

PHL to seek fresh $1.6-B assistance from ADB

By Cai U. Ordinario

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he national government aims to start discussions with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the funding of 11 new projects targeted for implementation beginning 2016.

Documents obtained from the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) showed that the projects may be financed by about $1.6 billion worth of ADB loans.

Around five projects will be processed in 2017; three in 2016; one between 2016 and 2017; and two in 2018 and beyond.

The five projects to be discussed in 2017 are the $250-million Addressing the Youth Unemployment Challenge undertaking and the $200-million Leyte-Mindanao Interconnection Transmission Project.

See “Assistance,” A2

n UK 71.8281 n HK 5.7976 n CHINA 7.3484 n singapore 34.8338 n australia 39.1331 n EU 56.1326 n SAUDI arabia 11.9862 Source: BSP (4 November 2014)

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Wednesday, November 5, 2014

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PCCI backs Calax deal rebidding Continued from A1

said. “Also, the rebidding could start from a floor price of P20.1 billion because the market value of the Calax project has already been established by the San Miguel offer,” the businessman said.

President Aquino is expected to rule on the petitions of the foodto-infrastructure firm and Team Orion soon.

The most diversified conglomerate in the Philippines asked Mr. Aquino, who is the nephew of SMC Chairman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., to declare its bid compliant and accept the offer to finally get the construction going. The head of state will decide whether to award the project to any of the two groups or to stage a rebidding.

He earlier announced his inclination to rebid the deal, citing a conundrum on the bids, as SMC’s proposal was P8.5 billion higher than that of Team Orion. This caused an uproar in the business community, with a number of foreign and local chambers tagging the possible rebidding as “ill-advised.”

Five international chambers and three local business groups warned the President that his cornerstone infrastructure thrust stands to lose its billing as one of the best programs around the globe should it pursue the rebidding of the multibillion-peso expressway.

The deal has been in limbo for four months now due to a petition for reconsideration filed by the disqualified bidder.

But, despite the uproar from business groups, Palace Spokesman Edwin S. Lacierda signaled that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is already setting up a date for the new tender.

He told the B usinessM irror that a date is yet to be determined for the rebidding.

The project is a 47-kilometer thoroughfare that would start from the Manila-Cavite Expressway in Kawit, Cavite, and end at the South Luzon Expressway (Slex)-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna. It would consist of nine interchanges and a toll barrier before the Slex.

The third PPP project under the DPWH, the expressway is seen to decongest traffic along the Cavite-Laguna road network.

Construction of the multibillion-peso expressway is seen to start by October next year. It is expected to be completed by September 2017.

which warned the government that the administration’s PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) Program would lose its credibility if the project is rebid.

Rebidding the much-coveted deal, however, means the government must reject three compliant bids received during the tender period.

Team Orion, a consortium, led by Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Land Inc., submitted what was deemed as the highest-complying bid of P11.6 billion in premium, while rival San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. supposedly submitted a P20.1-billion premium offer, which was disqualified due to a defective bid security.

Optimal Infrastructure was debarred from the auction as its guarantee was four days short of the required cover period.

“This was a minor technicality that should not lead to disqualification and should be the government’s own lookout to determine if it was to the country’s best interest to consider a technicality as not material to the financial bid,” Yao pointed out.

“This technicality would deprive the government of the P8.45-billion difference between the San Miguel bid and the accepted bid of only P11.65 billion [made by Team Orion],” he added.

The bid documents of SMC were returned to the firm during the opening of the financial proposals for the thoroughfare deal. It was opened in front of the media on the same day, showing that it bore a P20.1-billion premium offer.

“In contrast with the minor technical disqualification, the bidding rules of the Calax project had been changed four days before to allow two more competitors to join the bidding,” Yao said.

He also noted that the government must first review and reform the bidding process of all PPP projects in the pipeline to “finally remove technical disqualifications that tend to favor one bidder over the other.”

“The chamber proposed that rebidding of the Calax project should be under the reformed rules of the PPP project bidding,” the chamber

Assistance. . . continued from a1

The list also includes the $100-million Metro Manila Waste Water Improvement Project and the $200-million Food Security project.

It also includes the $350-million Local Government Finance and Fiscal Decentralization Reform Program, Subprogram 2. However, the government will only seek a $200-million loan from ADB and the additional $150 million will be sourced from the French Development Agency. In 2016 the projects to be proposed for ADB funding include the $200-million Enhancing Rural Enterprise and Rural Employment Program.

The list also includes the $300-million Education Improvement Sector Development Program Phase 2 and the $70-million Davao Public Transport Modernization Project.

The project to be discussed between 2016 and 2017 is the $97-million

Solid Waste Management Sector Project. However, only $70 million will be proposed for ADB funding.

In 2018 and beyond, the government intends to discuss two projects with the ADB: the Integrated Water Resource Management Project and the Strengthening Inclusive Growth through Road Infrastructure Improvement.

The two projects, which will be implemented in Mindanao by the Department of Public Works and Highways, still do not have cost estimates based on the Neda documents.

In 2013 the Neda reported that the country’s total ODA portfolio amounted to $12.05 billion, consisting of 77 loans ($9.09 billion) and 503 grants ($2.97 billion).

NOV 7

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

TODAY’S WEATHER

NOVEMBER 5, 2014 | WEDNESDAY

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is the result of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere tradewind convergence; widespread cloudiness, occasional thunderstorms, precipitation and moderate to strong surface winds are associated weather conditions.

NOV 8

SATURDAY

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTINGNORTHERN LUZON.

NOV 7

25 – 32°C

25 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

FRIDAY

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SATURDAY

23 – 31°C

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METRO CEBU

TUGUEGARAO

23 – 30°C

23 – 31°C

22 – 31°C

TACLOBAN

25 – 31°C

25 – 32°C

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23 – 32°C

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TAGAYTAY CITY 21 – 29°C

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BAGUIO

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METRO DAVAO

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25 – 31°C

25 – 31°C

25 – 32°C

ZAMBOANGA

TUGUEGARAO CITY 22 – 30°C BAGUIO CITY 16 – 22°C

24 – 32°C

TAGAYTAY

22 – 29°C

22 – 30°C

LEGAZPI ILOILO/ BACOLOD 25 – 32°C

TACLOBAN CITY 25 – 31°C

METRO CEBU 25 – 31°C CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 23 – 31°C ZAMBOANGA CITY 25 – 32°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD

25 – 32°C

25 – 33°C

SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

5:52 AM

5:26 PM

4:00 AM

4:12 PM

21 – 29°C

LEGAZPI CITY 25 – 31°C

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

NOV 6

THURSDAY

(AS OF NOVEMBER 4, 5:00 PM)

LAOAG CITY 25 – 32°C

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 24 – 31°C

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

METRO MANILA

LAOAG

METRO MANILA 24 – 30°C

NOV 7

FRIDAY

INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE (ITCZ) AFFECTING MINDANAO.

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

SBMA/CLARK 25 – 30°C

NOV 6

THURSDAY

25 – 33°C

HALF MOON FULL MOON

SOUTH HARBOR

OCT 30

10:48 PM

23 – 31°C

23 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

NOV 7

6:06 AM

CELEBES SEA

2:44 AM

0.18 METER

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

25 – 32°C

25 – 33°C

25 – 33°C

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rain showers.

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SABAH

8:58 PM

0.87 METER

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms

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

METRO DAVAO 24 – 32°C

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Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Wednesday, November 5, 2014 A3

Military files disbarment charge against Roque

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HE military formally pushed on Tuesday for the disbarment of lawyer Harry Roque over the incident on October 22 that saw two of his clients entering a secured facility inside Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo by climbing its fence.

In a statement, the Armed Forces said it has filed a verified complaint of disbarment before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines against Roque, who had earlier expressed his willingness to face whatever charges that the military will file against him.

“As a lawyer, Roque is, at all times, subject to the watchful public eye and community approbation,” the military said.

“He is bound to maintain and live up to the standards of the legal profession not only in keeping a high regard of legal proficiency, which he undoubtedly possesses, but also of distinct high regard for morality, honesty, integrity and fair dealing,” it added.

In initiating the disbarment of Roque, a known lawyer, the military said it wanted the lawyer to be accountable not only for the acts of his clients, but even himself, as reportedly shown by the incident on October 11.

Roque is the counsel for the family of

transgender woman Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, who was allegedly killed by American Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton. The American is currently detained at the Joint US Military Advisory Group (Jusmag) facility inside Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

Camp Aguinaldo is host to the Armed Forces General Headquarters, the Department of National Defense, as well as the headquarters of various military service and support units, like the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces.

Roque is also the lawyer of Laude’s German fiancée, Marc Sueselbeck.

Together with Roque, a group that included Sueselbeck and Laude’s sister Marilou entered Camp Aguinaldo on October 22, but upon reaching the Jusmag area, the German and the woman climbed the fence of the facility, demanding to see Pemberton.

Both later apologized, but the Bureau of

Sandigan allows Arroyo to attend grandson’s wake

T ROQUE

Immigration initiated deportation proceedings against Pemberton, who was eventually deported. The military cited Roque over his acts and that of his clients.

“As a lawyer, he must bring honor to the legal profession by faithfully performing his duties to society, and he must refrain from doing any act that might lessen the confidence and trust reposed by the public in the fidelity, honesty and integrity of the legal profession,” it said.

“His unlawful conduct is clearly prohibited under the rules of the Code of Professional Responsibility,” it added.

Roque said he would readily face the proceedings while, at the same time, preparing charges against military officials, including the Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang. Rene Acosta

HE Sandiganbayan First Division on Tuesday allowed former President Gloria MacapagalArroyo to attend the wake of her 13month-old grandson who died on Sunday of a congenital heart disease.

In a two-page resolution, Sandiganbayan First Division Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz denied Arroyo’s request to be placed under house arrest for nine days, but instead allowed her to visit the wake for a few hours for six days.

On Tuesday Arroyo asked the court to allow for a nine-day house arrest to visit the wake of Jorge Alonzo “Jugo” ArroyoBernas, the son of her only daughter, Luli Arroyo-Bernas.

The resolution added that the lawmaker may only stay for the wake from 12 noon to 10 p.m., from November 4 to 9 and on November 10, she will be allowed to stay at the Santuario de San Antonio Columbarium from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the burial of her grandson.

The court also directed the National Police chief, Director General Alan LM Purisima, in coordination with court sheriffs, to provide adequate personal escorts and security measures in all movements and dispositions of accused Arroyo.

The resolution said Arroyo shall be transported from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City to her residence in North Forbes Park, Makati City, where the wake was being held.

The resolution also said Arroyo will shoulder the expenses of her transfer procedures.

The court, however, prohibited the former president from using cellular telephones, the Internet, as well as granting interviews with the media.

Currently, the former president, who is appealing for humanitarian consideration owing to her deteriorating health condition, is under hospital arrest at the VMMC in Quezon City. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Economy BusinessMirror

A4 Wednesday, November 5, 2014 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Palace moves to fast-track Yolanda-rehab projects

By Butch Fernandez

be done and is thankful for the assistance from other countries, as well as private and civil-society organizations. “Ito ay malawakang programa na kinakailangang mag-ambag ang lahat ng mga Pilipino.”

Coloma told Palace reporters, however, that “there are no definite plans yet” when asked if Mr. Aquino was planning to visit the “hardest-hit” areas in the Visayas on the tragedy’s first anniversary late this week.

“But we will announce further updates on the ‘Yolanda’ commemoration as these are finalized,” Coloma said, promising Palace reporters that, “We will give you periodic updates.”

Coloma added that the Palace was also checking with the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council about a verified death-toll list, as well as the total number of missing persons reported after the tragedy.

“As you know, there is still an ongoing process of identification of the remains of the victims, which is being led by the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] and they are conducting DNA and other related tests. So this is an ongoing process because we would like to be able to honor the memory of all those who perished in the calamity,” Coloma said.

He pointed out the enormity of the recovery and rehabilitation efforts in recalling that Yolanda was the strongest typhoon to hit land ever causing the most serious calamity in affected areas.

“Malawak at malalim ang naging

pinsala nito, apektado ang 171 munisipalidad at siyudad sa 14 na lalawigan sa anim na rehiyon, at maraming mga pamilya ang nawalan ng tahanan at marami din ang namatay,” he noted. “Sa pamantayan ng mga ahensya sa daigdig na tumutugon sa relief and rehabilitation, ang transition ng Pilipinas mula sa relief patungo sa rehabilitation ay nagsimula noong buwan ng Hulyo 2014 o walong buwan pagkatapos ng kalamidad. Ito ay maihahambing sa pamantayan sa ibang lugar sa daigdig na kung saan ay mula isang taon hanggang lampas sa isang taon ang panahon na iginugol bago maka-level up doon sa estado ng rehabilitation mula sa relief.”

President Aquino’s AO 44 affirmed that the Yolanda resettlement cluster has determined “the need to streamline, coordinate and fast-track the process and requirements for the issuance of permits, certifications, clearances and licenses for housing and resettlement projects in Yolanda-affected areas by the concerned national and local government agencies.

It prompted the Palace directive for concerned agencies to designate “responsible officers” for each affected province and “to the extent allowed by law, delegate to them sufficient authority to facilitate processing and issuance of necessary permits, certifications, clearances and licenses” for housing and resettlement projects within a 50-kilometer radius as identified by the Office of the Presidential Assistant of Recovery and Rehabilitation.

Bid opening, submission for DND’s P4.9-B CAS project moved back to December 15

NGCP seeks ERC OK for Agus 2’s P570-M upgrade

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alacaÑang on Thursday moved to cut red tape and speed up processing of permits and licenses for housing and resettlement projects in typhoondevastated areas amid complaints by disgruntled Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) victims protesting delayed government action to their plight nearly a year since the killer typhoon ravaged Tacloban and nearby regions.

This developed as the Palace disclosed on Tuesday that President Aquino had issued Administrative Order (AO) 44, dated October 28, requiring concerned government agencies to “streamline the process of issuing permits, certifications, clearances and licenses for housing and resettlement projects in Yolanda-affected areas.”

The Palace order, likewise, directed “all government agencies

T

he Department of National Defense (DND) has announced that it has rescheduled the November 5 submission and opening of bids for its P4.9-billion close-air support (CAS) aircraft project to December 15.

Six ground attack planes are expected to be acquired under this program.

The new aircraft will complement the Philippine Air Force’s existing Rockwell OV-10 “Bronco” fleet, of which six to eight units are still operational.

Bid opening and submission will be held at 10 a.m. at the DND Bids and

US deficit. . .

continued from A1

The narrowing budget deficit has bought time for lawmakers to solve longterm threats to the economy, such as the cost of retirement benefits. Gregory Valliere, chief political strategist for Potomac Research Group, said the fiscal relief may be short-lived as austerity-weary lawmakers eventually boost spending on defense and other programs.

“I can see the beginnings of a pendulum shift away from fiscal restraint,” he said.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in August predicted the deficit will shrink further this fiscal year to 2.6 percent of the GDP before rising to 2.9 percent in the presidential election year of 2016. Before the fourth quarter of 2008, the last time the deficit-to-GDP share reached 2.8 percent was in April 2005, the data show.

Debt auctions

The reprieve is enabling the government to reduce the amount of debt sold in the short term.

The Treasury on Monday said its borrowing this quarter will decline to the least for the October-to-December period since 2007. The department made the projection in Washington ahead of its quarterly refunding announcement on Wednesday.

Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc., said the fiscal improvement has muted the political debate over the budget ahead of on Tuesday’s midterm congressional elections.

“The bigger problem with the budget is really the long-term pressure and has to

concerned to observe the same” with a warning that sanctions would be imposed for noncompliance.

Asked about the reported clamor by the group People Surge-Tacloban, whose members are planning to stage protests to mark the first anniversary of the tragedy on November 7 and 8, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. explained that Mr. Aquino and his Cabinet officials concerned are doing all that needs to

Awards Committee Conference Room, Basement Right Wing, DND Building, Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

“Based on the present schedule of both the Special Bids and Awards Committee [SBAC]-1 and the Philippine Air Force Technical Working Group, the new schedule of bid submission and opening is the most convenient date to conduct the said procurement activity,” SBAC-1 Chairman DND Undersecretary Fernando Manalo said.

CAS refers to the capability to provide air support to infantry and naval units in contact with the enemy forces.

Funding for this weapon system will be sourced from the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program.

Manalo earlier said the contract includes integrated logistic support system.

Winning bidders must be able to deliver the aircraft within 540 calendar days from contract effectivity.

Participants in the DND’s CAS project must have completed a similar program within the last 10 years.

Manalo said the CAS aircraft must be used by the countries offering and manufacturing them. PNA

do with the retirement of the baby-boom generation,” Brown said.

The CBO’s baseline budget predicts spending on mandatory programs, including Social Security and Medicare, will expand by 72 percent to $3.63 trillion in 2024 from $2.11 trillion this year. That would raise the budget deficit as a proportion of GDP back to 3.6 percent, according to the CBO.

fixed-income investors,” said Davis, whose firm is the largest mutual-fund manager with about $2.64 trillion in assets. “The US has been, for years, a special case because it’s the international reserve currency.

But that right is neither permanent nor preordained.”

Economists cautioned against doling out any credit in Washington for the improving budget numbers, given that political leaders failed to reach any broad compromise over long-term spending issues.

Disagreement between Republican and Democratic leaders led to a government shutdown in October 2013.

“I see nothing to celebrate that we’ve wasted five years and didn’t deal with the problem we know is coming,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economist and former director of the Congressional Budget Office who advised Republican candidate John McCain during the 2008 presidential election.

Low rates

Concern over the long-term outlook for the deficit hasn’t hurt the government’s ability to borrow more cheaply than it has in the past. Yields on 30-year Treasuries have averaged 3.4 percent this year, compared with 6.09 percent over the past three decades.

Joe Davis, chief economist at Vanguard Group Inc. in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, said neither the low current deficit nor the longer-term outlook for bigger shortfalls have had a big impact on Treasuries because those are outweighed by other influences, including the Federal Reserve’s (the Fed) loose monetary policies and the strength of the US relative to other economies.

The Fed has held its benchmark interest rate at zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008. Expectations have increased that the Fed will raise rates in the middle of 2015 just as investors worry about slowing growth and potential deflation in Europe, pushing the European Central Bank in the opposite direction to the Fed.

Strong dollar

That has helped the dollar strengthen about 11 percent against the euro in the past six months.

“Clearly the level of debt matters for

Ratings downgrade

Citing political gridlock over the country’s fiscal future, Standard & Poor’s lowered the country’s AAA credit rating one level to AA+ in August 2011, saying a deficit-cutting plan signed by President Barack Obama fell short of what was necessary “to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics.”

Investors ignored the downgrade as the yield on 10-year Treasuries ended 2011 at 1.88 percent, 68 basis points lower than on the day of the downgrade.

Surprisingly strong economic growth is helping to reduce the deficit by boosting tax revenue and reducing the cost of social programs, such as on food stamps and unemployment insurance. Bloomberg News

T

By Lenie Lectura

HE NATIONAL Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is seeking approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to undertake a P569.19-million upgrading project of the Agus 2 switchyard in a bid to improve the service capacity of the Agus hydroelectric power plants (HEPPs).

Hydroelectric power is the main source of electricity in the Mindanao grid. A large portion is supplied by the Agus 1 and 2 HEPPs with the total installed capacity of 260 megawatts.

The said switchyard is a very important gateway for the transmission of the combined generated power capacities of the HEPPs to the Mindanao grid. Thus, outage from any of the HEPP or the switchyard itself is very critical to the stability of the power supply in Mindanao.

It is the responsibility of the NGCP to ensure the reliable operation of the switchyard in order for the HEPPs to fully perform its vital role to the Mindanao grid.

Lately the switchyard has been showing frequent breakdowns due to age. Also, the scarcity of the spare parts is a constraint in the repair of the switchyard. “Thus, in order for NGCP to ensure reliability of the switchyard, the ERC must allow upgrading and rehabilitation thereof,” the grid operator said. “NGCP seeks authority from this commission for the immediate implementation of the Agus 2 switchyard upgrading project aimed, among others, to prevent imminent outage of Agus 1 and 2 HEPPs.” NGCP proposed to undertake the rehab in two phases. Phase 1, which is expected to be completed in 2015, involves renovation and expansion of existing control building, replacement of obsolete devices and telecom equipment. Phase 2, which is expected to be completed in 2017, involves civil, mechanical and electrical works.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Economy BusinessMirror

Lawmaker: Coloma now spokesman of the House?

‘S

INCE when did Congress become an extension of Malacañang?”

Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay posed this question in reaction to the statement of Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr., who said that there was no railroading in the House’s passage of the proposed 2015 national budget.

“Since when did the presidential spokesman become the spokesman also for Congress?” he said.

Atienza also questioned why Coloma would want to defend something that was done in clear violation of the Rules of Congress.

“I cannot understand why Secretary Coloma, who has to deal with a lot of problems and issues confronting the Palace, would even have time to speak in behalf of Congress,” Atienza said. “It is totally frustrating and disappointing, to say the least. This is in clear violation of the procedures of the House, and displays their eagerness to become rubber stamps of Malacañang. Secretary Coloma’s statement clearly shows this.”

Last week despite protests from minority lawmakers the House of Representatives approved the proposed P2.606-trillion national budget on third and final reading.

At least 198 members of the lower chamber have voted, through nominal voting, to pass the House Bill 4968, or the 2015 General Appropriations Bill, before Congress takes two-week break from November 1 to 16.

Meanwhile, 18 lawmakers which include Atienza; ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio; Bayan Muna Reps. Neri Colmenares and Isagani Zarate; Gabriela Women’s Party-list Reps. Luz Ilagan and Emmi de Jesus; Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon, United Nationalist Alliance Rep. Toby Tiangco of Navotas; and Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz of Abakada voted against the passage of the budget bill.

In addition, Atienza assailed the House leadership, specifically House Deputy Speaker Carlos Padilla and Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, whom he accused of banking on the tyranny of numbers to force a vote and railroad the passage of the budget.

“I am accusing Deputy Speaker Carlos Padilla and Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II of having approved the budget in an irregular manner. I had never alluded to the Palace in any of my statements regarding the passage of the 2015 budget in th House of Representatives,” Atienza said.

“The budget was given to us [lawmakers] one hour before the session and we were not allowed to ask questions on the floor. We tried our very best to ask questions on the floor pertaining to details of the errata and changes in the budget before the voting was done. But Speaker Padilla did not allow us to state our objections to the motion. He did not even give us a chance, acting in total disregard of the rules of the House, of decency and parliamentary procedures,” he added. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

ERC grants Transco 4 centavos/kWh FIT allowance beginning Jan 2015

T

he Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has granted the National Transmission Corp. (Transco) a provisional authority to implement the feed-in-tariff allowance (FIT-All) rate of 4 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh) effective January next year billing of all on-grid electricity consumers.

The provisional authority will allow Transco to perform its duties as a fund administrator and pay the renewable-energy (RE) developers on time their entitled FIT rate, thereby allowing continued production of RE electricity.

The FIT-All is a uniform charge akin to the universal charge that is imposed on all on-grid electricity consumers who are supplied with electricity through t he d i st r ibut ion or t ra nsm i ssion network.

The FIT-All is essential to the implementation of the FIT system as established under Section 7 of Republic Act 9513, otherwise known as the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (RE law).

ERC establishes and sets the FIT-All on an annual basis, taking into account the following cost items: a) the forecasted annual required revenue of the eligible RE plants; b) the previous year’s over or under recoveries; c) the administration costs;

d) the forecasted annual electricity sales; and e) such other relevant factors to ensure that no stakeholder is allocated with additional risks in the implementation of the FITs. On July 27, 2012, the ERC approved four kinds of initial FIT rates under ERC Case 2011-006 RM and Resolution 10, Series of 2012, entitled “Resolution Approving the Feed-in-Tariff Rates.” The initial FIT rates were P8.53/kWh on wind technology; P6.63/kWh for biomass; P9.68/kWh for solar; and for hydropower at P5.90/kWh. On November 19, 2012, the ERC issued Resolution 15, Series of 2012 designating Transco as the FIT-All fund administrator tasked with the establishment, management, administration, disbursement and settlement (through a government trustee bank) of the FIT-All Fund.

“The setting of the FIT allowance signals the start of the implementation of the FIT system. We anticipate that with the FIT system in place, there will be more and more renewable-energy companies investing and thus develop the renewableenergy industry. We all should view with optimism these changes brought about by the development, utilization and commercialization of RE technologies so that we can have a clean and energized future,” ERC Chairman Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut said. PNA

briefs

League of cities VOWS SUPPORT TO K TO 12’s SHS PROGRAM

OMBUdsman indicts former cavite gov maliksi for graft The Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday said it found probable cause to charge with graft before the Sandiganbayan former Cavite Gov. Erineo “Ayong” Maliksi for the alleged irregular procurement of medicines worth P2.5 million.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, in a recent joint resolution, denied Maliksi’s motion to reconsider the office’s earlier resolution dated July 8.

According to the Ombudsman, the province of Cavite entered into a memorandum of agreement in February 2003 with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for the purchase of medicines under a P10-million grant, the first tranche of which amounting to P2.5 million was released to the province of Cavite on February 4, 2003. The case stemmed from the complaint filed by then Vice Gov. Juan Victor Remulla.

“It found that no public bidding was conducted and the supporting documents [Purchase Request, Purchase Order, and Inspection and Acceptance Report] show that the procurement was made three months prior to the release of the first tranche,” the office said. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

The League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) recently passed a resolution “expressing support for the upcoming implementation of the Senior High School [SHS] Program under the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum in 2016.”

The resolution supports the upcoming implementation of the SHS Program by entering into a partnership with The Asia Foundation to “champion the establishment of coalitions that support SHS initiatives”; identify 10 cities that will form the national coalition of SHS-supportive cities that “are willing to allocate local budget to support SHS implementation.”

The resolution was proposed by Mayor Agustin Ernesto G. Bascon, who was also designated as the focal mayor for SHS. The resolution was signed by Marikina Mayor Del de Guzman, LCP secretary-general; and Quezon City Mayor and LCP National President Herbert Bautista.

Each member of the coalition will undergo training and mentorship on SHS planning and budgeting, and will be assisted “in establishing local multistakeholder task forces for SHS implementation and in tapping national government allocation for SHS facilities.”

The initiative is supported by the Coalitions for Change Program in Basic Education funded by the Australian Embassy— The Asia Foundation Partnership in the Philippines.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014 A5

CCT Program in PHL ‘model’ for Asia, Pacific

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By Cai U. Ordinario

he World Bank said countries in the Asia and the Pacific could look to the Philippines’s Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) Program as a model to boost their social-protection systems to better prepare and respond to disasters.

The Washington-based lender said better social-protection systems will likely boost recovery efforts in disaster-affected areas, especially in Asia and the Pacific which is prone to disaster and climate risks.

“The Philippines provides a rich experience for other countries facing similar challenges with disaster and climate risks. It is encouraging to see the government’s commitment to this agenda and to continually improve its existing social-protection systems by making it resilient to disaster, while ensuring that it responds rapidly to the consequences of disasters,” World Bank Country Director for the Philippines Motoo Konishi said.

“To do this, the Department of Social Welfare and Development [DSWD] has converged its three flagship programs—conditional cash transfer, community-driven development and livelihood support—to make them an effective tool in making households more resilient to disasters,” he added.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said Supertyphoon Yolanda, which struck Central Philippines a year ago on November 13, 2013, was a game changer, especially in social protection.

Soliman said that in the wake of Yolanda, the DSWD was able to mobilize social services and other government assistance through

the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction used in identifying CCT recipients.

In this way, the national government was able to combine CCTs with disaster riskmanagement tools and were able to immediately enroll the affected CCT recipients for emergency-employment programs and other post-disaster programs.

“The typhoon was a game changer; it tested the resiliency of our people and stretched the government disaster-response system and social-protection structures to the limit,” Soliman said.

“The database of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction helped us in identifying families that could be enrolled for various rehabilitation programs, such as the cash-for-work and cash-for-asset rebuilding,” she added.

The World Bank said that countries can better respond to the needs of the poor and disaster-affected communities by linking social-protection programs and disasterreduction management efforts.

The bank said it is important for countries to also provide the technical infrastructure needed to bring help to communities that have been or are prone to being affected by disasters.

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

Harnessing the forces of agglomeration

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ETROPOLITAN Manila is so dominant in the Philippines’s political, economic and cultural life that it has been sarcastically called “Imperial Manila” by commentators from other parts of the country. Consider: In 2013 Metro Manila contributed 37.2 percent of the country’s gross regional domestic product, while the next leading growth poles—Region 4A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces, or Calabarzon), Region 3 (Central Luzon), Metro Cebu and Metro Davao—only contributed a total of 35.4 percent. Metro Manila is also the country’s seat of government, as well as the hub of its social and cultural life.

What raises the tempers of these commentators, however, is less the National Capital Region’s economic, political and cultural preeminence, and more its demands on the national budget. Metro Manila swallows up something like one-half of national expenditures, leaving very little for everybody else.

A bit of agglomeration economics will help make the matter understandable. The major portion of the budget goes to Metro Manila, simply because this is where the need for it is greatest, and because this is where the huge and not-so-huge corporations of the industrial and commercial world have “agglomerated.” Their clustering together enables them to reap greater benefits—of decreasing costs, for instance—than if they are standing alone. Their requirements for power, water, transport and communications facilities and networks, among other things, are simply enormous.

The multitude of workers they attract form part of the agglomeration. The need of these people for health, educational, social, cultural and recreational facilities also seems limitless.

While many of these facilities and networks will be provided by the private sector through the normal workings of the market, some must be provided by the public sector, and this requires appropriation from the government budget.

Is there no end to agglomerative expansion? There is. Air and water pollution, traffic gridlocks and crowd congestion, to mention a few of the banes of urban life, can bring agglomeration to a halt. People and their organizations may refuse to be victimized by these disamenities and decide to move to more congenial areas. This has happened to many great agglomerations in various parts of the world, and it appears that this is now beginning to happen in Metro Manila.

Commentators and local government officials need not wait for the breakdown of agglomeration forces of Metro Manila or rely on the power of sarcasm to shift the center of gravity to their own communities. Local governments can begin attracting the forces of agglomeration latent in their surroundings, nearby and distant, by improving the physical conditions of their communities—through urban planning, for example—and highlighting profit-making opportunities in their communities by holding trade fairs, business conferences, seminars and other related activities. Once they do this, the forces of agglomeration are sure to channel themselves to these new growth areas.

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SSS Candon branch: A gateway to the north Susie G. Bugante

All About Social Security

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N October 31 the Social Security System (SSS) inaugurated its newest branch in Candon City, Ilocos Sur province, as part of its efforts to bring its services closer to its members and make these accessible to as many people as possible. This time, the SSS is making it more convenient for Ilocos Sur residents to acccess these services when it established an office in what is known as the “gateway to the north.”

The past years have seen the SSS breaking ground in new locations, expanding and improving existing branches, and opening offices in high traffic areas, such as shopping malls, as this is in keeping with its desire to improve on its services and be where its members are. The opening of its branch in Candon is also in keeping with its commitment to open at least 24 new offices in the country this year.

Having a new office in Candon was an auspicious undertaking for the SSS, especially in view of the city’s impressive growth in terms of business and economic activities, as well as in employment, thanks, in part, to the administration of Mayor Ericson Singson.

According to Wikipedia, Candon is a fourth-class city in Ilocos Sur, and is dubbed the “Tobacco Capital of the Philippines” for being the

country’s largest producer of Virginia-type tobacco. As the district center of southern Ilocos Sur, the city plays a vital role in the development of adjacent municipalities.

Prior to the opening of this branch, SSS members in Ilocos Sur would transact with either the SSS office in Vigan City or in La Union province.

The Candon branch is mandated to provide social-security coverage and services to over 1,327 employers there and their respective employees; this is in addition to the more than 7,000 self-employed and voluntary members. Of course, like other SSS branches, Candon is expected to push for the expansion of the AlkanSSSya program among informalsector workers, and of the coverage of household employers and househelp.

This branch is manned by 15 people, including the branch head, who are ready to provide front-line services. These include receiving and screening membership applications, benefit claims, and loan applications; providingimportantSSSinformation and forms; ID data-capture services;

What’s really going on in North Korea

By Paul Fischer Los Angeles Times (TNS)

I

T was a news story that read like the plot of a Peter Sellers or Mike Myers film: Vertically challenged dictator of a starving populace, overweight and addicted to imported Swiss cheese, falls off his high heels and breaks both ankles. He is sent off for rehabilitation and, in his absence, rivals jostle for preeminence as the world anxiously looks on and speculates.

Rather than the plot of an upcoming movie, this was one story about North Korea when “The Marshal,” Kim Jong Un (military experience: none), the third-generation Kim to rule the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, disappeared from view for weeks.

The international media were feverish with speculation about a possible power shift in Pyongyang.

So-called experts took turns hypothesizing on Kim’s health and his grip on power. When one high-profile North Korean defector suggested that the policy-making unit of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) might have enough influence to occasionally contradict Kim, the mainstream media distorted his words into the announcement of a “coup.” Much of what has been said and written over the last few weeks has muddied the waters, rather than cleared them.

Most experts’ key mistake is to treat each sign from Pyongyang as if it is sent to the international community, when Kim and the WPK have a more urgent audience: their own people. The story for the outside world was Kim’s “disappearance.” For the North Korean people, indications are that the big news was his reappearance, and what he looked like when

he did: thinner and leaning on a cane.

In North Korea image is everything. The Kim family mythology is the foundation of its statehood narrative. A big part of that is that the Kims—the dictator dynasty started with Kim’s grandfather, “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung, and father, “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il—are the purest, most virtuous, most perfect humans, superhuman even. They cannot be shown to be wrong, to be weak, to fail. The state goes to great lengths to maintain this. The goiter on the Great Leader’s neck was airbrushed out of portraits and photos, as were the Dear Leader’s paunch, wrinkles and liver spots.

There is a “longevity institute” in Pyongyang, according to North Korean defectors, where the nation’s top doctors work to try to extend each Kim’s life, using citizens of the same age, build and “physical characteristics” as the leader as guinea pigs. Both the late Kims spent their old age allegedly sleeping with teenage girls and receiving transfusions of the blood of young men in hopes that either act would rejuvenate them. And when the Supreme Leader and Dear Leader died, the party media told the people the Kims died of heart attacks brought on by “heavy

strains” and “overwork”—not death by weakness, but by strength: death caused by too much superhuman striving in the name of the people.

In the West, a head of state breaking an ankle is an accident—at worst, if someone stood nearby with a camera phone, YouTube fodder. In North Korea it is another dangerous tear in the wool thrown over the people’s eyes. It is unprecedented for the party media to acknowledge that a Kim— he of Supreme Leader blood—could be injured or in poor health.

Is it possible, as theorized by some, that the young, inexperienced Kim is only a figurehead for some party unit that holds the true power in Pyongyang, or that there are influential party members working to reform the country? Of course. But it seems equally possible that, out of ignorance, we have whipped up a misguided, dangerous frenzy—dangerous in that it obscures accurate understanding of a rogue state that, after all, has nuclear capabilities— over Kim’s absence. He could well have been kept out of sight simply because his people, who are taught to believe he is a demigod, would be shaken to the core to see him in a wheelchair or on crutches.

We in the West have been repeatedly proved wrong in our predictions about the plucky little dictatorship that could. We just knew, for example, that it would crumble within months after the Berlin Wall fell, and again when Il Sung died. It didn’t. We felt certain that Jong Il, the family black sheep, would never take over; indeed, that father-to-son dynastic rule would never be accepted by a state governed by the principles of socialism.

and, most important, conducting information and coverage drives within its areas of jurisdiction.

The branch’s inauguration was graced by Rep. Eric Singson of the Second District of Ilocos Sur, who welcomed its establishment in his district. He said this branch will make it more convenient for his constituents in Candon and other municipalities in his district to transact with the SSS. The SSS Candon branch is at the Stern Mall complex, along the National Highway, Barangay San Nicolas, Candon City.

For more information about where you can find an SSS branch nearest you, call our 24-hour call center at (632) 920-6446 to 55, Monday to Friday, or e-mail member_relations@sss.gov. ph. The agency’s website is currently unavailable because it is being upgraded.

Susie G. Bugante is the vice president for public affairs and special events of the Social Security System. Send comments about this column to susie-bugante.bmirror@gmail.com.

We even go on calling North Korea a communist or socialist state, when it has long ceased to be either and is, in fact, a military dictatorship run by one family and its cronies.

North Korea is, by all accounts, on the brink of enormous change. It is a failed state, isolated and mostly reliant on foreign aid. It exists in an ideological reality that is anachronistic and contradictory. Discontent is growing, with “illegal” black markets in every town and corruption rampant. Citizens repeat the propaganda they are force-fed, declaring themselves the luckiest people in the world, knowing full well they are not. They have DVDs, VHS tapes and photos, bought from the Chinese, showing them how much more peaceful and affluent four-fifths of the rest of the world is.

They struggle to reconcile the “truths” they are hard-wired to believe with the truths they see with their own eyes. The poor, starving and beaten are fed up. The elite, who know how much more luxurious life is in Japan, China, South Korea or the West, are fed up. The picture we have of North Koreans—homogenous, blindly obedient, brainwashed people—is incomplete, in spite of major news outlets dangerously and inexplicably acting as if it is.

The change, when it comes, will present risk and opportunity for the West. China, South Korea, Russia and Japan will also have an interest. We willfully misunderstand and misrepresent this regime at our peril.

Paul Fischer is the author of the forthcoming book A Kim Jong-Il Production.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

PLDT versus Bayantel The Islamic State’s ideology is grounded in Saudi education

By Emile Nakhleh

Lito U. Gagni

Inter Press Service

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ASHINGTON, D.C.—According to an article published in Al-Monitor on October 21, the Islamic State (IS) has issued new regulations for the school systems under its control in Iraq and Syria. The announced purpose of the so-called guidelines, which carried the imprimatur of the group’s “Amir al-Mu’minin”—presumably leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—is to “eradicate ignorance and disseminate Sharia sciences.”

Although the guidelines are extreme, controlling and regressive, some of the key elements in the IS educational program are similar to what one finds in Saudi textbooks, especially those that are taught in Saudi public middle and high schools.

The ideological foundations of Saudi public-school education are based on Wahhabi-Salafi-Hanbali theology.

One key difference focuses on the nation-state. Whereas Saudi education accepts the Saudi and other Arab and Muslim states, with recognized boundaries and national ethos, IS rejects national boundaries within Dar al-Islam, or the Abode of Islam, and individual states. Instead, it calls for one Islamic state or a “caliphate.”

The new guidelines call on teachers to emphasize creationism, reject Darwinism, eliminate music and the arts, teach history from a Sunni Islamic perspective, discard modernity and, of course, segregate the sexes.

Saudi textbooks

MUCH of the IS’s educational “curriculum” finds its roots in Saudi textbooks, especially at the middle-school and high-school levels. Arabic, literature, history, civic education, cultural values and norms of behavior—whether at home or a societal setting—are all taught according to a particular interpretation of Sunni Islam.

The Wahhabi-Salafi-Hanbali interpretation also permeates religion or theology classes, especially those that focus on elements of Sharia, fiqh (jurisprudence), or the Hadith. The biological and physical sciences are taught from a preordained creationist perspective, which rejects modernity in favor of traditionalism.

Science experiments are allowed with the understanding that the doctrine of Tawheed, or “Oneness” of God, permeates the universe. God created everything and every creature. There is no “Big Bang” theory and no evolution of the human, animal or plant species.

Even the geography curriculum discusses the region from an Islamic perspective. For example, kids are taught that the “Zionists” have occupied Palestine illegally; and the Islamic umma, one day, must reestablish Muslim control over Jerusalem, the “Third Qibla” of Islam, to which Muslims turn to pray after Mecca and Medina.

“Israel,” for example, does not appear on maps of the Arab world in Saudi geography textbooks.

The Saudi curriculum, much like what the IS is urging Syrians and Iraqis under its control to teach and preach, imparts to the youth a narrow-minded, conservative and traditional worldview. It is intolerant of other religions, and even of other sects in Islam.

Oftentimes, Shia Muslims are considered “apostates” or “rejectionists,” and could be subject to discrimination and even death. The Shia in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are excluded from key government, defense and nationalsecurity positions.

Young Saudis youth are socialized in public schools on the importance of Islam in the personal, familial, social and national levels. Whenever Islam, as a faith and a territory, is threatened or invaded, Muslims have a duty to launch jihad against the perceived “enemies” of Islam.

Saudi education espouses this ideology, and so do al-Qaeda and the IS. In the last three decades, Muslim young people have participated in large numbers in jihad across the Muslim world, from Afghanistan to Chechnya, and from the Balkans to Iraq and Syria.

The Saudi government participates in the anti-IS coalition, yet, the IS’s jihadist ideology resonates with Saudieducated young people. Their government talks about a possible peace with Israel should it withdraw to the 1967 borders, and, yet, they do not see Israel on the maps in their textbooks.

If young Saudis are taught about the duty of jihad in the face of a “war on Islam,” as Osama bin Laden had

preached for years, and view the IS, rightly or wrongly, as the “defender” of Islam, they can’t understand why their government is fighting on the side of Islam’s “enemies.”

This is particularly poignant, especially since some Saudi clerics have strongly endorsed the type of educational curriculum that is currently being pushed by the IS in Iraq and Syria.

Textbooks play a central role in educating and socializing Saudi young people and many of their teachers.

Many Saudi grade-school teachers do not have a college degree and rely on the textbook to guide them through the course. Those who are college graduates usually receive their degrees from teachers’ colleges, which teach a curriculum heavily imbued with Islamic studies and Arabic language, grammar and literature.

The ministries of education and religious affairs, which are heavily staffed by Salafi Islamists, approve the curriculums and have the final say on what’s taught in schools.

Teachers are not allowed to stray away from the textbook or offer analytic judgments or opinions, either on the material in the text or current issues that might relate to the subject under discussion. Both teaching and learning are done almost by rote memory. No critical thinking is allowed and no logical extrapolation is encouraged.

Teachers and students accept whatever interpretation is offered in the textbooks, especially if such an interpretation is attributed to the Koran, the Hadith or Sharia. Such attributions and religious quotations permeate the textbooks, regardless of the subject matter.

MARKET FILES

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HERE is an interesting subtext in the opposition of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) to the corporate rehabilitation of financially strapped Bayan Telecommunications Inc. (Bayantel), and its subsequent petition for the auction of certain frequencies of the latter. Interestingly enough, the ongoing courtroom battle over it has spawned a host of other issues that were unwittingly exposed and which unerringly showed a better perspective of the real issues at hand.

One of these issues, it would seem, is the ascendancy of Bayantel as a worthy competitor in the industry, thanks, in part, to Globe Telecom’s conversion of the Lopez-led telecommunications company’s (telco) debts, which the Ayala-led firm had acquired. Bayantel has been financially hemorrhaging because of these debts. The fact that the telco could bring into battle its tie-up with its sister company ABS-CBN 2 is, analysts say, the reason for the opposition of PLDT, which, unfortunately, has been losing customers.

Another issue is the legality of PLDT’s own acquisition of Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel) and, before that, of Smart Communications. As PLDT pointed an accusing finger at Bayantel’s corporate rehabilitation and listed the reasons for its opposition, the telco, however, failed to take into account that it was supposed to be subjected

to the same kind of scrutiny that it now hurls at the Lopez-led firm’s rehabilitation.

What PLDT was questioning was the supposed need of that rehabilitation to get congressional approval, since it supposedly involved merging Globe and Bayantel. However, as Globe earlier announced, it and Bayantel would not merge, and that the Lopez-led company would continue to exist separately. PLDT had banked on its interpretation of the congressional franchise that Bayantel got through Republic Act (RA) 7633, which was approved in July 1992.

Interestingly enough, the franchise that Bayantel got required it to go to Congress only when a transfer of the franchise is involved. In the franchises that Digitel and Smart had, as espoused in RA 7678 and 7294, respectively, the need for congressional approval surfaced when there was a change in controlling

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

interest. In the case of these two telcos, there was such a change, as PLDT became the majority owner.

Hence, PLDT has to surmount its very own legal challenge against Bayantel for its earlier acquisitions that went through without so much as a congressional clamor for it to seek a new franchise, as spelled out in both the provisions of the laws that granted the franchise to Smart and Digitel. While no franchise transfer was involved in PLDT’s acquisition of Smart and Digitel, there was a change in controlling interest in both companies.

Thus, PLDT has unwittingly exposed its vulnerability to a congressional challenge. Someone has to take PLDT to where it wants Bayantel to be. That would be karmic justice, since more than 1,000 Bayantel will be rooting on the sidelines of the expected congressional hearing, complemented by a horde of Digitel employees who are questioning their being laid off because of redundancy.

BSP should go for EMV cards

THE huge losses that bank depositors have incurred because of easy-to-copy automated teller machine (ATM) cards should make the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) worry. What’s needed is the so-called Europay MasterCard Visa (EMV) ATM card, which is now the global standard for the preventation of card-skimming, which has victimized many depositors.

No less than Rep. Roman Romulo of Pasig City has sounded the alarm on this matter when he said nearly P400 million were lost to 2,872

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cases of ATM fraud—mainly cardskimming—from 2012 to 2013.

Card-skimming can be easily done in today’s ATMs due to the easy copying of a cardholder’s personal identification number (PIN) and other details in his or her card.

Citing BSP figures, Romulo said that, in 2013 alone, some P220 million in deposits were stolen because of the proliferation of illegal PINcapturing devices on ATMs. He said this amount was P45 million, or 26 percent higher than the P175 million in deposits ripped off in 2012 because of the covert copying of information from the magnetic strip of an ATM card. Clearly, because of these big losses, the BSP would have to embrace EMV cards sooner.

Meanwhile, the move of Electronic Network Cash Tellers (Encash), a private deployer of ATMs, to be the first to fully comply with the use of the EMV chip cards come January 2017 should be lauded. The board of directors of the company—which has more than 300 ATMs nationwide, many of which are in the hinterlands—also deserve high praise, for it has already approved Encash’s adoption of the EMV. Encash is also moving toward its attaining Payment Card IndustryData Security Standard certification as part of efforts to ensure that its ATM users are protected from cardskimming. The forward-looking company earlier passed Visa card standards, allowing foreigners with Visa cards to withdraw from its ATMs. E-mail: hugagni@yahoo.com.

Policy implications

SO what if the educational curriculum of the IS tracks with Saudi education?

Should the United States and other countries do anything about it, and can they?

Several years back, I briefed senior policymakers in the US and other countries on the Saudi curriculum, the jihadist message it transmits to young people and the radicalization that was sure to follow. It was “actionable” intelligence, in that Western diplomats could speak to Saudi leaders about a very specific problem, which they could address.

According to media reports, Saudi officials were amenable to review their textbooks with an eye toward softening the Islamist message. Unfortunately, not much was done.

Saudi clerics objected to any revision of the textbooks on the grounds that non-Muslim outsiders were interfering with religious teachings in the kingdom. Some of them went even further to depict suggestions along these lines as a “conspiracy” against Islam.

Western diplomats, who had pushed the issue, backed off.

Other interests in recent years— including Iran, Iraq, the aftermath of the Arab Spring, counterterrorism, commerce, oil, arming anti-Assad jihadists and, more recently, building a coalition against the IS—have, in all candor, trumped Western interests in “reforming” Saudi textbooks.

I argued in previous articles that, although the IS is defeatable and containable, the ideological root causes must be dealt with. Otherwise, other Islamist terrorist organizations would rise on the ashes of the IS. The latest educational guidelines issued by the IS are a stark example of what’s wrong with our strategic policy planning on the root causes of terrorism. Discussing Saudi textbooks is the first step toward degrading and defeating the IS. Emile Nakhleh is a research professor at the University of New Mexico, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and author of A Necessary Engagement: Reinventing America’s Relations with the Muslim World.

What’s wealth if you can’t count it?

Mark Buchanan

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BLOOMBERG VIEW F the enterprise of economics aims to teach us how best to create and maintain wealth, you would hope that it would, at least, have a means to measure it accurately. Unfortunately, as of yet, it doesn’t even come close.

When people want to know which countries are the richest, they typically look at measures of production or income. The International Monetary Fund, for example, tracks annual gross domestic product (GDP) per person, adjusted for the purchasing power of the dollar. Qatar is on top, with about $146,000 as of end-2013. The United States comes in ninth with $53,000, narrowly beating Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Countries with vast natural resources or big financial centers occupy most of the upper positions.

GDP, however, is far from an ideal indicator.

It reflects the flow of goods and services that a nation produces in a single year. It says nothing about wealth, which is the total store of value that a nation can use to create future income and well-being. Wealth includes physical buildings, machinery, minerals, fuels, clean water, healthy ecosystems, skills, education and good government institutions.

Estimating wealth with GDP is like trying to guess how much money is in a bank by counting

how much goes in and out in a day. Oil-rich countries like Qatar, for example, might be living well, but gradually depleting their natural-resource wealth. Lower-income countries, such as China, might be building infrastructure that will pay dividends for decades to come.

Nations do a horrible job of accounting for how much they have, as opposed to how much they make. As Oxford University researchers Kirk Hamilton and Cameron Hepburn noted in a recent review of efforts to measure real wealth: “Investors would not accept corporate balance sheets of a quality akin to those of many countries.”

Measures of GDP actually provide some insight into how much wealth goes uncounted. As Hamilton and Hepburn argue, wealth ought to generate a return, just as stocks and bonds pay dividends and interest. So if a country can be expected to make, say, $3 a year on each $100 of assets, then a GDP of $30 billion would indicate total wealth of $1 trillion.

Actual national wealth accounts—following the United Nations System of National Accounts, which has been in place since 1947—produce much smaller numbers. This is unsurprising, given

that they ignore such things as human capital, social cohesion, institutions and the immense noncommercial value of natural resources.

The work of creating better measures is decidedly unglamorous, and, yet, perhaps, nothing is more important. It entails finding ways to count the value of intact ecosystems in the natural recycling of waste and in maintaining soil integrity.

It requires quantifying the depletion of capital through the extraction of exhaustible resources, such as minerals or fossil fuels, or the destruction of renewable resources, such as fisheries or forests.

The economists and scientists doing this work might turn out to be the heroes of the future.

Imagine how politicians’ focus on the short term might change if voters paid attention to up-todate measures of real wealth. Governments that failed to invest in education, health or infrastructure—the investments that create wealth in the longer term—would be rightly seen as wealth destroyers, and would be embarrassed by international comparisons.

That’s the dream, at least. Sadly, measures such as GDP still dominate today’s thinking, and probably will for quite some time.

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Inflation likely eased more in October–BSP

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nflation, important because it tells markets, regulators and consumers the pace at which prices rise or fall, was seen moderating further in October, based on forecasts by private economists and by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Particularly for the BSP, inflation averaging 4.4 percent in September was seen as slow as 3.7 percent in October and no faster than 4.6 percent, indicating even more moderate price pressures downstream and providing contrast to that period, when inflation was highest at 4.9 percent.

More moderate inflation outturn in October has practical implications for the $270-billion Southeast Asian economy looking to expand by at least 7 percent in terms of local output or the gross domestic product (GDP) this year, as the event will help the central bank extend

a period of low interest charges to optimize growth.

Economists at the Manila unit of the Dutch financial services giant ING share a moderating view on inflation, saying such would likely range from 4.1 percent to 4.2 percent.

While ING Bank economists hold a tighter view on inflation in October, they acknowledged having taken broad hints from the BSP, whose policy planners forecast next year’s inflation to only 3.9 percent and 2016 inflation scaled back to only 2.8 percent from 3 percent originally.

Forecast inflation derived from a pool of economists and experts polled by Bloomberg financial newswires show similar moderating prices averaging 4.2 percent.

“Based on the downgrades of the BSP’s inflation forecast, especially for 2016 [with an inflation forecast of 2.8 percent from previous 3 percent], inflation risks are easing to the point that risks now are balanced.

This brings the next concern of the BSP to the fore, which is financial stability,” ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said.

“The risks of financial-market volatility eventually affecting the economy and inflation arise from market reaction to FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] guidance on normalization of monetary policy.

Data watch for indications of threat not only to inflation trends but also to financial stability would be the main endeavor of the BSP in the next three to six months. We expect preemptive action from the BSP as guidance form the US Fed turns more hawkish and US economic data indicate improving economy that bring along inflation pressures. In the meantime, we expect the pause of the BSP to extend to first quarter to second quarter 2015,” he quickly added. J. Vallecera

CLARK, SUBIC SEEN AS PHL AEROSPACE INDUSTRY CENTERS C

entral Luzon is seen as the most conducive area for the aerospace industry, particularly Clark in Pampanga and Subic in Zambales, according to Aerospace Industries Association of the Philippines (AIAP) President John T. Lee. In an interview, Lee said that since Clark and Subic have huge land are as, as well as adequate infrastructure, these locations in Central Luzon provide most opportunities for the aerospace industry.

Clark Field in Mabalacat City, Pampanga, has Clark International Airport, where aerospace manufacturer, as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) companies can invest.

On the other hand, the municipality of Subic—having its Port of Subic—is conducive for manufacturers and exporters in the industry.

The Subic area also opens prospects for MRO with its hangar facilities. “Clark has a huge potential because of its area and Subic, which is also used by a lot of companies that may want to invest.

They already have hangars, so these are assets that can be utilized if they come here and invest,” Lee said.

“Subic and Clark are two essential areas that can handle manufacturing and MRO. Clark is one with good land area and length of runway. Clark is very good for MRO companies to locate,” he said.

“Companies that would like to manufacture and export parts can also use Subic as a platform for manufacturing and export to Clark.

The seaport in Subic is also good infrastructure for aerospace.”

The industry group chief noted that the Philippines can be a hub for parts and components manufacturing in Asia, particularly for aircraft interiors.

He said the industry is at its peak nowadays, with huge demands coming from different parts of the globe. But he noted that the largest aircraft demand is in Asia.

However, in order to seize the opportunities of the fast-pace growth of the aerospace industry, the country should have more AS 9100-certified companies.

AS 9100 is a global quality-management system covering the entire aerospace industry, ensuring safety and quality services as the aerospace industry is a high-risk sector.

Currently, the country has 10 AS 9100-certified companies, with additional of three to four companies to be certified next year.

Lee said that having more accredited players in the domestic aerospace industry will also allow the country to expand the supply chain and bridge the supply-chain gaps. PNA

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tourism. . .

continued from a1

Delayed marketing blamed for slowing arrivals growth

He particularly noted that the same could be said of the TPB’s campaign for “Visit the Philippines Year 2015” (VPY 2015). “While the launch was pretty good, the implementation of the plan was kind of late. It may be the correct plan, but it was delayed.”

VPY 2015 is now the anchor marketing campaign of the TPB, and was launched on September 4 at the SMX Convention Center before a large gathering of foreign travel buyers. Cruz, however, clarified that the delay in TPB’s marketing campaigns was not due to the lack of funds, but because of “certain restrictions. The [marketing] funds could not be transferred to the TPB because their organization could not be finalized.”

Formerly the Philippine Convention and Visitors Center, the TPB was created by the Tourism Act of 2009, but its officers and board of directors, which include private-sector representatives, were not appointed until late-2012. As the marketing arm of the DOT, the TPB envisions the Philippines to be among the top destinations in the world by 2020.

SoKor, Taiwan, HK tourists continue to slide

Although South Korea continued to be the top market for tourists, accounting for 24 percent of the total foreign visitors to the Philippines, its visitors this year dipped by 4.7 percent to 783,852. Visitors from Taiwan, likewise, continued to slip at 6.1 percent to 97,004, while those from Hong Kong fell by 12.3 percent to 75,777.

Both markets accounted for 3 percent and 2.32 percent, respectively, of the total visitors pie in the Philippines.

The drops in these markets were fortunately negated by increases in other markets: The US grew by 7.8 percent to 493,338, making it the second-largest source of visitors; followed by Japan, at 310,901 (up 5.95 percent); China, 308,393 (up 6.8 percent); Singapore, 118,382 (up 3.83 percent); Canada, 93,644 (up 11.01 percent); the UK, 90,606 (13.09 percent); Malaysia, 88,701 (up 22.5 percent); and Germany, 48,876 (up 4.5 percent).

“The growth in arrivals could be attributed to the marketing efforts and participation of the country in international travel fairs, as well as tourism-infrastructure development being undertaken,” the DOT said.

For August 2014 alone, visitor arrivals reached 405,970, which was 6.3 percent higher than the arrivals in August 2013. The August 2014 figure, however, was still lower than the 461,383 arrivals peak recorded in January.