Businessmirror april 04, 2015

PENANCE Good Friday was commemorated in Malibay, Pasay City, with processions that include devotees who self-flagellate (left photo) as expressions of penance. Far left photo shows a Pabasa station, a popular Filipino Catholic tradition that involves uninterrupted reading of the Pasyon, an epic narrative of Christ’s Life, Passion, Death and Resurrection. It lasts for several days and ends at 3 p.m. on Good Friday. nonie reyes/stephanie tumampos

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

U.N. Media Award 2008

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A broader look at today’s business

Tuesday, November 2014 Vol.No. 10177 No. 40 Saturday, April 4,18, 2015 Vol. 10

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exports growth to miss govt target as businessmen put expansion plans on hold

Foreign investors still wary of port mess

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he Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) said further improvement is needed to ease congestion at the country’s ports, no matter that Malacañang claimed that the problem has effectively been solved. As a consequence, various investors are wary of introducing new or expanded projects.

“There have been some improvements, but [they have] been quite low. [They’re] not at the level that will give confidence to new projects, or even expansion projects, for our companies now,” Peza Promotions and Public Relations Head Elmer San Pascual said in an interview.

Businesses have been wary of Malacañang’s declaration that the congestion in the country’s main gateways has been solved, given that the influx of goods into the country is at season low. The upcoming peak season, from May to June, should help validate the claim, businesssector personalities have said.

Currently, export-oriented enterprises in the special zones remain hard-pressed to justify to their principals abroad slowed production and decreased exports. These developments helped extinguish any notion of further expansion plans in the Philippines for now.

Efforts to optimize port use in Batangas, San Pascual said, have bettered the situation only minimally, as infrastructure at the port is unsophisticated and less able to accommodate large volumes of cargo.

Considering the hesitance of foreign investors, San Pascual said Peza Director General Lilia B. de Lima anticipates single-digit export growth this year of only 8 percent, effectively a downgrade from the assumed growth of 10 percent.

See “Port mess,” A2

DOTC goes full blast on developing regional airports in Visayas, Mindanao

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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Among the salient features of the legislation is the creation of a TEA in the annual GAA, that would account for the incentives, pinning more accountability to how investment promotion agencies (IPAs) administer and grant such incentives, and providing the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) authority to impose requirements before the award of such perks, among others.

he transportation department has shifted into high gear its plans of developing several of the country’s regional airports— as the term of the current administration nears its conclusion—and wrapped up the initial terms of the auction for at least one major key infrastructure deal, set for preliminary dialogue on Tuesday.

Information from the PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) Center showed that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has finally decided to bundle the five aviation hubs into two separate deals. The first package is composed of the Bacolod-Silay Airport, P20.26 billion; and Iloilo Airport, P30.40 billion; while the second bundle consists of the New Bohol, or Panglao Airport, P2.34 billion; Laguindingan Airport, P14.62 billion; and Davao Airport, P40.57 billion.

The Bacolod Airport, also known as the Bacolod-Silay Airport, commenced operations in 2008 and is one of the recently completed airports in the Philippines with modern facilities. The airport is in Silay City, Negros Occidental, and generally caters to traffic for Negros Island—including Bacolod City—which is one of the most populous cities in the Western Visayas region.

Tourism is one of the main industries in Negros Occidental and is fast growing, with domestic tourists reaching 1.33 million in 2013.

The Iloilo A ir port, on the other hand, is in Cabatuan, province of Iloilo, and is among the top 5 airports in the Philippines in terms of traffic data. It started its commercial

Continued on A2

See “Airports,” A8

PREPARING FOR CHEDENG In preparation for a coming typhoon, billboards on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue have their tarpaulins taken down. Moving west-northwest at 17 kilometers per hour, with maximum sustained winds of 150 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 180 kph, Typhoon Chedeng (international code name Maysak) has weakened slightly as it moves toward the eastern coast of Central and Northern Luzon, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. Chedeng is expected to make landfall over the eastern coast of Aurora and Isabela provinces on Sunday. nonoy lacza

Lawmakers face dilemma over Timta

By Recto Mercene

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he Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (Timta) is one measure that President Aquino had promised to enact before his term ends. Now, with a little more than a year before Mr. Aquino steps down from office, the bill remains mired in controversy.

Timta seeks to promote transparency and accountability in the grant

PESO exchange rates n US 44.7250

and administration of tax incentives to business entities, and private individuals and corporations. Critics, however, pounced on Timta, or House Bill (HB) 2942, authored by Rep. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo of Camarines Sur, for various reasons.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) had also joined the opposition bandwagon. It issued a position paper, asking lawmakers to reconsider HB 2942, while the Joint Foreign

Chambers of the Philippines(JFC) made the same appeal. Their concern was contained in a letter sent in March to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Miro S. Quimbo of the Second District of Marikina City.

Other critics said HB 2942 “contains a bizarre and unique provision that would fix the amount of tax incentives for a given year by adding a ‘tax- expenditure account [TEA]’ to the General Appropriations Act [GAA].”

n japan 0.3726 n UK 66.3182 n HK 5.7687 n CHINA 7.2142 n singapore 32.6055 n australia 34.1256 n EU 48.0570 n SAUDI arabia 11.9238 Source: BSP (1 April 2015)

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Lawmakers face dilemma over Timta tives granted by the government is largely unknown. Without updating our policy tools and monitoring systems, we cannot gauge their effectiveness, nor can we properly calibrate government decisions to optimize our economic growth potentials. The current situation simply will not do,” Finance Undersecretary Jeremias N. Paul Jr. said.

“This lack of information is troubling,” Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said. “We are currently living in an age where data and information are premium commodities for effective decision-making. And yet, our current system forces us to blindly grant tax incentives to investors without understanding its full economic impact.”

JFC and the DTI are opposing the passage of Timta, claiming that it will“hamper the exercise and operations of IPAs, in view of the rigid government budgetary processes in the passage of the appropriation law, as well as the actual implementation of this system.”

Foreign business groups and the DTI had, likewise, warned that it would burden prospective investors, erode the country’s competitiveness, and lead to legal challenges. But the DOF maintains that such fears on Timta are unfounded.

“There is no reason why we cannot show the public the amount of incentives if we assume that we are granting them based on investors’ performance.

The Filipino people have a right to know how and how well their money is being used toward encouraging investment in the country,” Purisima said.

Senate Bill 2669, a consolidation of bills authored by Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senate Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, provides for the monitoring of tax incentives with the creation of a Tax Incentives Information (TII) section in the annual Budget of Expenditures and

Continued from A1

The DTI had warned that Timta could open the incentives-granting process to legal challenges. Specifying the amount of incentives, insofar as these are construed as subsidies, could also violate the country’s commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), it added. Moreover, giving Congress the power to grant the amount of incentives could weaken the administration of the perks and “hurt” the country’s competitiveness. The latest government data show that foreign-investment pledges dropped by more than onefourth in the final three months of 2014.

JFC has backed the DTI’s position on the bill, warning that the legislation, as is, would hurt the country’s competitiveness as an investment destination. It has argued that the scheme may violate WTO rules.

But contrary to the position of critics and foreign businessmen, officials of the Department of Finance (DOF) said in March that they would push for the immediate passage of the bill and source tax incentives for investors from annual state appropriations.

“Timta, or HB 2492, would bring Philippine fiscal policy to the 21st century by leveraging data on tax incentives to inform a better policy-development process and tax incentives system,” the DOF said.

The DOF said the passage of Timta is consistent with the reform objectives of the Aquino administration.The department said it bolsters transparency and accountability in how resources of the government are foregone for the private sector in the interest of economic development.

The Philippines, the DOF pointed out, remains one of the few countries in the world that cannot measure the total amount of tax perks—which represented losses to government coffers—given to investors.

“The aggregate amount of tax incen-

Sources of Financing (BESF). Angara clarified that the Timta does not, in any way, affect the independence or autonomy of the IPAs or other government agencies to administer incentives granted by law to registered business entities and qualified private individuals or corporations.

Recto, for his part, clarified that the measure will not appropriate tax incentives availed. “The bill merely requires that the incentives be accounted for. It does not tamper with the fiscal incentives presently enjoyed by companies; it only requires that their use be made transparent,” Recto said.

“It does not rescind, nor recall any investment perk; it just obliges companies and the government to record and report it. Why? Because in taxation, it doesn’t mean that when taxes are forgiven, you can already forget about them,” he added.

Recto said the viability of an idea is tested on simulations of its implementation. “This saying is true in legislation, as in cooking: Just because a rose smells better than cabbage should not lead us to conclude that it makes a better soup.”

He said the Philippines offers incentives, or perks, to compensate for its “handicaps.”

“When we have one of the highest power rates in Asia, when our ports are congested, our roads clogged, our airports crammed, and even data travel slow in the information highway, when business is choked with rules, then we try to offset these with tax holidays and the like,” Recto said.

“In short, we indemnify them with incentives,” he added.

The lawmaker said the same privileges are offered to local businessmen, “not because they are Filipinos but because patriotism is soluble in taxes.”In the foreign direct investment (FDI) race in the region, he said, the country lags behind its neighbors.

Citing official data, Recto said that in 2013, the $3.9-billion investments that

flowed into the Philippines pale in comparison to Thailand’s $13 billion, Malaysia’s $12.3 billion and Indonesia’s $18.5 billion.

He said the country’s FDI haul was 1/20th of Singapore’s $64 billion, while Vietnam trounced the Philippines with their $8.9 billion in FDI, which is two-anda-half times bigger than what Manila got.

Recto said it came as no surprise that on a per capita basis, the FDI per Filipino was $13.03 in 2011 compared to Vietnam’s $84.06 and Singapore’s $12,347 FDI per citizen. “Net FDI of the Philippines accounts for 1.12 percent of its gross domestic product, which is the lowest in the region,” he added.

He said he offered the above examples “to underscore the value of investments to our economy and to correct the misinformation that this bill is about making the enjoyment of tax incentives complicated and circuitous.”

Recto said that under the bill, the DOF, in coordination with the BIR and the Bureau of Customs, will create a Tax Incentives Tracking Program, a single database that will capture all data on tax incentives.

“In short, it’s like attaching a GPS on every tax incentive given,” he said.

Recto said registered business entities and qualified private individuals would submit to an IPA or a government agency the amount of tax incentives availed for the year and other data which may be required, like taxes and licenses paid.

A consolidated annual TII would then be submitted to the President and the chairmen of the Committees on Appropriations and on Finance of both houses of Congress as part of the annual BESF, he added. “Only the aggregate data, however, will be shown in the TII portion of BESF. This will include estimated claims of the preceding year, programmed for the present year and forecast for next year,” Recto said. “It will not bean-count the tax

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST APRIL 4, 2015 | SATURDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

TYPHOON “CHEDENG” (MAYSAK) 845 KM EAST SOUTHEAST OF CASIGURAN, AURORA MAX. WINDS: 140 KPH GUSTINESS: 170 KPH MOVEMENT: WEST, NORTHWEST WIND SPEED: 19 KPH (AS OF APRIL 3, 5:00 PM)

Typhoon is used in identyfying a tropical cyclone with wind speeds of 118 - 220 kilometers per hours, equivalent to 32.7 - 61.1 meters per seconds or 64 - 120 knots..

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SABAH

10:53 PM

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

METRO DAVAO 24 – 35°C

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Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers and/or thunderstorms

Stormy

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LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

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Catherine N. Pillas

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Peza is not alone in taking a cautious stand of assuming optimal port operations. Local and foreign business associations have also taken the Malacañang assurance with a grain of salt.

“Hundreds of millions of dollars have been lost due to port congestion and we’re a bit cautious in saying it’s over. Productivity is still low and costs from operations have gone up three to four times since the congestion.

We have to see [for ourselves optimal port operations] in the second half of the year,” the Joint Foreign Chambers said, at the fourth anniversary of the Arangkada Forum held at the beginning of March.

PhilExport President Sergio R. OrtizLuis Jr., in a recent interview, said persistent port congestion slowed down January’s export activities, made even worse by the peso’s strong rally.

“It has eased somewhat, but to say it’s solved is far from reality,” OrtizLuis said of the situation at the ports in question.

The American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines echoed the same sentiment, saying that the increased trade flow at the ports from May to June should reveal if operations have truly been normalized.

In a statement released early in March, Malacañang said that from a port-utilization rate of a high 105 percent in May 2014, rates were now at 79 percent to 84 percent for both the International Containter Terminal Services Inc. and Asian Terminals Inc. The city government of Manila imposed a daytime truck ban in February last year, triggering congestion and causing a chain reaction of increased costs to truckers, shipping lines, and exporting and importing businesses.

The ban was lifted last November.

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Continued from A1

incentives per company,” he added.

But this isn’t only about encoding data in a spreadsheet. The DOF will also evaluate the impact of the tax incentives on the Philippine economy, Recto added.

He said tax incentives, when applied rigorously, should not be seen “from the limited prism of revenue loss, but from a wider vista of jobs generated and other economic opportunities created.”

According to the Batangas lawmaker, the TII is not designed to be a ledger of taxes waived alone. “There are other metrics to be considered, where the standard formula doesn’t apply, like the social good created by a company which had set shop in a rural area where others fear to tread.”

Recto said the argument on Timta should be an all points-of-view assessment, “not just dominated by one school of thought.”

“One agency may see a glass threefourths drained of taxes, while one would see it as one-fourth full. One agency will say that the amount of taxes foregone is big. To which another agency can retort, which would you prefer, getting 10 percent of something or 100 percent of nothing?” he asked. Citing official data, Recto said that in 2011, 4,581 registered firms plunked in P92 billion in investments, exported $3.45 billion worth of goods and employed 162,498.

The flipside is that in the same year, 1,318, or under one-third of the total, used P61.3 billion worth of tax expenditures, of which P45.6 billion was in income-tax holiday claims and P15.7 billion was due to special and preferential rates.

“It is premature to make conclusions out of such a sparse data. As I said, it is a tough balancing act. But before we weigh in with our opinion, we need a database, and this bill creates it. After all, we may be entitled to our own opinions, but not to our own facts,” Recto said.

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Port mess. . .

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BusinessMirror

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Saturday, April 4, 2015 A3

Super typhoon weakens but threat remains

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By Rene Acosta

YPHOON Chedeng (international code name Maysak) has slightly weakened, as it prepared to make landfall over the coast of Aurora and Isabela provinces on Sunday, although weather officials have already put the provinces of Catanduanes and Camarines Sur under Storm Signal No. 1 at noon on Friday.

Still, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) asked officials in the provinces and other areas that would be directly affected by Chedeng to implement their disaster-response plans, including moving their constituents into safer areas. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical

and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the typhoon was located at 700 kilometers east, northeast of Virac, Catanduanes, as of 10 a.m. on Friday.

Chedeng, which has maximum sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour near the center and a gustiness of up to 185 kph, was moving

northwest at the speed of 1 kph, and should be at 555 km east, southeast of Casiguran, Aurora, on Saturday.

The estimated rainfall amount is from moderate to heavy, within the 150-km to 200-km radius of the typhoon.

Storm surges and sea surface waves of up to 2 meters are possible over the eastern coast of Aurora, Quezon, and Isabela provinces, the weather bureau said.

Pagasa said it will make landfall over the coast of Aurora-Isabela by Sunday morning and will exit the country by Sunday evening through the province of Ilocos Sur. Meanwhile, the Army’s Second Infantry “Jungle Fighter” Division has alerted two battalions that will serve as its disaster response units for Chedeng.

The two battalions are equipped with all weather and terrain vehicles, medical teams and disaster relief and rescue equipment, such as life rings, utility ropes, rubber boats, life jackets, chain saws and floating spine boards, among others.

The 1DRU Battalion is composed of officers and men from the division’s Headquarters Service Battalion and units at Camp Mateo Capinpin, the division’s headquarters, while the 2DRU is composed of officers and men from the 16th Infantry Battalion.

Burden for consumers

PARTY-LIST Rep. Neri J. Colmenares of Bayan Muna has called for the implementation of the Free Mobile Disaster Alerts law in the face of the threat of Chedeng to hit the country.

Colmenares authored the law in response to the need for immediate dissemination of typhoon alerts natiownide, as the Philippines suffers an average of 24.2 storms yearly.

“The immediate implementation of this law is needed, considering that Typhoon Chedeng is on its way to hit our country. The Free Mobile Disaster Alerts law will also minimize misinformation, as well as panic, because this would be the official alerts of responsible government agencies concerned. This law

will also penalize misinformation and pranksters for sending false information, especially those that cause panic,” he said.

“The law was signed by President Aquino nearly a year ago, but, until now, it has not been implemented; but what is sad, though, is that we were able to obtain a copy of the National Telecommunications Commission [NTC]-proposed implementing rules for the law and it would be another burden to consumers,” he added.

“Batay sa NTC-proposed IRR [implenting rates and regulations], inilulusot ng telecommuication companies na ang Free Mobile Disaster Alerts Act na kailangan daw ng 30 million subscribers na bumili ng bagong SIM card para makatanggap ng free alerts. Ito ay labag sa probisyon ng batas na ang free alerts ay libre at hindi kailangang gumastos ng subscriber para makatanggap nito,” Colmenares said.

Ferry sinks in Sulu

A PASSENGER ferry capsized in the waters off Pata and Tapul Is-

CA acquits 2 officers in Oakwood mutiny case T HE Court of Appeals (CA) has acquitted of coup d’état charges two military officials who participated in the June 27, 2003, failed Oakwood mutiny, saying that what they did “was a valid and legitimate exercise of their constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression.”

In a 21-page decision written by Associate Justice Victoria Isabel Paredes, the CA’s Ninth Division reversed the decision of Branch 48 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Makati City that found 1Lt. Lawrence San Juan and 1Lt. Rex Bolo guilty of the crime of coup d’état and sentencing them from six to 12 years’ imprisonment.

San Juan and Bolo were not among the military officers belonging to the Magdalo group who applied for and were granted amnesty during the Arroyo and Aquino administrations.

In exonerating the two military officers, the CA gave credence to their arguments that the prosecution failed to prove the presence of all the elements of coup d’état and that their constitutional right to equal protection was violated when Sen. Gregorio Honasan II was exonerated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and they were not.

Honasan allegedly instigated the young military officers to launch the mutiny.

San Juan also argued that the denial by the trial court of his plea bargain of pleading guilty to the crime of conspiracy to commit coup d’état, which was denied by the RTC, does not automatically prove that the crime of coup d’état was committed.

The CA noted that the third and fourth elements of the crime of coup d’état were not present in the case.

The third element requires that the attack be “directed against duly constituted authorities of the Republic of the Philippines or any military camp or installation, communication networks, public utilities or other facilities needed for the exercise and continued possession of power.”

It noted not Oakwood Premier Hotel (now Ascott Makati) is a first-class hotel, in the commerial district of Makati City.

“It is not a military camp or installation, not a form of communication network, not a public utility or a facility needed for the exercise and continued possession of power,” the CA ruled.

Likewise, the CA said the fourth element, which requires “that the purpose of the attack is to seize or diminish state power,” is also absent.

“Moreover, the trial court itself found that the accused only called for the resignation of then-President Arroyo and other key officials of the government.

“The trial court failed to point out in the assailed decision any showing that the appellant, indeed, planned to arrogate state power upon themselves or diminish state power,” the CA ruled.

The CA said that the actions of the two soldiers can be considered as a valid exercise of their right to freedom of speech and expression.

It can be recalled that on June 27, 2003, more than 300 junior military officers and men took over the Oakwood Premier Hotel in Makati City to air their grievances against the Arroyo administration.

The mutineers eventually surrendered and were charged with the crime of coup d’état that is penalized under Article 135 of the Revised Penal Code.

After conducting a preliminary investigation on the case, the DOJ issued a resolution on October 30, 2003, finding probable cause to indict 31 out of the 300 original accused for the crime, including San Juan and Bolo.

Some of the Magdalo soldiers were granted conditional pardon by Arroyo under General Order 10 dated May 12, 2008, while others benefited from Proclamation 75, issued by President Aquino, granting amnesty to active and former military and police personnel who participated in the Oakwood mutiny, the Marines standoff at Fort Bonifacio in 2006 and the Manila Peninsula incident in 2007.

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Greater private sector involvement in disaster risk reduction pushed

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Pious folk Hundreds of people join the procession after the Holy Mass on Maundy Thursday in the capital town of Boac in Marinduque. ALYSA SALEN

NLRC sides with GMA in illegal dismissal case

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HE Seventh Division of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Cebu City decided in favor of GMA Network (GMA) in an illegal dismissal case filed by a former news correspondent of the broadcast company.

In a decision written by Commissioner Jose G. Gutierrez, the NLRC reversed and set aside the decision of Labor Arbiter Rodrigo P. Camacho declaring that Bernard V. Bernal, a former senior correspondent of GMA Regional TV in Iloilo, was illegally dismissed by the network.

The challenged decision stemmed

from Bernal’s dismissal owing to his unauthorized use of company resources for personal purposes, which violated the network’s policy.

Celerina R. Amores, head of GMA’s Regional News and Public Affairs and a respondent in the case, conducted monitoring activities in GMA Iloilo in 2013, and uncovered unofficial practices of Bernal, such as the use of company premises, vehicle, and time, as well as that of his co-employees for his own proprietary benefit, on several occasions from 2011 to 2013.

Bernal was furnished with notices to explain and was subsequently dis-

missed from the company.

The NLRC opposed Camacho’s ruling, saying that Bernal’s actions are “in direct violation of Section E, Paragraph 1 of the company’s code of conduct, which is a just cause for dismissal.”

“Needless to say, had it not been for such monitoring activities, complainant would have escaped the consequences of his actions. And a repetition of the same is more likely to happen, once given the chance,” the Court added, countering Bernal’s allegations that GMA has tolerated his infractions.

Smart offers tips for hassle-free travel MART Communications reminded its subscribers to keep their telephones and devices fully charged; to bring extra batteries or power banks; and to make sure they have enough load for at least three days.

The company also advised its subscribers to write down important telephone numbers in case of emergency and and in the event that their telephone batteries run out.

Other Smart tips for a hassle-free

lands in Sulu on Thursday night, the military said.

A report reaching Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City said MB Wilayza, an unregistered motorboat, sank early Thursday night, with responding government search and rescue personnel plucking out from the waters five passengers.

The rescued passengers were reportedly from the towns of Talipao and Tapul Island, both in Sulu.

The Armed Forces Public Affairs Office chief, Lt. Col. Harold C abu noc, sa id 14 ot her passengers, seven of whom are children, were also rescued and were taken to a hospital in Sulu for treatment.

Cabunoc said search and rescue operations were still ongoing for other missing passengers on Friday.

He said that the Nav y sent PG-381, a patrol boat, to the waters of Pata and Tapu l to check and rescue other possible sur vivors. With Marvin N. Benaning

and safe journey: n Before heading out, make sure your house and whoever is left at home are safe. n For motorists, check your car—battery, lights, oil, water, brake, air, gas/fuel, fluids, tires, accessories, cleanliness, tools and horn.

Make sure the spare tire is usable. Lock all car doors, keep valuables out of sight, and do not make unnecessary stops. n For those taking public transportation,

have your tickets and travel documents ready before embarkation. Make a headcount of everyone in your group, and keep an eye on your belongings. n Always carry a valid ID with you with information on whom to contact in case of emergency. n Bring a first-aid kit and extra dosage of maintenance or prescription drugs. n Carry just enough money for your

needs to avoid unnecessary purchases. n In an emergency, listen only to official news announcements, do not forward text messages about rumors. Be careful of what you post in social-media sites.

Maximum utilization of the security features of the socialnetworking sites for personal safety is highly encouraged.

HE private sector pushed for a more active role in disaster risk-reduction initiatives as world leaders and business executives adopted the Sendai Framework for DRR, a new structure on disaster management.

The Sendai Framework on DRR was adopted as a postagreement after the end of the Hyogo Framework during the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, recently.

The Hyogo Framework is a 10year action plan (from 2005 to 2015) for governments and business to reduce losses from natural hazards and make the world more resilient to disasters. As the Hyogo Framework ended this year, world leaders agreed to adopt new framework aimed at improving global targets on DRR over the next 15 years or until 2020.

A total of 187 countries attended the conference participated in by 6,500 delegates, including 25 heads of the government; 100 at the ministerial level; 42 intergovernment organizations; 236 non-governmental organizations; and over 300 private-sector representatives.

Hans Sy of SM Prime Holdings Inc., the only Filipino member of the UN Private Sector Advisory Board, attended the planning session for the private sector during the conference to show his commitment to DRR. Sy has been working with the UNISDR since 2012.

“My experience has proven that investing in resilience of my company assets simply makes good business sense,” recalling a statement he delivered at the last global conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

Coming from the private sector, Sy expressed that disaster resilience is an investment, and the efforts to put DRR in business is the right thing to do nowadays in these times of natural hazards.

Sy gave inputs during the planning session of the Private Sector Partnerships, especially for the collaboration between the government and the private sector.

He actively dialogued with the Philippine delegation in Sendai to encourage disaster resiliency. He first emphasized the built environment or building process, then the necessity to involve financial and insurance groups and, finally, the education of the public sector on DRR.

A4 Saturday, April 4, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

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Ayala-led Apec Schools to open 11 more branches

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By VG Cabuag

YALA-LED Affordable Private Education Center (Apec) Schools said it will open 11 new branches this year, as the company further expands its reach in densely populated areas in Metro Manila.

The company said the new school branches will be Dasmariñas and Bacoor in Cavite; Sucat, Parañaque; Poblacion, Muntinlupa; Cainta Extension and Taytay in Rizal; Pateros and Pasay.

There will also be additional branches in Manila and in Marikina, the company said.

At the moment, Apec Schools has 12 schools and serves more than 1,300 students in the cities of Quezon City, Manila, Pasig, Marikina and Caloocan.

With these new schools, Apec will have a total of 23 branches that will serve over 4,000 students this coming school year, it said.

“Our countr y’s greatest resource is our people. We would like to provide quality, affordable education for as many Filipinos

as possible and help transform thousands of lives,” Alfredo Ayala, chairman of Ayala Education, said.

Apec Schools seeks to provide high-school students essential academic knowledge, professional skills such as critical thinking and leadership, and values formation to prepare them for college and their future careers.

The venture is a partnership between Ayala Education and London-based Pearson Plc. Ayala, also chief executive officer of LiveIt Investments Ltd., said that its joint venture will spend an initial $1.2 million (about P52.8 million) in investments.

In total, Ayala will invest a total of $4 million for the venture and the rest of about $2.6 million from

Pearson, which will provide support on operations, curriculum development and teacher training, among others.

“Our value proposition is your student will have the option to either directly go to professional job in banking, telco, IT [information technology], BPO [business-process outsourcing] or if they want to continue to college, they will have that option, as well,” Ayala said.

The school will charge an average tuition of P25,000 per student per school year. Each branch will have an average of 200 to 300 students at about 40-student-per-room ratio.

The Pearson Affordable Learning Fund was launched in July 2012 with $15 million of capital.

Its mandate is to invest in companies that can build quality, scalableeducation solutions to meet a growing demand for affordable educational services across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

BSP ISSUES WARNING ON FAKE PESO BILLS

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) puts warning streamers on a building in the central business district of Baguio City to warn the public against fake peso bills. MAU VICTA

Gaisano retail arm wants Tagbilaran group to fight drug use to grow outside of Cebu among the young

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ETRO Retail Stores Group Inc. said it wants to expand outside of Cebu, as the company said there isn’t much room for growth in the province.

Frank Gaisano, the company chairman and CEO, said the company has to grow outside of Cebu, where it started its operations, despite the fact that many bigger Manila-based firms are expanding in the province and putting up big projects mainly in Cebu Metropolitan Area.

“We can say Cebu is close to saturation [point]; that’s our perspective. In one location, one city, for instance, in a span of two cities we have opened 10 stores. I think Cebu is close to saturation,” Gaisano said.

The retail arm of the Gaisano family that currently operates three formats—department store, hypermarket and supermarket—said it sees Metro Manila and the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao as their growth area in the coming years.

At the moment, the company has 44 stores in 30 locations, half of which are in the Cebu area, and the rest, scattered across the country.

Gaisano said the company’s options on going public to raise money is always open, but it has no issues with raising funds from the banks at the moment.

“For funding issues, there’s no funding urgency because we have a lot of credit that we

haven’t even utilized, but I think we’re still fine with our growth,” Gaisano said.

Met ro Ret a i l st a r ted in 1982 as a two-story department store in Cebu City. In 34 years of retail operations, it has adopted various formats in its business.

Gaisano said it started to professionalize its operations in 2010, when it hired professionals from chief operating officer position downward.

“We used to be a 100-percent family-run [business]. But when we became a professional-run company, it made us move a lot faster,” Gaisano said.

In 2010 the company only had eight locations but grew the number in just four years.

It had a partnership with the country’s large developers, such as Ayala Land Inc., Megaworld Corp. and Filinvest Land Inc. Gaisano, however, declined to give the timetable for the company’s expansion but said he is open to acquire other firms as growing from acquisition “would be simpler.”

“It would be easier for us to grow because we don’t have that many stores. So if we add up a couple of stores, its easier.

Unlike the competition that already has 100 stores 200 stores, its harder [to expand],” he said.

“Our primary focus right now is to focus on the three formats. It’s a lot already,” he said. VG Cabuag

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AGBILARAN CITY—A group of concerned citizens here who could no longer ignore the mounting drug addiction of both young and adult residents in this Visayan city will roll out an awareness campaign when classes resume in June.

Armed with a module to show the evils of drugs to the user, family and society, Tindogi Tagbilaran will fight it through education, said Rev. Fr. Fernando “Dodong” Po, the convener of the group. Po is a retired priest.

Tindogi Tagbilaran, which means stand up in the local tongue, will start an educational anti-drug awareness campaign “immediately when the classes open next school year,” he said.

“We are trying to restore the image of Tagbilaran, which has been a city of peace and friendship,” Po said. The number of young drug addicts is growing. A spate of drug-related violence had been reported by local media last year.

Men and women, young and old alike were shot dead in the streets of Tagbilaran in broad daylight in 2014, confirmed Nestor Pestelos, a community-development worker based in Bohol.

A mother was sexually assaulted by her own son who is a drug addict, he noted.

Another warned his own parents that he would blow their heads off if they would tell his vice to the authorities, Po said.

The situation is building up worry among local parents, he noted. It may get worse unless attention is directed toward solving the problem.

Po and his fellow peace advocates are also sad that “women are selling the prohibited drugs,” he said. They peddle the contraband even to primary and secondary students without second thoughts of the future of the young just to make money, Po noted.

The young who have both parents working abroad could be easily lured into drugs, and eventually hooked, due to parental absence and lack of guidance, he said. Oliver Samson

RUBBER TREE NURSERY A nursery technician examines budded rubber-tree stocks at the Standard Integrated Farm in Ramon, Isabela. Rubber plants are best propagated through the budding method. LEONARDO PERANTE II

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Australian firm remains keen on developing West Linapacan

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ustralia-based Nido Petroleum Ltd. said it is still interested to take part in developing the West Linapacan oil field.

“Nido remains committed to progressing a West Linapacan redevelopment project and will update the market further if there are any material development,” said Nido, which has a 22.279-percent participating interest in the project.

This, after it received formal notification from the Department of Energy (DOE) that Pitikin Petroleum Plc.’s and RMA West Linapacan Pte. Ltd.’s interest in Block C2 of Service Contract (SC) 14 have been terminated.

The DOE has advised the company that Pitikin’s and RMA’s participating interests in the joint venture have, pursuant to the terms of the relevant farm-in agreements, reverted to the Philodril Corp., Oriental Petroleum & Minerals Corp., Linapacan Oil Gas & Power Corp., Forum Energy Phils. Corp., Cosco Capital Inc. and PetroEnergy Resources Corp.

“Nido was not a party to these farm-in agreements and Nido’s existing 22.279 participating interest is, therefore, not altered by the termination process,” the company said.

In January this year members of the consortium holding SC14C-2 have declared to terminate the agreement with Pitikin, after the latter failed to comply with the terms in the agreement.

Under the May 29, 2008, agreement, the members of the consortium have agreed to assign 75 percent of each of their participating interest in SC14C-2, which covers the West Linapacan oil field, subject to the conditions of the agreement.

Among the conditions is that Phase 2 work program, which includes the drilling of one well, shall be completed within 18 months following the month in which Pitikin as farmee has received all government approvals necessary to Pitikin as the official operator of SC14C-2.

However, Pitikin failed to comply.

“Had this been strictly followed, Pitikin should have completed the Phase 2 work program in December 2013. However, this was initially extended to June 2014, and then later agreed to be further extended to December 31, 2014,” Philodril President Francisco Navarro earlier said.

The December 2014 deadline lapsed without Pitikin completing Phase 2. As a result of the breach, the agreement was terminated. Lenie Lectura

PSALM seeks bids for privatization of coal-fired plant in Mindanao

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By Lenie Lectura

he Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp. has started soliciting bid invites for the Independent Power Producer Administrator (IPPA) contract for the 200-megawatt (MW) Mindanao Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant (Mindanao Coal).

The Mindanao Coal IPPA selection, according to PSALM President Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., is the second privatization activity of PSALM for this year, following the launch of the IPPA selection for the Bulk Energy of the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plants two weeks ago.

There will be a prebid conference, which primarily discusses PSALM’s bidding procedures, scheduled on May 6.

The submission and opening of bids will be held on September 23.

Located in Misamis Oriental,

the Mindanao coal plant was constructed in 2006 under a 25-year Build- Operate-Transfer-Power Purchase Agreement scheme with the government.

The power facility is made up of two units, with a generating capacity of 105 MW each.

It is currently being operated

by Steag State Power Inc. of Germany, and accounts for about 20 percent of Mindanao’s total power supply.

The cooperation period with the operator officially ends in 2031.

Abotiz Power Corp. had al-

ready expressed interest to bid for the privatization of the powersupply cont rac t of t he sa id power facility.

“Part of the schedule of PSALM is also to do the Steag IPPA. We will look into that also,” said company president and CEO Erramon Aboitiz.

PSALM is the agency mandated

by Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, to handle the sale of the remaining state power assets and financial obligations of the National Power Corp.

Users of Globe TM up 21% in 2014

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he customer base of Globe Telecom’s value brand TM rose by 21 percent to 22.5 million in 2014, from 18.6 million recorded a year ago, the telecommunications arm of Ayala Corp. said.

Globe said TM accounted for 51 percent of its overall mobile customer base last year.

TM’s revenues also rose by 14 percent year on year, a company official said.

“Much of the segment’s growth can be attributed to our roster of call, text and surfing promos that give value for our subscriber’s hard-earned money, boosting uptake in product usage,” Globe SVP for Consumer Mobile Marketing Issa Cabreira said.

Last year TM launched its “aggressive” unlimited call and text promos, giving customers one-day call and text promos in the market. It also bannered its promo extension offering, which allowed customers to extend the validity of their favorite TM promos for a minimal amount.

Recognizing the shift to smartphone and data usage, TM also extended to its customers free access to Facebook to enjoy the social-networking site without the need

for Wi-Fi or incurring data charges, as well as free access to the NBA League Pass and Wattpad for every registration to a TM or GoSURF promo.

Before the year ended, TM also launched the Piso Mall, a one-stop virtual video store which enables TM customers to watch videos on their mobile phones from a selection of over 200,000 video content. With Piso Mall, TM customers can enjoy watching TV shows, movie trailers and clips, music videos and video tutorials, anytime, anywhere via their mobile phones.

“With Piso Mall, we are changing the prepaid landscape once again by providing our customers easy, affordable and hassle-free access to video content, enabling them to live their digital lifestyle,” Cabreira said.

Globe said TM is set to sustain its stronghold in the prepaid segment this year, as it continues to remain relevant to its customer base with innovative and affordable promos, as well as services that allow them to maximize their smartphones and data access.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

BIR clarifies VAT rule on sugar

‘LAPU-LAPU’ QUEEN

A lady fish vendor displays colorful and fresh lapu-lapu (grouper) in Caloocan, Santiago City in Isabela. Seafood, such as fish, is usually in demand during Lent. LEONARDO PERANTE II

‘SSS educational loans not discontinued’

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Saturday, April 4, 2015 A5

By David Cagahastian

he Social Security System (SSS) has clarified that its Educational Assistance Loan Program (Educ-Assist) has not been discontinued, but new loan applicants will be put on the waiting list until funds become available.

SSS Asset and Lending Management Officer in Charge Catherine Ciriaco said the initial fund for Educ-Assist was allocated to SSS members who applied for such educational-assistance loans, when the program started in 2012, to make sure that their dependents will have a better chance of finishing their courses.

“We have allocated the loan fund to those who have applied so that their dependents— who are expected to be in school for four years in the case of a bachelor’s degree, or two years for vocational or technical courses—

have a better chance to finish their studies,” Ciriaco said.

SSS members who wish to avail themselves of such educational loans can still apply under Educ-Assist but they will be included on the waiting list until funds become available to be loaned out.

“Any unused allocation previously committed to the existing beneficiaries are applied to wait-listed applicants. We process the Educ-Assist application of those on the waiting list, once funds become available,” she said.

Educ-Assist was launched in 2012 based on SSS Circular 2012-010, issued on May 18, 2012. Its total fund allocation is P7 billion, P3.5 billion of which came from the national government and the other P3.5 billion from the SSS. Under the program, the portion of the fund that comes from the national

government is interest-free, while the SSS portion charges a 6-percent interest, or a blended rate of 3-percent for the borrower-member.

SSS members may borrow up to P20,000 per semester or trimester for college degrees, and up to P10,000 per semester or trimester for vocational-tech courses.

The repayment process will start a year after the beneficiary’s graduation day. Borrowers for college-degree programs are given five years to repay the loan, while borrowers for vocational-tech courses are given three years to repay.

The SSS has already disbursed over P2.7 billion from the Educ-Assist fund, while the national government has already transmitted to the SSS P1.58 billion out of its P3.5billion share in the fund. The program has already benefited a total of 64,912 college and vocational-tech students.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service

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he Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has clarified that only “raw cane sugar,” or muscovado sugar, is exempt from the value-added tax (VAT) pursuant to Section 109 of the Tax Code.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares has issued Revenue Regulations 4-2015, which provided a definition for “raw cane sugar as used in Section 109 of the Tax Code, which enumerates the transactions exempt from VAT. Under RR 4-2015, raw cane sugar is defined as sugar produced by simple process of conversion of sugarcane without need of any mechanical or similar device.

“For this purpose, raw cane sugar refers only to muscovado sugar. Thus, only muscovado is exempt from VAT under Section 109 (1) (A) of the Tax Code,” the regulations said.

“Centrifugal process of producing sugar is not in itself a simple process. Therefore, any type of sugar produced therefrom are

not exempt from VAT, such as raw sugar and refined sugar,” the regulations added.

This means that only raw sugar and refined sugar, as defined in Revenue Regulations 13-2008, would be subject to advance payment of VAT by the owner/seller before the sugar is withdrawn from any sugar refinery or mill.

In February the Sugar Regulatory Administration and sugar traders had complained over the BIR’s implementation of a regulation which slaps a 1-percent withholding tax on raw sugar and molasses upon withdrawal.

The BIR started implementing the new tax rule for the sugar industry in early January of this year, after creating a separate subsection for the withholding of creditable income tax on locally produced raw sugar. Sugar millers and traders, however, warned of its impact on local sugar supply due to the confusion over its implementation. David Cagahastian

A6 Saturday, April 4, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Good Friday thoughts

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N Good Friday, March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m. local time, the largest earthquake in the United States, and the second-largest ever recorded by modern methods, happened in the state of Alaska. The earthquake measured a phenomenal 9.2 on the Richter scale, and lasted an incredible five minutes.

By comparison, the 1990 Baguio City earthquake measured 7.9 magnitude on the Richter scale and lasted 45 seconds. The 2013 Bohol earthquake measured 7.2 and was over in 34 seconds.

The Richter scale attempts to describe the amount of energy generated by an earthquake in terms of the approximate equivalent amount in terms of TNT explosive force. The Alaska earthquake was 950 megatons compared to 15 megatons for the Baguio event. In other words, Alaska’s was 60 times stronger than Baguio’s.

But these are just numbers that are hard to comprehend. Needless to say, an earthquake of 9 magnitude would turn Metro Manila into rubble. The Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2004 estimates that 40 percent of residential buildings and 35 percent of all public buildings in Metro Manila could be destroyed or severely damaged should a 7.2-magnitude earthquake occur in the metropolis. At least 30,000 people could be killed.

The likelihood of an Intensity 9 earthquake in Metro Manila is real but actually smaller than in some other parts of the globe. The Alaska disaster provided a vast amount of information about how and why earthquakes happen. Interestingly, there were no obvious faults at the surface to explain the earthquake. What was subsequently enhanced was the concept of plate tectonics and subduction zones, where one plate rides under another, slips and causes a massive quake.

The Philippines sits near the middle of four tectonic plates, and is one of the active earthquake regions in the world. We can only hope that the many earthquakes we experience every year relive the tectonic pressure in order to avoid “The Big One.” But we have our own major earthquake every day: Philippine politics.

If Filipinos stopped attacking and defending their politics for just one day, social media would be nearly silent; most newspapers would be filled with blank pages; and many radio stations would probably be broadcasting Christmas music.

Certainly, a vigorous discussion of the issues and the people who make or want to make government policy is absolutely necessary and healthy. However, Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew once said in parliament: “Once emotions are set in motion, and men pitted against men along these unspoken lines, you will have the kind of warfare that will split the nation from top to bottom.”

Historically speaking, the death sentence of Jesus of Nazareth was a political decision. The Roman government acceded to the wishes of the ruling Jewish Sanhedrin for fear of public riots. The Sanhedrin feared Jesus and His followers as a threat to its power.

Politics can devastate a country as easily as any earthquake.

Good Friday and Black Saturday: A Pagan reading Tito Genova Valiente

annotations

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ROWING up with grandmothers who sang in the church made Good Friday very clear and specific to me. It was the day Christ died on the cross. Make that with a capital C, as in Cross. It wasn’t only Christ who expired on that mountain; it was God Himself who died. And my grandmothers, no less, were there on that altar, singing of a savior who was about to die and mourning when that figure did die.

My grandmothers were all dressed in black. I found that very personal. As my grandparents’ home on Ticao Island was just behind the church, I felt God physically close to my family. Their black dress on Good Friday affirmed what all I suspected along: They were, indeed, close to that bleeding figure on the Cross. My grandmothers were crying ladies, but they were doing it in a sacred space. To a child, that was cool.

In my generation, Friday was a solemn, somber day. At the age of 10, I was sent home by two elderly ladies because I was wearing something close to red when I went to church. That was how strong the taboo was then. That made Friday a strong day for reckoning, a day when rules abounded.

Black Saturday was something else.

This was a Saturday that, despite the

modifying color was something of an anomaly. It was neither here nor there.

Friday was ultimately the day when Christ passed on. The tales that followed that day were fantastic. There was no more God at 3 p.m. That was the time God died. It was succinct and sure in the minds of the followers on that island, and in many islands of this nation. As God was no more, then power was abroad. Someone powerful let go of His power and that power was floating in the ether, in the forests, up in the mountains. It was up to the brave, the daring and the believer to find a way to access that power.

In the evenings of Good Fridays, men usually pray before the Dead Christ before they embark on a journey that would take them to forests or any major mountains nearby. Hills do

not work; mountains are harbingers of power. In those secluded places, the men (and some women) go into caves or wait for the mutya, a kind of shining object or a combination of solid and liquid, to fall off huge trees or through the banana heart. The power is free for everyone to get or secure because, remember, God is dead. The gatekeepers—like the angels—are also on some kind of sabbatical leave. The only creatures roaming freely and who pose a threat to a free market of amulets and talismans are the devils. They come in various forms, and are the only danger to what otherwise is an open season of magical forces.

What to do on Black Saturday.

The color is supposed to emphasize the presence of death. And yet, in the evening of Black Saturday, the fire is lighted in the church to indicate that Christ has already risen. No one is to tell anyone, the story goes. The bestkept secret of the church I know.

The official resurrection, however, takes place on Sunday. A makeshift tower is set up in plazas or, with the recent developments, on church patios. The structures are varied, the architectural influence vastly eclectic. These towers used to be made of bamboo, because, after the angels have descended from heaven and sang, the same heaven is destroyed to wait for the next Holy Week, when heaven is reconstructed again. For some odd practical reasons, the churches have decided to make permanent the Heavens, the better perhaps to impress

upon the believers or the doubters how salvation is not makeshift but permanent, or at least, stable.

There you are and our holy calendar: a good Friday, a black Saturday and an Easter Sunday, the latter quite difficult to dramatize in a country where flowers are forever and leaves do not really fall. In temperate zones, it always shocked me pleasantly to see a drab, gray wall give way to the brightest and tiniest of blooms and greens. I never thought plants or flowers could sleep and vanish for a while like magic behind or inside walls and crevasses. When the ground started to show colors, I then thought how easy it was for evangelizers in countries with four seasons to talk about Sunday and rising from the grave.

The world has changed. Fridays are the best time to spend on the beach and rest in some chic hotels. If the package contains a space for prayers, then the pilgrim can turn the picnic into premeditated meditation. Then the blackest of Saturdays is deemed fit to carry that color, because it is the day when people pack their things and prepare to go back to the big city and face the weeks that are terribly secular.

Religion becomes nostalgia and a personal confrontation with a heaven that breaks open for angels who can raise funds for Easter celebrity and a Savior so close to one’s grandmothers they sing songs of sorrows for Him. Amen.

Challenging the power of the one percent

By Lydia Alpízar Durán Inter Press Service

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ÃO PAULO, Brazil—When you are faced with the task of moving an object but find it is too heavy to lift, what is your immediate and most natural response? You ask someone to help you lift it. And it makes all the difference.

And so in the face of unprecedented economic, ecological and human-rights crises, we should not hunker down in our silos, but rather join together and use our collective power to overcome the challenges.

The recent World Social Forum (WSF) in Tunis showed that “Another World Is Possible” if we work collectively to address the structural causes of inequality.

It is for this reason that the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (Awid) has pledged to work together with ActionAid, Civicus, Greenpeace and Oxfam.

The gathering of approximately 70,000 activists in Tunis, the various workshops held on alternate economic models—including an Awid-led session on “Feminist Imaginations for a Just Economy”—the protests against shrinking spaces for dissent and the calls for social justice are critical in a world where the economic, ecological and human-rights crises are interconnected and getting worse.

This is the power of the World Social Forum (WSF). This 13th edition, held for the second time in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis, is a reminder, and a call to action that it is people power that will change

the world. Changing the world, especially where women’s rights and gender justice is concerned, means recognizing and bringing visibility to the interrelatedness of issues.

While in the past 20 years there have been notable achievements for women’s rights and gender justice, there is still so much more to be done.

At the center of the current global crisis is massive economic inequality that has become the global status quo. Some 1.2 billion impoverished people account for only 1 percent of world consumption, while the million richest consume 72 percent.

The levels of consumption in the global North cannot be sustained on this planet by its peoples or the Earth itself.

They are disappearing whole ecosystems and displacing people and communities.

The challenges are not only increasing, but also deepening. Many women and girls, trans and intersex people continue to experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and vulnerability throughout their lives.

These include the disproportionate impact of poverty, religious fundamentalisms and violence on women, growing criminal networks and the increasing

power of transnational corporations over lands and territories, deepening conflicts and militarization, widespread gender-based violence and environmental destruction.

Women have been caretakers of the environment and food producers for centuries, and are now at the forefront of its defense against habitat destruction and resource extraction by corporations.

Violence against women who defend the earth occurs with impunity, at precisely the moment when “women and girls” are also receiving the attention of various corporate philanthropic actors as drivers for development.

Government and institutional commitments to address inequalities for the most part have been weak. And while people’s mobilization and active citizenship are crucial, in all regions of the world the more people mobilize to defend their rights, the more the civic and political space is being closed off by decision-making elites.

This year’s political Declaration from the United Nations’ 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59) is just the latest example.

Twenty years after the Beijing Declaration—the most progressive “blueprint” for women’s rights of its time and the result of 30,000 activists from around the globe putting pressure on 189 participating government representatives—women’s rights and feminist groups were shut out of the CSW “negotiations” with the result that the Declaration is weak and does not go far enough toward the kind of transformative change necessary to truly achieve

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com

the promises made in Beijing. The forces of justice, freedom and equity are being relentlessly pushed back. There is an urgent need to strengthen our collective voices and power, to further expand our shared analyses and build interconnected agendas for action.

The WSF contributes to doing just that. At this year’s WSF, there was a diversity of feminist activists in attendance and the systemic causes of global inequalities were addressed in intersectional ways linking new relationships to land, and land use to patriarchy, food sovereignty, decolonization and corporate power. These connections make the struggle seem huge but also make possible solidarity between movements.

As a global network of feminist and women’s rights activists, organizations and movements, Awid has been working for over 30 years to transform dominant structures of power and decision-making and advance human rights, gender justice and environmental sustainability. In all that we do, collaboration is at the core.

I strongly believe that we cannot achieve meaningful transformation, unless we join together in all of our diversity.

So for Awid, joining with the struggles for environmental sustainability, just economies and human rights, is another step in a long trajectory of working with and for other movements.

Together we can take bolder steps, push each other further, and draw upon our combined knowledge and collective power to amplify our voices. Working together is the only way to reverse inequality, and to achieve a just and sustainable world.

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Saturday, April 4, 2015

A7

Dealing with difficult people Message of his Holiness Pope Francis for Lent 2015 and difficult situations Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

Cecilio T. Arillo

database

In this issue and the next of the Servant Leader, we give way to this year’s Lenten Message of His Holiness Pope Francis to give you “food” for your reflections and retreat.

Part 1

Part 1

I

N dealing with a difficult situation, a negotiator must bear in mind that the world is made up of sovereign states, independent borders, varied cultures, and different legal and political systems. At last count, there were nearly 193 of those systems, not to mention many national subdivisions, like Quebec, Hong Kong, Northern Ireland and the Vatican, each with its own distinct sets of laws and government agencies.

Indifference

These are actually another set of major barriers in negotiation, particularly in a global context, coming as they are or will be, in many forms and shapes. Jeswald W. Salacuse’s lectures at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are quite instructive to cope with this confusing array of foreign governments, laws and cultures.

“Like cultures, each of the world’s legal and political systems is distinct and complex and these can become sources of difficulty and disputes.

The US government, for instance, does not make policy the way the Chinese government does. The laws and court procedures of India are different from the UK, even though India was part of the British Empire for many years,” Salacuse argued.

Indeed, a Philippine negotiator cannot assume that some laws in the US may work the same way here at home, although most of its laws and edicts are patterned after the US, the country’s colonizer for a long time.

It is important, therefore, to understand the position of the government of the country concerned before negotiating a deal because few countries, even the most stoutly capitalistic, are as open to business transactions by foreigners as in the United States and the Philippines.

loved us” (1 John 4:19). He is not aloof from us. Each one of us has a place in His Heart. He knows us by name, He cares for us and He seeks us out whenever we turn away from Him. He is interested in each of us; His love does not allow Him to be indifferent to what happens to us. Usually, when we are healthy and comfortable, we forget about others (something God the Father never does); we are unconcerned with their problems, their sufferings and the injustices they endure…. Our heart grows cold. Today, this selfish attitude of indifference

Sources of difficulty

1. The international environment itself is unstable; business dealings are particularly susceptible to sudden changes, such as currency devaluations, coups, wars and radical shifts in governments and government policies.

2. Mechanisms for enforcing agreements are often less sure or more costly in the international arena than in the domestic setting.

If the other side does not have effective access to the courts to enforce a contract or to seize assets, a party to a burdensome contract may feel it has little to lose in rejecting a contract or demanding renegotiation with an expressed or implied threat of outright repudiation.

3. Foreign governments and government corporations are often important participants in international business dealings. They often reserve to themselves the right to repudiate burdensome contracts on grounds of protecting national sovereignty and public welfare.

4. Finally, the world’s diverse cultures and legal systems attach differing degrees of binding force to a signed contract and recognize varying causes to justify avoidance of onerous obligations. For example, a Philippine company in a transaction with a Japanese firm may view their signed contract as the essence of the deal and the source of rules governing their relationship in its entirety.

The Japanese, however, see the deal as a partnership that is subject to reasonable changes over time, a partnership in which one party ought not to take unfair advantage of purely fortuitous events like radical and unexpected movements in exchange rates or the price of raw materials.

Two types of disputes

THESE sources of difficulty may turn into disputes. So having ample knowledge in resolving disputes is always an advantage to a negotiator.

Lawrence Susskind and Jeffrey Cruickshank, in their lecture series

on the Program on Negotiation at Harvard, MIT and Tuffs University, classified disputes in two categories: Distributional and Constitutional, which they differ markedly on antecedents and definitions. Distributional disputes focus on fund allocations, taxation, setting of standards and policies, use of lands and water, fuel-rate increases, family feuds, lopsided business contracts and labormanagement disagreements.

Constitutional disputes hinge primarily on interpretations by the courts of constitutionally guaranteed rights: due process of law, religion, death penalty, freedom of expression, the right to property, change of government and issues of territory and sovereignty.

According to Susskind, regardless of which interest groups are objecting though, they do so in the hope of affecting the distribution of gains and losses.

“Neither side disputes the government’s coercive and sometimes arbitrary power to set policies,” he said.

Affected corporations usually object when higher tax rates translate into lower corporate profits. When lower standards promise greater profits while threatening to endanger public health and safety, this can trigger strikes and other protest action from consumer-advocacy organizations or public-interest groups.

Susskind stressed that if, as is often the case, the government’s power to set policy or allocate resources is ultimately reaffirmed, the protagonists may well shift the battle to another arena in which the question is no longer whether government action is permissible, but when, where and how it will be handled.

“In other words,” he said, “once the constitutional question is settled, the distributional dispute can begin in earnest. This is where negotiation and other consensual approaches must be employed.”

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ear Brothers and Sisters, Lent is a time of renewal for the whole Church, for each community and every believer. Above all, it is a “time of grace” (2 Corinthians 6:2). God does not ask of us anything that He Himself has not given us first.

“We love because He first has

has taken on global proportions, to the extent that we can speak of a globalization of indifference. It is a problem which we, as Christians, need to confront.

When the people of God are converted to His love, they find answers to the questions that history continually raises. One of the most urgent challenges is precisely the globalization of indifference.

Indifference to our neighbor and to God also represents a real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent, we need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who

cry out and trouble our conscience.

God is not indifferent to our world; He so loves it that He gave His Son for our salvation. In the Incarnation, in the earthly life, death and resurrection of the Son of God, the gate between God and man, between heaven and earth, opens once for all.

The Church is like the hand holding open this gate, thanks to her proclamation of God’s word, her celebration of the sacraments and her witness of the faith which works through love (cf. Galatians 5:6). But the world tends to withdraw into itself and shut that door through which God comes into the world and the world comes to Him. Hence the hand, which is the Church, must never be surprised if it is rejected, crushed and wounded.

God’s people, then, need this interior renewal, lest we become indifferent and withdraw into ourselves.

To further this renewal, I would like to propose for our reflection three biblical texts.

1. “If one member suffers, all suffer together” (1 Corinthians 12:26)— the Church.

The love of God breaks through that fatal withdrawal into ourselves which is indifference. The Church offers us this love of God by her teaching and especially by her witness. But we can only bear witness to what we ourselves have experienced. Christians are those who let God clothe them with goodness and

mercy, with Christ, so as to become, like Christ, servants of God and others. This is clearly seen in the liturgy of Holy Thursday, with its rite of the washing of feet. Peter did not want Jesus to wash his feet, but he came to realize that Jesus does not wish to be just an example of how we should wash one another’s feet. Only those who have first allowed Jesus to wash their own feet can then offer this service to others. Only they have “a part” with Him (John 13:8) and thus can serve others.

Lent is a favorable time for letting Christ serve us so that we, in turn, may become more like Him. This happens whenever we hear the word of God and receive the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. There we become what we receive: the Body of Christ. In this body, there is no room for the indifference which so often seems to possess our hearts.

For whoever is of Christ, belongs to one body, and in Him we cannot be indifferent to one another. “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy” (1 Corinthians 12:26).

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

Fax: 563-9306.

Should the government be at the negotiating table?

According to Susskind, “the answer to this question depends on the kind of deal you are trying to make, the kind of business you will have to operate in and the kind of political system you will have to cope with.”

Governments in many countries not only regulate economic activities and run public utilities as is fairly common in the Philippines, but they also participate actively, through ministries, state corporations and government agencies, in all sorts of business activities from trading to manufacturing.

If you want the government to be a party to a deal, be sure that the government representatives thoroughly understand your intent and that the contract clearly reflects that fact. In one case (Piatco) that has been the subject of much litigation in the Philippines, an investment contract for the construction of an airport failed to realize until much later when the deal went wrong and suffered costly delays that a foreign government (Germany) was involved in the deal.

To be continued The author is an alumnus of the Harvard University Law School Executive Program on Negotiation, 2002.

To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio. arillo@gmail.com

US misses real threat of China’s fake islands

By Josh Rogin Bloomberg View

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HE Barack Obama administration has been very busy dealing with nuclear negotiations with Iran, a war against the Islamic State, a new conflict in Yemen and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Yet, the understandable focus on these other crises has obscured China’s efforts to speed up its militarization of the South China Sea. Now, Chinese progress has reached the point that senior Pentagon officials and congressional leaders are demanding the administration do something about it.

There is no shortage of evidence of China’s rapid buildup of infrastructure and armaments in disputed territory far from its physical borders.

Satellite photos released last month show that in the past year, China has built several entirely new islands in disputed waters using land-reclamation technology, and then constructed military-friendly facilities on them.

In the Spratly Islands, new Chinese landmasses have been equipped with helipads and anti-aircraft towers, raising regional concerns that Beijing is

using thinly veiled military coercion to establish control in an area where six Asian nations have claims.

Admiral Harry Harris, commander of US Pacific Fleet, sounded the alarm in a speech in Australia on Wednesday, calling the Chinese project “unprecedented” and saying that the construction is part of a larger campaign of provocative actions against smaller Asian states.

“China is creating a ‘Great Wall of Sand’ with dredges and bulldozers over the course of months,” he warned, adding that it raised “serious questions about Chinese intentions.”

For example, satellite photos taken

by Airbus Defence and Space and published by Jane’s in February, show that over the past year China has built an 800,000-square-foot island on top of Hughes Reef in the Spratly Islands, where no island existed before. China also began a reclamation and construction project at nearby Gaven Reefs. Both islands now have helipads and anti-aircraft towers.

China has also expanded its already created islands on the Spratlys’ Johnson South Reef, Cuarteron Reef, Gaven Reef and Fiery Cross Reef—the last of which can accommodate an airstrip, according to the US military. Harris said China has created more than 1.5 square miles of

“artificial landmass” in the South China Sea. China’s claims are based on what’s known as the nine-dash line, which, if implemented, would grant China 90 percent of the entire Sea. Top Asia watchers in Congress have been asking the Obama administration to confront China on the issue and devote more attention to the increasingly tense situation in the region. In the late hours of the debate over the Senate budget last weekend, three senators added two amendments aimed at pushing the Obama administration to reinvigorate its so-called Pivot to Asia.

The first of those amendments, sponsored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee members Robert Menendez, Cory Gardner and Ben Cardin, calls on the administration to develop and make public a comprehensive strategy to ensure freedom of navigation in the Pacific. It would also allow Congress to fund more training and exercises by the US military and its Asian partners.

A second amendment, authored by Gardner, the new chairman of the Asia subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, calls for an independent agency, such as the Government Accountability Office, to review what the administration is actually spending on

the Asia pivot and to make recommendations on how it might be better managed.

“It’s important that the American people have a full accounting of the resources that have been devoted to this important policy and whether they have been prioritized effectively,” Gardner said in a statement.

These pieces of legislation are the latest effort by Congress to find out exactly what the administration is doing to counter China’s moves. On March 19 all four leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter calling on the administration to wake up to the graveness of the situation in the South China Sea. “Without a comprehensive strategy for addressing the PRC’s broader policy and conduct,” the senators wrote, “long-standing interests of the United States, as well as our allies and partners, stand at considerable risk.”

The letter points out that $5 trillion in global trade transits through the South China Sea each year. They assert that China stands in violation of the 2002 agreement it signed with the Asean countries in which all parties pledged self-restraint and avoid actions that could complicate the situation or escalate tensions.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, April 4, 2015

‘TOURISM REVIVAL’ to HELP keep phl economy afloat

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he country’s so-called external financial position could benefit from an anticipated “tourism revival” that could partially offset confidence-sapping volatilities in global financial markets this year.

In its recent economic update on the Philippines, research and consultancy firm Oxford Business Group (OBG) said the $272-billion economy should benefit from a revival in the tourism sector after noting several efforts from the government to boost tourist arrivals in 2015.

Although the OBG did not cite a specific forecast as to how much the country’s tourism sector will grow, the research agency said the numbers should bounce back from last year’s.

“This comes on the back of an aggressive and highly successful global marketing campaign launched in 2012.

The second phase of the campaign, which began in 2014 and is set to underpin the marketing theme for this year, will transition from national to destination-specific marketing, with Boracay, Davao, Cebu and Manila each receiving their own international television commercial spots,” OBG said.

The local economy’s tourism pros-

pects were also seen to improve this year as the region-wide integration comes into fruition.

“Freer movement for Asean citizens among member-countries and openskies aviation agreements should also help to make it easier and cheaper to travel around the region, supporting growth in the sector over the longer term,” OBG said.

Over the long horizon, however, OBG said the Philippines was seen unable to fully maximize the tourism potential of the regional integration process unless it begins addressing infrastructure issues.

“This is particularly important for the Philippines: as an archipelago of some 7,100 islands, nearly 99 percent of foreign travelers arrive by air.

Insufficient airport capacity is holding the sector back from reaching its full potential, althotugh this is now in the process of being ramped up,” OBG said.

“Nevertheless, the country still has a long way to go in terms of providing the infrastructure needed to ensure the seamless and efficient movement of visitors into and throughout the country,” it added. Bianca Cuaresma

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Commodity shipments down 8.5% in Q4 2014

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By Cai U. Ordinario

espite the increase in volume, the value of traded commodities in the country posted a contraction of 8.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

According to PSA data, the total value of commodities that flowed within the country decreased to P136.52 billion during the period, from P149.18 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013.

“The total quantity of domestic trade transactions in the fourth

quarter of 2014 grew by 15.7 percent, increasing to 5.27 million tons from 4.56 million tons reported in the same period of last year,” the PSA said. In terms of commodities, food and live animals contributed the largest share amounting to P40.76 billion, or 29.9 percent of the total.

This was followed by machinery and transport equipment with P32.20 billion, which accounted for 23.6 percent; and manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials with P20.06 billion, or 14.7 percent of the total.

The PSA said shipments of animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes posted the least value of P1.83 billion, or a share of 1.3 percent.

Data also showed that most of the traded commodities originated from the National Capital Region or Metro Manila, valued at P28 billion.

This accounted for 20.5 percent of the total shipments in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Central Visayas was second with P22.55 billion, or 16.5 percent; followed by Western Visayas with P19.17 billion, or 14 percent; while Northern Mindanao contributed P18.28 billion, or 13.4 percent.

“Cagayan Valley’s domestic trade shared the least among the regions with value amounting to only P11,000,” the PSA said.

Trade transaction through water was the major mode of transport, comprising 99.8 percent and 99.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 and 2014, respectively.

The PSA explained that commodity flow or domestic trade refers to the flow of commodities through the water, air and rail transport systems in the country.

Data on the inflow and outflow of commodities in the different regions of the country are used to construct interregional and interindustry relation tables.

These serve as bases in the formulation and implementation of various regional development programs like countryside development and port planning.

Richest 20% of Americans saw earnings grow

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mericans are earning less than they did in 2013, with one notable exception: the rich.

Average incomes before taxes fell for a second year in the year ended July 2014, down 0.9 percent, while expenditures were up 1 percent on average, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics midyear consumer expenditures update, released on Thursday.

Only the top 20 percent of American earners experienced income growth in that time period,

swelling 0.9 percent. Their annual pre-tax income increased to $166,048. Meanwhile, every other income group shed 2 percent of wealth or more. The lowest quintile, which earned $9,818 on average, lost the most ground.

The lowest-earners also increased their spending by the most, boosting their expenditures by 2.9 percent, to $22,981 on average. The bulk of those outlays (41 percent) went to housing.

The data offer the latest signs of the growing chasm between Amer-

ica’s rich and poor. Federal Reserve (the Fed) Chairman Janet Yellen has used her first year as Fed chief to advocate for those hurt most by the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

As central bank policy-makers prepare to possibly raise interest rates for the first time since June 2006, Yellen told a Boston Fed conference on inequality in October that she’s “greatly” concerned by a sustained rise in US income and wealth inequality.

Bloomberg News

MORIONES FESTIVAL A scene from the Via Crusis is played on the streets of Boac,

Marinduque, on Good Friday. The Moriones Festival commemorates the story of the Roman centurion, Longinus (San Longhino), and his legendary conversion at the foot of the cross.

Townsfolk of Boac and Gasan would dress in masks and helmets (moriones), depicting Roman soldiers tormenting Jesus Christ on the day of His crucifixion. ALYSA SALEN

Airports. . .

Continued from A1

operations in 2007, providing both domestic and international connectivity with seven domestic destinations and two international destinations. The airport served roughly 1.87 million passengers in 2013.

Seen to start its commercial operations by 2017, the P3.36-billion New Bohol Airport in Panglao is designed to accommodate 1 million passengers annually. The contract to construct a new aviation hub in Bohol was awarded to the Japanese joint venture of Chiyoda Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. only last month.

Found on the northern tip of Misamis Oriental, the Laguindingan Airport has a design capacity of 1.6 million passengers annually. It started its operations in 2013. It replaced the Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro, which was among the five busiest airports in the Philippines in terms of passenger traffic.

Also known as Francisco Bangoy International Airport, the Davao

Airport is the third busiest airport in the Philippines after the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. Located in Catitipan, Davao City, the airport has been operational for more than 15 years, currently serving both domestic and international operations.

The Davao region is one of the fast-growing tourism destinations in the country, with passenger traffic totaling 2.79 million in 2013.

All in all, these deals have an indicative cost of P108.19 billion and are set to undergo a dual-stage public auction. The prequalification conference is scheduled on April 7, while the deadline for the submission of prequalification documents is on May 18.

The deals were first introduced to the public in December last year, after the department published an invitation to bid for the aviation contracts. Discussions as to how these projects will be bundled started as early as 2013.

The government decided to bundle the projects into two in order to raise the palatability of the deals to the private sector.

The P5.8-billion Puerto Princesa Airport was initially included in the roster, but was removed as the said aviation hub should soon be infused with a “comprehensive tourism airport-centric strategy for Palawan airports.”

Overall, the private-sector partners will be tasked to improve the services at the respective key regional airports. This includes concessioning the operations and maintenance to the proponents, including required enhancement of airside and landside facilities at the respective airports.

JG Summit Holdings Inc., San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Megawide Construction Corp. have signified their interest to bid for the airports. These companies have so far cemented their names as regular bidders in the PPP arena.