Businessmirror december 09, 2014

PHL DISMISSES CHINA’S RANTS ON ARBITRATION

By Recto Mercene

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In this July 15, 2012, file photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese fishing vessel sails by Fiery Cross Reef (background), also known as Yongshu Reef by the Chinese, of the Spratly Islands in South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). Defying a US call to halt the project, China defended its land reclamation in the disputed Spratly Islands, saying the work is for public service use, although a London-based security group says the new island could host a military airfield to intimidate neighbors. In a recent report, IHS Jane’s said satellite images taken in August and November showed that Chinese dredgers had created a land mass almost the entire length of Fiery Cross Reef, which was previously underwater. The security group said it is China’s largest construction project on the island chain. AP

2006, 2010, 2012

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Liv ULLmAnn foLLows her own mUse

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

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By Samito Jalbuena

T takes a certain confluence of life events to make one become obsessed with wallpaper.

The Chiongs (not their real names) lived down the street and had wallpaper in a powder room, and when visitors came, i imagined the guests would stroke its plush surface, aside from marveling at the bedrooms covered in every respect with glorious wallpaper. The family was so successful in the horseracing business that on certain occasions, the father would dump their winning racehorse’s prize money on a daughter’s unsuspecting boudoir. sometimes 1 million, sometimes 2 million in hard cash would rest unperturbed on the bed. There were occasions when i thought they could have used the paper money for wallpaper instead.

For me, the kind of life that the Chiongs lived was fashionable in every respect. But 50 years ago was a simpler time of easier fortunes.

Today is a totally different matter when profit and largesse are spread so diffusively that luxury has been dispersed, too, into the ethers. Today even a one-bedroom or a studio unit in a condominium can be called luxurious. Why have we watered down the idea of luxury? Who are we kidding?

Weirdly, my mother did not oppose my daily visits to the Chiongs, despite the fact that that was where i learned how to smoke cigarettes. What she was opposed to was the black-and-white pattern i wanted for my bedroom, which she struck down with the use of the word “bordello” so often. Years later, i still love wallpaper— and i’m here to offer advice for those who live “luxuriously” yet “diffusively,” as if meanings have imploded in the ethers.

How do you pick the best wallpaper for the stylish one-bedroom or studio condo with an effort to look as luxurious as the Chiongs? (As if.)

The biggest obstacle to picking the right wallpaper is not knowing how it’s actually going to look after you’ve covered a wall.

For this problem, an incredible imagination will help. Likewise, a friend who is a master at photoshop can retouch your unit’s photo to make it appear as if it has been wallpapered in the desired pattern. Another way to surmount the obstacle is to ask for a sizable swatch that you can place on the wall. Judge for yourself if the pattern fits the condo. if you fall in love with a pattern, get as big a piece of it as possible and tape it somewhere expansive. Live with it for at least a week or two and ask if the pattern goes with the flow of the room. Otherwise, ask the advice of a friendly decorator.

What if you want to use a bold pattern?

One must be cognizant of the scale of

the design. You don’t want a pattern with a small repeat number in a tiny room because it’s just going to look out of place. if you don’t have the space to repeat the whole pattern at least six times, then you’re denying the beauty of the pattern in the first place. A good rule of thumb is to choose a pattern image that has a unit of 10 inches or less. This allows for more instances of repetition on a wall.

However, one can also break this rule.

You can get away with it if the pattern is very compact horizontally yet long vertically. For example, a pattern using stripes should have no problem even in the smallest of rooms. Or a very large pattern may sometimes fit on the smallest of walls without looking awkward. But these instances are rare and far in between. rare, too, is finding the right fit and making it stick for quite some time. such a wall covering that one chooses can make a room appear bigger and brighter, or smaller and cooler, and even hide imperfect elements, like roughly finished walls. Wallpaper is every designer’s and homemaker’s best friend. Though the product life of these coverings has seemingly been halved in recent years (along with everything that’s gone down the drain, quality-wise), i see the short product lifespan as just another opportunity to try another pattern down the road. Your quality wallpaper should last at least a decade before it starts to roughen out on the edges and peel off.

After all, wallpaper, to begin with, is a cheapskate’s option. The real rich and magisterial have their palaces covered in frescoes and trompe l’oeil, which not only do not fade but achieve the patina of age in due course. now compare and contrast that golden age with today’s consumerist culture that trumps wallpaper as if it was the covering du jour of walls everywhere. perhaps, i should fault the Chiongs. They only had wallpaper. What you want to see are unique and genuine pieces of art on the walls. Call the plasterers, quick! Call the fresco artists and the trompe l’oeil painters. perhaps, wallpaper has run its practicality to the ground. The product life is undeniably too short as to make it impractical. The new rich should begin to have their walls covered with frescoes and trompe l’oeil. if this happens, invite me to the golden age of your becoming. i’ll congratulate you on a choice well made.

Things that last forever are better than things with a 10-year lifespan.

Be sure to repeat a wallpaper’s pattern around six times. This allows you to enjoy the beauty of the pattern.

FOR small walls, vertically inclined wallpaper will do. JINKAZAMAH

new residential development in laguna launched

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spiring homeowners looking for housing options in suburban Laguna can now look into a new option, as property developer sOC Land (www.socland.com.ph) bares its newest residential development, Althea residences. situated in Biñan, Laguna, Althea residences will feature modern homes with a tranquil vibe strategically spread across 4.3 hectares of land. Homeowners can choose from three housing options: Aurea for two-story single-detached homes, Ayanna for single-attached homes, and Aralia for bungalow homes.

According to Felimon Yee Jr., vice president for sales and marketing of sOC Land, Althea residences was carefully planned to ensure low density. “We understand that for homeowners, especially those with children, ample space to move around in is an essential factor in selecting a home,” he said. “it’s something that we offer in abundance at Althea because we value that kind of luxury.”

All Althea residents will have access to amenities, including a basketball-badminton court, swimming pools for kids and adults, club house, children’s playground, and parks and jogging paths. A 24/7-manned guardhouse will be stationed at the main entrance, and the entire property is surrounded by a perimeter fence. Althea residences will also have allotted commercial spaces to provide residents with easy and exclusive access to

SOC Land Board of Directors Juan Miguel Reyes (from left) and Justine Anne Mercado, Vice President for Marketing and Sales Felimon Yee Jr., and Board of Director Farah Denise Castro

commercial establishments.

The fully developed residential community will be powered by the country’s largest utility, The Manila Electric Co., and has been specifically elevated by 1.5 meter from surrounding communities to help prevent flooding during rainy season. residents can also access a planting strip, and will be provided 24-hour potable water supply from Laguna Water.

“Housing continues to be a basic need in the philippines, and we are happy to help fill a growing demand for affordable, quality and family-friendly homes,” Yee Jr. said. “Laguna is a bustling community suitable for families—whether starter or established— and retired professionals who seek refuge from crowded Manila and yet want to enjoy modern comforts and convenience.”

Althea residences is easily accessible via south Luzon Expressway, using greenfield parkway and san pablo street. it is located near well-known schools in Laguna, including Brent international school Manila, University of perpetual Help, La Consolacion College, and saint Michael’s College of Laguna, as well as hospitals like Biñan Doctors Hospital and new sinai MDi Hospital.

Other establishments within the proximity are puregold Biñan, sM City sta. rosa, Biñan City Hall, Biñan police station, Blessed sacrament parish and santo niño Chapel.

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MALARAYAT VOTED BEST GOLF COURSE IN THE PHILIPPINES D1

| TuesDay, December 9, 2014 sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Mike G. Besa | www.pinoygolfer.com

Malarayat Voted Best Golf Course in the PhiliPPines »

By Mike Besa

The seventh hole of the Makulot nine was named as one of the top 100 holes of golf in the world outside the United States.

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ount Malarayat Golf and Country Club has been acknowledged as the best golf course in the Philippines by Asian Golf Monthly Magazine. this is the second time that Malarayat has been accorded this distinction, the first being in 2009.

Mount Malarayat Golf and Country Club is the crown jewel of golf in Batangas today. the club is nestled in the buxom of the mountain range for which it is named. Situated some 1,200 feet above sea level, the weather is appreciably cooler than lower locales and provides the ideal climate for golf. Arch.

Antonio turalba, chairman of the Active Group, knew he had a special piece of property and spared no expense to develop it. the course was laid out by Bob Moore of the JMP Design Group who designed an almost surreal 27-hole golf course that is sure to entertain all that walk its pristine fairways.

Malarayat offers the golfer a complete package; a world-class golf course, food and beverage by one of the top chefs in the country, a beautiful boutique hotel, spa and sports facilities and a wonderful climate in one of the most serene settings in the country.

Malarayat’s 27-hole layout has hosted the Philippine open and several events on the Asian and Asean tours. At 7,000 yards from the tips, it’s not long by modern standards but it is not wanting by any means. the golf course’s principal defenses of par are its greens. All have multiple tiers to them, some of which are quite severe. this design has been criticized by some as being contrived but it puts a premium on accuracy with one’s approach shot. Find the wrong side of the pin and you could chalk up a big number.

It has been immaculately maintained by the MJ Carr Group. the condition of the course is such that we have never seen any maintenance issues that were not immediately dealt with.

the course has two of the most beautiful holes of golf that I’ve had the privilege of playing. the seventh hole on the Makulot nine has been voted as one of the top 100 holes outside the uS. It is a sweeping par 5 that doglegs to the right. A long drive over the bunker in the crux of the dogleg will set you up for an attempt at reaching the green in two. It’s an intimidating shot to be sure as the green is guarded by water. the finishing hole on the Lobo nine is a fantastic way to finish your round. It is a reachable par 5 that will just as easily yield a birdie as a double bogey or worse. A drive over the fairway bunker on the right will leave you about 200 yards to the center of the green.

Longer hitters could drive their ball into the lake surrounding the green as the fairway slopes down toward the water. Shorter hitters need not despair as the hole offers a good wedge player the chance at a birdie with a well-placed approach shot. the club recently retained the services of renowned Chef Billy King to handle the club’s restaurants. Malarayat has always had very fine food but King has taken their menu to the next level. the care and passion with which the food is prepared is above reproach as is their penchant for finding the best and freshest ingredients with which to serve the hungry golfer.

If you are familiar with their menu, you’ll note that it hasn’t changed all that much. But when you order your favorite entrée, you’ll notice it’s a bit different— it’s better. the hotel has just 31 rooms but each is spacious and well equipped. there’s nothing quite like waking up in the morning to the sun coming up over the mountains and bathing the fairways in its warm light. It’s a beautiful place to stay.

Malarayat has always been a favorite haunt and the way the club has been managed over the years assures that it will remain so for many more to come.

Congratulations to the Active Group and to the management of Mount Malarayat Golf and Country Club on an honor well deserved!

GOLF

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TOP TAKES ON TAIWANESE TECHNOLOGY TOOLS BusinessMirror

corp@businessmirror.com.ph

Top Takes on Taiwanese

Text & Photos by K.C. Niña Pusing | Special and exclusive to the BusinessMirror

Earlier reports pegged farm damage at P385 million, with three fatalities.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said the damage to crops and farm infrastructure amounted to P1.02 billion. In terms of volume, production losses were pegged at 56,090 metric tons (MT).

“The damage has been minimal and hopefully will remain so even after the complete report reaches the national office,” Alcala said.

He said most of the standing rice and corn crops have been harvested weeks before the typhoon barreled through central and southern Philippines.

DA figures show that the rice sector suffered the brunt of the typhoon. Ruby destroyed 48,054 MT of rice planted in 32,329 hectares. Value of the damage is estimated at P840.5 million.

Damage to the corn sector amounted to P92.49 million. The typhoon destroyed 7,550 MT of corn planted in 23,416 hectares. Ruby also damaged 486 MT of highvalue crops worth P8.03 million.

Majority of renters saving money for their own houses

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LOCAL BLACK FRIDAY Lazada Philippines CEO and cofounder Inanc Balci announces on Friday the local unit of the German online shopping firm will be open for 24 hours beginning December 12. Night owls can log on in the early hours for special night promotions only available between 12 a.m. and 8 a.m., Balci said during a news briefing on December 5 in Makati City. “We expect a bigger shopping online crowd during the holiday season as consumers want to beat crowds, queues and the inconvenience of shopping in malls and busy shopping districts.” Photo by AlysA sAlen

AIPEI, Taiwan—Home of electronic brands Asus, Acer, Transcend and D-Link, to name a few, Taiwan, one of the most competitive players in the high-tech industry, is pushing itself beyond the box and going the extra mile through Taiwan Excellence.

Taiwan Excellence, formerly known as “Symbol of Excellence,” is a national commodity standard, which does not only ensure quality industrial output, but also encourages Taiwanese industries to upgrade and create new products. Every year, Taiwan Excellence is showcasing the “best of the best,” “innovalue” products, which undergo a selection based on five main criteria—research and development; design; quality; marketing; and made in Taiwan. Standardized products would bear the Taiwan Excellence marks to strengthen the country’s local and international marketing efforts.

At a visit to the Taiwan Excellence Award Pavilion, an avenue dedicated to innovative products that are made in Taiwan, the BusinessMirror selects 10 of its most interesting products for 2014:

iPin Laser Presenter

ThE smallest laser presenter in the world received numerous awards, including the 2014 iF Product Design Award with its efficiency and design details. The laser presenter, which is just 1.6 centimeters, is powered by a smartphone and was engineered to fit right in the ear buds. Wireless-Fidelity (WiFi)-ready, users can control the presentation using iPin App and iPin host computer program suited for all professionals.

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

MiWand 2 Wi-Fi Pro

A MoBilE scanner without a computer required only takes 1.5 seconds to scan a full A4 page at 300dpi in 24-bit true color. The easy-to-use scanner by Avision inc. allows its user to scan up to 400 pages of A4 documents consecutively by simply gliding over the page. Small and portable, it has a liquid-crystal display (lCD) display to show scanned images, settings and warning messages. With Wi-Fi, users can wirelessly connect the scanned image from scanner to computer, or through a microSD (Secure Digital) card.

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One-for-all Smart Cloud Kit

ThiS Sapido Technology inc. award-winning system and proudly 100-percent made in Taiwan is an ideal home partner. it covers three main sectors—cloud security, cloud automation and digital convergence—bringing security to the next level. The Smart Cloud Sensor has infrared-motion sensor that detects entry and can monitor criminals in the users’ home, which automatically activates the alarm and signal for any suspicious movement. The Smart Cloud hD Surveillance Camera with Audio Wireless Router allows its user to talk, listen and keep in touch with loved ones in real time anywhere—ideal for working mothers who nurse their babies at home while in the office. included in the kit is the Smart Cloud Battery-in Wireless Router with 3.75G SiM Card Slot, which maintains the products’ power supply and connection for hours with extra functions, such as cloud sharing, cloud monitoring, networksecurity management, among others.

VIP 515 Series

ThE ViP KM-1520.3T/KM-1510.3 by Karma Medical Products Co. ltd. is a wheelchair with tilt-in-space design (0 to 35 degrees), foldable and pressure-releasing system, which makes for a really comfy sitting and is perfect for those who need to be bolted onto a wheelchair for hours. With its super-lightweight design, the ViP 515 has a pressure-support system of two hydraulic-pressure support bars at the back cushion to reduce the development of pressure ulcer on the sitter, minimize shock buildups and give extra support for the user and attendant when reclining with its foldable removable armrest and swing-away footrest. continued on B2-2

DIGITAL LIFE

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LARGEST MARGIN Sports BusinessMirror

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| Tuesday, decemBer 9, 2014 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph

LARGEST

MARGIN

eXCePt for flu-like symptoms on saturday, tiger Woods makes it through 72 holes of the hero World Challenge. AP

Jordan Spieth caps off a big finish to his second season as a pro when he closed with a sixunder 66 and set two tournament records to win by 10 shots over Henrik Stenson.

400 GOALS! B ARCELONA, Spain—Lionel Messi scored another hat trick to reach the 400-goal mark for Barcelona and spark his team’s 5-1 comeback victory over Espanyol in the Catalan capital derby on Sunday, keeping the winners second in the Spanish league.

Messi matched Cristiano Ronaldo’s threegoal performance in Real Madrid’s win the day before to ensure Barcelona stayed within two points of its fierce rivals at the top of the table. It was Messi’s third hat trick in two weeks, having also netted three goals against Sevilla in the league and at APOEL in the Champions League.

Already the club’s all-time top scorer, Messi’s 29th career treble for Barcelona was his 400th, 401st and 402nd goals for the club, including friendlies. They took his league tally for this season to 13 goals, behind Ronaldo’s runaway total of 23.

Sergio Garcia put Espanyol in front in the 13th minute in a good first half for the visitors at Camp Nou, but Messi curled home the equalizer in injury time before the break and Barcelona never looked back.

Messi fired in his second in the 50th and added a third after Gerard Pique and substitute Pedro Rodriguez had scored in a second half completely dominated by Barcelona.

“Messi is a football legend,” said Espanyol coach Sergio Gonzalez. “We were the better side in the first half but Leo’s goal was a tough blow.

We couldn’t forget it and 15 bad minutes cost us the game.”

Elsewhere, David Moyes endured his first loss in charge of Real Sociedad, a stinging

By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press

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INDERMERE, Florida— Jordan Spieth had been down this road before.

Three years ago at Isleworth, he was making the turn in the final round when he looked over at the scoreboard on the 18th fairway that showed he had a big lead. So it was eerie when he caught himself doing the same thing on Sunday during the final round of the Hero World Challenge.

But there was one big difference.

Back then, Spieth was a freshman at Texas and won by eight shots in the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational for his first college title.

This time, he beat an elite field that included tournament host Tiger Woods, six major champions and 16 of the top 30 players in the world.

And he beat them even worse.

Spieth capped off a big finish to his second season as a pro when he closed with a six-under 66 and set two tournament records to win by 10 shots over Henrik Stenson.

Jordan sPieth wins by a record 10 shots at isleworth. AP

Staked to a seven-shot lead in the final round, he opened with three birdies in four holes and turned the final three hours into a peaceful walk along the lakes and palatial homes of Isleworth.

“It was the most fun I ever had playing nine holes of golf,” Spieth said.

Spieth had an 11-shot lead after nine holes, ripped a drive over the corner of the bunker and then glanced at the lone leaderboard. And then he made another birdie. He coasted from there and even with a careless double bogey on the back nine, he finished at 26-under 262 to break the tournament record of 266 set by Woods in 2007 and Davis Love III in 2000, both at Sherwood Country Club in California.

The 10-shot victory was the largest margin of the year in golf, and broke the tournament record of seven shots that Woods had in 2007.

“Whether my emotions showed it or not I’m not sure, but inside we were really very pleased with the year and how it came to a close,” Spieth said. “This caps off the best golfing year that I’ve ever had.”

Spieth had set a goal of two wins, and

that looked out of reach when he began the last leg of a long journey. He finished one shot out of a playoff in Japan, won the Australian Open by six shots and then turned in another dominant performance.

“The kid is playing great,” said Keegan Bradley, who had a 70 to tie for third with Patrick Reed (68). “You have to look at his past three events. He almost won them all. He’s a great player. I wouldn’t look more into it other than he dominated this week.”

Woods, in his first tournament in four months while recovering from back injuries, stubbed two more chips on the 13th hole for a triple bogey and closed with a 72. He tied for last place in the 18-man field with Hunter Mahan, 26 shots out of the lead.

Woods noted that Spieth closed with a 63 in Australia and flew some 9,000 miles to get to Isleworth.

“He’s playing some pretty special golf right now,” Woods said.

Spieth completes his second full year as a pro by moving into the top 10 in the world ranking at No. 9. The Hero World Challenge is not an official PGA Tour event, so the $1 million

prize does not count toward the money list.

He had never had such a big lead going into the final round, and it’s tempting to try to protect it. Instead, Spieth set tiny goals and came out swinging. One of those goals was to stretch his lead to 10 shots, and he got there with a hybrid on the par-5 seventh to the left edge of the green that trickled onto the putting surface. Bradley two-putted for birdie to get within eight shots, and then Spieth poured in his putt to go up by 10.

Bradley was headed for the eighth tee, when he reversed course and walked over to Spieth to playfully body-slam him.

“I wanted to go over there and tackle him and break his putter,” Bradley said. “No, I love Jordan. I’m happy for him. He was pretty much unbeatable this week.”

Stenson played with Spieth on Saturday, and knew what to expect.

“He was in pretty much full control of every part of his game,” Stenson said.

Stenson closed with a 69 to entrench himself a little deeper at No. 2 in the world behind Rory McIlroy, who did not play this week.

Woods ties for last, but in good health W

4-0 defeat at Villarreal.

Carlos Bacca netted early to help secure Sevilla’s 1-0 win at Rayo Vallecano and tighten its hold on fourth place, while Alvaro Negredo scored his first goal for Valencia before it conceded a late equalizer to slip 1-1 at Granada.

After a start to the season when Messi stood out for his playmaking, he is again scoring goals in bunches, and, last month, became both the leading scorer in the history of both the Spanish league and the Champions League.

His scoring burst comes with Ronaldo, also in spectacular form, and both star forwards are again among the finalists for the Ballon d’Or award, which Ronaldo won last year. The winner will be announced on January 12. AP

lionel Messi fights for the ball against espanyol’s sergio garcia. AP

INDERMERE, Florida—Tiger Woods tied for last place in his return to golf after four months and found at least one reason for optimism.

At least he has his health.

Except for flu-like symptoms on Saturday, Woods made it through 72 holes of the Hero World Challenge by swinging as hard as he wanted without feeling any pain. In his eyes, that far outweighed the shocking sight of so many duffed chips.

Woods muffed two more chips on the par-5 13th hole on his way to a triple bogey. He rallied with two late birdies for a 72 and shared last place in the 18-man field at Isleworth with Hunter Mahan at even-par 288.

He finished 26 shots behind Jordan Spieth.

“I hadn’t played in four months,” Woods said. “To come out here and not play in any kind of pain is great progress, and to be able to hit the ball as hard as I want really without flinching.”

Woods had back surgery a week before the Masters to alleviate a pinched nerve. That kept him out of golf for about three months.

After missing the cut in the Professional Golf Association Championship on August 9, he shut it down the last four months to strengthen his muscle structure.

“I made some progress,” Woods said. “I hadn’t played in four months and I’m in absolutely no

pain, which is nice. To be able to go all out on some of these drives like I did this week really enforces what I’m doing is the right thing for my body.”

Different about this return to golf—his fifth in the last five years due to injury—is that Woods also is working with his third swing coach in the last five years. Chris Como walked every round, and Woods said he would consult with him during a week of practice before resting for the holidays.

He did not say when he would return.

During an engaging spot in the broadcast booth, NBC Sports announcer Dan Hicks asked about his schedule and mentioned Hawaii.

“It won’t be the Tournament of Champions,” Woods said with a laugh.

Even though he tied for 17th, it was his best finish of the year. Woods tied for 25th at Doral in his final tournament before back surgery.

The biggest surprise was his short game.

Woods said he fell into a mixture of his old swing and what he is trying to do now. He had eight chips that he flubbed, four of them on the 13th hole.

Steve Stricker played the final round with Woods and said he thought his swing looked better.

“He’s going through it a little more freer,” Stricker said. “Obviously, his short game—putting and chipping—is not up to snuff with what he was expecting out of himself, or anyone else for that matter. But he’s taking a good rip at it. With any new swing, you’re going to have challenges. It’s going to take time.” AP

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lthough Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit) has a wide coverage and is following the path tracked by Typhoon Glenda earlier this year, damage to agriculture would be minimal, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday. The typhoon also left at least 21 people dead.

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Technology Tools

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Tuesday, 40 Tuesday,November December18, 9, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 61

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Tuesday, December 9, 2014 C1

The age of half lives and wallpaper

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A broader look at today’s business

Ruby casualties, damage rising

THE AGE OF HALF LIVES AND WALLPAPER D

See “Arbitration,” A8

FARM DAMAGE AT P1.02B, DEATH TOLL AT 21, OFFICES SHUT AS TYPHOON NEARS CAPITAL MONDAY NIGHT

INSIDE

ear Lord, our profession of faith is always concluded with “amen.” It is also expressed at the last book of Sacred Scripture; some of the prayers of the New Testament and the Liturgical prayers of the Church, expresses our confident and total “Yes” to what we professed in the Creed, entrusting ourselves completely to Him who is the definitive “Amen” (revelation 3:14) Christ the Lord.

(Unclos), as it comes within 30 miles of the Philippines, and breaks into its 200mile exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf.

China’s foreign ministry on Sunday said the Philippines’s underlying goal in seeking arbitration “is not to seek peaceful resolution of the West Philippine Sea issue, but to put political pressure on China, so as to deny China’s lawful rights in the Scs [West Philippine Sea] through the so-called interpretation or application of the convention.”

China lays claim to 90 percent of the

BusinessMirror

three-time rotary club of manila journalism awardee

‘Amen’

he Department of Foreign Affairs (Dfa) on Monday responded to China’s allegation that the Philippines is putting pressure on Beijing before an international arbitral tribunal over disputed waters in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

China said it would not participate in the arbitration a week ahead of the deadline to respond.

“We take notice that China has officially stated its position on the matter

of arbitration filed by the Philippines against the said country,” the Dfa said in a statement.

“We also note the points raised in the paper. The Philippine position on these are stated in the memorial it submitted to the tribunal last March.”

In March this year the Philippines presented a 4,000-page “memorial” to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, asking the magistrates to invalidate the so-called nine-dash line.

The country argues that the ninedash line violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

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FFORDABILITY is the key reason many Filipinos choose not to buy houses, although the majority of those currently renting are now saving so they can purchase their own homes in the near future, a research conducted by a global propertylisting company showed.

This makes the future of local property firms very bright, Lamudi Inc. said.

In its research paper, Lamudi Inc. said 60 percent of Filipinos find it hard to buy their own homes due to high costs.

“Many renters said they were currently looking for property but had not found the right home for their needs. However, the desire to own property remains and may be becoming more prevalent among young generations,” the Real Estate in Emerging Markets report stated.

The majority of those renting their properties, or 88.6 percent, were currently saving to buy their own home, the survey showed.

“Almost all respondents indicated they expected to buy property within the next five to 10 years,” the report added.

Security, meanwhile, fuels the desire of buyers to own a property. Nearly three-quarters of buyers cited

PESO exchange rates n US 44.6480

See “Renters,” A8

Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit) forces owners of fishing boats in Navotas City to halt their operations. KEVIN DELA CRUZ

JAPAN’s RECESSION DEEPENS AS ABE PREPARES FOR POLLS

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apan’s recession was deeper than initially estimated as company investment unexpectedly shrank, a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he campaigns for reelection on his economic credentials.

The economy contracted an annualized 1.9 percent in the July-to-September period from the previous quarter, weaker than the 1.6-percent drop reported in preliminary data. The result was also below every forecast in a Bloomberg News survey that showed a median 0.5-percent decrease.

The surprise decline in business investment sapped the strength of the world’s third-biggest economy, compounding damage from a slump in consumer spending after a sales-tax rise in April. With the main opposition party caught unprepared, Abe is ontrack to win the December 14 election, even as a decline in the yen cuts into people’s spending power.

“Today’s report shows a pretty bleak picture of Japan’s economy,” said Taro Saito, director of economic research at NLI Research Institute in Tokyo. “We are going to see a recovery but only a gradual one. The weakening yen should provide a boost to manufacturers and those benefits will penetrate through a wide range of industries.”

The economy will grow an annualized 1.9 percent this quarter, according to the median estimate in a separate survey before Monday’s data.

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‘PHL in better position to handle higher rates’

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By Bianca Cuaresma

he Philippines, because of ample liquidity in the system, was seen better able to handle higher interest rates down the line than peer economies elsewhere no matter the rates’ corrosive impact on local output, or the gross domestic product, the financial services giant HSBC said.

In a research note, the British-owned lender said prospectively tighter monetary policy should not unduly restrain growth in the $270-billion economy but should only soak on whatever excess liquidity remains in the system.

“The Philippines is in a bucket of its own, and actually resembles parts of Asean in the recent past,” the British banking giant said.

HSBC especially mentioned the country’s bank-related cash supply, including its “better shaped” liquidity position from a loan-to-deposit ratio perspective, higher liquid assets as a share of deposits, strong credit growth and robust external fundamentals on the sovereign side. These were seen to provide the Philippines a cushion once the advanced economies—particularly the US—decide to make interestrate adjustments to ensure uninterrupted

growth in 2015 and beyond.

“There is clearly excess liquidity in the system, with robust consumer demand growth and property prices continuing to pick up steam. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [BSP] is currently the only central bank in Asia that is expected to hike rates next year, and it has implemented some macroprudential measures to prevent asset bubbles,” HSBC said.

According to the lender, credit growth should remain strong next year no matter the more recent tightening measures put in place by the central bank earlier this year.

HSBC also said the unrestricted entry of foreign banks in the country, only recently signed into law, was consistent with the goals of the regional integration program happening by 2015 onward.

“The increased foreign financial presence is quite timely, and provides an additional conduit for Japanese bank lending to flow into the Philippines to increase liquidity, which will give the BSP a good reason to be vigilant,” HSBC said.

As a result, the Philippines was seen as an outlier, or a country set quite apart from peers in the region next year when prospectively tighter monetary conditions should not lead to overly high interest rates that constrain credit, the lender said.

n japan 0.3729 n UK 69.9902 n HK 5.7584 n CHINA 7.2544 n singapore 34.0253 n australia 37.5320 n EU 55.2832 n SAUDI arabia 11.8973 Source: BSP (5 December 2014)

News BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

A2

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Ruby casualties, damage rising Continued from A1

The DA said the fisheries sector suffered production losses reaching P48.22 million. “We are hoping that typhoon Ruby will not inflict huge losses on the livestock sector particularly on poultry in Calabarzon and Mimaropa, which were barraged by typhoon Glenda earlier this year,” Alcala said.

He, however, allayed fears that the typhoon will cause a disruption in the supply of chicken during the Christmas season. Alcala said the DA had asked local government officials and several broiler producers to secure chicken supply for the holiday season.

To ensure enough planting materials, the agriculture department has also “prepositioned” palay and corn seeds in all the regions within the path of Ruby.

For palay, some 58,952 bags were already sent to these regions days before the typhoon’s arrival, including 14,222 bags of corn and 2,337 bags of assorted high-value crop seeds.

Meanwhile, the National Food Authority (NFA) said in a text message that its rice inventory on areas affected in Regions 5 and 8 is enough to supply the needed volume of the main staple For Region 8, about 5.9 million 50-kilogram bags were at the area, while Region 4 has 236,557 cavans in its inventory, according to NFA Director Rex Estoperez.

NFA Administrator Renan B. Dalisay said the National Capital Region’s rice inventory stands at 1.19 million 50-kg bags, while a total of 1.24 million 50-kg bags were already distributed to relief agencies and institutions including local government units. Dalisay said the food agency will also send additional rice to affected areas particularly in Maslog, Samar.

Ruby weakened on Monday, a day after it left at least 21 people dead and sent

more than a million others into shelters, sparing the central Philippines the massive devastation that a monster storm brought to the region last year.

Shallow floods, damaged shanties and ripped off tin roofs were a common sight across the region, but there was no major destruction after Ruby slammed into Eastern Samar and other island provinces.

It was packing maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour (kph) and gusts of 150 kph (93 mph) on Monday, considerably weaker from its peak power but still a potentially deadly storm, according to forecasters.

The typhoon, which made landfall in Eastern Samar late Saturday, was moving slowly, dumping heavy rain that could possibly trigger landslides and flash floods.

Traumatized by the death and destruction from Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) last year, more than 1 million people fled to more than 1,000 emergency shelters and safer grounds.

Ruby was moving across a string of island provinces and would be near the bustling capital, Manila by early Tuesday, according to government forecasters.

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said more than 3,000 residents of a shantytown on the edge of Manila Bay have been evacuated due to possible storm surges.

“We’ve prepared and trained for this,” Estrada told the Associated Press, adding his greatest fear was widespread flooding.

Like villagers in the central Philippines, Estrada said Manila residents were readily moving to safety because they’re still haunted by troublesome memories of Yolanda’s devastation last year.

“That’s still very fresh in their minds,” he said of Yolanda’s tsunami-like storm surges and killer winds that left thousands of people dead and leveled entire villages,

most of them in and around Tacloban.

Metropolitan Manila has a population of more than 12 million people.

Two people, including a baby girl, died of hypothermia in central Iloilo province on Saturday at the height of the typhoon, disaster-response agency chief Alexander Pama told a news conference. Another person died after being hit by a falling tree in the eastern town of Dolores, where the typhoon first made landfall, according to Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II. Displaced villagers were asked to return home from emergency shelters in provinces where the danger posed by the typhoon had waned, including Albay, where more than half a million people were advised to leave evacuation sites.

Nearly 12,000 villagers, however, will remain in government shelters in Albay because their homes lie near a restive volcano.

While officials expressed relief that the typhoon had not caused major damage, they were quick to warn that Hagupit — Filipino for “smash” or “lash” — was still on course to cross three major central Philippine islands before starting to blow away on Tuesday into the South China Sea. Several typhoon-lashed eastern villages isolated by downed telephone and power lines were out of contact, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said.

Army troops deployed to supermarkets and major roads in provinces in the typhoon’s path to prevent looting and chaos and clear debris, all of which slowed the government’s response to Haiyan last year. Authorities ordered offices and schools closed in the Philippine capital with Ruby forecast to bring heavy rain as it moves closer to Manila.

The government shut state-run offices while trading of stocks, bonds and currencies was suspended for the

day. Gales from Ruby earlier slammed the central Philippines, with more than 30 power lines and transformers damaged in eastern Visayas and southern Luzon, causing power failures, the grid operator said on its web site. Ruby was downgraded from a typhoon by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

At least three people died in evacuation centers in central areas, authorities reported. Roofs were blown off bunkhouses in Tacloban city, Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin said by phone. “Our people are worried that this new calamity is going to stall our recovery” from Yolanda, which devastated the area in November last year, he said.

The government has evacuated more than a million people from danger zones as Hagupit—or “whip” in English—tests the leadership of President Aquino, who attracted criticism after Haiyan killed more than 6,200 people and left more than 1,000 missing. “Local governments are better prepared”this time, Palace Deputy Spokeswoman Abigail Valte said on DZRB radio.

“It’s better to err on the side of prudence and on the side of caution.”

Suspended operations Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas suspended its clearing, settlement operations on Monday following the order for government offices to close, Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said in a mobile-phone message, while the Philippine Stock Exchange and Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. halted trading for the day. The benchmark stock exchange index fell 0.9 percent on December 5 as Hagupit, then rated a super typhoon, headed to the country.

The Philippines was the country most affected by weather-related events last year, according to Germanwatch’s global climate-risk index, citing absolute losses

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST DECEMBER 9, 2014 | TUESDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

Evacuation centers

With houses destroyed, people are expected to stay longer in evacuation centers and the government must increase its management of the camps and dispersal of food, Roxas said in a televised briefing from Eastern Samar, the first province to be hit by the typhoon.

A 1-month-old boy and a 62-year-old man died from illnesses in an evacuation center in Leyte province in the Visayas, police Superintendent Edgardo Esmero said by phone. In Iloilo, also in the Visayas islands, a 1-year-old girl and a 65-year-old man died from hypothermia, according to a civil defense unit report.

“It’s a really serious situation in the evacuation centers,” Jennifer MacCann, World Vision’s operation director for the typhoon response, said by e-mail. “Many of the families don’t know when they can return home and what they will find once they get there.”

Electricity outages Hagupit brought gusts of as much as 75 knots (139 kilometers per hour), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, which forecast the storm to track within 72 nautical miles of Manila later Monday before crossing into the South China Sea and curving southwest toward Vietnam. Its estimated rainfall within its 450-kilometer diameter is from 5 to 15 millimeters per hour, considered moderate to heavy, the country’s weather bureau said.

Sixteen provinces are without elec-

DEC 11

DEC 12

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

METRO MANILA

22 – 28°C

23 – 29°C

TUGUEGARAO

21 – 28°C

21 –28°C

STRENGTH: 85 KPH GUSTINESS: 100 KPH DIRECTION: WEST NORTHWEST AT 13 KPH (AS OF DECEMBER 8, 5:00 PM)

LAOAG

BAGUIO

LAOAG CITY 22 – 29°C

TUGUEGARAO CITY 21 – 27°C

SBMA/ CLARK

BAGUIO CITY 14 – 23°C SBMA/CLARK 22 – 28°C TAGAYTAY CITY 19 – 25°C

Dec. 8, 2014, 2PM

TAGAYTAY

LEGAZPI

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

ing, Catherine N. Pillas, AP, Bloomberg News

DEC 10

WEDNESDAY

DEC 11

DEC 12

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

24 – 30°C

METRO CEBU

24 – 33°C

24 – 34°C

24 – 34°C

21 – 29°C

TACLOBAN

24 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 33°C

22 – 29°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

21 – 28°C

14 – 23°C

23 – 29°C

19 – 26°C

21 – 28°C

24 – 33°C

24 – 34°C

25 – 34°C

METRO DAVAO

13 – 22°C

24 – 34°C

24 – 34°C

24 – 35°C

23 – 30°C

24 – 34°C

24 – 35°C

24 – 35°C

20 – 28°C

14 – 23°C

24 – 31°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 24 – 29°C

TACLOBAN CITY 24 – 31°C

METRO CEBU 23 – 32°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY 24 – 34 °C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 24 – 33°C METRO DAVAO 24 – 34°C

23 – 28°C

24 – 30°C

ZAMBOANGA SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

6:09 AM

5:26 PM

7:58 PM

8:11 AM

21 – 28°C

LEGAZPI CITY 23 – 27°C

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 23 – 30°C

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

tricity, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. networks were down in some parts of Leyte and eastern Samar, it said.

Philippine Airlines Inc. canceled 66 domestic flights on Monday, it said in an emailed statement. Airports were shut in Naga and Legazpi in Albay,Tacloban and Calbayog in easternVisayas, while total flights canceled reached 183. More than 2,200 people were stranded in various ports.

As many as 12.9 million people may be affected by Hagupit, the United Nations’s Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System said on its web site.

In Manila, billboards were rolled down and sandbags were placed on the sea wall of Manila Bay, with the capital under the second-lowest alert in a four-scale storm warning system.

Heavy to intense rain in the city is possible, according to forecasters.

The Department of Trade and Industry’s Consumer Protection Group is directing retailers to observe the price freeze in areas declared under state of calamity (SOC).

In a text message to reporters, Trade Undersecretary for Consumer Protection Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba said as per the latest NDRRMC situation report, the province of Albay is under a SOC and as such, as the law provides, a price freeze is imposed in the area.

According to Section 6 of the Price Act, “Price freeze for basic necessities is implemented for 60 days unless lifted….

Prices of basic necessities in areas under a state of calamity shall automatically be frozen at their prevailing prices or placed under automatic price control whenever.” Alladin Diega, Marvyn Benan-

TROPICAL STORM “RUBY” (HAGUPIT) WAS LOCATED AT 15 KM SOUTHEAST OF LAIYA, BATANGAS.

Typhoon is a cyclone category with winds of 140 kph.

METRO MANILA 22 – 27°C

DEC 10

WEDNESDAY

at $24.5 billion, or 3.8 percent of gross domestic product. Haiyan alone caused more than $13 billion in economic damage, it said. UK research company Maplecroft ranks the Philippines second to Japan for being at risk from tropical storms.

24 – 31°C

FULL MOON HALF MOON

SOUTH HARBOR

DEC 06 23 – 31°C

24 – 32°C

DEC 14

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers

23 – 29°C

24 – 30°C

25 – 31°C

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

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

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

www.panahon.tv

SABAH CELEBES SEA

7:03 AM

-0.23 METER 8:51 PM Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms

8:27 PM

22 – 30°C

LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE

@PanahonTV

11:21 PM

1.08 METER

Light rains Rains with gusty winds

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News

BusinessMirror Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Tuesday, December 9, 2014 A3

House urged to probe labor contractualization in Mindanao

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PARTY-LIST lawmaker has filed a resolution urging the House Committee on Labor and Employment to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the alleged massive contractualization scheme of workers in Mindanao.

In House Resolution 1573, Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, author of the measure, said that the contractualization scheme of workers in Mindanao deprived them of their right to security of tenure and other privileges provided under the labor laws.

Mendoza added that labor-only contracting has circumvent the labor code denying the workers right to security of tenure, right to self-organization, right to collectively bargain, right to decent wages and right to occupational safety and health.

The lawmaker cited the case of the workers of the Sumifru Corp., a firm dealing in production and exportation of Cavendish bananas, pineapple and papayas in the Southern and Central Mindanao. The company is exporting its products to China, Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, New Zealand and Russia.

Mendoza said from June 2013 to June 2014, the Sumifru Corp. has terminated the services of its workers in Antipas, North Cotabato. Of the origi-

nal 2,743 workers, only 529 were left.

He also said the terminated workers were replaced by workers from Antipas Banana Workers Cooperative and Magsige MPC Agency who were asked to assume the job of the former regular workers of the Sumifru Corp.

“The use of tax-exempt cooperatives which supplied workers to the company is clearly exploitative of the rights of the agricultural workers and exposing them to substandard wages, no overtime pay and without 13th-month pay,” Mendoza said.

It added that through contractualization schemes and the use of “fake cooperatives,” no employeremployee relationship will arise between the workers and the agricultural plantation.

“If there is no legal employeremployee relationship, the workers will be unable to enjoy the right to organize, bargain collectively and the right to collective action through strike, all of which are fundamental rights protected by the labor code,” The resolution said.

It added that the policy of contractualization will create a race-to-thebottom whereby agricultural plantations will seek to create comparative advantages and top shore up their competitive position by lowering wages and denial of overtime pay and 13th month pay. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

NPA kills former guerrilla who turned to crime

By Marvyn N. Benaning Correspondent

T

HE New People’s ArmyCelso Minguez Command (NPA-CMC) that operates in Sorsogon has admitted that NPA guerrillas killed Noel Delgado in Barangay San Juan, Sorsogon City, on December 1.

NPA-CMC Spokesman Samuel Guerrero said Delgado was meted out the death penalty after he refused to mend his ways after being warned by the provincial rebel command several times.

Guerrero admitted that Delgado used to be an NPA guerrilla but he deserted his unit “and committed crimes against the revolutionary movement and the farmers in the Bacon District of Sorsogon City.”

He said that after being shot, Delgado was taken to a hospital in Sor-

sogon City but died on December 5.

“Since he quit from the movement, he became part of a bandit group that was involved in cattle rustling, the theft of other animals and the forcible eviction of some tenants in Bacon District,” Guerrero added.

“He had as his cohorts some exguerrillas, soldiers, policemen and members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit. They misrepresent themselves as NPA as they commit crimes. Delgado and his gangmates also invoke the NPA’s name in extorting money from contractors undertaking infrastructure projects,” he said.

“The NPA is gunning after Delgado’s partners-in-crime. The revolutionary army will eliminate this gang in response to the complaints of the farmers that they had been abused,” Guerrero also said.

UE Knights set year-end gathering on December 13

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HE 2014 year-end special assembly of the UE Knights Inc. (UEKI) with the theme “Celebrating Its Bastion of Leaders” will be on December 13, at the Quezon City Sports Club on Eulogio Rodriguez Sr. Boulevard, Quezon City.

The UEKI celebration comes with a fellowship and registration at 5 p.m., followed by the program proper with the new members’ induction and testimonial ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. In the testimonial rites, the UEKI honors Dr. Cezar T. Quiambao for his great achievements and recent conferment of the honorary title as ambassador-at-large of Guam.

Likewise, recognition and awards will be given to Ronald Uychutin, Federation of Philippine Industries Chairman Jesus L. Arranza and Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, ALC group of companies chairman emeritus and former ambassador to the Republic of Lao PDR. The posthumous awardees are the late John Ron dela Vega, Crispin Rivera Jr. and Jesus T. Tanchanco Sr. To be inducted into the UEKI are: the UE Corp of Sponsors’ officers—President Marcia Lopez, Vice President Ivy Manlises, Secretary Love Lyn Labrador, Assistant Secretary Fidela Ong, Treasurer Grace

Santia, Assistant Treasurer Hartly Manliles, Auditor Malee Flores, Assistant Auditor Leah Adalia, Public Relations Officer Jeanne Ann Nueva, Assistant PRO Jeannette Yoshikawa, Sergeant-at-Arms Angela Ela Reyes, International Coordinator Connie Manlises, and the advisers, UEKI Treasurer Evangeline Albano and Mirla Mora; as well as UE Caloocan Alumni Association Inc. Chairman and President Jose N. Romblon.

Dinner and entertainment program (a surprise presentation, dancing, Christmas gift giving, and karaoke singing) will be a delight and feature of the year-end gathering of UE Knights.

“The gathering signifies the organization members’ commitment for solidarity, teamwork and cooperation, to work for the betterment of the UEKI and society. It also marks as a testament in our continuing quest for the good tidings for this organization. We take to heart our preparations, to come up with another memorable revelry and to ensure the success of this gathering.” said UEKI national commander Cdre.

Anthony Que (Philippine Coast and River Guard Auxilliary).

For more details text or call UEKI Secretary General Cdre. Renato S. Chan at 09175741908.

Comelec to test touchscreen voting system in 2016 polls

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By Joel R. San Juan

HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Monday that it has approved the pilot-testing of touchscreen and Internet voting sytems in Pateros, Metro Manila, and select sea-based Filipinos during the 2016 elections.

Both Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes and the Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting head, Commissioner Lucenito Tagle, disclosed during separate interviews that the poll body has already issued a resolution formalizing the commissioners’ consensus to test the touchscreen and Internet voting systems.

“We have already issued a resolution, which is to use all the 410 Direct Recording Electronic [DRE] units in Pateros since it fits the requirements of pilot-testing,” Brillantes said.

Meanwhile, Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. has to overcome yet another legal challenge in order to advance to the next stage of the bidding for additional voting machines for use in the 2016 national elections.

This after the bids and awards

Be health conscious, DOH tells evacuees

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

T

HE Department of Health (DOH) on Monday has issued reminders to people affected by Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit) to ensure that they remain disease-free and to prevent the spread of disease and its complications in evacuation centers.

According to the DOH, all pregnant women in evacuation centers expected to deliver within the month must be transferred to the nearest government hospital.

Likewise, the DOH reiterated the “No Milk Donation Policy.”

Health officials noted that previous experiences show that gastroenteritis cases increased, owing to the use of donated milk formulas.

“All wounds should be immediately cleaned with soap and water. Wounded persons should immediately consult the nearest government health facility for provision of anti-tetanus shots (ATS) and antibiotics.

ATS must be provided within 24 hours. Oral antibiotics are not to be applied directly on the wound,” the agency said in a media advisory.

It added that persons living in flooded areas are advised to avoid wading in floodwaters.

“Protective equipment, such as boots, must be worn if wading through floodwaters is not avoidable. Persons exposed to floodwaters are advised to consult their physicians for the prevention of leptospirosis.”

Brillantes: “We have already issued a resolution, which is to use all the 410 Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) units in Pateros since it fits the requirements of pilot testing.”

committee of the Commission on Elections was asked to exclude the Venezuelan firm from the proceedings on grounds of eligibility.

Law yer A rchiba ld Demata, counsel for Indra Sistemas SA, said the joint-venture company was not eligible to bid for having submitted legally infirm qualification documents.

“We have filed [a manifestation] before the actual demonstration

because we believe that Smartmatic-TIM should not be allowed to proceed in the bidding because of that problem,” Demata told newsmen during a break in the BAC proceedings on Friday.

Specifically, Demata pointed to Smartmatic’s Articles of Incorporation filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) back in 2009, describing its joint venture with local partner TIM for the primary purpose of offering its services for the automation of the Philippine national election in 2010.

“To do, perform and comply with all obligations and responsibilities of, and accord legal personality to, the joint venture of Total Information Management Corp. [TIM] and Smartmatic International Corp.

[Smartmatic] arising under the Request for Proposal and the Notice of Award issued by the Commission on Elections for the automation of the 2010 national and local election [project], including the leasing, selling, importing and/or assembling of automated voting machines, computer software and other computer services and/or otherwise deal in all kinds of services to be used, offered or provided to the Comelec for the preparations and the conduct of the project, including project-management services,” read SmartmaticTM’s corporation papers.

Demata said that, as of December 4, 2014, the 2009 document remains

to be the same registration papers in the records of the SEC. He said Smartmatic-TIM violated Section 45 of the Corporation Code for its acts outside the powers for which said corporation was created as defined by the law of its organization.

“Since, the purpose for which Smartmatic-TIM was formed was limited, specific and restricted to the automation of the 2010 national and local elections in the Philippines, to allow the continued participation of Smartmatic-TIM in the 2016 national and local elections, whether on its own or as a member of any joint venture, would be to sanction an illegal or ultra vires act by SmartmaticTIM,” Demata said.

As for the Internet-voting, Tagle said the Comelec en banc has agreed to pilot-test the system for Filipino seamen.

Tagle said the poll body is just waiting for the budget for the acquisition of the Internet-voting system before they can start the public bidding.

Section 28 of the amended Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2013 provides that the commission “may explore other more efficient, reliable and secure modes or systems, ensuring the secrecy and sanctity of the entire process, whether paper-based, electronic-based or Internet-based technology, or such other latest technology available.”

A4 Tuesday, December 9, 2014 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

News

BusinessMirror

PHL pushes for economic integration in Apec region

T

he Philippines, as the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum next year, will push for various efforts toward the advancement of economic integration in the region crucial for achieving inclusive growth.

“The Philippines is optimistic that with your support, our vision of inclusivity will come to fruition,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan during the symposium on Apec 2015 PrioritiesInformal Senior Officials’ Meeting in Makati City on Monday.

Balisacan said the advancement of economic integration in the AsiaPacific region will further strengthen and facilitate trade and investment among Apec member-economies.

He recognized, however, that the slow recovery from the global financial crisis and the projected sluggish growth of world trade over the next

two years and beyond are expected to present headwinds.

“While these mean that many economies may have to look inward to promote economic growth, we need to remain resolute in our efforts toward greater economic integration as this provides a more robust channel to growth and development,” Balisacan noted.

Balisacan, also the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) director general, noted that enhancing regional integration is among the four Apec 2015 priority areas for discussion by Apec senior officials.

Other priority areas include mainstreaming small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in global and regional markets, investing in human-capital development, and building sustainable and resilient economies.

Balisacan said focusing on initiatives to support the SMEs sector has an immense multiplier effects in terms of jobs creation, product innovation through establishment of new industries, and countryside development by means of introducing and spreading new business opportunities.

SMEs currently constitute more than 90 percent of the businesses in the developing Apec economies.

“For SMEs to take part in the regional and global value chains, we need to identify measures that will provide an open and transparent business environment that will serve as a seedbed for innovation and entrepreneurship,” he added.

Balisacan also underscored the need for Apec members to invest in human-capital development which is key to poverty reduction and economic growth.

“As economies and regions be-

come more interconnected, the needs of the constantly innovating and dynamic industry and services sectors require a better-equipped and more competitive labor force,” he noted.

The Neda chief, likewise, tackled the importance of building sustainable and resilient communities to sustain economic growth amid risks to natural hazards.

“We hope that Apec will tackle interventions to mitigate the effects of climate change and push for enhanced DRRM [disaster-risk reduction and management],” Balisacan said.

He added that addressing behindthe-border issues is imperative to economic growth and development, such as structural reforms.

He said emerging structural issues need to be addressed, such as burgeoning skills mismatch in the labor market, regulatory and policy constraints to innovations and impediments to growth of efficient and livable cities.

Apec 2015 carries a theme “Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World” in light of its regional and national pursuit for inclusivity. PNA

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Submission of bids for P2.5-B ITS south project moved back for another 2 weeks

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

T

he government has extended the deadline for the submission of bids for the P2.5-billion Integrated Transport System (ITS) Southwest Terminal by almost two weeks, a bid bulletin showed.

Transportation Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Jose Perpetuo M. Lotilla said a bidder requested for a 60-day extension in late November, but it was not granted.

The agency, however, allowed for an extension of up to December 12 from December 1.

The tender was initially scheduled on May 15 but was rescheduled to June 16 to give ample time to bidders to finalize their bids. But changes were made in the contract to increase investor appetite, thus forcing the agency to postpone the bidding to August 30.

It was then moved to September 29 but another round of revision on the project structure was made, hence an indefinite postponement.

The government then decided to set the bid submission to December 1, almost a year after the deal was put to the auction block in 2013. The December 12 deadline is expected to be the last postponement of the bid submission date.

Twelve firms are participating in the bidding for the contract to develop a facility to connect passengers coming from Cavite to Metro

Manila transportation systems, such as the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1, city buses, taxis and other public-utility vehicles.

The investors are: D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc.; Ayala Land Inc. and Ayala Corp.; Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.; San Miguel Corp.; Vicente T. Lao Construction; Egis Projects Philippines; Robinsons Land Corp.; Filinvest Land Inc.; Megawide Construction Corp.; States Properties Corp.; Expedition Construction Corp.; and Altus San Nicolas Corp.

The Southwest Terminal project, which will be constructed in a 2.9-hectare area near the ManilaCavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex), will connect passengers coming from Cavite to urban transport systems in Metro Manila.

It will include a passenger terminal building, arrival and departure bays, public-information systems, ticketing and baggage handling facilities and park-ride facilities.

The government has awarded eight contracts since the infrastructure program’s inception in 2010.

It aims to sign at least 15 contracts by the time President Aquino steps down from office in 2016.

The state intends to plug the gap in the country’s transportation infrastructure in the next decade by rolling out massive infrastructure projects that are seen to spur economic growth.

House panel to HDMF: Review interest rates on housing loans Intl humanitarian aid pours in for Ruby-hit communities

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

T

he House Committee on Housing and Urban Development has recently adopted a resolution urging the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), or Pagibig Fund, to review its prevailing interest rates on its affordable and regular housing program.

Liberal Party Rep. Alfredo Benitez of Negros Occidental, chairman of the committee, said members of the panel have voted to adopt House Resolution 1327 last week.

Under the resolution despite seemingly reasonable interest rates, there is still an estimated 3.9 million housing backlog, according to studies conducted by the government’s key shelter agencies, as well as housing organizations and realestate developers.

“There is a need to revisit the prevailing interest rates and inquire into [the] viability of lowering such to make the Pagibig Fund’s home-lending program even more affordable and thus creating an impactful solution to the housing problem that our country desperately needs to address,” the resolution said.

Benitez said that one of the key factors affecting affordability is the scheme of interest rates provided under HDMF’s payment schedule.

The resolution said that Circular 312 of the HDMF laid down the guidelines on its affordable housing program, with its current interest rates at 4.5 percent per annum, which is fixed for 10 years for a P400,000 loan amount, as compared to its regular homelending program or end-user financing under Circular 310, which, at the minimum, has a rate of 7.3 percent and increases as the term of loan progresses.

According Benitez, the performance of the HDMF mandate and the issue of affordability in the housing sector still remains a critical and decisive factor in enhancing and improving the capability of common Filipinos to avail themselves of decent housing.

House Resolution 1327 said the Pagibig Fund has become the prime government financial institution tasked to generate and mobilize a nationwide savings systems and access to home financing in order for low and middle-class families to acquire decent shelter.

I

BIG WINNER It was a dream come true to own a house and lot for seafarer Arturo Verano who was the “big winner” in the recently concluded Fourth OFW and Family Summit at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Verano would not have won the big prize if he did not accede to his wife’s request to spend Christmas with the family and attend the summit. Photo shows (from left) Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, former Senate President Manny Villar and son, Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar in the awarding of a symbolic key of a Camella house unit which Verano won in the raffle draw at the summit. Roy Domingo

Natl Greening Program exceeds 2014 target

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

T

HE National Greening Program (NGP) has exceeded its 2014 target of planting 300,000 hectares with native and fruit-bearing trees as of December 6, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

Forest Management Bureau Director Ricardo Calderon, who is also the national coordinator of the NGP, said that, so far, 309,000 hectares of open, degraded and denuded forests have been planted with more than 168 million trees throughout the country.

The NGP, President Aquino’s flagship reforestation program, aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares by 2016.

So far, more than 900,000 hectares have been planted to trees since the program started in 2011.

Calderon said that nearly half of the trees planted this year since June are high-value crops as part of the strategy to help address

hunger and poverty, particularly in upland areas.

A climate-change mitigation and adaptation measure, poverty alleviation, and food self-sufficiency program rolled into one, the program was given a budget of more than P6.8 billion this year.

Next year, around P7.2 billion will be spent to plant 220 million trees in 300,000 hectares.

Calderon said more timber and fuel woods will be planted next year as compared to this year, when focus was given to expanding coffee, cacao, and rubber tree plantations particularly in Mindanao.

While he said that the DENR prioritizes non-governmental organizations, farmers’ organizations and cooperatives as suppliers of planting materials for timber, fuel woods and other fruit-bearing trees, of the P3.6 billion to be spent by the government.

Half of the P3.6-billion budget will be for the production of highvalue crops such as rubber, coffee and cacao, which will be outsourced to certified seedlings providers to

ensure the supply of quality planting materials.

The official said that to maintain over 900,000 hectares of NGP areas, the government will spend around 1.6 billion next year and will continue to tap community stakeholders and upland dwellers as seed producers, planters and forest caretakers, to create more green jobs.

“Tree-planting activities will continue until the end of the year. So far, we have already exceeded our target,” Calderon, told the BusinessMirror.

This is the fourth straight year that the government exceeded its annual NGP target.

From 2011 to December 2013, a total of 397,769,713 trees have been planted in 683,481 hectares, or 33,160 hectares, in excess of the 2011, 2012 and 2013 combined targets of 600,000 hectares.

Calderon attributed the successful implementation of the NGP to the support of various national government agencies, local governments, and the DENR’s private-sector partners.

nternational humanitarian aid is pouring in for communities affected by Typhoon Ruby as the Philippine government determines the scale of damage from the storm, which is now headed toward Central Luzon.

The Australian government on Monday said it is providing 800 metric tons of rice to support families affected by the typhoon also known by its international name, Hagupit.

Australia said it will be delivered through its prepositioned supplies with the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP).

In addition, Australia has deployed officials to the affected areas to make further assessments of the damage and to coordinate any further Australian consular and humanitarian assistance.

“Australia extends its sympathies and support to the people of Philippines affected by Typhoon Hagupit,” Australian Ambassador Bill Tweddel said.

Ruby came only 12 months after Supertyphoon Yolanda made a deadly sweep across Central Philippines, killing more than 7,000 people. Yolanda, also known as Haiyan, is the strongest recorded storm in history.

“Australia is a good friend of the Philippines and stands ready to help as required,” Tweddell said.

“Australia is working closely with the Philippine government and international partners to obtain more information on the impact of the typhoon as it makes its way across the archipelago.”

The WFP, for its part, is providing transportation and food supplies to support the Philippine government’s humanitarian response.

“We are working flat-out to support the government in this response,” said Praveen Agrawal, WFP Philippines country director.

“Food, trucks or satphones [satellite phones]—we will provide whatever is needed to help the people of the Philippines as this situation unfolds.”

Supplies are being readied for deployment to Eastern Visayas and Bicol regions to rapidly assist in the immediate aftermath of the calamity, Agrawal said.

The aid agency, he said has its own food stocks in the country if government supplies need to be supplemented. WFP, he said, currently has more than 260 metric tons (MT) available of highenergy biscuits, almost 4,000 MT of rice, and over 130 MT of readyto-use supplementary food.

These food stocks could provide assistance to about 1.8 million people for a two-week period, Agrawal said.

Stocks have been strategically stored in Manila, Cebu and Cotabato, and staff have been deployed to set up a base in Tacloban. Logistics equipment has also been put in place ahead of time in the potential operational areas.

The United States, on the other hand, said it is closely coordinating with Philippine officials and stands ready to provide assistance at their request and under their guidance.

Assessment teams from both the USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and the US military are available to augment the US embassy in Manila’s capabilities monitoring the storm’s impact and coordinating delivery of emergency assistance with government agencies and humanitarian organizations on the ground.

Canada also said it is prepared to support relief efforts and provide humanitarian assistance as required.Its embassy in Manila said the Canadian government has relief supplies ready to be deployed, while the Canadian Armed Forces are pre-deploying assets toward the region to facilitate an expeditious response if necessary.

An inter-departmental Canadian strategic support team, the embassy said, is also preparing for rapid deployment to the Philippines.

“The team’s mandate will be to undertake rapid assessment of the typhoon’s impact and make early recommendations on how Canada can support those in need and help the government of the Philippines to address the immediate impacts of the disaster,” it said.

Canadian officials, the embassy said, are in touch with Philippine authorities as it monitors the impact of the typhoon. PNA

News

BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • corp@businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, December 9, 2014 A5

Clark Water wants to use 47% of ₧300-M CTA denies Nokia PHL petition for VAT refund T 2015 capex to develop more water sources

C

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

LARK Water Corp. is eyeing to develop more water sources for Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zones and plans to spend around P141 million, or 47 percent of its P300-million budget for capital expenditures in 2015 for various activities.

The company plans to build and commission new water sources, such as deep wells and infiltration wells next year. The company also has an on-going feasibility study to tap sur-

face water to enhance water supply in the area.

On top of developing more water sources, the company is also eyeing the construction of new water-treat-

ment facilities, storage tanks and booster facilities, as well as upgrading and refurbishment of existing ones next year.

Clark Water, a subsidiary of Manila Water, which provides water services for households in the East Zone of Metro Manila, is the sole water and used-water services provider for Clark Freeport.

For 2014 until the end of its 40-year concession contract, Clark Water will invest P3.93 billion in new projects, P1.06 billion of which will be utilized in the next four years.

The capital investment for the whole concession term ending in 2040 will be used for various improvements of the company’s water and used-water facilities in order to promote the freeport zone as an ideal business hub for multinational companies.

Y&R study: More Filipinos looking to invest

By David Cagahastian

O

V E R 75 p e r c e nt o f young Filipinos, and 91 percent of Filipinos between ages 36 and 60 are looking to invest their savings, indicating the optimism of Filipinos in investing their money that comes with the country’s first investment-grade rating.

According to a study by marketing company Y&R Philippines, young Filipinos between the age of 18 and 35 are already looking to invest their money on investments that reflect their interests, with 75 percent in this age group indicating their willingness to invest, especially in investments that reflect their interests.

The same study, which was entit led “Generation A sia,” said 91 percent of Filipinos between the age of 36 to 60 are also looking to invest, with focus on achieving stability when they retire.

Aside from investing and retirement, Y&R’s study also

focused on prevailing trends among the young and middleaged Filipinos, including on the issues regarding fashion and marriage. The study found that although there might be a generation gap between the two different age groups, there are still similarities on how members from different generations think about certain issues.

“Despite the media barrage on the difference between the t wo generations, our study found an intersection that cut across the gap. We call this Grassroots Culturalism, which is a resurgence of interest in our local culture, but with a twist.

Being Filipino now is a celebration of the everyday—from the neighborhood hole in the wall to the global footprint of sports and fashion icons.

This convergence evolved the traditional Filipino value of bayanihan or the spirit of communal unity, into Viralnihan, a digital explosion that shattered the boundaries of the traditional generation gap,” Y&R

Fujitsu eyes setting up expertise hub in PHL

By Roderick L. Abad

M

ULTINATIONA L firm Fujitsu is eyeing to establish a Center of Excellence (COE) in the Philippines for its recently acquired RunMyProcess (RMP), a cloud-integrator in business-process management (BPM).

Fully acquired by the company in April 2013, RMP is a Francebased cloud service provider that offers integration platform as a Service (iPaaS).

The Fujitsu RPM platform utilizes BPM concepts to provide a unique mix of structured workflows, integration and agility for global customers to meet their changing business requirements.

“Given that the company is fairly aggressive with this strategy, we’re likely to see that [COE in the Philippines] happening in the next few years or so,” Fujitsu Asia Pte. Ltd. Global Solutions Officer Evan Dumas told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

The executive said they are planning to open such a hub here mainly because of the local talent’s competent technical and language skills, as well as their attractiveness to the global market.

“The Philippines has a lot of potential. One is language skills here are typically considered one of the best in the world in terms of adopting. While predominantly in this region the language of business is English, that of the Philippines

is phenomenal. The labor cost are also attractive to most people in the world. So, we definitely target the Philippines as Center of Excellence for things,” he said.

Another factor that made the multinational company to locate an expertise center in the country is the growing local outsourcing industry at present, Dumas said.

Data from Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines show that ITBPM industry is one of the biggest drivers of the Philippine economy today, contributing $16 billion in revenues and 900,000 in employment as of 2013.

For this year, it is projected to hire 120,000 more employees— breaching the 1-million employee mark—and generate a total of $18-billion revenue.

By 2016 the industry is expected to absorb 1.3 million full-time employees with $25-billion revenue.

Fujitsu is a Japanese information and communications technology firm that supports customers in more than 100 countries.

A venture company founded in 2007, RMP has built a new approach to system construction. It already has a track record of over 300 active projects in 45 countries, and partnerships in 25 countries with a total of 53 cloud integrators.

With its acquisition of RPM, Fujitsu has added iPaaS to its cloud offerings to boost its cloud portfolio as it widens its cloud business globally.

Philippines President Mar y Buenaventura said.

In the area of clothing, over 80 percent of Filipinos from both age groups value personal style over clothing labels, preferring even local designers and influences over international brand names.

In the area of optimism for their personal future and assessment of their current lives, 85 percent of both age groups indicated a positive attitude about their personal future. Almost all members of the younger age group (93 percent) look forward to achievements that will improve the lives of people, while 78 percent of the middle-aged group said that they felt they have contributed positively to society.

There are still differences in opinions, especially on the issue of marriage wherein 86 percent of the young Filipinos see marriage as being dependent on mutual happiness, while 91 percent of middle-aged Filipinos see marriage as a lifelong commitment.

Clark Water has completed this year three new deep wells that will go fully operational by the first quarter of 2015. The company has also successfully upgraded three major booster pumps, and installed generator sets on its old water sources to improve and strengthen supply reliability.

The construction, reinforcement and replacement of new sewer lines for used water is among the company’s priority projects within the next 10 years.

Other used water services targeted by the business plan includes the upgrading of the company’s wastewater treatment plant scheduled intermittently until the end of concession term, as well as the construction and improvement of lift stations, which is expected to materialize in the next four years.

HE Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has dismissed the petition of Nokia (Philippines) Inc. for a refund on its alleged creditable input valueadded tax (VAT) incurred in rendering service to its parent company in Finland.

In the case of Nokia (Philippines) Inc. versus Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the CTA ruled that the petitioner is not entitled to the VAT refund because it failed to show that its parent company is not “doing business” in the Philippines.

Under Section 108 (B) of the Tax Code, the requirements for services rendered to be entitled to zero-rated VAT are: the services must be performed in the Philippines; the recipient of such services is doing business outside the Philippines; the services must be other than processing, manufacturing or repacking of goods; and the consideration for the services is paid for inacceptable foreign currency accounted for in accordance with rules and regulations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In this case, the CTA said Nokia Corp. (Finland), the recipient of marketing and support services rendered by Nokia (Philippines) Inc., was not proven to be a nonresident foreign corporation that does no business in the Philippines.

The CTA cited a Supreme Court case which said that, for the zero-rated VAT rate to apply, the recipient must not only be proven to be a

foreign corporation, but must also be proven to be a non-resident foreign corporation.

“Consequently, to come within the purview of Section 108[B][2], it is not enough that the recipient of the service be proven to be a foreign corporation; rather, it must be specifically proven to be a nonresident foreign corporation,” the CTA said.

The CTA also noted the evidence of the petitioner itself admitted that the services that it rendered to Nokia Corp. (Finland) was pursuant to a contract, which states that the petitioner “shall provide services to Nokia in handling any specific or general business matter that may arise with respect to Nokia’s business in the Philippines and other territories defined in the agreement.”

“Based on the foregoing, the services rendered or to be rendered by petitioner primarily consists of ‘handling any specific or general business matter that may arise with respect to Nokia’s business in the Philippines.’ Thus, petitioner’s services to Nokia Corp. is anticipatory and is premised on the fact that the latter has an existing business in the Philippines.

Such being the case, Nokia Corp. cannot be treated as a ‘nonresident foreign corporation’ or a ‘foreign corporation not engaged in trade or business within the Philippines,” the CTA said. David Cagahastian

PAL: Tacloban flights canceled until Dec. 14

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HILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) flights to and from Tacloban have been canceled until December 14, following the suspension of operations at Daniel Romualdez Airport (Tacloban Airport).

PAL made this announcement after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) over the weekend restricted the use of the airport to military and general aviation doing relief operations.

However, as of Monday, 1:05 a.m., Caap said Tacloban airport is no longer on limited operations and is now open for commercial flights.

The airline earlier advised passengers booked on any PAL flights to and from Tacloban from December 7 to 14 to contact PAL Reservations for rebooking or refund of tickets.

PAL said its contact centers will be calling affected passengers, particularly those who provided con-

tact information when they booked with PAL. Passengers may rebook for travel within 30 days from original flight date, with rebooking fees/ charges waived. If a passenger is unable to rebook on the same fare class, rebooking on a higher booking class will be allowed, with fare difference also waived.

PAL has yet to announce its next move following the resumption of Tacloban Airport’s operations. PNA

Globe offered free calls to OFWs in 8 countries on Dec. 8

T

HE second largest telecommunications company in the Philippines offered free calling services to the Philippines from eight countries in Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America in support of overseas Filipino workers who may want to check on their families residing along the path of Typhoon Ruby.

Globe Telecom Inc. COO for Business and International Markets Gil B. Genio said the countries identified— Spain, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, US and Italy—are among those with

the highest number of Filipino migrants and expatriates in the world.

“We realize how important it is for our kababayan abroad to get in touch with their families, especially during calamities. This is why we have set up free calling stations in these eight countries where Globe is directly serving the Filipino communities there,” he said.

Globe Senior Vice President for International Business Rizza Maniego-Eala said, “In Italy free calling services are available at the Globe Stores in Milan and Rome.

For Spain, the UK, Saudi Arabia,

Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong, this public service started on Monday and is being offered through some of the accredited Globe retailers in those countries.”

“For the US, Libreng Tawag in the West Coast will be available in all branches of Seafood City through our partnership with them while Filipinos in the East Coast will be served via Web through the subscribed access service of Lunex, the Globe partner servicing the area.”

Libreng Tawag was available until 11:59 p.m. EST on December 8.

Lorenz Marasigan

United Holdings to partner with other RE firms

By Lenie Lectura

U

NITED Holdings Power Corp. revealed plans to venture into wind and solar power projects via joint venture with other developers of renewable energy (RE).

“We are actively looking at other ventures in RE. We are willing to invest in existing service contracts.

Either we buy them out or take in a stake but we have to conduct due diligence first,” United Holdings President Dominic Sytin said.

United Power is developing a 15-megawatt (MW) hydropower plant in Bukidnon. It has already secured the nod of the Department of Energy (DOE) on this.

In particular, United Power is interested at developing 20-MW to 30-MW wind-power projects, 40 MW to 50 MW in solar projects, and an additional 20 MW in hydropower projects. United Power’s 15-MW Upper and Lower cascading mini-hydro project will utilize the Maladugao River in Lampanusan,

Kalilangan, Bukidnon. The start of construction is expected next year.

The project will generate 100 gigawatt-hours of additional energy to augment/help ease the power shortage in Mindanao by the second quarter of 2017.

Sytin earlier said the company is supporting the DOE’s Power Development Plan & Philippine Energy Plan, which aims to increase the Philippines’s self-sufficiency in energy using environment-friendly, cleaner fuels by firming up the en-

try of renewable-energy capacities.

“Hydropower is clean, promotes a low-carbon economy and very sustainable. With proper operations and maintenance, some hydro plants in the Philippines are still running and producing power since they were commissioned before World War II, in 1936. And, when you talk about hydropower plants, where else would you build it in Mindanao but Bukidnon, touted as the “Watershed of Mindanao,” Sytin said.

BCDA offers SCTEx to other interested bidders

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

I

T’S official: The government is offering the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) deal to other parties. The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) on Monday started officially inviting local and foreign groups to challenge the multibillion-peso proposal of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. to operate and maintain the longest tollroad in the Philippines. President Aquino last month directed the state-run disposition agency to subject the offer of Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) to a price challenge “in the interest of transparency and for competition.”

The tollroad operator won the contract in 2011. It was, however, placed in limbo for four years, as the Aquino

administration wanted to negotiate for better terms, specifically a higher revenue share for the government.

The price challenge, according to an invitation to bid published on Monday, would entail an upfront payment of more than P3.5 billion, which is the premium offer of MNTC to win the contract.

Interested parties must also match the proposal to equally share the gross toll revenues between BCDA and the private sector partner.

The private proponent must also assume the costs and responsibilities for the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the toll road. The winning bidder will also be responsible for the ongoing integration agreement for the toll- collection system of the North Luzon Expressway and the SCTEx. “The objective of the price challenge

is the upfront cash only, which should be higher than P3.5 billion, payable upon signing of the agreement. The other terms should be accepted by the proponents,” the BCDA said.

MNTC will have the right to match the upfront cash proposal of the highest rated and responsive proponent (HRRP).

“If MNTC fails to match the upfront cash offer of the HRRP, the latter shall be awarded the contract,” it said.

The tollroad company, however, was not too happy about it.

“Our concern is that we have not yet seen the final terms of the price challenge. We do not know if we will be able to obtain comparable bids,” MNTC President and CEO Rodrigo E. Franco said in a phone interview.

Despite that, the firm is still “supportive of the BCDA’s effort to conduct

a price challenge, especially that it was ordered by President Aquino as part of the process.” Franco said the company is hoping to review the final terms of the contract, as this would determine if the tollroad operator would still match the offer of the challenger.

“I guess it is too early to say. It all depends on how reasonable the bids are. We have to see how reasonable the offer is.

Note that we have already a reasonable offer to the BCDA,” he said.

The company, he said, is also concerned with the revenue-sharing scheme, adding that this should be added in the terms of reference.

“The 50-percent revenue sharing should have a guaranteed minimum of P400 million. Hopefully, in the final terms of reference, it will be included,” Franco said.

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

Gasoline prices: How we compare

W

ith global crude oil prices continuing to fall, we have seen another rather large drop in the pump price of gasoline. This is welcome news in the Philippines, which is almost 100-percent dependent on imported oil to run our transportation system, factories and businesses.

Of course, it is not just the Philippines that is seeing lower fuel prices due to the precipitous fall in oil prices. Average gasoline prices in the United States are at the lowest since 2010. The same is true for Canada and most of the rest of the world.

What’s unique about the Philippines is that the government neither subsidizes the price of gasoline and other oil products nor imposes high taxes on fuel. But if you look at historical data, local gasoline pump prices have “outperformed” the price of both global crude oil and the Philippine consumer price index.

If we use the price of crude oil, the exchange rate of the peso to the US dollar, the Philippine consumer price index and the average price of gasoline, we find that gasoline has increased in price much greater than perhaps it should have.

Using 1989 as the base, the global price of crude oil is up 255 percent. The US dollar in relation to the Philippine peso has increased by 137 percent. But the average price of local gasoline has gone nearly 500 percent higher from 1989.

In comparison, the Philippine consumer price index has increased by 400 percent.

There are many reasons for this to have happened.

While we know that the Philippines does have one of the higher consumer electricity rates in the world, how do we compare in the price of gasoline?

On a nominal basis, priced in US dollars and, including all taxes and subsidies, Norway leads the world in pump price average for the quarter ending November 11. The price per gallon of gasoline in Norway is $9.26. Of the 61 countries measured, Venezuela, with its huge government subsidies, comes in lowest at $0.05 per gallon. The US is at $2.93, $4.21 in Thailand, and we are shelling out $4.40 a gallon in the Philippines. The archipelago ranks number 46th in terms of global price.

As a portion of total annual income spent on gasoline purchases, we are also doing pretty well. We spend about 1.6 percent, which ranks us at number 27.

Thais spend a little over 2 percent and, in Indonesia, the percentage of total annual income is a very high 3.4 percent.

However, measured against the portion of a day’s wages needed to buy a gallon of gas, or the “pain at the pump” ranking, the Philippines comes in a poor No. 3 only behind India and Pakistan.

That is why every centavo drop in fuel prices has such a positive effect on our economy.

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Founder Publisher Editor in Chief

T. Anthony C. Cabangon Jun B. Vallecera

Associate Editor News Editor City & Assignments Editor Special Projects Editor

Jennifer A. Ng Dionisio L. Pelayo Vittorio V. Vitug Max V. de Leon

Online Editor

Ruben M. Cruz Jr.

Research Bureau Head Creative Director Chief Photographer Editorial Consultant Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman President VP-Finance VP-Corporate Affairs VP Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Manager Circulation Manager

Dennis D. Estopace Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes Romeo M. del Castillo Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Frederick M. Alegre Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan

LGUs key to improving competitiveness Manny B. Villar

THE Entrepreneur

T

HE Philippines jumped to No. 95 out of 189 economies in the World Bank-International Finance Corp. (IFC) Ease of Doing Business report released recently. The country’s latest ranking is an improvement of 13 countries from its rank of No. 108 based on last year’s report of the World Bank and its private investment arm, the IFC, as noted by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC).

Since 2011, the Philippines has overtaken 53 countries covered by the report. Still, the country remains at the halfway point of the global rankings. The NCC’s goal is to bring the country to the top 3 of global rankings by 2016 from its starting point in the bottom-third of the tables three years ago.

Based on the latest rankings, the Philippines also moved up to No. 5 among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) from No. 6 last year and No. 8 in 2012.

In a statement released in Washington, the World Bank noted that in the Philippines’s improvements in resolving insolvency, getting electricity, registering property and paying taxes enhanced the country’s

Taking advantage of the future John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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ranking. Measured against global best practice or distance to frontier in business regulations, the country’s performance puts it in the same range as Vietnam and Indonesia, the World Bank said.

Aside from the improvement in the World Bank rankings, the Philippines has also earned investmentgrade credit ratings from the major rating agencies, which should pave the way for a wave of foreign investments into the country.

In its latest report, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said net foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows in August amounted to $299 million, more than twice the $141 million that came in a year ago. This brought the cumulative net FDI for the first eight months of 2014 to

$4.3 billion, up 59 percent from $2.7 billion for the same period last year.

With four months remaining in 2014, the net FDI inflows already exceeded the $3.9 billion the Philippines received in the whole of 2013.

The NCC, in its statement, said it would continue to introduce changes to improve the country’s competitiveness rankings so as to make it more attractive to investors.

I note that when we talk of competitiveness we always look at the national government. The reality, however, is that local government units (LGUs) are also an important factor that investors must deal with in starting business in the Philippines.

The decentralization of government gave substantial power to the LGUs, including the regulation of businesses in their jurisdictions.

This creates a situation where investors feel they have to deal with two separate governments, each with its own set of regulations and requirements, which in the end make it difficult to start and operate business.

I believe the focus should not be on the national government agencies alone. There should be an effort to harmonize or standardize regulations and requirements from the national to the local government level, with the overall objective of making it easy for investors to come in and

N

o one in their right mind could conclude, after looking at what has happened in the last six years, that the world is in a normal business cycle.

But all you have to do is to look at what is happening in Japan’s economy to know that the current situation is not sustainable. Have I suddenly come around to the belief that the world in is a giant ‘bubble’ since 2007? Certainly not.

The globe has been in a growing bubble since ‘The Nixon Shock’ in 1971 when the US dollar became the worlds’ reserve currency and the substitute for gold and silver.

All that has happened in the last 10 years, including the debt crisis and the rise of China as the world’s largest economy started in 1971.

I figure that we have from nine to 18 months before we begin a new and different phase and it is going to be ugly for most of the world. I will stand by my conviction that the Philippines and a few others like

Indonesia are going to be safe from the worst of this next phase of the debt and currency crisis.

Part of the reason is demographics as I wrote about two weeks ago and part of it will be because we (again like Indonesia) are not as dependent on our wealth being derived from trade with other countries.

But if the situation is going to change in the next year or so as I believe, how can one profit from it?

Let’s look at a couple of variables that are going to greatly influence the future. I had anticipated early in 2013 that the US dollar was going to weaken significantly. I was obviously wrong and now the dollar has the chance to significantly strengthen even more. Both Europe and Japan, and to a lesser degree, China really want the US dollar

to become the undisputed king of global currencies once again.

Another factor is that the policies of the major central banks are starting to diverge. While all want greater inflation in the hopes of spurring economic growth, they are no longer on the same page.

Japan is making a multitrilliondollar bet, in yen of course, that if you make the local currency as worthless as possible, maybe people will spend it and the economy will come back to life. The only way Europe can grow is for the individual countries to go their own way. The United Kingdom is on the verge of leaving the European Union and Germany and Greece would both like to see the other doing their own thing.

The US wants inflation to spur spending and low prices to keep people from starving. That is a tough combination.

Here is an interesting fact. Since the airline deregulation in the US in 1978, global air travel prices are down by 40 percent even with much higher oil prices. But air travel globally has become more like riding a cheap bus with little amenities for the average travelers.

While the global economy has been a disaster since 2009, one business has grown by 34 percent

set up shop here.

Many LGUs, particularly cities and urbanizing municipalities, now have at the helm progressive executives who are aware of the advantages and value of applying best business practices in governance.

These cities and municipalities are easy to spot because they stand out among the LGUs in terms of better infrastructure, better finances and an enhanced business environment, including regulations that make it easy for investors to establish businesses. They should serve as models for other LGUs. To make it happen, the national government should strive to encourage all local governments to adopt a standard set of business regulations and permitting procedures, which do not duplicate or contradict regulations and procedures being implemented by national agencies.

This means that a company that wants to set up shop in the Philippines could expect the same simplified and efficient regulations and procedure in any city or town in the country.

These all translate to more employment and livelihood opportunities for their residents.

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

and with a very high profit margin.

That is first-class airline seats. The greatest growth has been in Asia where the number of these firstclass seats has more than doubled since 2009.

Business class has been upgraded so much that the service compares with first-class of four years ago. In the Middle East, Qatar Airways has seen a 132-percent rise in first-class passengers and those of Emirates rose 32 percent. But it is not just in the Middle East and Asia. Within Europe in 2014, traveling first-class is now more than double the 2005 total.

We know that the upper classes have done well in the last five years.

So if the financial crisis has only benefited the wealthier economic classes, then that is where the big business opportunities are and will continue to be.

Does this seem an odd time to be building more five-star hotels and resorts in the Philippines? No, in fact, the timing could not be better.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com.

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

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Nasa’s Mars capsule will Dark horse never land on Mars Ernesto M. Hilario

Adam Minter

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BLOOMBERG VIEW

he Orion space capsule that launched on Monday has been under development by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) since the mid-2000s. But, watching it splash down in the Pacific ocean four hours later, you’d be forgiven for thinking of the 1970s. The capsule, which by some reliable estimates cost over $10 billion, didn’t accomplish anything that wasn’t somewhat routine for Nasa in the era of the Apollo moon landings.

Nasa, however, is encouraging a very different view. Rather than admit Orion’s many shortcomings, it has boldly promoted the mission as the first step in America’s journey to Mars—or, as Nasa tweets it, America’s #JourneyToMars.

It’s laudable, of course, that a perpetually underfunded government agency—one that hasn’t sent a crewed mission beyond low-Earth orbit in 42 years—is able to muster this sort of long-term optimism.

But optimism alone won’t send a jumbo-sized space capsule to Mars.

You need money, and lots of it: a recent National Research Council study looked at several mission pathways to Mars, including Orion, and saw no possibility that any mission could be accomplished for less than hundreds of billions of dollars. In contrast, the Nasa expects to spend $22 billion on Orion and the Space Launch System rocket by 2021 (according to the Government Accountability Office, a true accounting of Orion’s costs has not been provided by Nasa). There’s no reason to believe that greater volumes of money will ever materialize. Nasa, in other words, intends on spending vast sums of money on a Mars capsule that will not be going to Mars.

How did Nasa end up in this awkward and expensive situation? The Orion capsule dates to the second Bush administration’s Constellation program, designed to return Americans to the moon. In 2010 President Barack Obama canceled the program, famously justifying the act in part by saying “we’ve been there before.” He then reallocated some of the money to Nasa partnerships with civilian space companies like SpaceX for the purpose of developing new vehicles, including “space taxis.” But Congress, keen to preserve jobs associated with Constellation, resuscitated parts of it, including the Orion capsule.

Political meddling in Nasa’s mission priorities is nothing new.

Orion, however, is a particularly egregious example because Congress funded it despite the fact that Nasa canceled its original mission of reaching the moon, leaving the agency scrambling to find another use for it. For the moment, it’s currently scheduled for two test flights (the next is scheduled for 2018) and a controversial, by no means assured, visit to an asteroid in 2021.

Orion’s trip to Mars, targeted (not scheduled) for the 2030s, is an entirely unfunded aspiration, not a realistic destination.

And even if there was a mission

and date certain for a Mars mission, there’s no reason to believe that Orion could fly it. The capsule lacks the habitation module that crew members would require for a long journey to Mars, and the lander needed to set them down on its surface. Both of those projects would cost tens of billions of dollars to fund, years to build and, in all likelihood, would be canceled by a cost-conscious president or Congress before they ever made it to the launch pad.

Is there a right way for Americans to chart a course to Mars? Many in the space science community would prefer that Nasa cancel its human spaceflight program altogether and shift the money to its rightfully lauded science and robotic exploration programs such as the Mars rovers and the Cassini probe that’s orbited Saturn for a decade. However, even if Congress were willing to allow such a radical maneuver (it won’t, due to the jobs that those programs provide to Congressional districts and states represented by powerful members), the United States would be making a grave mistake in abrogating its role as the world’s leading spacefaring nation to the EU, Russia, and China (which has been quickly gaining ground).

The better option would be to kill Orion now, and use the money to support Nasa’s successful partnerships with civilian space companies like SpaceX. Already, Commercial Cargo and Commercial Crew—the two programs that Nasa undertook to deliver cargo and people to the International Space Station—have proven that market incentives can help create rockets and spacecraft for a fraction of the price needed to develop them in-house. Even better, from a long-term standpoint, there’s evidence that young outer space-minded engineering talent is opting for work in the private sector over Nasa. That talent would benefit from exposure to Nasa’s deep experience and expertise.

Of course, there are risks in Nasa’s partnerships, as demonstrated by the explosion of an International Space Station-bound Orbital Sciences rocket last month.

But space will always be dangerous, no matter who is flying—a fact that Nasa knows better than any organization on the planet.

So long as there are partners willing to take the risks to go deeper into space—and Elon Musk offers one very determined example— Nasa should help them get to the launch pad.

ABOUT TOWN

W

ith Vice President Jejomar C. Binay apparently intent on pursuing his presidential ambition in 2016 despite the flurry of corruption allegations against him during his stint as Makati mayor, the question of who will be his candidate for vice president is now the object of much speculation.

Among the names prominently mentioned are Sen. Grace Poe, who has been the frontrunner in vice presidential surveys. But she has already said that she has no plans of running for higher office in 2016.

Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao’s name has also been bandied about, but he would still be underage as VP candidate when the next election comes.

Binay has said it is still too early to name his running mate but he mentioned two vice presidentiables: Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay and Rep. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian of Valenzuela City, both of whom he said had good track records in local governance.

Gatchalian has actually been fixture in Binay’s political sorties. He is a former three-term mayor and is also actively involved in the scouting movement as national vice president for National Capital Region of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

Gatchalian is a stalwart of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), which counts in its roster Senators Tito Sotto and Loren Legarda, both of whom have no plans of running for higher positions in 2016. This leaves Gatchalian as the NPC’s lone candidate for a national position such as vice president.

Gatchalian and Binay have known each other for four years and the solon is among the allies of the VP who have defended him from corruption allegations.

In fact, Gatchalian vouches for Binay’s ability to connect with ordinary Filipinos in his provincial sorties. “I can say that he [Binay] continues to

Moving forward

I

Cooperation and Development (OECD)—is more useful.

Documenting the 427 bribery cases that OECD member-countries have concluded since 1999, when a worldwide anti-bribery pact came into force, the report not only illuminates who’s been paying what to whom and why, but also points to what more must be done to detect, prosecute and punish bribery across borders.

Some conclusions jump out: Senior management mostly knows about bribes, undermining the “rogue employee” myth. Most cases involve advanced, rather than de-

Will we ever see an end to Metro Manila’s monstrous traffic jams?

Banish the thought, as the government seems unable to fast-track road-infrastructure projects under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program.

Take the case of the parallel connector roads linking the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) to the South Luzon Expressway (Slex) aimed at decongesting the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port.

The Nlex-Slex Connector Road Project has two components. The first component is the Skyway Stage 3 of the Slex, won by San Miguel Corp. in partnership with Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. The second component, won by Metro Pacific Investment Corp.’s (MPIC) Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), involves the construction of a 13.4-kilometer four-lane elevated expressway via the PNR tracks, with three exits to connect Nlex with Slex.

The SMC-Citra portion of the project is now under way, but the MPTC project component worth P18 billion has yet to take off the ground. While the President himself has given the go-signal for the project to proceed in January last year, nothing has moved up to now because the Chief Executive’s subalterns either keep changing the rules or are doing snail-paced work.

One tangible benefit of the Connector Road Project is the

Email: ernhil@yahoo.com

Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines are already implementing a National Single Window system for faster import and export transactions, with Brunei Darussalam and Vietnam closer to implementing the same by next year.

One speaker, Dr. Jayant Menon— an Asian Development Bank (ADB) lead economist—said that up to 70 percent of intra-Asean trade is now tariff-free, given more than 99 percent of tariff lines were taken down

protections would doubtless help bring more cases to light. The average time it takes to conclude a case has steadily increased, from two years in 1999 to 7.3 years in 2013. Prosecutions take time, of course, and some governments can take years to respond to requests for information.

When those delays happen, requesting countries ought to be allowed to ask to stop the clock on statutes of limitations.

Governments also need to stiffen penalties, especially in bribery involving public procurement. These accounted for more than 240 cases, yet the number that resulted in the

disbarment of a contractor from future bidding was laughably small: two. And a bribe-taker’s ill-gotten gains were confiscated only 13 percent of the time, reflecting not only how hard it can be to trace assets, but also the lack of laws requiring such confiscation.

True, indexes and rankings help raise public awareness about corruption, inciting national pride or shame (and occasional resentment), as well as useful debate.

Did President Xi Jinping’s loud crackdown on corruption, and the accompanying lurid media exposes, cause China’s 20-place drop in

the CPI, which is based on polls of expert perception? What explains the improved performance of Afghanistan? How much joy should Americans take in the two-place improvement in their CPI rank, to No. 17? Is Denmark, after three straight years atop the rankings, ready to retire the trophy for national rectitude?

Fascinating questions all. Yet it’s the detailed case data about corruption that can best help governments zero in on what must be done to stop it. Sunlight may be the best disinfectant, but a good stiff scouring brush always helps on the toughest spots.

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veloping, countries. The US is the 800-pound enforcement gorilla, with more than five times the number of concluded cases than Germany, the next most active. The biggest bribe-takers tend to be employees of state-owned enterprises, accounting for 27 percent of the cases and 80 percent of the bribes.

The extractive and construction industries account for nearly two-fifths of all cases.

The real value of the report, though, lies in its data on detection and prosecution. To wit, whistleblowers generated only 2 percent of all cases; stronger whistle-blower

Snail-paced

unrestricted flow of cargo trucks from Manila’s port area to Northern and Southern Luzon, thus easing truck-ban concerns.

It will also improve transport logistics as a result of the more efficient movement of cargoes, roll-on, roll-off vessels, and passengers in and out of the ports in Manila, and would reduce travel time from Nlex to Slex to only 15 to 20 minutes.

MPIC’s Connector Road Project is among the crucial PPP ventures because it would help ease the worsening traffic in the metropolis and cut travel time between Nlex and Slex to just 20 minutes, thus speeding up the transport of goods and services between Luzon’s north and south points.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources already issued the Environmental Compliance Certificate for the project in March 2012.

National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, local government units in Makati City, Manila and Caloocan, as well as the Japan International Cooperation Agency have endorsed the project.

Unfortunately, however, even the Neda’s approval did not lead to the speedy implementation of the MPIC project, which, to this day, has been wracked by one delay after another.

For one thing, the MPTC has been told by the government to scrap the Swiss Challenge, and use instead its existing joint-venture agreement with the Philippine National Construction Co. in implementing the project.

The Department of Justice also issued an opinion in July saying that the Connector Road Project cannot be done through a JV without public bidding, and that the Neda erred in approving the joint venture.

Because of these obstacles, the Nlex-Slex Connector Road Project is now delayed by more than two years, even as President Aquino apparently wanted the project completed within his term to woo voters to the side of the ruling party in 2016.

The problem may lie in Asean’s institutional setting. Given its nature and mandate, the Asean Secretariat has only recommendatory powers and cannot enforce integration in a top-down manner—unlike the European Commission.

Therefore, AEC integration— like any other Asean action—will not achieve nor intended to aspire to a supranational action. Governments themselves should then demonstrate the benefits AEC integration will bring and ensure that even small businesses see the opportunities of a regional market and production base.

Several of the speakers suggested that more mechanisms for private-sector consultations should be established, especially if Asean businesses—more than 90 percent of which are micro, small and medium enterprises—are to “buy-in” and claim ownership over AEC integration.

AST Friday the Angara Centre for Law and Economics convened a panel of global experts and academics to speak about the forthcoming changes and challenges of the Asean Economic Community, or AEC, integration in 2015.

There was consensus that though it was unlikely all integration targets would be met by the deadline (December 31, 2015), much was still achieved to bring the 10 memberstates’ economies closer, particularly through trade reforms.

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2013 Global Enabling Report, border administration and customs procedures throughout the Asean have become more efficient as various changes were introduced in the last five years.

2012, among others. He was also honored as Outstanding Young Man for Public Service by the Jaycees in 2011.

Education is Gatchalian’s main advocacy. In his nine years as Valenzuela mayor, he was able to build 2,000 classrooms. Public school students in Valenzuela also led in the National Achievement Test (NAT) during school years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.

Youth, competence and integrity are Gatchalian’s assets that Binay could definitely tap in the 2016 elections.

A7

as early as January 2010.

Such intra-regional trade may have increased only marginally from 21 percent of total trade in 1998 to 26 percent in 2013. However, Dr. Jörn Dosch of the University of Rostock emphasized this is the secondhighest percentage for any regional economic grouping in the world, next only to the European Union. In other words, even before 2015, Asean is well on its way to a more integrated regional economy.

However, Menon cited lack of awareness as one of the biggest challenges to the AEC. Only 7 percent of the 500 or so businesses that answered a recent Asean Business Advisory Council survey professed they had detailed knowledge of AEC initiatives.

A joint study by ADB and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies even reported that up to 55 percent of its respondents were unaware of the AEC. Some estimate that less than one out of five Asean businesses have any plans for the 2015 deadline.

Edgardo J. Angara

New US chant: We’re No. 17!

s China much more corrupt this year than it was last year?

How about Afghanistan? And, before you ask, what about Saint Vincent and the Grenadines? The answers, according to Transparency International’s 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), are yes, no and no.

That sense of false precision, along with the worldwide obsession with rankings and some clever marketing, surely helps make the CPI so popular. But another survey on corruption also released last week—the Foreign Bribery Report published by the Organization for Economic

enjoy the trust and confidence of the majority of ordinary Filipinos, particularly those in the lower classes which compose the bulk of voters in the country,” he said.

Gatchalian had earlier said the Filipino people would be the ultimate judge on whether VP Binay deserves to be the next president of the Republic.

“It would do well for VP Binay to go directly to the people to explain his side since the Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee has already prejudged him based on how witnesses against the vice president were given the latitude to hurl their accusations, whether unfounded or not,” Gatchalian said.

At age 21, Gatchalian graduated from the prestigious Boston University with a degree in Finance and Operation Management. His college degree proved useful in managing family-run companies such as Air Philippines and Waterfront Philippines which maintains a string of hotels nationwide.

He ran and won as congressman of Valenzuela City’s First District in 2001. His impressive record as legislator later allowed him to win handily as city mayor.

Gatchalian’s leadership has earned him much recognition.

Valenzuela was named as the Best Governed Highly Urbanized City by the Department of the Interior and Local Government in 2010; Business-Friendly City by the World Bank in 2011; Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry in

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

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

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Tuesday, December 9, 2014

BSP: Thrift, rural banks more than adequately capitalized

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By Bianca Cuaresma

he country’s thrift and rural lenders should successfully navigate soft patches of profitability in the future because right now the industry is more than adequately capitalized, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In a recent interview, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said so-called standalone thrift and rural banks have met and even exceeded the capital norms set by the central bank.

“We took up the maiden report for capital adequacy ratio [CAR] for standalone thrift and rural banks. The picture is that these banks have a CAR significantly higher as of December 30,” Tetangco said.

He would later confirm that thrift and rural banks CAR were higher than that of universal and regular

JAPAN’s RECESSION DEEPENS AS ABE PREPARES FOR POLLS

The Topix index of stocks was little changed at 10:35 a.m. in Tokyo. The yen was little changed at 121.49 per dollar, after earlier touching a seven-year low.

Continued from A1

Surprise worsening

Economists raised their forecasts for gross domestic product (GDP) earlier this month after finance ministry data showed companies increasing investment in the July-to-September period. However, Monday’s data showed private investment falling 0.4 percent from the previous three-month period, compared to the median estimate for 0.9-percent growth in the Bloomberg News survey.

Changes in inventories were also a biggerthan-expected drag, subtracting a more-thanforecast 0.6 percentage point from growth, the same as the initial report.

Private consumption rose 0.4 percent, unchanged from the initial report last month, following a 5.1-percent drop in the previous quarter, Monday’s report showed.

The downward revision of GDP was due mainly to changes in capital spending

and public investment, according to the Cabinet Office.

The downward revision to capital expenditure was partly due to differences in how the finance ministry and the Cabinet Office calculate investment data, the Cabinet Office said. Monday’s revisions took in the finance ministry’s business survey data from last week.

Rating cut

After the initial report last month that Japan’s economy had contracted for two consecutive quarters, Abe announced he was delaying a sales-tax increase set for October 2015 by 18 months and ordered plans for economic stimulus.

The delay was cited by Moody’s Investors Service as a factor in its decision to cut its rating of Japan’s bonds by one level to A1.

“The weaker GDP figures provided a factor to justify Abe’s decision to delay a further sales-tax increase,” said Hiroaki Muto, an economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. The government will probably compile a stimulus package to help the economy, and it may be about ¥3 trillion ($25 billion), he said. Bloomberg News

TETANGCO: “We took up the maiden report for capital adequacy ratio [CAR] for standalone thrift and rural banks. The picture is that these banks have a CAR significantly higher as of December 30.”

commercial lenders.

Universa l and commercia l banks are subject to a more stringent capital adequacy standards

under the Basel 3 Accord imposed with greater vigor this year.

The rural and thrift lenders, meanwhile, are subject to the more accommodating or hybrid Basel 1.5 standards that incorporate the elements of an earlier global bank capital accord with the more stringent requirements under the third Basel convention.

Tetangco did not cite specific numbers, but said the central bank should soon issue a report on the capital adequacy of the smaller banks under the new reportage system.

THOUSANDS OF PINOYS STILL OPIUM USERS–U.N. REPORT

By Cai U. Ordinario

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housands of Filipinos are still using opium as their drug of choice, according to the results of the Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2014 released on Monday.

In the report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), some 20,880 Filipinos used opium in 2011. This represents a prevalence rate of only 0.04 percent.

The UNODC said this was still low considering that there are a total of 210,711 Southeast Asians who take the drug. If countries like China and South Korea are included, there are a total of 3.34 million who take opium.

The number of people consuming opium could increase due to increased trade in the Asean once the Asean Economic Community takes effect in January 2016, as well as due to greater regional cooperation between countries.

“While the establishment of the Asean Community 2015 includes many positive prospects for increased trade, economic growth and cultural exchanges, it also carries the risk of fostering an environment conducive to international criminal networks and activities, and the trafficking of drugs in particular,” the report stated.

“As such threats transcend the boundaries of individual states; the formulation of a regional response is required.”

The report said the top 5 countries in terms of opium use are China with 1.93 million users in 2012; followed by Vietnam with 342,806 in 2011; Myanmar, 293,583 users in 2010; Malaysia, 187,771 in 2009; and Indonesia, 174,652 in 2010.

Based on the report, Myanmar remains Southeast Asia’s top opium producer and the world’s second largest after Afghanistan.

Together, Myanmar and Lao PDR produced an estimated 762 metric tons (MT)

Renters. . . continued from a1

security as their primary motivation for purchasing a home.

The report also showed that the country’s economic outlook is the “top constraint on the property market,” reflecting current concerns about a potential slowdown.

However, agents and brokers surveyed by Lamudi remain overwhelmingly optimistic about the future of the market. More than 90 percent describe their outlook for the next 12 months as positive.

“The primary conclusion that we have drawn from our research is that the future for the Philippine property sector is extremely bright.

In fact, two-thirds of the real-estate agents we surveyed are expecting growth of 8 percent or higher in the property market this year. The country’s real-estate market has emerged as one of the most promising in the Asia-Pacific region,” Lamudi Cofounder and Managing Director Kian Moini said.

The report features a series of in-depth

of opium. The UNODC said smuggled precursor chemicals like acetyl anhydride were used to refine these into estimated 76 MT of heroin and then trafficked to markets in and outside the region.

The UNODC said Shan State in the north of Myanmar, which hosts a number of conflict areas and insurgent groups, remains the center of Myanmar’s opium and heroin activities. It accounts for 89 percent of opium poppy cultivation in the Golden Triangle.

In Laos, the UNODC survey confirms opium poppy cultivation in the three northern provinces of Phongsali, Xiangkhoang and Houaphan.

The report also noted that Malaysia has become a transshipment hub for opium from Afghanistan, with Cambodia as transit country for heroin shipped to Australia.

“This two-way trade of chemicals going in and heroin coming out of the Golden Triangle is a significant challenge to stability and the rule of law,” UNODC Southeast Asia and the Pacific Regional Representative Jeremy Douglas said.

“The region’s large demand for heroin provides profitable incentives for transnational crime groups. Not only by bringing in the chemicals needed to make heroin, but, in particular, by trafficking and distributing the drug to markets in China, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world,” he added.

UNODC started annual Opium Surveys in Laos in 2000, and Myanmar in 2002 to measure trends in the cultivation of opium poppy and help formulate an effective response to it.

The surveys were undertaken from 2000 to 2006 and showed that counter opium production succeeded in eliminating much of the cultivation in the Golden Triangle.

However, more recent opium surveys have indicated a resurgence in production over the last few years.

interviews with key figures from the property industry of each country, including Jose Romarx Salas, head of Research and Consulting at Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services.

Salas said the key challenge for the Philippine property market was finding enough land to accommodate development.

“In Metro Manila that’s the challenge: looking for suitable land. Some developers are even willing to bid high, which pushes up already skyrocketing land prices in the capital,” he said.

The report is based on a series of online surveys conducted with house-hunters and real-estate agents in different countries, as well as on-site data from Lamudi’s global network of web sites. The research examines the habits of online property-seekers, while offering insights into the future of the property sector based on interviews and surveys with local property experts.

The customer survey examined househunting habits among buyers and renters.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PHL PUSHING SME-RELATED CONCERNS IN APEC AGENDA

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hilippine economic managers on Monday stressed the need to focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and small businesses vis-à-vis their situation in the regional and global trade.

In his speech during the first day of the two-day Informal Senior Officials Meeting (Isom) at the Makati Shangri- La, Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said, while governments in the region are tackling issues on free-trade agreements, among others, the Philippines will bring to fore issues on how to help the SMEs and small business, among others.

“We will put special emphasis on the SME agenda…from our perspective, SME is very critical not only on Apec [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] but to the forward movement of global trade,” he said.

The Philippines will host Apec

Last week President Aquino spearheaded the official launch of the country’s hosting of the event, where he emphasized the focus on SME-related issues and inclusive growth, among others.

Domingo said SME and small business players are finding it hard to be part of the regional economic cooperation because of cumbersome rules and lack of access for most part of the economic environment.

Also, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, in his speech during the same event, said there is a need to focus on SME, especially since Southeast Asia is seen to remain to be a bright spot in the world economy in the coming years.

He noted that Asia, as a whole, is projected to post an average growth of 3.8 percent in the next two years.

He noted that since risks to global growth remain, there is a need to discuss how emerging economies like those in Asia and the Pacific can surpass these.

He said SME-related issues should be given attention because of the sector’s rising importance on regional and global trade.

He stressed the need to identify measures that would provide open and transparent business environment for SMEs “to increase their profits and supply capacities.”

Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr., in his speech during the Isom opening ceremonies, said he is optimistic that the Philippines’s recent economic achievements will be among the topics that would enrich discussions during the symposium.“We believe that these priorities will increase inclusiveness in Asia,” he added. PNA

Arbitration. . . continued from a1

3.5 million square kilometers of the West Philippine Sea, rejecting claims to parts of it from the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.

Foreign observers say that the area remains a flash point of conflict among the claimants, and could drag the US, an ally of the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan, into the fray.

China has a separate conflict with Japan in the East Sea. The tribunal has given China until December 15 to reply.

China’s participation is not required, since the tribunal is not meant to resolve the dispute but address the legal validity of China’s nine-dash line, as well as the classification of features, such as the Scarborough Shoal, under the Unclos to which China is a signatory.

China’s claim is represented on its maps by a tongue-shaped nine-dash line that loops far south from its coast.

A ruling in the Philippines’s favor could undermine parts of China’s claim to the sea, which critics say has an obscure basis under the convention.

While China is a signatory to the 1982 Unclos, it says the West Philippine Sea disputes are exempted because of a 2006 declaration China made to the UN.