BusinessMirror December 19, 2014

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A broader look at today’s business

Tuesday, November19, 18,2014 2014Vol. Vol.1010No. No.7140 Friday, December

P25.00 nationwide | 7 sections 36 pages | 7 days a week

nn

TOTAL EXPORTS NOW SEEN TO EXCEED 10%TARGET FOR 2014 ON IMPROVED ELECTRONICS PERFORMANCE

PAPAL VISIT 2015

Seipi sees better export numbers T

By Catherine N. Pillas

he electronics industry has upgraded its growth forecast again, on the back of increased global demand and the consumption-boosting drop in global oil prices, opening up the possibility for the country’s total exports to exceed the targeted 10-percent increment for 2014.

26 DAYS INSIDE

CHRISTMAS BOOKS THAT ARE OFF THE BEATEN TRACK D

Life

Freedom

EAR Jesus Your birthday is almost in the manger!

Help us seek freely our decisions based on what we know or believe to be right, just and loving without fear, indifference, confusion or coercion. May we seek to always use the freedom, which God has given us as a gift in ways consistent with what we understand to be His will. Inspire us to pray to the Holy Spirit to guide and enlighten us to do what is most pleasing to God. May we use our freedom to relate with others in love, truth, justice and peace. Go, go for freedom as citizens of a democracy in line with our moral values. Amen.

JO A. SALDANA AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

‘PASKO NA NAMAN... »D3

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

“We are actually revving up our projection. That 5 percentto-8 percent [growth range], we came up with that revision just this last quarter. But given the information we have today, feedback from our members, we are upgrading that projection to a range of 7 percent to 11 percent for 2014.

Then, for 2015, probably too early to really say, but we’re thinking initially a 5-percent to 7-percent growth,” Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc. (Seipi) President Dan Lachica said.

Also, Seipi Chairman and IMI Electronics President Arthur Tan said part of the growth this year can be credited to the substantial plunge in global oil prices.

“The overall market is on a consumption basis. All the major economies are ramping up consumption and that is

Friday, December 19, 2014

D1

Christmas books that are off the beaten track B T W McClatchy Washington Bureau

D

O you have people on your holiday lists that are hard to buy for because their interests are off the beaten track? Think Star Wars, Steampunk, fairies.

You’re lucky—there are presents for everyone out there this year. While fans await next year’s Star Wars movie, they can look back over 37 years of publicity and sales with the latest book from the Star Wars Art series, Posters (Abrams). This is a rich source of Star Wars history that includes sketches, production drawings and posters. It includes the art for various spinoffs, such as games and radio shows. Another interesting aspect is the decades of changes in the art’s production—you start with paint; you end with digital.

For 40 years, artist Brian Froud has painted mythical creatures. His work has appeared in film in Labyrinth

and The Dark Crystal for which he served as conceptual designer, and on numerous book covers. His latest book, Brian Froud’s Faeries’ Tales (Abrams) is a beautiful and eerie look into his and his wife Wendy’s vision of fairyland.

Their original stories are based in classic fairy tales. The art is reminiscent of Victorian painters Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones and Arthur Rackham, but with darker undertones.

What is Steampunk? The Steampunk User’s Manual by Desirina Boskovich and Jeff VanderMeer (Abrams) exists to help you out.

Steampunk can be a wildly fantastic mixture of machinery, art and human creativity with Victorian overtones. The manual gives practical advice on its art, clothing, corsets, sculptures and many other items.

C  D

Continued on A2

life

d1

WALKING IN WINTER WONDERLAND Henry Ford Awards Best Motoring Section 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 2011 Hall of Fame

Editor: Tet Andolong

Motoring

T

BusinessMirror

Friday, December 19, 2014 E1

Walking in winter wonderland Story & photo by Ronald Rey M. de los Reyes

A

PERFORMANCE by a popular band, a world-class skating exhibition, fun and games, cold ice right under our feet, and, of course, a brand-new car wonder, unveiled—even the Hyundai jingle’s composer Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard B. Smith wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s for sure.

For one night, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (Hari) made us, the media and Hyundai dealers, feel like we were in a winter paradise—as the South Korean carmaker launched in “Jack Frost style” the all-new 2015 Sonata at the SM Mall of Asia Ice Skating Rink in Pasay City.

Thus, the occasion touted Hyundai’s vision further up the level of Modern Premium, a brand identity unique only to Hyundai.

“We are about to unveil the nextgeneration model of a Hyundai favorite, redesigned and re-engineered down to the details for premium comfort, safety and performance, making for nothing less than a brilliant customer experience, in the manner of a world-class brand—a world-class product,” said Fe PerezAgudo, president and CEO of Hari, during her speech before the car was revealed. This signaled the

THe 2015 Hyundai Sonata’s four core innovations, labeled as RSVP—Run, Stop, Versatility, and Protect features—embody its strength from within and beauty from without.

coming of a night, that will surely be remembered.

Singing to a new tune, the seventh-generation Sonata is the epit-

ome of Hyundai’s vision: “To ever continue in delivering a premium driving experience to its customers.” With integrity and precision at

its core, it hums to a new melody of a “luxury sedan” that is more accessible to consumers.

More so, the all-new 2015 Sonata

has four core innovations labeled RSVP, which stands for Run, Stop, Versatility and Protect.

Continued on E4

MOTORING

PHL GOODS GAIN ADDITIONAL PREFERENTIAL ACCESS TO E.U.

E1

he European Parliament on Thursday approved the grant of additional duty-free privilege to the Philippines under the Generalized Scheme of Preferencesplus (GSP+) program, European Union (EU) Ambassador to the Philippines Guy Ledoux announced.

“In its plenary meeting today, the European Parliament completed the last stage in the process to grant the Philippines GSP+ that will provide duty-free entry to the EU for some of the most important Philippine exports, including processed fruit and foodstuffs; coconut oil; footwear; fish and textiles.

The GSP+ preferences cover over 6,200 tariff lines,” Ledoux said. “This is very good news for the Philippines as it will bring tariffs to zero percent for two-thirds of tariff lines, including strategic products that the Philippines is already exporting to the EU. This will immediately translate into savings of tens of millions of euros per year in foregone customs duties.”

Ledoux added: “Apart from giving a dramatic and immediate advantage to Philippine exports, the EU concession significantly improves the attractiveness of the Philippines See “PHL goods,” A2

Globe Telecom sets new standard in global retail innovation with GEN3 Stores launch The world’s top business leaders, Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu (right), SM Prime Holdings President Hans T. Sy (third from left) and Globe Chairman of the Board Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, graced the opening of Globe Telecom’s newest Generation 3 flagship stores in SM North Edsa in Quezon City and in Limketkai Mall in Cagayan de Oro, providing customers a new retail experience at par with international standards, with founder and CEO of Eight Inc. Tim Kobe (left), the designer of the iconic Apple Store in New York, at the helm of the store’s overall look and feel. The Gen3 store is home to interactive lifestyle zones that feature the latest digital trends in music, entertainment, productivity and life.

During the launch, the convergence of art, community and technology was brought to life, leaving the guests in awe and excited about the future of telecoms that Globe is pioneering. Simultaneous to the opening of the Gen3 stores was the launch of the Gen3 portal that provides the latest information about the various lifestyle zones featuring the hottest DJs, sports and movie news, fashion and lifestyle trends, business start-up tips, and the newest gadgets and digital connectors. To know more about the Globe Gen3 stores, visit www.globe.com.ph/gen3.

Industrial customers propel Meralco’s 3% sales-volume growth

By Lenie Lectura

T

HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said on Thursday the firm’s electricity sales for 2014 could grow by 3 percent due to an increase in its industrial customers.

“We will end the year with roughly a 3-percent growth in sales volume,” said Meralco President Oscar Reyes, who added that commercial accounts See “Industrial customers,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 44.7110

Months of ‘hot’ money net outflows snapped in Nov

R

By Bianca Cuaresma

ich pickings to be had at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in November helped boost short-term foreign-currency investments, also known as portfolio or “hot” money, to pour inward on net basis during the month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Thursday.

According to the BSP, portfolio inflows for the period totaled $369.92 million, a development that also helped snap net outflows reported the previous September and again in October.

The November net inflow, however, proved lower than $980.94 million net inflows seen in the same month last year.

See “Hot money,” A2

n japan 0.3767 n UK 69.6106 n HK 5.7655 n CHINA 7.2143 n singapore 34.1227 n australia 36.5107 n EU 55.1600 n SAUDI arabia 11.9112 Source: BSP (18 December 2014)

News BusinessMirror

Friday, December 19, 2014

A2

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Seipi sees better export numbers Continued from A1

taking effect now. Part of that consumption is in goods and services... the goods are partly driven by electronics so that part of the growth will see more components being sourced out of the Philippines,” Tan said.

For 2015, growth is initially seen at 5 percent to 7 percent, which takes into consideration the effect of coming from a higher base this year, Lachica said, while stressing essentially the same factors will

drive up exports of the industry next year.

The automotive and the telecommunications industries in particular, have been propelling demand.

Vehicle sales, not just in the Philippines but also in China, are spiking, Tan said, while the proliferation of wearable devices and smartphones are contributing to the growth, as well.

“We don’t see inflation to be a very large looming problem. The cost of energy is going down and cost of oil is

also going down; these are ancilliary effects, but the overall consumption effect, the goods and services will have a deflationary effect, so from that perspective we see more volume coming out of semiconductor and e lec t ron ic s - ba sed i ndu st r y,” Tan added.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, from January to October this year, electronics exports already totaled $ 20.95 billion, taking up 40 percent of the total year to date export receipts

Industrial customers. . . continued from a1

of $51.7 billion.

Total exports in 2013 closed at $78.5 billion. The country’s exports industry set a growth of 10 percent for 2014, while the government, as set in the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2014-2016, is expecting a moremodest 8-percent growth.

The country’s total exports is expected to grow 9 percent in 2015 and 10 percent in 2016, based on the final draft of the PEDP submitted to President Aquino.

Fed still not convinced it’s time to end stimulus

I

f you didn’t know about the lingering damage from the Great Recession, the US economy would appear remarkably strong.

The unemployment rate is a close-to-healthy 5.8 percent. Inflation is unusually low. Crashing oil prices are rewarding consumers with a tax cut of sorts.

Yet, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) made clear on Wednesday that it’s

eyeing those improvements with caution. The Fed isn’t yet convinced it can start to pull away its stimulus of record-low interest rates.

Though the Fed has kept its key rate near zero for nearly six years to encourage borrowing, spending and investment, the economy has yet to fully repair the destruction from its worst crisis in 80 years.

Many workers remain trapped

PHL goods. . . continued from a1 as a destination for new agricultural and manufacturing facilities for products that will now enjoy duty-free access to the EU. This gives the Philippines a comparative advantage and represents very tangible EU support to the Philippine strategy to increase exports and investments, and diversify its industry.

The bottom line is more jobs for Filipinos in the Philippines.”

The Philippines is already a benefi-

ciary to EU’s GSP. Total exports to the EU that were eligible under GSP in 2013 amounted to €1.69 billion, or 33 percent of total exports to the EU. Actual utilization was around 64 percent, or €1.08 billion. But this figure is set to rise as a result of GSP+.

The greatest benefit that is likely to be gained from GSP+ is the attraction of new industrial investments in sectors where relatively high

in part-time jobs. Paychecks are barely rising. Home ownership is dropping. Slumping oil prices have reduced inflation to a level so low it could eventually discourage spending and further stifle wage growth.

So the US central bank declared it would be “patient” in deciding when to raise its benchmark rate from a record low, where it’s been since December 2008. “There is no preset

time,” Fed Chairman Janet Yellen explained at a news conference.

Her message was that the strength of US economic data and the level of inflation, not a calendar deadline, will dictate when the Fed ultimately raises rates. At a time of global economic turmoil and collapsing oil prices, Yellen stressed that the central bank was making no policy changes. AP

tariffs are being slashed to zero under GSP+. These include established Filipino exports that are labor intensive such as pineapple juice (currently 28.5 percent); garments (currently 5 percent to 9 percent); preserved fruits (currently 6 percent to 9 percent); tuna (currently 20.5 percent); fruit jams and jellies (currently 20.5 percent) and footwear (currently 11.9 percent).

The EU provides GSP+ preferences

to create economic benefits that will help the Philippines to assume its responsibilities under core international conventions on human and labor rights, environmental protection and good governance. The EU, which is also a party to these conventions, will keep under review their effective implementation by the Philippines, as well as its cooperation with their monitoring bodies.

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

TODAY’S WEATHER

DECEMBER 19, 2014 | FRIDAY

Trough of Low Pressure Area is an elongated region of LPA. It can bring in cloudy conditions and precipitation or bring in cold air mass.

TAIL-END OF A COLD FRONT AFFECTING CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LUZON.

Tail-end of a cold front is the extended part of the boundary, which happens when the cold air and warm air meet. This may bring rainfall and cloudiness over affected areas. It is felt at the northern hemisphere winter season.

Northeast Monsoon locally known as “Amihan”.

It affects the eastern portions of the country.

It is cold and dry; characterized by widespread cloudiness with rains and showers.

DEC 20

SATURDAY

DEC 21

SUNDAY

also contributed to the growth, mainly from new connections and increased consumption.

Reyes said electricity sales in the October-to-December period are projected to grow by “a little over 5 percent.” The hike in October sales stood flat at 5.2 percent, while the expansion in November sales reached 6.6 percent.

Meralco customers rose to 5.5 million at end-September. In terms of energy sales mix, commercial accounts for 39 percent of total sales, with residential and industrial at 30 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

Reyes also said the utility firm is on track to hitting its P17.8-billion core profit guidance for the year. Official financial results will be out in the next two months.

If and when Meralco closes the year with P17.8 billion in core profit, the figure will represent a 4.6-per-

Hot money. . . continued from a1 The rise in opportunistic and short- term foreign investments was attributed to purchases of listed shares at the PSE, particularly the initial public offer by a retail company, the additional listing of shares of a gaming corporation and the top-up offering of a holding corporation’s shares during the month.

According to the BSP, foreign sentiment proved more buoyant in the first week of December when net inflows totaling $385.21 million resulted from gross inflows totaling $729.19 million against gross outflows of just $343.98 million.

As a result, the outmigration of foreign funds from year to date moderated sharply to net outflows totaling only $322.02 million versus year ago outflows reaching $4.599 billion.

The BSP reported a large net migration of

DEC 22

MONDAY

METRO MANILA 24 – 30°C

22 –26°C

22 – 26°C

TACLOBAN

24 – 29°C

24 – 30°C

24 – 30°C

22 – 28°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

24 – 32°C

25 – 32°C

25 – 32°C

METRO DAVAO

25 – 30°C

25 – 29°C

25 – 30°C

25 – 34°C

25 – 34°C

25 – 34°C

LAOAG

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

LEGAZPI

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 24 – 32°C

METRO CEBU 24 – 31°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY 24 – 32°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 24 – 31°C METRO DAVAO 24 – 29°C

24 – 30°C

21 – 26°C

TAGAYTAY

TACLOBAN CITY 24 – 29°C

24 – 31°C

TUGUEGARAO

22 – 29°C

22 – 29°C

15 – 23°C

24 – 30°C

20 – 27°C

15 – 22°C

24 – 30°C

21 – 28°C

16 – 22°C

24 – 29°C

24 – 29°C

23 –28°C

ZAMBOANGA SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

6:15 AM

5:30 PM

3:08 PM

3:16 AM

21 – 28°C

LEGAZPI CITY 24 – 30°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 24 – 30°C

24 – 31°C

23 – 28°C

SBMA/ CLARK

TAGAYTAY CITY 20 – 27°C

23 – 28°C

HALF MOON NEW MOON

DEC 14 24 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

24 – 30°C

DEC 22

24 – 30°C

24 – 29°C

CELEBES SEA

3:27 AM

0.02 METER 9:36 PM 8:51 PM Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

23 – 29°C

LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

Light rains

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SABAH

DEC 22

MONDAY

24 – 29°C

TUGUEGARAO CITY 21 – 25°C

SBMA/CLARK 24 – 30°C

DEC 21

SUNDAY

24 – 29°C

BAGUIO

BAGUIO CITY 14 – 22°C

DEC 20

SATURDAY

METRO CEBU

(AS OF DECEMBER 18, 5:00 PM)

LAOAG CITY 23 –28°C

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

foreign funds in the early months of the year as markets reacted to adjustments adopted by the US Fed and the decision to cast aside its loose monetary policy stance on indications of a stronger, more vibrant economy.

The central bank said 78.7 percent of the investments during the month were on PSElisted securities—mainly in holding firms, banks, property companies, telecommunication firms, and casinos and gaming companies.

The rest of the investments were in pesodenominated government securities and in other peso-debt instruments.

The top investor countries during the month were the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Luxembourg and Malaysia. These five countries have a combined share of 76 percent of the total investments during the period.

METRO MANILA

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING NORTHERN LUZON. TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE AREA (LPA) AFFECTING SOUTHERN MINDANAO.

cent year-on-year growth in core income for 2014.

Meanwhile, Meralco is expected to register up to 800 megawatts of committed interruptible load capacity by end-January next year.

With the Interruptible Load Program, power supply from the grid that will not be consumed by participating customers will be available for use by other customers within Meralco’s franchise area. Through this, the aggregate demand for power from the system will be reduced to a more manageable level, helping ensure the availability of supply during the anticipated power crisis next year.

The program will only be part of the answer to the looming power shortages next summer. The ILP also does not guarantee zero brownouts as it will only be implemented once power supply reaches red alert level.

@PanahonTV

8:00 PM

0.94 METER

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers

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BusinessMirror Special Feature

Friday, December 19, 2014 A3

A4

Friday, December 19, 2014 • Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

The Regions BusinessMirror

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E. Samar mayor asks P813-M break-bulk terminal attracts for more aid to more locators to Bataan Freeport recover from Ruby N P813-million break-bulk terminal, T which will soon rise in the Freeport

he local chief executive of the badly hit Dolores town in Eastern Samar is seeking for more aid after Typhoon Ruby unleashed its fury in their coastal town and affected 11,722 families. “ The immediate needs of affected population have been addressed because of the presence of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and some non-governmental organizations giving food packs, but, if that is over, that is where the crisis begins,” Mayor Emiliana P. Villacarillo said.

The town’s approximately P18-million calamity fund this year was depleted due to a series of typhoons that caused flooding in 31 villages near river banks, the mayor said.

“No more calamity fund because every time there are typhoons like Agaton, Glenda, Henry, Yolanda and Ruby, we have to buy food for families whose livelihood activities were affected by flooding,” Villacarillo said.

“We are always affected by typhoon, not really by strong winds, but flooding.

Six hours of intense rain always results in

flooding,” she told reporters.

The local government is seeking help to feed affected families, rebuild houses, build a permanent evacuation centers, relocate families near river banks and provide livelihood.

Although the impact of Ruby is costly, the lady mayor said that there were only two residents who died during the typhoon’s onslaught as the local government ordered forced evacuation.

Bil R. Estil, Dolores municipal disasterrisk reduction and management officer, said in a phone interview that 7,420 houses were partially damaged and 2,746 houses were totally damaged due to strong winds spawned by the typhoon.

“The total estimated cost is P285.70 million for all damaged houses,” said Estil, citing initial reports.

The powerful, but slow moving Ruby has caused P92.67 million worth of damage to infrastructure and P256.95 million to rice.

The local government is still consolidating reports on damage to coconut farms, but Villacarillo estimated that 70 percent of trees were destroyed by strong winds. PNA

Cebu water firm rejects council’s request to defer 12-percent hike

T

he Metropolitan Cebu Water District (Mcwd) has rejected the Cebu City Council’s request to defer the implementation of the 12-percent increase in water rates starting January 1 next year.

Mcwd General Manager Ernie Delco said the hike is needed for the expansion of the water district’s services.

“Much as we would like to suspend or defer the implementation, we needed the increase primarily because we need to increase the production or we need to increase the service coverage,” Delco said.

The Cebu City Council earlier asked Mcwd to defer the implementation of the water-rate hike as this will be an additional burden to consumers.

Delco said the 12-percent water-rate increase is about P0.99 per day cost of increase per person as compared to P4.54

per day for power and P6.66 for charging of cellular phone per day per person. He said the hike means that those who consume 10 cubic meters or less per month will pay P15.20 from the current rate of P13.60, or an increase of P1.60.

Delco said consumers must understand that the increase is necessary for Mcwd to expand its services.

He said the increase in water rates will fund the implementation of projects worth P4 billion, which includes the expansion of pipelines, repair of the pipelines and that the increase will subsidize the lifeline consumers.

“If we will not implement the increase, the majority of the areas which do not have water services connection of Mcwd will basically buy water from the private supplier at a rate higher than what we charge,” he said. PNA

By Catherine Pillas

A

Area of Bataan (FAB), is helping to draw locators to Bataan, the chief of FAB said on Thursday.

The break-bulk terminal will be put up by the Seasia Nectar Port Services Inc. (Snpsi), a Filipino-British unit which will spend P813 million over the next three years. The amount is part of the P84-billion investment pledges hauled by Fab from January to October. “[Snpsi’s] presence has allowed us to talk to other potential locators. A new steel company and a glass company would be aided by the logistics of this break-bulk port. There are potential investors coming in because of it,” Fab Chairman and Administrator Deogracias Custodio said in an interview.

Fab said, however, that it cannot disclose

the names of firms that are keen on locating in Bataan Freeport.

Custodio said construction of the breakbulk terminal will start in January and will likely be completed in 2016.

He said the planned port can accommodate two Panamax vessels at the same time and features a 13-meter wide berth. It will be in the Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Co. Inc.’s (Baseco) property which is still within Fab. Investment commitments in Fab jumped to P84 billion in January to October from P2.19 billion recorded in the same period last year.

The break-bulk terminal is part of the 17 new business projects that will be rolled out in FAB. Other new locators include a footwear manufacturer, a distillery, and business-process outsourcing and information technology-related firms.

Companies that have located in Fab include Grand Innovasia Concept Corp. (Gicc), Perpetual Prime Manufacturing Inc., German military boots manufacturer BFD, and footwear manufacturer Luen Thai. Gicc alone, Custodio said, will invest P1 billion over a five-year period.

The new investment commitments are expected to create 5,000 additional jobs.

As of June, Fab has 98 registered and approved locators which include foreign investors from South Korea, Taiwan, China, the US, Japan, Great Britain, Bahrain and France.

Fab is hopeful that it will attract more locators due to its competitive utilities and rental costs and the improvement of the portcongestion problem in Metro Manila.

Export earnings of locators in the Bataan Freeport slid by 13.33 percent to $348 million as of end-November due to port congestion.

Sky Ranch amusement park latest attraction in SM City Pampanga

By Joey Pavia Correspondent

T

he strong local economy of Pampanga had prompted SM Prime Holdings Inc. to put up the Sky Ranch Pampanga amusement park in the province, an official of SM City Pampanga said.

SM City Pampanga Mall Manager Junias Eusebio made the pronouncement in an interview following the formal opening of the amusement park in San Fernando which was attended by Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda.

“The growing economy of Pampanga convinced the management to build the country’s largest and tallest Ferris wheel at the SM City Pampanga,” Eusebio said.

San Fernando, Pampanga’s capital, is the country’s third-most competitive city, according to the National Competitiveness Council.

The city is experiencing a boom due a strong middle class which comprise 59 percent of the total population, a recent study showed.

National Economic and Development Authority Assistant Regional Director Vic Ubaldo said Pampanga is favored by investors among the six other provinces in Central Luzon.

In a National Statistical Coordination Board report, Pampanga was ranked among the 10 most developed provinces in the country, with total investment pegged at P95 billion in 2012.

In 2013 the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) named Pampanga as among the top 10 provinces in the Philippines in terms of economic and business growth.

The study titled “Market Potential and Prospects of Philippine Regions, Provinces and Cities” undertaken by UA&P’s Dr. Cid

The fun never stops at the newly opened Sky Ranch Pampanga amusement park at the SM City Pampanga in San Fernando City. RIC GONZALES

Terosa described Pampanga as “ahead of the pack,” with a rating of 0.3983 based on its index of economic and business activity in 2011. The province ranked sixth in the top 10 list.

“In San Fernando City we do everything possible not just to attract more investors but also to make them stay and invest more,” San Fernando Mayor Edwin Santiago said.

He earlier announced that there will be no tax increase in 2015.

Eusebio said the Sky Ranch, which sits on a 10,000-square-meter lot in the mall at the boundary of San Fernando City and Mexico town, said the amusement park “easily attracts additional 30,000 people” on weekends and holidays.

115 women in Compostela Valley get livelihood training

By Manuel T. Cayon Mindanao Bureau Chief

T

he Compostela Valley provincial government graduated 115 women who received livelihood training to support their families.

The women were trained in bread and pastry production, food processing and dress making.

The free training was given to women chosen by the Compostela Valley Provincial Council of Women to participate in the Livelihood Skills Training Caravan.

A total of 65 women from the towns of Maragusan, Montevista and Nabunturan who received

training in bread and pastry production were given a National Certification (NC) Level II by the Technical Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

Also, 30 women from Maco town passed the food-processing training and were given the same NC II certification, as well as for the remaining 20 other women of Pantukan who finished the “Galing Mananahi” Training.

The 115 women attended the mass graduation ceremony on Tuesday at the provincial capitol in Nabunturan town. Tesda Provincial Director Urbano T. Budtan acknowledged the presentation of graduates.

In a statement, the SM management said the Sky Ranch is the first amusement park and the newest destination for both local residents and tourists in Northern Luzon.

It has 22 rides, including the Pampanga Eye, Loop Roller Coaster and Super Viking.

The park was developed by SMPHI in partnership with S&T Leisure Inc. and Westech Philippines. Sky Ranch Pampanga is open for walk-in customers and group tours which offer exciting rides for all ages.

The Pampanga Eye is the tallest and biggest ferris wheel in the Philippines measuring 65 meters in height and has a diameter of 50 m. Each of its 32 air-conditioned gondolas can accommodate four people or a total of 128 people per cycle.

DSWD readies National Targeting Housing Survey in Zamboanga

T

he Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is making the necessary preparations for the conduct of the National Targeting Housing Survey (Nths) next year.

DSWD Regional Director Zenaida Arevalo said on Thursday they will hire next month at least 2,000 enumerators who will undertake the survey in the Zamboanga peninsula.

Arevalo said the DSWD central office has allocated P72 million for the salary of the enumerators and other expenses, such as the printing of the survey forms, transportation and communications needs.

Arevalo said the Nths seeks to identify the nonpoor, near poor and poor families in the country.

DSWD Regional Focal Person for the Nths Hasan Alfaro said the target number of families to be surveyed in the region is 700,000.

Alfaro said the 284,000 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program will also be included in the survey “to know their status.” PNA

News BusinessMirror

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Friday, December 19, 2014 A5

DOTC: Good year for PHL aviation industry

D

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

ESPITE setbacks brought about by the rail sector this year, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will still end 2014 in a high note with recent victories in the aviation industry.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said the aviation industry soared higher this year, backed by renovations at the main air gateway to Manila and the reinstatement of the civil aviation sector to highest safety status awarded by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).

“The year 2014 has been decorated with noteworthy achievements in our aviation sector: from getting the nods of the US FAA and the European Union, to the start of full operations at Naia [Terminal] 3 and the notable improvements at Naia 1, we are proud to say that it has been

a good year for air transportation,” Abaya said, referring to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

To recall, the American aviation regulator raised the Philippine aviation industry’s rating from Category 2 to Category 1 in April, amid the lifting of the ban against Filipino carriers flying into Europe.

“These landmark achievements spearheaded by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines indicated that the country’s aviation safety standards had met international criteria, and paved the way for the mounting of more Philippine-US and Philippine-Europe flights,” the Cabinet official said.

Improvements at Naia 1 started in January this year, with the rollout of the P1.3-billion rehabilitation project that aims to ensure the build-

ing’s structural integrity since this necessary undertaking had never been done in its more than 30 years of existence.

With 40 percent of the rehab works completed, passenger experience at the terminal has been noticeably increased, the transportation chief said, noting that the whole project will be completed by May 2015.

The newest terminal, meanwhile, was already operating at full capacity in August, after Japanese construction firm Takenaka Corp. completed the remaining system requirements.

This enabled the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) to start the transfer of the five largest airlines from Naia 1 to Naia 3, substantially decongesting the former by 3.5 million passengers per year, and restoring it to its design capac-

O

and satisfaction over the high level of professionalism and efficiency of Brown Madonna Press, JLine Corp.’s printing partner in the Philippines.

The JLine Corp. officials discussed with Brown Madonna executives the expanding comics market in the Philippines, future prospects of new Japanese Manga titles translated into Pilipino to be introduced next year and reprints of out-of-stock Doraemon volumes also in 2015.

Princesa International Airport, and the opening of the newly built modern passenger-terminal building at the Clark International Airport that boosted its capacity by 1.5 million passengers annually.

The agency is ending the year with the roll-out of the enhanced operation and maintenance contracts for six airports in the Visayas and Mindanao under the Public-PrivatePartnership Program. These are the Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, Puerto Princesa, Bohol and Laguindingan airports. They have a price tag of P116.23 billion.

“We look forward to more airport accomplishments in 2015,” Abaya said. “But we will give special attention to much-needed upgrades for land transportation next year, especially for our rail lines.”

SEC approves Philequity’s registration of 8.5 billion additional common shares

Brown Madonna to print more Japanese manga fficials of JLine Corp., a Japanese publishing and marketing company that produces the Doraemon comic books, paid a visit recently to Brown Madonna Press Inc. (BMPI) in Sun Valley, Parañaque City.

With the Japanese were executives of their Philippine partner, JLine Comics and Marketing Corp.

The Japanese publishing executives expressed pleasure

ity of 4.5 million annual passengers.

Delta Airlines was the first to move in to Naia 3, followed by Cathay Pacific, KLM and Singapore Airlines in August and September, while Emirates transferred in October.

Another achievement, the Cabinet official pointed out, includes the awarding of the P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport deal to GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp., which offered to pay the government P14.4 billion in premium.

The consortium formally took over operations at the Mactan-Cebu airport last month, and promised to launch immediate service improvements within its first three months of management.

Other milestones include the awarding of the $82.9-million contract to design and build the Puerto

T Photographed are officers of the Japan-based publishing company and of Brown Madonna Press.

From left (front row, from left) Naoto Homma, Takakazu Jingai, Masashi Morimoto and Shin Nishizuka; (back row, from left) Keni Otaguro, Kozaburo Yamagishi, Conchita D. Ramirez, Dennis Parado, Lito S. Ylagan and Katsuyuki Machida.

he Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the registration of Philequity Dividend Yield Fund Inc. of an additional 8.5 billion common shares.

According to its registration statement filed with the agency, the 8.5 billion additional common shares will have a par value of P1.

The said additional common shares will increase Philequity’s authorized capital stock to 10 billion common shares from 1.5 billion.

In October the SEC also approved the increase of an additional 1 billion common shares from just

500,000 shares. Philequity is a high-risk fund with investments that consists primarily of equities in companies listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that distribute dividends.

The maximum investment of the fund in the equity of any PSE-listed company is determined by the size of the fund, the risk profile of the PSElisted company, interest rates and yield offered by the company.

Total proceeds from the sale of the securities will be invested in the equity of companies listed in the PSE that pay out dividends. VG Cabuag

Economy

A6 Friday, December 19, 2014 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

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Hong Kong experts: MRT Line 3 T infrastructure poor, unsatisfactory

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

Conclusion

he audit team of Hong Kong’s MTR Corp. Ltd. concluded in a 39-page summarized audit report that most of the existing problems in the asset system of the 15-year-old Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 stemmed from insufficient attention in the management of the asset, handover, maintenance performance, and the overall planning and development of the railway line.

“There is a lack of awareness to asset management in MRT 3 overall.

The requirements for maintenance works in the maintenance agreement are mostly time and task based. They are not adaptive on changes in business demand and customer-service requirements,” the experts said.

MRT Corp. (MRTC), the owner of the assets of the train line that connects Quezon City to Pasay, commissioned MTR Hong Kong in August to conduct an assessment survey to review the condition of the facility and determine whether or not it is in safe operable condition. There are five levels of grading used by MTR Hong Kong, namely, good, satisfactory, fair, unsatisfactory and poor. None of the train system’s components received a good rating.

The government is currently rolling out a P9.7-billion venture to overhaul the line. The complete makeover is expected to be done within the term of President Aquino.

It includes the procurement of additional train coaches, train general overhauling, ancillary-systems upgrade, platform-edge doorstep, signaling-system upgrade, rail-steel replacement, communicationssystem upgrade, traction-motors replacement and the improvement of the overhead catenary system.

The rehab venture also includes security fence and noise barrier, consulting services, upgrade of conveyance facilities, a footbridge for the North Avenue Station, weather-protection cladding, Internet connection, passenger information system and passenger hand straps.

Separately, the local flagship of the Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. is proposing to shoulder the upgrade costs of the train system and free the government from paying billions of pesos in equity rental payments. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. President Jose Ma. K. Lim said his group will soon submit its $524-million proposal to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), which has already rejected the then-$565-million offer.

The lower budget for the offer, Metro Pacific Business Development Officer John B. Echauz explained, stemmed from the removal of the automated fare-collection system and another component from the proposal.

The unified ticketing-system project was auctioned off by the transportation agency last year, and was awarded to the consortium of Metro Pacific and Ayala Corp. earlier this year.

The total $524 million also included the $30-million working capital and the $229-million budget for the settlement of the government’s equity rental payment.

The group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan earlier entered into a partnership agreement with the corporate owner of the MRT, a move that would have allowed the firm to invest roughly $600 million to improve the services of the train system.

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

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

The government, on the other hand, intends to buy out the corporate owner of the line, the MRTC, which is wholly owned by MRT Holdings II Inc. of businessman Robert John L. Sobrepeña.

The government aims to completely takeover the line by the time President Aquino steps down from office in 2016. But recent delays, including the “tying up of loose ends,” are forcing the government to double its efforts to effect the buyout.

One of the requirements to execute the takeover is for the government to strike up a compromise deal with the private owner of the train line. This would effectively end the ongoing arbitration case in Singapore that was lodged against the government in 2008 due to its failure, as the operator of the line, to pay billions of equity rental payment to the owner of the rail system.

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

Since 2004, the train system has been operating at overcapacity. Currently, the line serves nearly 550,000 passengers per day. It even reached, at one point this year, the 650,000-daily passenger mark. It has a rated capacity of 350,000 daily passengers.

In the recently conducted third public hearing on the MRT, Sen. Grace Poe laments the ordinary citizen’s sufferings and the lost productivity, all because of the inefficient people behind the rail system.

“Anong oras na nakakauwi ang ating mga kababayan? Tayo kasama doon.

Anong oras na naman tayo gigising kinabukasan? Ilang oras ang nawawala sa traffic o sa mga pila at aberya sa MRT? Mga oras na sana ay nagagamit nating lahat sa mas produktibong mga bagay.”

Then Poe asked the questions which answers had long eluded the public: “Bakit tayo ang makikisama sa trapiko? Bakit tayo ang magtitiis sa aberya sa MRT?” she asked in a room that suddenly became deathly quiet.

“I plead to the DOTC, MRT and the private investors and owners of the MRT, please make up and help our citizenry.”

She said in previous hearings, they discussed the maintenance issues, the incompetence of the MRT 3’s maintenance provider and the DOTC’s proposal then of the Equity Value Buyout (“EVBO”).

Poe said it would cost the government around P54 billion, but there is apparent lack of proper and efficient communication and interaction among MRTC and the private owners, investors and the DOTC. Poe recalled how the MRT-3 was constructed and how the government leased the facilities and pay rent to the investors.

“The government, specifically the DOTC, would operate the system and have control of the fare box. The BLT (build-lease-transfer) contract will expire in 2025 and the ownership of the system will then be transferred to the government.” With Recto Mercene

Economy BusinessMirror

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LTFRB to hear petition to cut taxi, bus fares

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

F

OLLOWING the reduction of jeepney fees in Metro Manila, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said it is also considering cutting the fares for taxis, shuttle services, airport taxis and publicutility buses due to recent rollbacks in diesel prices.

The regulator made this statement on Thursday, after a lawmaker petitioned for the reduction of fares in other transportation modes due to the continuous plummeting of fuel prices.

The petition, submitted by Rep. Manuel M. Iway of the First District of Negros Oriental on Wednesday, will be heard on January 9 at the regulator’s headquarters in Quezon City.

Iway, a former board member of the LTFRB, asked the agency to reduce the flag-down fare for taxis from the existing P40 to P30 and from the current P3.50 to P2.50 for every succeeding 300 meters, for taxi services nationwide; and the reduction of bus fare from P10 to P8 for the first 5 kilometers, and from P1.85 to P1.50 for every succeeding kilometer.

“Nauunawaan po namin na dahil sa

sunud-sunod na pagbaba ng presyo ng diesel sa pandaigdigang merkado, kailangan ding maramdaman ng publiko na sumasakay sa mga taxi ang resulta ng paggalaw ng presyo ng krudo, kaya naman naman nagpapatawag ang board ng public hearing upang matugunan ang petition ng ating mangbabatas at consumer group,” LTFRB Chairman Winston M. Ginez said.

The petition was based on the continuous decline of the price of diesel, which is now pegged at P31.15 per liter, from as high as P47.75 per liter three years ago.

Included in the petition was the reduction of airport taxi’s flagdown rate of P70 for the first 500 meters and P4 for every succeeding 300 meters.

The lawmaker has 15 days prior to the date of the hearing to publish the notice of hearing in a newspaper of general circulation. The petitioners shall also submit proof of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements.

On the other hand, the LTFRB will allow parties contesting or opposing the approval of the proposed fare reduction to file in written form their position prior to the hearing date. Both parties must also appear to submit their position papers on the said date.

Friday, December 19, 2014 A7

Taiwanese manufacturers looking to expand in PHL–Cathay Financial

T

By Genivi Factao

aiwanese manufacturers are looking at setting up plants in the Philippines to expand their footprint in the Asean market.

Cathay Financial Holdings Co. Ltd. President Lee Chang-Ken said Taiwanese manufacturers, some of them their clients, are interested in setting up their businesses in the Philippine economic zones.

Companies in the manufacturing sector, he said, are looking at the

Philippines for expansion, as well as the famous food chains.

“The chairman of the medicalequipment company came to the Philippines three months ago. He visited the Philippines for more than 10 times. They plan to put up a plant in Subic. The chairman said the coun-

try has large young population and there are very good English speakers.

They feel very comfortable investing here,” he added. “Executives of Din Tai Fung also visited the Philippines two months ago. They said the Philippine market is very good,” he said.

“The Philippines is one of the fastest-growing among Asian countries.

We feel that there’s a big progress in the Philippines, especially in the past five years. There’ll be a pretty good change in the Philippine economic development in the future.

I see that Philippines still needs some infrastructure development. I think the government will focus on investments in infrastructure,” Lee

told the BusinessMirror.

With the investments of Cathay in Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

(RCBC), the bank can also serve Cathay’s clients that are expanding their business in the Philippines.

“There are customers for RCBC beginning next year. Hopefully, the deal should be completed in the first quarter of next year. We’ll see whatever we can do to help the bank, in whatever resources they need. They have a good management team and they’re doing well,” he said.

Cathay is the largest asset manager in Taiwan and will bring significant expertise to RCBC in this regard, as the bank looks to increase its offerings.

Canada extends P200-million grant for Ruby victims

T

he government of Canada is extending P200 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit).

The assistance, the Canadian government said, will be channeled through seven Canadian and international humanitarian non-governmental organizations that have ongoing projects

in the affected areas.

“Canada’s support will help respond to needs identified by the government of the Philippines, such as for water, sanitation, emergency shelter and other essential relief items for those affected by the typhoon,” Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Neil Reeder said.

Canada’s assistance will be allocated to the

humanitarian organizations such as the Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation, which will receive P40.3 million for temporary shelter, cash grants, livelihood and disaster mitigation.

The list also includes Oxfam Canada and World Vision, which will receive P40 million each.

Oxfam Canada’s funds will be used for hygiene, water purification and storage, in-

frastructure repair, cleanup, cash grants and cash-for-work projects. World Vision, on the other hand, will use the funds for temporary shelter, hygiene and water purification, cleanup and temporary livelihood support.

Care Canada will receive P34 million and will use these funds for emergency shelter-repair kits, as well as water and hygiene. Cai Ordinario

A8

Friday, December 19, 2014

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Swiss National Bank starts first negative interest rate of 0.25% to stave off inflows

T

By Zoe Schneeweiss | Bloomberg

he Swiss National Bank (SNBN) imposed the country’s first negative deposit rate since the 1970s as the Russian financial crisis and the threat of further eurozone stimulus heaped pressure on the franc.

A charge of 0.25 percent on sight deposits, the cash-like holdings of commercial banks at the central bank, will be introduced as of January 22, the Zurich-based institution said in a statement on Thursday. That’s the same day as the European Central Bank’s (ECB) next decision.

The SNB move follows Russia’s surprise interest-rate increase earlier this week and hints at the investment pressures that resulted after that decision failed to stem a run on the ruble. Combined with the imminent threat of quantitative easing from the ECB, Swiss officials acted at a time when the franc was stuck too close for comfort near its 1.20 per euro ceiling.

“This is not the magic bullet, but will buy them time,” said Peter Rosenstreich, head of market strategy at Swissquote in Gland, Switzerland. “This will relieve pressure from the floor in the short term, but not in the long term.”

The franc weakened after the announcement, trading at 1.2044 per euro at 9:33 a.m. in Zurich. Against the dollar, it fell to 97.77 centimes.

“Over the past few days, a number of factors have prompted increased demand for safe investments,” the SNB said. “The introduction of

negative interest rates makes it less attractive to hold Swiss-franc investments, and, thereby, supports the minimum exchange rate.”

The SNB expanded its target range for the three-month Libor to minus 0.75 percent to plus 0.25 percent. Officials also confirmed their commitment to the minimum exchange rate of 1.20 francs per euro, saying the central bank will defend the cap with “utmost determination” and take further measures if needed.

Negative rates will be levied on balances exceeding “at least” 10 million francs ($10.2 million), the SNB said.

“This is the right measure, and one has to point out positively that there are large exemptions,” said Karsten Junius, chief economist at Bank J. Safra Sarasin AG in Zurich. “The timing is suspicious because the fee will be charged starting on January 22.”

ECB policy-makers are set to use their meeting on that date to consider expanding debt purchases beyond covered bonds and asset-backed securities to prevent a deflationary spiral.

In the 1970s, when the franc was surging as a result of the oil crisis, Switzerland imposed negative interest rates on assets held by foreigners.

banking@businessmirror.com.ph

Draghi counts cost of outflanking ECB’s home nation in QE

By Paul Gordon Bloomberg

A

s Mario Draghi prepares to push the European Central Bank (ECB) into quantitative easing (QE), he’s counting the cost of alienating its home nation.

With the ECB president signaling that he’ll override German-led concerns on government bond purchases, if needed, his institution is under attack in the country whose DNA inspired it. The outrage reflects concern that the Frankfurt-based central bank, which is modeled on the Bundesbank, is taking risks that its forerunner would never tolerate.

The Italian is now pursuing a charm offensive in the euro area’s biggest and most populous economy before the Governing Council’s January 22 meeting to soften the blow as he presses on with stimulus. His challenge is to outflank the Bundesbank without risking a spillover into national politics serious enough to threaten German support for the single currency.

“The ECB has built up enough credibility on its own,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London.

“That the Bundesbank may object to sovereign bond purchases is largely taken for granted by markets. Tacit support from Berlin would neutralize Bundesbank objections in the German public debate.”

The momentum toward QE is building, with more than 90 percent of economists in Bloomberg’s monthly survey predicting it’ll start in 2015. Euro-area inflation was 0.3 percent in November, compared with the ECB’s goal of just under 2 percent, and is poised to turn negative because of a slump in oil prices.

European bond yields have fallen as investors speculate on more stimulus. Italian and Spanish yields extended declines to new record lows on Wednesday after a surprise decision by the Swiss National Bank to introduce a negative deposit rate to defend the franc. Italian 10-year debt was at 1.93 percent at 9:04 a.m. Frankfurt time, and the Spanish equivalent was at 1.74 percent.

In a sign Draghi may be reaching out

in Germany, he was due to give a rare interview to Handelsblatt last week, according to the newspaper, though that article has yet to be published. The day after the December 4 policy decision, he called German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, according to a person familiar with the conversation, as previously reported by Zeit magazine.

Draghi also occasionally meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She’s concerned some countries are using ultra-loose monetary policy to postpone necessary structural reforms, according to a person with direct knowledge of her discussions.

A spokesman for the ECB said the central bank maintains a dialogue with political leaders in all euro-area countries.

Draghi’s path forward leads through a minefield that includes a nonbinding opinion by the European Court of Justice on a previous bondpurchase plan due on January 14, and a ruling four to six months later. Two German states hold elections in the first half of 2015, and one party in Merkel’s coalition has raised the stakes with a pledge to oppose governmentbond purchases.

Draghi said on December 4 that “we don’t need to have unanimity,” signaling he believes he can find consensus without Germany. Executive Board Member Benoit Coeure echoed that view in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Tuesday, saying that “the more governors standing by this new instrument, the safer you feel.”

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, a Governing Council member, has multiple objections to QE. He says more stimulus is not yet needed and would reduce incentives for governments to reform, may transfer risks to taxpayers and contravene a ban on monetary financing. ECB Executive Board Member Sabine Lautenschlaeger, his former vice president, holds similar views.

“Markets at some point have to learn that not every expectation, not every wish, will be fulfilled,” Weidmann said on December 15.

This isn’t Germany’s first disagreement with the ECB. Bundesbank President Axel Weber and Executive Board Member Juergen

RATES UNIVERSAL BANKS

LENDING 17-Dec-14 HIGH % LOW %

10-Dec-14 HIGH % LOW %

Stark both quit in 2011 in protest against a bond-buying plan by then-President JeanClaude Trichet.

In a spat early in his tenure, Draghi’s strategy was similar to Wednesday’s. Before announcing a plan in 2012 to buy the debt of stressed nations if needed, he spoke with Merkel to garner political support. He later explained his policies to German lawmakers and addressed the nation in a rare television interview in 2013. The plan was never enacted because the European debt crisis subsided.

“Draghi turned market confidence around at the height of the euro crisis by convincing investors that the ECB has the political and legal mandate to protect the euro’s unity,” said Lena Komileva, chief economist at G Plus Economics Ltd. in London. “He’s aware that the risks of inciting confrontation with Germany and undermining market confidence in the strength of the political union would outweigh the economic benefits of sovereign bond purchases.”

One difference to 2012 is that Merkel’s Christian Democrats are in a grand coalition that may respond more to voter concerns to stem the rise of anti-euro parties. Her Bavarian partners, the Christian Social Union, last week passed a resolution stating the ECB mustn’t become Europe’s “bad bank.”

A government bond-purchase program would “create great aggravation in Germany,” Peter Bofinger, an economic adviser to Merkel, said in an interview this week. “That is dangerous.”

Policy-makers have previously sided with Weidmann. Ewald Nowotny backed him in opposing a program to buy asset-backed securities, and a quarter of the Governing Council objected to the wording of Draghi’s introductory statement this month, which strengthened language on plans to boost the ECB’s balance sheet by as much as €1 trillion ($1.24 trillion). Even so, “the Bundesbank is not putting on the table any alternatives to sovereign QE, which promise a higher inflation rate for the region” soon enough, said Malcolm Barr, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in London.

30-DAY SPECIAL SAVINGS DEPOSIT ACCOUNT

17-Dec-14 HIGH % LOW %

10-Dec-14 HIGH % LOW %

LOCAL BANKS 1. Asia United Bank 2. Banco de Oro Unibank

7.0000 6.4160

6.2500 4.0000

7.0000 6.4160

6.2500 4.0000

1.7500

0.8750

1.7500

0.8750

3.

4.

Bank of the Philippine Islands China Banking Corporation

6.4000 8.0000

4.0000 4.2500

6.4000 8.0000

4.0000 4.2500

1.0000

0.5000

1.0000

0.5000

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Development Bank of the Philippines East West Bank Land Bank of the Philippines Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company Philippine National Bank Philippine Trust Co. Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation

6.6500 6.2500 7.2610 8.0000 8.4000 7.0000 7.7500

4.5000 4.2500 4.2610 6.0000 7.4000 4.5000 5.7500

6.6500 6.2500 7.0000 8.0000 8.4000 7.0000 7.7500

4.5000 4.2500 4.0000 6.0000 7.4000 4.5000 5.7500

1.0000

0.5000

1.0000

0.5000

1.0000

0.2500

1.0000

0.2500

0.3750 0.6250

0.3750 0.2500

0.3750 0.6250

0.3750 0.2500

Security Bank Corporation Union Bank of the Philippines United Coconut Planters Bank AVERAGE BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKS 15. ANZ Banka 16. Deutsche Bank 17. Hongkong & Shanghai Bank 18. ING Bank 19. Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd.

8.4000 8.5000 7.0000 7.3591

6.4000 6.5000 5.0000 5.2186

8.4000 8.5000 7.0000 7.3404

6.4000 6.5000 5.0000 5.2000

1.2300

0.0000

1.2300

0.0000

0.9971

0.3929

0.9971

0.3929

6.0000 6.2500 8.0000 5.5500 6.4160

2.5000 3.2000 2.7500 3.5500 1.6000

6.0000 6.2500 8.0000 5.7500 6.4160

3.4000 3.2000 1.5000 3.7500 1.6000

1.4000

1.1500

1.4000

1.1500

20.

4.0800 6.0493

3.5250 2.8542

4.0800 6.0827

3.5250 2.8292

1.4000

1.1500

1.4000

1.1500

12.

13.

14.

Standard Chartered Bank AVERAGE

COMMERCIALS BANKS LOCAL BANKS 21. Bank of Commerce 22. BDO Private Bank 23. Philippine Bank of Communications 24. Philippine Veterans Bank 25. Robinsons Bank Corporation AVERAGE BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKS 26. Bangkok Bank 27. Bank of America 28. Bank of China 29. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi 30. Citibank, N.A. 31. JPMorgan Chase Banka 32. Korea Exchange Banka 33. Mega Int'l. Commercial Bank Co. Ltd. AVERAGE SUBSIDIARIES OF FOREIGN BANKS 34. Chinatrust Bank 35. Maybank AVERAGE GENERAL AVERAGE

17-Dec-14 HIGH % LOW %

10-Dec-14 HIGH % LOW %

6.8205 6.4160 7.0000 8.0000 8.0000 7.2473

4.3205 4.0000 5.0000 6.0000 5.2500 4.9141

6.5000 6.4160 7.0000 8.0000 8.0000 7.1832

4.0000 4.0000 5.0000 6.0000 5.2500 4.8500

7.5000 6.4160 7.0000 6.0000 4.4000 4.2116 8.0000 8.2500 6.4722

4.7000 4.4160 2.2500 4.0000 2.5000 4.2116 4.5000 4.0000 3.8222

7.5000 6.4160 7.0000 6.0000 5.3800 4.2116 8.0000 8.2500 6.5947

4.6400 4.4160 2.2500 4.0000 2.5000 4.2116 4.5000 4.0000 3.8147

6.2930 7.0000 6.6465 6.8751

5.2930 6.0000 5.6465 4.4751

5.8900 7.0000 6.4450 6.8807

4.8900 6.0000 5.4450 4.4409

17-Dec-14 HIGH % LOW %

10-Dec-14 HIGH % LOW %

1.0000 0.3750

0.6250 0.3750

1.0000 0.3750

0.6250 0.3750

0.7500 1.1250 0.8125

0.6250 0.3750 0.5000

0.7500 1.1250 0.8125

0.6250 0.3750 0.5000

1.6500

0.5000

1.6500

0.5000

1.6500

0.5000

1.6500

0.5000

1.0000 1.0000 1.0200

0.6000 0.6000 0.5000

1.0000 1.0000 1.0200

0.6000 0.6000 0.5000

Source: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Editor: Jun B. Vallecera

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Nonrepeating, unaligned board A of directors now mandatory

Looking forward to 2015

T

he Insurance Commission (IC) has imposed term limits on independent directors elected to the board of directors of insurance companies to ensure that they are actually independent.

IC Emmanuel F. Dooc issued Circular Letter 2014-49 limiting the term of office of independent directors to five years, with eligibility to be reelected and serve another five years after a “cooling off period.”

“Independent directors can serve for five consecutive years, provided that service for a period of at least six months shall be equivalent to one year, regardless of the manner by which the posi-

tion was relinquished or terminated,” the circular said.

The independent director may be reelected to the board of the same insurance company after a “cooling off period” of at least two years, “provided that during such period, the independent director concerned has not engaged in any activity that under existing rules disqualifies a person from being elected as independent director in the same company.”

After the cooling off period, the independent director may be reelected to the board of the same company and serve for another five consecutive years.

“A fter ser v ing as independent director for 10 years, the independent director is perpetually barred from being elected as such in the same company, without prejudice to being elected as independent director in other companies outside of the business conglomerate, where applicable, under the same conditions provided for in this circular,” the circular said.

The new term limits for independent directors comes into force beginning January 2, 2015, with all previous terms served by existing independent directors deemed as not included in the computation of the newly imposed term limits. David Cagahastian

s 2014 becomes a reference year for 2015, we need to take a look at what happened in 2014. First of all, the third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) was at its lowest since 2011 at 5.4 percent, which means we will not hit the full-year GDP target of 6.5 percent. While this was disappointing, this was not unexpected due to such problems as delays in the shipment of raw materials and finished goods in and out of the Port of Manila. Of course, allegations of corruption coming from the administration and opposition alike, as well as three senators in prison and other scandals in government do not help our economy either.

One might argue that having all of the exposure of corruption and anomalies in the government is testament to the current administration’s commitment and sincerity in wiping out corruption and instituting sweeping reforms toward transparency in government.

On the contrary, it shows that the check and balance in the government is not working properly, which is why these anomalies happen and it is only after the fact that they are questioned.

It also shows there are issues with respect to the qualification and integrity of high government officials appointed by the administration who are allegedly involved in these cases.

So what can we look forward to in 2015? First of all, it seems that the port congestion problem will not be solved in the next month or so due to the normal Christmas influx of goods. Even if it gets solved by the middle of this year, we have to remember that due to the coming elections, government projects will grind to a halt sometime in the second half of this year.

free enterprise George S. Chua Furthermore, we can only expect more corruption cases to be filed against government officials, elected and appointed, on both the side of the administration and the opposition. This will certainly not help in improving investor confidence in the Philippines. There is also the possibility of an actual energy shortage in 2015, and once this happens, it will lead to a higher unemployment and underemploymentrate. While we would traditionally expect official and unofficial spending in preparation for the 2016 elections leading to some stimulation in the economy, I think that with the current mood

Friday, December 19, 2014 A9

and the watchful eye of the media on how government funds are spent, this will not be sufficient to turn 2015 into a banner year. However, the coming papal visit may be a turning point in bringing back optimism in the Philippines and among Filipinos.

With all the negative sentiment, news and events happening close to the elections, this is not good for the administration candidates since the voting public will largely put the blame on them.

This will allow the opposition to be viewed in a better light by the voting public. If both administration and opposition candidates are tarnished with all the mudslinging, I would not be surprised if less popular candidates are pushed into the forefront by the voting public.

In the meantime, we can only keep a watchful eye on what is happening and when the time comes for us to vote we should vote wisely for the right people. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Comments may be sent to georgechuaph@ yahoo.com

Case clippings

By Justice S J Ranada Jr.

LAND REGISTRATION–certification and approval required A CENRO certification that a piece of land is alienable and disposable, without the corresponding proof that the DENR Secretary had approved the land classification and released the land of the public domain as alienable and disposable, is insufficient to support a petition for registration of land. Both certification and approval are required to be presented as proofs that the land is alienable.

Otherwise, the petition must be denied.

Republic v San Mateo 10 Nov 2014

GR No 203560 Velasco, J

Opinion BusinessMirror

A10 Friday, December 19, 2014

Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

An urban-planning authority for Metro Manila is needed

L

OOKING at the overwhelming traffic congestion, overcrowding, and air and water pollution in Metro Manila, and the measures put forward to solve them—the number-coding system, U-turn slots, truck bans, port decongestion, wider roads, new expressways and skyways, new satellite communities, and relocating informal settlers to other areas, among others—one cannot help but agree with the observation that many of the officials mandated to solve these problems have no sense of coordination and urgency.

All these, notwithstanding that clear-minded solutions, featuring well-coordinated projects that can be implemented within definite time frames, have been articulated by many of our urbanplanning professionals, including renowned architect Felino A. Palafox Jr. For whatever reason, none of these ideas seems to have reached our distinguished officials.

Now comes another voice calling for an integrated closely coordinated program to further modernize Metro Manila. Benjamin de la Peña, who holds a Master’s degree in urban development from Harvard University, has offered many ideas for the rejuvenation of Metro Manila, including the development of mixed-income sections in the metroplis and the creation of “a single executive body tasked with the planning, management and operation of the Metro Manila transport system responsible for walking, biking, roads, rail, water, public, private or all forms of conveyance that traverse the National Capital Region [NCR].”

Right now we have a hodgepodge of agencies carrying out various tasks related to life in Metro Manila—the Manila Electric Co. is responsible for the operation of the power system; Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Co., the water system; the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the telephone system; the Department of Public Works and Highways, for building roads and highways; the Department of Transportation and Communications, for dealing with vehicles and communications; the Philippine Ports Authority, for handling cargo-transport activities; the Department of the Interior and Local Government, for the maintenance of local roads, among others; and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, for traffic management and other related issues.

Each agency is carrying out its tasks without regard to the activities of the others, and at its own good time. Result: one problem solved, another created. No comprehensive solution in sight. Wider deterioration is expected.

This state of affairs should not be allowed to continue.

Manila is a city with a rich and colorful history spanning several political regimes. Tondo keeps alive the memory of the country’s revolutionaries; Intramuros strongly reminds us of our Spanish colonial past; and Manila’s central and southern districts testify to our American heritage. Quezon City, meanwhile, embodies the country’s modern aspirations.

All these must be preserved and serve as the foundation for a technologically advanced, aesthetically pleasing and thoroughly modern Metro Manila.

We urge the officials of the cities and lone municipality that make up Metro Manila to take the initiative in creating a central urban-planning authority composed of nonpolitical, forward-looking citizens and well-trained professionals, such as Palafox and de la Peña, who will take charge in planning and redeveloping the NCR. Such a body will have to be created by Congress. We want Metro Manila to become not a source of international shame, but a symbol of national pride.

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Debunking voter-ID myths James Jimenez

I

T’S hardly surprising that the most common electionrelated concern raised by the public has to do with their voter identification cards. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) voter ID is considered a government-issued form of identification that enjoys nearly universal acceptability. A good number of overseas-employment agencies use it, some scholarship organizations ask for it and all government agencies honor it. Some banks even require it for opening savings accounts. In fact, about the only thing that the voter ID isn’t a requirement for is voting.

It cannot be denied that there is a considerable demand for voter IDs. Unfortunately, this demand is coupled with several myths that tend to fuel unrealistic expectations and, consequently, breed dissatisfaction.

Let’s set a few of those straight.

Myth 1: You can get a voter ID immediately—or, at least, soon— after you file your application for registration.

To put it as bluntly as possible: No, you cannot. Your application for registration has to pass through a process of verification and approval by the Election Registration Board (ERB) every quarter. After your application has been approved, your records will go to the poll body’s main office in Manila for processing.

This means that your application

HOM

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will be checked for completeness and accuracy of the information that needs to go into your ID. More important, the biometric information contained in your application will be checked against our database of more than 52 million other registered voters, to make sure that you’re not a potential flying voter. This is a process that is separate from the processing done by the ERB, so it will add to the waiting time. Once your ID is approved for printing, your records will be put in the printing queue, and it’s first in-first out.

Once your ID is printed, the entire batch of IDs that were printed together with yours has to be verified. Once the 100-percent verification is completed, only then will the ID be shipped back to the local

China comes clean on its dirty air Adam Minter

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Comelec office.

With all of those steps needing to be completed successfully, it can take up to a year for you to get your voter ID. Remember, though, that this sort of multistep process just goes to ensuring that the ID is secure and cannot be used by anyone who might want to steal your identity in order to commit electoral fraud.

Myth 2: You filed your application for registration at the same time as your friend or family member. This means that you both should get your voter IDs at the same time.

Unfortunately, this is not true.

Each application for registration is checked and verified separately from all the others, and, so, it might happen that your application form may successfully hurdle all verification checks because it is completely accurate, but your friend’s application form might not, because there are issues with it.

Myth 3: Your voter ID should be delivered to my address, or to your barangay.

As a matter of policy, voter IDs are released to their owners only at the Comelec office where they filed their applications for registration.

This means that the IDs are not put in the mail or turned over to barangay officials for distribution.

The election officer posts the names of the registered voters whose voters IDs are available for claiming.

The registered voter is expected to check this list periodically to find out

BLOOMBERG VIEW

P

ERHAPS, the biggest unanswered question hovering over each round of international climate change talks is whether China can be trusted to abide by any carbon-reduction commitment it agrees to. Given Beijing’s history of pushing for vague, nonbinding targets—and its reported intervention last weekend to block efforts to include a rigorous review process in the Lima accord—there’s certainly grounds for skepticism.

But a recent development in China gives clear reason to be optimistic.

Last Tuesday the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), a Beijing-based non-governmental organization, published a report on air pollution produced by publicly listed companies operating in China. At first glance, the data seem to confirm that most Chinese companies have little reason to abide by pollution laws and regulations.

The mere existence of the data, however, suggests something far more important: China, after decades of prioritizing economic growth over the environment, now

seems willing to pressure and even embarrass some of its most powerful corporate citizens in order to curb pollution.

The IPE report is damning. Of the 2,679 companies included in the study, 1,092 were found to have committed air-pollution violations between August and October. They include 34 out of 36 listed steel firms operating in China, and almost 80 percent of listed power companies.

Among them are powerful, stateowned enterprises, such as China Aluminum Company (Chalco), as well as private firms, such as Hong Kong-based Kingboard Chemical

Holdings (which, according to McClatchy, counts Fidelity Management as among its biggest shareholders), a major manufacturer of circuit boards, among other commodity items.

Such transparency is not the norm in China, and it’s clearly a result of a decision made in Beijing’s most senior policymaking circles. The data collected and analyzed by IPE were disclosed because of a recent order by the central government that China’s 15,000 biggest polluters begin realtime monitoring and disclosure of air and water emissions. That program, which was initiated on January 1, follows a handful of earlier environmental-transparency efforts, including a 2012 central-government decision requiring Chinese cities to monitor and disclose real-time airquality data.

Why is the Chinese government suddenly pushing transparency?

After all, the authorities could keep have easily kept such data to themselves (an approach taken with other damaging environmental data, including, until 2012, most urban air-quality data). It would be nice to think that Beijing is motivated by a desire to please its partners at international climate talks. In reality, it’s probably more interested in

whether his or her ID has arrived. And when it does, the ID can be claimed either by the owner himself or himself, or by his or her authorized representative. The representative, however, must first present a notarized authorization letter from the ID owner.

Myth 4: You have to pay a “releasing fee” in order to get your voter ID. The voter ID is free of charge, and is already laminated upon release.

No fee should be charged by the local Comelec office to the voter. However, ID reprints due to loss or damage are, in fact, charged a fee of P100.

Naturally, an official receipt must be issued for the payment.

Myth 5: You can still claim your voter ID, even if you haven’t voted in two or more consecutive elections.

Voter IDs are issued only to voters on the active-voter list. Anyone who has failed to vote in two or more consecutive elections will be removed from that list and end up on the list of deactivated voters. The solution, simply enough, is to just apply for a reactivation of your voter-registration status.

On a related note, the IDs of voters with pending applications for correction of entries in the registration record, due to transfers of residence, or a change of name or civil status, will no longer be issued. Instead, a new voter ID card reflecting the voter’s updated information will be issued.

James Jimenez is the spokesman of the Commission on Elections.

pacifying the Chinese public, which has increasingly taken a suspicious view of the government’s commitment to environmental protection.

In that sense, data disclosure might be a half-step meant to forestall other tangible steps to cleaning up China’s air, such as shutting down coal-burning power plants.

But the cynical explanation for transparency likely isn’t the whole story. President Xi Jinping doesn’t seem content to stick with halfmeasures on pollution. Under his leadership, China has issued a range of directives intended to clean up China’s air. If Xi is giving the Chinese public unprecedented access to environmental data, it’s likely because he wants the public—via social media and other means—to hold companies and officials accountable.

This isn’t to suggest that progress on international climate change has been foremost on Beijing’s mind. But China should be given credit for its newfound interest in disclosing the scale and sources of its pollution (especially to its own public). After all, China’s initial contribution to a climate-change solution was always going have to entail an accurate account of its own role in the climatechange problem.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Sustaining good governance for a robust economy toward 2050

Filming the regions Tito Genova Valiente

Dr. Fernando T. Aldaba

EAGLE WATCH

I

N June I wrote about “Aquinomics”, which promotes good governance as good economics. But what has it brought to the Philippine economy? While critics continue to ignore its palpable gains, good governance has definitely contributed to a higher level of economic growth in the past four years, several credit-rating upgrades, and vast improvements in Transparency International and the World Bank’s cost-of-doing-business rankings. These higher ratings have enhanced the country’s reputation in a major way and boosted its credibility in managing the economy. In fact, a number of research institutions and think tanks expect the Philippines to be one of the leading “high growth” countries in the next few years. The trend path of gross domestic product (GDP) is already at a high 6 percent to 7 percent, despite the recent dip of 5.3 percent in the third quarter of this year.

This situation is in stark contrast to the “lost decades” of our economy— the 1980s and 1990s—that earned the country the unfavorable reputation of being the “sick man of Asia” (see table below). As other Southeast Asian economies grew rapidly between 6 percent and 9 percent during this period, the Philippines’s GDP grew lethargically at about 1.8 percent to 2.2 percent. This was due to the various economic and political crises that the country experienced during that time. It seemed so difficult then for the economy to get out of that hole and of being regarded as a basket case in Asia.

Average real GDP growth rates (1960 to 2013)

Cambodia

Average Average Average Average Average Average Average 1961 to 1971 to 1981 to 1991 to 1996 to 2001 to 2011 to 1970 1980 1990 1995 2000 2010 2013 NA NA NA 7.77 7.34 8.06 7.30

Indonesia

4.18

7.87

6.41

7.87

0.98

5.23

6.50

Lao PDR

NA

NA

4.54

6.42

6.17

6.93

7.96

Malaysia

6.49

7.87

6.03

9.47

4.99

4.42

4.39

Philippines

4.93

5.92

1.80

2.19

3.96

4.80

5.90

Singapore

9.88

8.83

7.49

8.87

6.40

5.38

4.17

Thailand

8.17

6.89

7.89

8.62

0.64

4.33

3.53

Vietnam

NA

NA

4.63

8.21

6.96

7.17

5.60

annotations

W

HEN does a film become a regional cinema?

The CineKabalen has just finished its celebration of films from Pampanga province. In Bikol, particularly in the Ateneo de Naga University in Camarines Sur province, “Pasale” (which means “a show or display”), the first local regional cinema in Kabikolan, was set for December 9, but was postponed to February 3 because of Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit). Two more regional cinemas are set to be held in Mindanao in February. In August 2015 the National Cinema Rehiyon, a gathering of all the regional cinemas, will take place in Cebu province.

There is this phenomenon redefining Philippine films, and it is happening outside the ambit of so-called Metro Manila.

It is time to define regional cinema. But who defines it?

The country is divided into 17 regions. From those distinctive numberings, the easiest way to define the regions by which films will come to represent seems to emerge. But the issues involved are far more complex than mere regional representations.

Cinema, by its technologies, can create what French metaphysician and philosopher Giles Deleuze calls “any space, whatsoever!”

Cinema can conflate time and compress spaces. A child is shown onscreen for one moment and then, in the next few seconds, is presented as all grown up. A few minutes can span 10 years, or a glance can take more than five minutes.

That place represented onscreen

may not really be that place in its real location. Think of the studio shots in those old movies. The isle of Capri may just be a painted backdrop. The Heidelberg, in the operetta The Student Prince, may actually be a huge soundstage. The voice of the prince, played by Edmund Purdom, is not really his, but Mario Lanza’s.

Ang pelikula ay mapanlinlang (“The cinema can be deceitful”). Films can play tricks on the viewers, National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera said in his keynote speech during the second year of Pasale at the Ateneo de Naga. We can rephrase that in this way: Cinema can do things that can deceive—not that it wants to, but that it is part of the instruments of the film to cut across boundaries: creating gaps where there are none, constructing valleys where there are plateaus.

The deceit of cinema, however, does not remain on the ethical or mor-

Friday, December 19, 2014 A11

al level. It has also something to do with how films—and filmmakers— employ the freedom offered by the tools of narrative and visualization. This deceit extends, as well, to regional cinemas and the pictures of the places they proffer or prefer.

The problem of determining what constitutes a regional cinema is a problem in a postmodern and postcolonial globalized world. People are moving into different spaces and creating their identities there. Notions of authenticities are challenged and subverted. Does a Filipino poet remain that way if he lives in New York, but writes about his childhood and his pain, and poetizes about the self in southern Luzon?

Our questions are also the questions posed to films about Japan by Hollywood. Do you recall the controversy about the aesthetics of the kimono used by geishas in the film Memoirs of a Geisha? When those who know the kimono protested the color and design as not reflective of Kyoto traditions, those behind them reportedly responded: Who said this film is about Kyoto, about Japan? This is Japan as imagined by Hollywood.

Regional cinemas, for better or worse, suffer from the same perspectives. The geopolitics and ideologies of Manila still determine where the regions are and what films are emerging from those regions. It was said that, since the National Capital Region is one of the 17 regions comprising the country, then films from Manila and its environs are also regional cinemas.

The plot thickens; the definitions grow thinner.

How do we deal with an independent film about the Abu Sayyaf, which is set in Basilan province, but

was shot in the hills of Tanay town in Rizal province?

Perhaps, language can be the determinant of a regional cinema. This does not make things any easier, though.

When Richard Somes’s film Yanggaw (Affliction) was released, some viewers complained about the authenticity of the Ilonggo language used.

In Alvin Yapan’s film Debosyon (Devotion), there is a scene where Mando, played by Paulo Avelino, runs from what is presented as the Shrine of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga to the forest, and arrives at a place with a marvelous view of the Mayon Volcano. To the non-Bikolano audience, there was no problem, but to the Bicolano who knows his or her geography, there was a problem that extended beyond language, for Avelino was using the piquant (an outsider’s modifier) Iriga language.

Mando runs from Naga and reaches Iriga City, and faces Mayon, which is in Albay province.

The justifiable definition of a regional cinema is that it is an artefact of identity. It is time to celebrate the insider’s view after the colonizing, totalizing conquest of those based in Manila.

In the meantime, films will be made by those who live in the periphery, and the definition can be legalistic, boring and ineffectual. The places outside Manila—and the many ethnolinguistic communities who live there—will be as imagined by Manilacentric cultural workers, who, by refusing to see the differences outside them, have been underdeveloped with the stench of the capital’s constricted assumption of power.

in the same fortnight that a former vice president of the world’s biggest democracy claimed that he would authorize torture again, if need be.

We cannot precisely diagnose a crisis that seems so all-encompassing—the life-denying nihilism that hangs over the world like smog. It does hint at insidious decay in the very institutions and processes— families, education, media and inherited patterns of culture—through which basic values, such as individual self-restraint, are transmitted.

This is true not only of brutalized contestants in an endless war. There seems to be a pervasive uncertainty in even the world’s relatively peaceful zones about what one generation should pass on to the next, or how it should define the duties and responsibilities of being human.

Formal education, reduced to vocational training by anxious parents and teachers, no longer effectively insulates against the mental confusion and hideously distorted urge for transcendence that makes a corporate executive in Bangalore turn into a fervent tweeter on behalf of the Islamic State. Many of the young today are nurtured by and mature intellectually in new communities of meaning on the Internet, where everything seems permitted. In the

resulting moral vacuum, deracinated and estranged young men succumb to a grandiose will to power, and an infatuation with charismatic figures and utopian movements.

Something more than just economic and political distress must explain the worldwide proliferation of men who espouse spine-chilling convictions and fantasies of mass murder. We cannot afford to renounce the possibility of achieving a more democratic, free and just society through political change. Yet, we can no longer believe that the enabling conditions of nihilistic violence or the apocalyptic mindset can be removed by reform or modification of public policy alone, let alone by military retaliation.

The blood of innocent children rouses us to drastic action. But it is not cowardly to acknowledge problems to which there are no stock sociopolitical remedies, and to grasp the unprecedented nature of the threats in our time to human life, freedom and dignity. Certainly, however deep our revulsion to atrocities perpetrated by all sides—sectarian or secular, governments or terrorists—it won’t help to blame religion for a phenomenon that is so clearly rooted in a catastrophic loss of the religious sense.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

Source: Author’s computation from the Asian Development Bank and World Bank databases.

But today the Philippines is finally a “breakout nation,” as Ruchir Sharma of Morgan Stanley describes the economy’s recent emergence from the doldrums. For so many years the country was a victim of “path dependence”, in which the momentum of the past haunts the current situation, pulling the economy down to a low-level equilibrium trap that is similar to a poverty trap. Path dependence also explains why a good reputation is built for many years, while notoriety is very difficult to erase, even after a very long period. The only way to get out of this rut is through a coordinated action by the state and its citizens. The process of rebuilding our standing in the world economy has been painstaking, and current efforts have been gaining ground, although a lot still remain to be done.

Thus, sustaining good governance is important and strategic. While the Aquino administration’s record is not perfect, given its protracted war against corruption, its main accomplishment has been the renewal of the country’s image, from having an infirm economy to a healthy one.

As we see today, corrupt practices and systems continue to be exposed, the most recent of which is the life of luxury enjoyed by high-profile prisoners in the New Bilibid Prison. Definitely, difficult reforms still need to be implemented, and the next year-and-a-half will not be enough to do it. The 2016 elections will, therefore, serve as a crossroad where the country decides whether to continue treading on a straight path or turn in another direction.

The next administration must be able to continue to build on the Aquino administration’s reputation of good governance and economic reforms.

The next president must not be tainted by corruption and must have the political will to effect major changes in managing the bureaucracy. He or she should have the temerity to fire corrupt and inept officials, even if these people are in his or her inner circle.

Aside from integrity, there is also a need for greater competence, as good governance requires both. The next administration must be able to organize a capable and credible Cabinet. It should include reform-minded politicians who will be able to craft difficult policy changes, and professionals who will be able to implement such changes.

Last, the next president must provide a long-term vision for the Philippine economy. How do we attain inclusive growth? How will the country industrialize? How will the resurgence in manufacturing be sustained? What are the reforms to be implemented for agriculture? Should our people continue to work abroad? We need a visionary who will guide the country in achieving a robust and developed economy toward the middle of the 21st century.

Integrity, competence and vision—these qualities should define the character of the next president, who will hopefully sustain good governance for the betterment of our economy and our citizens. nnn

For more of our views on and forecasts for the Philippine economy and the financial markets in 2015 and beyond, we would like to invite you to attend the Eagle Watch Economic Briefing at the Justitia Room of the Ateneo Rockwell Campus in Makati City, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on January 22, 2015. For inquiries, call (632) 263-3221 or send an e-mail to info@ ifpmphilippines.org.

Fernando T. Aldaba, PhD, is a professor of economics at the Ateneo de Manila University and a senior fellow of Eagle Watch, the university’s macroeconomic and forecasting unit.

The horror of Peshawar Pankaj Mishra

BLOOMBERG VIEW

T

HE world seems full of crises and disasters: from political stasis and racial standoffs in Europe and the United States, to the classic conflicts of capitalism in “emerging” economies (inequality, weakening states, authoritarianism), to tribal conflicts and sectarian uprisings in the Middle East and Africa. But the small coffins of Peshawar’s students are the heaviest burden on our conscience.

The murder of children crushes our soul. It destroys the already frail hope, without which life becomes unbearable, that there is justice in our world. Adults commit unspeakable atrocities against each other in the name of religion, race, nation and profit. But none of our many competing gods has yet explained why the innocent young should suffer for the sins of adults.

The killing of 132 children in Peshawar violates the shared assumptions that have regulated the conduct of humanity for millennia. Some unshakeable tenets, which the fiercest partisans on the left and the right both cherished, have been trampled

into the earth. It is why our grief is not assuaged by the ritual condemnation of international statesmen and editorialists, the cool analysis of terrorism experts, or the retaliatory measures of politicians and generals.

Nor is it alleviated by jeremiads against allegedly antimodern Islam, or the unique depravity of the Pakistani Taliban. The group’s apparent enemy, Pakistan’s security establishment, has itself created and sponsored some of the most vicious militant organizations in South Asia.

Demagogues in Sri Lanka and India demonstrate that civilian rule is no insurance against extremism. The massacre of children has occurred