BusinessMirror December 20, 2014

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HOLIDAY MUSIC GIFTS: LEAVE THE BEST FOR LAST-MINUTE

Life

Prayers and pondering at Christmas time

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

...WHAT TO TELL YOUR KIDS WHEN THEY ASK IF SANTA’S REAL »D3

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

Saturday, December 20, 2014

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HOLIDAY MUSIC GIFTS: LEAVE THE BEST FOR LAST-MINUTE B M S | Los Angeles Times

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KNOW it’s last minute. But to procrastinators, a week until Christmas is all the time in the world. Hanukkah’s just begun; fortunately, the holiday has another week to go. And if you’ve finished your shopping, why not treat yourself? This is the good stuff. ❖ Another “Messiah” recording is rarely news. Still, hearing soprano Lucy Crowe’s luminous performance of “Rejoice greatly” on French conductor Emmanuelle Haïm’s exquisitely phrased new live performance of Handel’s oratorio is more than enough reason to rejoice greatly. Played with period instruments and featuring inspired soloists, this is a “Messiah” that seems to float in air. Haïm’s—for once—un-macho “Messiah,” with an ethereal “Hallelujah” chorus, is intoxicating.

For those of a more mystically medieval Christmas mind-set, the Hilliard Ensemble’s “Transeamus” brings refined, mysterious awe to obscure 15th century British carols and motets.

On the other hand, Hanukkah cheer can be found with the New Budapest Orpheum Society’s two-disc set, “As Dreams Fall Apart,” a survey of Jewish stage and film music from 1925 to 1955, which mixes sentiment and schmaltz with uproarious novelty numbers.

In an era of ephemeral downloads, the best boxed-set collections have come to be the CD equivalent of lavish art books, presenting the scope of an artist’s career in a fine package. With “Maria Callas Remastered: The Complete Studio Recordings [1949-1969],” EMI has remastered all of Callas’s studio recordings in the best sound they’ve ever had, making this fabled soprano’s theatrical presence more startling than ever. But nice as it is to have all her recordings in the miniature slipcases of the original LPs, the highresolution downloads available on HD Tracks sound even more vibrant than the CDs. With his 90th birthday approaching in March, Pierre Boulez is being celebrated with a 13-disc set on DG of the composer’s “Complete Works,” which means much of the most intricate sonically inventive music of our time in the best performances. And then there’s Sony’s 67-CD set of all the recordings of Boulez’s conducting, “The Complete Columbia Album Collection” released on Columbia in the 1960s and 1970s. Everything sounds as scintillating as ever.

Franz Brüggen, the inspiring Dutch early music specialist who died earlier this year is remembered with “Mozart: The Last Three Symphonies: Live From Rotterdam, 2010,” his recording of Mozart’s last three symphonies with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.

Two unusual opera CDs stand out. Darius Milhaud’s “L’Orestie d’Eschyle,” the French composer’s epic early 20th century take on “The Oresteia,” has only now been recorded in full, a document of a performance at the University of Michigan last year. Here is a masterpiece finally revealed.

Another item of opera news last year was “Invisible Cities,” Christopher Cerrone’s new opera based on an Italo Calvino novel and created for an arresting production at Union Station in Los Angeles. The Industry, which commissioned “Invisible Cities,” has released a recording in a delightful wooden box that includes postcards of scenes from the production. Once you open the box, it is extremely hard to get everything back in, and the music is the same. It stays with you.

This has been a Richard Strauss year, the 150th anniversary of his birth, and his operas have flooded the market.

The one that may matter the most is a DVD of the “Elektra,” conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and directed by Patrice Chereau, which reveals Strauss’s extraordinary relevance to our time. You might find it interesting to pair it with a more traditional but no less masterful “Elektra” led by Christian Thielemann on CD. The expansive Christmas spirit asks us to think of others. “Our World in Song” finds Chinese pipa player Wu Man, Hawaiian ukulele player and slack key guitarist Daniel Ho and Cuban percussionist Luis Conte offering their multiculti versions of folk songs from around the globe. It is irresistible.

“Japanese Children Songs,” featuring soprano Diana Damrau, with Kent Nagano conducting the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, reveals surprisingly the carol-like quality of these charming ballads.

Then again, you just might be looking for a Christmas escape route. The Seattle Symphony recording of John Luther Adams’s “Ocean” is lapping music that takes you out of yourself.

For the daring wishing to lose themselves in a deeper sea of drone, try “Youuu+Mee=Weeee” by quirky keyboardist Charlemagne Palestine and electric guitarist Rhys Chatham.

Three CDs worth of the strangest hums and whirrs and whatnots is a full universe away from Christmas commercialized but remarkably close to its original spiritual essence of selflessness. ■

life

Tuesday, Saturday,November December18, 20,2014 2014Vol. Vol.1010No. No.4072

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E.U. LEADERS AGREE TO CREATE FUND FOR JUMPSTARTING ECON GROWTH

By Bianca Cuaresma

The deficit represented a reversal from a four-month series of surpluses beginning in July, when the Philippines benefited from a change in sentiment in the opening months when so-called foreign funds left the country in huge volumes.

The November BOP also represented a steep reversal from a surplus of $837 million reported in the same month last year.

The imbalance was the third-largest shortfall for the year and brought the country’s BOP in the first 11 months to $3.7 billion.

This was also below the government’s assumed number for the year, when the balance of payments was recast to reflect a deficit totaling $3.4 billion this year.

The BOP measures the country’s transactions with the rest of the world. A deficit means the foreign-currency earnings of the $270-billion Southeast Asian economy exceeded its foreign-currency expenses.

Just last month, the central bank revised the Continued on A2

jeepney restoration A vintage jeepney in Las Piñas City is being restored and decorated by a worker. No two jeepneys are alike, with its bare frame made of metal panels mostly being able to accommodate any kind of art. “The more, the merrier” seems to describe the concept of jeepney art that is marked by accessories called borloloys in the form of mirrors, horns and tassels. The jeepney is said to be the king of the road in this country as it is commonly used by most commuters to get to their destinations. NONIE REYES

After elections, obAmA tests his powers

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BusinessMirror

World The

LuxeMbouRg’s Prime Minister xavier bettel (right) speaks with Denmark’s Prime Minister Helle Thorning-schmidt (center) and european union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini during an eu summit at the european Council building in brussels, on Thursday. eu leaders meet with the top agenda item an ambitious plan to use eu seed money and loan guarantees to jump-start investment and revive the eu’s growth and job-creation rates. AP/Yves loGGhe

B3-1 | Saturday, December 20, 2014 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

EU leaders agree to create fund for jumpstarting econ growth

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RUSSELS—European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to create a strategic investment fund that could generate up to €315 billion ($386 billion) in private- and public-sector money to upgrade infrastructure, jumpstart the EU’s sluggish economies and ignite job growth.

“The economic situation has improved...but we are not safe yet,” said EU President Donald Tusk.

“Today, we need more investment, more structural reforms and sound public finances across Europe.”

The plan approved by leaders of

the 28-nation EU at their one-day summit meeting in Brussels calls for the new European Fund for Strategic Investments to be in operation and approving new investment projects by mid-2015.

The plan, which calls for use of

EU seed money to leverage up to 15 times more in private funds, is the brainchild of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Critics have already warned that despite its multibillion-euro price tag, it may not be big enough to win over wary investors.

“This package looks like creative accounting for the moment,” Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said as she arrived for the summit.

Grybauskaite and the other EU leaders seemed to acknowledge the possibility that private companies may be reluctant to risk their capital by noting in a summit communiqué that the strategic fund will accept contributions from EU member-states. For the fund to launch, it would also require approval by European legislators.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz, in a speech prepared for delivery at the summit,

said the EU must stimulate and modernize its economy, or risk falling farther behind global competitors like the US and China.

Schulz said investment in areas like schools, universities, green energy and infrastructure was key “if we want Europe to be an economic champion in the future.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said investments fostered by the strategic fund “must go into projects for the future—particularly, for example, in the digital economy or where we aren’t so good on the world market as we should be: electromobility [electric cars] and the like.”

Over dinner, the leaders discussed what Tusk termed the other major challenge for Europe: what long-term policy to adopt toward Russia.

“We must go beyond being reactive and defensive,” Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, said. He

called for a strategy that is “tough and responsible” for dealing with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, and resolving the Ukraine crisis.

The policy discussion will resume when EU leaders meet again in March, Tusk told a post-summit news conference. He asked Europeans to “be self-confident and realize our own strength.”

EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, also attending the Brussels summit, said she derived no satisfaction from the economic woes of Russia, the target of EU and US sanctions since the Kremlin annexed the Crimean Peninsula.

But Mogherini said Putin and other senior Russian officials “should reflect seriously about the need for introducing a radical change in the attitude toward the rest of the world and to switch to a cooperative mode.” AP

Putin: West wants to defang, declaw Russian bear

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OSCOW—Sternly warning the West it cannot defang the metaphorical Russian bear, a confident-looking President Vladimir Putin promised on Thursday to shore up the plummeting ruble and revive the economy within two years.

While he issued a litany of sharp rebukes against the West, Putin struck a conciliatory note on Ukraine, saying that the rebellious east should remain part of the country, backing a quick exchange of war prisoners and praising his Ukrainian counterpart.

The mixture of blistering antiWestern rhetoric and constructive signals appeared to indicate that Putin is eager to negotiate a face-saving solution to the Ukrainian crisis, but has no intention of conceding defeat in his standoff with the West.

In his first public appearance since the crash of the ruble’s value this week, Putin accepted responsibility for the economic crisis.

He said Western sanctions accounted for at least 25 percent of the ruble’s fall, but the main reason was Russia’s failure to ease its overwhelming dependence on oil and gas exports.

In his speech, the man who has led Russia for 15 years sought to soothe market fears, saying the country has sufficient currency reserves and would not resort to administrative controls, such as fixing exchange rates or obliging export-

ers to convert their Western currency holdings to rubles.

Following Putin’s performance, the Russian currency traded between 60 and 62 rubles to the dollar, roughly the same level as late Wednesday, when it rallied 12 percent after plummeting to a historic low of 80 rubles per dollar. Still, the currency has lost about half its value since January.

In Brussels, the European Union strengthened its sanctions against Russia with new measures on Thursday that ban investment and discourage tourism in Crimea.

And in Washington, President Barack Obama signed legislation authorizing new sanctions on Russia but said he does not plan to impose the penalties outlined in the measure.

Putin shrugged off speculation that some members of his inner circle hurt by Western sanctions could rebel against him in a “palace coup,” citing strong public support.

An Associated Press-National Organization for Research Center (NORC) Center for Public Affairs Research poll released on Thursday backed up that view, recording his approval rating among Russians at 81 percent, a level far above typical ratings for world leaders.

The poll was conducted before the ruble’s slump this week, which spurred many Russians to withdraw bank deposits and buy Western cur-

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday. The Russian economy will rebound and the ruble will stabilize, Putin said, adding that ukraine must remain one political entity. AP/PAvel Golovkin

rencies or durable goods in an attempt to protect the value of their savings.

Audi was the latest major company to suspend deliveries in Russia amid the ruble’s turmoil. Apple halted online sales earlier this week.

If the Kremlin fails to stabilize the ruble soon, panic could spread, triggering an even more massive run on banks and a sharp surge in inflation that could swiftly erode Putin’s support.

The president argued that the nation’s hard currency reserves are sufficient to keep the economy stable.

He said the Central Bank should not “thoughtlessly burn” its reserves worth $419 billion.

Chris Weafer, senior partner at Moscow-based Macro Advisory, said Putin’s comments reflected a greater political will to push overdue reforms, but also amounted to an acknowledgment that the government lacks a clear strategy. He summed up Putin’s message as, “We’re definitely in a world of pain here and there is no obvious solution.”

Putin struck a defiant note against

the United States and the 28-nation EU, saying the sanctions they slapped on Russia after it seized the Black Sea region of Crimea in March were part of a historical campaign to weaken Russia.

To illustrate his point, he raised the metaphorical Russian bear.

“Sometimes I think maybe it would be better for our bear to sit quietly, rather than chasing around the forest after piglets; to sit eating berries and honey instead. Maybe they will leave it in peace,” Putin said.

“They will not. Because they will always try to put him on a chain, and as soon as they succeed in doing so, they tear out his fangs and his claws.”

Putin said he was referring to Russia’s nuclear arsenal, which protected its valuable natural resources.

“Once they’ve taken out his claws and his fangs, then the bear...[will] become a stuffed animal,” he said.

“The issue is not Crimea. The issue is that we are protecting our sovereignty and our right to exist.”

Putin said he wanted a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine, where pro-Russian insurgents have battled Ukrainian government troops since April, leaving more than 4,700 dead.

He said Ukraine must remain one country and the two sides should hold a prisoner swap before Christmas. AP

ASHINGTON—President Barack Obama is shaking up the governing status quo with a recent streak of activism, laying down a foundation that, while fragile, is defining how he enters the final two years of his term.

In the weeks since the midterm elections gave Republicans full control of Congress, Obama has acted in unbridled ways on foreign and domestic policy fronts. The list is significant.

In addition to taking executive actions to shield millions of immigrants from deportation, securing anti-pollution goals with China and undertaking a historic diplomatic opening with Havana, Obama has sought to sustain new ties with once reclusive Myanmar, make Alaska’s Bristol Bay off limits to oil and gas drilling, and affirm “net neutrality.”

David Axelrod, a former senior Obama adviser, said: “He is someone who ran for office to tackle big, lingering problems and, now, as he looks at the final years of his administration, he seems determined to use every tool at his disposal to make progress on as many of them as he can.”

Aides and advisers say that even if Obama’s actions can be undone, he is giving the public a taste of change that would be difficult to reverse.

“Though his powers are significant, they’re not without limit, so some of the actions he’s taken could be reversed by future presidents,” Axelrod said. “But is some future president really going to want to reach back and break relations with Cuba? Or put millions of undocumented workers who have lived and worked here for years back on the list for deportation?”

The November 4 elections inflicted a heavy cost on the Democratic Party’s agenda, with the Republicans seizing control of the Senate and expanding their majority in the House. But they had a liberating effect on the president.

Politics, of course, are still a factor in presidential decisions, but no longer does Obama have to weigh the effect his decisions would have on his own electoral prospects or consider the parochial concerns of vulnerable Democrats like he did in delaying his immigration measures before the elections.

For Obama, another consequence of his actions is that they have exposed cracks in the Republican Party. Republican lawmakers have not come together on a specific strategy on how to undo his immigration initiatives and a minority still believes the party should overhaul the system and get the issue behind them.

The Cuba opening, while loudly decried by Republican leaders, also cleaves the party, with farm-state lawmakers and those with more libertarian outlooks having a more favorable view of new relations with the island.

Those divisions were in stark relief on Thursday when Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is eyeing a presidential run, became the most prominent Republican to side with Obama on Cuba, declaring that a half-century-long economic embargo hasn’t worked.

“If the goal is regime change, it sure doesn’t seem to be working, and probably, it punishes the people more than the regime because the regime can blame the embargo for hardship,” Paul said in a radio interview.

Other potential Republican presidential candidates, such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Govs. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, have all criticized Obama’s decision to open an embassy in Havana and ease economic and travel restrictions on Cuba.

Obama’s executive actions are not permanent. Only Congress can lift the economic embargo against Cuba. Obama’s immigration measures would expire in 2017. His ambitious climate-change goals aim to set 2025 emissions more than one-quarter lower than they were in 2005. The new pollution standards would require the support of subsequent presidents.

“Clearly the clock is ticking and he’s got a lot of stuff he wants to get done,” said Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, a Democraticleaning Washington think-tank and a longtime advocate of overhauling immigration laws. “How lasting are these things? We’ll find out. But certainly he’s leaving tracks on the ground where he is advancing his agenda.” AP

WORLD

DTI urges SMEsto take advantage of EU-GSP+

By Catherine N. Pillas

B3-1

WARRIORS SILENCE THUNDER Sports BusinessMirror

C1 | Saturday, December 20, 2014 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

OKLAHOMA City’s Russell Westbrook (0) shoots between Golden State’s Stephen Curry (left) and Andre Iguodala. AP

BERNIE ECCLESTONE returns on F1 board and stays as CEO. AP

WARRIORS SILENCE THUNDER

By Diamond Leung San Jose Mercury News

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AKLAND, California—The Golden State Warriors are back in the win column again, thanks to Stephen Curry and his teammates performing in crunch time.

The Warriors won, 114-109, on Thursday, defeating an Oklahoma City Thunder team that lost Kevin Durant to injury halfway through the game. Curry scored 11 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, racking up nine assists and seven rebounds to lead the Warriors. Two nights after going one for 10 from three-point range in a loss at Memphis that snapped Golden State’s 16-game winning streak, he made five three-pointers.

Leading 112-109, the Warriors sealed the win with Harrison Barnes hitting a turnaround fadeaway with about 17 seconds left. Golden State improved to a league-leading 22-3.

Klay Thompson had 19 points, and Draymond Green had 16 points, nine rebounds and a careerhigh nine assists.

Russell Westbrook scored 33 points in carrying the load for the Thunder after Durant’s hot start was halted by an ankle injury.

Durant poured in 30 points in the first half, going five for six from three-point range before he suffered a mild right-ankle sprain after stepping on Marreese Speights’s foot with 2.4 seconds left in the second quarter. The reigning Most Valuable Player had to be helped off the court by teammates and did not return.

The Thunder led 40-32 after the first quarter, making a strong opening statement by scoring the most points the Warriors allowed in a single quarter all season. Oklahoma City made 15 of its first 25 shots and led by as many as 17 points as Serge Ibaka hit a three-pointer to give the Thunder a 30-13 lead.

But without an injured Andrew Bogut, the Warriors took the punch and fought back. They went on a 10-0 run, with Shaun Livingston putting them ahead 49-48 with a jump shot. Curry on the previous possession made a difficult three-pointer, colliding with Andre Iguodala before taking the pass and shooting without taking a dribble.

Curry then made a high-arching three-pointer to break a 52-all tie and start an 8-0 run capped off

by Thompson’s long-distance shot. By halftime, the Thunder closed the gap as the Warriors led, 65-63.

Durant did not return to the court after halftime after having missed the Thunder’s first 17 games because of a fractured right foot. He and Westbrook returned from injuries to lead the Thunder to a seven-game winning streak. That became the longest active streak in the league after the Warriors’ streak was snapped on Tuesday at Memphis. The Warriors as part that franchise-best winning streak won at Oklahoma City last month with the Thunder missing Durant and Westbrook.

The Warriors were also without Bogut for most of that game but were rescued by another strong performance from Speights off the bench.

Warriors Coach Steve Kerr confirmed General Manager Bob Myers’s comments that forward

CHICAGO’S Nikola Mirotic (44) battles New York’s Jason Smith for the loose ball. AP

BULLS TOP KNICKS

By Al Iannazzone Newsday

David Lee (hamstring strain) could return to action on Monday against Sacramento if he goes through practices before the game unscathed.

“David Lee will be back next week, probably,” Kerr said.

Kerr said Lee’s adjustment back on the court could be helped by the absence of Bogut as he would receive more minutes with the Warriors missing a starting big man. Kerr said he hasn’t given much thought to how Lee would be used upon his return.

“David and Andrew are similar playing out of the high-post and running all of our actions through them with dribble handoff stuff,” Kerr said. Anthony Davis, meanwhile, led New Orleans to victory at Houston and Milwaukee used good outside shooting to edge Sacramento.

Houston’s James Harden entered leading the National Basketball Association (NBA) in scoring and had scored more than 40 points in two of his last three games. But he had a tough night by his standards and made just eight-of-23 shots, finishing with 21 points.

Milwaukee sank 10 three-pointers in the first half and hung to edge Sacramento, 108-107.

GOLDEN STATE RALLIES FROM AN EARLy 17-POINT DEFICIT TO BEAT OKLAhOMA CITy, 114-109, WITh STEPhEN CuRRy hAVING 34 POINTS AND NINE ASSISTS FOR ThE NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION-LEADING WARRIORS.

BACK ON DRIVER’S SEAT LONDON—Bernie Ecclestone’s control of Formula One was fully restored on Thursday after overcoming court cases that threatened his grip on the motorsport series.

The 84-year-old Ecclestone stepped down as a board member of F1’s holding company this year while standing trial for bribery in Germany. The case was closed in August when Ecclestone made a $100-million settlement payment.

Investment group CVC Capital Partner, F1’s controlling shareholder, announced Ecclestone’s return to the board in a statement on Thursday, and that he will continue as chief executive.

CHICAGO—Carmelo Anthony and Bulls guard Derrick Rose already had been declared out of the nationally televised game when TNT’s Charles Barkley offered his first analysis of the night.

“My God,” Barkley said outside the Knicks’ locker room, “it’s going to be awful.”

The game lacked star power but was more competitive than anyone could have predicted, and the heavily undermanned Knicks battled to the end. They were down one with less than a minute left but couldn’t get key defensive rebounds in crunch time in a 103-97 loss to the Bulls on Thursday at the United Center.

The Knicks (5-23) lost for the 13th time in 14 games and have the most losses in the league (the 76ers are 2-22).

“We put forth a great battle, we truly did,” Amare Stoudemire said. “We’ll take a moral victory.

We played hard against a team that’s pretty good.”

Anthony’s troublesome left knee is sore. He said he wants to try to play through the pain, but he needed Thursday night off.

Neither the Knicks nor Anthony has ever said what is bothering him, and there has been talk that he needs surgery. Anthony, who missed a game last week because of his knee, said he aggravated it on Tuesday night.

“I’ve had multiple people say just shut it down or just take time off,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s hard for me to just do that right now amid what’s happening with the team. So I’m just trying to be smart about it.”

He was asked what it would take for him to shut it down.

“I don’t know, man,” he said. “I take some days off, some days it feels like I can go. Some days it feels like I have everything. It’s going to be off and on like that.”

Anthony, who tested his knee at shootaround, said the Knicks “shut me down” on Wednesday and wouldn’t let him practice. After a back-to-back tomorrow and on Sunday, the Knicks have three off days before playing the Wizards on Christmas Day. “I’m just trying to see over the next couple of days how it reacts,” Anthony said. “It gets frustrating not knowing what’s going to happen.”

The Knicks also were without JR Smith (partially torn plantar fascia), Iman Shumpert (dislocated shoulder) and Andrea Bargnani (calf).

In addition to Rose, who was ill, Taj Gibson (ankle) didn’t play for Chicago (16-9).

The Knicks’ starting lineup was Jose Calderon, Tim Hardaway Jr., Travis Wear, Stoudemire and Cole Aldrich. Stoudemire was supposed to have “a recovery day,” but with the Knicks shorthanded, he told Derek Fisher, “There’s no way I can sit this one out.” Hardaway had 23 points but air-balled a three-pointer with 37.9 seconds left with a chance to tie. Stoudemire added 16 points and Aldrich had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jimmy Butler scored a career-high 35 points for the Bulls. Pau Gasol had 20 and Aaron Brooks 18.

A 12-0 Chicago run put the Knicks in a 10-point hole with 7:30 to go, but they got within 98-97 on Stoudemire’s jumper with 1:01 left. On the ensuing trip, Brooks threw a jump pass to Gasol for a lay-up that made it a three-point game with 52.9 seconds to play.

After Hardaway’s missed three-pointer, the Bulls came up with two offensive rebounds, one off a missed foul shot. Gasol hit two free throws for the final points with 10.3 seconds left.

“I think we competed pretty good against a really good team with some of the guys out,” Calderon said. “The effort was there. I think we played good basketball. Again, we couldn’t finish.”

Sports

CVC also said former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo and Paul Walsh, the former chief executive of drinks giant Diageo, will become nonexecutive directors from January.

Ecclestone built his powerbase in F1 from the 1970s, and helped to create the Formula One Constructors’ Association that controlled the business side of the series, including selling the TV rights. The British-based company later became known as Formula One Management. It has fought regular tussles with the teams over finances, but has retained control of the global motor racing extravaganza. AP

P25.00 nationwide | 6 sections 28 pages | 7 days a week

he balance of payments (BOP), or what is left after the country’s foreign-currency expenses are deducted from its foreigncurrency earnings, stood as a deficit in November, totaling $314 million.

25 DAYS

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BOP reverted to $314-M shortfall in November

PAPAL VISIT 2015

EAR God, may love inspire and underlie all our thoughts, words and deeds. May love be present in all our relationships. May love enliven every aspect of our life, every day. Are we trying to be a loving person? May we willingly and happily give to members of our family the love that is due them. Help us be aware that all creation and the fruits of human activity in the world are mutual gifts of love between the Father and His children in union with Jesus, His Son. Amen.

A broader look at today’s business

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he Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is encouraging small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to take full advantage of a preferential trade scheme of the European Union (EU), which removed tariffs on key Philippine exports.

DTI officials issued the statement after the EU announced on Thursday the approval of the Philippines’s application for entry into the EU-Generalized System of Preferences plus (EU-GSP+).

“We intend to launch an information campaign and training next year so we can help SMEs maximize the use of the GSP+,” Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal said in a media briefing.

Cristobal said the Export Management Bureau of the DTI will conduct five information sessions in January on “Doing Business with the EU Using the GSP+,” in Makati, Cebu, Davao, General Santos, and Angeles City in Pampanga. The DTI

PESO exchange rates n US 44.7490

hopes to complete the training of SMEs and the information campaign during the first half of 2015.

The DTI said the current GSP scheme is “underutilized,” with utilization rate pegged at 63.5 percent.

Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said informing and educating SMEs about the benefits of the scheme would boost their ability to meet standards under the new scheme. Domingo said the government intends to do this through the EU’s Trade Related Technical Assistance (TRTA).

The EU’s TRTA is a program which will deploy EU-GSP+ experts to help SMEs comply with standards and avail themselves of preferential tariffs.

Under the EU-GSP+, duty on exports, such as processed fruit and foodstuffs, coconut oil, footwear, fish and textiles, has been slashed to zero. The upgraded EU-GSP+ covers 6,274 tariff lines, two-thirds of which will be allowed to enter EU See “DTI,” A2

Megawide and GMR consortium bags ₧23.3-B loan for Cebu airport expansion

By VG Cabuag

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he consortium of Filipinoowned Megawide Construction Corp. and Bangalorebased GMR Infrastructure Ltd. signed an omnibus loan and security arrangement with banks to fund the expansion and rehabilitation of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

Michael Cosiquien, chairman and CEO of Megawide, said in a text message that the loan to GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. will amount to P23.3 billion.

Megawide said in its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange that the banks that signed the loan agreement include Unibank Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Development Bank of the Philippines,

Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. and Philippine National Bank.

GMR Infrastructure Ltd. and GMR Infrastructure (Singapore) signed as sponsors, while BDO Capital and Investment Corp. has been picked as the lead arranger.

In April the consortium bagged the 25-year contract to set up a See “Megawide,” A2

Saudi says oil decisions not linked to politics

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IYADH, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia’s oil chief said in comments published on Thursday that there are no links between the kingdom’s decision to oppose production cuts and political objectives—an apparent response to accusations last week from Shiite powerhouse Iran.

Petroleum Minister Ali Naimi was quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency as saying that there are “incorrect information and analyses... linking petroleum decisions with political objectives.”

“These erroneous analyses will undoubtedly be exposed and proven wrong,” he said, adding that eventually “others will see that what we are doing will yield the best results for the kingdom.” Last week Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the sharp fall in global oil prices was the result of “treachery,” a remark interpreted as a reference to Saudi Arabia.

The Sunni kingdom’s rivals are concerned that Saudi Arabia, which is capable of withstanding revenue losses, is forcing lower oil prices to damage their economies.

Naimi said he was optimistic about the future, but that, for now, the kingdom would maintain its current output for competitive reasons.

“In a situation like this, it is difficult, if not impossible, that the kingdom or Opec [Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] would carry out any action that may result in a reduction of its share in market and an increase of others’ shares, at a market time in which it is difficult to control prices,” he said.

“Thus, we lose the market and lose the prices together.” AP

n japan 0.3766 n UK 70.1396 n HK 5.7703 n CHINA 7.1986 n singapore 34.0737 n australia 36.5387 n EU 54.9831 n SAUDI arabia 11.9219 Source: BSP (19 December 2014)

A2

News BusinessMirror

Saturday, December 20, 2014

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BOP reverted to $314-M shortfall in November Continued from A1

projected BOP from an earlier surplus of $1.1 billion to a deficit totaling $3.4 billion.

The deficit, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said earlier, resulted in the main to huge outflows in portfolio funds totaling $2.291 billion in the first three months this year. While some of that money has since returned, portfolio investments, or “hot” money, in

the first 11 months posted a net outflow totaling $322 million.

Tetangco has said the slump in the country’s BOP position was not due to weak macroeconomic numbers, but because of external developments or events.

“Developments since July up to the present and the dominant factors affecting the BOP are external in nature, specifically the normalization of monetary policy in the US, which has affected financial markets,” Tetangco said earlier.

“So the impact of this normalization of monetary in US has affected not only the Philippines, but also other emerging markets around the world.

This is not something that is peculiar to us, but a phenomenon that has been observed around the world in reaction to what is happening in advanced economies, particularly the US,” he added.

US authorities, on the basis of corroborative data showing initially tentative economic growth proving more sustainable expansion down the line, were seen to moderate such

Hope and some fear in Cuba amid thaw with US Continued from A8

looking for fares and fruit vendors calling out to passers-by. There was no immediate word of plans for any official celebration like the welcomehome party in 2000 for Elian Gonzalez after a yearlong custody battle in Miami.

Journalists from around the world were hurrying to get into Cuba, hoping to secure accreditation from a government that decides who is a l lowed to repor t f rom a country that many believe is at a turning point.

In announcing that the US and Cuba would resume diplomatic relations for the first time since 1961, President Barack Obama said he still has concerns about human rights, democracy and freedom of expression on the island.

President Raul Castro said he still wants an end to the trade embargo that has choked off commerce to the island and has kept generations of Americans from being able to visit.

Last year Cuba began allowing its citizens to travel abroad without first getting permission from the government. Many now have access to consumer goods like smartphones and flat screen TVs from overseas. Not only is that likely to expand, but remittances from abroad could surge, helping people to start more businesses and repair crumbling homes.

Castro has introduced economic reforms, letting hundreds of thousands of people run small private businesses and hire employees, and buy and sell their homes for the first time since the early days of the 1959 revolution. He’s allowed the sale of used cars, though the famous classic Chevys and Cadillacs, often kept road-worthy with makeshift parts, are still a delight to tourists.

One way the society may change is in its views of the US. While many Cuban have family in the US and feel warmly toward Americans, they have grown up thinking of Washington as

the enemy and many blame US policy for Cuba’s problems. Now, they will have to get used to their country and their giant capitalist neighbor doing normal business.

In addition to increased trade, there likely will be even greater cooperation on shared interests, such as counter-narcotics and the environment as occurs between the US and most other countries, even communist ones, said Peter Kornbluh, a fellow at the National Security Archive in Washington.

Cubans may have to get used to the notion that they are not at war with the US anymore, said Kornbluh, co-author of “Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana.”

“A society that has lived in the historic dark shadow of the colossus of the north is now feeling some sunlight,” he said. “The lifting of the general state-of-siege mentality that normal relations will bring is ultra-important.” AP

expansion with higher interest-rate adjustments next year, possibly as early as the second or third quarter.

The likelihood of higher interest rates in the US has started a guessing game as to when such an adjustment was most likely, a guessing game that, in the meantime, encouraged foreign fund managers to repatriate some of their overseas exposure back to the US, where they are not only safe from the ebb and flow of markets, but stand to benefit from an anticipated interest-rate hike.

DTI. . .

continued from a1

member-countries duty-free.

The DTI expects the new scheme to increase the value of Philippine exports to EU by €600 million in the first two years of implementation and create more than 200,000 new jobs.

Domingo said the GSP+ scheme would increase foreign investments in textiles, processed food, garments, footwear and help strengthen the Philippines’s position as a manufacturing hub.

The existing GSP scheme covers a total of 6,209 products, 2,442 of which are subject to zero duty, while 3,767 are subjected to lower tariffs.

Last year, Philippine exports to EU under the regular GSP scheme reached €1.08 billion. DTI officials expect this figure to rise under the GSP+ scheme. Local products that enjoyed preferential treatment under the GSP scheme include crude coconut oil, canned tuna, pneumatic tires, spectacle lenses, relays and preserved fruits.

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

TODAY’S WEATHER

DECEMBER 20, 2014 | SATURDAY

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

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.

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

DEC 21

SUNDAY

DEC 22

MONDAY

METRO MANILA

24 – 30°C

24 – 30°C

TUGUEGARAO

20 – 26°C

20 –25°C

LAOAG

22 – 29°C

22 – 29°C

Russia. . . continued from a8 The US and the European Union are mulling further sanctions on Russia, after the latter recently annexed Crimea.

The falling ruble has already reduced the country’s industrial output. Bengzon added that the DOT hopes to regain the confidence of the Russian market “by highlighting the Philippines’s multifaceted assets, and, more important, take advantage of the citations as a top island destination.”

Aileen Clemente, president of Rajah Travel Corp., said that, while the Russian market has been relatively stable, “it’s been expected that with the Russia-Ukraine conflict there would be consequences. The important thing is how to manage the Philippines’s portfolio of target tourists, which will continue to be dynamic as we continuously assess world events and their impact to our tourism.”

For the first nine months of the year, the Philippines received about 3.6 million visitors, up 2.5 percent from the 3.51 million in the same period in 2013.

This year’s arrivals generated total tourism receipts of P157.73 billion, up 13 percent from the P139.43 billion recorded last year.

In its report, the DOT said “the mega fam trips, marketing efforts and participation to international travel fairs, as well as tourism infrastructure development help boosted

Megawide. . . continued from a1 new international passenger terminal building, which will be constructed beginning next year and will be opened in 2018, refurbish the existing one and operate the entire facility.

The company started operating the airport, the country’s

DEC 23

TUESDAY

TUGUEGARAO CITY 20 – 27°C

SBMA/ CLARK

BAGUIO CITY 13 – 22°C SBMA/CLARK 24 – 30°C TAGAYTAY CITY 20 – 27°C

METRO MANILA 23 – 30°C

TAGAYTAY

14 – 22°C

24 – 31°C

21 – 26°C

15 – 22°C

24 – 31°C

21 – 27°C

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 26 – 31°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 24 – 30°C

TACLOBAN CITY 24 – 31°C

METRO CEBU 24 – 31°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY 24 – 35°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 24 – 33°C METRO DAVAO 24 – 30°C

23 – 29°C

23 –28°C

24 – 30°C

24 – 31°C

19 – 24°C

TACLOBAN

24 – 29°C

25 – 30°C

24 – 30°C

22 – 28°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

24 – 33°C

23 – 33°C

23 – 33°C

METRO DAVAO

24 – 30°C

25 – 30°C

25 – 30°C

25 – 34°C

25 – 34°C

25 – 34°C

15 – 22°C

24 – 30°C

ZAMBOANGA SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

6:15 AM

5:31 PM

3:59 PM

4:11 AM

21 – 28°C

23 – 28°C

HALF MOON NEW MOON

24 – 31°C

24 – 29°C

24 – 29°C

DEC 22

CELEBES SEA

4:08 AM

-0.11 METER 9:36 PM 8:51 PM Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms

Light rains

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SABAH

LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

24 – 30°C

DEC 23

TUESDAY

24 – 30°C

DEC 14 25 – 32°C

DEC 22

MONDAY

24 – 32°C

LEGAZPI CITY 24 – 29°C

LEGAZPI

DEC 21

SUNDAY

24 – 30°C

(AS OF DECEMBER 19, 5:00 PM)

BAGUIO

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

second busiest, in November. The airport’s annual passenger count is expected to increase from the current 4.5 million to 12.5 million in 2018.

Megawide needs to raise some P30 billion in three years for the construction of the new terminal.

METRO CEBU

TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE AREA (LPA) AFFECTING SOUTHERN MINDANAO.

LAOAG CITY 22 – 28°C

arrivals to the country.”

Of the total visitors for the nine-month period, tourists from East Asia accounted for the largest chunk at 1.75 million, equivalent to 48.6 percent; followed by North America, at 639,440 (17.8 percent of total); Asean, 337,392 (9.4 percent); Australasia/ Pacific, 202,328 (5.6 percent); and Northern Europe, 150,910 (4.2 percent). South Korea continued to be the top market at 865,950 visitors from January to September 2014. The market was down 4.7 percent from the same period in 2013.

The US followed at 536,385 arrivals (up 7.76 percent); Japan 349,100 (up 6.11 percent); China, 334,672 (up 2.33 percent); Australia, 156,789 (up 5.8 percent); Singapore, 132,343 arrivals (up 3.4 percent); Taiwan, 108,713 (down 2.11 percent); Canada, 101,026 (up 10.9 percent); Malaysia, 99,167 (up 22.84 percent); the UK, 98,470 (up 12.88 percent); Hong Kong, 84,863 (down 12 percent); and Germany, 52,978 arrivals (up 4.24 percent); The top five visitor markets in terms of expenditure were South Korea (P45.08 billion), US (P30.86 billion), Australia (P9.99 billion), Japan (P8.27 billion) and China (P7.08 billion).

The DOT reported that substantial visitor receipts were also generated from Canada (P5.83 billion), the UK (P5.78 billion), Germany (P3.34 billion), Singapore (P3 billion) and Saudi Arabia (P2.84 billion).

@PanahonTV

10:26 AM

0.28 METER

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers

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The Nation BusinessMirror

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Saturday, December 20, 2014 A3

PNP to NBI: File criminal charges House approves PHL Maritime Zones bill against NBP convicted criminals T

T

By Rene Acosta

HE Philippine National Police (PNP) urged the National Bureau of Investigation on Friday to file criminal charges against inmates of the National Bilibid Prison (NBP), who yielded unlicensed firearms during a raid that was led by no less than Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Chief Supt. Virgilio Moro Lazo, director of the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO), said the NBI should file charges of illegal possession of firearms against Peter Co and other inmates, whose quarters at the correctional facility were found to have high-powered firearms seized during the raid on December 15.

Co, one of the high-profile prisoners at the NBP, yielded a cache of firearms that included several pistols and an M-16 assault rifle, which, according to records from the FEO, were registered to several politicians and a government employee.

“The NBI should file charges against the people who were found in possession of the firearms,” Lazo said. He said they were hoping that the NBI could furnish them with copies of the charges that were filed against the inmates in order for them to have a basis, too, in asking the original owners of the firearms to explain. “They must explain how come those guns ended in the possession of the other people, other than them as the registered owners,” Lazo said.

FINE DAY A typhoon in the early days of December failed to deter residents of Las Piñas, who find the brightly lit façade of the City Hall kindling the spirit of Christmas. NONIE REYES

He said the FEO is also conducting its own investigation as to how the firearms ended with prisoners at the correctional facility, much more that these prisoners are not ordinary inmates, but are drug leaders.

Lazo said that, since the firearms are already in the possession of people other than their licensed owners, they are already considered loose firearms.

“If, for example, gun holders did not report loss of firearm to PNP, they may be held liable,” he also said.

Meanwhile, the PNP has issued a stern warning against indiscriminate and illegal discharge of firearms by government and civilian gunholders as part of its support to a “gun-free” celebration of Christmas and New Year.

PNP Officer in Charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina issued a memorandum to all police commanders to intensify their campaign against illegal discharge of firearms and indiscriminate firing.

HE House of Representatives recently approved on third and final reading a measure defining the country’s territorial waters.

House Bill (HB) 4889, or the “Philippine Maritime Zones Act,” seeks to provide for the necessary flexibility in the enactment of subsequent laws pertinent to the rights and obligations to which the Philippines is entitled and may exercise over its maritime zones in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

HB 4889 also provides for the sovereign rights or jurisdiction over these maritime zones, acquiring for the country the exclusive rights to explore and exploit living and non-living, organic or non-organic resources found in these zones, in accordance with Unclos and other existing laws and treaties.

The bill states “the maritime zones of the country shall be comprised of the internal waters, archipelagic waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone [EEZ] and continental shelf. All territories of the Philippines shall generate their respective maritime zones in accordance with international law.”

Archipelagic baselines, as used in the bill, shall refer to the baselines as defined under Republic Act (RA) 9522, titled “An Act to Amend Certain Provisions of RA 3046, as Amended by RA 5446, to Define the Archipelagic Baselines of the Philippines and for Other Purposes.”

Archipelagic waters shall refer to the waters on the landward side of the archipelagic baselines, except as provided for under the provisions defining the internal waters of the country.

Territorial sea shall refer “to the belt of sea measured 12 nautical miles from the

baselines or from the low-water line, as the case may be.”

The Contiguous Zone shall refer to the “waters beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea and up to the extent of 24 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.” On the other hand, EEZ of the country shall refer to “the waters beyond and adjacent to its territorial sea and up to the extent of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.”

Likewise, the bill states that the Continental Shelf of the Philippines shall be “comprised of the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance.”

The authors stressed that the Philippines shall exercise sovereign rights over the mentioned areas, including the right to explore and exploit its resources according to the Unclos and existing laws and treaties.

Furthermore, the bill provides that other rights not stipulated in this Act shall be exercised by the country in accordance with internal law and the law of the country.

If the maritime zones of the Philippines overlap with the maritime zones claimed by other countries, the Philippines shall delimit these zones and endeavor to resolve the overlaps according to the recognized means under international law,”the authors underscored. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Economy

A4 Saturday, December 20, 2014 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

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House assures passage of Fair Competition Act, other economic bills by early next year

T

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

he leadership of the House of Representatives assured early this week the passage of several economic measures, including the proposed Philippine Fair Competition Act, early next year until the 16th Congress ends on June 30, 2016.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, in an interview with reporters, said the leadership would pursue all economic measures that would help attain the country’s goal of an inclusive economic growth.

“All important economic measures, we will pass it starting next year,” vowed Belmonte, following the passage of the proposed Philippine Fair Competition Act in the Senate recently.

According to Belmonte these proposed legislative priorities, include: n Amendment of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Charter, which was recently passed at the Committee of Bank and Financial Intermediaries, would strengthen its regulatory and

supervisory powers to respond more appropriately to the changes in both global and domestic economic and financial landscape. n Rationalization of fiscal incentives that would consolidate all existing incentive-giving laws to avoid confusion, redundancy, tax avoidance and other inefficiencies, while facilitating investments. The measure is still under deliberation of a technical working group. n Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (under a committee deliberations) mandating a full disclosure policy of the tax incentives by requiring taxpayers to report availed incentives in the income-tax returns, and establishing a Tax Expenditure Account in the national budget to reflect the amount of tax

incentives granted to private individuals and corporations. n Customs Modernization and Tariff Act that would align our Tariff and Customs Code with the simplified and harmonized customs procedures and practices adopted in the Revised Kyoto Convention and other international and legal standards (under a committee deliberations).

• Rationalization of mining revenues that seeks to increase the share of the State from mining, and ensure the timely release of local government units share from mining revenues (under a committee deliberations). n Resolution of Both Houses No. 1 that vests on Congress the power to set restrictions on foreign ownership in key economic sectors, including public utilities, property, mass media and advertising, educational institutions and development of natural resources, etc. (under plenary deliberations). n Amendments to our Foreign Investment Act, particularly those on the Foreign Investment Negative List. The amendments include lowering paid-in capital requirements for foreign enterprises, redefining “export enterprises” to remove discrimination against foreign investors for the Board of Investments incentives, allowing foreign investment of up to 100 percent of equity for manufacturing and radio communication, rationalizing the entry

Wholesale commodity prices ease to 1.3% in Oct–PSA

By Cai U. Ordinario

W

holesale commodity prices slowed to 1.3 percent on the back of cheaper oil prices in October 2014, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) latest General Wholesale Price Index (GWPI).

PSA data showed the year-on-year increase in the GWPI was slower compared to the 1.7-percent growth posted in September and 2.9 percent posted in October 2013.

“The slowdown resulted from an annual decline of 9 percent in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index. In addition, a slower annual gain was noted in the heavily weighted food index at 5.9 percent,” the PSA said.

However, the PSA said wholesale prices of beverages and tobacco increased 6.6 percent; crude materials, inedible except fuels index, 14.5 percent; and chemicals including animal

and vegetable oils and fats index, 5.5 percent.

Other commodities that posted increases in wholesale prices were manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials at 2.3 percent, and miscellaneous manufactured articles, 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the slowest increase in GWPI was recorded in Luzon at 1.1 percent in October. This was largely due to the 9.3-percent contraction in the mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index.

This was also supported by a slowdown in the annual increase in the food index at 6.1 percent in October 2014.

The annual increase in the GWPI in the Visayas and Mindanao also slowed to 2.8 percent and 1.5 percent in October 2014, respectively.

The slowdown in the GWPI in the Visayas was largely due to the 2.8-percent contraction in the mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index

and the lower annual growth of 18.5 percent in crude materials, inedible except fuels index.

The slowdown in the GWPI in Mindanao was largely due to the 9.3-percent contraction in the mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials index.

The PSA added that slower annual growths were noted in the indices of crude materials, inedible except fuels at 3.3 percent and chemicals including animal and vegetable oils and fats, 1.4 percent. The GWPI is an indicator designed to measure the changes in the price levels of commodities that flow into the wholesale trade intermediaries.

The PSA explained that the wholesale price refers to the price of commodity transacted in bulk for further resale or processing. It is the actual “spot” transaction price received by wholesalers, distributors or marketing agents for large lots but net of discounts, allowances and rebates.

of foreign companies in the construction, operations and maintenance of large public works projects, and the easing of restrictions on the practice of professions (under a committee deliberations). n An anti-trust and competition law that would consolidate and update our laws on competition and establish a strong regulatory agency to deal with anti-competitive practices (under plenary deliberations). n Amendments of the BuildOperate-Transfer law, the Cabotage law, and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or Epira (under a committee deliberations). n Passage of the Freedom of Information Act (under plenary deliberations), Bangsamoro basic law (under a committee deliberations), Sandiganbayan Act (recently approved on final reading), and Witness Protection Act and Whistleblowers’ Act (under committee deliberations).

Gonzales said the lower chamber has recently approved on final reading the House Bill (HB) 5280, or An Act Decriminalizing Premature Marriages, repealing for the purpose Article 351 of Revised Penal Code; HB 5283, or An Act to Further Strengthen the Functional and Structural Organization of the Sandiganbayan; and the House Joint Resolution (HJR) 26, increasing the daily subsistence allowance of all military officers from P90 to P150.

He said the HB 5280 seeks to

amend Article 351 of the Revised Penal Code.

Article 351 reads, “Premature marriages. — Any widow who shall marry within 300 and one day from the date of the death of her husband, or before having delivered if she shall have been pregnant at the time of his death, shall be punished by arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding P500. The same penalties shall be imposed upon any woman whose marriage shall have been annulled or dissolved, if she shall marry before her delivery or before the expiration of the period of 300 and one day after the legal separation.”

Gonzales said that there’s no need for a bicameral conference committee to reconcile the Senate and House versions of the bill. The Senate approved its version of the bill earlier this year.

The majority leader also said that the HJR 11 seeks to increase the subsistence allowance of all officers, enlisted personnel, candidate soldiers, probationary second lieutenants, cadets and civilian active auxiliaries of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and all commissioned and non-commissioned personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and Philippine National Police Academy cadets from P90 to 150 per day effective July 2014. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

TPLex construction on track–PIDC exec

T

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

he construction of the 88.85-kilometer Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) is on track to delivering the entire thoroughfare as early as next year, a senior executive said.

Private Infra Development Corp. (PIDC) President Mark Dumol explained his company is nearing the completion of the expressway, which aims to cut travel time around Northern Luzon.

“Construction of TPLEx is well on track and while we still have to make a few more refinements, it is safe to use. We’re opening early as service to the public,” he said.

TPLEx is under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) program being undertaken by the all-Filipino consortium, which includes DMCI Holdings Inc. From end-to-end, the TPLEx will traverse 17 towns and two cities across four provinces, namely Tarlac, Pangasinan, La Union and Nueva Ecija.

Meanwhile, the 13.66-km Rosales to Urdaneta, Pangasinan, section of the expressway will be made available to motorists starting December 2014, to January 2015, to ease traffic flow to and from northern Luzon during the holidays.

PIDC, a unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), said the new section will be free of charge during the period.

“Many families will be traveling to and from northern Luzon during the holidays, and this is our company’s ‘Christmas present’ to them,” Dumol said.

He added that the section is also being opened to accommodate commuters wanting to travel to Manila for the visit of Pope Francis this January, after which it will be closed again to allow for finishing works.

In 2013 the company opened the Tarlac City Paniqui section of the total 88-km thoroughfare, for motorists’ free use over the Christmas season.

It then soft-opened the Paniqui to Rosales section in time for the Holy Week in April.

PIDC said with the opening of the new section, the total length of the TPLEx that has been made operational in just over a year, will reach 63 km. Once completed, travel time from Tarlac City to La Union, which is about an hour away from Baguio City, will only take 45 minutes at 100 km per hour. Currently, it takes motorists anywhere between 2.5 to 3.5 hours to travel from Tarlac to La Union using the old national road.

6 face raps over reported attempt to smuggle ₧7.4 million worth of contraband watches

T

By Joel R. San Juan

HE Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday filed smuggling charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against six respondents for allegedly attempting to bring into the country a total of 413 Casio G-Shock watches through balikbayan boxes amounting to over P7.4 million.

Charged for alleged violation of Sections 3601 and 3602 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines were Zenaida Valencia, Jennifer Valencia, Edward Ochave, Clariss Karingal, Genevieve Ochave and Edmund Discutido.

The case stemmed from the entry of six balikbayan boxes from Bahrain in August which were shipped on the same flight on the same day through Forex U-Mac Bahrain and its counterpart, U-Mac Forex Cargo Philippines. Customs Commissioner John Sevilla, who led the filing of the case, said the boxes were declared to contain personal effects such as shoes and clothing, beddings, groceries, candies and chocolates.

But after receiving derogatory information from the BOCIntellgence Group, custom authorities conducted a 100-percent physical inspection of the boxes and discovered that the boxes contained watches. Sevilla said the misdeclaration was intended to evade payment of duties and taxes amounting to over P1 million.

“While we recognize that balikbayan box is vital to millions of overseas Filipinos and their families in the Philippines, we cannot allow the abuse and misuse of this privilege to bring in goods of commercial quantity or contraband items,” Sevilla said.

briefs LTO releases new guideline on old vehicle registration, plates replacement ALL four-wheeled motor vehicles that are scheduled to renew registration must also apply for the replacement of their old license plates starting on the first day of 2015, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) said.

The new standardized license-plate replacement is only applicable for vehicles that are due for renewal.

Those vehicles that already renewed their registration for January 2015 still have the option of applying for the replacement of their plates in the next registration year.

The replacement fee for the new standardized license plate is P450, and will bear the same alphanumeric characters as the old plates.

Those who applied for the renewal of their plate together with the third plate sticker and appropriate locks will be released within 45 days from the date of the renewal of the registration.

The agency noted any attachment of unauthorized plate is strictly prohibited.

The registration may be taken at any LTO District Office. Jae Denise Adolfo

Tourism dept picks Salceda as its first Tourism Star Philippines awardee The Department of Tourism (DOT) has chosen Albay Gov. Joey Salceda as the first recipient of its Tourism Star Philippines Award in recognition of his “exemplary contribution to the Philippine tourism industry.”

Salceda’s DOT award came after a series of recognitions and citations he received this year, among them, the Outstanding Ateneo Alumni Award, The Outstanding Filipino Leadership Award of the JCI Senate Philippines, and the Civil Service Most Outstanding Public Servant Award.

The Tourism Star Philippines Award is the DOT’s most recently launched merit award. It is given to individuals who have demonstrated strong and deep commitment to the country’s tourism through excellent customer service and investment in tourismdevelopment efforts. The citation was presented to the governor during the awards night on Thursday night in Makati City.

Salceda is now widely acknowledged as among the most active and effective tourism prime movers in the country. He has a number of novelty programs to attract more visitors to the country, particularly to his province of Albay. PNA

Manila Water facility recognized by DOE for energy efficiency program The Department of Energy (DOE) recently awarded Manila Water’s San Juan Pumping Station with the Don Emilio Abello Energy Efficiency Award for the facility’s outstanding energyefficiency and conservation program.

The DOE said the award is given to outstanding corporations and energy managers who have undertaken an exemplary commitment in implementing energy efficiency and conservation programs to achieve substantial savings on energy consumption.

“The recognition is given to any company from the industrial, transport, commercial building sectors through application and usage of modern technologies to reduce energy consumption without sacrificing business productivity,” the DOE said of the award. For his part, Manila Water Operations Group Director Geodino Carpio said the recognition is a testament to the company’s energy-efficiency initiatives and the commitment to continuously improve the operation of its facilities, including pumping stations while ensuring the delivery of clean, potable and safe water to more than 6 million residents of the East Zone concession area.

“San Juan Pumping Station has been cited for its energy-efficiency programs that contributed to substantial savings in power cost and consumption for the period of 2013 to 2014,” Carpio said.

Economy BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Saturday, December 20, 2014

A5

Palace moves to shore up investors’ confidence

M

By Butch Fernandez

macroeconomic indicators that would spur growth in consumer spending.”

Coloma noted that these measures were already seen to have triggered positive result.

“In fact, in the International Finance Corp.’s 2014 Ease of Doing Business Survey, the Philippines showed the biggest improvement among the 189 economies surveyed when it jumped 30 notches to 108th from 138th in 2013,” the Palace official said.

Coloma also pointed out that in the latest Business Expectation Survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which surveyed 1,518 local firms, “business confidence among Philippine-based companies for the fourth quarter improved to 48.3 percent from a three-year low of 34.4 percent in the third quarter of this year.”

He explained that this could be attributed to “the expected rise in consumer demand, increased government spending and sustained growth in orders and projects.”

alacañang has implemented several measures to shore up investors’ confidence in doing business in the Philippines, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said in the wake of a recent survey on prevailing business sentiments in the Asian region.

“The government continues to take concrete steps to improve overall business confidence and address concerns of our businessmen through reforms in the granting of permits and licenses, and streamlining of government transactions,” Coloma said in reply to a query from the BusinessMirror.

The Palace official confirmed that government agencies have, likewise, adopted appropriate measures to “ease bottlenecks in the supply chain and improve government spending.”

He added that the Aquino administration was also moving to “maintain stability in key

briefs

Peza reports 5.7% increase in year-to-date investments ThePhilippineEconomicZoneAuthority(Peza)hasreporteda5.27-percent increase in investments as of November, mostly in manufacturing.

According to Peza Promotions and Public Relations Manager Elmer San Pascual, investments as of the 11th month of the year has reached P222.041 billion, a 5.27-percent improvement, P210.9 billion higher over the same period last year.

Employment as of October tallies to 1,153,923, higher by 13.75 percent than the 1,014,431 employee count over the same period last year.

Sources of investments include manufacturing including electronics and semiconductors, transport and car parts; precision instruments; beverage; electrical machinery; fabricated metals; and chemical products. Other sources include information-technology services and ecozone development. Catherine N. Pillas

Caap releases aircraft takeoff/landing restrictions during Pope’s visit On January 15 the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s (Naia) primary runway 06/24 and secondary runway 13/31 will be closed to all arriving flights, while departing flights will be allowed to operate from 2 to 5:15 p.m. From 5:15 to 6:15 p.m., a no-fly zone will be implemented and no air traffic will be accommodated due to Pope Francis’s aircraft arrival estimated at 5:45 p.m.

On January 17, when Pope Francis flies to Tacloban, the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport (Tacloban) will be closed to all commercial air traffic from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., except aircraft that carries the papal entourage, according to the Civil Aviaton Authority of the Philippines (Caap).

On the other hand, the Naia runways will be closed from 7:45 to 8:45 a.m. and from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m., when the pope’s aircraft will land at the Naia from Tacloban.

When the pope departs for Rome on Janury 19, the Naia authorities will only allow departing aircraft from 6 to 9:30 a.m. and a nofly zone will be in effect from 9:30 until 10:30 a.m. This is where a Philippine Airlines plane will take off directly to Rome with the pope onboard, ending his four-day visit in the country.

The Caap said the 2,138-meter-long Tacloban runway would have been completed to 1,300 meters with an additional 500-meter extension set to complete by December 26, bringing the total to 1,800 meters. This is enough to accommodate single-aisle jet aircraft like Airbus A320 and Boeing B737-type aircraft.

Caap issued a notice-to-airmen on December 18, lifting aircraft restrictionsw in Tacloban, allowing commercial carriers to decide whether they can use bigger aircraft to fly to Tacloban.

Caap, on its Twitter account advisory, mentioned that aircrafttype restrictions at Tacloban Airport are lifted and A320-type aircraft will be allowed starting December 26. Recto Mercene

GenSan to improve ports, farm roads with fresh fund DAVAO CITY—General Santos City is setting its eyes on improving its major infrastructure, notably its seaports and airports, with equal focus also on its farm roads to ensure adequate food supply to this southern seaport of Mindanao. The major spending in infrastructure and agriculture facilities would be taken from the 5th Soccsksargen Area Development Plan (ADP), the growth region where General Santos City belongs. The regional name stands for South Cotabato, (North) Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City.

Mayor Ronnel Rivera said the national agencies that took part in the regional planning assured that they would be downloading more projects to his city next year and in 2016. The Department of Agriculture, the implementer of the ADP, said it has allotted P303 million for the Soccsksargen Food Security Program (FSP) for next year, “which would include the development of three agriculture support facilities in General Santos, such as the AA Abattoir. By 2016, the FSP would have another P489 million for the construction of 23 farm-to-market roads in the region, with aggregate length of 45.63 kilometers, and three rice and corn mills.” Manuel Cayon

Helping OFW families

Sen. Cynthia Villar (third from left) extends financial assistance to the mother of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Carlito Lana, who was beheaded in Saudi Arabia last week for killing a Saudi national in 2010. Carlito’s mother Susana Lana and uncle Omar Pagarungan sought Villar’s assistance during the Pusong OFW awarding ceremony and OFW party of the Ople Policy Center, headed by Susan Ople (fourth from left), on Tuesday. ROY DOMINGO

Meralco assures compliance to ₧5-B refund order

By Lenie Lectura & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said it would abide by a court order affirming the regulator’s earlier ruling to refund its customers in the amount of P5 billion.

“The decision of the Court of Appeals [CA] affirming the ruling of the Energy Regulatory Commission [ERC] on the refund of transmission line-loss charges is a welcome relief to Meralco’s consumers. Meralco shall abide and comply with any executable order from the court or the ERC in this regard,” said Meralco First Vice President and Legal Services Head William S. Pamintuan.

The amount will be recovered by the utility firm from the National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM).

It can be recalled that the ERC had earlier ordered the Napocor and PSALM to refund Meralco P5,176,147,098.73 from the November 2006 to August 2012 period or a payment of P73,944,958.55 per month until the overrecoveries are refunded.

The refund due to customers will be in a form of automatic reduction of the monthly generation charge that they pay in their electricity bills.

The refund order stemmed from

the double charging of line-loss rentals from the implementation of a Napocor-Meralco transition supply contract (TSC) and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) pricing mechanism.

Both the TSC and the WESM charges contained a transmission line-loss component of 2.98 percent passed on to consumers.

The CA said its ruling was final. “The final doctrine of judgment is grounded on fundamental considerations of public policy and sound practice.

“When a decision has attained finality, it can no longer be revisited even if the modification is meant to correct what is perceived to be an erroneous conclusion,” the CA said.

Following the decision of the CA ordering Meralco a P5-billion refund to its consumers, a party-list lawmaker on Friday called on the Supreme Court to also decide the petition against Meralco for a similar overcharging during the Malampaya shutdown last year.

Party-list Rep.Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna also asked for the additional refund of another overpricing charged on consumers during the 20082012 period.

“We welcome this decision and we urge the Supreme Court to also decide on our petition against the P4.15/kwh power-rate hike last year and order

Meralco to also refund their overcollection,” said Colmenares, also a House senior deputy minority leader said.

On Thursday the CA Special Second Decision said Meralco had been doublecharged by the Napocor and PSALM for line-loss charges.

According to the lawmaker, “It must also be noted that the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. still has to refund the P9.1 billion they ‘overcharged’ Meralco customers in 2008-2012.”

“As early as 2012, we have met with the Energy Regulatory Commission to demand the immediate suspension of the overpriced PSALM charges worth P9.1 billion it ‘overcharged’ Meralco customers starting in 2008.

Additionally, at least 90 electric cooperatives in various provinces have also admitted that at least P4.5 billion was overcharged by the PSALM,” Colmenares added.

During that time ERC Chairman Zenaida Cruz-Ducut assured thenBayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño that indeed there would be a refund but they are still working on the computation and mechanism for the refund.

Ducut has also not set a time frame for the refund.

“All in all this is a very big amount at P13.6 billion and the ERC should immediately void these PSALM charges

and refund it to consumers. Ang tagal na nitong nangyari at sobra-sobra ang sinisingil sa atin, dapat itigil agad ito at ibalik sa mga consumers,” Colmenares said.

The P13.6 billion covers the period from July 2008 to May 2012. The amount involved “line loss components” of line rentals, which PSALM included in its TSC with Meralco and electric cooperatives.

“If approved by the ERC, the refund will mean a significant reduction in the electric bill of Meralco and the electric cooperatives’ at least 10 million customers. The refund would be a definite and immediate relief for us consumers considering that we have been reeling from so many, so many burdens. We hope that our proposed action on this issue would be immediate and the ERC should work double for the refund,” the lawmaker said.

Colmenares also expressed hope that the latest petition against Meralco for the overcharging during the Malampaya shutdown last year will be decided soon so these can be immediately refunded.

Last year several power plants have implemented successive unplanned shutdown following the scheduled maintenance outage of the Malampaya natural gas plant. Meralco said that the said power-rate hike was triggered by the said shutdown.

Opposition to Smartmatic snowballs; millions of voters still at risk of being disenfranchised

By Joel R. San Juan

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HE call to blacklist SmartmaticTotal Information Management (TIM) continues to gather steam with a former high-ranking government official calling on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to ban the Venezuelan firm.

Prof. Leonor Magtolis-Briones, a former national treasurer, said the Comelec should no longer tap Smartmatic for having a “not-so-good record” as proven by the numerous complaints and legal issues and hurdles against it.

“Bakit uulit pa tayo? Hindi na kanaisnais ang record nila sa dami ng complaints and legal issues laban sa kanila,” Briones said in a news statement released by the Citizens for Clean and Credible Elections (C3E). This developed as more than 5 million registered voters are likely to be disenfranchised in the coming 2016 nationwide elections due to incomplete or lack of biometrics data voter registration, or the automated identification of an individual particularly his/her photograph,

fingerprint and signature.

Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez announced that the “NoBioNoBoto” campaign is gaining ground as the number of voters without biometrics data has gone down from 9 million to 5.02 million.

The voters’ registration will be running until October 31, 2015.

Under Republic Act 10367, or the Mandatory Biometrics Voter Registration Act of 2013, registered voters with no biometrics will be deactivated for the succeeding elections and therefore, be disenfranchised. On Wednesday the Comelec announced that the voters’ registration will be suspended nationwide from December 21, 2014 until January 4, 2015. Thus, on January 5, 2015, the remaining 5.02 million voters should start registering for biometrics to avoid being disenfranchised.

“In observance of the holiday season and in order to provide Comelec personnel nationwide ample time to prepare for the scheduled Election Registration Board Hearings, voters’ regis-

tration nationwide will be suspended,” Jimenez said.

Based on Comelec Resolution 9853, the commission may adjust or suspend the registration period whenever necessary. The voters’ registration will be running until October 31, 2015.

Briones said she is prepared to go to court if the Comelec awards a P1.2billion contract for the refurbishment of about 82,000 used Precint Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to its reseller Smartmatic.

“Nakadalawang eleksyon na tayo, at saka andaming palpak ng Smartmatic,” she said, adding that she had firsthand experience of the inefficiencies and defects of the PCOS machines having been in the field in the past elections.

She added that aside from its poor track record, numerous experts from the election and information-technology fields have already given their input and are convinced that the PCOS is prone to tampering.

Briones added that the PCOS, like computers, are considered to have zero

value three years after it has been first used, and can no longer be subject to repair, nor can parts be bought for replacement.

Since the PCOS were used in the 2010 elections, she said, technically, they are now past three years old and therefore can no longer be repaired.

According to Briones, this is among the main issue she will raise should the Comelec continue to insist on directly awarding the repair and upgrade contract to Smartmatic.

Earlier this week, the Comelec Bids and Awards Committee declared that Smartmatic and Indra Sistemas S.A. were eligible to proceed to stage two of the bidding process for additional 23,000 units of Optical Machine Reader.

The decision was met with protests from groups, including the Philippine Computer Society, Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz and the C3E, citing deficiencies in the eligibility documents submitted by the Venezuelan firm, particularly its tax clearance certificate and articles of incorporation.

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Saturday, December 20, 2014

Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

How ‘risky’ is the Philippines?

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USINESS owners are in the business of taking risks: No pain, no gain. Successful business owners are the ones who know how to manage and profit from the inherent hazards found in every business venture.

The key to handling all kinds of danger is information. You do not drive down the road without a rear-view mirror any more than you would with your eyes closed. If you do not know what is going on around you, you cannot plan a defense strategy. This is called “situational awareness”, which then creates “situational preparedness”.

Control Risks Inc. is an independent, global-risk consultancy specializing in political, integrity and security risks that has offices and analysts all over the world. The company is paid to assess and constantly update the situation in any given country according to three kinds of risk: integrity risks, political risks and security risks.

Integrity risks deal with three factors: Corrupt practices imposed by public officials with whom a company is obliged to deal; corporate malfeasance on the part of commercial partners and competitors; and theft, dishonesty or fraud perpetrated by employees.

Political risks basically deal with political instability and, for lack of a better term, the political personality of the current leadership. One commentator describes them this way: “How comfortable does Mr. President or Madame Prime Minister look in the role? Too comfortable, and you may be tangling with a despot before you know it; too nervous, and [he or she] may not be around for long.”

Security risks deal with protecting hard assets and the person from harm.

But it goes beyond the security of intellectual property and reputation.

The Philippines is barely on the radar screen for these risks, since it is rated “medium” in all categories, except for security in the Zamboanga area. Developed countries are all rated “low”, while high-risk nations are the ones in the newspapers almost every day.

However, the takeaway from reading the reports is that it does not take much to go from being a relatively lower-risk nation to a higher-risk one. A constitutional crisis can occur and, suddenly, the military is in charge.

The perception of having a reasonable and acceptable security condition can change overnight if something happens and is handled badly by the government.

Think of the hostage-taking crisis at the Quirino Grandstand in August 2010.

Like with our own personal and family risks, businesses must be on constant guard. The government must be ready to respond properly and effectively to seemingly minor incidents, rather than wait for something major to happen.

We are “risk-controlled” for now, and we cannot afford to let that status change for the worse.

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

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John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

T

HE alarm first goes off as the satellites transmit pictures of the clouds that start forming in the middle of the ocean. Over several days, the clouds begin to take on a definite shape, signaling that a tropical depression may be developing. Measurements are made of sea temperatures and wind speeds, as well as the direction and forward speed of what is now a tropical storm.

If the intensity of the storm increases, it may be classified as a typhoon.

Tropical storms and typhoons are far from unusual. For example, from 1959 to 2011 there were 1,419 tropical storms and typhoons in the northwest Pacific region, of which the Philippines is a part. On average, 27 of these storms are formed every year. In 1965 there were 11 super typhoons; in 1974 there were none.

In 1972 there were eight super typhoons and 20 regular typhoons. In 2013 there were 18 super typhoons and only eight typhoons.

Potentially hundreds of miles in diameter, with winds blowing at a hundred kilometers per hour, it seems, to a puny human on the

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ground, that nature has released a chaotic and unprecedented event.

However, we know exactly the conditions necessary for a typhoon to form in the same way that we can say that 1+2=3. There is no secret as to the why and how of a typhoon. While a high-magnitude storm may seem chaotic, it is a well-ordered event resulting from a specific set of conditions. Furthermore, the frequency of the storms, typhoons and super typhoons follow a trend. A typhoon is not the result of chaos when you understand it.

The global financial and asset markets are wild and crazy right now, but they are not chaotic.

In the Philippines the most active typhoon season since 1945 was

in 1993, when 19 typhoons barreled through the country. There was only one typhoon in 1958.

The massive drop in oil prices over the last few months is no more a “bubble” than the record 11 super typhoons or the 19 regular typhoons that hit the country in 1964 and 1993, respectively.

The conditions existed for 19 typhoons in 1993 in the same way that those conditions did not exist in 1958.

Oil prices have been in an uptrend since the 2010 low. As prices rose, combined with low borrowing interest rates and advances in technology, oil production increased.

In 2010 daily production was 73 million barrels. In 2014 it went up to 77 million barrels, representing an increase of 5.5 percent. Here is the reason the crude oil price has fallen: Except for a brief period in 2012, demand has been greater than supply every month since the first quarter of 2009. In the fourth quarter of 2013, supply rose above demand and has been higher ever since.

Interestingly,sinceJune2009,when crude oil was $140 a barrel, the price has gone down to $70, then to $110, then to $85 and then to $110 again, when the supply-demand equation shifted to higher supply than demand.

In June the price of crude oil broke lower, and has not stopped

Should the US get a new banker?

Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) Benjamin V. Ramos Adebelo D. Gasmin Frederick M. Alegre Marvin Nisperos Estigoy Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan

BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror

HOM

Oil prices: It’s not a bubble

William Pesek

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BLOOMBERG VIEW

AWKS in Washington like to warn about China’s military buildup. They should be encouraged by Beijing’s emerging financial drawdown.

China trimmed its mammoth dollar holdings by $13.6 billion in October from the previous month, putting its hoard at a 20-month low. This appears to reflect an economic decision to reduce its stash of Treasuries, which, at $1.25 trillion, remains the largest in the world. As China works to expand the yuan’s use worldwide, it’s moving toward a market-determined exchange rate. That means buying fewer dollars. Whatever the reason, though, the decline means that United States ally Japan—the second-largest holder of Treasuries, at $1.22 trillion—will soon surpass China again, as it did very briefly in 2013.

Since 2008, when China took over the No. 1 spot, US officials have fretted about Beijing’s leverage over the American economy. In 2009 then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton frankly asked former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, “How do you deal toughly with your banker?” On her first trip to China

as a Cabinet member in February that year, Clinton dropped human-rights issues in favor of prodding China to buy more debt. “We are truly going to rise or fall together,” Clinton said. “By continuing to support American Treasury instruments, the Chinese are recognizing” that interconnection.

The bizarre spectacle of America’s top diplomat jingling the beggar’s cup in front of a rising rival enraged conservatives, and rightfully so. The dangers of overdependence on China are obvious. Chinese leaders have occasionally suggested using Treasuries to pressure Washington on policies they dislike.

In August 2011 the state-run People’s Daily ran an editorial arguing that “now is the time for China to use its ‘financial weapon’ to teach the US a lesson” regarding its support for Taiwan.

Influential economists like Brad Setser, a US Treasury Department staffer, have long argued that China’s bond holdings pose a national security

threat. While dumping its holdings would cost China dearly, a selloff could hurt Washington more. As central banks and investors around the world piled on, yields would surge, credit-rating companies would pounce and the US could be pushed into recession—or worse.

Japan’s dollar holdings have been rising to drive down the yen, a cornerstone of Abenomics. Given the trouble that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is having in defeating deflation and prodding companies to boost wages, the yen is sure to go much lower still. Many see the currency reaching 150 to the dollar, compared to today’s 118, which would mean huge dollar purchases in 2015. That would easily return Tokyo to a familiar position as the biggest Treasuries holder, which it was for decades before 2008.

Of course, no matter who holds the No. 1 slot, America’s huge bond exports will always leave it vulnerable. Bond traders remember all too well Japan’s own threats to exploit its dollar holdings. I was in the New York audience in June 1997 when then-Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto admitted that “several times in the past, we have been tempted to sell large lots of US Treasuries.” One such temptation came amid contentious auto-industry negotiations.

Still, the bond hoarder you know is arguably better than the one you don’t.

If Japan were America’s banker, it would remove a major risk factor in markets.

going down since. That is the trend.

The law of supply and demand had taken prices higher, and is now taking prices lower.

We would like to think that there is a huge and unbreakable cartel that controls prices. But in oil, as in every business, there is no absolute monopoly; there is always one seller that will lower the price to sell more of its product and gain market share. There is no “official” oil price from the Organization of the Petroleum-Exporting Countries (Opec). Furthermore, there are 74 countries that export oil, from Saudi Arabia at 8 million barrels a day, to Bolivia, which exports 61 barrels each day. And nearly every nation produces some oil. Did you know that China produces more oil every day than every Opec member except Saudi Arabia? Russia produces more oil than every other nation on earth.

The current decrease in the price of crude oil is no more anomalous than the ups and downs in the number of typhoons that hit the Philippines annually.

Send me an e-mail at mangun@ gmail.com. Visit my website at www. mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter at @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

The country is a solid US ally, with a free economy and a government subject to democratic checks and balances. As China’s military ambitions rise, territorial disputes come to the fore and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions grow, Tokyo will have little reason to alienate Washington.

Obama can’t force Japan’s demand for Treasuries, of course. But perhaps the US can offer trade concessions as part of Trans-Pacific Partnership talks as an incentive. The US could also give Japan exclusive and direct access to buying debt through the Treasury. In 2012 the US let China bypass Wall Street in the first-ever direct buying scheme for a foreign power. Why not shift the perk to Tokyo, as long as Japan agrees to ramp up bond-buying substantially?

Likewise, Japan’s stimulus efforts will mean even more debt issuance.

Washington could agree to become a sizable buyer of Japanese government bonds (just as Japan is running out of people, it will have fewer willing bond buyers). Tighter financial linkages would encourage each side not to undermine the other.

It’s always possible that China will remain a big buyer of Treasuries. But the size and duration of China’s recent drawdown suggests that this “is more of a structural trend that’s developing,” Stanley Sun of Nomura Securities tells Bloomberg News. Washington would be wise to encourage the shift to a friendlier banker.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

The Ukrainian crisis from the Asia-Pacific perspective

Evangelii Gaudium Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

Cecilio T. Arillo

database

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OME countries in the Asia-Pacific region are critical of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and worried that this development might lower the threshold for similar attempts to change borders by the threat or use of force in their own region.

The recent Trilateral Commisssion Task Force Report, done at Harvard University by experts on the Ukrainian crisis, revealed that, at the United Nations (UN) Security Council, Japan and South Korea voted in support of the resolution to deny the validity of the referendum on the status of Crimea, which Russia vetoed as China and India abstained.

Other countries also voted for the UN resolution calling on states and international organizations and agencies not to recognize any alteration of the status of Crimea and Sevastopol, expressing their concern, among others, that “China, whose choice between solidarity with Moscow and relations with the West has been sharpened as a result, that it would have a distractive effect on the United States with its ‘rebalancing to Asia’ policy, and that it might diminish East Asian countries’ opportunities for economic and regional cooperation with Russia.”

The report said: “That, from a Chinese perspective, the Ukrainian crisis is the product of residual Cold War mentality. Russian President [Vladimir] Putin is believed not to back down in face of sanctions imposed by the West. Ukraine is seen as not only as a link among East European countries, but also a region of immense importance for Russia’s security in the south.”

“What [the] Western media called ‘a new Cold War’ triggered by the Ukraine crisis is in no one’s interest. If Ukraine, at this point, is forced to choose between the US/Europe and Russia, the situation will be further destabilized and the country risks another round of disintegration after it lost Crimea, and if the European Union breaks with Russia for supporting Ukraine and the two end up in a new Cold War, the interests of both sides will be jeopardized, as the costs far outweigh the gains,” it added.

The report also said that, to balance the interests of the US/Europe and Russia, Ukraine’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should be agreed on as the red line that should not be crossed. An ultranationalist government in Ukraine will not be in the interest of peace and stability in the country, it added.

From a midterm perspective, with focus on the Asian balance of power, an Indian member of the trilateral task force concluded that enduring tensions between Russia and the West in Europe will work to the advantage of China and the disadvantage of India.

India’s apparent tilt toward Russia in the Ukraine crisis is seen to have underlined Delhi’s enduring political ties with Moscow, despite the significant improvement in the South Asian nation’s relations with the US and Western Europe.

The report said India’s partnership with Russia remains politically viable, if increasingly limited as the consequence of Russia’s closer relations with China and the improvement in India’s relations with the US and Europe. In the future, it will be significantly in-

fluenced by Moscow’s approach toward two important bilateral relations: with Pakistan and China.

Put in perspective, Russia’s profile in the Asia-Pacific region has remained low since the end of the Cold War. Moscow has been giving foreign-policy priority to Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian relations over engagement in Asia-Pacific diplomacy.

More significant in the regional context, the post-Cold War economic decay and the consequent depopulation of Eastern Siberia and the Far East (with the exception of Sakhalin) have deprived Russia of the means to expand its presence in the region, where economic interdependence has been the primary focus of international relations.

Moreover, Russia has recently been overshadowed by China economically, as well as in terms of political influence. The rapid growth of the Chinese economy has drastically transformed geopolitical dynamics in the region, giving Beijing increased weight in regional diplomacy.

The expansion of Chinese military power has made the US-China strategic balance the focus of the Asia-Pacific geopolitics, while the US-Russia balance is not relevant to regional security, at least so far.

The trilateral report said: “Relations between Russia and Asia-Pacific countries are diverse. President Vladimir Putin’s executive order of 2012 elaborates Moscow’s country-wise foreign-policy priorities in the region according to the following order: ‘deepening equal, trust-based partnership and strategic cooperation with China,’ ‘deepening strategic partnership with India and Vietnam,’ and ‘developing mutually beneficial cooperation with Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and other key countries in the AsiaPacific region.’”

“Asia-Pacific countries’ relations with Russia, too, are different from each other, particularly in the political agenda they pursue. China is trying to strengthen its partnership with Moscow as part of its strategy to realize a ‘multipolar’ world order that should replace what Beijing sees as a unipolar world dominated by the US,” the report pointed out.

Japan, on the other hand, pursues the goal of recovering its “Northern Territories” under Russian control and concluding a peace treaty with Moscow that has not been signed since the end of World War II. South Korea needs Russian cooperation for the denuclearization of North Korea and the reunification of the Korean peninsula. But, Seoul, like Washington and Tokyo, counts more on Beijing than Moscow for political influence over Pyongyang.

Considering all these, cooperation between Russia and Asia-Pacific countries would be better pursued bilaterally, rather than multilaterally, at least in the near future.

E-mail: cecilio.arillo@gmail.com.

43rd part

Fidelity to the Gospel, lest we run in vain

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E incarnate the duty of hearing the cry of the poor when we are deeply moved by the suffering of others. Let us listen to what God’s word teaches us about mercy, and allow that word to resound in the life of the Church.

The Gospel tells us: “Blessed are the merciful, because they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). The apostle James teaches that our mercy to others will vindicate us on the day of God’s judgment: “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty, for judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy, yet, mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:12–13). Here, James is faithful to the finest tradition of post-exilic Jewish spirituality, which attributed a particular salutary value to mercy: “Break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may, perhaps, be a lengthening of your tranquillity” (Daniel 4:27).

The wisdom literature sees almsgiving as a concrete exercise of mercy toward those in need: “Almsgiving delivers from death,

and it will purge away every sin” (Tobit 12:9). The idea is expressed even more graphically by Sirach: “Water extinguishes blazing fire, so almsgiving atones for sin” (Sirach 3:30). The same synthesis appears in the New Testament: “Maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

This truth greatly influenced the thinking of the Fathers of the Church and helped create a prophetic, countercultural resistance to the self-centered hedonism of paganism. We can recall a single example: If we were in peril from fire, we would certainly run to water in order to extinguish the fire…in the same way, if a spark of sin flares up from our straw, and we are troubled on that account, whenever we have an opportunity to perform a work of mercy, we should rejoice, as if a fountain opened before so that the

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the absence of a clean and tidy ending can diminish the contribution and heroic effort by the 831,000 service members who served at least one tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Nor should the costs of going to war, in blood and treasure, ever be forgotten: Some 2,356 American service members have lost their lives and nearly 20,000 have been wounded in a war that has cost about $550 billion. In all, more than 3,400 North Atlantic Treaty Organization personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan, including the American total, and over 30,000 were wounded.

The best way to repay the pain

Sometimes we prove to be hard of heart and mind; we are forgetful, distracted and carried away by the limitless possibilities for consumption and distraction offered by contemporary society. This leads to a kind of alienation at every level, for a society becomes alienated when its forms of social organization, production and consumption make it more difficult to offer the gift of self and to establish solidarity between people. fire might be extinguished.

This message is so clear and direct, so simple and eloquent, that no ecclesial interpretation has the right to relativize it. The Church’s reflection on these texts ought not to obscure or weaken their force, but urge us to accept their exhortations with courage and zeal. Why complicate something so simple? Conceptual tools exist to heighten contact with the realities they seek to explain, not to distance us from them.

This is especially the case with those Biblical exhortations that summon us so forcefully to brotherly love, to humble and generous service, to justice and mercy toward the poor. Jesus taught us this way of looking at others by His words and His actions. So why cloud something so clear? We should not be concerned simply about falling into doctrinal error, but about remaining faithful to this light-filled path of life and wisdom, for defenders of orthodoxy

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are sometimes accused of passivity, indulgence, or culpable complicity regarding the intolerable situations of injustice and the political regimes that prolong them.

When Saint Paul approached the apostles in Jerusalem to discern whether he was “running or had run in vain” (Galatians 2:2), the key criterion of authenticity that they presented was that he should not forget the poor (cf. Galatians 2:10). This important principle, namely that the Pauline communities should not succumb to the self-centered lifestyle of the pagans, remains timely today, when a new self-centered paganism is growing. We may not always be able to reflect adequately the beauty of the Gospel, but there is one sign that we should never lack: the option for those who are least, those whom society discards.

Sometimes we prove to be hard of heart and mind; we are forgetful, distracted and carried away by the limitless possibilities for consumption and distraction offered by contemporary society. This leads to a kind of alienation at every level, for a society becomes alienated when its forms of social organization, production and consumption make it more difficult to offer the gift of self and to establish solidarity between people.

To be continued For comments, send an e-mail to caritas_manila@yahoo.com. For donations to Caritas Manila, call (632) 563-9311. For inquiries, call (632) 5639308 or 563-9298, or fax 563-9306.

US was at odds with world over Cuba policy

By Julie Pace & Matthew Lee The Associated Press

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ASHINGTON, D.C.—United States President Barack Obama’s decision to pursue new relations with Cuba was driven, in part, by a stinging realization: Long-standing US policies aimed at isolating Cuba had, instead, put Washington at odds with the rest of the world.

The American economic embargo on Cuba drove a wedge between the US and Latin American nations. In an annual diplomatic embarrassment, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to condemn the US policy. And while the US was clinging to its economic restrictions against the small communist nation just 90 miles off its shores, leaders of China, Russia and Brazil flocked to Havana, promising millions in investment.

“Though this policy has been rooted in the best of intentions, no other nation joins us in imposing these sanctions, and it has had little effect beyond providing the Cuban government with a rationale for restrictions on its people,” Obama said on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) as he announced historic shifts in US relations with Cuba following 18 months of secret negotiations.

The embargo itself will remain in place; only Congress can fully revoke it. But the president is moving on his own to expand economic ties; open an embassy in Havana; and send high-ranking US officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, to visit and review Cuba’s designation as a

state sponsor of terrorism. The US also is easing restrictions on travel to Cuba, including for family visits, official government business and educational activities. Tourist travel remains banned.

For the president, the moves signaled his willingness to stretch his executive authority to remake American foreign policy without Congress.

As he enters the waning years of his presidency, Obama is increasingly flexing his presidential powers, not only on US-Cuba policy, but also on immigration, Internet neutrality and climate change.

The president had hoped to revamp the US relationship with Havana earlier in his tenure. But Cuba’s five-year detention of American government subcontractor Alan Gross was a persistent roadblock.

Gross was released on Wednesday as part of a deal to normalize diplomatic ties that also includes a prisoner swap.

While Obama’s actions more closely align the US with the rest of the world, he faces staunch political opposition from Republicans and other supporters of the embargo.

Republican Senators John McCain

Time for Afghanistan to stand on its own AST week the last American general to lead combat operations in Afghanistan officially lowered the flag to signal the end of the US coalition’s war-fighting mission after 13 years, a milestone that went strangely unheralded in the United States and much of the world.

The absence of fanfare regarding this significant moment in post-9/11 history reflects the uncertain outcome of US military involvement in a faraway, indomitable land, where the headlines often delivered more bad news than good news to a warweary American public.

But neither the public’s fatigue nor

Saturday, December 20, 2014

and sacrifice of the American families who lost a loved one, as well as the soldiers who fought there, is to ensure that the nation’s commitment to them never wavers. The volunteer members of the US Armed Forces did not shirk their duty when asked to risk their lives. Their willing commitment deserves an equal measure of commitment by those back home, whom they fought to protect.

One measure of the damage done to the relatively few Americans who answered the call to duty after 9/11 is that some 700,000 veterans out of the more than 2.5 million who served in Iraq and Afghanistan had been

awarded disability status connected to their military service as of last year.

The number will keep rising as the years pass, but one of the enduring lessons of war is that the costs don’t end when the shooting stops. And, in this case, the shooting is not fully over. US President Barack Obama has authorized the use of combat forces for the limited mission of targeting leaders of al-Qaeda and the Taliban who pose a continuing threat. Some 10,800 US soldiers will remain in the country next year. The presence of these soldiers—and the slow, but inexorable pullout—has raised questions about timing, about the future,

of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Obama was carrying out a policy of “appeasement of autocratic dictators, thugs and adversaries, diminishing America’s influence in the world.”

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said he would seek “to unravel as many of these changes as possible.”

In an extraordinary show of coordination between longtime foes, Obama spoke to the American public on Wednesday at the same time that Cuban President Raul Castro was addressing his nation in Havana, where church bells rang and schoolteachers paused lessons to mark the news. Castro said that, while the US and Cuba remain at odds on many matters, “we should learn the art of living together in a civilized manner, in spite of our differences.”

Half a century ago, the US recognized the government of Castro’s brother, Fidel, soon after his rebels took power from dictator Fulgencio Batista. But before long things began to sour as Cuba deepened its relationship with the Soviet Union.

In 1961 the US broke off diplomatic relations, and then came the failed, US-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion that was meant to topple Fidel.

A year later a US blockade forced the removal of Soviet nuclear missiles from Cuba in a standoff that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

Over time, support for the embargo from nations friendly to the US faded. For 23 years in a row, the UN General Assembly has voted to

condemn the embargo, with Havana gaining increasing support.

The latest vote on October 29 was 188 to 2, with only the US and Israel voting “no”. General Assembly resolutions are nonbinding and unenforceable, but they do reflect world opinion, and the vote has given Cuba an annual stage to demonstrate the isolation of the US on the embargo.

The number of Americans who see Cuba as a serious threat has declined.

A 1983 Cable News Network/Time magazine poll found that 29 percent considered Cuba a very serious threat. That dipped to 13 percent in 1994 and 12 percent in 1997.

Jeffrey Engel, the director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, welcomed the policy shift, but said the US had been hanging on to an unsuccessful policy for far too long.

“That it took until 2014 demonstrates a fundamental flaw in American strategy employed throughout the Cold War and to this present day,” Engel said. He added that American sanctions on Cuba “bolstered the regime’s popularity at home, as antiAmerican sentiment was effectively used to distract suffering peoples from their government’s own flaws.”

The full impact of the policy shift agreed to by the US and Cuba remains unclear and may not be known for some time. But to Obama, the result of simply staying the course is well-known.

“I do not believe we can keep doing the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result,” he said.

whether it was wise to call an end at this time.

“I don’t know if I’m pessimistic or optimistic,” said Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson, the departing commander, about America’s reduced profile in Afghanistan. There are reasons to be both.

The new Afghan government, led by President Ashraf Ghani, has formed a partnership with his political rivals—at least, for the moment—and he has vowed to make merit-based appointments in the military. The transition from one elected government to another, led

by Ghani, is itself a milestone.

On the doubtful side, Anderson mentioned not having “the right guys in the right places,” militarily.

Meanwhile, Taliban attacks have increased, Afghan military casualties have surpassed 5,000 this year, and some international aid groups and staff are pulling out.

The war is not lost, but it is not won. Either way, though, America cannot be expected to extend its commitment. Ghani’s government deserves American support, but the US, at great cost, has bought the Afghan people time to stand and fight on their own. Now it’s up to them.

The Miami Herald/TNS

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

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PHL slips 12 notches in world talent ranking T

By Cai U. Ordinario

he competitiveness of the Philippine labor force declined in the past 10 years, according to the latest World Talent Ranking of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

The annual report, which calculated the talent rankings annually from 2005 to 2014, showed that the competitiveness of the Philippines labor force dropped 12 notches to 41st out of 60 countries ranked worldwide this year, from 29th in 2013.

Compared to 2005, the IMD said the Philippines’s ranking declined by three notches from 38th a decade ago.

“The best-ranked countries have a balanced approach between their commitment to education, investment in developing local talent and their ability to attract overseas talent,” IMD World Competitive-

ness Center Director Arturo Bris said. “Countries with smart talent strategies are also highly agile in developing policies that improve their talent pipeline.”

IMD used three factors as criteria to determine the rankings. These factors are investment and development, where the Philippines ranked 59th out of 60; appeal, 34th; and readiness, 21st.

To determine competitiveness based on the investment and development factor, IMD used the total public expenditure on education, total public expenditure on

education per pupil, and pupil-teacher ratio in elementary and high school. The investment and development factor also includes apprenticeship, employee training and the percentage of females in the labor force.

The Philippines ranked last at 60th overall in terms of pupil-teacher ratio in the secondary level, and ranked 59th in the pupil-teacher ratio in the primary level.

The country did better in apprenticeship, where it ranked 29th overall; and the employee training, 31st out of 60.

Meanwhile, to determine appeal, IMD used criteria, such as the cost-of-living index; attracting and retaining talents; and worker motivation.

Other criteria included in this factor are brain drain; quality of life; and foreign highskilled people.

The Philippines ranked the lowest in quality of life at 45th out of 60 economies, and drain at 44th overall.

The country ranked its highest in terms of cost of living at 19th out of 60; and worker motivation, 23rd.

On the other hand, to determine readiness, IMD used criteria, such as labor-force growth, skilled labor; finance skills, international experience, competent senior managers, and educational system.

Other criteria include science in schools, university education, management education, and language skills.

The Philippines ranked its lowest in science in school, where it ranked 32nd overall, and educational system, 31st out of 60 countries.

The country ranked the highest in terms of skilled labor, where it ranked fifth overall; and competent senior managers, 14th out of 60 countries worldwide.

“Fluctuations in a country’s ranking from 2005 to 2014 may stem from cyclical economic and sociopolitical issues that affect immigration policies and/or investment in education,” Bris said. “In some cases, such policies could reduce a country’s ability to attract overseas talent despite strong commitment to local talent development.”

IMD said the ranking is based on more than 20 indicators. Some of these are statistical, and others are drawn from an exclusive IMD opinion survey of 4,300 international executives.

It added that the World Competitiveness Center’s extensive historical database allows for an assessment of the ranking’s evolution from 2005 to 2014.

The 2014 IMD World Talent Ranking is led by Switzerland, followed by Denmark, Germany, Finland and Malaysia.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Ruble crash may constrain Russian visits to manila

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

Special to the BusinessMirror

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HE weak Russian ruble is expected to further constrain the foreign travel of Russians, but officials at the Philippines’s Department of Tourism (DOT) are crossing their fingers that the paralyzing winter would still encourage its citizens to visit to this tropical country.

From January to September 2014, 26,370 Russians visited the Philippines, down 3.44 percent from the same period last year. Under its National Tourism Development Plan, the DOT considers Russia a “highgrowth market.” It had hoped to attract 33,249 Russians to visit this year, and close to 40,000 in 2015.

In an e-mailed statement to the BusinessMirror, Tourism Undersecretary for Market Development Benito Bengzon Jr. said: “Most Russian surveys point to the increase of prices of goods and commodities and the subsequent decrease of the standard of living in Russia.

“The trend now is toward spending on essentials and travel within the countries of the region. The falling ruble has a great effect on the ordinary consumer but hopefully, not to the other affluent segments, such as the emerging middle class, the young professionals, the ultra rich and the ‘golden youth,’ or offspring of the ultra rich.”

He added: “Escaping the harsh winter season will always be a reason to get out of the country and seek warmer climates. Asia will always be a cheaper but chic alternative and if we play our cards right, with a right value proposition, we will be able to corner a greater share of this market.”

The Russian ruble plunged to historic lows on Tuesday, trading close to 80 rubles to a dollar, due to declining oil prices and continued sanctions by the West on Russia for precipitating the crisis in Ukraine.

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Hope and some fear in Cuba amid thaw with US

People line up to take the bus outside the Capitolio in Havana, Cuba, on December 18. After a half-century of Cold War acrimony, the United States and Cuba abruptly moved on Wednesday to restore diplomatic relations—a historic shift that could revitalize the flow of money and people across the narrow waters that separate the two nations. AP

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AVANA—The restoration of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the US unleashed expectations on Thursday of even more momentous changes on an island that often seems frozen in a past of classic cars and crumbling Art Deco buildings. See related story on B3-3.

On the first full day after the surprise announcement, many Cubans expressed hope that it will mean greater access to jobs and the creature comforts taken for granted elsewhere, and lift a struggling socialist economy, where staples like meat, cooking oil and toilet paper are often hard to come by.

That yearning, however, was tempered with anxiety. Some fear a cultural onslaught, or that crime and drugs, both rare in Cuba, will become common along with visitors from the US. There is also concern that the country will become just another Caribbean destination.

“There are things that shouldn’t get lost that have gone very well here, even though Cubans complain,” said Nayda Martinez, a 52-year-old chemical engineer in Havana. “I don’t want the system,

the country or the regime, whatever you want to call it, to change,” Martinez said. “What the people want is to live better.”

That mix of optimism and concern was a common refrain on Thursday among Cubans trying to digest the implications of such a seismic shift between the two Cold War rivals after more than half a century of bad blood.

Trade with the US will help the country develop, said 55-year-old homemaker Maria Betancourt, but she worried it would bring another kind of isolation.

“I wouldn’t want to lose that uniquely Cuban solidarity, or for this to become a more consumerist or individualist society,” she said.

Cuba is a place of contrasts.

It matches the most developed nations in education and health indicators, such as infant mortality. It has one of the lowest crime rates in the Western Hemisphere and some of the best-preserved habitat in the Caribbean, in part, because of the lack of development.

But the majority of islanders still work government jobs that pay just $20 a month on average.

Internet access is scarce, slow and

expensive. Nearly all media is controlled by the state. The Communist Party is the only sanctioned political party, and that is not open to debate. Complaining about a pothole on your street is OK, but openly protesting the government can still land you in jail.

Cubans have learned to navigate their heavy-handed political system and figured out how to survive amid the scarcity, long lines and a chronic housing crunch that forces families to pack three generations or more under one roof.

Many are eager for change, but no one yet knows what the diplomatic opening will bring.

“Life here is so tough that, if it keeps getting worse, there will be even more problems,” said Jose Marcos, a 35-year-old shop employee.

W hile people cheered on Wednesday when they learned that three Cuban agents held in the US had been sent home as part of a deal that also released American Alan Gross after five years in prison, Havana was quiet on Thursday. Cubans went about their daily routines, with bicycle taxi drivers pedaling the streets Continued on A2