Businessmirror december 27, 2014

BusinessMirror

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

U.N. Media Award 2008

A broader look at today’s business

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Tuesday, Saturday,November December18, 27,2014 2014Vol. Vol.1010No. No.4079

P25.00 nationwide | 3 sections 16 pages | 7 days a week

ECONOMIC MANAGERS ACKNOWLEDGE IMPACT OF UNDERSPENDING ON GDP GROWTH

tPAPAL VISIT 2015

Expect ‘overspending’ in 2015–Neda

T

he National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is confident government spending will significantly increase in 2015, the economic managers having learned the hard way of the impact of below-target disbursement this year on the broad economy.

18 DAYS INSIDE

wishing upon some stars The virtue of religion

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EAR Lord, knowing that Justice consists in the firm and constant will to give to others their due. Justice toward God is called “the virtue of religion.” It is one of the hinges of a virtuous life. Do we practice Justice at all levels?

We should start it with our families, at work, and all people we encounter with. Amen.

COMPENDIUM OF THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, FR. SAL PUTZU, SDB AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

THE TIME FOR TRUFFLES »C2

BusinessMirror

Saturday, December 27, 2014

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Wishing upon some stars The longest celebration of Christmas in the world is all commerce and gross exploitation.

Businessmen make us believe this so-called spirit of the season, and they are all running with glee to the banks as we go into conspicuous consumption all in the spirit not of the manger but of money.

REELING TITO GENOVA VALIENTE

titovaliente@yahoo.com

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EOPLE won’t like me for saying this but the Christmas season has become an irritant.

Not the spirit of Christmas itself, mind you, because the story of a baby born in a manger a long time ago remains a spectacle of fiction and faith. It is how we have come to celebrate the days leading to the 25th of December and the entire December itself and November declared as the longest celebration of Christmas in the world. It is all commerce and gross exploitation. Businessmen make us believe this tale and they are all running with glee to the banks as we go into conspicuous consumption all in the spirit not of the manger but of money.

I still believe Christmas is about humility and simplicity.

In this regard, I come up with this list of wishes all related to the world of entertainment and cinema, where humility is almost taboo and where denizens are used to being wealthy at the expense of their fans.

In no particular order, here is my Christmas wish list.

■ That the newscasters be humble enough to stick to reading the news.

They are there for their looks, personality, a bit of gravitas even. Count in a good voice and good diction.

Their reading, of course, depends on good newswriters who may not be lookers but should have a good measure

of wit and wisdom—and good grammar between their ears. News reporting is different from annotating.

If these newscasters’ mouths itch always to make comments, then they should move on to talk shows where they could make comments and side and snide remarks and be paid for it. The assumption also that as newscasters they should be allowed to comment rests on the following: a disrespect and lack of trust on news writers; a twisted view of their audience as dumb herd needing explanations and elaborations so they could have a better grasp of the news; and an arrogance about their own power as speakers and raconteurs.

■ The second wish is related to the preceding: I wish that newscasters see the light of day so that they could revisit dictionaries and languages.

Enough with “naglalagablab na mga balita” or news that are in flames. Let’s leave the fires and flames to The Hunger Games franchise and stick to communicating in the most lucid way. Soundbites are fine but when you say the same things over and over, then that’s pure laziness and lack of creativity.

Show the newscasters that you, as writers, are worthy of their respect. Perhaps, a well-written piece of news could even be a deterrent to newscasters offering oral footnotes and citations.

■ I wish that the unholy alliance between show business and politics be terminated.

Actors should not mistake their popularity onscreen big or small as a sign that they should run for office and serve the people. Actors and other beings linked to films and television are born or nurtured generally to be the object of admiration. They will never be good servants, although politicians are not really servant-leaders. That concept is an idealized textbook case. Congressmen and senators and mayors and village chiefs serving the people? As my nephew always says, “You’re kidding, right.” The same can be

said about actors and actresses who want to serve the people. You’re kidding, right?

■ I wish that a serious audience development program be developed in this country.

This wish has something to do with the indies still suffering from their exotic and esoteric image. It is about time to work on the perception of the audience of independent cinema being nothing more than dark and quirky. There is a gem out there in many of the works of independent directors, and the formation of a body to oversee activities that could bring these new films to a broader audience is significant. The flipside of this coin is the realization that the only way for us to save the Filipino moviegoing audience from mainstream trash and trite themes is to provide them with films that deal with themes which enable people to think. I think it is already very clear that cinema is not meant merely to entertain but also to teach.

It is time to tell audiences that the reason why they continue to watch the so-called blockbusters from major media companies is because of the programs that have been embedded in our viewing culture.

These are programs that insidiously feed the audience with data about actors and actresses. These are extracinematic elements, things that have nothing to do with the film itself. I often wonder if fans, for example, are aware that the reason there are big stars is because they created that bigness. In other words, these actors and actresses become endorsers of all sort of products that fans are supposed to buy. These actors and actresses get the money and their fans are turned into ready consumers.

■ I wish that the MTRCB be as critical of the people they hire to assess and evaluated cinema as they are of the films that come their way.

Giving a horror film an X rating is more horrifying than the images of any good or bad horror films. I pray this body thinks seriously how a good critique goes. As

in the past, it happens that a gap is formed between the MTRCB and the people whose mental and emotional health it is ostensibly protecting. At this point, does the MTRCB have really an updated profile of the consumers of film and TV? While we are on this issue, is the MTRCB looking at the child actors and actresses being used in many telenovelas? One case in point is the little girl in Two Wives from ABS-CBN. That girl is asked to mouth lines that make her sound she is the other wife in this ludicrously vulgar soap opera.

■ My most difficult wish is this: that the Metro Manila Film Festival regain its lost glory.

With this wish comes the prayer that the producers and their actors and actresses also realize that the films they make eventually go into the consciousness and the subconscious of the Filipino.

Is this case of “hindi maabot ng isip?” Do these people ever think that what they are making are really senseless chatter that passes off as family entertainment? What is family entertainment?

This reminds me of that insipid MTRCB campaign that precedes every film screening, which can easily make people regret having gone to the movies, or perhaps even think that Santa Claus is dead. In that insufferable bit on the MTRCB’s ratings guide, a family is unable to decide which movie to watch because the films are rated differently. Finally, this quai-family settles on a film that will admit everyone, this with the help of the family’s youngest and most petulant and most annoying member who must have gotten a horrible stylist. This is an example of a campaign that confuses because it has made things simplistic.

So simplistic that even people who have gone through frontal lobotomy would be deeply offended.

Ultimately, common sense may not be common at all. Perhaps, humility is easier to understand—and practice. Christmas is here, but we really do not need to look for the Star to be enlightened. ■

life

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the time for truffles C2

Society BusinessMirror

Saturday, December 27, 2014

highly regarded are Tuber melanosporum, the black Perigord truffle; and Tuber magnatum, the white truffle of Piemonte. It is all about the perfume, explained Dogliani. The aroma of the French black truffle develops fully when cooked; the white Italian truffle is best fresh, when its aromatic intensity is at its height.

Which is why at dinner time, Berger and Dogliani worked the room, each one armed with a tagliatartufo, the mandolin-like utensil used expressly for slicing truffle. A shaving of paper-thin truffle went over each guest’s serving of tartare of beef with extra virgin olive oil, organic egg poached in cream and parmiggiano reggiano, traditional hand-made ravioli from Piemonte and veal steak in Barolo sauce. Just one or two delicate wafers of white truffle transformed what was already delicious to the absolutely sublime.

If the Alba truffle is central to the glory of Piemontese cuisine, the wines are the crowning glory of the region’s gastronomic reputation. For this year’s dinner, Dogliani made sure that examples of Piemonte’s famous wines were present. gavi di gavi, Piemonte’s purest expression of Cortese, the town of gavi’s signature white grape, was represented by the Batasiolo granee 2012. The Batasiolo Morino Langhe Chardonnay 2012, from the Morino vineyard in the village of La Morra partnered with the egg poached in cream and parmiggiano reggiano, the dish that elicited the most excitement. (Egg-and-truffle is a marriage made in heaven.) With the hand-made ravioli came the Batasiolo Barbera d’Alba sovrana 2012—barrique-aged, gamey and well-structured, with lush, ripe tannins.

Batasiolo’s example of Brachetto d’Acqui spumante, the region’s delicately perfumed, sweet, sparkling red wine, was paired with the chocolate dessert. The flagship wines of Batasiolo are its single vineyard Barolos. Both the Boscareto 2004 and La Corda della Briccolina 2007, from vineyards of the same names, are deeply concentrated and beautifully scented—I picked up notes of black tea, roses, leather, espresso and earth (and truffle?).

Barolos are known for their longevity and intensity.

According to esteemed wine writer Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2014, the 1996 and 1999 (two of the great Barolo vintages of the 1990s) are still vintages to keep. In contrast, the truffle’s lifespan is short. The white Alba truffle retains its freshness and singular aroma for just 10 days. And in Piemonte’s Langhe region where the Tuber magnatum fluorishes, truffle season ends by December 31. The Alba truffle, you must eat fresh, whispered Dogliani, as he rained a second helping of truffle (Berger already did the first pass) on my plate of beef tartare.

Truly, what is fleeting is best enjoyed in the moment. n

cEciLE g. mauricio

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ogs, of course...we don’t use pigs!”

Fiorenzo Dogliani was emphatic in saying that pigs are passé when it comes to truffle-hunting. It was the lull before dinner time and over flutes of the bracing Prosecco superiore Conegliano Valdobbiadene sette Cascine, he was in his element, discussing the merits of both the wine and Tuber magnatum, Alba’s famous white truffle. He was back in Manila to reprise the dinner he had orchestrated three years ago with his friend Werner Berger, bon vivant and CEo of Werdenberg Corp., the company that distributes his wines. Wine is Dogliani’s calling, but come truffle time, the call of the tartufi bianchi is even stronger.

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Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON ThIS DAy: Hayley Williams, 26; Emilie de Ravin, 33; Aaron Stanford, 38; Gerard Depardieu, 66. hAPPy BIRThDAy: You’ll know instinctively

what to do and when. Getting back to basics will help you avoid the setbacks that develop when you make poor choices. Shake off any negativity or criticism you face and turn it into constructive suggestions that you can assess and learn from in order to keep moving along at a steady and conservative pace. Your numbers are 5, 13, 20, 24, 32, 37, 42.

The Dogliani family has been in the winemaking business for three generations. In 1978 the family purchased a historic 1950s winery in La Morra, one of the towns at the core of the legendary Barolo zone. With the addition of this major cellar to their property, the entire estate now covers over 100 hectares of vineyards, expanded by the Dogliani brothers to nine farms from the original seven beni (farmhouses with vineyards), making it one of the largest, privately owned wineries in the Langhe region of Piemonte. Nebbiolo, the grape of Barolo wines, is planted in 60 hectares but the winery also produces the other great red and white wines of Piemonte: Barbera, Barbaresco, Dolcetto, gavi di gavi, Moscato d‘Asti and Roero Arneis.

Beni di Batasiolo makes Barolo from the fruit of four vineyards—Boscareto, Bofani, Cerequio and La Corda della Briccolina—all located on the famed hillsides of La Morra, Monforte and serralunga d’Alba. Two Barolos, the Boscareto 2004 and the Briccolina 2007, both from serralunga d’Alba made it to this year’s one-night-only, sold-out (again) White Truffle Dinner at Berger’s I’m Angus steakhouse. Chef othmar Frei (also Werdenberg’s Coo) and I’m Angus’s Chef Leo Marquez again collaborated on the menu that featured classic Piemontese dishes. And just like it was three years ago, the white Alba truffle was greeted with much enthusiasm (and photo-taking) when Dogliani and Berger finally emerged from the kitchen bearing the tray loaded with a precious one kilo of the delicacy.

At prices now starting upward from €3,000 per kilo, truffles have sometimes been called “millionaires’ mushrooms.” granted only those with fat wallets can afford them, the truth is that truffles are a type of fungi Ascomycetes that grow underground on the roots of certain trees—oak, poplar, hazel and linden trees are the most likely hosts of truffle spores. growing sporadically, rather than being cultivated (although there are now attempts to cultivate them), the truffle is as much prized for its rarity as its unique aroma. (so powerful is this scent, it penetrates through a four- to 16-inch layer of soil.) of the known types that exist, the most

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Don’t let stress lead to an unfortunate encounter with someone who can influence your future. Use your energy positively. Showing good cheer and a progressive attitude will help you bring about the change that leads to personal improvements and long-term benefits. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

Communication will be key if you want someone to help you out or support a decision you make. Don’t let situations get blown out of proportion. You have so much to gain if you use diplomacy and incentives. HHHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Keep money and emotional situations separate. A fast talker trying to sell you something will give a false impression of what you will receive.

Back away from anyone looking for a handout or using emotional manipulation. HH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Flesh out an idea you want to pursue. Your plan will lead to good fortune if you enlist a partner who can contribute as much as you. A joint effort will pay off and lead to ongoing benefits. Love is highlighted. HHHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Listen to good advice and get involved in something that interests you. You can bring about positive changes if you show dedication and loyalty to someone eager to explore the same things as you. Less talk and more action is needed. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Enjoy doing things with your lover, children or good friends. Now is not the time to initiate change or fret over things you cannot change. Focus on your relationships and what you can do to build a closer bond. HHH

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rWm presents ‘Santa’s Leading Ladies’ IF you’ve ever wondered why Santa is such a jolly fellow, just take a look at the company he keeps.

This holiday season, Resorts World Manila (RWM, www.rwmanila.com) proudly presents Santa’s Leading Ladies, a Christmas concert like no other featuring four of the brightest theater stars in the country today.

Get into the spirit of the Yuletide season and let theater stalwarts Cris Villonco, Ima Castro, Shiela Valderrama, and Carla Guevarra Laforteza serenade you with your favorite timeless Christmas carols in RWM’s main entertainment hub, Bar 360.

Cris Villonco has done such theater classics as Les Miserables, Cinderella and Hamlet. She was featured in Time magazine in 2000. Award-winning recording artist Ima Castro, who played Kim in Miss Saigon, also joins the ensemble. Sheila Valderrama has been a regular at the Newport Performing Arts stage since her performance in The King and I. She is also part of the Philippine staging of Shrek The Musical. Carla Guevera Laforteza, meanwhile, has been lauded for her performances in such musicals as RENT, Nine, Avenue Q and You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown.

Catch them all every Tuesday until January 6 while enjoying the best drinks at Bar 360.

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

h

By VG Cabuag

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

Reflecting on the past year will help you reset your goals and bring some of your dreams closer to reality. Share your thoughts with someone you want to include in your plans HHHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): A change can be expected and should bring you closer to your professional goal. An online posting will lead to an interesting moneymaking opportunity.

Express your thoughts, but listen to expert advice before you decide to make a move.

HHH

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

Take care of matters that can help you improve your home and your future. Sign up for a course or travel to a destination that will help you uncover information pertinent to something you want to achieve. Love is highlighted. HHHHH

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You’ll face abrupt opposition. Don’t let emotional meddling lead to a mistake that is irreversible. Focus on creativity, friends, family or your lover, and make plans to get involved in activities and events that will enhance your relationships. HHH

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Act fast and take care of a situation that has the potential to cost you emotionally or financially. Make changes at home that will ensure you head into the new year in good shape physically and financially.

HH

BIRThDAy BABy: You are intuitively intelligent. You are dedicated, resourceful and candid.

‘frankly speaking’ By ANNE G. COLTON The Universal Crossword/Edited by Timothy E. Parker

ACROSS 1 Letter carrier’s assignment 6 Minute hairlike projection 11 Small lie 14 Artist’s stand 15 Mountain nymph 16 Some strands in a cell 17 Deliberate trickery 19 Like all but one prime number 20 It may pop up in a clearing 21 Hamilton in a wad 22 Shutout score, in soccer 23 Break the news to 26 Remain longer than 28 Hayseed humor 29 Coin-___ (vending machines) 32 Docking place 33 Composer’s piece 34 Sounds from a hot tub 36 Arguments between families 39 Broken-down horse 40 Jam spot, in L.A. 42 Word signifying a name change 43 Political lineup

45 46 47 49 50 51 54 56 57 58 59 60 65 66 67 68 69 70

Repast Make a cardigan Etna outflow Letters on a tachometer Fit one inside another Damsels Portuguese port Verb with thou, sometimes Subway vermin With fresh treatment Floral festoon Long-lasting associations Took something in Acclaim Partial statue “No question!” “___ am I?” His domain is lover’s lane

DOWN 1 Field judge, for short 2 Boat maneuverer 3 ___ Today (newspaper) 4 Native Germans

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 18 23 24 25 27 30 31 35 37 38 40 41 44 46 48

51 Kuala Lumpur resident 52 Sharp mountain ridge 53 Gate 55 Ants, at a picnic 58 Poker buy-in 61 Word with “mark” or “muff” 62 Rollover target 63 Sixth-sense phenomenon 64 Trinity component

Influential member of a tribe Electricity unit Rage “Slowly” in music Get ready to skate What driver’s licenses do Leader Home of Bollywood Severely Cast off from the harbor Fixtures in stardom Prickly pear Acts of thrift “Wait” partner Rhyming composition Transparently thin One-for-one deal Certain believer Brief quarrel Chrysanthemum family plant Chocolate-bar nut, sometimes Small amount Ability One who excites revolt

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

society

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domestic violence takes top billing Sports

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BusinessMirror

| Saturday, deCember 27, 2014 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph

The National Football League’s domesticabuse crisis is voted US sports story of the year by a panel of editors across the country. AP

“If you put together a plan, you have to consider all your stakeholders. You’d think the union would be high on that list,” crisis-management expert Jonathan Bernstein said. “You can’t impose a significant change of direction in any organization without getting some buy-in from the stakeholders first.”

Among the stakeholders whose confidence in Goodell has not budged are the owners, a group of 32 multimillionaires who owe at least some of their wealth to the commissioner’s business acumen, and have not seen much backlash from the advertisers that bankroll the league.

And the fans: TV ratings have barely budged, attendance is steady, and fans play fantasy football to the tune of billions of dollars.

“I expect they’ll regain credibility, but it’ll take some time and distance,” said Michael Gordon of Group Gordon, a corporate and crisis PR firm in New York. “If they don’t handle it well going forward, then yes, eventually it’ll hurt them.”

Handling it well, Glenn said, is a matter of more than just good PR. “Hate to say it, but I’ll say it anyway: They need to put their money where their mouth is,” she said. “If they truly believe in eradicating domestic violence, it would be in their best interest during the offseason if they made a real effort in supporting the cause.” AP

SHEDDING ELITIST IMAGE L

ONDON—The sport of kings is trying to become less elitist by breaking down knowledge barriers.

No longer is British horse racing content with just being at the heart of the social calendar for the aristocracy—as it has been for centuries. The Jockey Club recognizes its future relies on educating the masses about a sport filled with arcane terms and rules.

“If you marginalize it too much, the sport in the end will inevitably suffer,” said Simon Bazalgette, chief executive of the London-based Jockey Club.

So from this month, racing terminology is being explained on big screens at courses, including Kempton Park where the King George VI Chase, one of the biggest races in jump racing, is staged last Friday.

Not everyone will embrace moves to open up the sport beyond the affluent audiences typically associated with the sport.

“A lot of people probably quite like the fact they know certain things a lot of the general public do not know,” Bazalgette said. “We want to engage the wider part of the audience who are there for a good day out,

for whom racing is part of the theater of the day, but perhaps they are not really engaging with it as a sport.”

Although horse racing is Britain’s second biggest spectator sport after football, the Jockey Club believes that around 80 percent of race-goers have little or no knowledge about just what they are seeing. Although a good day out for boozing and gambling, many do not necessarily understand why a particular horse is worth a bet or the difference between flat and jump racing.

The seven short films, which were inspired by explainer videos at 2012 London Olympic venues and produced by the same company, are all silent so as not to intrude on the atmosphere.

“We don’t want the old hands to feel sniffy about it,” Bazalgette said, of the videos.

But it is hoped the videos will provide a better understanding of the sport and boost revenue by encouraging more frequent visits from casual spectators, and then keeping them engaged through the year.

What the course videos do not address is the issue that turns some

off the sport: why horses are often put down after sustaining injuries during races. The rights group Animal Aid has listed 144 on-course deaths so far in 2014 on its website.

“People don’t understand when we are looking after horses if they get injured on the race track, there is no economics involved in it—it’s purely the welfare of the horse,” Bazalgette said, discussing a welfare issue that does feature on the accompanying “Racing Explained” web site.

“Unfortunately because of the way [horses] are built they can’t always be looked after the way one would like to.”

Having already captured the champagne and oysters set, the Jockey Club says “Racing Explained” is about engaging the beer and burger fans, who can feel like second-class spectators who can’t fully comprehend the dynamics of the sport.

Although Bazalgette now heads the Jockey Club and owns horses, he has not always been so engaged with the racing.

“I would love it when someone took me, and then forget about it until the next time someone invited me,” he said. AP

BRITAIN’S Queen elizabeth II walks in the parade ring followed by the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin hamad Al Thani, on the second day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting in Ascot, england, in June. AP

sports

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PESO exchange rates n US 44.6520

In this January 4, 2005, file photo, Senior Chief Petty Officer James Cash from San Diego, California, surveys damage to Banda Aceh town from the tsunami wave from a United States Naval helicopter flying over the Indonesian province of Aceh. Friday marks the 10th anniversary of one of the deadliest natural disasters in world history: a tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake off the Indonesian coast, leaving more than 230,000 people dead in 14 countries and causing about $10 billion in damage. Countries from Indonesia to India to Africa's east coast were hit, leaving shocking scenes of death and destruction. AP/Andy Eames

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rying onlookers took part in beachside memorials and religious services across Asia on Friday to mark the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami that left more than a quarter million people dead in one of modern history’s worst natural disasters. The devastating December 26, 2004, tsunami struck a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim, killing 230,000 people. It eradicated entire coastal communities, decimated families and crashed over tourist-filled beaches the morning after Christmas.

Survivors waded through a horror show of corpse-filled waters. World»B3 Series of Southeast Asia quakes raises questions Experts are watching Southeast Asia closely after an unusually high number of strong earthquakes in the region over the past two weeks.

Are all these earthquakes related?

Is a bigger quake coming?

It is not uncommon for earthquakes to be followed by localized aftershocks; what’s less clear is whether a quake in one place can trigger another thousands of miles away; scientists are studying whether seismic waves from one earthquake, such as the Samoa Islands quake Sept. 29, 2009, can cause fault areas elsewhere to rupture sooner than they otherwise would, Celebes Sea triggering a quake, such as the one that struck Indonesia the next day Santa Cruz

Scientists are keeping an eye on a stretch of fault off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, site of some of the recent quake activity and the region that produced the 2004 quake that triggered the tsunami that killed more than 200,000 worldwide; this area, near the city of Padang, is thought to be a major stress point along this fault because it has not moved in more than 200 years while other segments in the vicinity have; scientists say it could produce an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or larger — and a tsunami

6.7

Islands

Vanuatu With date and magnitude

Samoa Islands

Sumatra, Indonesia

Mindanao, Philippines

8.0 7.6 6.6

Sept. 29 30 2 1

Oct. 1 3

Santa Cruz Islands

6.6

2

3

4 4

6

7 5 6 7

Rupture zones

Santa Cruz Islands

6.8

8

9

6.4

10

11

8 9

12 10

5 2

3

INDONESIA

8 10 7 6 9

Sunda plate

2004

MALAYSIA

1797 iles

800 m

Indo-Australian plate

Indo-Australian plate Sunda plate

Section that scientists say could be the site of another powerful earthquake and tsunami

Padang

2005

1 800 km

AUSTRALIA

VIETNAM Andaman Sea

9.1 quake triggered tsunami

Philippine plate 4

Burma plate 2004

Tectonic plate boundaries

Pacific plate

CHINA

Year of last major rupture

0000

Epicenter of earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater since 1900

Vanuatu

7.8

5

Sunda subduction zone

6.6 6.5 6.2

7.6 7.3

Recent earthquakes in the South Pacific

1833

A

then-fiancee in an elevator, then was scrubbed by a neutral arbitrator who ruled against the NFL for not adhering to its own discipline rules.

Peterson, who pleaded no contest to misdemeanor reckless assault for injuring his 4-year-old son with a branch, has been suspended indefinitely and is eligible to apply for reinstatement next year. He was suing to have the suspension repealed, though with the Minnesota Vikings’ season ending on Sunday, he won’t be returning this season.

But Peterson’s court case, the eventual return of either of the running backs, or the appearance of new cases against players in a league that has averaged more than six domestic-abuse arrests a year, according to a USA Today database, all have the potential to keep domestic abuse and the NFL’s handling of it in the headlines.

And the report from former FBI Director Robert Mueller—who is trying to find out, among other things, when, exactly, the league knew about the inside-the-elevator video of Rice’s punch—will likely come out soon to spawn yet another series of news cycles.

While all that plays out, the NFL has to keep working at restoring its image and making some real changes. Glenn believes the proof of the NFL’s contrition will play out over months and years, not simply because of one new policy, or a few well-placed public service ads.

“It’s good to have things on paper and to do the training,” she said. “But once a policy is truly implemented, it’ll take a while. The real proof may not come when someone gets in trouble. It could be because nobody’s getting in trouble.”

The new policy calls for a six-game suspension without pay for violations involving assault, sexual assault, battery, domestic violence, child abuse, and other forms of family violence. It also calls for the league to hire a special counsel to handle investigations, and mete out the initial punishment. It keeps Goodell in position to handle appeals, something the union disagrees with considering his history, not only in the Rice and Peterson cases but in cases dealing with illegal drugs, doping, and other player conduct.

B

usinessman Lucio Co, out to establish his own retail empire in the country, has spent some P1.3 billion in share repurchases, or buybacks, of his various publicly traded firms.

Cosco Capital Inc., Co’s holding firm, said it spent some P396.64 million in buying back 472,200 common shares at prices ranging from P8.33 to P8.41 a share.

Supermarket operator Puregold Price Club Inc. also bought back 28,200 shares at an average price of P38.6749 per share, for a total price of P1.09 billion.

The Co family is expanding its supermarket chain under the Puregold brand and its membership shopping unit S&R, and has snapped up several retail assets such as a liquefied petroleum gas retailer and an office-supplies store chain, and subsequently subsuming these under the Cosco empire.

Cosco and Puregold will spend a combined P9.5 billion by next year, as Co plans to build his own chain

of community malls even as Cosco begins building the Lawson chain of convenience stores.

Leonardo Dayao, president for both firms, earlier told reporters Puregold has set aside P5.5 billion to build more supermarkets in the Visayas and Mindanao. Cosco, meanwhile, is to spend at least P4 billion for the construction of new shopping malls.

Puregold’s capital expenditure (capex) next year, will be bigger than this year’s programmed spending of only P3 billion. Cosco’s proposed spending plan should prove lower than this year’s actual spending of some P6 billion after the Co-led company bought the Office Warehouse brand and Liquigaz.

“There will be acquisitions also for Cosco next year, plus we will construct new malls,” Dayao said.

Dayao said Cosco plans the acquisition of community-type malls and will spend some P2.5 billion for the venture. The balance of P1.5 billion will be used for the construction of maybe three or four malls.

Indian Ocean tsunami

R AT M

HE video of the hit to the face, the pictures of the lash marks on a young boy’s body, and all the rest of the unseemly evidence rolled out over days and weeks in a steady, stomach-churning stream.

With virtually every revelation about domestic abuse committed by Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and other players, the National Football League (NFL) and its commissioner, Roger Goodell, made a new misstep that sent out a clear, repeating message: They were in over their heads.

That, in short, summed up the biggest headlines of 2014 for America’s favorite sport.

The NFL’s domestic-abuse crisis was voted US sports story of the year by a panel of editors across the country.

The $9-billion industry that US fans devour on a weekly basis ran into a public-relations crisis, the likes of which nobody could have predicted, and not even the league’s supposedly well-oiled spin machine could repair. The real victims weren’t the league or the players, whose punishment often felt arbitrary, but rather, the women and children these players were supposed to care for and protect.

“In regards to their policy, they did not do well when this first came about,” said Ruth Glenn, executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “In a lot of ways, that can be very dangerous for some people.”

As the season progressed and the scandal unfolded, the league and its teams took steps to try to remedy the problems—public-service ads, an increased focus on education, and adopting a new, tougher policy, even though it was enacted without the blessing of the players union.

With the calendar about to flip, though, there are no guarantees the league has contained its crisis.

Rice, his skills declining, is eligible to play again after receiving a suspension that started at two games, was made indefinite when the video surfaced of him punching his

Continued on A2

Asia marks 10 years since

SU

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE TAKES TOP BILLING T The $9-billion industry that US fans devour on a weekly basis ran into a public-relations crisis, the likes of which nobody could have predicted, and not even the league’s supposedly well-oiled spin machine could repair.

learned our lesson this year very well, and we can deploy those lessons to get the spending program in time next year, [starting in the] first quarter [of] next year,” he added.

The disbursement of public funds slowed to only P170.6 billion in the third quarter, sharply down from P221.7 billion in the second quarter, based on data obtained from the Bureau of the Treasury. Analysts have worried the government’s continued inability to disburse as required by fiscal planners, the $270-billion economy being primarily domestically driven, eventually translates to weaker-than-projected growth.

The projects in the Yolanda corridor are outlined in the Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan (CRRP). The projects under the plan covers infrastructure projects in the 171

Lucio Co spends ₧1.3B for share buybacks

Santa’S Leading Ladies cris Villonco (from left), ima castro, Shiela Valderrama and carla guevarra Laforteza

Unexpected conversations and alterations that change your life, your relationships or your domestic environment will take you by surprise. Get out and do something energetic that will help you blow off steam.

Contact someone who grounds you. HHH

i

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Neda Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan acknowledged the underspending of the government affected the country’s growth, particularly in the second and third quarters.

But, Balisacan assured, the government will rectify the situation next year. The funds, he said, will be deployed to sustain the various infrastructure projects of the government, including those in the Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) corridor.

“The underspending in the past two quarters, this quarter and last, would mean or should mean overspending next year because we [need to] absorb all the resources next year and the government sector a major contributor to growth next year,” Balisacan said.

“We’re confident that we have

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The time for truffles fermenTaTions

By Cai U. Ordinario

2000

I N D O N E S I A Java Sea

Fault where the Indo-Australian plate is subducting, or moving beneath, the Sunda plate

© 2009 MCT Source: USGS, Chicago Tribune Graphic: Adam Zoll and Phil Geib, Chicago Tribune

See “Lucio Co,” A2

n japan 0.3719 n UK 69.5901 n HK 5.7573 n CHINA 7.1769 n singapore 33.8735 n australia 36.3616 n EU 54.5960 n SAUDI arabia 11.8958 Source: BSP (23 December 2014)

A2

News BusinessMirror

Saturday, December 27, 2014

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Expect ‘overspending’ in 2015–Neda The government’s underspending was among the major factors that caused the economy to post lackluster economic growth in the past three quarters.

In the third quarter of 2014, the government’s underspending pulled down the country’s economic growth to 5.3 percent.

Balisacan said the chilling effect created by the unfavorable decision of the Supreme Court on the Disbursement Acceleration Program and the recent issuances of disallowance by the Commission on Audit were among the major factors that caused public spending to contract by 2.6 percent in the third quarter.

It can be noted that this was the second time during the Aquino administration that low government spending pulled down economic growth.

Continued from A1

affected cities and municipalities in 14 provinces and six regions affected by Yolanda in 2013. Under the CRRP, Balisacan said resettlement projects account for the biggest slice of the proposed budget at P75.67 billion.

The Department of Budget and Management, he said, has already released P51.98 billion from the national budget for the rehabilitation plan in the Yolanda corridor since November 2013.

“The challenges we face are complex and thus require a high degree of cooperation and coordination within the government and among development partners, private sector and citizens,” Balisacan said. “As we sprint toward 2016, let us not allow ourselves to be sidetracked.”

Lucio Co. . .

PHL economy. . .

Continued from A8

Spokesman Edwin Lacierda cited Pulse Asia’s Ulat ng Bayan on its November 2014 nationwide survey which reported that “88 percent, or almost nine in 10 Filipinos, view the coming year with hope.”

Lacierda said this was“in spite of the challenges that the Philippines faced in 2014,” including the most recent Typhoon Ruby.

“Hope and optimism have always been characteristic of the Filipino people, who, throughout history, have consistently refused to give in to negativity, or to be cowed by challenges,” he said.

Lacierda added that the Aquino administration itself had witnessed that “we are a government borne of our people’s belief that the tide can turn in the Philippines; that good governance can replace an entrenched culture of corruption.”

In its report, Moody’s said the “weaknesses” threatening to hobble the $270-billion economy include continued subpar government revenue, rather high foreign currency-denominated debt and the country’s low per-capita gross domestic product (GDP).

It cited an earlier World Bank report which indicated that per-capita GDP in the Philippines reached $1,581.01 as of latest, or 13 percent of the global average.

Moody’s also noted that “the government’s revenue” as measured against GDP ”is low, and debt affordability remains weak when compared to investment-grade peers; although both ratios have improved in recent years.”

But Moody’s also warned that the amount of loans the country takes from foreign sources makes the country vulnerable to sharp foreigncurrency fluctuations, citing the relatively high proportion of government debt denominated in foreign currency that, it said, renders the Philippines susceptible to currency risks even as this, Moody’s noted, “has also improved recently.”

“In addition, the country’s GDP per capita is among the lowest for investment-grade countries,” the credit watcher also said. “Policy-makers may also face the challenge of sustaining the positive trajectory of institutional quality through the political cycle,” it added.

The first time the Aquino government’s low spending cut economic growth was in 2011 when full-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth only reached 3.7 percent.

The Neda then estimated that underspending for public construction cost the economy around 0.7 percentage point and underspending for other government expenditures cost 0.1 percentage point of GDP growth.

T he gover nment said the contraction of 29.4 percent in public construction was attributed to government underspending.

It added that even if public construction posted a 49.9percent growth in the last quarter of the year, this was still not enough to make up for three consecutive quarters of decline brought about by spending delays.

Oil trades near $60 amid signs of Saudi confidence in rebound

Continued from A1

Continued from A8

Each new mall costs around P400 million to construct, Dayao said.

For the Puregold supermarket chain, Dayao said the company will spend P2.5 billion for the construction of 25 new branches, another P1 billion to P1.5 billion for its S&R Membership Shopping units and still another P1.5 billion for the acquisition of other supermarkets.

At the moment, the company targets the construction of two membership-shopping stores a year. Next year, it will build one in Bacolod or in Iloilo in the Visayas and one more in southern Luzon or somewhere in Batangas and Laguna. It will open a branch in Cavite by middle of the month, the lone opening for this year.

“I think the estimate we had before remains the same. So there is an increase in the number of high-income customers that can be members of S&R,” Dayao said.

The business currently has nine S&R stores and will end the year with 233 Puregold supermarket units.

In the first nine months, Cosco reported net income of P4.03 billion, or 139 percent more than last year’s P2.35 billion.

In this file photo, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Ibrahim Naimi attends the opening day of the 10th Arab Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet has endorsed a budget for 2015 that projects a slight increase in spending and a significant drop in revenues due to sliding oil prices, resulting in a $39-billion deficit. AP

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST DECEMBER 27, 2014 | SATURDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER Low Pressure Area (LPA) develops when warm and moist air rises from the Earth’s surface.

LOW PRESSURE AREA (LPA) WAS ESTIMATED AT 860 KM EAST OF HINATUAN, SURIGAO DEL SUR.

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.

on Thursday. Opec, whose 12 members supply about 40 percent of the world’s oil, decided at a November 27 meeting to maintain its production target at 30 million barrels a day. The group pumped 30.56 million a day in November, exceeding its target for a sixth straight month, a Bloomberg survey of companies, producers and analysts shows.

In Libya, the Petroleum Facilities Guard called in air strikes on Islamist militias that it said had shelled the country’s largest oil port at Es Sider. Libya’s output has fallen to 352,000 barrels a day, compared with as much as 900,000 a day in October, according to Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman at staterun National Oil Corp.

Implied volatility for at-the-money options in the front-month Brent contract, a measure of expected futures movements and an indicator of options value, rose to 49.9 percent this week, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It’s at about 47 on Friday.

WTI’s volatility is also near the highest since October 2011. Bloomberg News

DEC 28 SUNDAY

DEC 29 DEC 30 MONDAY TUESDAY

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING NORTHERN AND CENTRAL LUZON.

DEC 28 SUNDAY

DEC 29 DEC 30 MONDAY TUESDAY

24 – 30°C

23 – 30°C

23 – 29°C

METRO MANILA

20 – 29°C

22 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

METRO CEBU

TUGUEGARAO

21 – 28°C

22 –29°C

21 – 28°C

TACLOBAN

23 – 29°C

23 – 29°C

22 – 29°C

21 – 31°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

24 – 30°C

23 –30°C

23 – 29°C

METRO DAVAO

23 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

25 – 33°C

25 – 34°C

TAIL-END OF A COLD FRONT AFFECTING EASTERN VISAYAS.

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.

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

LAOAG

21 – 32°C

21 – 32°C

(AS OF DECEMBER 26, 10:00 AM)

BAGUIO

LAOAG CITY 22 – 33°C

TUGUEGARAO CITY 21 – 28°C

SBMA/ CLARK

BAGUIO CITY 15 – 23°C SBMA/CLARK 23 – 31°C TAGAYTAY CITY 19 – 27°C

METRO MANILA 20 – 30°C

TAGAYTAY

15 – 23°C

22 – 30°C

19 – 26°C

16 – 24°C

20 – 30°C

20 – 28°C

15 – 23°C

21 – 32°C

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 25 – 32°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 25 – 31°C

TACLOBAN CITY 23 – 30°C

METRO CEBU 25 – 31°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY 25 – 33°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 25 – 32°C METRO DAVAO 24 – 31°C

23 – 28°C

22 – 28°C

SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

6:19 AM

5:35 PM

10:52 PM

10:33 AM

23 – 30°C

NEW MOON HALF MOON

24 – 30°C

25 – 32°C

DEC 29

23 – 29°C

24 – 31°C

Light rains

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

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SABAH CELEBES SEA

8:56 AM

-0. 09 METER 2:31 AM 9:36 AM Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

24 – 29°C

LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

DEC 22 24 – 31°C

25 – 34°C

21 – 29°C

LEGAZPI CITY 23 – 29°C

LEGAZPI

ZAMBOANGA

24 – 33°C

@PanahonTV

12:56 AM

1.03 METER

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers

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News

BusinessMirror

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Saturday, December 27, 2014 A3

DOTC looks into extension of $7-billion commuter rail system to Clark Green City

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

HE Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is studying the possibility of extending the country’s commuter rail to the envisioned Clark Green City (CGC), a Cabinet official said.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said the Bases Conversion and Development Authority has sought his office’s assistance to review the prospect of extending the $7-billion Integrated Luzon Railway to Clark in Pampanga.

While the prospect is still unclear, the DOTC said it will also study the possibility of building a spur line going to Clark.

“[Extending the commuter rail] is going to be costly. What is clear to us is that we will extend the Philippine National Railways [PNR] all the way to Cagayan and Isabela,” Abaya said.

He added that the line to the 9,450-hectare metropolis in the north might use train coaches that will run at a speed of 150 kilometers per hour (kph).

“Clark is 100 km away. If it travels at 150 kph, you get there in 40 minutes. You don’t need a bullet train to get there,” Abaya said.

The commuter rail is a 90-km elevated railway system that will link Malolos, Bulacan, and Calamba, Laguna, and is seen to serve commuters in Mega Manila.

Japan International Cooperation Agency is currently conducting a feasibility study for the line that will interconnect three regions— the National Capital Region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

Once the study is completed, the contract will be presented to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board, which is chaired by President Aquino.

Meanwhile, the P607-billion CGC would be a mix of industrial, institutional and commercial areas, which would apply green technologies using renewable energy from

sustainable sources by all facilities and buildings in the proposed community.

Neda approved in August 2013 the master plan for the development of the 9,400 hectares of idle land within the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone as a green city.

The Neda Infrastructure Committee has endorsed the master plan to President Aquino for final approval.

The CGC project is expected to generate as much as P1.57 trillion in revenues every year, contribute at least a 4-percent share to the gross domestic product and employ as many as 925,000 workers once completed.

A 50-year development program, the CGC project will cost P607 billion, of which P59 billion will be spent for the first five years, coming mostly from the private sector through the public-private partnership program.

NOT YOUR USUAL HOLIDAY FARE Dried fish made by a man from Cadiz, Negros Occidental, is usually not eaten during Christmas and New Year festivities, when people have enough money to buy and prepare sumptuous dishes. After the holidays, Filipinos tend to prefer this simple and inexpensive fare. NONIE REYES

DPWH sets guidelines for river-dredging projects

T

he Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has set the guidelines on all river-dredging activities for floodcontrol projects and quarrying.

Under an order released recently, project sites will be required to undergo a series of soil investigation, which includes actual on-set bathymetric, topographic and hydrographic surveys, to avoid ecological damage from quarrying.

Proper soil investigation and analysis should also be undertaken to prevent changes in stream morphology.

Clearances, such as Certificate

of Non-Coverage or Environmental Compliance Certificate, are, likewise, required to be secured, the order read.

“Detailed dredging plan and design report must, likewise, be submitted to the concerned DPWH offices in accordance with its delegated authorities issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources [DENR],” the order reads.

“Further, the projects should comply with the existing rules and regulations of Water Code of the Philippines and Philippine Mining Act of 1995, among others before the approval of works,” it added. The

DPWH Project Management Office and all regional and district offices are directed to comply in order to ensure that the waterways’ morphology across the country will not be compromised with the operations.

Local governments are also encouraged to comply with the DENR and DPWH guidelines before proceeding with quarrying operations on rivers and waterways.

“We have to implement our floodcontrol projects in a way that we can achieve positive impact and prevent damage to the environment,” Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson said. Lorenz S. Marasigan

5 hurt by stray bullets as more revelers fired guns–PNP

A

t least five civilians have been wounded after they were hit by stray bullets coming from firearms that were illegally fired, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Friday.

The injuries were reported despite the strict warning of the PNP to its members, soldiers and even civilians not to illegally discharge their guns during Christmas and the New Year as a form of revelry.

Based on its monitoring under the “Ligtas Paskuhan 2014,” the PNP noted an increasing number of incidents of illegal discharge of firearms.

From December 16 up to Christmas Day, PNP Spokesman Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor

said policemen recorded at least 17 incidents, which included the firing of guns. A total of 420 pieces and 206 reams of prohibited firecrackers were also seized by policemen around the country under the campaign against the use of illegal firecrackers.

In Northern Luzon, Mayor said the Police Regional Office (PRO) 1 reported that one was hit by a stray bullet, while at least six incidents of illegal discharge of firearms were logged.

He did not identify the victim.

In Central Luzon one illegal discharge of firearm was also reported, while another victim of stray bullet was recorded in Southern Tagalog, where two cases of illegal firing of guns were monitored.

Meanwhile, the PRO 7 reported that a stray bullet wounded one victim, while there had been three cases of the illegal discharge of firearms.

There was also an injury caused by an exploding firecracker. He said there was even a case in Eastern Visayas where someone was wounded by a stray bullet, but he added that this was “self-inflicted.”

Mayor reiterated the directive of the PNP to its members not to fire their guns during the New Year, saying anyone caught will be charged accordingly and will even be discharged from the service.

He, likewise, issued the warning to civilians and even soldiers. Rene Acosta

Lawmaker asks PNP to crack down on illegal firecracker makers

T

he Philippine National Police (PNP) should crack down on manufacturers and sellers of illegal firecrackers, a lawmaker from Valenzuela City said on Friday.

“It is best for the PNP to conduct preemptive raids against illegal firecracker manufacturers so that their lifethreatening products will not end up in the streets during the New Year’s Eve revelry,” Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian, who is a member of the House Committee on Trade and Industry, is pushing for the imposition of tougher regulations on firecrackers that are being sold nationwide, especially during the Christmas season.

Earlier, the PNP had warned the public against using at least seven illegal firecrackers, as their explosive content is beyond what the law allows. These include Piccolo, Pop-Pop, Goodbye Philippines or Crying Bading, Yolanda or Goodbye Napoles, watusi, Pla-pla and Giant Kuwitis.

Except for watusi, illegal firecrackers have explosive content of over 0.2 gram, more than what Republic Act (RA) 7183 allows.

Gatchalian said only 68 manufacturers, 285 dealers and 2,551 retailers of firecrackers have license from the PNP Firearms and Explosive Office (PNP-FEO).

Among the legitimate firecrackers that can be used revelr y are the Baby Rocket, Bawang, “El Diablo”, Judas Belt, paper caps, Pulling of strings, sky rocket, or kwitis, and the small trianggulo and pyrotechnics, such as Butterfly, fountain, Jumbo Regular, luces, Mabuhay, Roman candle, sparklers, trompillo, whistle devices and pailaw.

Gatchalian filed House Bill (HB) 4434, or the Firecracker Regulation Act of 2014, to amend certain provisions of RA 7183 to make firecrackers safer for Filipinos, particularly children who are most vulnerable to firecracker-related injuries.

The bill wants local government

units to designate pyrotechnic zones in their own locality to avoid fire and injuries.

“These amendments do not entirely do away with timehonored merry-making but seeks to provide stricter regulations in an effort to protect our people,” Gatchalian said.

If enacted, the bill would require fireworks dealers to submit the names and addresses of their affiliates to the PNP-FEO upon securing a business permit.

A maximum of P5,000 would be imposed as the limit for a single purchase of any firecracker or pyrotechnic device, excluding those with permit from the PNP. The bill would also prohibit selling fireworks to any one below 18 years old, while requiring children, who would use firecrackers, to be under the strict supervision of their guardians.

Those who will fail to secure their dealer’s permit through legal means would be penalized with a fine ranging from P100,000 to P500,000, or an imprisonment ranging from six months to three years.

Dealers found guilty of selling fireworks to minors would be fined P100,000 and would have their permit revoked.

Meanwhile, parents found guilty of instigating firework deals of their children would be imposed with a fine of P10,000.

Citing a report, Gatchalian said the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed a total of 1,018 fireworkrelated injuries in the first quarter of 2014. It was 9 percent higher than last year.

He added that 25 percent, or a total of 250 injuries, were from children less than 10 years old, which were mostly caused by the banned Piccolo.

The DOH maintains that the use of firecrackers should be allowed only as an activity managed by respective local governments and only in designated areas within their community.

HB 4434 is pending in the House Committee on Public Order and Safety.

STI defends takeover of PWU

By VG Cabuag

S

TI Holdings Inc. said it had no choice but to act against the Benitez Group, one of the founders of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU), to protect the interest of its shareholders as a publicly listed company.

STI, led by the Tanco family, said the Benitez family, early this month, called for the rescission of its agreement “without offering any payment of kind for all the funding assistance it received.”

“Being a publicly listed company, STI had to protect its interest and shareholders, and eventually cited the Benitez Group in default, the trigger for the resignations to become effective and for STI to gain majority of PWUs’ membership and board,” the company said.

STI is demanding the Benitez Group and Unlad Resources Development Corp. to pay P926 million as part of its agreement, which also called for three-fourths of seats in PWU’s Board of Trustees and membership, or 11 out of 15 members and eight out of 10 trustees.

In 2009 Banco de Oro (BDO) extended a loan to PWU to take

out its loan with Metrobank and Bank of Commerce.

As one of the conditions of the loan, BDO required all members and trustees of PWU to submit their irrevocable letters of resignation and assignment of their rights to BDO, in case of loan default.

Those letters, which have no date, were now being used by STI against key members of the Benitez family.

STI came into the picture when it claimed to have bailed out PWU in 2011, as it was nearing foreclosure by BDO. The Tanco group bought the debt from BDO worth about P223 million and lent the school some P26.5 million and Unlad an additional P198 million.

As a result of the loan takeout, the Benitez family entered a separate agreement with

the Tanco group to raise the authorized capital of Unlad to P1.5 billion within a month in order to convert STI loans into equity, which, in effect, was how the publicly listed company will be paid.

“It took STI three long years of waiting for the Benitez Group to comply with its obligations and signify its sincere intention to help PWU and its studentry. Please note that STI could have cited the Benitez Group in default as early as November 2011 for failing to meet its obligations under the bailout agreement,” STI said.

The Benitez Group, on the other hand, claimed that the Tanco group “retaliated” after the stakeholders of Jose Abad Santos Memorial School-Quezon (JASMS) City campus resisted the plan to transform the grounds into a commercial complex with the Ayala Land Inc. “The current act of takeover of PWU was triggered by, and in retaliation for, the refusal of the JASMS community to agree to Tanco’s idea of commercializing the JASMS campus,” it said.

JASMS is a PWU-affiliated school offering basic education.

Its campuses are in Quezon City and Manila.

News

A4 Saturday, December 27, 2014 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

DESIDERATA

A boy is framed in a mural that portrays economic growth and a clean and beautiful city on December 25 in Pasay City. According to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, cheaper oil prices may force the price of non-agricultural commodities to decline, which could further hike the country’s already strong consumption spending. The Philippine economy remains consumption drive, owing more than half of its economic growth to private and public sector spending. NONIE REYES

Containers with quicksilver from China seized by BOC

T

By Joel R. San Juan

HE Bureau of CustomsIntelligence Group (BOCIG) has seized seven container vans containing contrabands from China that arrived at the Manila International Container Port on Tuesday.

T he s h ipme nt s cont a i ne d various pain and anti-arthritis medicines, assor ted counterfeit footwear and apparel and at least 360 kilograms of mercury (quicksilver) worth an estimated

P1.8 million.

Deputy Commissioner Jessie Dellosa, head of the intelligence group, said only one of the seven containers has been subjected to 100-percent physical inspec-

tion, with the rest to follow in the coming days.

“Mercury and all medicines are regulated items that require permits from other government agencies.

We also believe that all the clothing with fake brands are meant as additional stocks for the holidays,” Dellosa said.

The shipments are consigned to Greyvoid Corp. and Thunderdragon Foods and Agricultural Products Import Export Corp.

The seized items had been declared as paper cups, paper plates and t-shirts.

The BOC noted that mercury is used in a wide array of devices such as thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers, float valves, mercury

switches, mercury relays, fluorescent lamps and telescopes.

It is also used in amalgam for dental fillings, as well as cosmetics.

Mercury is also used in mining to separate gold from crushed ore.

However, because of the toxicity of the heavy metal, the use of mercury is being banned by virtue of Executive Order 79 issued by President Aquino in 2012.

Likewise, the BOC pointed out that the Philippines is also a signatory to the United Nationsbacked Minamata Convention, an international treaty that seeks to ban mercury use in over 130 countries by 2020.

Among the seized items are a variety of pain medicines for arthritis, including syringes of sodium hyaluronate.

Metro filmfest rakes in ₧182M on second day

T

HE Metropolitan Manila Development Aut hor it y (MMDA) reported a two-day income of P182 million in the Metro Manila Film Festival’s (MMFF) 40th year, higher by 12 percent to 13 percent than last year.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said this year’s opening-day gross was P146 million, compared to P128 million on the first day last year.

As of 1 p.m. of December 26, the

ticket sales already reached P36 million, which is also higher than the P32 million of last year.

Tolentino said they are expecting to surpass last year’s P987-million gross income. “We are expecting a gross income of P1.1 billion this year,” he said.

Among this year’s top-grossing films according to Tolentino are My Big Bossing’s Adventures and Praybeyt Benjamin, as well as horror films Feng

Shui 2 and Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2. He, however, said that the exact figures concerning each entry have yet to be determined. “We will announce the ranking of all the entries on January 4 after the showing to prevent trending,” Tolentino told reporters.

The four other MMFF official entries include historical drama Bonifacio: ‘Ang Unang Pangulo, romancecomedy English Only Please, action film Magnum Muslim .357 and horror film

Shake, Rattle & Roll XV. Meanwhile, the awards night is scheduled on December 27, which will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

Proceeds of the annual holiday festival are being distributed to the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation Inc., Motion Picture and Anti-Film Piracy Council, Film Development Council of the Philippines and the Optical Media Board. Claudette Mocon-Ciriaco

Upgrade of Yolanda-hit lines awaits regulator’s nod

By Lenie Lectura

T

HE NATIONAL Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is seeking regulatory approval to upgrade vital transmission lines that were severely damaged by Typhoon Yolanda last year.

T he Or moc / Tongona n-Isabel 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission line was one of the most damaged transmission lines, wherein 72 transmission towers toppled and were damaged.

The grid operator has implemented an interim scheme by establishing a bypass transmission line that linked the remaining undamaged portions of the said line and provided transmission links toward the Isabel substation.

However, the bypass lines are supported mostly by steel pole structures designed for lower voltage level and some portions are located in difficult terrain, increasing the possibility of outage. As such, the NGCP said, there is an urgent need to implement the upgrading project, which involves the construction of 74 new steel tower structures adopting a new wind design criteria of 300 kilometers per hour. The upgrade will cost P709,326,825.21.

“There is an urgent need to implement this project in order to upgrade the line, provide N-1 contingency and maximize fault exposure, which will eventually result to load curtailment in Isabel substation and interruption of power,” the NGCP said in its eight-page application.

Also, the NGCP said the temporary

structures that were used to construct the bypass lines should be retrieved so that these can be used for future emergency use.

Another damaged transmission line is the Panitan-Nabas 138 kV, wherein 128 transmission towers toppled.

The NGCP proposed to upgrade the facility for P933,774,191.90.

The upgrading project involves the construction of 123 new steel tower structures.

“There is an urgent need to implement this project to construct permanent towers and put up conductors in order to upgrade the line and minimize fault exposure, which will eventually result to load curtailment and interruption of power,” the NGCP said in a separate application.

Lightweight modular towers and steel pole structures designed for lower voltage level were used to restore power after the typhoon in November last year.

“Swinging of transmission line conductors due to strong winds causes fault along the line as the energized conductors may come in contact with nearby vegetation,” it said.

The NGCP was warned by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration there will be an increase of tropical cyclones with maximum sustained winds of greater than 150 kph and above. As such, the NGCP considered a new wind design for new overhead transmission lines in the Visayas to prevent severe damage to its facilities.

Lawmaker urges overseas Filipino workers to avail of open distance learning

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ASIG City Rep. Roman Romulo urged overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are high-school graduates or college undergraduates to seek higher education through Open Distance Learning (ODL).

“We’ve established ODL precisely to help every Filipino, especially OFWs, working students and persons with disability, realize their hopes and dreams of acquiring higher education—whether a bachelor, master’s or doctoral degrees,” Romulo, chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, said on Friday.

Romulo made the statement shortly after Malacañang signed into law

the ODL law, or Republic Act 10650.

“What is great about ODL is that you can obtain a bachelor’s degree from any Philippine university, regardless of your location—while you are employed as a food-chain service crew in Kuwait, a domestic helper in Riyadh, or a hotel bellhop in Abu Dhabi,” Romulo said.

“You are able to study at your own pace. The mode of study is at your option and convenience,” said Romulo, who has been pushing for greater public access to higher education.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) records show that more than 5,000 Filipinos leave the country every day for contract jobs

abroad. Many of them are high-school graduates, holders of post-secondary certificate courses, or college undergraduates.

“Technological advances that have made it possible to teach more and more subjects remotely, mainly via computers and the Internet, while our human resources, including OFWs, have to continually retool and upgrade their skills to stay highly competitive,” Romulo stressed.

ODL is a mode of delivering flexible education and instruction to students who are not physically present in a traditional setting such as a classroom.

According to Romulo, it provides

“access to education when the source of information and the learners are separated by time and distance, or both.”

ODL may be conveyed to students individually, or via massive online courses, aimed at large-scale interactive participation and open access via the Internet or other network technologies.

No less than the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has been batting for ODL to help developing countries achieve their education systemwide goals.

“As a force contributing to social and economic development, ODL has

become an indispensable part of the mainstream of global educational systems,” the Unesco said.

“This growth has been stimulated in part by the interest among educators and trainers in the use of new, Internet-based and multimedia technologies, and also by the recognition that traditional ways of organizing education need to be reinforced by innovative methods, if the fundamental right of all people to learning is to be realized,” the Unesco added.

Under the new Philippine law, every learner enrolled in an ODL program shall enjoy the same privileges and benefits as a student in the usual

classroom, including access to scholarships, grants-in-aid and loans from government-administered funding sources.

The new law mandates the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) to prescribe and enforce the necessary policies, standards, and regulations for the effective implementation of ODL in the country.

The law also tasks the University of the Philippines OpenUniversity to assist and provide expertise to the CHED and the Tesda in developing ODL programs. PNA

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Saturday, December 27, 2014

GenSan tuna fishers hit govt over failure to curb illegal fishing

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GROUP of tuna fishermen from General Santos City on December 18 decried the government’s continued failure to step up efforts to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing which continues to threaten the local tuna fishing, industry.

Raul Gonzales, president of the Alliance of Tuna Handliners, said one year after the issuance of Executive Order (EO) 154, the Department of Agriculture has failed to carry out the order’s key mandate to adopt a national plan of action to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing, and to create a multiagency committee against IUU fishing.

“Executive Order 154 remains to be an order. In terms of its implementation, the only thing that has been done is the mobile registration of vessels with the Marina [Maritime Industry Authority] and BFAR [Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources], which they only started this

year. There are many fishermen who remain unlicensed with BFAR and there are no rules and regulations being laid down to address this,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales said that aside from EO 154, other existing regulations are either largely lacking or ineffective against IUU fishing.

In particular, Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 226, which disallows trading of juvenile tuna weighing below 500 grams, remains largely ignored due to its poor enforcement at the local level, Gonzales said.

Similarly, the Handline Fishing Law of 2007 remains toothless due to the absence of implementing rules

South Cotabato RPC saves ₧88M in improved rice-milling recovery

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AIME Junsay, chairman of Firmus Farm Services Cooperative (FFSC) in Ambalgan, Santo Nino, South Cotabato, is certain that most of the farmers in their community had a better Christmas this year.

This is because the 11-monthold rice-processing complex (RPC) entrusted to their cooperative by the Department of Agriculture (DA) has brought more than good news but also higher milling recovery and better income for all their farmers.

Since this January, the processing center has milled 36,000 metric tons of palay from 5,000 farmers cultivating some 10,000 hectares of rice land in South Cotabato and neighboring provinces of Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos) region.

With the improved RPC milling recovery of at least 65 percent, compared to the single-pass rice mills with a recovery of 58 percent, the farmers instantly saved around 2,500 metric tons of rice that could have gone to waste.

This would translate to at least P88 million in savings.

DA-Soccsksargen Regional Executive Director Amalia Datukan said the government invested a total of P32 million for construction, operational capital, capability building, and for administrative and management requisites of the facility. Classified as RPC III, the complex houses two biomass-fed mechanical dryers capable of drying 600 sacks of palay in eight hours; a modern rice mill and a storage facility.

“Wala pa pong isang taong operasyon ng RPC sa South Cotabato ay tubung-tubo na ang investment ng pamahalaan pagdating sa pakinabang ng mga magsasaka. P88 milyon agad ang value ng naisalba nating bigas na natapon lang sana kasama ng ipa,” Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said.

“Kaya po nagtatayo tayo ng mga RPC sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng bansa ay upang paliitin ang production loss at maitaas ang pagkita ng ating

mga magsasaka,”he said.

Junsay said the better milling recovery is just one of the good gifts of the RPC as it provides more room for income and convenience for the farmers consolidating their efforts for higher productivity and bigger income. He claimed there are even instances that the recovery reached as high as 72 percent.

Rice farmers and owners of palay buy-and-sell station Liwayway Andigan and Mary Jean Ursal said they deliver their palay to the RPC because of its high milling recovery and the mechanical drying facilities. “After we consolidate hundreds sacks of newly harvested palay, we can immediately deliver to RPC for drying and eventually, milling,” Andigan said.

“More than the higher recovery, RPC improved the quality of milled rice to well-milled that commands a higher commercial price with clearer white, less spots and bigger head rice,” Ursal said.

“Palay production in South Cotabato is more than sufficient but we lack milling facilities. It is also disheartening that because farmers do not have easy access to storage, drying and milling facilities, they are forced to sell their palay harvest to traders at a very inferior price” Junsay said.

Junsay said FFSC is charging fees for the services offered at the RPC but at much lower rates compared to the private counterparts. They charge P67 per sack for milling services and P33 per sack for drying.

FFSC is a farmer cooperative based in Koronadal City that manages the operations of the facility with the local government unit of Santo Niño, the National Food Authority (NFA) and the DA Regional Office in Soccsksargen.

FFSC offers farmworkers and machinery for hire for every production stage—from land preparation to harvesting; and with the RPC, postharvest activities.

The RPC could also serve as a buying and storage facility of the NFA.

for its implementation, Gonzales said. The group noted that the lack of regulation on IUU fishing has allowed massive juvenile-tuna fishing by big-purse seiners largely unabated. As a result, tuna harvests of handline fishermen in General Santos City are getting smaller and smaller.

“Handline fishermen are having a difficult time catching adult yellow fins and skipjack tuna due to the massive juvenile-tuna fishing in the area done by purse seiners,” Gonzales said. “There are no BFAR officials manning the ports. There are private tuna unloading areas wherein the BFAR has no control over. There is no actual implementation of best fishing practices.”

For his part, Vince Cinches, Oceans campaigner for Greenpeace Philippines, reissued earlier warnings that the country stands to lose billions of pesos in revenues if it fails to improve its scorecard and meet international standards on curbing IUU fishing.

“In GenSan, baby-tuna fishing and trade continues unabated. This is in violation of FAO 246. This kind of unregulated fishing is the primary reason we were issued a yellow card by the European Union [EU]. This is

an affirmation of a high level of illegal fishing that has been happening here and that we need reforms,” Cinches said. “We might end up like Sri Lanka, which was blacklisted by the EU and we stand to lose P7.5 billion should this happen.”

The EU issued the Philippines a yellow card in June and required the government to strengthen the “legal framework to combat IUU fishing, improve control and monitoring actions and take a proactive role in complying with international law rules.”

Cinches said Greenpeace is currently in discussions with government agencies on revisions to the Philippine Fisheries Code.

“We are working with the Philippine government to strengthen policies regarding IUU fishing. One of the policies that we are pushing is to increase penalties for illegal fishing, which the big tuna companies are opposing. The EU gave the government until December to work on this,” Cinches said. “We are also pushing the BFAR and other agencies to come up with measures to curb the use of fish aggregating devices, which is a key factor in the declining tuna population.”

Cinches also said Greenpeace is

sitting down with major tuna companies to help beef up internal procurement systems to ensure that their tuna supply is in compliance with FAO 226.

He said if efforts to meet EU requirements and improve the sustainability of tuna fishing in General Santos City are to succeed, major players in the tuna industry should adopt international fishing standards and industry best practices.

“Our campaign is not to damage the tuna industry, but to help it sustain itself. We need to achieve the balance between environmental protection and food security, and commercial tuna companies should be part of the solution to this dilemma,” he said.

Based on data coming from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, six out of the seven tuna canneries in the country are operating in General Santos City. These are Alliance Select Foods International Inc., Celebes Canning Corp., General Tuna Corp., Ocean Canning Corp., Philbest Canning Corp., and Seatrade Development Canning Corp.

Permex Producer and Exporter Corp. is the only tuna cannery operating in Zamboanga City.

Red Ribbon reaches more families with Nasugbu branch

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CPP tells NPA to expand

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By Rene Acosta

HE Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said on Friday it will further intensify its revolutionary struggle, as it ordered its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), to carry out more attacks against key government targets, including soldiers.

The vow was made by the Maoist group as it celebrated its 46th anniversary, not only directing its guerrillas but all of its allied groups to contribute to the attainment of the communist goal.

“It must generate plans to expand the NPA and the people’s militia, increase their firepower and raise their capability in terms of military tactics and techniques. It must completely defeat the AFP’s [Armed Forces of the Philippines] Oplan Bayanihan,” the CPP said in its marching orders to the rebels.

“The CPP wields absolute leadership over the people’s army as it launches guerrilla warfare to accumulate strength and weaken the enemy nationwide on the basis of an ever-expanding and deepening mass base,” it said.

The CPP claimed it is poised to gain headway in its movement against the Aquino administration due to the latter’s alleged corruption, sparing not even the country’s general allocations.

“The Aquino regime has been thoroughly exposed for its corruption in having made the yearly budget as a construct of lump-sum appropriations under the sole arbitrary discretion of the President and under his illegal claims to savings for the purpose of misappropriation and malversation,” it said.

The Maoist group claimed the Aquino administration is far worse than the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when it comes to human-rights records.

“The Aquino regime is definitely far worse than the Arroyo regime in imprisoning far more people on trumped-up multiple charges of rebellion and common crimes in violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian law and the Hernandez political offense doctrine,” it said.

“It has also detained 14 political consultants of the NDFP in violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees. The Aquino regime is fundamentally as bad as the Arroyo regime in allowing illegal detention, torture, extrajudicial killings, forced evacuations, land-grabbing from the peasants, and repression of workers and their trade unions,” it added. The CPP also vowed to intensify its recruitment of members and organized more groups in order to expand and consolidate its revolutionary mass base around the country.

“It must ensure the rapid expansion in the number of full-fledged mass organizations. It must raise the capability of the party cadres and activists to expand and consolidate the basic party organizations, the mass organizations, the units for self-defense and civil defense, the organs of political power and its programs for education, public health and land reform,” it said. With Marvyn Benaning

Disabled persons eye ₧1.8-million DOLE grant

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THE newly opened Red Ribbon in Nasugbu, Batangas, allows families and friends who live in the city to enjoy the bakeshop’s well-loved pastries and cakes.

R

ED Ribbon opened the doors of its first store in Nasugbu, Batangas—along JP Laurel Street, Barangay Poblacion III—on November 21 in time for the Christmas season.

The well-loved bakeshop’s branch in Nasugbu is the company’s 10th store in the whole of Batangas.

The newly opened store is highly accessible to residents of Nasugbu as it is situated near the town hall, town plaza and the city’s market.

The branch is also close to one of the largest elementary schools in the city, Nasugbu West Central, and is also a five-minute drive to Batangas State University, one of the most populated state universities in the province.

“Reaching more families is one of our main ambitions in Red Ribbon.

By opening a branch in Nasugbu, we wish to make more Batangueño fami-

lies’ celebrations special through our delectable cakes and pastries, especially in time for the holidays,” said Zinnia Rivera, general manager of Red Ribbon.

The week before the opening of the new branch, Red Ribbon conducted a pre-opening event involving the Nasugbu West Central School and the Office of the Mayor. Red Ribbon organized games and introduced Buttermon, their first-ever mascot, to over 1,000 students and other Batangueños.

When Red Ribbon opened its doors in Nasugbu, guests were delighted to free slices of the bakeshop’s well-loved cherry-chocolatiest Black Forest Cake. The bakeshop’s crew members surprised the guests during the opening as they performed a dance number.

“We are poised to continue bring-

ing more sweet moments to families by opening more Red Ribbon stores in the near future,” Rivera said.

Heading the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the recently opened Nasugbu branch of Red Ribbon were Fr. Gami Balita, Nasugbu Mayor Rosario Apacible, and Joseph Michael V. Castro, Red Ribbon operations head.

The opening of Red Ribbon’s store in Nasugbu, Batangas, signals the dedication of the local bakeshop in reaching more Filipinos, providing them the chance to treat their loved ones with delectable cakes and pastries. Residents of Nasugbu will now be able to make their celebrations extraordinary with well-loved products of the bakeshop such as the Black Forest Cake, Triple Chocolate Roll and Dedication cakes and pastries, such as the Butter Mamon, Ensaimada and Macaroons for a Cause.

AYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—People with disabilities here recently received a P1.8million livelihood grant from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The amount was given to the Kapisanan ng mga May Kapansanan ng Nueva Vizcaya (KMKNVI) whose members number to more than 500.

The funding assistance was siphoned off from the DOLE’s Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program.

The fund will be used for the KMKNVI’s enhancement project, particularly on the operation of negokarts for peddling of food products and starter kits to reinforce their technical skills and services.

Pacifico Moralit, DOLE district chief, said the fund was coursed through the provincial government as partner on the implementation of the KMKNVI’s projects. Gov. Ruth Padilla has encouraged the KMKNVI members to submit their business proposals in order to avail themselves the DOLE fund assistance.

“You should be specific on the kind of business you want to open.

For example, vegetable vending, we will design a cart that is suitable for vegetables,” Padilla said. PNA

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Saturday, December 27, 2014

Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

Too many holidays?

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HE Philippines has the unofficial title of being the country with the longest Christmas season. This year, we may have gained another: the nation with the fewest business days during the Christmas and New Year period.

From December 20, 2014 to January 4, 2015, we will have had a total of 13 “days off” out of 16 calendar days. We always have many nonbusiness days at the end of every year, but this year is a little unusual.

In 2015 we will have 11 days off, unless the government declares more special nonworking days.

Part of the reason for this is Rizal Day being commemorated so close to the New Year. Also, with Christmas Day falling on a Thursday this year, it was only natural for many people to have Friday off, too, and make it a very long weekend.

While it is pleasant, from a personal viewpoint, to have so many days to relax and indulge in family activities, these may cost the nation economically.

Within these two weeks, the Philippine banking system would only be open for three days. It is almost impossible to accurately quantify the monetary loss from the holidays. However, Hans Sicat, president and CEO of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), was quoted as saying, “We understand that prolonged breaks can be disruptive to the financial system, especially in the context of globalizing environments, and we have, thus, asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [BSP] to take into account, in subsequent similar occasions, opening clearing operations to minimize such disruptions.”

The loss of business to the local stock market is substantial. On the other hand, department-store executives are probably saying, “Great!

More days for shopping!”

There may be a hidden advantage to the PSE being closed more often during this period, as the American stock markets often act strangely toward the end of the year. This is because investors must prepare for 2015 tax consequences by selling losing positions to offset capital gains on the winners. Stocks trading near their yearly lows are sold down and then may be bought back after the new year begins.

We can appreciate Sicat’s concern, though, as the PSE saw strongerthan-expected trading volume on Monday and Tuesday than what might be normal for this time of year. His suggestion to the BSP should be given attention, as the banks and stock market do not need to be closed for every holiday.

Consider: The New York Stock Exchange was closed for nine days in 2014; the PSE, for 16.

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2015: The year ahead John Mangun

W

HILE we are recovering from Christmas and getting ready to ring in the New Year, it is probably a good time to share my thoughts for 2015, maybe while no one is watching.

On February 8 the title of this column was “Buy the breakout”, referring to the fact that I thought both the Philippine peso and the Philippine stock market would appreciate through 2014. The peso did appreciate by over 10 percent, and then gave back those gains. The stock market hung on to its approximate 10-percent increase.

Throughout 2014 we continued to hear that the Philippine economy and the stock market were due for a major drop. Neither of those predictions came true, as most of the gloom and doom offered by the experts failed to materialize.

You may believe that the financial and asset markets are manipulated, rigged and moving outside the bounds of reality, and you could be right. However, it is still real money that moves those markets.

As economic and business-cycle forecaster Martin A. Armstrong

HOM

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recently wrote, “They [the ‘experts’] continue to cling to old theories that no longer work, while ignoring the fact that the markets have proven them wrong as they continue to try to blame anyone but themselves.”

No matter how far out of line you believe stock prices might be, sitting smugly and waiting for the collapse is a fool’s game that denies you the opportunity to make money.

Armstrong may be a controversial figure, but his work on cycles is something that cannot be ignored.

The cycles of life that we experience everyday cannot be ignored, either.

No matter how you twist the logic to suit your theories, making nine women pregnant will not produce a baby in one month.

Cycles can be expressed in clear and well-defined mathematical terms. The pretty shape of a seashell or sunflower follows a precise arrangement that is known as the Fi-

is unpredictable, and we could conceivably regain the 1.5 percent we are currently down with.

But the index has been stuck below the 7,300 level for four months now. Is this, then, a market under accumulation to go higher or faced with distribution before a decline? Check back on January 9 for the answer to that question.

Longer term, I believe that the market is going to move up and reach a new daily historic high closing.

But tops and bottom are very easy to see in hindsight, but are difficult to predict.

Here is what we need to watch in the first quarter: The dollar is in a strong uptrend. If the peso weakens, that would not be good for the stock market. The Philippine bond market is predicting that government interest rates will go higher— another stock-market negative. The first-quarter 2015 economic growth numbers will be very important. The PSE index needs to hold the 7,000.

But regardless of what the market does between now and September, I am planning for a more turbulent 2015.

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.

New jobs in the health-care industry: Geriatric nursing Marc Daubenbuechel

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OUTSIDE THE BOX

bonacci sequence, named after 12thcentury Italian mathematician Leonardo Bonacci. However, the similar “Golden Ratio” was discussed by the Greek philosopher Plato 1,700 years earlier. These two concepts formed some stock-market forecasting tools, including the Elliot Wave and Fibonacci Retracements.

There are several cycles that occur repeatedly in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that are similar to Armstrong’s economic-confidence model. He is expecting a crisis period to unfold beginning in September 2015, and I am inclined to agree, based on the PSE cycles.

I have written so many times that the party is not over as the market continues to move higher. For 2015 the lights may begin to dim as this PSE run starts to come to a close.

Without going into the particular PSE cycles, as they are from my proprietary research, it is interesting that they coincide with Armstrong’s analysis. It could be, and probably is, all coincidental. However, the September/October 2015 window is well-supported.

The next question: If that window proves to be “the beginning of the end”, what will the PSE do between now and then?

We can assume that the PSE index will end December on a negative note, as we only have one more day of trading this year, and that is next Monday. But then again, this market

I

AM writing this column on my way to a meeting with Pflegen & Wohnen Hamburg, the operator of 12 nursing homes that have about 3,000 beds in Germany. We will be discussing the first steps of our newest public-private partnership (PPP) project, through which we will be offering vocational geriatric training in the Philippines as part of the Philippine Healthcare Initiative (PHI).

PHI is a project that contributes to the overall improvement of healthcare facilities and nursing homes in the Philippines, enabling the country to demonstrate its excellence, address transparency, lead clients to make easier choices and market the Philippines as a long-stay and medical-travel destination, and assist in building the regulatory environment.

The geriatric sector is growing in the Philippines; in 2013 it had more than 7 million senior citizens. Dementia cases reached 169,000 in 2005, and are expected to hit 316,000 by 2020 and 1.2 million by 2050. This will make the Philippine the country with the highest number of such cases in the region.

Because of this increase, a new trend can be seen: the establishment of more assisted-living facilities and nursing homes. Ten years ago not a single nursing home could be found in the Philippines. Today we have about 250 beds in about 15 such homes in Subic, Zambales; Laguna; Manila; Iloilo; Tagaytay, Cavite; and Cebu.

These facilities and home-care providers are in need of highly specialized geriatric care. As of now, knowledge about the proper care of geriatric patients is limited, because there is no geriatric education offered.

While nursing education in the Philippines is of high quality and recognized by many countries, it has several disadvantages for those who want to work in

a nursing home. Nursing is a Bachelor of Science course, and universities offering it apply the classroom-teaching approach, which leaves students lacking in bedside training. Furthermore, the geriatric-care content is limited to a few hours, and gerontopsychiatric approaches are nonexistent.

This leads to a shortage of nurses who can provide specialized care to people with dementia and other cognitive diseases.

The geriatric-curriculum PPP will develop geriatric education as an addon module for registered nurses. The students will be employed by nursing homes while receiving in-depth classroom-based lessons and bedside training that will make their geriatric education holistic. The curriculum will provide a foundation of knowledge and skills to meet the unique requirements of the aging population for health care and quality of life.

As a training ground, PHI will only be choosing nursing homes that have been a part of its “Human Touch” program, in which quality-management systems are implemented in different institutions to provide an environment with standardized, high-quality care.

Nurses who finish the training course will have good chances of becoming head nurses in those facilities or working as geriatric nurses abroad.

Filipinos are known to possess the “human touch”, which is important when caring for the elderly. This makes Filipino nurses very attractive to foreign markets that urgently need geriatric nurses. In 2014 Germany alone had a shortage of 14,000 geriatric nurses, and it is expected that more than 100,000 will be needed until 2030. This makes geriatric-nursing education a very attractive niche segment for Filipino nurses.

If you want to participate in this new and exciting industry, PHI is searching for nurses and trainers with an extensive background in the health-care, geriatric or related industries, as well as with strong research and teaching experience. They will undergo comprehensive training in a geriatric institute in Germany and are expected to develop with PHI a geriatric curriculum that will be adapted to the Philippine environment, manage the overall development of the curriculum and impart their knowledge to trainers from Philippine healthcare institutions.

Interested parties can send their applications to marc@rhc.com.ph.

Marc Daubenbuechel is the executive director of the Retirement & Healthcare Coalition and the director of the Philippine Healthcare Initiative.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

The pernicious effects of patronage politics

Evangelii Gaudium Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

Cecilio T. Arillo

database

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NLESS the 1987 Philippine Constitution is amended, the pernicious effects of patronage politics will pose a continuing threat not only to the independence and integrity of the Judiciary, but also to the whole country.

No one can deny that the Judiciary is now exposed to a process of creeping politicization, where some errant officials of the Executive and Legislative branches, with self-serving political and economic interests, wanted to control the Supreme Court after it wrote finis to the pernicious pork-barrel practice.

This is so because politics, rather than economics, is the country’s major preoccupation, where elections are hotly contested by ballots, wallets and bullets to persuade voters.

It is alleged that even our laws encourage the commission of corruption, and the perpetuation of favoritism and patronage in politics.

For example, in Section 100 of the Omnibus Election Code, a candidate for president is allowed to spend P10 for every voter. Based on 50 million registered voters, this is P500 million.

If he or she is running under a political party, he or she is allowed to spend an additional P5 per voter, or P250 million more or a total of P750 million, for a position that has a maximum salary of only P3.4 million in six years.

This law—originally Batas Pambansa 881 and amended by Republic Acts 6636, 6646, 6734, 6766, 6679, 7166, 7941 and 8189, and the 1987 Constitution—is not only ridiculous, but also provides an opportunity to commit corruption, because the attendant ill of paying political debts and recovering personal expenses (plus interests) after the election is unavoidable.

Arguably, the evil effects of partisan politics flow over the mainstream of the Judiciary, and pollute its purity. For the courts ultimately resolve political contest; hence, some politicians employ fair and foul means to influence the appointment of judges and justices. Needless to say, they work only for the appointment of those with canine-like devotion to their vaulting ambitions.

Another, more pernicious problem is the country’s economic retrogression that works against the Judiciary, whose outrageous budget share is less than 1 percent of the national budget.

“This is a pittance that tragically translates into lack of decent halls of justice, poor court facilities, low salaries, etc.,” former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno said, adding that “the Judiciary is also bedeviled by vacant salas; worse, it finds difficulty to attract top-of-theline lawyers; and, worst, it tempts some to entertain unholy acts.”

“An ignorant mind and a corrupt heart are not the vital organs of a good judge,” the former chief magistrate said.

For 2007 to 2009, the Commission on Audit (COA) conducted an audit on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the so-called Various Infrastructures including Local Projects (VILP). The PDAF is for so-called soft projects, like education, health, livelihood, social services, financial assistance to address propoor programs, peace and order, culture and the arts; VILP is the “hard” portion, or public works. The VILP is why it’s more fun—

rather, fund—in Congress.

Looking at the pork-barrel issue, the COA audit for 2007 to 2009 revealed that those who participated in the plunder involved three departments—the departments of Agriculture (DA), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

According to my former colleague in the old Times-Mirror-Taliba publication and now fellow columnist Tony Lopez: The “DA has become synonymous with hunger [4.9 million Filipino families, or 25 million Filipinos, had nothing to eat at one time in the last three months, according to the Social Weather Stations].”

The “DPWH has become synonymous with highway robbery—the kind perpetrated by our senators and [House members]. And the social welfare of [the] DSWD could, as well, stand for the “private welfare” of our 70 elite political families.

“Aside from the three Cabinet departments, also involved in the massive looting of taxpayers’ money were four government corporations—Technology and Livelihood Resource Center, National Livelihood Development Corp., National Agribusiness Corp. and Zamboanga del Norte Agricultural College Rubber Estate Corp.

“Plus five provincial governments— Tarlac, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental; and [seven] city governments—Mandaluyong City, Manila [including 12 barangays], Las Piñas, Tabaco, Iriga, Naga and Panabo.

“The COA audit for 2007 to 2009 validated P101 billion in [the] VILPs [infrastructure funds] released by the Department of Budget and Management nationwide, P12 billion in PDAF released to the DA, DPWH and DSWD; and P2.36 billion from [the] allocation for financial assistance to local government units and budgetary support to GOCCs [government-owned and -controlled corporations].”

What compounds the abovementioned problems is that some misguided politicians continued to blame the justices for putting an end to the porkbarrel practice.

Puno’s reminder for misguided and angry politicians is quite instructive: “An attack against justice anywhere is an attack against justice everywhere.

In the world of justice, we are all brothers and we are our brothers’ keepers. Where the light of justice is yet to shine, let us help light it; where the light of justice is flickering, let us help it flare; where the light of justice is flaring, let us keep it flare eternally.”

He said that, in a participatory democracy, it is essential that citizens have faith in their public institutions.

“A Judiciary that is seen as fair and independent is a vital component in sustaining people’s trust and confidence in the Judiciary. It is through the Judiciary that people truly experience the working of a democracy and good governance,” he concluded.

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

44th part

The special place of the poor in God’s people

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OD’S heart has a special place for the poor, so much so that He Himself “became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9). The entire history of our redemption is marked by the presence of the poor. Salvation came to us from the “yes” uttered by a lowly maiden from a small town on the fringes of a great empire. The Savior was born in a manger, in the midst of animals, like the children of poor families; He was presented at the Temple along with two turtledoves, the offering made by those who could not afford a lamb (cf. Luke 2:24; Leviticus 5:7); He was raised in a home of ordinary workers and worked with His own hands to earn His bread.

When He began to preach the Kingdom, crowds of the dispossessed followed Him, illustrating His words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18).

He assured those burdened by sorrow and crushed by poverty that God has a special place for them in His heart: “Blessed are you poor, yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20); He made Himself one of them: “I was hungry and you gave me food to eat,” and He taught them that mercy toward all of these is the key to heaven (cf. Matthew 25:5).

For the Church, the option for the poor is primarily a theological category, rather than a cultural, sociological, political or philosophical one. God shows the poor His first mercy. This divine preference has consequences for the faith life of all Christians, since we are called to have “this mind…which was in Jesus

BLOOMBERG VIEW

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HANKS to China, Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank and Takehiko Nakao of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) may no longer have much meaningful work to do.

Beijing’s move to bail out Russia, on top of its recent aid for Venezuela and Argentina, signals the death of the postwar Bretton Woods world. It also marks the beginning of the end for America’s

linchpin role in the global economy and Japan’s influence in Asia.

What is China’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank if not an ADB killer? If Japan,

to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom that God wishes to share with us through them.

Our commitment does not consist exclusively in activities or programs of promotion and assistance; what the Holy Spirit mobilizes is not an unruly activism, but, above all, an attentiveness that considers the other, in a certain sense, as one with ourselves. This loving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person, which inspires me effectively to seek their good. This entails appreciating the poor in their goodness, experience of life, culture and ways of living the faith.

True love is always contemplative and permits us to serve the other, not out of necessity or vanity, but, rather, because he or she is beautiful above and beyond mere appearances: The love by which we find the other pleasing leads us to offer Him something freely. The poor person, when loved, is esteemed as of great value, and this is what makes the authentic option for the poor different from any other ideology, from any attempt to exploit the poor for one’s personal or political interest.

Only on the basis of this real and sincere closeness can we properly accompany the poor on their path of liberation. Only this will ensure that, in every Christian community, the poor feel at home. Would not this approach be the greatest and most effective presentation of the good news of the Kingdom? Without the preferential option for the poor, the proclamation of the Gospel—which is itself the prime form of charity— risks being misunderstood or submerged by the ocean of words that engulfs us daily in today’s society of mass communications.

Since this exhortation is ad-

A7

dressed to members of the Catholic Church, I want to say, with regret, that the worst discrimination that the poor experience is the lack of spiritual care. The great majority of the poor have a special openness to the faith; they need God and we must not fail to offer them His friendship, His blessing, His word, the celebration of the sacraments, and a journey of growth and maturity in the faith. Our preferential option for the poor must mainly translate into a privileged and preferential religious care.

No one must say that they cannot be close to the poor, because their own lifestyle demands more attention to other areas. This is an excuse commonly heard in academic, business or professional, and even ecclesial circles. While it is quite true that the essential vocation and mission of the lay faithful is to strive so that earthly realities and all human activity may be transformed by the Gospel, none of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice: Spiritual conversion; the intensity of the love of God and neighbor; zeal for justice and peace; the Gospel meaning of the poor and of poverty are required of everyone. I fear that these words, too, may give rise to commentary or discussion with no real practical effect. That being said, I trust in the openness and readiness of all Christians, and I ask you to seek, as a community, creative ways of accepting this renewed call.

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.

Animals and sometimes humans kill the young–the difference is why

cies short of tarantulas, the young share characteristic features—big googly eyes, short snouts, round ears, higher foreheads and proportionately bigger heads.

To toss around some scientific jargon, young animals are “cute”. And research had shown that this adorableness helps elicit parental care. Be they polar bears, humans or field mice, the cuteness of kids prompts parents to desire to pay for piano lessons and a new pair of ice skates for them. The young also inherently inhibit aggression from their elders. Or so everyone thought.

As Hrdy further documented this phenomenon, zoologists began to accept that langurs sometimes kill the young of other animals. But the admissions were waved away as abnormal behavior. Scientists would offer a semihypothetical explanation that reflected some sort of pathology—they’d say that, perhaps, the population density was too high and animals were starving, dismiss it as an overflow of generic male aggression or declare that infanticidal males were possibly zombies. Yet, none of the theorizing explained the behavior.

Hrdy learned more, and soon other

zoologists were reporting the same phenomenon in other species, including lions and gorillas. And the increasing number of pieces of the puzzle began to provide a plausible explanation.

In infanticidal species, there’s a consistent social structure. Groups of (typically related) females live with a single breeding male who engages in that evolutionary business of passing on lots of copies of his genes. Meanwhile, other males grumble on their own in the hinterlands.

Eventually, some peripheral male challenges the resident male, drives him out and becomes the new breeding male. But it won’t be long until the same fate befalls the new male. In the meantime, many of the females aren’t fertile because they’re nursing infants. Realpolitik solution for the male? Kill the infants. It sets back the reproductive success of the previous male, the females stop nursing and start ovulating—and he succeeds in passing on his genes.

In other words, there’s logic, carried out unconsciously in these species, underlying such “competitive infanticide.” For zoologists, the most important implication of these pioneering studies is that, from the standpoint of evolution, it can be strategically advantageous to kill someone else’s offspring. (In fairness, various species display an equivalently strategic logic that favors great displays of altruism toward someone else’s offspring.)

That brings us to varied occasions where humans go about killing someone else’s child.

Two years ago, Adam Lanza entered

Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 20 children, along with six adults, before taking his own life. Lanza was a lone wolf with severe neurodevelopmental problems not of his own making. Someone who, inconceivably, had access to guns and, even more inconceivably, was taken for target practice by his gun-enthusiast mother (whom he also killed). This was an act of deep pathology, as was the case with Seung-Hui Cho in 2007 at Virginia Tech; Elliot Rodger in May in Isla Vista, California, near University of California, Santa Barbara; and so many other school shootings in recent history.

And then there are the slayings of the children in Peshawar. This was not the work of a Lanza, Cho or Rodger. This was a venture requiring teamwork. The killers probably held planning meetings to carry out the massacre, complete with PowerPoint presentations and Danish rolls. The group carried out this slaughter with depravedly rational ideological and theological motivations—rational in the sense of acting to gain power, in contrast to the irrational goal of, say, acting because their imaginary friend told them to.

Yes, we humans are often unexpectedly similar to other species. Sometimes we demonstrate that to an extent that could almost make a langur monkey weep along with us.

generous assistance, we expect your full support on everything, from Taiwan to territorial disputes to deadening the West’s pesky focus on human rights.

This may sound hyperbolic; Russia, Argentina and Venezuela are already at odds with the United States and its allies. But what about Europe? In 2011 and 2012 it looked to Beijing to save euro bond markets through massive purchases. Expect more of this dynamic in 2015 should fresh turmoil hit the euro zone, at which time Beijing will expect European leaders to pull their diplomatic punches. What happens if the US Federal Reserve’s tapering slams economies, from India to Indonesia, and governments look to China for help? Why would Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic or Vietnam bother with the IMF’s conditions when China writes big

checks with few strings attached?

Beijing’s $24-billion currency-swap program to help Russia is a sign of things to come.

Russia, it’s often said, is too nuclear to fail. As Moscow weathers the worst crisis since the 1998 default, it’s tempting to view China as a good global citizen. But Beijing is just enabling Russian President Vladimir Putin, who’s now under zero pressure to diversify his economy away from oil. The same goes for China’s $2.3-billion currency swap with Argentina and its $4-billion loan to Venezuela. In the Chinese century, bad behavior has its rewards.

If ever there were a time for US President Barack Obama to accelerate his “pivot” to Asia, it’s now. There’s plenty to worry about as China tosses money at rogue governments like Sudan and Zimbabwe. But there’s also lots

at stake for Asia’s budding democracies. The so-called Washington consensus on economic policies isn’t perfect, but is Beijing’s model of autocratic state capitalism with scant press freedom really a better option? With China becoming Asia’s sugar daddy, the temptation in, say, Myanmar might be to avoid the difficult process of creating credible institutions to oversee the economy.

There could be a silver lining to China lavishing its nearly $4 trillion of currency reserves on crisis-plagued nations: It might force the IMF, World Bank and the ADB to raise their games.

Competition, as Lagarde, Kim and Nakao would agree, is a good thing. But more likely, China’s largess will encourage bad policy habits and impede development in ways that leave the global economy worse off.

By Robert M. Sapolsky Los Angeles Times (TNS)

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MONG the endless stream of bad news in the media, every now and then something occurs that it is so horrendous that it stops us in our tracks. That has happened once again with the massacre at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan, recently. Among the victims: 132 children who died, many of them shot at close range.

It would be appalling enough if this were the work of someone destroyed by mental illness of a particularly rare, ghastly sort. But it is even more astonishing because it was strategic, the work of a branch of the Taliban intent on destabilizing the Pakistani government. An organization, a group that probably tries to balance its budget, has media spokesmen and recruits through Facebook. A group that purposely slaughtered children as it carried out one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s history.

The depravity of this act has moved me to share an anthropological story that could be lifted from a Grimms’s fairy tale, but happens to be true. In the 1970s a young Harvard University primatologist named Sarah Hrdy came back from doing fieldwork in India, where she studied Hanuman langurs, a species of monkey. She had observed something remarkable, and almost no one believed her.

She reported that male langurs would occasionally kill infants, and this ran counter to knowledge in the field, namely, that humans are the only species that kills its own kind and that the young fall into a protected category. In almost every spe-

China steps in as the world’s new bank William Pesek

Christ” (Philippians 2:5). Inspired by this, the Church has made an option for the poor, which is understood as a special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole tradition of the Church bears witness. This option—as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has taught— is implicit in our Christian faith in a God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with His poverty.

This is why I want a Church that is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only do they share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the center of the Church’s pilgrim way. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends,

Saturday, December 27, 2014

the ADB’s main benefactor, won’t share the presidency with Asian peers, Beijing will just use its deep pockets to overpower it. Lagarde’s and Kim’s shops also are looking at a future in which crisis-wracked governments call Beijing before Washington.

China stepping up its role as lender of last resort upends an economic development game that’s been decades in the making. The IMF, World Bank and the ADB are bloated, changeadverse institutions. When Ukraine received a $17-billion, IMF-led bailout this year, it was about shoring up a geopolitically important economy, not geopolitical blackmail.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government doesn’t care about upgrading economies, the health of tax regimes or central-bank reserves.

It cares about loyalty. The quid pro quo: For our

Robert M. Sapolsky is a professor of neuroscience at Stanford University and the author of A Primate’s Memoir, among other books.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, December 27, 2014

BTr postpones nonrestricted trading of govt securities

By David Cagahastian

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he Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) has again postponed to February 2, 2015, the scheduled implementation of the nonrestricted trading of government securities between tax-exempt and taxable entities.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon moved the target date of implementation for the trading of government securities a month later from January 5, 2015.

“To conclude market-preparedness activities leading to the full implementation of the subject initiative, please be informed that the going live date for nonrestricted trading and settlement environment will now be on February 2, 2015.

A detailed schedule of activities will be issued separately by the bureau for market participants’ compliance,” de Leon said in a memorandum.

This represented the second time the target live date was moved from the original target live date of November 24, 2014.

Under the nonrestricted trading between tax-exempt and nontax-exempt entities, government securities may already be traded across tax categories.

The BTr said this would benefit taxexempt institutions by allowing them access to price-discovery strategies enjoyed by the active taxable sector of the market.

Full market access by either taxable and tax-exempt entities on the trade of government securities help deepen the local securities market and provide additional liquidity to the tax-exempt sector.

The nonrestricted trading requires the BTr to use a system approved by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to track the tax liabilities on the transactions between tax-exempt and nont a x e xempt buyers a nd se l lers of government securities.

Revenue officials had previously hesitated on giving its assent to the nonrestricted trading of government securities proposal on fears that the transactions would not be properly taxed.

The BIR would later say they now have that ability or system to help them track each transaction and capture the necessary levy due the government.

DOE awards 651 renewable energy contracts as of November

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By Lenie Lectura

HE Department of Energy (DOE) said it has awarded 651 renewable-energy (RE) contracts, six years after the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 was enacted.

As of end-November this year, the agency said these contracts have a potential generation capacity of 10,040 megawatts (MW), against a total installed capacity of 2,500 MW. Of the more than 600 RE projects awarded by the government, 404 are hydropower; 68 solar; 54 wind; 43 for biomass; 41 for geothermal; and five for ocean energy.

On top of these, there were 36 RE contracts awarded for

self-generation of electricity.

These include one each for hydro, eight for solar and 25 for biomass.

The latest DOE data also showed that there are 166 pending RE projects, 129 of which are hydro; 18 solar; five ocean; five for biomass; six wind; and two geothermal. The potential generation capacity of these pending RE projects could reach 1,386.05 MW, against an installed capacity of 697.8 MW.

Additional nonworking holidays to hike operating costs–Seipi

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ocal manufacturers of semiconductors and electronic products have expressed their concern over the possible increase in their operating costs due to additional nonworking days in January.

Malacañang earlier declared January 15, 16 and 19 as special nonworking holidays for the National Capital Region. These dates coincide with Pope Francis’s visit to the Philippines.

“Now, the difficulty we have as an industry, as far as that is concerned, is that [the additional nonworking holidays] will increase our labor costs by 30 percent,” said Dan C. Lachica, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi), in a recent media briefing.

Under the law, when work is required on special nonworking

days, employers are expected to pay an additional 30 percent of the employees’ hourly rate on the first eight hours of work.

If the rationale for declaring additional nonworking holidays is to minimize congestion, Lachica said most of its members are in Calabarzon and will not contribute to traffic.

“If our employees would like to [go to the event] they could go on a leave. Companies, however, will not shut down; they need to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so that would increase our costs,” Lachica said.

On Monday Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. signed Proclamation 936, which designated January 15, 16 and 19 as special nonworking days.

Congress enacted Republic Act 9513, or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels and minimize the Philippines’s exposure to price fluctuations in the international market.

Fluctuations in oil prices adversely impact almost all sectors of the country’s economy.

Under the National Renewable Energy Plan, the DOE aims to triple the country’s RE generation from the current installed capacity of 5,438 MW to 15,304 MW by 2030.

The DOE has already streamlined the process of RE applications—from two years down to just 45 days—to ensure that RE developers and investors will have an easier time in applying for RE service contracts.

To promote the use of RE on a larger scale and to attract new investments for RE facilities, the government is banking on the feed-in-tariff (FIT) system.

FIT is a premium rate paid for electricity fed into the grid from a designated renewable electricity generator, like solar energy system or wind power plant.

Approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission in July 2012, the FIT rate in the Philippines is considered one of the lowest in the world. The impact of FIT on the electricity rate, estimated at 2 centavos per kilowatt-hour, is marginal compared to the expected increase in the cost of traditional fossil fuels (like coal) in the coming years.

This is why the DOE is pushing for the increase of the installation target for solar from 50 MW to 500 MW. “The FIT is a testament that, while RE seems to be more expensive than traditional energy sources, admittedly, it is needed because it is essential to the country’s energy security,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jerico L. Petilla said.

‘Govt addressing weaknesses in PHL economy’ M

By Butch Fernandez

alacañang assured on Friday that the government is already addressing “persistent weaknesses” in the Philippines’s credit profile cited by creditrating agency Moody’s Investors Service in its recent report on the country’s economy.

Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said that, among others, infrastructure development is being “accelerated” and that “productive sec-

tors such as agriculture, will receive more focused attention.”

“Please add tourism and manufacturing,” Coloma told the BusinessMirror when asked about measures being taken by the government to redress the “weaknesses” reported

by Moody’s.

Coloma said the government was also giving “priority attention on high poverty-incidence provinces to promote inclusive growth.”

This developed as Palace See “PHL economy,” A2

Catherine N. Pillas

Oil trades near $60 amid signs of Saudi confidence in rebound

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il traded near $60 a barrel in London amid the highest volatility in more than three years, as Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, is seen to be signaling its confidence in the market.

Brent futures fluctuated after declining 2.4 percent on December 24. Saudi Arabia’s assumption of oil at $80 a barrel next year is sending a message that the government expects a price rebound, according to John Sfakianakis, a former economic adviser to the kingdom’s finance ministry. Implied volatility for at-themoney options this week increased to the highest since October 2011, data compiled

by Bloomberg show.

Oil has slumped 46 percent this year, poised for the biggest drop since 2008, as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) resisted supply cuts to defend market share, while the highest US production in three decades exacerbated a global glut. Crude prices are “fair” at about $70 to $80 a barrel, Iraq’s Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said.

“The market is fluctuating today as there’s less liquidity,” Will Yun, an analyst at Hyundai Futures Corp. in Seoul, said over the phone on Friday. “Uncertainties still linger in the market as Opec and the US haven’t signaled any output cut or a slowdown in their production.”

Brent for February settlement was at

$60.18 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, down 6 cents, at 3:01 p.m. Singapore time. The contract fell $1.45 to $60.24 on December 24. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $4.32 to West Texas Intermediate (WTI).

Prices have slid 2 percent this week, set for a fifth weekly loss.

WTI for February delivery was down 1 cent at $55.83 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It decreased $1.28 to $55.84 on December 24. The volume of all futures traded was about 43 percent below the 100-day average.

The Saudi government is probably assuming an oil price of $80 a barrel for 2015, down from this year’s $103, said Sfakianakis, the Middle East director at Ashmore Group Plc., an asset manager in London. Oil accounted for 89 percent of the nation’s 2014 revenue, according to the finance ministry.

Saudi Arabia is confident that crude prices will rise as global economic growth boosts demand, while high-cost producers cut back, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said on December 21.

Iraq this week approved a budget based on oil at $60 a barrel. The government in Baghdad accepted the “Saudi theory” that Opec should protect its market share and let prices drop to reduce output elsewhere, Oil Minister Abdul Mahdi said in an interview Continued on A2

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BIR sets guidelines for TCC cash conversion

I

nternal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares has given instructions that requests for the conversion to cash of tax-credit certificates (TCCs) should be processed, approved and the corresponding check released within 75 days.

Henares issued Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) 38-2014, setting the policies and guidelines in the implementation of cash disbursements of tax refunds and cash conversion of TCCs through a “trust receipts fund” created for the purpose.

RMO 38-2014 sets a deadline of 75 days within which a request for TCC cash conversion should have already been processed, approved and the corresponding check released within 75 days from the receipt of the request by the Miscellaneous Operations Monitoring Division from a valid TCC holder.

In cases of Notices of Payment Schedule (NPS), the check should be released within 75 days from the date of receipt by the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) Finance Service of the request for redemption from a valid NPS holder.

In cases of claims for tax refund other than NPS or TCC cash conversion, the check should have already been released within 75 days from the date of the receipt of the complete documents by the Finance Service, or the regional Finance Division, as the case may be, from the concerned recommending revenue offices.

However, taxpayers requesting for refunds or cash conversion would still have to be free of any delinquent tax liabilities before their application for conversion shall be processed.

“All outstanding delinquent-tax liabilities shall be fully settled by the concerned taxpayer before the approval of the taxpayer’s claim for tax refund. However, outstanding delinquent-tax liabilities of the concerned taxpayers, whose claims for tax refund are already pending in the concerned revenue offices, including the regional finance divisions responsible for the processing of payment thereof, shall first be determined and deducted, if any, from the claim, before the processing of the same shall proceed,” the memorandum said.

Earlier this year, President Aquino issued Executive Order (EO) 68-A, instructing the Department of Finance to give all qualified VAT-registered taxpayers the full cash value of their outstanding VAT TCCs issued as of December 31, 2012. The program that provides for the monetization of these VAT TCCs should be fully implemented not later than June 30, 2016, according to EO 68-A. David Cagahastian

Hong Kongers pocket HK$9M after van spills cash on street

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ONG Kongers who thought Christmas came a day early, have returned about half of HK$15 million that rained down on a city street from a passing security van.

About HK$6 million ($773,186) of the cash that spilled out of the rear door of a G4S Plc. van traveling down Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, has been returned by people who picked it up, a police spokesman said over the phone on Friday. Taxi drivers, their passengers and pedestrians can be seen in footage posted on You Tube. snatching up the HK$500 notes after they fell out of the van.

A 43-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman were arrested for allegedly keeping more than HK$160,000 of the bank notes, according to the spokesman. The police had urged people to return the cash, which was being delivered for BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd. BOC, in a statement on Thursday, urged G4S to investigate the incident and said the security company was liable for the lost money. G4S said on December 25 three banknote cases fell from the van and apologized to BOC and the public for “any inconvenience or embarrassment, which it may have caused.” Bloomberg News