BusinessMirror December 8, 2014

‘DISASTER-RESPONSE FUNDING ADEQUATE’

By Butch Fernandez & Recto Mercene

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alacañang on Sunday assured the availability of additional funds for quick disaster response and relief efforts on top of the initial P4.5 billion set aside for the rehabilitation of affected regions damaged by Typhoon Ruby.

At the same time, the Palace confirmed that the national government’s frontline team, deployed by President Aquino in expected typhoon sites, is now coordinating with local governments in overseeing the situation and assessing damage caused by this year’s strongest storm (known internationally as Hagupit).

Red Cross volunteers repacked assorted canned goods, rice and noodles at the Red Cross headquarters in Intramuros, Manila, for relief operations in the Visayas, which was affected by Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit). ROY DOMINGO

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Street fashion, feminist influences hit runways B B M Los Angeles Times

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T was a season of auspicious beginnings and poignant good-byes at Paris Fashion Week for spring/summer 2015, as new designers entered to breathe fresh life into the Sonia Rykiel, Paco Rabanne and Loewe brands, and the original enfant terrible of French fashion, Jean Paul Gaultier, exited the ready-to-wear stage to focus on haute couture. On the runways, the collections shown for next spring were a youth quake of swinging 1960s and 1970s style: flower power prints, army and navy uniforms, flared pants and babydoll dresses, folklore and fringe, eyelet and embroideries galore, seen at Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Dries Van Noten, Sacai, Chloe, Rykiel and more.

But there was a different kind of revolution happening too during the presentations. Designers grappled with the meaning of fashion in the context of feminism, and whether it’s even realistic to think that designers can still dictate to women, especially now that street style blogs, Instagram and YouTube stars are challenging the whole top-down system.

At Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld erected a grand boulevard indoors at the Grand Palais and took fashion to the

streets. For a finale, he staged a protest—models marching out, fists in the air, with picket signs that said, “Be Your Own Stylist,” “Tweed is Better than Tweet” and “We can match the machos.”

It was a rallying cry for a lot of things, including individual style, and an acknowledgment that today fashion is not a consensus, but merely a suggestion, one that many women (and some designers) choose to ignore, resisting the idea that there could ever be a new or old look. Coco Chanel knew all of this. One of her most famous quotes remains true, “Fashion fades, only style remains the same.” Of course, a big house with a storied heritage has design codes that are written into the lexicon of style—Chanel’s tweed jacket, for example, which is and always will be a classic.

So Lagerfeld began with that, showing tweed suits with full cut trousers and short-sleeve jackets with wide lapels that conveyed a ’70s spirit.

Models came out in twos, chatting amicably as if they were on their way to work, portfolios in hand. They wore bold, watercolor-floral pleated skirts, top coats and flat boots covered in matching print; fatigue-green safari jackets and wide pants. Beatnik bags came covered in badges, patches and buttons and cross-body styles were tricked out like a tweedy Chanel jacket.

Bouclé shifts were dressed up with concrete-colored

tile sequins. There were marine stripes, pinstripes, lace doilies decorating the shoulders of jackets, frilly bow blouses, midiskirts, miniskirts, walking shorts, short sleeves, rolled-up sleeves and no sleeves. In other words, there was pretty much anything you’d ever want to wear.

It was, like the Internet, a flood of information and suggestions coming rapid-fire, which is one way to keep the copycats at bay. It’s hard to copy a deluge. But it also reflects the way most women shop today, which is by item, not by a whole look or brand. Certainly, that’s the way of blog style stars, who achieve fame for their individuality. Leandra Medine of the Man Repeller blog has nearly as much power as Lagerfeld, which is why swarms of photographers gathered outside every show to snap photos of what she was wearing. (At Chanel, it was a pair of eyelet, wide-legged pants—the same pants silhouette that was all over the runways and won’t be in stores for six months hence, and yet she was already rocking them.)

Street style is certainly giving runway fashion a run for its money, and designers are taking notice.

Rather than one cohesive look, Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent show was an army of individuals dressed for a hot night out in feathers, fireworks embroideries and glitter platform heels.

Inspired by the late LA artist Robert Heinecken, an appropriator and image manipulator, Slimane’s designs always seem to be teasing and toying with our ideas about ownership, newness and the definition of luxury.

He’s like a DJ sampling tracks.

On the runway, there was the model in denim cutoffs (sure to cost a fortune) and a slim-line blazer that could have been mistaken for an original YSL design from the 1970s swiped from mummy’s closet. Then there was the model with a skinny red scarf at the neck and a green flat top hat atop her head, wearing studded leather capri pants like something out of Grease with a leather bomber that could easily be mistaken for the world’s greatest Goodwill find as fashion made in a Paris atelier.

Then again, what’s new, what’s old, what’s original and what’s appropriate, what’s a bargain and what’s a fortune, what’s fashion and what’s not? Maybe it doesn’t matter. It sure doesn’t to many women as they get dressed. But there are those who do want help because they don’t have that innate sense of style that attracts flashbulbs like moths to a flame. We can’t all go to a store and zero in on the perfect jacket for a big meeting or dress for a big to-do, whether that store is Saint Laurent or Zara.

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A FASHION protest in Chanel’s spring/summer 2015 Paris Fashion Week show, led by no less than the house’s head designer and creative director Karl Lagerfeld. AP

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REPUBLICANS IN HOUSE MATCH POST-WORLD WAR II RECORD GREEN CLIMATE FUND: WHO’S PLEDGED AND WHO HASN’T

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B3-1 | Monday, December 8, 2014 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Republicans in House match post-World War II record

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ASHINGTON—Republicans will hold at least 246 seats in the House of Representatives in January, a commanding majority that matched the post-World War II high of the Truman administration.

Republicans will expand their current 234-201 advantage by a dozen seats in the next Congress, with one race still undecided.

On Saturday the party kept con-

the final two years of President Barack Obama’s second term.

The latest count gives the Republicans a 246-188 majority. One race, in Arizona, is still outstanding.

In a Democratic-held district in the Tucson, Aarizona area, an automatic recount will determine whether Rep. Ron Barber keeps his seat or Republican challenger Martha McSally prevails. McSally led by fewer than 200 votes.

If McSally wins, Republicans would have 247 seats, the largest majority since 1929 to 1931 when the party controlled 270 seats in President Herbert Hoover’s administration.

In the midterm election rout, House Republicans prevailed in Democratic territory, netting 12 seats and winning in New York, Illinois, Maine,

trol of two Louisiana seats in runoff elections.

Republicans will run the Senate, too. That means the party will control both chambers of Congress for

New Hampshire and Iowa.

Republican challengers knocked out long-term Democratic incumbents in Georgia and West Virginia, seats that the party now could hold for generations as it maintains its hold on the South.

Democrats had held out hope of minimizing their losses despite Obama’s low popularity and historic losses for the party occupying the White House. Democrats did manage to win three Republicanheld seats in California, Florida and Nebraska.

Obama’s party lost 63 seats in 2010 and 12 more this year, and he is now the two-term president with the most midterm defeats, edging past Truman’s 74. AP

French leader reaches out to Putin in Moscow

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OSCOW—French President François Hollande met with Russia’s Vladimir Putin during an impromptu visit to Moscow on Saturday, a rare display of goodwill as tensions remain high over the ongoing conflict in east Ukraine and France’s decision to suspend the delivery of two warships to Moscow.

The French leader’s unexpected stopover in Moscow, as he traveled from neighboring Kazakhstan back to Paris, makes him the only head of state from a major Western power to visit Russia since it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March.

The visit—which, in sharp contrast to protocol, was held at a Moscow airport rather than at the gilded halls of the Kremlin or Putin’s country residence—comes as Russia’s economy heads toward recession for the first time in six years, and Moscow is more isolated than ever over its role in Ukraine.

Putin also struck a more moderate note than expected on the conflict in east Ukraine, where fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Kiev’s forces has claimed at least 4,300 lives since April. Western nations have imposed sanctions on Russia for what it says is its role in providing the militants with personnel and arms, something Moscow denies.

“I very much hope that in the near future we will have a final cease-fire agreement” in east Ukraine, Putin said in televised remarks after

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RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin (left) and French President François Hollande shake hands after their meeting at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on Saturday. AP/RIA-NOVOSTI, ALEXEI DRUZHININ, PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE

meeting with Hollande.

Without a fully implemented truce, he said, “it is difficult to picture Ukraine as a territorially integral country, and Russia, as is wellknown, supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

In his own remarks televised after the meeting, Hollande said “deescalation of the Ukrainian crisis is possible,” if the cease-

fire agreement, agreed to by both sides in Minsk in September, is fully implemented.

“France wants this crisis to end because it is causing suffering, for Ukrainians and because of the sanctions, and because it prevents relations with Russia from proceeding as they should.”

Putin said that the two leaders had not discussed the delivery of the

two warships, which was suspended

by France after coming under intense pressure from its allies to suspend the sale because of tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

On Friday France’s defense minister said in a TV interview that the delivery of both ships might be canceled, if the political situation doesn’t change.

“We proceed from the assumption that [the deal] will be carried out,” Putin said, but added that Russia would “act with understanding no matter how these events develop.”

Hollande’s visit comes at a challenging time for Putin: Russia’s economy and currency have been battered by plummeting oil prices and Western sanctions, and the South Stream gas-pipeline project, which would have brought more Russian gas directly to southern Europe, has been abandoned.

Alexei Pushkov, a prominent member of Russia’s parliament who often expresses Kremlin views on foreign policy, praised the French leader for his unscheduled visit to Moscow.

“Hollande, who until now has always remained in the shadows on Ukraine, has left the shadows and showed his character: he paid a timely visit to Moscow and met with Putin,” Pushkov wrote on Twitter.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on his official Twitter account on Saturday that he had spoken to Hollande by phone about how to resolve the conflict in east Ukraine. AP

ACID REFLUX CAUSING OBAMA’S SORE THROAT

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ETHESDA, Maryland— Acid reflux is responsible for the sore throat President Barack Obama has complained about for the past couple of weeks, the White House said on Saturday, shortly after the president returned from undergoing diagnostic tests at a nearby military hospital.

Obama’s motorcade made the approximately half-hour crawl in rainy weather to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where a CT scan was performed and was normal.

Obama, 53, was at the facility for about a half hour before returning to the White House.

The CT scan followed a morning fiber-optic exam performed on Obama at the White House by an ear, nose and throat specialist from Fort Belvoir Medical Center in Northern Virginia and supervised by Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, Obama’s physician and director of the White House Medical Unit.

Jackson said in a statement that the fiber-optic exam revealed “soft-tissue swelling” in the back of Obama’s throat.

Jackson said he and the specialist, who was not identified, determined that “further evaluation with a routine CT scan was prudent.”

The CT scan was normal, Jackson said.

“The president’s symptoms are consistent with soft-tissue inflammation related to acid reflux and will be treated accordingly,” he said, without elaborating on exactly how Obama’s condition would be treated.

Acid reflux is caused when the contents of the stomach flow back up the esophagus, causing heartburn and other symptoms. Treatments include avoiding certain foods and using over-the-counter or prescription medications, including antacids.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Jackson suggested that Obama have the diagnostic test done on Saturday afternoon because the president had free time in his schedule. Rain kept Obama off the golf course, where he spends most Saturdays when the weather permits.

“The quickly scheduled test is a matter of convenience for the president, not a matter of urgency,” Earnest said.

Obama had a physical exam in May and was said to be in excellent health. AP

IMA, Peru— Among the most significant achievements of the UN climate talks, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is intended to become a key channel of money to help poor countries take action to fight climate change and deal with its impacts.

With Norway’s pledge of $258 million on Friday, the fund has received promises of $10 billion, and is expected to start considering projects for funding next year.

However, the 24-member board— split equally between developed and developing countries—first needs to adopt some rules on what kind of projects should get financing.

Here’s a look at some of the contributions, from rich and poor alike: ■ United States: $3 billion. White House says a “significant portion” should support private-sector activities and reserves the right to direct some of the money to other funds “based on the pace of progress” of the GCF. ■ Japan: $1.5 billion. Green groups suspect Japan wants the fund to allow financing for fossil fuel technologies, including modern coal-fired power plants.

Japanese delegates in Lima said on Friday that Japan hasn’t adopted a position yet. An Associated Press report on Monday showed Japan has already used about $1 billion in climate money to build coal plants in Indonesia.

■ Britain: $1.2 billion. Britain says it wants to earmark some of the adaptation funds for the most vulnerable countries.

■ France: $1 billion. The French pledge is a combination of grants and concessional loans.

■ Sweden: $550 million. Sweden’s contribution is the biggest relative to the size of the country’s population. The pledge needs to be approved by Parliament, which is currently in crisis mode after the government failed to get its budget adopted.

■ Australia: Zero. Australia says it will continue to pay for climatechange adaptation in vulnerable countries through its aid budget rather than through the GCF. ■ South Korea: $100 million. The first developing country to make a pledge to the fund. It’s also the host country of the GCF headquarters.

■ China: Zero. The world’s most populous country and No. 1 carbon polluter hasn’t contributed to the fund but China’s chief negotiator at UN climate talks in Lima on Thursday urged all developed countries, including Australia, to do so.

■ Mongolia: $50,000. It may be a symbolic sum, but China’s poorer neighbor Mongolia’s pledge shows that anyone can contribute, not just rich countries. Mongolia’s GDP per capita is not even one-fifth of that of the US. AP

WORLD

A MAN from Peru's Ashaninka indigenous community walks on Agua Dulce beach before a gathering that's part of the Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru, on Saturday.

Among the most significant achievements of the UN climate talks, the Green Climate Fund is intended to become a key channel of money to help poor countries take action to fight climate change and deal with its impacts. AP/MARTIN MEJIA

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SOMETIMES THE BEST IDEAS COME FROM OUTSIDE YOUR INDUSTRY

By Lenie Lectura

onsumers enjoyed the biggest cut in fuel prices this year on Sunday at P2.50 per liter, a benefit that could prove to be short-lived, as oil companies have started giving hints of possible hikes in costs due to the effects of the Supreme Court (SC) order on the transfer of the depots in Pandacan, Manila.

Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell, PTT Philippines, Seaoil, Chevron Philippines, Phoenix Petroleum and Total Philippines reduced the price of gasoline by P2.50 a liter and P2.25 a liter for diesel and kerosene.

The price adjustments took effect between 12:01 a.m. and 6 a.m. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), this was the 23rd rollback in gasoline prices, and 30th for diesel and kerosene.

Earlier, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to hold output steady, despite several months of decline in the price of crude oil. Also, the lower energy demand has translated to downward price adjustments over the past few weeks.

But a development in the local scene, particularly the recent release of the SC order on the transfer of the oil depots, could lead to oil-price hikes.

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China rejects West Philippine Sea arbitration

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BIG WINNER It’s a dream come true to have their own house and lot for seaman Arturo Verano, who was the “big winner” in the recently concluded Fourth OFW and Family Summit at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Verano would not have been the big winner if he did not accede to the request of his wife to spend Christmas with them. Verano, together with his wife, Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, former Senate President Manuel Villar and their son Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar, poses behind the symbolic key for the Camella house and lot he won in the raffle draw. ROY DOMINGO

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STREET FASHION, FEMINIST INFLUENCES HIT RUNWAYS D

A broader look at today’s business

AS WORLD DEVELOPMENTS LEAD TO FUEL-PRICE CUTS, TRANSFER OF DEPOTS LIKELY TO HIKE COSTS

INSIDE

EAR God, our desire for happiness is in this context. And we thank You for it. “The beatitudes respond to the innate desire for happiness that You have placed in the human heart in order to draw us to Yourself. God alone can satisfy this desire”. Aren’t we looking for true happiness? Amen.

Meanwhile, a total of 177 domestic flights were canceled on Sunday by the Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific Air (CEB), Zest Pal Express and Tiger Air because of Ruby.

PAL canceled 41 flights to typhoon-affected destinations, and 25 flights to and from the Asian regions were also canceled. The flag carrier said additional cancellations for December 8 and 9 will be announced later, as the airline tracks the exact path of the typhoon in the next two days.

CEB canceled 96 flights, saying that affected passengers can avail themselves of free booking for travel within 30 days from the original date, or get full refund.

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SOMETIMES THE BEST IDEAS Reverse Mono (use on black and dark backgrounds)

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B M P, N F  M S

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FTER years of studying innovation, we’ve found that there’s great power in bringing together people who work in fields that are different from one another yet analogous on a deep structural level.

For example, more than a decade ago, 3M developed a breakthrough concept for preventing surgery-related infections after getting input from a theatrical-makeup specialist who was knowledgeable about preventing facial skin infections. Also, a company that needed a solution for tracking inventory and borrowed ideas from the sensors on miniature robot-soccer players.

When you’re working on a problem and you pool insights from analogous areas, you’re likely to get significantly greater novelty in the proposed solutions for two reasons: People can draw on different pools of knowledge, and they’re not mentally constrained by existing, “known” solutions to the problem in the target field.

For example, in a recent study we recruited hundreds of roofers, carpenters and inline skaters to examine their reluctance to use safety gear because of discomfort.

In standardized interviews, we asked how roofers’ safety belts, carpenters’ respirator masks and skaters’ knee pads could be redesigned to increase their comfort and use. A panel of experts evaluated the suggestions on novelty and usefulness.

Each group was significantly better at thinking of novel solutions for the other fields than for its own.

We’re often asked how businesses can find appropriately analogous fields to tap ideas and expertise.

First, carve out the deep-structure elements of your problem.

What is its essence? Describe it in such a way that potential solvers from analogous markets can connect their knowledge to it.

Then, consider applying effective search methods to identify

distant knowledge sources. Pyramiding involves sequentially asking for referrals until you reach the top of a knowledge pyramid; broadcast search refers to widely disseminating a problem to activate self-selection among problem solvers.

Next, we suggest that managers select analogous fields that are marked by greater technological advancement or higher stakes than the target problem’s field.

Look for thinkers who display high levels of personal creativity, or those whose leading-edge needs drive them to solve similar problems in their own areas.

An important caveat: We find that analogous-field solutions for all but the very best ideas show lower immediate usefulness. Presumably that’s because the problem solvers lack familiarity with the context of the target problem.

To overcome this drawback, let analogous-field thinkers interact with problem solvers from the target market. Also, be clear about your goals: Are you looking for radical solutions or is the emphasis on practicality?

Next time you face an innovation problem, consider looking for creative people who, although they know little of your field, may be more likely to come up with breakthrough thinking; indeed, they may have the solution you’ve been searching for all along.

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Marion Poetz is an associate professor at Copenhagen Business School’s Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics. Martin Schreier is a professor and the head of the Institute for Marketing Management at Vienna University of Economics and Business. Nikolaus Franke is a professor and the director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Vienna University of Economics and Business.

One engagement strategy does not fit all B N B

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OU’VE probably heard these stories before: A coaching program that worked for one employee failed with another who’s up against the same hurdles.

A reward system that increased performance on one team actually led to disgruntled workers in another group.

By using the same reward systems, engagement tactics and coaching programs, you’re managing your employees as if they are all the same exact person. They’re not.

So stop treating them like clones.

You can’t take a cookie-cutter approach to talent management. Your people need to be motivated differently based on their personal wiring. Keep in mind these two important rules: ■ KNOW YOUR PEOPLE: Leaders at every level need to accurately identify the specific values that are most important to the people who report to them. Create a list of simple values and ask your employees—via surveys, interviews or focus groups—which are the most personally important to them as individuals. You will quickly learn how to best support your people— information that can fundamentally change their, work experience.

■ LEVERAGE THEIR STRENGTHS: Create two or three development goals for each of your employees that bridge the gap between their

TIPS FOR WORKING UNDER A TYPEA BOSS

personal values and your company’s culture.

For example, if someone values risk-taking but your organization aspires to maintain stability, give him the task of evaluating new, perhaps untested, technology that can be used to enhance internal stability.

IBM, a pioneer in personalized employee development, has created a mentorship matching program. Rather than creating a one-size-fits-all employee development system, the company provides an online database that allows employees to find a mentorship relationship that can help them fulfill their development objectives. Potential mentoring relationships include traditional senior-to-junior mentoring, peer mentoring and virtual group mentoring, or others.

Mentor relationships exist across business units and geographical locations.

IBM reports this program has resulted in an overall uptick in strategic collaboration across the company and in employee skill development.

It’s time for all of us to make talent management this personal. Rather than assuming your people are clones, find out what makes them unique and create meaningful processes to get the most out of your greatest assets: your people.

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YPE A bosses, while driven, successful, creative and full of passion, have a tendency to dominate, and to be demanding and distracted. This can frustrate and demotivate subordinates.

Having worked with many Type A CEOs, I’ve narrowed down a few tips that can help employees improve their relationships with their bosses—and make their jobs more enjoyable.

■ DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Type A’s value efficiency. They’re always thinking one step ahead. Try to anticipate your boss’s questions, so you can organize your thoughts in advance. Ask about his or her expectations. If you know what the priorities are, you can prepare appropriately.

■ DON’T BE AFRAID TO SPEAK UP. If you disagree about something or have other concerns, be direct. Make a solid argument based on research.

■ BUILD AN OUTSIDE-OF-WORK RELATIONSHIP. Carol Kaufman, executive director and founder of the Institute of Coaching and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, advised: “One job we all have with our bosses is to make them less anxious. The more you help calm them down, the less intense they may be.” One way

to do this is to share some of your passions and goals, even those outside of work. These personal conversations can help your boss be more present and slow down. A bit of humor helps too.

■ REALIZE THAT IT’S NOT YOU. Type A bosses often feel alone, overwhelmed and as if they have an enormous responsibility. Having run CEO peer groups with more than 200 CEOs over 15 years, I’ve noticed that their feedback to me is strikingly similar.

CEOs—the classic type A bosses— join peer groups and networks because “it’s lonely at the top.” So try asking how your boss is doing.

■ STAY THE COURSE. Working with a Type-A boss can be discouraging.

The key is to recognize that any negative feedback doesn’t mean “stop” or “bad;” it usually means “go and continue to refine.” Press for more specific information, and ask, “Am I on the right track? If I make these changes, am I good to go?”

Often we learn the most by working with high performers. So, try your best to prepare ahead of time, establish trust and turn any frustrating comments into opportunities to improve.

What managers really need from academics B M G. J

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CADEMICS are often criticized—fairly, on the whole—for working in ivory towers far removed from the needs of real-world executives on the ground. We can do a great deal more to realize “gains from trade” between our two worlds. Here are at least four areas where we, business academics can improve.

■ WE’RE FOCUSED ON TOO NARROW A DEFINITION OF RIGOR. We’ve expected too much from research that might be analytically rigorous but still doesn’t accurately describe reality.

Behavioral work is far more promising. We’re learning more about behavioral biases and the way individuals really make decisions. We need behavioral and evolutionary economics to show us how organizations make decisions—and why we can expect them, quite predictably, to make bad decisions and to stick with the wrong behavior.

■ WE NEED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE REALITY OF DECISIONMAKING. We don’t spend enough time looking at the way strategic decisions are really made. By leveraging behavioral and evolutionary work, we can get a much clearer picture of the organizational reality of strategy and a better understanding of how to add value through frameworks, analogies and a focus on the most relevant parts of the business environment.

■ WE FOCUS TOO MUCH ON INDIVIDUAL FIRMS AND NOT ENOUGH ON CONTEXT. A growing body of research, in institutional and evolutionary economics and economic sociology, looks at how complex production systems emerge, evolve and interact, and how value migrates within and between sectors. These ecosystems or organizational fields can show us some very valuable new perspectives.

■ WE NEED TO VALIDATE AND RETEST ESTABLISHED FRAMEWORKS. Finally, academics and consultants can come together to revisit popular ideas, even those that have profoundly shaped practice. As academics, we should strive more to add value by being objective and rigorous about the conditions under which established views do and don’t work well. We can also point out some new, valuable ideas that don’t get enough play in the popular business press.

What excites me is the prospect of a stronger link between practitioners and academics, so we can apply the research we’ve done and shape the research we need to do. Together, we can uncover the social laws that we don’t yet understand but that shape our world.

MONDAY MORNING

Dr. Natalie Baumgartner is a cofounder and the chief psychologist at RoundPegg, a culture management software platform leveraging predictive talent analytics.

For over a decade, Melissa Raffoni has worked directly with more than 100 CEOs as president of Raffoni CEO Consulting.

Michael G. Jacobides holds the Sir Donald Gordon Chair for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the London Business School.

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SITTING PRETTY Sports

Jordan Spieth opens his round with three straight birdies and caps it with a 50-foot birdie putt for a seven-shot lead in Florida. AP

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| Monday, deCeMber 8, 2014 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Spieth openS up 7-Shot lead at iSleworth

SITTING PRETTY

By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press

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INDERMERE, Florida—Jordan Spieth flew from Japan to Australia to Dallas the last two weeks, took a day off and then came over to Florida for the Hero World Challenge.

His game traveled with him.

One week and half a world away from his six-shot victory in the Australian Open, Spieth was practically flawless on Saturday at Isleworth. He opened with three straight birdies and capped his day with a 50-foot birdie putt for a 9-under 63 and a seven-shot lead over Keegan Bradley and Henrik Stenson.

“Felt strong coming off last week,” Spieth said. “Job is not done this week, but I’m a believer in my own momentum. I’m going to go out tomorrow with a very similar strategy to today. If the putts go and the breaks

go my way, hopefully shoot a round like today. If not, I’m still going to have to shoot under par to win this golf tournament.”

Spieth was at 20-under 196.

He said he has never been 20 under on any course through 54 holes, and he has never finished a tournament that many under par. That gave him a target for Sunday, when he goes after his second straight victory.

Tournament host Tiger Woods was 20 shots behind and in dire need of his antibiotics taking effect. Woods lost his voice overnight and had nausea on the practice range and the golf course. He felt slightly better at the end of his round when he made three straight birdies for a 69.

He remained in last place.

Bradley made four straight birdies around the turn on his way to a 65. He will play in the final group with Spieth.

“I’ve got to shoot a low one and get some help from Jordan,” said Bradley, who has not won in more than two

years. “He’s such a good player. I don’t expect that. I’m going to have to shoot a really low one.”

Stenson, who played in the final group with Spieth on Saturday, recovered from a sluggish start with four birdies over his last eight holes for a 68.

“I don’t think anybody is going to catch him tomorrow unless he’s having a really bad day,” Stenson said. “Seems to be a one-horse race going into Sunday. He’s a very solid player and playing solid golf at a very young age.”

Stenson recalls Spieth making a spirited charge at the Swede in the Tour Championship last year. He also is aware that Spieth finished one shot out of a playoff in Japan and won in Sydney against a field that included Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott.

“We’re going to see a lot of him in the years to come,” Stenson said.

Spieth elected to return on Saturday morning to complete the rain-delayed second round instead

of finishing in darkness. He had clear vision in the morning—not only of his chip to 5 feet to save par, but of Steve Stricker’s 50-foot birdie attempt across the green.

Spieth had about the same putt later in the day, only going in the opposite direction of Stricker’s putt. That at least gave him an idea of the speed, though he had imagined a 3-foot circle around the hole that he would have accepted to walk off with par.

This turned out even better. The putt dropped for an unlikely birdie, and Spieth raised his putter as it dropped.

He was all smiles walking off the green.

“I put my putter up, which usually means it will find a way to lip out,” Spieth said.

No chance on this day.

He opened with an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 1, got a good bounce with his 7-iron on the par-3 second to about 8 feet, and then made birdie on the par-3 third. After that, his iron play and his short game—always exquisite—were so good that he didn’t need to make any big putts.

Wrapping up his second full season as a pro, Spieth gets a new experience on Sunday—playing with a big lead.

“I think I’ve got to have a number tomorrow to go out and really chase,” he said. “I haven’t finished in the 20s [under par] before ever in my career, and I think most of the guys that are in this event have somewhere. So that would be a good goal, to go out there and shoot under par. Hopefully, it’s good enough.”

Bradley will be chasing with a short putter, as he has done this week ahead of the January 1, 2016, ban on the anchored stroke used for his belly putter. Bradley in the 2011 Professional Golfers Association Championship was the first player to win a major using a belly putter.

“I’ve had five years and hours and hours of practice that are now taken away from me,” he said. “But it’s fun to come out here and prove to everybody and myself that it’s not a big deal. This is probably the best three days of putting I’ve had in a couple of years.”

PELé NOW IN PRIVATE ROOM, ROCOVERING

S

Sick tiGer tallieS BeSt Score W

INDERMERE, Florida—Tiger Woods had his best score of the week and never felt worse in the World Challenge on Saturday.

Woods lost his voice overnight. He was nauseous on the practice range and when he took a swig of water on the first hole, he threw it up. He had a fever that finally broke on the front nine at Isleworth. And he closed with three straight birdies for a three-under 69.

“It wasn’t easy and I fought hard,” Woods said.

“That’s about all I had.”

It was enough to at least get back to even par for the tournament, though he remained in last place and was the only player not under par.

Woods hasn’t competed since August 9 when he missed the cut at the US Professional Golfers’ Association Championship, taking off nearly four months to build up strength so that his injured back would be fully healed. This is the only tournament he will play for about two months. The tournament benefits his foundation and learning centers, and it has a new sponsor.

What a time to get sick.

“That’s the way it goes,” Woods said.

He said he wouldn’t have withdrawn even if this were not his tournament. And it’s not like illness has never held him back. It was 11 years ago, and just down the road at Bay Hill, when Woods battled a nasty bout of food poisoning during the final round. He won by 11.

“I like to compete,” he said. “If I can go, I can go. I’ll give it everything I have. I wasn’t in pain. Just a little bit under the weather.”

Woods said he threw up before and during the round, and he probably wanted to vomit after a couple of more duffed chips, which have received plenty of attention this week. Woods stubbed two more chips on Saturday, bringing the total to eight chips that could only be described as shockingly bad.

Both led to bogey, and Woods appeared to be on his way to another mediocre score until the end.

After the fever broke and he said his strength slowly started to return, Woods was pin-high on the par4 16th with a three-wood (the tees were moved forward) and made an 8-foot birdie. He hit the middle of the green on the par-5 17th with a fairway metal that never left its target and had a two-putt birdie.

And with an 8-iron from 170, he stuffed it on No. 18 for a third straight birdie.

The best part of the day? Playing with Billy Horschel, they finished in just over three hours.

“We played fast, which was nice,” Woods said.

“I didn’t have to sit out in that heat for too long. AP

SPORTS

Sick tiger woods gathers himself during »theathird round of the hero world challenge golf tournament. AP

ãO PAULO—Doctors say Pele continues to recover and has been transferred to a private room at São Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital.

The hospital says in a statement that the 74-year-old Brazilian great was transferred from the semiintensive care unit (ICU) on Saturday.

Pelé has been hospitalized since November 24 after being diagnosed with a urinary tract infection that stemmed from a November 13 surgery to remove kidney stones.

On Friday doctors said Pelé showed no more signs of the infection.

Pelé stayed several days in an ICU to undergo hemodialysis to help support his only kidney. The three-time World Cup champion had one kidney removed when he was still a player. AP

C1

hina rejects and won’t join an international arbitration of its territorial dispute with the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), according to a position paper released on Sunday through the state-run Xinhua news agency.

A week before China must submit its defense to Philippine charges at a United Nations panel, the government outlined 93 points, reiterating that it holds sole sovereignty in the area, and that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has no jurisdiction over territorial claims.

“China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands and the adjacent waters,” according to the document.

“It is the view of China that the arbitral tribunal manifestly has no jurisdiction over this arbitration, unilaterally initiated by the Philippines, with regard to disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.” The Philippines challenged China’s claim to much of the South China Sea at the tribunal in March, seeking to check Beijing’s bid for control of waters rich in oil, gas and fish. The Southeast Asian nation said it had exhausted political and diplomatic avenues to resolve the case. Bloomberg News

PESO exchange rates n US 44.6480

Cosco, Puregold to spend P9.5 billion next year

By VG Cabuag

T

he main business units of Lucio Co, Cosco Capital Inc. and supermarket operator Puregold Price Club Inc., may spend a combined P9.5 billion next year, as the companies expand their retail operations in the Philippines that include additional supermarkets and the construction of shopping malls and convenience stores.

Leonardo Dayao, president for both Co-led companies, told reporters that Puregold has set aside P5.5 billion to further expand its number of supermarkets to include areas in the Visayas and Mindanao. Cosco, meanwhile, plans to spend at least P4 billion for the construction of new shopping malls.

Puregold’s capital expenditure next year will be bigger than this year’s programmed spending of P3 billion, while Cosco’s was lower than this year’s anticipated spending of some P6 billion, after the Co-led company bought Office Warehouse and Liquigaz.

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

Dayao explained that Cosco aims to acquire communitytype malls; spend some P2.5 billion for the venture; and P1.5 billion will be used for the construction of three to four more malls. Each new mall costs about P400 million to construct, Dayao said.

See “Cosco, Puregold,” A2

‘Tax cap on 13th-month pay has minimal impact on govt revenues’

I

ncreasing the tax-exemption ceiling of 13-month pay and other bonuses would not cause the government to lose P30 billion in revenues, the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means said over the weekend.

Liberal Party Rep. Romero Quimbo of Marikina City issued the statement in reaction to the claim of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares that the proposed measure would result in “significant” losses for the government.

“The P30-billion loss [mentioned

by Henares] is not true. We won’t exceed a P4.5-billion [loss] based on the National Family Expenditure Survey,” Quimbo said.

In a television report, Henares said increasing to P82,000 from P30,000 the tax-exemption ceiling of 13th-month pay and other bonuses would result in a P30-billion loss for the government. She also said that only 6 percent, or 1.5 million employees, would benefit from higher tax exemption.

“We have to remember that these

people have been shouldering the taxes for the last 20 years, so we should give relief to those who are carrying the burden. The middle class will benefit from this,” said Quimbo, one of the authors of the bill in the lower chamber.

Earlier, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, coauthor and sponsor of the measure in the Senate, said that, once the bill is enacted into law, employees receiving 13th-month pay and other benefits, including Christmas and productivity bonuses, not exceeding P82,000 will be exempted from tax.

Under the measure, authors seek to increase the tax-exemption cap for 13th-month pay and other bonuses by amending the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended. The bill targets to exclude 13th-month pay and other Christmas bonuses from the computation of the gross income for the income tax of all employees in both the private and public sectors. It also mandates the Department of Finance and the Bureau of Internal Revenue to increase the threshold every three years, based on the consumer price index and inflation. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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

A2

News BusinessMirror

Monday, December 8, 2014

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Oil prices in PHL seen to seesaw Continued from A1

Pilipinas Shell admitted that distribution cost will go up when the oil firm moves out of the Pandacan oil depot in Manila. “Probably, there will be an increase in distribution cost. But, insofar, as prices are concerned it will be marketdriven,” Shell Vice President for Communications Ramnon del Rosario said. This means any adjustment in pump prices dependent on competition.

Last week Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said it is the prerogative of the oil firms to implement an upward adjustment in their prices. “Distribution cost will go up. How expensive? I don’t know. But it’s also a free market. It’s their prerogative. They may maintain it to be competitive, or they may increase it to survive. But it’s an open competition.”

Shell and Petron Corp. were ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) to move out of Pandacan. Chevron Philippines has

vacated the place since June.

The SC gave the oil firms 45 days to submit an updated comprehensive plan and relocation schedule. After which, they are given six months to move out of Pandacan.

The SC issued the order after it declared as unconstitutional and invalid Manila City Ordinance 8187, which allows the continuous operation of the Pandacan oil terminals by the country’s major oil companies.

Del Rosario said that, to date, Shell has yet to receive a copy of the order from the SC. This is why Shell could not categorically say if it can comply with the order, although it has said last week that it will “observe the rule of law and good governance.” When asked if Shell will appeal the order via a motion for reconsideration before the SC, del Rosario said, “We still don’t know if we will pursue legal remedies.”

Cosco, Puregold. . . continued from a1 For Puregold Supermarket, Dayao said the company plans spending some P2.5 billion for the construction of 25 new branches, between P1 billion to P1.5 billion for S&R Membership Shopping and another P1.5 billion for acquisition of other supermarkets.

At the moment, the company targets the construction of two membership shopping stores a year. One each is planned in Bacolod and Iloilo and other one in southern Luzon or somewhere in the Batangas and Laguna areas.

It will open a branch in Cavite by mid-month,

the only one for this year, the official said.

“I think the estimate we had before the economic developments in the Philippines 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 a total 233 Puregold supermarkets.

“All the big names in the retail market are in the middle market. All the big ones are in the middle market. Though the only one that

He also could not say if Shell can comply with the six-month period within which to relocate the terminal.

“We haven’t received the SC order, so how can we count the 60 days? We really can’t say because our lawyers have yet to receive the order.”

Petilla said Shell and Petron will be asked to submit their respective contingency plans. “ We will now ask them what their contingency plans are for our own internal consumption,” he said, while adding that new permits from the local government unit would have to be secured before relocation.

“Definitely,” Petilla said. “Actually they have other depots now. What will only happen is that they will close down their operations in Pandacan.

They will just continue operations in their other depots or refineries.”

Shell, according to del Rosario, is looking at its refinery in Batangas. “It’s

one of the options.”

Petron, for its part, said it is committed to leave Pandacan next year. “By end of 2015, we are totally out of Pandacan.

We have started to transfer our depot, for example, in Limay, Bataan; Rosario in Cavite; and in Navotas. We are lawabiding citizens. When we promised the city government of Manila that, within five years, we will be moving out of Pandacan, we will. I think we are the only oil firm in compliance to that promise,” Petron Chairman Ramon S. Ang said.

Petron, he said, is spending P15 billion for the transfer. “We are already using the new sites. By the end of 2015, totally we are out of Pandacan,” Ang added. To date, gasoline prices have already decreased by P10.74 per liter—P12.13 per liter for diesel and P12.42 per liter for kerosene.

The local oil firms import at least 90 percent of their fuel requirements.

is really focusing on the lower income group, I think, is only us at Puregold. We’re also the only one focusing on the sari-sari [variety] stores.

So I think we have a very good competitive position for Puregold,” Dayao said.

Meanwhile, Co also owns the Lawson convenience store franchise, the budget of which has not been included in the P9.5-billion expansion package. Dayao said the company will build 50 more Lawson stores on the first year and increase the pace of construction to reach 500 stores over the next five years. He said the

company will own the first 200 stores and start franchising afterward, just like the Ayala and Itochu groups did with the Family Mart chain.

“Nowadays everyone is into ready-to-eat meals. In the case of others, some of them are doing ready-to-eat food on their stores and we may be doing something different. Like in-store cooking, with emphasis on Filipino food with some Japanese influences. The emphasis here will really be on pricing,”Dayao said. Puregold reported P3 billion in net income fin the nine months to September, higher than last year’s P2.64 billion.

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST DECEMBER 8, 2014 | MONDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

TYPHOON “RUBY” (HAGUPIT) WAS LOCATED AT 45 KM NORTHWEST OF MASBATE CITY, MASBATE

Typhoon is a cyclone category with winds of 140 kph.

(AS OF DECEMBER 7, 6:00 PM)

22 – 29°C

23 – 31°C

TUGUEGARAO

21 – 29°C

21 –30°C

BAGUIO TUGUEGARAO CITY 22 – 28°C

SBMA/ CLARK

BAGUIO CITY 15 – 21°C SBMA/CLARK 23 – 28°C TAGAYTAY CITY 20 – 26°C

METRO MANILA 22 – 28°C

DEC 10

WEDNESDAY

METRO MANILA

LAOAG

LAOAG CITY 22 – 29°C

DEC 9

TUESDAY

TAGAYTAY

22 – 28°C

14 – 22°C

22 – 29°C

19 – 27°C

22 – 30°C

14 – 23°C

22 – 30°C

20 – 28°C

‘Disaster-response funding adequate’ Continued from A1

PAL Express canceled 28 flights, while Tiger Air canceled 12.

Deputy Spokesman Abigail Valte reported that the Frontline Team, led

by Interior Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II, held a briefing during which they gave the President updates on the ground situation and noted that most structural damage was caused by strong winds and not by storm surges.

“According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council [NDRRMC], as of 6 a.m. on Sunday, a total of 146,875 families have been evacuated in Regions 4A, 4B, 5, 6, 7, 8, and Caraga,” she said.

Valte added that at the national level, government agencies were in constant communication with one another. “The Department of Trade and Industry [DTI] has been working to ensure the steady flow of goods to affected areas,”she said, noting that Secretary Gregory L. Domingo has been coordinating with suppliers to restore the stock of necessities, such as sardines, noodles, candles and matches.

Moreover, Valte reported that manufacturers have, likewise, pledged to enable the faster roll-out of Diskwento Caravans, offering goods at discounted prices. “Having gleaned lessons from our Supertyphoon Yolanda experience, the DTI will roll out the Caravans as soon as possible, whenever the weather permits,” she said.

The Palace official assured that national government “continues to be

DEC 11

THURSDAY

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 23 – 29°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 23 – 30°C

TACLOBAN CITY 23 – 30°C

METRO CEBU 23 – 30°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY 23 – 32 °C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 23 – 32°C METRO DAVAO 24 – 33°C

23 – 30°C

24 – 31°C

24 – 31°C

24 – 32°C

21 – 30°C

TACLOBAN

24 – 30°C

24 – 31°C

24 – 32°C

21 – 30°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

24 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

23 – 32°C

METRO DAVAO

24 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 33°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 33°C

14 – 23°C

23 – 32°C

ZAMBOANGA SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

6:09 AM

5:26 PM

7:22 AM

7:07 PM

21 – 28°C

24 – 31°C

FULL MOON HALF MOON

24 – 32°C

CELEBES SEA

LOW TIDE MANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

DEC 14

8:51 PM

6:22 AM

-0.25 METER

10:45 PM

1.11 METER

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers

23 – 30°C

24 – 30°C

25 – 31°C

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

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

Light rains

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

www.panahon.tv

SABAH

DEC 11

THURSDAY

23 – 30°C

8:27 PM

24 – 31°C

DEC 10

WEDNESDAY

24 – 32°C

DEC 06 23 – 30°C

DEC 9

TUESDAY

METRO CEBU

LEGAZPI CITY 23 – 29°C

LEGAZPI

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

on alert and is constantly monitoring both the ground situation and supplycoordination efforts.”

On the availability of additional funds that government would release for the post-typhoon relief-and-rehabilitation effort, Valte said the government is “continually assessing the situation, especially for funding requirement.”

Asked if the P4.6-billion initial allocation provided by the Department of Budget and Management would be sufficient, given the extensive area impacted by Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit], Valte replied:“Mayroon pa naman ho tayong contingency fund, mayroon pa ho tayong calamity fund, at ‘yan ho ‘yung mga dahilan kung bakit mayroon ho tayong ganitong mga pondo para makapaglabas po agad, para mabigyan ng ayuda ‘yung ating mga lokal na pamahalaan. We’ll know in the coming days.”

Valte added there are enough standby funds, specifically for the relief efforts.

She said there are at least 53,375 food packs on standby at the Department of Social Welfare and Development national warehouse in Pasay. “Handa po nating ilabas ‘yan doon sa mga kalapit na lugar. ‘Yung packing hubs din po natin sa Cebu ay handa na rin po doon sa mga paglalabas ng relief goods. In fact, patuloy pong kinakausap ni Secretary [Corazon] Soliman ‘yung mga LGUs [local government units] natin para ilabas ho nang mas maaga ‘yung mga family food packs na pangangailangan po natin.”

@PanahonTV

Rains with gusty winds Stormy

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The Nation BusinessMirror

Swiss kidnapping survivor treated for minor wounds

By Rene Acosta

T

HE military said on Sunday that Lorenzo Vinciguerra, the Swiss who escaped from the hands of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), is already in Manila and is being treated in an undisclosed hospital in the capital.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office Chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said Vinciguerra arrived late Saturday afternoon and was turned over to officials of the Swiss Embassy before he checked into a medical facility.

Cabunoc said Vinciguerra only sustained a minor hack wound on his left neck, contrary to reports the Swiss sustained a gunshot wound after he was reportedly shot by one of his captors.

Vinciguerra, 49, escaped from the ASG at Mount Bagsak, Talipao, Sulu, at around 7:30 a.m., while troops were shelling the terrorist group’s position at Sitio Nangka, Barangay, Kulambu, Talipao.

Col. Allan Arrojado, commander of the Joint Task Group Sulu, said the Swiss saw a chance to escape as members of the ASG scrambled away from the lair adjacent to the area pummeled by artillery shells.

Vinciguerra reportedly grabbed the firearm of one of his captors before he dashed for his freedom, Arrojado said.

Elements of the third and second Scout Ranger Companies found the kidnap victims at Barangay Timpook, Patikul.

Cabunoc said military doctors who checked Vinciguerra’s condition at the military hospital in Jolo cleared the victim for travel, which was facilitated by the government.

The chartered plane carrying the victim arrived at Villamor Air Base at around 6:20 p.m. where Swiss Embassy officials led by His Excellency Ivo Sieber, the Swiss ambassador to the Philippines, and Philippine military officials, led by AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. met him, according to Cabunoc.

“At around 6:30 p.m., the Swiss Embassy officials promptly brought Vinciguerra to an undisclosed hospital for further treatment,” he added.

Cabunoc said Swiss Embassy officials thanked the government, especially military units in Sulu led

by Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command commander Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero for the safe recovery of Vinciguerra.

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Monday, December 8, 2014 A3

Smartmatic asserts exclusive tech rights on PCOS machines

E

By Joel R. San Juan

MBATTLED Smartmatic International Corp. has maintained it has the exclusive right to use and refurbish the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines used in the past two automated elections and now being eyed for use in the 2016 polls.

Smartmatic-Asia President Cesar Flores emphasized only they can handle the PCOS refurbishing project of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“If you open this [refurbishing project] to other bidders, the other bidders will try to [get into] parts, which they cannot because we have exclusivity on those parts,” Flores told reporters over the weekend.

He said it would be to the benefit of the poll body if it will award the PCOS repair project to the multi-

national company instead of still holding a public bidding.

Flores’s statement came after a person familiar with the matter said the Comelec is set to probe Smartmatic competitor Indra Sistemas Inc. and its operations in Spain.

Indra and Smartmatic are the only two firms seeking to bag the more than P2-billion contract for additional voting machines and other requirements for the 2016 polls.

Earlier, the Comelec Law Department issued a legal opinion saying the commission can exercise the extend-

ed warranty provided by Smartmatic the company prove they are the only ones that can provide the necessary services to the PCOS machines.

If exclusivity cannot be proven

by Smartmatic, however, Brillantes said they will have no choice but to hold public bidding for the repair of the 80,000 PCOS units.

Flores said their exclusivity right to PCOS machines was further bolstered by the recent settlement of their legal dispute with the Dominion Voting Systems.

The Smartmatic official said their 2012 case with Dominion lodged at the Delaware Court of Chancery in the United States have already been resolved.

Dominion and Smar tmatic have settled their litigation in Delaware and we have a new licensing agreement that will provide Smartmatic with unlimited and perpetual access to their technology, according to Flores.

He said their company has already informed the Comelec regarding the settlement of the legal battle but refused to make public

the details of the agreement.

Last year Smartmatic and Dominion engaged in a legal dispute that almost put in peril the holding of the midterm polls as the latter refused to allow the release of the source code of the PCOS machines.

Section 12 of the Poll Automation law provides that the Comelec should make the source code “available and open to any interested political party or groups, which may conduct their own review.”

However, few days prior to election day, the Comelec was able to receive permission from Dominion to have the source code up for the required review.

Flores said they hope settling their dispute with Dominion addresses the issue on his firm’s right over the PCOS technology.

“This will take away the accusations that we don’t have the right to use the technology that we were licensing from Dominion.”

Notably, the company last month announced the launching of SGO, which will become the parent company of Smartmatic.

Economy

A4 Monday, December 8, 2014 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

DTI on the lookout for hoarders, profiteers

T

By Catherine N. Pillas

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is ramping up price and supply-monitoring activities areas in a bid to curb price hikes and supply shortages, as demand for basic goods and prime commodities escalate in preparation for the calamity.

According to a statement released by the trade office on Sunday, during the council meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Saturday, the President instructed the DTI to intensify its price-monitoring efforts to ensure that prices of basic and prime goods are within the suggested retail prices (SRPs); and to guarantee the continued flow and replenishment of goods in the market.

The DTI, in response, instructed its price-monitoring teams— specifically in Regions 6, 7 and 8, where Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit) is expected to hit the hardest—to closely moni-

tor the prices of basic and prime goods and issue Show Cause Orders (SCOs) to those retailers that will be found to be engaged in profiteering and hoarding.

“We have already alerted all our price monitors in the NCR [National Capital Region] and in the regions and provinces that will be hit by Typhoon Ruby to intensify their pricemonitoring activities to ensure that prices of basic and prime goods are kept at reasonable levels,” Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said.

“Any act of profiteering or hoarding will not be tolerated. Retailers found to be selling above the SRPs will be issued SCO immediately,”

Domingo added.

Initial price-monitoring reports in the NCR, according to the DTI, show that the supply of goods is adequate and there are no price increases. The DTI-Fair Trade and Enforcement Bureau (FTEB) continues to intensify its monitoring activities to maintain this status.

Meanwhile, in the cities of Tacloban and Borongan, claims about alleged panic-buying incidences subsided, the DTI reported.

The local government units reported that they had big procurements of basic and prime goods in the local retail stores for their relief goods that will be disseminated to their constituents.

To prevent shortage of supply, the DTI issued an advisory to all distributors and manufacturers to guarantee the constant replenishment of goods in the market to ensure there is enough supply of basic and prime goods before, during and after the typhoon.

“We received positive feedback from the distributors and manufacturers. They assured us that there is enough supply of goods in the market, and that more stocks are ready to be delivered as soon as replenishment is needed. Port operations in the area are

also allowed by the Philippine Coast Guard, which remains closed due to rough seas,” DTI Consumer Protection Group Undersecretary Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba reported.

‘Diskwento’ Caravans

IN addition to prices and supply monitoring, the President also instructed the DTI to conduct “Diskwento” Caravans in the areas that are expected to be hit by the typhoon, particularly in Borongan, Samar; Catarman, Northern Samar; and Tacloban, Leyte.

The Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers Inc. committed to participate in the Diskwento Caravans.

Manufacturers and distributors of basic and prime goods, such as canned sardines, coffee, milk, bread, bottled water, detergent, condiments, sugar and other toiletries will be selling these products at discounted prices ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent.

So-called National Food Authority rice will also be sold during the conduct of the said activity.

The DTI is currently working on the schedule of the Diskwento Caravans. But the agency assures the consumers that these will be conducted immediately in the areas that will be affected by the typhoon.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

LGUs can only levy exporters half of prescribed rates–CTA

By David Cagahastian

T

he Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has ruled that local governments can only levy business taxes at the rate of one-half of the amounts prescribed by the Local Government Code (LGC) if the business is principally an exporter or a dealer of essential commodities.

In the case of Municipal Treasurer of Mankayan, Benguet v Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co., the CTA affirmed the decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) that Lepanto only needs to pay one-half of the prescribed rates as local business taxes because it is considered an exporter under the LGC. The argument of the petitioner is that the LGC’s exemption for exporters and dealers of essential commodities, allowing them to pay only one-half of the prescribed rates, will only apply to Lepanto if it is engaged in the export of essential commodities, which it is not, since Lepanto exports minerals like gold, silver and copper.

The municipal treasurer also said since the grant of exemptions is strictly construed against the taxpayer, and that the provisions of the LGC should be con-

strued in favor of local autonomy in cases of ambiguity in the provisions, then the ruling of the RTC should be overturned.

Lepanto said the wording of the LGC provision is clear that exporters of any commodity, as well as dealers of essential commodities, are levied only with one-half of the rates prescribed as business taxes.

Section 143(c) of the LGC was quoted by the CTA as follows: “[c] On exporters, and on manufacturers, millers, producers, wholesalers, distributors, dealers or retailers of essential commodities enumerated hereunder at a rate not exceeding one-half of the rates prescribed under subsections [a], [b] and [d] of this Section.”

The implementing rules and regulations of the LGC were more explicit in providing for the exemption to both exporters and to dealers of essential commodities.

It implements the said provision as follows: “[c] On exporters, and on manufacturers, millers, producers, wholesalers, distributors, dealers or retailers of essential commodities enumerated hereunder at a rate not exceeding one-half of the rates prescribed in paragraphs [a], [b] and [d] of this Article.”

Poland sending trade mission to Manila

‘OFWs can become successful entrepreneurs’

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By Recto Mercene

Polish trade and investment mission is headed to Manila in March 2015, in view of the two countries’ resiliency despite the global economic downturn and the euro-zone crisis.

Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario revealed this in a statement following his meeting with Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Grzegorz Schetyna on December 5 in the capital city of Warsaw.

“This is the most opportune time to intensify trade and investment relations in view of the economic resiliency of the two countries despite the global financial crisis and the euro-zone crisis,” del Rosario said.

Schetyna stressed the importance of closer cooperation between the Philippines and Poland, and added that there is a need to find additional markets, beyond Europe, for Polish goods and services.

Del Rosario invited Schetyna to visit Manila to sustain the recent exchange of high-level official visits between the two countries and proposed the establishment of a Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation to expand bilateral relations.

Schetyna was a member of the Poland-Philippines Parliamentary Group in Poland’s Sejm (Parliament) when he was chairman of the Sejm’s House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Del Rosario noted that, “During our time of despair following [Super] typhoon Yolanda [international code name Haiyan], Poland sent us the message that we were not alone,” and thanked Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski for their support.

He also conveyed the Philippine government’s appreciation for Poland’s ratification of the European Union (EU)-Philippines Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, the 17th country to have done so among the EU’s 28 member-countries.

The secretary, likewise, congratulated Poland on the appointment of its former Prime Minister Donald Tusk as president of the EU Council.

In the area of defense, the Polish side offered military education and training for Philippine military officers, since all courses are conducted in English. It also drew attention to a wide array of high-quality military hardware, which Poland produces and that the Philippines can avail itself of in line with its defense requirements.

Poland offered credit and financing for their procurement, as well as technology transfers.

The two officials shared the view on the need to improve people-to-people links through educational exchanges, with del Rosario focusing on the field of science and technology.

He informed his counterpart that the Philippine embassy in Warsaw has been conducting a combined cultural, tourism, trade and investment road show in Poland’s 10 biggest cities and has already completed seven.

The aim is to bridge the information gap and develop the existing potentials of the bilateral ties in all fronts to the fullest.

Del Rosario cited the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 2014 Outlook, which reported that the Philippines is the fastest-growing

By Roderick L. Abad

SANTA IN TOWN

A store attendant arranges the assorted Santa Claus toys being sold at affordable prices at a House of Santa Claus store on A.H. Lacson Street in Manila. ROY DOMINGO

economy in Asia.

He added that the Philippines was the “biggest overall riser” in terms of improving the dynamism of its business environment among 60 of the world’s largest economies.

The Philippines now ranks 21st— rising by 25 notches—from its previous year’s 46th rank, according to Grant Thornton’s 2013 Global Dynamism Index.

In view of the establishment of the Asean Economic Community in 2015, he said the Philippines can serve as Poland’s platform to access the combined Asean market with a consumer base of 608

million people.

The Polish Business Mission is being organized by the Philippine embassy in Warsaw, in partnership with the Polish Chamber of Commerce, the Philippine Export Processing Zone Authority, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Trade figures from the Central Statistical Office of Poland show that last year’s total trade volume amounted to $203.1 million with the balance of trade in the Philippines’s favor.

Figures from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed a 27.4-per-

cent increase in Polish tourist arrivals in the Philippines for the first quarter of 2014 alone, up from 2,201 last year to 2,744 arrivals for the same period this year.

The DOT has noted that this trend could surpass last year’s total tourist arrivals of 5,653. The Philippines participated in Warsaw’s biggest travel trade event called Targi Tur yst yczne (T T Warsaw) from November 27 to 29 through a collaboration among the Philippine embassy in Warsaw, the DOT’s tourism attaché in Berlin, DOT-Manila and the Tourism Promotions Board.

Tourism-related seminar series for retailers heads to Boracay

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N preparation for the Asean integration in 2015, the Lakbay-Turo Para sa Micro-Tourism Seminar of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) will be held on the pristine island of Boracay this month.

PRA President Enchong Formoso announced that the workshop will be held on December 11 at the Sea Wind Resort, 1 Roberto & Gloria Tirol Park, Balabag, Boracay Island.

“The next leg of our seminar will be held in Boracay, a prime destination in the Philippines. This comes

after the well-attended and highly successful event in Legazpi City,” Formoso said.

Human resource expert Franz de la Cruz Jr., he said, will handle the Boracay edition of the one-day seminar and workshop, which will help microentrepreneurs be prepared for the Asean integration, which is expected to boost competition and improve country-tocountry relations.

De la Cruz is an independent retail and HR trainer, facilitator, resource speaker and consultant both here

and abroad, a certified leader by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM London), and a certified competency developer by the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) Canada.

“We all know that the Philippines’s best resources are still the Filipino workers, which are known all over the world. International tourists who visit Boracay will be anticipating no less than a world-class Filipino work force so we have to help ensure they will not be disappointed.

This is the objective of the Boracay

leg of Lakbay-Turo,” Formoso said.

The event is also part of the preparations for the Philippines’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, he added.

“We must help Filipino entrepreneurs to be ready for the integration.

More than 99 percent of the companies in the Philippines are small and medium enterprises, the sector which will either see the integration as a boon or a bane once it comes into place,” Formoso said.

The PRA is now also preparing for the expected huge influx of foreign

guests that will attend next year’s Asia-Pacific Retail Conference and Exhibition, the biggest gathering of retailers in the region that is slated in October 2015 at the SMX Convention Center.

“We are also supporting the public-private efforts to gear up our retailers for the Asean economic integration happening in end-2015.

At the same time, the PRA is taking all efforts to boost the DOT’s ‘It’s more fun in the Philippine’s and ‘Visit Philippines Year 2015’ efforts,” Formoso said.

VERSEAS Filipino workers (OFWs), who may want to retire, are about to finish their contract or have job-related problems overseas, can stay for good in the country and become their own boss.

Ex-Link Management and Marketing Services Corp. COO Orly Ballesteros told the BusinessMirror that OFWs have the inclination to become entrepreneurs and eventually gain success.

He said, however, that majority of them lack proper education and risk appetite to enter into a business.

“They need to have the right financial and entrepreneurial literacy that will make them realize the viability of having a second career after being an OFW. So in time of their retirement, they can be an entrepreneur,” he explained. Ballesteros cited latest statistics showing that around 8,000 of the 4 million entrepreneurs in the country last year were then-OFWs. “Since they’re jobless when they came home, the government offered them education and starting funds for their livelihood. So they converted into entrepreneurship,” he said.

The executive noted a study on characteristics developed by OFWs while working abroad that could lead to their success as entrepreneurs.

These are emotional maturity, high pain and rejection threshold and survival instinct, among others.

“If ever they fail, they can stand up and get back. Those are the attributes they acquired that the common people do not have,” he said.

Among the businesses ideal for OFWs-turned-entrepreneurs, Ballesteros cited food, health and beauty as potential enterprises they could venture into. He added franchising as feasible since it is a proven model for any type of business.

“These are possible entities they could invest in, where the barrier of entry is not that high and even capitalization,” the COO of Ex-Link said.

Upbeat on the continued economic growth of the country, Ballesteros expects that more and more OFWs will be encouraged to settle back home and put up their own business instead.

“Add to the fact that there’s a recession in Europe, wherein their citizens are now also becoming as overseasbased workers in other countries. That’s what driving our OFWs, especially from Western countries, to go back to the Philippines and become entrepreneurs,” he stressed, while citing the projected number of OFWs-turned-entrepreneurs to increase to 12,000 next year.

Economy BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Slex, Skyway to have exact-toll lanes

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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ONGLOMERATE San Miguel Corp. will be opening exact-toll lanes on the South Luzon Expressway (Slex) and on the Metro Manila Skyway to improve traffic during the holidays.

South Luzon Tollways Corp. and Skyway Operations Maintenance Corp.

President and CEO Manuel M. Bonoan announced that the two thoroughfares will enforce an “exact-toll fee” policy via dedicated lanes to be opened at toll plazas effective December 15.

The move is expected to significantly improve the flow of traffic in these areas, usually caused by long waiting times at cash toll booths, especially during the Christmas exodus in and out of Metro Manila that starts to peak in December, he said.

“We see this move as greatly benefiting our motorists especially this Christmas season. By implementing this policy, we hope that more motorists will make it a habit all-year round to prepare the exact toll and use these express lanes, so they don’t have to spend more time than they need to, lining up at the toll plazas,” he explained.

The two companies, Bonoan added, will deploy more ambulant tellers at the highways’ busiest toll plazas to further enable traffic to move better through the toll gates during the holidays.

Motorists can also pay their toll fees via off-site payment kiosks in select Pet-

ron and other service stations along Slex to avoid the expected long queues at the exit-toll plazas.

Unlike a previous iteration of the exact toll-lane policy, the Slex and Skyway operators made it clear that motorists who do not have the exact toll, but who accidentally queue up at the special lanes, will still be given their change. They will, however, cause delay and hold up other motorists using the express lanes.

“We very well understand that it will take a bit of adjustment from the public. But sometimes, all it takes is a slight change in mind-set to solve even the biggest problems. We are confident that in no time, motorists will see why this makes sense and why all of us need to contribute to, and support, this effort,” Bonoan said.

The exact toll-booth scheme is meant to complement the existing e-pass electronic-toll collection system and the more efficient, soon-to-be introduced radiofrequency identification system, which are aimed at modernizing and improving the toll-payment system and making travel on the expressway more efficient for motorists.

The Skyway is a 31.2-kilometer expressway within the Manila portion of the Slex, from Gil Puyat Avenue to AlabangZapote Road, crossing through Metro Manila’s major cities, such as Makati, Pasay, Parañaque and Muntinlupa.

Slex, meanwhile, is a 60-km tollroad that connects Metro Manila to Region 4A.

Briones details P37.3-B PDAF-like lump sums in proposed budget

By Estrella Torres

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ormer National Treasurer and Social Watch convener Prof. Leonor Magtolis-Briones has insisted that the proposed P2.606-trillion national budget “is not pork-free,” as P37.3 billion worth of lump sums, including assistance for victims of typhoons, are embedded in the budget allocation of key government agencies.

She said the proposed budget now under deliberations by the Bicameral Conference Committee contains an allocation similar to the abolished Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), which was declared by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

Briones stressed these have been integrated as agency-budget allocation in the form of the PDAF. She said the largest allocation in the agency-embedded lump sums, worth P18.3 billion, is in the agency budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways for its local infrastructure programs.

Briones said the second-biggest lumpsum allocation for an agency, worth P13.3

billion, was embedded in the agency budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The funds, she said, include the DSWD’s response to victims of disasters and natural calamities; protection for individuals and families in times of difficult circumstances; as well as sustainable livelihood programs for marginalized people.

She also said the Commission on Higher Education got P1.8 billion in PDAF-like lump sums to sustain the agency’s assistance and scholarship provisions for poor but deserving students.

Some P1.9-billion allocation of the Department of Labor and Employment will come from lump-sum funds in the proposed P2.606-trillion national budget, Briones added.

The funds will cover the labor department’s training, livelihood and enterprise development and capacity-building programs for youth, students, disabled workers and rural workers.

Briones also said the lump sums were also embedded in the agency budget of the Department of Health, worth P1.8 billion, for its assistance to indigent and poor patients, particularly on hospitalization needs.

EU commits assistance

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he European Union (EU) Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides has commended the Philippine government in its preparedness for Supertyphoon Ruby which is currently batting the Visayas and Southern Luzon regions.

In a statement, Stylianides said, “Let me commend the Philippine authorities who have taken swift measures and did an excellent job in relocating people from the exposed areas at the first signs of the storm approaching.”

“Immense efforts have been invested in disasterpreparedness work in the Philippines in the past year, and the population is more aware of the need for a timely evacuation from coastal areas,” he added.

Base on the report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Sunday morning, local government units (LGUs) in typhoon-hit areas conducted pre-emptive evacuation to 146,875 families or 716,639 individuals. Particularly, these evacuees are in regions of Calabarzon (4A), Mimaropa (4B), Bicol (5), Western Visayas (6), Central Visayas (7), Eastern Visayas (8) and Caraga (13).

There were no casualties so far based on the update of the NDRRMC after Ruby made its first landfall in Dolores, Eastern Samar, at 9:15 p.m. on Saturday, while the second landfall was over Cataingan, Masbate, around 9 a.m. on Sunday.

Stylianides noted that the EU is ready to help the Philippines in any assistance the country needs. PNA

Monday, December 8, 2014 A5

PHL has 16-year window to become upper-middle-income country–study

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By Cai U. Ordinario

he country is likely to slow its transition into an upper-middle-income country in 16 years, if it would fail to implement the necessary policies needed to accelerate economic growth, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

In an ADB Working Paper, authors Jesus Felipe, Utsav Kumar and Reynold Galope said a typical economy will spend 55 years as a lowermiddle-income country before it can transition into an upper-middle-income country.

The Philippines needs to post an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.8-percent per capita to be able to increase incomes to $7,250, which is the upper-middle-income level.

However, the authors estimated that the country’s pace of growth, which is at 3.3 percent between 2003 and 2013, is lower than the ideal rate to increase incomes within the historical average of 55 years.

“There are economies whose growth rates during 2003 to 2013 were below those required to reach $7,250 within the number of years remaining before falling into a slow transition,”

the authors said. “If these economies want to transition into upper-middle income within the historical median of 55 years, they should implement policies to accelerate growth.”

The Philippines first became a lower-middleincome country in 1975, and has been classified as such for the past 39 years. The ADB paper estimated the country’s average GDP per capita in 2013 at $3,429.

The authors said the concept of a middleincome trap was “problematic.” By studying the growth rates of countries and the years it took them to achieve higher growth, the authors were able to conclude that countries only undergo fast and slow transitions from lowermiddle income to upper-middle income, and from upper-middle income to high income.

“The widely discussed phenomenon of the

middle-income trap is problematic, because it has not been defined and because it has not been studied theoretically. It is also problematic, because the idea of a trap implies that economies are stuck, which is not what we find. All this makes discussions of this concept challenging, to say the least, and somewhat unsubstantiated for policy analysis,” the authors said.

Other Southeast Asian countries in the lower-middle-income level include Indonesia, which still has 28 years before falling into a slow transition; and Vietnam, which still has 43 years left before slowing down.

It can be noted, however, that while Indonesia and Vietnam have over 20 years left before a slow transition ensues, they require lower average growths to reach a per-capita-income level of $7,250.

Indonesia only needs to grow an average of 1 percent to attain upper-middle-income status since its current per-capita income is already at $5,548. The average per-capita GDP growth of Indonesia was higher at 4.5 percent between 2003 and 2013.

Vietnam, on the other hand, requires an average per-capita GDP growth of only 1.6 percent, lower than the actual growth of 5.6 percent in 2003 to 2013. The current average per-capita income of Vietnam is already higher than that of the Philippines, at $3,711.

BusinessMirror

Tourism & Entertainment A6 Monday, December 8, 2014 • Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

tourism@businessmirror.com.ph

Boracay Tropics Resort Hotel: A peaceful place in paradise

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B J V B.  B

S recreational activities in Boracay get louder, larger and hotter with each passing year, there stands on Aklan province’s world-famous island-resort a peaceful haven surrounded by flourishing greenery: Boracay Tropics Resort Hotel.

Boracay Tropics’s ambience, which can be described as a mixture of the Asian and the Mediterranean, is complemented by an abundance of gardens and trees. It is a place where one can get a true taste of the island—sweet and calming, one that can never be found in Metro Manila.

A “Triple A”-rated resort in Boracay’s Station 2, Boracay Tropics offers guests the luxury of enjoying tranquil surroundings that are far from the ruckus on the beachfront (particularly in the evenings, during peak season), and the convenience of going to the island’s popular White Beach. Moreover, it is a sanctuary for great food and relaxation that would make any trip to the island truly worth it.

Treated like royalty

SINCE Boracay is obviously very popular with residents and tourists, many dining establishments have sprouted along the White Beach.

Still, undaunted by the competition, Boracay Tropics offers its guests some of the island’s best-kept dishes.

The resort’s TropiCafé gives guests a wide array of delectable Eastern and Western dishes, as well as homegrown specialties. The restaurant is famous for its versions of hinubarang manok, nilasing na hipon and garlic alimango. It’s also famous for having the island’s best pata tim; its meat is so tender, it could melt in one’s mouth. To complement these dishes, the restaurant has a long list of beverages and cocktails, the most popular of which is the Mango Cucumber.

Guests will be treated like royalty once they avail themselves of the wellness treatments offered by Boracay Tropics. Its Oasis Spa could easily provide the same services as other specialized massage boutiques on the island. If guests opt to have a massage in their room, the resort could easily send a masseur to them.

Simple, but elegant

EACH room in Boracay Tropics is simple, but elegant. Guests can relax in any of the resort’s 64 rooms—Premiere Suites, Cabana, Superior, Family, Dorm and Deluxe. All rooms are inspired by Mediterranean and Asian architecture, and are equipped with an air-conditioning unit; a mini bar; private rain shower, with hot and cold water; cable television and a safetydeposit vault. There is also 24-hour security with closed-circuit TV, a backup power generator, wireless-fidelity Internet connection, and laundry and medical services.

Guests are also entitled to enjoy the resort’s other facilities, including those for banquets and meetings, a bean-shaped swimming pool, an events venue, a business center, games and activity rooms, and a karaoke-TV room. Parents may leave their children in the fully functional playroom, which is equipped with a Nintendo Wii game console.

For a fuss-free stay, the resort also offers laundry services; assistance in planning for fun activities around Boracay, such as islandhopping and various water sports; and medical assistance.

The Sarabias and sustainability

THE Sarabia family, Boracay Tropics’s owners, has always been active in promoting sustainability on the island, which is why there are a lot of environment-friendly technologies that help in the operations of the resort. In 2005, when the use of solar panels was gaining popularity, Boracay Tropics was already using them for its water heaters.

The pool also uses tiles that absorb heat during the day, so that its water remains warm, even at night. The resort is also active in segregating and recycling waste, and is in the process of turning all its lights into light-emitting diode ones to save on electricity.

The Sarabias say that, even if Boracay will have more developments and undergo further transformation, Boracay Tropics is going to maintain its island vibe and its being environment-friendly.

All these facilities and services have earned Boracay Tropics many positive reviews, two Certificates of Excellence from travel website TripAdvisor in 2012 and 2013, and, most important, loyal guests.

BusinessMirror

A8

TheElderly

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, December 8, 2014 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Baguio SM employees grant park attendant’s Christmas wish

SM City Baguio administration employees sing Christmas carols for Jacinta Buclig (seated, left), 62, a Baguio City park attendant who has been a city employee for the past 30 years. The employees chose Buclig as the recipient of their annual Christmas Employee Volunteerism Program.

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N a simple ceremony at the Children’s Park in Burnham Park, administration employees of SM Baguio sang Christmas carols and awarded 62-year-old Jacinta Buclig P15,000 in cash and named her the beneficiary of their annual Christmas Employee Volunteerism Program.

The project aims to recognize the good deeds or help needy residents not only in Baguio City but its nearby towns as well.

The cash prize given Buclig was pooled by SM Baguio employees who voluntarily chose not to hold their traditional gift exchange this Christmas and donate it instead to their chosen recipient.

SM affiliate companies including SM Department Store, Ace Hardware and Toy Kingdom also provided gifts in kind to

make Buclig’s Christmas happier this year.

Her family was also treated to lunch, a movie and tour inside the mall.

SM North Luzon Public Relations Manager Karren Padilla said a team screened some candidates as this year’s recipient, and Buclig was chosen.

Buclig is a native of Bontoc, Mountain Province, who first worked at the former Baguio Colleges for three years. She applied and was hired as park attendantstreet sweeper at Burnham Park in 1985, at that time under the management of the Philippine Tourism Authority.

She has been working for the city since.

A widow, Buclig supported her four children’s needs and education. Unfortunately, one of them passed away in 1990 during the earthquake.

Through hard work, she was able to send her children to school, one of them now working at the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Another is a driver.

Her pride and joy, the youngest graduated, from Law School and now waiting for the result of the nationwide Bar examination.

Buclig said she is thankful that SM City Baguio has recognized her hard work, adding it is the first time that she was given this kind of treatment. She thanked the SM management and vowed to continue doing her job well.

Marginalized sectors major beneficiaries of ‘sin’ tax

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ILLIONS of marginalized sectors, such as senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), informal workers and urban- poor families are now covered under the government’s universal health care as a result of the amended sin-tax law approved in 2012.

New Vois Association of the Philippines (NVAP) President and Global Cancer Ambassador Emer Rojas said millions of Filipinos from various sectors of society can now enjoy the benefits of free health-care services as they receive coverage under the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

(PhilHealth).

Rojas is also the PWDs sector representative at the National AntiPoverty Commission.

Rojas noted the country’s more than 6 million senior citizens are the current beneficiaries of the sin tax after President Aquino signed into law Republic Act 10645, which now makes Filipinos aged 60 and above become automatic members of PhilHealth.

“The gains we are now reaping in terms of providing insurance coverage for more Filipinos in such a short of period of time proved what we have been saying all these years: that having a sin-tax law is a win-win solution.

By taxing tobacco, we are increasing financing for health care and at the same time, we are discouraging smoking because prices of cigarettes will automatically go up,” said Rojas in a statement.

Under the law, all senior citizens, whether indigent or not, will now be covered by PhilHealth through government subsidy.

As of December 2013, PhilHealth has 31.27 million registered members and 45.63 million dependents, or a total of 76.9 million Filipinos with government health insurance.

It is expected to cover 90 percent of the population by the end of 2014.

“The sin tax radically increased the budget for health financing. In the 2014 budget of the Department

Baguio Santa Claus

Mrs. Consuelo “Sol” Padilla with granddaughter Summer Padilla and grandson Gabriel Padilla help 85-year-old Nars Padilla don his Santa Claus suit this Christmas. He is the lead character in the monthlong Silahis ng Pasko, an annual event that benefits day-care children in the city of Baguio. MAU VICTA

of Health, PhilHealth has received P35.7 billion to enroll 14.7 million Filipinos who belong to the poorest of the poor,” Rojas said.

When President Aquino took office in 2010, the DOH budget was about P25 billion. A year after the sin-tax law was implemented, it more than doubled to P53 billion. This year the DOH’s budget is almost P90 billion.

Aside from senior citizens, Rojas said the sin tax also paved the way for improving PhilHealth’s benefit package for PWDs and increased enrollment of millions of indigent families through the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

“We always say that health is a right but it becomes a privilege when only a few has the means to pay for hospital treatment. With universal-health coverage now becoming accessible to more Filipinos, medical services are now within reach by anyone thanks to sin-tax revenues,” Rojas said.

Signed into law in December 2012, the sin tax is considered as a landmark legislation after 30 years of intense battle between health advocates and the powerful tobacco industry that often involved intense lobbying by the latter in the legislature.

High-tobacco taxes and graphic health warnings are considered as the best tandem to discourage people against smoking and increase health-care financing. PNA

US caregiver faces felony-exploitation charges for filching money from patient

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WOMAN accused of helping herself to the bank accounts of an elderly dementia patient under her care will be arraigned next week on multiple counts of exploitation of an elderly person.

At her arraignment Friday in Richmond County Superior Court, Patsy Sheppard will enter a plea to the charges, which carry a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Sheppard, former caretaker to a 96-year-old Augusta nursing home resident with a history of dementia, allegedly stole more than $22,000 from the resident's bank accounts over a three-month period, according to a press release from the state attorney general's office.

When Sheppard sought access to the accounts of another resident at First Community Bank in Augusta, an employee noticed the resident did not appear to be coherent or to recognize Sheppard, leading to the bank's denial of her request. The bank employee alerted friends and family of the elderly resident to the suspicious activity, leading to the discovery of tens of thousands of missing funds from other accounts, according to the press release. The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle

Constipation in the elderly

By Cheridine P. Oro-Josef, MD, FPAFP, FPCGM

right to health

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T is not uncommon for an older person to complain of constipation or delayed colon emptying. The regular bowel habits become an every other day or every three days activity. This leaves the older person anxious; they worry about the possibility of infection and other colonic problems that may arise from the apparent “constipation.”

Constipation is defined as a change in bowel function consisting of diminished frequency of defecation and often increased difficulty with defecation.

Impaction is the end result of prolonged exposure of accumulated stool to the absorptive forces of the colon and rectum. Several reasons why older people suffer from it include decreased physical mobility and low-fiber diets leading to prolonged colon-transit time and failure of the defecation mechanism called dyschezia. Systemic diseases such as hypothyroidism, uremia, hypercalcemia, depression, parkinsonism, cerebrovascular accidents and diabetes may cause difficulty in defecation. Some drugs, like anticholinergics, aluminium hydroxide, calcium channel blockers, iron and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may cause delay in colonic emptying. Older persons come in the clinic usually complaining of a change in the frequency of their bowel movement. Sometimes they refuse to eat or take their medication because of the feeling of fullness.

How do we manage constipation? Doctors will more likely treat underlying systemic diseases especially depression. They may replace potassium and magnesium and remove or replace all offending medication. Doctors may also give glycerine suppositories at certain intervals, taking note of the normal gastrocolic reflex which comes after food intake. We will also encourage increased mobility and increase in the daily intake of fluids and dietary fiber.

Once constipation or impaction is treated, steps should be taken to prevent recurrence. We have to encourage continuation of exercise and increase in dietary fiber. Help them regularize their bowel pattern.

As patients, you should ask your doctors of the possible side effects of the drugs they prescribe, to choose a less-constipating alternative or by adding a laxative.

Caretakers should also be educated regarding constipation. Caretakers should note refusal of food or feedings because this is normal for patients who are unable to evacuate their bowels. When patients aspirate food or feedings, this can be a result of caretakers’ well-intended attempts to nourish patients. If there is really fecal impaction, it should be addressed within the first 48 hours of care.

Laxatives available in the market include bulk- forming agents (highfiber supplements, psyllium and senna), osmotic agents (lactulose, sorbitol, glycerine suppository), stimulants (castor oil and bisacodyl), emollients and salts (milk of magnesia), and magnesium citrate.

Elderly people susceptible to scams

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RNESTO Montenegro was frantic when a man called to tell him he had 30 minutes to pay his electricity bill before his services were cut off.

Montenegro, a 72-year-old Lubbock resident, decided to call his daughter Renia Garcia, 34, who takes care of his finances.

“My father went crazy, like ‘Oh my gosh, we didn’t pay the light bill,’ so he was pretty upset,” Garcia said. “[The scammer] said he had 30 minutes to pay it or they’re going to come to the house to disconnect it. He was trying to scam my dad out of $370 something.”

After realizing she paid the bill on time, Garcia realized the out-of-town caller was trying to scam her dad. She reported the incident to the police on Tuesday and, although the scammer did not say he was a representative of her energy company, Garcia she called LP&L to warn them of the scam.

Now, Garcia is warning residents to also be on alert for scammers.

“I just want people in the community to know that it’s started up again,” she said. “[Elderly people] should have somebody of confidence that they can get to help them if they do not know who called them.

Have someone of confidence who will be there to help you figure out the situation, because he wanted to pay the bill and I told him, ‘No, daddy.’ Never give your information out to anyone.”

Sgt. Jason Lewis, a Lubbock Police Department spokesman, said scammers typically target elderly residents so Montenegro was lucky his daughter was looking out for him. Lewis said residents should be weary of callers, who demand money or personal information in an unreasonable way.

One scam targeted toward elderly residents involves a scammer posing as the victim’s grandchild.

“The suspect actually poses as a grandchild of an elderly person and they’ll say, ‘I’ve been incarcerated. I'm in Canada.’ or ‘I’ve been incarcerated. I’m in Mexico. Whatever you do, please don’t contact my parents. I’m going to need you to send cash,’” Lewis said.

“Those kinds of things should be a red flag.” Lewis said, instead, the elderly resident should call their son or daughter to make sure their grandchild is not locked up somewhere.

“Another big one is the IRS scams where people are saying they owe, however, many hundreds of dollars for back taxes and, if they don’t send this money immediately, that the police are going to come and arrest them,” Lewis said. “Well, it doesn’t work that way. If they start threatening that the police are going to come and arrest them, then that’s probably a sign right there that it’s not going to happen.”

It’s especially important for residents to keep an eye out for red flags—such as demands to turn off a service or requesting personal information—because, oftentimes, scammers call from outside the country but are able to make the caller ID appear as if they are calling from inside the US, Lewis said.

“It is that time of year when scammers and thieves and those kinds of people are going to try to take advantage of people that are shopping, and it’s always a problem that people try to take advantage of elderly individuals,” he said.

“Make sure that they’re watching out for identity theft by keeping track of their checking and savings and getting their credit checked at least once a year to make sure somebody hasn’t opened a credit card in their name and [is] having the bill sent somewhere else.”

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The Regions BusinessMirror

DENR warns treasure hunters, miners vs ‘destroying’ caves

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

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N official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Sunday warned treasure hunters and miners, who target caves, saying they will face the full force of the law.

Theresa Mundita Lim, chief of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the DENR, said caves provide a unique ecosystem that serve as the natural habitat of unique species, many of which are on the brink of extinction.

Lim said caves could also be used for shelter, depending on its classification, or as emergency evacuation centers in times of natural calamities. “Caves were used by our ancestors for protection against natural calamities. But, today, there must be limitations. The innermost portions of the caves should not be disturbed because these are where wildlife goes whenever humans enter the caves,” she said.

Lim issued the statement in reaction to the initial findings of a team of experts, who conducted a post-Yolanda assessment of the population and habitat of threatened endemic Limestone Karst Frogs and Gigantes Geckos in Eastern Samar.

The study revealed that human activities have adversely affected several caves in Eastern Samar.

Some of these caves were even used as evacuation centers by those living in the islands during the onslaught of Yolanda. The team visited a total of 13 caves found on the islands of North Gigante, South Gigante, Balubadiang and Cabugao Dako to assess their condition and to search for endemic limestone frogs and lizards that have been recorded from these caves in past studies.

The examined caves are home to endemic and threatened species—including geckos and frogs that are under the list of species threatened with extinction, the team said in its initial report. Among the human activities noted by the team are treasure-hunt-

ing, collection of speleothems, ecotourism and mining for guano. Some caves have also been vandalized.

The study “Status Assessment of the Population and Habitat of Threatened Endemic Limestone Karst Frogs and Lizards of Gigantes Islands” was conducted as part of FPE’s intervention to help the people affected by Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan).

The BMB is currently conducting assessment of caves in the country.

Many of these caves, Lim said, remain unexplored and, as such, its environmental, historic, cultural, or economic value remains unknown.

There are 3,000 known caves in the Philippines but only 320 of them have been classified.

She said there is a law that penalizes prohibited acts that tend to cause the destruction of caves. Republic Act 9072, or an Act to Manage and Protect Caves and Cave Resources and for other Purposes, mandates the DENR “formulate, develop and implement a national program for the management, protection and conservation of caves and cave resources.”

The agency is also mandated to “issue permits for the collection and removal of guano and other cave resources, which shall be determined in coordination with the DOT, National Museum, concerned LGUs, the scientific community and the academe, with regard to specific caves taking into consideration biodiversity, as well as the aesthetic and archaeological value of the cave.”

Section 7 of RA 9072 prohibits knowingly destroying, disturbing, defacing, marring, altering, removing, or harming the speleogem or speleothem of any cave, or altering the free movement of any animal or plant life into or out of any cave; and gathering, collecting, possessing, consuming, selling, bartering or exchanging or offering for sale without authority any, cave resources. Violators may face jail term ranging from two years to six years plus penalty ranging from P20,000 to P1 million.

Bill filed to create Wi-Fi network nationwide

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O make Internet connection accessible to everyone and democratize information and education, a party-list lawmaker has recently filed a bill creating Wi-Fi systems in the entire country.

House Bill 4741, filed by Party-list Rep. Delphine Gan Lee of AGRI, seeks to transform the entire country into a wireless access zone and make wireless access to the Internet free and available to everyone.

The bill provides that the “Wi-Fi Act of 2013” shall create a Municipal Wi-Fi Program that will address the needs of local government units in building a Wi-Fi network at the city or municipal level.

Under the measure, the National Computer Center (NCC) shall be the lead agency in evaluating and studying the feasibility of building a municipal Wi-Fi network.

At the city or municipal level, project developers shall be required to ask the NCC to perform a feasibility study prior to the granting of the subsidies under the proposed Act. The NCC shall undertake to promote the growth of Wi-Fi technology in cities and municipalities, and shall formulate the Wi-Fi development process in the local government units, and evaluate the Wi-Fi process upon its completion in a given local goverment unit.

Wi-Fi refers to a wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide high-speed network and Internet connections.

Wi-Fi also refers to a wireless local area network products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ 802.11 standards.

Citing a recent study in 2013, Lee said there are more than 33 million active Internet users in the Philippines.

“In the Southeast Asia region, the

Philippines is considered the fastestgrowing Internet audience and Filipinos are more likely to browse a socialnetworking site as compared to the entire world,” Lee said.

Lee said the municipal Wi-Fi is the idea of converting an entire city into a Wireless Access Zone, generally done by providing municipal broadband through Wi-Fi to the main areas, or all of the municipal area by creating a wireless mesh network.

“The usual design utilizes hundreds of routers deployed outdoors.

The network operator acts as a wireless Internet-service provider,” Lee said. “Wireless communications are critical for public safety, first responders can set up an instant network at the scene of an incident with a wireless mesh,” Lee said.

Lee said a wireless infrastructure may provide low-cost or free Internet access and could be part of a program to make computers and Internet access available to marginalized families. “High-speed wireless Internet access can help revive ailing areas.

Low-cost broadband Internet access can attract more businesses to town, help increase tourism in resorts, or simply make an area more attractive as a destination,” Lee said.

Lee said government employees can do their jobs more efficiently if they have access to the city network out in the field, and a municipal wireless network allows instant access to important city records and databases for tax collectors, auditors and building inspectors.

“The possibilities are limitless. We are a wired country and this measure will serve a big number of Filipinos and integrate those who cannot afford to pay for an Internet connection with those who can,” Lee said.

Jovee Marie N. de la Cruz

Monday, December 8, 2014

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DPWH, DOT finish all road, bridge projects in West Visayas

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

he Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Tourism (DOT) have completed five road and bridge projects in Western Visayas leading to tourism destinations in the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental.

In a report, DPWH Regional Director Edilberto D. Tayao said the completed projects have a combined price tag of P121.82 million, which includes the rehabilitation and reconstruction of two roads and two bridges in Iloilo City, namely, the four-lane, 376.50-lineal meter

J. M. Basa-Gen. Hughes-Fort San Pedro Road, costing P27.12 million; two-lane, 480-lineal meter Rizal Street in Lapaz District, costing P12.7 million; the 20-lineal meter San Lorenzo Bridge costing P14 million; and 25-lineal meter Rizal Bridge costing P18 million.

The agencies also completed the rehabilitation of a 2,401.0-lineal meter access road leading to “The Ruins” in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, costing roughly P50 million.

Tayao said that, aside from these recently completed projects, the DPWH is also accelerating the implementation of 11 more tourism road projects throughout the Western Visayas region. Among the ongoing projects are the 4,613-lineal meter access road in Tibao, Antique, which leads to White Water Kayaking, Tibiao Ecopark and Tibiao Fish Spa (P110 million); 2,836-lineal meter access road leading to Mambukal Resort in Murcia, Negros Occidental (P60 million); 3,075-lineal meter Bacolod City Boundary Road from La Salle Ecopark to Mount Mandalagan (P100 million); and 7,785-lineal meter Bacolod City Boundary Road from Lacson Street

Cabanatuan enjoys economic boom

to La Salle Ecopark (P140 million).

There are also road improvement projects in Leganes-Santa Barbara Road leading to heritage sites in Iloilo City at P60 million; San MiguelSanta Barbara Road leading to Santa Barbara Golf Course, Iloilo, P78.055 million; Iloilo-Capiz Road (old route) from Iloilo City-Pavia Boundary to Aganan Bridge in Pavia, Iloilo, P58.945 million; Tangalan-Ibajay Road in Aklan, P98 million; and Silay-Lantawan-Patag Access Road to Bacolod Silay Airport Road, with P200-million allocation.

Moreover, Negros Occidental First District Engineering Office is undertaking the P50-million rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Bacolod-Murcia-Don Salvador Benedicto-San Carlos City Road to Mambukal Resort and Alindahaw Falls, respectively and the P40-million rehabilitation of Access Road leading to Gawahon Resort in Victorias City.

CGBP best practices seminars slated in Legazpi City, Baguio

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MAYOR Jay Vergara (in polo barong) leads the ceremonial ribbon-cutting during the recent opening of the new SM store in Cabanatuan City.

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ABANATUAN CITY—Giant conglomerate SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPHI) formally opened on December 4 its 50th store in this highly urbanized “Big Little City,” now touted as a microcosmshowcase of the Philippines’s inclusive economic-growth target.

Last year the city’s Business Permit and Licensing Office said some 687 new businesses were set up in the city.

This year, for the first 10 months, the number of new businesses rose to 726, bringing the total number of registered business establishments to 4,105 with combined capital investments of P600 million as of October 31.

Cabanatuan City Mayor Jay Vergara

attributed the impressive investment inflow to the city’s favorable business climate. “We enjoy a stable peace and order condition, adequate infrastructure facilities, low business-tax rates and other come-on incentives as onestop shop and tax holiday for new business applicants. The rising investment inflow,” he said.

“These translate into revenues and job opportunities for the city and its constituency and consequently, quality life for the great majority.”

Vergara said a new SM City is now being constructed in the city “so we are looking forward for more jobs and increased revenues.” Last year the city’s income almost reached P1 billion.

Driven by the massive investment inflow, Vergara expects the city to hit, if not surpass the P1-billion income target before the year ends, thus making the once-politically divided and violent Cabanatuan, a billionaire city.

Cabanatuan, a former barrio of Gapan City, Nueva Ecija, was converted into a pueblo or municipality in 1777 and finally into a chartered city on February 3, 1950 by virtue of Republic Act 526.

On July 4, 2012, after complying with the requirements as provided for under the Local Government Code, Cabanatuan was officially proclaimed

by President Aquino as a highly urbanized city. Prudencio E. Magpayo

Company supporting ‘sari-sari’ stores after Yolanda

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USINESSES, both big and small, were among the major casualties of Supertyphoon Yolanda in Tacloban last year.

The calamity racked up P35 billion in damage, said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Many farms and small businesses were completely wiped out in the floodwaters.

Many areas were rendered practically helpless as they became dependent on government support and aid from non-govermental organization.

“It was back to zero for us. Everything was washed away not only by floodwaters but by the looting. We actually just gave away what we had because we did not want to see other people going hungry while we had something for ourselves. People had to resort to drastic measures just to eat,’’ said Reden Joy Luna, owner of a stall in the Tacloban market.

But it was at this most trying time that the private sector extended so much invaluable help to those direly affected by the devastation.

The majority of private companies embarked on their own effort to help any which way they could.

For instance, Procter & Gamble

(P&G), a leader in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, has been spending the past year reviving livelihood in the Visayas through its Project Hope rehabilitation program.

Project Hope is a multipronged approach to building areas ravaged by Yolanda through livelihood. Its main thrust is to build 3,000 sari-sari stores and public market stalls to help the area’s residents regain their livelihood. Together with its distributor partner Dranix East, P&G was the first on the scene to put stores back up, and the first fast-moving consumer goods company to start serving the ravaged areas.

As early as December 13, 2013, a mere three weeks after the typhoon, P&G had already started clearing debris, cleaning up, repainting and restocking sari-sari stores that had been destroyed. They started building and delivering “Hope Stores,” orange stalls provided by the company stocked with the best-selling P&G products so the owners could also have starting capital and begin anew with dignity.

In the first wave of efforts, P&G and Dranix were able to recover and rehabilitate 38 public markets and over 1,600 stores, with a commitment

to deliver about 3,000 stores in total.

“This is one of the easiest and most meaningful ways we can help the most people in the fastest time. Sari-sari stores mean livelihood and progress in the community and are the center of their collective stories.

We are so proud to see our Project Hope stores represent this in their lives and communities. They enable hope in the survivors and it is heart-warming to hear their many stories afterward,” P&G Philippines Communications Head Anna Legarda-Locsin said. “At the end of the day, the people and their stories are what matter.

These are the stories that will be meaningful, remembered and shared.

We want to make sure they are heard and not forgotten after the storm.”

The local government also believes in the power of these small stores to revive livelihood.

“Sari-sari stores are one of the quickest ways to gain income, so this idea of using it to ignite the economy of towns affected by Typhoon Yolanda is a very good idea,” said Mayor Pel Tecson of Tanauan City, Leyte. “Project Hope is a great collaboration between local government and the private sector to achieve that.”

ITH the clamor of many from the government sector and private business groups for the Center for Global Best Practices (CGBP) to bring its seminars to Legazpi City, it will launch two of its best-selling seminars in collaboration with Forbes College and the Aquende Scholarship Foundation.

The two seminars are “Best Practices and Remedies to Avoid COA Disallowances” scheduled on January 9, 2015, and “How To Collect Debt Without A Lawyer: Best Practices Guide in Using the Small Claims Court” scheduled on January 10, 2015. Both learning events will be held at Hotel Saint Ellis, Legazpi City. For more details on these and other upcoming learning events, log on to www.cgbp.org or call (02) 556-8968/69; (02) 842-7148/59; Cebu lines (032) 512-3106/07; Baguio line (074) 423-5148.

Those interested to join may avail themselves of the early bird discounts.

Participants who attended these lectures previously found these to be very useful and rated the lectures excellent in contents and presentations.

The seminar on “Best Practices and Remedies to Avoid Commission on Audit Disallowances” will address the issues on Commission on Audit disallowances and solutions for those encountering such problems. This will feature the common findings of Commission on Audit (COA), Supreme Court Rulings, as well as remedies and defenses on cases that may be deemed as disbursements which are illegal, irregular, extravagant, unnecessary and unconscionable. This is intended for local goverment units, government agencies and lawyers who need to defend their clients on COA and procurementrelated issues. For those who may not make it to the schedule, you may catch the last lecture on this in Baguio City on January 30, 2015.

This one-day learning event will feature Leonor D. Boado, CPA. She is the recently retired director of the Fraud Audit and Investigation Office, Legal Services Sector of the COA. She has held various positions in her 34 years in COA including being chief legal officer of the legal adjudication Office, director of Local Government, and thereafter, National Government Audit Offices. Her accomplishments include being awarded Outstanding Woman of COA in 2000, magna cum laude, valedictorian and government scholar of the University of the East Law School, and authored three books on criminal law. The second seminar on “How To Collect Debt Without A Lawyer Using The Small Claims Court” is very useful for businesses. What used to take years to litigate costly collection cases can now be resolved immediately in one day with the judge’s final, executory and non-appealable decision.

Opinion BusinessMirror

A10 Monday, December 8, 2014

Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

Our other national heroes

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T was the late President Corazon C. Aquino who first referred to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as “heroes” in a speech she gave to a group of domestic helpers in Hong Kong in 1988. But we cannot recall any president after Mrs. Aquino saying the same thing about our call-center employees. While many businesses were closing in preparation for Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit)—and they certainly should—call centers across the nation were conducting “business as usual”.

The Philippines is now No. 1 in the world for “voice” call centers and No. 2 for nonvoice ones. The reason that we are so successful in this industry—one that is always given—is because of our English-speaking and well-educated representatives, and this is certainly true. The country has also gained a reputation for being disaster-prone, as well as being able to cope with the typhoons that frequently visit us.

Call-center companies have strong disaster-preparation plans in place, covering practically everything, from company-provided transportation during floods and resources to allow agents to stay at their offices, to financial incentives for agents who come to work during storms.

The credit for the success, however, must go to the Filipino men and women who actually man the phones during difficult times.

Outsiders really do not understand the logistics involved in handling the tens of thousands of customer-service calls that an average call center takes every day. These calls cannot always be effectively diverted to other locations.

Furthermore, a storm in the Philippines cannot be allowed to impact a foreign client’s need to assist its millions of customers, as in the case of global telecommunications companies.

The Philippines has always come through, and that is one reason these foreign companies do business here.

The local call-center industry is projected to yield up to $27 billion in annual revenues and employs over 1.3 million Filipinos by 2016. We already have up to 1 million direct employees, and revenues now account for 6 percent, or $16 billion, of the country’s total gross domestic product.

During his recent visit to the Philippines, Swiss-Asian Chamber of Commerce President Dr. Urs Lustenberger talked about how the Philippines is benefiting from “a snowballing momentum, given its robust and growing economy.” Once an economy starts picking up speed, the growth takes on a life of its own. Lustenberger also mentioned our call-center and outsourcing business as an example of this snowballing effect.

We mark December as OFW month. Perhaps, it is premature to devote a whole month to our call-center employees. But while we are safe at home during the storm, there are hundreds of thousands of young Filipinos going to work to keep our economy strong, and they should be thanked.

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

T. Anthony C. Cabangon Jun B. Vallecera

Associate Editor News Editor City & Assignments Editor Special Projects Editor

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

Online Editor

Ruben M. Cruz Jr.

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

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

President Aquino meets the media at Bulong Pulungan Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

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S in previous years, the Bulong Pulungan sa Sofitel (BPS) media group again invited President Aquino to its Christmas party, where he delivered a speech and participated in a question-and-answer forum.

This year the President delivered a well-received message about the responsibility of journalists to use their platforms to “stimulate productive discussion” and promote “principles that inspire our people to action.”

In the question-and-answer portion that followed, veteran journalists asked the President what his plans are after 2016. He said he, along with his staff, would “take a break” and “recharge,” and find a way to serve without running for office.

The President also said that, at the moment, he “is not exactly sure what form [his service] would take” after 2016, but it would somehow be related to passing on to the next generation the lessons learned and the need for young people to be active in nation-building.

When pressed to reveal the first thing he would do the day after the proclamation of the next president, President Aquino said, tongue-incheek, that he would “sleep in my own bed in [my own house on] Times

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THE PCSO welcomed incoming director Florencio “Bem” Noel and honored outgoing director-lawyer Ma. Aleta L. Tolentino in a simple ceremony at the charity agency’s head office in Mandaluyong City last Wednesday.

PCSO Directors Betty B. Nantes, Mabel V. Mamba, Francisco Manuel G. Joaquin III and I presented Tolentino with a plaque of appreciation for her exemplary dedication and unmatched industry during her fouryear service at the PCSO. Along with her fellow directors, she instituted the reforms of the daang matuwid (straight path) with commitment

Abe needs a watchdog, not a lapdog William Pesek

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Street, look forward to not waking up early,” and visit the supermarket and fast-food restaurants in the neighborhood.

In short, he anticipates taking a well-deserved rest after six years of intense and dedicated service to the country.

The President said one of the things he plans to do after his term ends is to “write a book to share his experiences.”

Asked to name what he considers his greatest accomplishment so far, President Aquino said, “Look at the economy.” He cited the credit-rating upgrades the country received, the 4.1 million families who benefited from the Conditional Cash-Transfer Program, the inclusivity of economic growth and the empowerment of the people.

President Aquino also handed out BPS awards to select government officials. It was an honor to receive from the President the Bulong Pulungan’s Exemplar Award in Government

Service for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) efforts to enhance “its gaming programs for bigger revenues for charity and opening additional offices in key areas in the country” that bring “medical services closer to the sick and needy, and reduced travel costs for them.”

The President received, from BPS Founding Cochairman Deedee Siytangco, the Outstanding Exemplar Award. He was also handed a check for P250,000 for the benefit of Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit) victims. The amount was donated by the BPS group and The Manila Bulletin family.

Congratulations to Miss Siytangco, Jullie Yap Daza, Joanne Rae Ramirez, and the other officials and members of BPS on another successful and productive Christmas celebration!

BLOOMBERG VIEW

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O destroy a people, obliterate their understanding of history.

Either Japanese media executives haven’t read 1984, or they’ve failed to get George Orwell’s point.

The Yomiuri, Japan’s biggest-circulation daily newspaper, formally apologized last week for describing as “sex slaves” the many thousands of Asian women trafficked to Japanese military brothels before and during World War II. The move came after liberal rival Asahi withdrew a series of articles on the forcible rounding-up of Korean “comfort women.” Turned out, the account offered by a source for some stories back in the 1980s and 1990s couldn’t be verified.

The Yomiuri has long been in the pocket of the most conservative wing of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). While there’s no evidence that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government pressed for the paper’s apology, members of the LDP have seized on the earlier Asahi retraction to dispute accusations that the Imperial Army was involved in widespread sex trafficking.

Indeed, Abe’s government even asked the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to revise a 1996 report on the comfort-women program.

Wisely, Radhika Coomaraswamy, the report’s author, balked. Her findings, she said, weren’t based on Asahi’s reporting, but on the testimonies of women and on official documents.

What’s worrying is not just the Abe government’s efforts to downplay or discredit what is, by this point, widely accepted as historical fact. The anti-Asahi campaign fits into a wider pattern of bullying an already docile Japanese media.

Most recently, the LDP sent a chilling letter to Japan’s five main television operations angling for favorable coverage ahead of December 14 elections. LDP officials claim that they’re merely seeking balanced stories on Abe’s efforts to revive the economy, dubbed Abenomics. In fact,

they seem to be issuing a clear warning to go easy on the prime minister.

Last year Abe packed the board of public broadcaster NHK with likeminded conservatives, some of whom claim that the Nanking massacre never happened and that the testimonies of comfort women are more myth than reality. Abe also passed a frightening statesecrets law whose provisions could put journalists and whistle-blowers in jail.

If I learned that Fukushima’s nuclear leak was worse than previously known and wrote about it, both my source and I could go to prison for five to 10 years.

Since the Asahi’s retractions, Abe has also called for reviews of news coverage of Japan’s wartime record. In Abe’s narrative, comfort women—as many as 200,000 of them, historians say—were willing prostitutes who are now maligning Japan’s reputation. This is abject nonsense. Even former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, no liberal stooge, wrote decades ago about his own role in the Imperial Army’s extensive infrastructure to round up Koreans, Chinese and Filipinos to work in brothels.

What Abe seems to not understand is that his attacks on the media run counter to his broader efforts to reform Japan.

The country’s mainstream media is docile in the best of times, putting societal harmony and steady access to politicians and executives over the public’s right to know. Print-media organizations, or

to the principles of good governance and democracy. nnn

ON November 20 the PCSO released P10 million worth of endowmentfund checks to the following hospitals: East Avenue Medical Center, P3 million; Bataan General Hospital, P2 million; Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center, P2 million; Lung Center of the Philippines, P2.5 million; and National Children’s Hospital, P2.5 million.

The PCSO’s Endowment Fund program for 2014 allocated P66.2 million for 63 public hospitals nationwide. nnn

THANK you to the art patrons, friends and other supporters who helped make our group art show Petits Fours at Galerie Francesca in SM Megamall last week a success.

The 10 of us in the group—Carlo Magno, Karina Baluyut, Ross Capili, Salvador Ching, Robert Deniega, Roel Obemio, Herbert Pajarito, Eman Santos, Pinggot Zulueta and myself—each exhibited four paintings that each measure 12"x12".

Most of the pieces, including mine, were snapped up almost immediately. We are all most grateful to the patrons of the visual arts who support our efforts and those of other artists.

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II is the vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

kisha clubs, are stealth censorship devices. Publications that rock the boat find themselves on the outside and at risk of scaring off advertisers.

Those cozy relationships have helped to enable much of the cronyism, irresponsible behavior and policy drift that Abe is supposedly trying to eradicate. Recent years have offered myriad examples of local media going easy on huge stories: Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s negligence surrounding Japan’s nuclear crisis; the $1.7-billion fraud at Olympus; Takata’s deadly airbags; and several others.

Among the key pillars of Abenomics is taking on vested interests and government bureaucracy, nudging companies to tighten governance and making Japan a world-class competitor. Few things would empower his so-called third arrow reforms more than a feisty and openmedia establishment.

“I think, if the media were tougher, it would, at least to some extent, make the big boys more accountable,” says Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University’s Tokyo campus.

As Beijing proves with each assault on the mainland’s traditional and social media, it doesn’t matter how reformminded any individual leader might be if those who are supposed to expose corruption and cronyism can’t do their jobs.

For his reforms to work, Abe doesn’t need a lapdog media; he needs a true watchdog.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Iraqi Kurds seek greater balance between Ankara and Baghdad

Higgs’s bosom Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free fire

By Mohammed A. Salih Inter Press Service

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RBIL—After a period of frostiness, Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Turkey seem intent on mending ties, as each of the parties show signs of needing the other.

But the Kurds appear more cautious this time around, apparently leery of moving too close to Ankara, lest they alienate the new Iraqi government in Baghdad, with which they signed a breakthrough oil deal last Tuesday.

The agreement, which will give Baghdad greater control over oil produced in Kurdistan and Kurdishoccupied Kirkuk in exchange for the KRG’s receipt of a bigger share of the central government’s budget, may signal an effort to reduce Erbil’s heavy reliance on Turkey.

The warmth between Iraqi Kurds and Turkey was a rather strange affair, to begin with. It emerged unexpectedly and evolved dramatically, particularly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

Whereas Turkey is a major player in the Middle East and Eurasia, Iraqi Kurdistan is not even an independent state. The imbalance of power between the two parties made their development of a “strategic” relationship particularly remarkable.

And, given the deep historical animosity in Ankara toward all things Kurdish, the change of heart on its leaders’ part seemed almost miraculous, even if highly lucrative to Turkish construction companies, in particular.

But those ties suffered a major blow in August, when the Islamic State (IS) swept into Kurdish-held territories in Iraq.

With the IS threatening Kurdistan’s capital city, Erbil, Turkey did little to assist the Kurds. Many in Kurdistan were baffled; the overwhelming sense here was that Turkey had abandoned Iraqi Kurds in the middle of a life-or-death crisis.

KRG President Masoud Barzani, Ankara’s closest ally, even felt moved to publicly thank Iran, Turkey’s regional rival, for rushing arms and other supplies to the Peshmerga in their hour of need.

Saving face

IN an attempt to simultaneously develop an understanding and save face, some senior KRG officials defended Ankara, insisting that its hands were tied by the fact that more than 40 staff members in its consulate in the Iraqi city of Mosul, including the consul himself, had been taken hostage by the IS. Other officials were more critical, slamming Ankara for not having acted decisively in KRG’s support.

And the fact that Turkey was experiencing elections where the ambitious then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was running for the newly enhanced office of president was also invoked as a reason for his reluctance to enter into war with such a ruthless foe.

It also appeared to observers here that Erdogan did not want to do anything that could strengthen his archenemy, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, even if that meant effectively siding with the Sunni jihadists.

But last month’s visit to Iraq by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu appears to have helped repair the relationship with the Kurds in the north. Davutoglu turned on his personal charm to reassure his hosts, even visiting a mountainous area where Turkish special forces are now training members of Peshmerga and a Turkish-built refugee camp for Iraqis displaced by the war.

The question of how long it takes for the relationship to bounce back to the point where it was six months ago is anyone’s guess.

But it’s clear that, despite the recent slide in relations, both sides need each other. As a land-locked territory, Kurds will be looking for

an alternative that they can use to counter pressure from the Iraqi government.

Focused on laying the foundation for a high degree of economic and political autonomy, if not independence, from Baghdad, the Kurds’ strategic ambition is to be able to control and ideally sell their oil and gas to international clients. And geography dictates that the most obvious and economically efficient route runs through Turkey, with or without Baghdad’s blessing.

As for Ankara, Iraqi Kurdistan is now its only friend in an otherwise hostile region. Once upon a time, not long ago, politicians in Ankara boasted of the success of their zero-problems-with-neighbors policy that had reshuffled regional politics and turned some of Turkey’s longstanding foes in the region, including Syria, into friends. But that era is now gone.

Ankara has come to see Iraqi Kurdistan as a potential major supplier of its own energy needs and has generally sided with the KRG in its disputes with Baghdad.

At the same time, however, Kurdish leaders have been criticized here for putting most of their eggs in Ankara’s basket.

The last time the Kurds invested so much of their trust in a neighboring country was during in the 1960s and 1970s, when the Shah of Iran supported their insurgency as a means of exerting pressure on Baghdad. When the Shah abruptly abandoned the Kurds in return for territorial concessions by the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the Shatt al-Arab River separating southern Iran from Iraq in 1975, the results were catastrophic.

‘No friends but the mountains’

Turkey’s indifference and passivity in August, when all of Iraqi Kurdistan came under existential threat

by IS jihadists, reminded many here of the consequences of placing too much trust in their neighbors. The hoary proverb that “Kurds have no friends but the mountains” suddenly regained its currency.

The IS’s siege of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani—just 1 kilometer from the Turkish frontier— compounded that distrust, not only for Iraqi Kurds, but for Kurds throughout the region, including in Turkey itself.

Turkey’s refusal to assist Kurdish fighters against the IS’s brutal onslaught has made it harder for the KRG to initiate a reconciliation.

A lthough A nkara has now changed its position—under heavy US pressure—and is now permitting the Peshmerga to provide limited assistance and reinforcements for Kobani’s defenders, the process of mending fences is still moving rather slowly.

While that process has now begun, it remains unclear how far both sides will go. Will it be again a case of Ankara and Erbil jointly versus Baghdad, or will Erbil play the game differently this time, aiming for greater balance between the two capitals?

Indeed, the much-lauded oil deal struck last Tuesday may indicate a preference for the latter strategy, particularly in light of their mutual interest in both confronting the IS and compensating for losses in revenue that resulted from the steep plunge in oil prices.

Still, given the history of deals sealed and then broken that have long characterized relations between the Kurds and Baghdad, nothing can be taken for granted.

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HE European Organization for Nuclear Research’s (CERN) Hadron Collider does just that: making subatomic particles collide to see what they break up into and discover what held them together in the first place, as well as what other forces are yet unaccounted for in the universe.

The answers can start another round of questions. The answers can

also show that they were the wrong questions to ask, and that the collider

Monday, December 8, 2014 A11

cannot give all the answers.

All this may sound too abstract, but commercial applications are, in fact, found along the way. Out of pure science comes pure profit, like Alan Turing’s machine that made Apple Inc. richer than the Russian economy.

But the big news recently is that CERN has just elected its first female director. Fabiola Gianotti, 52, comes to the job with a mastery of Latin and classical ballet.

She switched to advanced physics when art didn’t pay. As a result of her background, she is physically poised, unlike geeks; articulate;

and thinks that nothing about CERN’s findings is beyond common understanding and defies simplification. After all, she switched just like that, from Latin and ballet to advanced physics.

Fabiola has authorized the use of a comic-book script to publish CERN’s discoveries. It was she who announced what mathematics hitherto had only proved: that the Hadron Collider had found the Higgs boson. The name stuck in the public mind, not least because of its similarity to bosom. I’m sure she won’t find that sexist, so long as it gets the message across.

Internet ‘expression’ vs freedom of speech

By Christine M. Flowers Philadelphia Daily News

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hen you write anything for public consumption, and when it ends up on the Web in some shape or form, you can be absolutely certain that unless you are the pope (and even when you are) there will be objectionable comments from the peanut gallery. And, despite my almost fanatical devotion to the concept of free speech, I’ve developed a peanut allergy.

That’s my fey and not-so-clever way of saying that I’m not a huge fan of the more vitriolic opinions that bubble up from the tarry depths of the Internet, to the extent that I usually ignore them. I used to read almost everything people would write in response to my columns, but that ship-as ill-fated as the Titanicsailed years ago.

Every now and then, however, word gets back to me about something someone wrote online, and I am reminded of just how foul some human beings can be in their thoughts if not their actual actions.

This recently occurred to me when I wrote about statutes of limitations and a pyjamaed, basement-dwelling Neanderthal who spends most of his time cashing mama’s Social Security checks lodged a threat against a family member.

I really don’t care what they say about me, and I’ve heard it all, usually from women who believe in choice, namely, the choice to defame women who disagree with them on reproductive matters. But when you start attacking family

members, I draw the line in the virtual sand.

That’s why I paid particular attention to the oral arguments held this Monday at the Supreme Court concerning Internet “expression” and whether comments can rise to the level of illegal, unconstitutional threats.

It’s always interesting to watch the court when it weighs the relative value of speech because so much of our identity as a nation is defined by our ability to express ourselves without constraint. The First Amendment only truly applies to prospective interference by the government, although there are so many quasi-governmental entities in the country that Uncle Sam isn’t the only one that gets sued.

In the case before the court, an estranged husband from our own backyard in the Third Circuit had been convicted of threatening his wife, violating a law that barred threats over the Internet.

Anthony Elonis, an Allentown native, had claimed that he was just like any rapper out there talking

about what he’d like to do to the “ho that did him wrong, dawg...”

(As we have come to see, poet laureates are not the ones who are most in need of those First Amendment protections).

Some of the things that Elonis wrote on his Facebook page were extremely disturbing. But Elonis’ attorney argued that even though comments like “And I am not going to rest until your body is a mess/soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts” could appear threatening (these must be Harvard grads,) it was important to look at the subjective intent of the writer/speaker and not the language’s effect on the reader/ listener.

Frankly, that’s a very dangerous road to start traveling down and it flies in the face of what I learned as a lawyer about the “reasonable man.” While it may be difficult to find a reasonable man in this age of expression on steroids, it’s necessary to have some kind of standard so that we don’t have to wade into the fetid mental waters of the kind of people who think threatening to shoot up a kindergarten is OK (yes, Elonis did that, too.)

Not surprisingly, the Amercican Civil Liberties Union and other civil libertarians have come down on the side of the mediocre rapper boy from Allentown and have urged the court not to find Internet threats to be as bad as, say, yelling fire in a movie theater. And the

high court itself has made some major mistakes in the past in this area as, for example, when it held that burning a cross is not necessarily “threatening expression.” (Tell that to anyone who grew up black in the 1950s.)

As someone who regularly gets attacked for her opinions—and welcomes dancing around in that hot kitchen—I can tell the difference between blowing off steam and real threats. I don’t need to get inside the head of every person who wants to see me drawn and quartered, or forced to date Bill Maher, which is obviously equally unpleasant. And I also don’t need a psychology degree to perceive true malicious intent when its directed at one of my family members.

Free speech is a wonderful thing, and an important one. But criminals cannot hide behind the beauty of the First Amendment to shield them from their just deserts. A pissed-off husband with delusions of Eminem grandeur is not the type of person Oliver Wendell Holmes was talking about when he wrote: “I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country.”

Or then again, maybe he was.

Good for the United States, bad for Vladimir Putin

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HE falling price of oil is good news for American motorists, and it has an extra added attraction: It’s making life miserable for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Oil prices have fallen nearly 40 percent since June. Retail gasoline prices have plunged to their lowest levels in years, and may continue to fall in the weeks ahead. The lower cost of fuel keeps more money in consumers’ pockets. Companies, ranging from airlines to manufacturers, are reaping big energy savings.

The oil windfall is likely to help the United States economy rev up to a 3.5-percent growth rate next year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Solid, consistent growth with low interest rates and little inflation is ideal

for encouraging business investment and job creation. That, in turn, should put some upward pressure on wages.

US trading partners in Europe and Asia, recently under pressure from economic slowdowns, will also get a timely boost from cheaper oil.

What’s not to like? Well, there are losers to go along with the winners.

ExxonMobil and Chevron Corp., as well as smaller oil-patch companies, stand to make less money when commodity prices fall. People may not necessarily like the energy giants, but they employ many Americans.

North American oil and gas production could come under pressure. The processes that have helped create an energy boom in the US and Canada—mining oil sands and fracking shale formations—

tend to be costly. If oil prices settle at low levels, the economics might discourage further investment. But many oil and gas fields have reduced their costs as they have adopted new technology. North American production shot up 46 percent between 2008 and 2013. Production likely won’t grow that fast in the future if oil continues to sell closer to $70 a barrel than to $100 a barrel, but the improving cost of production could temper a slide.

And then there’s poor Vlad.

US and European officials have imposed economic sanctions to deter Russia from encroaching on neighboring Ukraine and other nations. The sanctions have inflicted some pain on Putin’s economy.

But the recent plunge in the price of crude has done more to leave Putin

gobsmacked than all the sanctions put together. The biggest losers in falling oil prices are countries, such as Russia, that depend heavily on oil revenue and maintain high production costs.

Russia’s Economic Development Ministry recently threw its forecast for 2015 into reverse: Instead of growing 1.2 percent next year, Russia’s economy will shrink by 0.8 percent. Nothing like a sharp recession to curb territorial ambitions.

After Russia, the next most vulnerable oil-producing state is Iran. Then, probably, Venezuela. Americans needn’t shed any tears about those three.

So Americans can relax in their warm homes, maybe go for a long drive and otherwise enjoy a welcome respite from high energy costs. And think about Vlad’s very bad days. Chicago Tribune/TNS

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NG debt declined to p5.71 trillion in october

By David Cagahastian

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he outstanding debt of the national government fell to P5.714 trillion in October compared to its level the previous month, as government borrowings in the first 10 months this year similarly slowed to only P214.18 billion.

Figures from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) show the outstanding debt of the national government amounting to P5.714 trillion during the month, or P9.4 billion lower than its month-ago level.

The diminution of government debt was also reflected in the decline in government borrowings in the first 10 months, amounting to P214.18 billion, or 31 percent lower than borrowings incurred in the same period last year, totaling P312.55 billion.

For January to October, gross external borrowings totaled P95.18 billion, while debt payments made during the period brought the net external borrowings to P15.52 billion.

For the same period, gross domestic borrowings amounted to P201.84 billion, while payments made to domestic creditors for the period brought the net domestic borrowings to P198.66 billion.

The total outstanding debt of the national government decreased because of net redemption in government securities and net repayment on the external debt, the BTr said in a statement. Net redemption of government securities held by domestic creditors amounted to P3.3 billion in October, while the external debt contracted by P6.1 billion because of net repayment and the strengthening of the local currency against the US dollar.

The BTr said this was in line with the government’s strategy to rely more on domestic loans to avoid foreignexchange risks, and to extend the maturity periods of its loans to free up more cash.

“Debt indicators highlight the steady improvement in the composition of national-government debt. The high concentration of debt denominated in local currency helps mitigate the impact of foreign-exchange fluctuations on 67.5 percent of the whole portfolio. Furthermore, the borrowing strategy of issuing mid- to long-term bonds has maintained the average maturity of national-government debt at 10.08 years to help minimize refinancing risks,” the BTr said.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Slower inflation in fourth quarter to boost 2014 economic growth

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By Bianca Cuaresma

oderating inflation seen in the final three months of the year should help boost local output, measured as the gross domestic product (GDP), this year, a Cabinet official said.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the slower acceleration of prices was to help lift consumption activities in the months leading to the long Christmas holidays Filipinos enjoy doing every year.

“It is a big drop from October to November, so that is very good. That is very favorable for economic growth, because inflation affects consumption, and that is a big part of the economy,” Balisacan said.

The Philippines posted a disappointing 5.3-percent expansion in the third quar-

Balisacan said the slower acceleration of prices was to help lift consumption activities in the months leading to the long Christmas holidays Filipinos enjoy doing every year.

ter, effectively making the 6.5-percent to 7.5-percent growth goal out of reach for

the $270-billion economy.

Balisacan also said earlier inflation spikes are under control, as supply-related issues were addressed and price pressures contained over the policy horizon.

“Inflation expectations are likely favorable in the next couple of months because of this. Partly, the supply-side problems have been addressed. Oil prices have gone down sharply and low prices are likely to persist in the medium term, and faster growth expected next year. I think this will help boost growth in the fourth quarter,” Balisacan said.

According to Balisacan, for the country to hit the low end of its (growth) target for the year, it must at least attain 8.2-percent growth in the fourth quarter.

As for inflation, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said prices were seen falling within the BSP target of 3 percent to 5 percent this year.

This will be the sixth consecutive year that full year proved on target.

Next year, however, will be more challenging, as the BSP lowered its target to 2 percent to 4 percent.

He also said several foreign banks have expressed interest in putting up branches in the country, following the release of the implementing rules and regulations of the recently passed law on the unrestricted entry of foreign banks in the country.

In a recent interview, he said the BSP has received inquiries from several banks from different parts of the world wanting to put up branches in the Philippines. He, however, said such inquiries have yet to be formalized.

Tetangco further said the interested lenders include banks from Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

“We have to plan long term. Remember that we are also promoting Islamic banking in the country,” he said.

The liberalized entry of foreign banks in the country was signed into law earlier this year.

Its guidelines included the modes by which a bank, with its head office abroad, may operate in the country provided it is publicly listed and subject to the same capital and regulatory rules as are locals.

Congress targets approval of ₧2.6-trillion budget today

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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embers of Congress are planning to approve the proposed P2.606-trillion national budget for 2015 at the bicameral conference committee on Monday, two lawmakers said.

Liberal Party Rep. Romero Quimbo of Marikina City, chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means; and Sen. Francis Escudero, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said members of the bicameral committee are expected to vote on the passage of the 2015 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

“Yes, our target date for the passage of the budget is on Monday,” said Quimbo, a member of the bicameral committee.

In a recent interview, Escudero said that if the House of Representatives and the Senate will not adopt their respective amendments on the budget during the meeting, voting among committee members will have to be implemented.

“We don’t have a problem if they [lower house] will adopt our [amendments], and if we [upper house] adopt their amendments on the budget bill,” Escudero said.

Liberal Party Rep. Isidro Ungab of Davao City, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, expressed confidence that the budget bill will be approved on time. “We will finalize [the 2015 budget] on Monday. The total budget will still be P2.606 trillion,” Ungab said.

Several members of the House of Representatives will meet their Senate counterparts on Monday for the second bicameral conference committee to reconcile the different versions of the proposed P2.606-trillion national budget for next year.

The harmonized, or “bicam,” version of the budget bill will be submitted to both Houses, which will then vote to ratify it prior to submitting it to President Aquino.

The President and the Department of Budget and Management will review the GAB and prepare a “veto message,” where veto items subject to direct veto, or conditional implementation are identified, and where general observations are made. Under the Constitution, the GAB is the only legislative measure where the President can impose a line-veto.

The proposed national budget for 2015 is 15.1 percent

higher than the P2.265 trillion approved for this year.

The 2015 budget represents 18.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), and reflects the jump in the government’s growth assumption of 7 percent to 8 percent for next year.

Social services would continue to account for the lion’s share of the proposed budget for 2015. Social protection and welfare services, which include the provision of basic education and universal health care, account for 37.1 percent, or P967.9 billion of the 2015 budget. The proposed budget for social services is 15 percent higher than the P841.8 billion approved for 2014.

Economic services have the second-biggest allocation, at P700.2 billion. The amount represents 4.9 percent of the country’s GDP and accounts for 27 percent of the proposed budget. At least P339.4 billion in funds will go toward various infrastructure programs, including the construction of national roads and integrated transport systems nationwide.

Among the government agencies, the proposed allocation for the Department of Education is the biggest, at P364.95 billion. The Department of Public Works and Highways has a proposed budget of P300.51 billion; Department of National Defense, P144.03 billion; Department of the Interior and Local Government, P141.42 billion; Department of Social Welfare and Development, P108.97 billion; and the Department of Health, P102.17 billion.

The government has also allotted P88.81 billion for the Department of Agriculture; P59.46 billion for the Department of Transportation and Communications; P21.29 billion for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources; and P20.28 billion for the Judiciary.

‘Govt needs to create more jobs’

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he House of Representatives urged the national government to create more jobs to sustain the country’s economic growth.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said in a statement that there is a pressing need to step up the government’s job-creation efforts given the latest results of the 2014 Labor Force Surveys, which showed that there were 2.8 million unemployed and 7 million underemployed Filipino workers.

“We need to sustain our economic growth, or grow faster, to create more and better jobs for our people,” Belmonte said before a recent meeting with foreign and local business leaders.

While the Philippines has emerged as one of the best-performing economies in Asia and the world in recent years, Belmonte said “much remains to be accomplished.”

The Speaker, with senior leaders of the bigger chamber of Congress, met in consultation late last month with leaders of the Joint Foreign Chambers and Philippine Business Groups to craft a common agenda for policy reforms to maximize the inflow of direct foreign investments.

“Clearly, we need more investments and business activities to absorb our growing labor force,” he said.

Because of the country’s “improved macroeconomic fundamentals,” Belmonte said the investment grade credit rating obtained by the Philippines from all major rating agencies can translate into lower cost

of credit and capital.

This, he said, can serve as an incentive for foreign investors to locate here.

To further ensure sound monetary and fiscal management and policies adopted by the government, the Speaker enumerated priority legislation agreed upon with their Senate counterparts during regular monthly dialogues.

Included in the priority measures of the 16th Congress are amendments of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Charter; Rationalization of Fiscal Incentives; Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act; Customs Modernization and Tariff Act; and the Rationalization of Mining Revenues.

Also included as top priorities are Resolution of Both Houses No. 1, or the amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution that vest on Congress the power to set (or adjust) restrictions on foreign ownership in key economic sectors, including public utilities, property, mass media and advertising, educational institutions, and development of natural resources.

Amendments to the Foreign Investment Act; amendments to the Retail Trade Act; an antitrust and competition law; amendments to the BuildOperate-Transfer Law; amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act; and amendments to the Cabotage law will also be prioritized.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz