Businessmirror january 18, 2015 by BusinessMirror

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

U.N. Media Award 2008

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A broader look at today’s business

n Sunday, January 18, 2015 Vol. 10 No. 101

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POPE Francis celebrates Mass with a crowd of around 150,000 braving the rain and wind brought about by Tropical Storm Amang (international code name Mekkhala). The crowd included survivors of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) in Tacloban, the city hit hardest by the super typhoon. Story below, more photos on A2. roy domingo

PHL to sustain growth in 2015 ‘Drop in Storm cuts short oil price Pope’s stay in Leyte positive T for GDP’ By Bianca Cuaresma

week ahead

ECONOMIC DATA PREVIEW Foreign exchange

n Previous week: The local currency reverted back to the 44 level during the shortened trading week for Pope Francis’s state and spiritual visit this weekend. The local currency seemed to adopt the socalled pope effect, as the peso saw continuous appreciation during the week. On Monday, January 12, the peso traded at 44.875 to a dollar, with a traded volume of $517.7 million. This appreciated to 44.77 to a dollar on Thursday, before ending the trading week on Wednesday at 44.675 to a dollar. This is the strongest peso since December 22 last year, when it hit 44.62 to a dollar. The total traded volume during the shortened trading week is at $2.13 billion. Continued on A6

HE country’s economic-growth story is still seen to be one of the most robust and resilient performances this year amid impending volatilities in the local and global front, an international credit watcher said. In a recent research note, Fitch Ratings said the Philippines’s economic prospects remain an outlier in the region this year, along with that of the Chinese. “We assess macroeconomic performance and policy management as a strength for only two sovereigns [China and the Philippines], and as a neutral factor for the others,” Fitch said in its outlook on emerging Asian sovereigns for this year. Moreover, the country’s other indicators also show a good standing among its Asian peers. Fitch graded the Philippines’s public finances with a “neutral” status and a “stable” trend. Other similarly rated countries in public finances include Bangladesh,

PESO exchange rates n US 44.8320

China, Indonesia and Thailand. India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, meanwhile, were rated with a “weakness” status in public finances. In terms of external finances, the Philippines was given a “strength” status with a “stable” trend. Other countries with a “strength” status in its external finances include Bangladesh, China, Malaysia and Thailand. India and Vietnam were given a “neutral” standing, while Mongolia and Sri Lanka were given a “weakness” status. Only Vietnam, meanwhile, was given a “positive” grade on its external finances trend. On its structural issues, meanwhile, the Philippines was given a See “Growth,” A6

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

ACLOBAN CITY—Amid strong winds and heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Amang (international code name Mekkhala), Pope Francis on Saturday celebrated Holy Mass with the survivors of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) and thousands of pilgrims. The pope arrived onboard a Philippine Airlines Airbus A340 at the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport at about 8:50 a.m., and was warmly greeted by Yolanda survivors, as well as 11 bishops representing the places affected by the super typhoon. Continued on A6 Wearing a yellow raincoat, Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up to the faithful as he arrives in Tacloban on Saturday. AP/Wally Santana

HE slipping oil prices in the international market can put an additional boost to the Philippine economic growth coming into this year, after the $270-billion economy had posted a disappointing growth in the third quarter of the previous year. In an interview, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor for the Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo said the effect of lower oil prices on the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is “positive.” “Well, it is positive. Because production is lower, the cost of basic commodities will also be benefiting in the process. The DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] said a lot of basic commodities’ prices have already gone down, such as transport cost,” Guinigundo said. “The country’s [GDP] can also be supported by low prices,” he added, explaining that lower oil prices can pass on savings to Continued on A6

n japan 0.3804 n UK 68.0101 n HK 5.7827 n CHINA 7.2330 n singapore 33.6324 n australia 36.5826 n EU 52.8031 n SAUDI arabia 11.9453 Source: BSP (14 January 2015)

Sunday, January 18, 2015

News BusinessMirror

corp@businessmirror.com.ph

Pope Francis to Yolanda survivors: With the power that comes from Jesus on the cross, let us move forward and walk together

ROY DOMINGO

Pope defies Amang

Undeterred by a typhoon warning, Pope Francis proceeded with his trip to Tacloban City to join and comfort survivors of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan), which wreaked massive devastation in the typhoon-weary province on November 8, 2013. “So many of you have lost everything,” Francis told the 150,000 Catholic faithful gathered in an open field near the airport in Tacloban, the city hit hardest by Yolanda. “I don’t know what to say to you, but the Lord does know what to say to you. Some of you lost part of your families. All I can do is keep silent. And I walk with you all with my silent heart.” The pope, however, has to cut short his trip and fly back to Manila amid inclement weather.

Malacañang photo

ROY DOMINGO

Kevin De la Cruz

EconomySunday

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

Sunday, January 18, 2015 A3

resets submission of bids ARMM sees P1-billion fresh investments DOTC for ITS South Terminal to June 1 in power generation, plantation this year T

By Manuel T. Cayon | Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is expecting to draw in more P1 billion in fresh investments this year. Ishak Mastura, chairman and managing head of the Regional Board of Investments–ARMM, made this bold projection after the region already breached the P1-billion mark twice since 2011. The record for last year was yet to be determined from the last quarter reports that are yet to be collated.

Mastura said the projection could come in easily—and could go higher —due to the favorable outcome of the peace process between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He said the investments would likely come from the construction of a new oil depot, mining, biomass power genera-

tion, and agriculture-related ventures such as banana, oil palm products and buckwheat plantations. Investments would come mostly from local business players “encouraged by the peace and security as the first major reason why investors are encouraged to invest in ARMM,” he said. “The peace process sends the positive message that we are on the mend; that we are on [our way] toward stability that will allow investments to be sustained,” he said. Mastura said he was optimistic that the transition to the new political entity would serve as the gateway to even more investors into the region in the years ahead. The ARMM surpassed the P1-billion mark in investment in 2011, while in-

vestments reached P1.6 billion in 2013, when investors poured in P1.4 billion, half of it, or P700 million, went to nickel exploration in Tawi-Tawi, in real estate in Bumbaran, Lanao del Sur, at P365 million, and in the expansion of a banana plantation and an oil depot. Last year the ARMM also set to improve the Polloc seaport in Maguindanao and turn it into a modern shipping port complex with a budget of P100 million. The port would repair its docking area, construct a new control tower and a warehouse complex backed by a proposed power generation set. Port Manager Mimbalawag Mangutara said the ARMM has set its eyes to turn the port into a fully operational economic zone.

Ceb seeks addl seats for Manila-Taipei route for Chinese Lunar year By Lorenz S. Marasigan

he airline company of John L. Gokongwei is seeking the temporary grant of additional 1,280 seats between Manila and Taipei for its expanded operations during the Chinese Lunar New Year. A filing with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) showed that Cebu Pacific sought for the additional entitlements to be used from February 18 to 22. Under the law, the regulator has the power to grant extra bilateral rights to airlines who wish to operate at overcapacity in a temporary status. The petition was heard on January 14.

“But it has to be elevated first to the board level. We have to review it first. By February we can issue a decision,” CAB Executive Director Carmelo L. Arcilla said in a telephone interview on Saturday. Cebu Pacific, he noted, could ask the regulator to fast-track the process. The dominant budget carrier currently has 1,815 weekly seat entitlements for the ManilaTaipei route. Aside from Taipei, the dominant budget carrier offers flights to 27 other international destinations— namely Bali, Bangkok, Beijing, Brunei Darussalam, Busan, Dammam, Dubai, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi

Minh, Hong Kong, Incheon (Seoul), Jakarta, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Macau, Nagoya, Narita, Osaka Phuket, Riyadh, Shanghai, Siem Reap, Singapore, Sydney and Xiamen. It also operates the most extensive airline network in the Philippines, with 55 routes and 44 destinations. The airline’s 52-strong fleet is comprised of 10 Airbus A319, 29 Airbus A320, five Airbus A330 and eight ATR-72 500 aircraft. Between 2015 and 2021, Cebu Pacific will take delivery of nine more brandnew Airbus A320, 30 Airbus A321neo, and one Airbus A330 aircraft.

he Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has extended the deadline for the submission of offers for the P4billion Integrated Transport System (ITS) South Terminal deal by almost two months at the request of a bidder. Transportation Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo M. Lotilla announced that his agency has decided to move the bid submission date to June 1 from April 13, after a bidder requested for an 11-month extension. “The request was denied,” he said. Four companies are qualified to vie for the deal, namely, Ayala Land Inc., Datem Inc., Filinvest Land Inc. and Megawide Construction Corp. Only the four firms joined the prequalification stage of the auction held in November last year, with Robinsons Land Corp. and San Miguel Corp. backing out of the bidding process. The agency earlier said it targets to sign the concession agreement by July this year, but with the recent postponement, it could be delayed by about a full quarter. The project aims to provide a central transport terminal where all modes of transportation will be available in one location. The terminal, to be located near the Food Terminal Inc. compound, will provide effective interconnection between different transport modes and services, thus ensuring efficient and seamless travel for the commuting public. It will connect passengers from the Laguna/Batangas side to other urban transport systems such as the future North-South Commuter Rail, city buses, taxis and other public-utility vehicles that serve inner Metro Manila. The terminal will include a passenger terminal building, arrival and departure bays, public-information systems, ticketing and baggage-holding facilities and parkride facilities. The winning bidder will build, operate and manage the said terminal for a concession period of 35 years. Lorenz S. Marasigan

SundayV

Busine

A4 Sunday, January 18, 2015

editorial

Reinvigorating our Spanish past

OR far too long we have concentrated on the United States and Japan for the destinations of our exports and the sources of our imports, to the neglect of other countries, including ones with whom we have deep and common historical experience. This is a mistake which, happily, now seems to be on the way to being corrected.

In a recent interview with a local daily (not the BusinessMirror), the Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines, Luis Calvo, highlighted prospects for cooperation between the Philippines and Spain. The Ambassador said that “the Philippines is the only priority country in Asia within the Master Plan for Spanish Cooperation in 2013-2016.” The Ambassador envisioned Spain as contributing to the building of facilities and structures necessary to the realization of the Philippines’s tourism goals, including tourist accommodations like hotels, and infrastructure like transport and communication facilities. These will be investments distinct from the E25 million the Spanish Government has given us in the form of grants in the 2012-2014 period. Earlier, the Chilean Ambassador to the Philippines, Roberto Mayorga, stated that Chile is keen on forging a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Philippines, to enable the two countries to maximize their benefits from trade. Our own Department of Trade and Industry confirmed that a Chilean Mission is arriving in Manila in March to begin informal talks on the topic. This will be followed by a reciprocal visit to Chile by a Philippine delegation that will extend its travel to Peru, Brazil, and Mexico. Mexico’s readiness to expand trade relations with the Philippines has already been expounded by the Mexican Ambassador, Julio Camarena (see BusinessMirror of December 17, 2014). In addition, we now have prospects of renewed economic and diplomatic interaction with Cuba, given that diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana have just been restored, even if only partially. The facts on the ground (2013) suggest bright prospects for the emerging relationships. Spain Mexico Philippines Population (in million persons) 47.2 122.3 98.4 Gross Domestic Product (in billion US dollars) 1,393.0 1,261.0 272.0 GDP per capita (in US dollars) 29,920 10,310 2,764 Total exports (in million US dollars) 310,964 380,189 56,698 Total imports (in million US dollars) 332,267 90,965 65,097 Total trade per capita (in US dollars) 14,000 6,451 1,440 We had difficulty finding data on trade for Chile but in 2013, Chile had a GDP of $297 billion and a population of 17.8 million. Its per capita income stood at $16,600. As can be seen, we are talking here of interacting with prosperous high income and high middle income countries. We are the least developed among the prospective members, with Spain understandably the most industrialized. As such we stand to benefit the most from any form of cooperation among the countries. By Christine M. Flowers We extend our unequivocal support to the emerging relationships. To facilitate the process of cooperation Philadelphia Daily News we should now speed up our study of the product and service complementarities between us and the countries concerned. Obviously, products and services that have broad and deep complementarities with the other countries’ products and services are the ones to be given priorities in our foreign trade development program. SUSPECTED it would happen, just not as With respect to tourism, we should get ready to pinpoint where in the hotel, resort, and infrastructure quickly as it did. Whenever acts of terror building program Spanish investments can go. are committed in the name of Islam, there is Let’s begin implementing widened and cordial trade relations with old friends, Spain and Latin generally a counter-attack from the enlightened, American countries, as soon as feasible. usually secular, but always “progressive,” flank of society in which the Islamic jihad is conflated with all types of religious fundamentalism. It can be seen in newspapers’ letters to editors talking about how the Paris attacks were not A broader look at today’s business about radical Muslims and that other religions Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua and other groups are equally guilty of violence, Founder people like abortion clinic bombers and Jewish settlers in Israel and the Western colonialists and Publisher T. Anthony C. Cabangon our jailers at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, and so forth. It is seen in the columns from those on the left Editor in Chief Jun B. Vallecera (and from conservatives at the New York Times, who in the real world would be considered libAssociate Editor Jennifer A. Ng erals) who say “I am not Charlie” because they News Editor Dionisio L. Pelayo think that reprinting the offensive cartoons of City & Assignments Editor Vittorio V. Vitug Special Projects Editor Max V. de Leon Muhammad is sheer bigotry, not an attempt to honor free speech. Online Editor Ruben M. Cruz Jr. It is heard in the comments from representatives of the Muslim community and their supResearch Bureau Head Dennis D. Estopace porters of all faiths, or none, who say again and Creative Director Eduardo A. Davad again that these vicious attacks do not represent Chief Photographer Nonilon G. Reyes the religion of peace. I actually agree with that last statement, Chairman of the Board & Ombudsman Judge Pedro T. Santiago (Ret.) because in a world where more than a billion President Benjamin V. Ramos VP-Finance Adebelo D. Gasmin people honor Muhammad, the incidence of VP-Corporate Affairs Frederick M. Alegre jihadist terror is statistically small. As an imVP Advertising Sales Marvin Nisperos Estigoy migration lawyer, I know that most of the vicAdvertising Sales Manager Aldwin Maralit Tolosa tims of fundamental Islamism are themselves Circulation Manager Rolando M. Manangan members of the larger faith, and do not deserve to be lumped together with their homicidal BusinessMirror is published daily by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror brothers and sisters. Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd floor of Dominga Building III But I do not agree that fundamentalism of any 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines. stripe is comparable to what happened in Paris, Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725. Fax line: 813-7025. to journalists in the Middle East, to 3,000 Ameri(Advertising Sales) 893-2019; 817-1351, 817-2807. cans in New York, to cafe patrons in Sydney, to (Circulation) 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. E-mail: news@businessmirror.com.ph. subway passengers in London, to schoolchildren www.businessmirror.com.ph on buses in Tel Aviv and to 2,000 Nigerians in HOM their villages. 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Gospel

Sunday, January 18, 2015

cause he believed there was too much Catholic influence on the court, there were no parades of angry nuns with blazing torches in the streets of Philadelphia. When he again depicted the Star of David in barbed wire, as if Israel had created a concentration camp to house the poor Palestinians, there were no bombings at the Inquirer building sponsored by the Israeli Consulate. I’m also unaware of any rampages instigated by the Dalai Lama in response to the grossly obese Buddha statue at Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr’s Buddakhan establishment. Clearly, the vast majority of Muslims are not jihadists, although not enough of them have distanced themselves vigorously from jihadist acts with a ringing denunciation of terror. Statements such as “Islam is a religion of peace” and “these people do not represent us even though we understand that they feel marginalized” are not as strong as “these are monsters and deserve

e went out again beside the sea; and all the crowd gathered about Him, and He taught them. And as He passed on, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed Him. And as He sat at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and His disciples;

to rot in hell for their crimes against humanity.” However, it is ridiculous to even suggest that there is any parity at all between abortion clinic bombers and members of al-Qaida, the Islamic State, ISIS, ISIL or whatever other acronym we need to use to keep up with the changing face of terror. In the first place, most clinic protestors are peaceful, if not annoying. The number of clinic bombings pale in comparison to the victims of jihadist attacks, and it’s been about 1,000 years since Christians regularly targeted entire populations of those who didn’t share their religion, give or take an Inquisition. I really don’t mean to be flippant about this, but it’s unnerving to see how some people will insist on minimizing the religious aspect of Islamic terror by doing some very gross and poorly thought-out comparisons with other faiths and other instances of violence. We do the Muslim world no favor by ignoring the role that the Koran has played in the blueprint of extremism or by exaggerating the role of the Bible. It is not bigotry to point out that while the majority of Muslims reject terror, the vast majority of those acts of terror are perpetrated, at least in this day and age, by those who invoke Allah as their protector. Some are trying to dilute the relevance of Islam in the recent Paris attacks in good faith. They don’t want to heap any more shame or blame upon communities that they already view as victimized and marginalized. That’s both understandable and laudable. But that does not permit them to make broad generalizations about how “all extremism is wrong,” thereby implying that all religions are equally responsible for acts of terror. They are clearly not, and those who deny this are sociological ostriches hiding their heads in some very dangerous sand. There are bad Christians, bad Hindus, bad Buddhists, bad atheists and very good Muslims. That is irrelevant to what happened in Paris last week, because the blood wasn’t on their hands: it dripped from palms that, at other times, were raised in prayer to Allah. And until we admit that without equivocating, we are insuring that more blood will flow.

for there were many who followed Him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”—Mark 2:13-17

Voices

essMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph • Sunday, January 18, 2015 A5

A man called Tet T Free Fire

By Teddy Locsin Jr.

HIS is my foreword to Butch Dalisay’s biography of a remarkable traditional politician which is due out at the end of the month: There is a commonplace and naturally ignorant notion that government will finally come into its own, and politics serve its proper purpose when the politicians are taken out of government and non-politicians put in their places. To be sure, I cannot imagine how non-politicians can take over the work of politics. Non-politicians easily agitated but have a difficult time fixing what think is broken in government. Soldiers can do it. They did it in Taiwan, South Korea and Chile by doing away with democracy. But in a democracy, it is impossible to imagine how non-politicians can get anything done let alone done right. The reason is that politics is how democratic government is done. I will give you an example. One day, a friend of mine, Tet Garcia, already a congressman, came across a press report to which none paid heed. Large tax payments were vanishing; perhaps in billions; a careful investigation revealed it to be trillions in tax payments vanishing over the years. No one knew where to or to whom but gone the money was. None knew how it was done. Top finance officials merely insisted it wasn’t happening. But it seems that checks were paid by taxpayers to BIR and Customs through authorized depositary banks but the money never got to them. Now if I had read those reports, I would have fingered the Palace, crisply insulted it on the floor of the House, and left it at that. But taxes would still

be lost; the public would continue to be the loser. Tet decided to put a stop to it. Just like that: wrong, stop. He did some sleuthing and he found a tangle of collusion that encompassed the depositary banks, along with tax and finance officials. The story is told in graphic detail in this book. Curiously no investigations were made despite demands on taxpayers to pay again what they already paid. It is even more curious that tax authorities hesitated to file tax evasion charges against seemingly delinquent taxpayers. It was as if the authorities knew they had paid. When charges were pressed, it was done without conviction and failed for lack of persistence. But one time, about a year and a half after a large tax payment had vanished and tax authorities tried to collect it again, an investigation was made. It appeared in the papers though briefly. It was as if editors were in on the scheme. By now I would have been raising hell in Congress but not Tet. Tet delved even deeper. Diversions of this type could reach as big as P100 billion a year, he guessed. But still he didn’t get mad. Instead he offered this observation to the government: Government never knows how much it gets until it actually receives it. It doesn’t know how much was paid, by whom and when, so it has an accurate idea of its running balance and how much real money it can tap at any point in time. This is something that any business would expect its bank to do for it. Yet here was a service that banks did not render to the tax authorities. Everyone else doing business with banks knows

everything about their accounts; only government was left completely in the dark. And the strange thing is that government liked it that way. There are creatures like that; moles for instance. By now, I would be impugning on the floor of the House the chastity of the mother of the Secretary of Finance and the wife of the BSP Governor and assuming that customs and internal revenue commissioners were in on it. Not Tet. He kept his cool. He pointed out the problem, indeed he detailed the scam, and offered the solution. He accused no one in particular so everyone could show their innocence by cooperating with him. Or prove their guilt by not. He proposed that check payments for taxes should not be done with just any kind of check, like those with which you pay your tailor, but with special ones indicating their exclusive use for this specific government transaction. The checks would require enhanced authentication procedures to make sure the taxpayer is who he says he is, the amount is what he owes, and that his account has enough money to cover the amount of the check so the government can get a hold of the cash ASAP. So the check won’t be lost in the daily mountain of other checks arising from personal and commercial obligations awaiting clearing, Tet suggested that the checks be marked by distinguishing digits as checks made out to the national treasury for the account of the customs or internal revenue— that long so the entire space is filled up, leaving no room for bank branch people to change the payee. The checks would be directly cred-

ited to the head office of the branch and not to the branch attempting to divert it. Instead of monitoring thousands of bank branches there would be a handful of head offices that would immediately credit the sum to the government; which is to say as cash in government hand and not as sums owed by banks to government. Now government could really say what it had at any point in time. The data would be fed into the kind of information system every bank and business has but which the government studiously avoided adopting. You would wonder why. A more detailed explanation is in this book which is really about politics that works. Tet’s initiatives to stop the scam were initially and then repeatedly ignored by government; and then viciously attacked as the possibly confession of one of the swindlers. Indeed, they argued, who else would know what had completely escaped their attention. Now, why would a swindler complain to the victim that he is swindling him? Government finally said that Tet’s accusations are unfair to the banks which do earn a percentage of the sums paid by taxpayers. The float was the banks’ compensation for arduous task of receiving checks for tax payments. And yet Tet’s proposals were not original. Procedures to make diversion difficult and theft a thing of the past has long been SOP for banks when handling payments to public utilities. Why was government stopping those who were trying to stop the robbing of the government? At this point, I would have paid to take out

the officials obstructing my efforts; though I don’t know if COA would have approved the expense out of my pork barrel. So, more likely, having made my point and gotten some publicity from it, I would have walked away from it all. Instead Tet repeatedly raised his concerns and proposed solutions to the Monetary Board. Suffice it to say that government is no longer being robbed in that way again. There are other ways but not that way, thanks to Tet. You see, this is the difference between someone who hates corruption like myself and someone who does something about it; and never stops trying until he stops it. He doesn’t alienate those who oppose him, even if he suspects they are in on the theft. He enlists their aid because only they have the power to stop it. If they won’t help him, it only shows the extent of their guilt. Both of Tet and I have been congressmen. But I think Tet has done a whole lot more than outraged people like myself; not to mention those in government who are part of the shenanigans. But then Tet Garcia is a tradpol; a traditional politician. He knows that the power to stop shenanigans; the capability to improve the public service is found most abundantly in government. So rather than attack the government to do its job properly, like a true politician, Tet cajoles it instead. I have not the patience and perhaps not the ability and staying power of Tet in that respect. Now which would you prefer: someone like me fulminating against a wrong or someone like Tet quietly but firmly putting a stop to it.

Get ready for life without oil By Noah Smith Bloomberg

AUDI Arabia isn’t the nicest ally to have. The desert kingdom just handed out a sentence of 1,000 lashes to a blogger for running a website devoted to freedom of speech. Not exactly the kind of regime we want to have in our circle of friends, especially once you figure in their financial support for Islamic State and other radical Islamist groups. But you go to war with the allies you have, not the allies you wish you had. And in the global oil price war against Russia and Iran, Saudi Arabia is the US’s indispensable ally. By continuing to pump the black stuff at an undiminished rate, the Saudis are repeating the trick they pulled in the mid-’80s, allowing oil prices to plunge in response to Western supply increases, thus depriving their rival (Iran) and ours (Russia) of revenue —and, in the process, temporarily tanking the US shale industry. It would be nice if we could escape this cycle - to say nothing of limiting global carbon emissions. But oil remains the indispensable commodity, without which industrial civilization will be thrown back to the coal age —or worse. So we’re stuck with the Saudis, stuck with Russia and Iran,

and stuck with our dependence on a single nonrenewable pollutiongenerating resource. But what if we had a real-life Iron Man, to build us magical “arc reactors” and solve our energy needs forever. Well, we do have the man who inspired the movie version of Tony Stark -Tesla founder Elon Musk. Musk and Tesla haven’t invented the arc reactor, but they are making rapid incremental improvements to a more down-to-earth technology —the lithium-ion battery. Tesla’s planned “gigafactories” in Nevada and (possibly) New York will harness economies of scale to an unprecedented degree, building on improvements that have slashed battery-based energy storage costs during the past two decades. Just to give you an idea of how fast battery costs have declined, here is a chart (via futurist Ramez Naam) showing how the amount of energy that can be stored in lithium-ion batteries per $100 rose from 1991 to 2005: That data is from a 2009 study by Duke University. Nor did storage efficiency stop after 2005; according to Naam, the cost of electric-car batteries declined by 40 percent from 2010 to 2013. The Tesla gigafactories are projected to drive costs down at an even faster rate.

These declines, unlike the recent 50-percent drop in oil prices, are not temporary. They are driven by increasing demand, which spurs technological progress—not by reduced demand, which lowers the oil price. In the case of oil, new technologies such as fracking allow us to get more oil, but always at a higher cost than before—in the case of batteries, technology just keeps getting better and better. A 2011 McKinsey & Co. analysis reported that battery prices would have to drop by about three-quarters to make electric cars cost-competitive at gas prices of $2.50 per gallon.

But that was four years ago, and battery prices have continued falling. We could see cost-competitive electric cars taking over the road in as little as a decade. That’s how fast the cost trend is moving. Of course, that will require extensive modifications to our transportation-energy infrastructure— we’ll need to replace gas stations with charging stations. That’s why Iron Man—er, Elon Musk—has decided to allow other companies to use Tesla’s patented technology free of charge. When other car companies get in on the electriccar game—such as General Mo-

tors, which just announced a new electric car, the Chevy Bolt - the incentive increases to build more electric-charging infrastructure. The more charging infrastructure gets built, the more incentive there is for consumers to buy electric cars, and so forth—a classic case of a network effect. Electric cars won’t free humanity from the need for oil. We also use oil for making plastics and other products, and for heating. Heating oil will eventually be supplanted by solar power, of course, for which Musk’s batteries will also come in handy (bye bye, utility industry!). And we use oil for jet fuel, which can’t easily be replaced with batteries. But ground transportation still makes up the bulk of our oil use. So when batteries advance to the point where oil is no longer used for cars and trucks, the Saudis, Russians and Iranians will find themselves selling what is suddenly a niche product. And simultaneously, the US, Japan, Europe and other energy importers will find themselves free from the yo-yo of global oil prices. In other words, it’s less than two decades until we are free from the yoke of the petrostates and their nasty, backward regimes. Go Iron Man! …Um, I mean, Elon Musk.

New communications revolution must benefit everyone By Orson Aguilar Tribune News Service

NE hundred years ago, a communications revolution began. Recent leaps in technology have created a new communications revolution, but we must act to keep its benefits within reach of all. On Jan. 25, 1915, Alexander Graham Bell in New York City called his former assistant Thomas Watson in San Francisco, making it America’s first-ever transcontinental phone call. Transcontinental phone service was a breakthrough, but it was quickly imperiled

by a Bell System monopoly that led to excessive prices and thwarted innovation. Recognizing that telephone service was necessary for success and even survival, Congress acted to ensure that all Americans had access to basic phone service. Rules were set up to open up competition. Where telephone service was unavailable, universal service programs were created that encouraged expansion of the phone network. Today, broadband is as essential as basic telephone service was a century ago. If you doubt this, just look at how many employers accept job applications only online.

And we’re fighting the same battle for equal access all over again. But providers view broadband as a luxury, preferring to sell high-priced service to those who can afford expensive bundles. And they have used their deep pockets and massive lobbying power to consolidate the market, forestall new companies from competing, and prevent communities from building their own broadband networks. The companies want to offer better service to those who can pay more. That’s great for big corporations and wealthy individuals, but not so great for everyone else, who would

be relegated to the back of the digital bus. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will shortly be issuing rules aimed at addressing this, through what is commonly referred to as “net neutrality.” That rather wonky term simply means protection for everyone’s right to access any content or applications they choose, without their Internet provider picking favorites or restricting access. Simply put, it’s equal access to the Internet. Period. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has recently made comments suggesting that he’s amenable to this idea, but in the past he’s also

suggested he might allow Internet providers to charge extra to transmit some types of content. It’s hard to tell from his statements exactly where he will come down. What we need from the FCC (or if the FCC won’t act, from Congress) is simple: The Internet must be treated as what’s known legally as a “common carrier,” guaranteeing open access for all, with no fast lanes or special privileges for the wealthy and well connected. Nothing short of that will protect the new communications revolution 100 years after Alexander Graham Bell made his landmark phone call.

News BusinessMirror

A6 Sunday, January 18, 2015

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Storm cuts short pope’s stay in Leyte

US...

continued from A8 act in a way that we don’t get behind the curve.” He said it would be appropriate for the Fed to start considering raising interest rates in midyear, based on his forecast for US growth of between 2.5 percent and 3 percent, with inflation rising toward the Fed’s 2-percent goal.

Prices decline

Consumer prices declined by 0.4 percent last December compared with the month before, a Labor Department report showed. From a year earlier, prices rose 0.8 percent. As measured by the Fed’s preferred gauge, the personal consumption expenditures price index, prices rose 1.2 percent from a year earlier last November. The index hasn’t exceeded the Fed’s goal since March 2012. The core measure, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, increased 1.4 percent in November. Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota, in a speech in Minnesota, repeated that markets show “troubling signs” the Fed is losing credibility on its inflation goal, and that officials shouldn’t lift rates this year.

Plane...

Wearing a yellow raincoat, Pope Francis waves to throngs of well-wishers who braved the rains and winds during his visit to Tacloban City on Saturday. The pontiff had to cut his trip short because of the bad weather. roy domingo

Continued from A1 During the Holy Mass, Francis, who wore a raincoat on top of his vestments for protection against the driving rain, reminded the survivors that they will not and will never be alone in their trial. “Let us know that we have a Mother Mary and our senior, great brother, Jesus. We are not alone,” he said. “With the power that comes from Jesus on the cross, let us move forward and walk together,” he added. In June 2014 the pontiff decided to come to the Philippines to visit some areas devastated by Yolanda in Leyte, particularly Tacloban City and its adjacent town of Palo. “I’d like to tell you something close to my heart. When I saw from Rome that catastrophe, I had to be here. And on those very days I decided to come here. I am here to be with you—a little bit late, but I’m here,” he said. The pontiff also told Yolanda survivors to move forward while holding on to their faith. “So many of you have lost everything. I don’t know what to say to you. But the Lord

continued from A8 does know what to say to you. Some of you have lost part of your families. All I can do is keep silence and walk with you all with my silent heart,” he said. “This is what comes from my heart. Forgive me if I have no other words to express myself,” he added. Francis also urged the typhoon survivors to hold on to Virgin Mary’s hand when they still feel so much pain. “Let us look to our Mother and, like a little child, let us hold onto her mantle and with a true heart say, ‘Mother.’ In silence, tell your Mother what you feel in your heart,” Francis said. Drenched by the continuous rain, pilgrims braved the cold. Some pilgrims who brought their young children with them sought refuge in the Media Center located within the airport apron area. Others took shelter in the medical stations and in other tents on the apron. Meanwhile, several faithful were brought to makeshift hospitals in the area as some of them experienced chilling owing to heavy rains as they wait long hours

for Francis’s Mass. The pilgrims cheered when the first two planes touched down, supposedly carrying the papal entourage. Despite heavy rains brought by the storm, Daisy Cataag still attended the Papal Mass, held in front of Tacloban airport. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, this is my chance to see the pope,” said Cataag, who is from Ormoc, Leyte. Rodolfo Amparo, meanwhile, said he traveled from Davao to Tacloban to express his gratitude to Francis for his decision to visit the country. “I came here just to express personally my gratitude for his concern to Filipinos and to the Philippines,” he said. The pontiff flew back to Manila at 1 p.m. on the same day or four hours earlier than the original schedule. Fr. Chris Militante, information officer of Palo archdiocese, in an interview with the BusinessMirror said more than 2 million people gathered to welcome Francis in Leyte. These include more than 160,000 pilgrims inside the apron if the occupancy of the 98 quadrants in the 9-hectare sprawling concreted apron will be considered. The fully packed apron still had a spill-over of well-wishers excited to greet the Holy Father.

“This visit is one of the greatest relief that we are going to receive from the Holy Father after Supertyphoon Yolanda hit the country in 2013,” the priest said.

Grateful

HOUSE independent bloc leader and Lakas Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Tacloban thanked Francis for blessing his constituents during Saturday’s Holy Mass here despite heavy rains, hoping that his “personal touch” to express love and compassion to the Yolanda survivors will expedite government efforts to rebuild the devastated areas. “We thank the pope for this God’s big blessing he extended and shared with us. He comes at a time when we as a nation are going through one of the most trying and difficult times in our history. The prayers he sent to us were immeasurable help for our needs and salvation,” Romualdez said. “So far, this is best relief and reward to all of us here that God’s representative [Francis] came and visited Tacloban City to comfort and assured that our Lord is here for us,” Romualdez added. Romualdez reminded the public that the primary reason for Francis’s visit to the Philippines was to personally comfort the survivors of Yolanda, the most powerful storm to ever hit land, with Tacloban the hardest-hit area.

Week ahead: Economic data preview Continued from A1

n Week ahead: The local currency is expected to rally still within the high P44-territory in search for fresh leads on currencies. Market players are also seen to watch the country’s balance of payments (BOP) for the full-year of 2014 set for release on Tuesday for sentiment moving data for this week.

Balance of payments (December 2014)

January 20, Tuesday

n November BOP: The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported earlier that the country’s BOP position hit a deficit of $314 million in November 2014, snapping the BOP surplus

recorded in the previous four months. The November BOP is also a steep reversal from the $837-million surplus seen in the same month in 2013. The month’s deficit is the third largest deficit last year and brought the country’s total BOP for the entire 11 months of the year to $3.7 billion in deficit. n December BOP: While some recovery is seen to go back to the country’s external position, the central bank already conceded to ending the year with the BOP in the reds in 2014, meaning any positive surplus in December may not be enough to cover the multibillion-dollar deficit seen in the BOP. In particular, the central bank the BOP is now expected to post a deficit of $3.4 billion at the end of 2014. Bianca Cuaresma

‘Drop in oil price positive for GDP’ Continued from A1

consumers, which, in turn, can be used for additional expenditures and other areas to fuel other productive sectors in the economy. “This benefits both producers and consumers because oil reduces cost of production and it can touch into consumers in terms of lower prices of goods and services,” Guinigundo added. The prices of oil plunged toward the end of 2014 and continued to decline entering into 2015 from the estimated $80 to $100 per barrel to about $45 to $7 per barrel. This caused inflation in the country to drop sharply, particularly in December 2014, from 3.7 in the previous month to 2.7 percent in December last year. It is also significantly lower compared to the 4.1-percent inflation in

December 2013. The lower December inflation—which is largely influenced by movements of prices in the international oil market—pushed the average inflation for 2014 at 4.1 percent. This is well within the government’s target of 3 percent to 5 percent. Guinigundo earlier said that if oil prices continue to drop, or sustain the $45 to $47 per barrel range this year, inflation in the country will definitely see further reduction and benefit their inflation targeting system as inflation targets were set at a lower range this year up until 2016 at 2 percent to 4 percent. Guinigundo also said earlier that inflation may hit the lower end of this target if oil prices continue to decelerate, contrasting with the fears of breaching the upper end of the 2015 target earlier in 2014. Bianca Cuaresma

cannot take off since fire trucks are blocking the runway. “We cannot take off because there is debris [on the runway],” he said. The weather bureau said the rain has weakened but the wind has gotten stronger in the area. The incident happened less than an hour after Pope Francis left the airport in a Philippine Airlines plane. Meanwhile, a pilgrim died when she was hit by a falling scaffolding after the celebration of Francis’s Mass on Saturday. Fr. Amadeo Alvero, information communication director of Palo archdiocese, identified the fatality as Kristel Padasas, 27, a volunteer of the Catholic Relief Service. He said that Padasas was killed when she got hit by the falling scaffolding of a speaker located inside the Mass area. Alvero, however, clarified that the scaffolding fell due to the strong winds brought by Tropical Storm Amang. He added that the accident happened after the pope sped off from the airport for his short motorcade to Palo. Francis, who is on the third day of his visit in the Philippines, had to rush back to Manila earlier than expected also because of the bad weather.

Growth... continued from A1

“weakness” status, but is seen to improve in the coming months, as Fitch indicated a “stable” structural issues trend for the year. Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand were also given a “weakness” status in their structural issues. Only Mongolia was given a “strength” status in its structural issues. The Philippines is also seen to have a neutral or limited impact from the commodity price decline seen this year, along with Bangladesh. The country is rated “BBB-” with a stable outlook. Fitch Ratings is the only ratings agency among the three major credit watchers in the world that have not yet upgraded the Philippines to a notch above the minimum investment grade. In May 2014 S&P gave the Philippines another credit-rating upgrade, making it two notches above junk status, or one notch above investment grade. Moody’s followed suit with a similar action in mid-December 2014.

RegionsSunday

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

Sunday, January 18, 2015

200 Bohol pilgrims lose rare chance to see pope

Lawyer asks DENR to stop black-sand smuggling by Indians ‘linked’ to al-Qaeda T

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

LAWYER representing a mining company based in Iba, Zambales, appealed to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to stop the alleged illegal activities of two Indians who were accused by company officials of illegally shipping out magnetite sand to China. The MGB is the government’s mining regulatory body authorized to issue mineral ore-export permits to mining companies that extract and ship out of the country raw metallic minerals such as magnetite sand, also known as black sand. The two Indians—Maqsood Ahmed Khan and Koyanna Venugopal Krishna Reddy—are former officials of Templeton Resources Inc. (TPI), a mining company based in Iba, Zambales, whose operation was eventually ordered stopped by the local government of Zambales. Khan and Reddy were earlier charged before the Prosecutor’s Office in Iba, Zambales, for allegedly failing to account for the proceeds of huge volumes of magnetite or black sand, worth round $6 million that they allegedly illegally shipped out to China, lawyer Argee Guevarra said in a statement. Guevarra said that subsequent

investigation conducted by the company in connection with the company’s missing funds exposed the possible money-laundering activities and links of the two Indian nationals to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. Guevarra has alerted Malacañang in a letter dated January 12 about the allegations. In his letter addressed to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., chairman of the Anti-Terrorism Council, Guevarra asked that the two Indians be immediately placed under investigation. Guevarra suspects that the two were merely using their connection to TPI as front of their money-laundering activities and possible links to terrorists. “When our clients would call the attention of the Indians that they were buying finished black sand at high price and exporting it at low

prices, the Indians never cared. What they cared about was merely to project an image of dollar earnings even if TRI was operating at a loss,” Guevarra said. The suspicious activities of Khan and Reddy led to an investigation by the company’s stakeholders. The sale of the magnetite sand facilitated by Khan and Reddy, which was not authorized by TPI, was illegal, Guevarra said. The two were not authorized by the company’s board of directors to haul or sell magnetite sand from the company’s stockpiles, he said. Khan and Reddy used to represent TPI before they were eventually dismissed from the company. Khan served as technical consultant, while Reddy served as righthand man of former Chairman Guru Prasad, who left the company in May 2014 when the Bureau of Immigration issued a deportation order against him for being an undesirable alien. Prior to his deportation, Prasad managed to change the ownership structure of the company. He took possession of the company, securing 92-percent ownership of the company by Templeton Resources Singapore, reportedly, a company established by Prasad. Guevarra said Prasad and Templeton violated the 60-40 rule since the Constituttion mandates 60-percent Filipino ownership of mining businesses. When Prasad left, Reddy and Khan followed suit and were made to resign from the company. The local government of Zambales, likewise, ordered the company to shut

down its operations in Iba, Zambales. In spite of the stop order, Khan and Reddy reportedly managed to ship out 33,330 metric tons of magnetite sand from the company’s plant in San Marcelino, Zambales. The two made additional exportations which all amounted to $6 million. Khan, Reddy and Prasad were all charged with large-scale theft before the Prosecutor’s Office in Zambales. When asked where they sent the missing funds, Khan reportedly admitted that the proceeds went instead to an OCBC Singapore bank account 517746848001 under the sole name of Guru Prasad. When Prasad was asked, he admitted that he remitted the money to Mali, China, Peru and other countries. Prasad said part of the monies were used to bribe al-Qaeda operatives in Mali. It was later learned that the rebel Tuaregs allied with al-Qaeda were tagged as the main beneficiary of the monies. Khan and Prasad also allegedly boasted that they are being supported by their “chairman” by the name of Khalander Hayath Khan based in Bangalore, India. Khalander Khan owns Upkar Mining, which is strongly connected with the group of Dawood Ibrahim. Intelligence reports identified Ibrahim as the foremost leader of the al-Qaeda in India and Pakistan. The local partners of the company, likewise, noted how, despite the closure of operations, monies from abroad continues to flow to the company’s two bank accounts in Banco de Oro.

AGBILARAN CITY—Around 200 pilgrims from the Diocese of Tagbilaran lost a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to see Pope Francis in flesh on Saturday after the weather bureau hoisted Storm Signal 1 in Leyte resulting in the cancellation of trips for seacraft. On Friday the Coast Guard in Cebu canceled trips of seacraft going to Leyte after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) placed Leyte under Storm Signal 1. The pilgrims, led by Fr. Warli Salise Jr. of the Social Action Center here, had no option but to return home by 6:30 p.m., disappointed. They left Tagbilaran early in the morning on January 16 only to be stranded in Cebu. Their leaders repeatedly appealed to Coast Guard officials and even relayed the feedback from Leyte that the weather in their destination is fine but the Coast Guard refused to heed. As a result, the pilgrims’ reservations for transportation and food in Leyte, estimated at about P300,000, was forfeited. Relatedly, even retired international ship captain Jun Mendez, Bohol weather resource person, expressed dismay as it also surprised him why Pagasa hoisted the storm signal in Leyte when in fact, Tropical Storm Amang was around 500 kilometers off Eastern Samar then. The sea had been calm the whole day and the pilgrims could have crossed to Leyte on Friday morning. The pilgrims were scheduled to arrive in Ormoc on Friday morning and hold a vigil at the Tacloban Airport in the evening and would wait for Pope Francis at the tarmac of Tacloban Airport for the Holy Mass that starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Yolanda survivors endure bad weather

PALO, Leyte—Unfazed by bad weather, survivors of Supertyphoon Yolanda walked for hours to witness on Saturday papal motorcade in this town. Chilling owing to cold winds, 54-year-old Marilou Fallore of Solano village in Tanauan town walked for two hours to get to nearby Palo town. “I’m not scared by the typhoon because I want to see Pope Francis. This is a [once-in-a-] lifetime opportunity and I believed that getting close to him would help me cure from asthma,” Fallore said.

Walking with her is her nephew Jona Joy Cornejo, 20, who lost both parents when Yolanda’s storm surge ravaged their community. “I have faith that making sacrifice to see Pope Francis, the Lord will answer my plea to pass the Licensure Examination for Teachers,” said Cornejo, who is scheduled to take the examination in March. Amelia Gular, 66, of Salvacio village in Palo town was impressed by Pope Francis’s courage to make a trip to Leyte despite threats of Amang, that placed the province under Storm Signal 2 on Satuday morning. “There’s no reason I will be scared of typhoon and stay home. It’s even more risky to take a plane ride just like what Pope Francis did than to walk on the street,” Gular told Philippines News Agency (PNA).

Second time around

TACLOBAN CITY—Senior Supt. Romulo “Mulong” Esteban, 52, commander of the National Police’s Bicol Task Force Papal Visit in Tacloban City, looked after the safety of a pope in the Philippines for the second time in his life after 33 years. In his younger years, Esteban, who was then a company commander of the Reserve Officers Training Corps and a third-year college student at the International Harvardian University in Davao City, was directed to help secure Pope John Paul II in Davao sometime in 1981. He recalled that they were the first line of defense and on their post for all nightlong without sleep. “We are the first line of defense then. As a young company commander of the ROTC, we were stationed at our post the night before the arrival of the pope,” the police officer said in an interview with the PNA while aboard the ferry boat that was being pounded by big waves en route to Allen, Samar, to reinforce the police force in Region 8 for Pope Francis’s visit. “It was a long day and sleepless night but our exhaustion was gone after seeing the pope. When I saw him, the ambiance completely changed once we were ‘connected’ with him,” Esteban recalled his experience he and his fellow ROTC cadets had. He said securing Pope Francis is the second time that he will see a pontiff who is known for being simple, unassuming and down to earth. PNA

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Strong winds blow Ochoa plane off Tacloban City airport runway By Recto Mercene & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

acloban City—A twinengine executive jet, carrying Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr., Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. and 13 other government officials, skidded out of the Tacloban airport runway at about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, apparently because of strong winds. Firemen were on the crash site in minutes, spraying the plane with foam to prevent the outbreak of fire. All passengers and crew are safe and nobody suffered any injuries, according to Palace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda. Aside from Ochoa and Coloma, the other passengers of the Bombardier plane are Philippine Center on Transnational Crime Undersecretary Felizardo M. Serapio Jr.; Science Secretary Mario Montejo; National Telecommunications Commission Chairman Gamaliel Cordoba; a certain Colonel Veslino; Undersecretary Emmanuel T. Bautista; a certain Lieutenant Rafael; Philip Ella Juico; Catherine Adrenada; and lawyer Edward S. Serapio, former corporate secretary of the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation. The Palace issued a statement saying, “This afternoon, strong winds forced a plane carrying Ex-

The Bombardier Global 500 jet, which skidded off the runway of the Daniel Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City after being blown by strong winds whipped up by Tyhoon Amang (international code name Mekkhala), lies crippled on the grassy portion of the runway. The jet was carrying 15 passengers, including Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. and Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr., when the mishap occurred. Recto Mercene

ecutive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr., Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr., Undersecretary Emmanuel T. Bautista and Undersecretary Sera-

pio, eight other staff members and three crew members off the runway at Tacloban airport.” “The aforementioned officials

JANUARY 18, 2015 | SUNDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

Tropical Storm is a cyclone category with winds of 64 - 118 kph.

JAN 20 TUESDAY

METRO MANILA

20 – 30°C

21 – 31°C

TUGUEGARAO

18 – 27°C

18 – 28°C

LAOAG

BAGUIO TUGUEGARAO CITY 18 – 27°C

SBMA/ CLARK

BAGUIO CITY 12 – 20°C SBMA/CLARK 20 – 29°C METRO MANILA 19 – 29°C

JAN 19 MONDAY

TAGAYTAY CITY 17 – 27°C

TAGAYTAY

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

LEGAZPI

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 23 – 30°C

METRO CEBU 24 – 30°C

ANNUAL

0.75

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0.25

0.00

-0.25

-0.50

JAN 21 WEDNESDAY

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

JAN 19 MONDAY

JAN 20 TUESDAY

JAN 21 WEDNESDAY

21 – 31°C

METRO CEBU

25 – 31°C

25 – 32°C

20 – 30°C

TACLOBAN

23 – 30°C

24 – 32°C

22 – 31°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

20 – 30°C

13 – 21°C

21 – 30°C

18 – 27°C

20 – 30°C

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METRO DAVAO

13 – 22°C

25 – 32°C

22 – 31°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 33°C

19 – 28°C

14 – 22°C

22 – 31°C

TACLOBAN CITY 23 – 30°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 23 – 31°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY 23 – 32°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD

23 – 29°C

ZAMBOANGA

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

6:25 AM

5:48 PM

3:34 PM

3:49 AM

24 – 31°C

HALF MOON NEW MOON

24 – 32°C

JAN 20

9:14 PM

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

25 – 31°C

25 – 32°C

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers

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

www.panahon.tv

SABAH CELEBES SEA

4:02 AM

-0.12 METER

8:08 PM

1.07 METER

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

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

METRO DAVAO 24 – 32°C

LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

JAN 13

24 – 31°C

24 – 33°C

SUNRISE

5:46 PM

24 – 31°C

25 – 32°C

19 – 29°C

LEGAZPI CITY 22 – 28°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 24 – 30°C

lobal weakness poses the main threat to the 4 outlook for an otherwise Consumer Price Index robust US economy, a top Feder2 percent al Reserve (the Fed) official said 3.3% change, on Friday, highlighting a head0.8 0 by month, wind that investors bet may de’04 ’14 seasonally lay Fed rate increases until late adjusted: this year. “Weakness abroad is trim-0.4% 0.75 ming some from my forecast” for US growth, Federal Reserve 0.50 Bank of San Francisco President 0.25 John Williams told reporters after a speech at the regional Fed 0.00 bank. “The big negative on the -0.25 US economy and financial markets is abroad.” -0.50 He spoke on a day of ecoDec. Dec. nomic data that continued to ’13 ’14 send mixed signals for policy: Graphic: Tribune News Service Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer confidence rose to an 11-year high, while a measure of inflation dropped by the most in six years. Stocks climbed, snapping a five-day slide in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as energy shares rallied with the price of oil. Fed officials are closely watching expectations for future inflation, which have declined in recent weeks. Saint Louis Fed President James Bullard told a Chicago event on Friday that a central bank “must protect its credibility with respect to its inflation goal.” Williams, a voting member of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year whose views often are close to those of Chairman Janet Yellen, said he’s in no hurry to raise the central bank’s key interest rate, which has been held near zero since late 2008. “There’s no need to rush to raising rates,” he told reporters. “At the same time, we want to make sure that we appropriately See “US,” A6

CPI

TROPICAL STORM “AMANG” WAS ESTIMATED AT 220 KM EAST SOUTHEAST OF BORONGAN CITY, EASTERN SAMAR. (AS OF JANUARY 17, 5:00 AM)

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Global woes pose main threat to U.S. Economy, Fed exec says

were on hand in Tacloban to ensure that the activities of Pope Francis in Tacloban and Palo would go as planned,” Lacierda said. He said that President Aquino was happy to hear that all onboard were safe. The plane, a Bombardier Global 500 jet, is currently on a grassy portion at the end of the runway at Tacloban airport. Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) officials could not be reached for comment despite repeated calls. However, airport insiders said the officials were busy discussing how to extricate the plane, not a run-of-the-mill executive jet, but one of the largest and the fastest long-range jets available today. Liberal Party Rep. Josephine Veronique Lacson-Noel of Malabon, one of the passengers of the plane, told ABS-CBN that the plane’s tire blew up as soon as it took off. Lacson-Noel is married to former Party-list Rep. Bem Noel of An-Waray Party-list group. He said the President directed the Caap to investigate whether the proximate cause of the incident was weather-related. Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis N. Tolentino, who was on a separate plane, said his flight See “Plane,” A6

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