BusinessMirror January 2 2015

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Tuesday, 2014 10 No. Friday,November January 2,18, 2015 Vol.Vol. 10 No. 85 40

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BELMONTE SAYS LOWER CHAMBER HAS ENOUGH TIME TO PASS RBH 1 BEFORE JUNE 12 BREAK

PAPAL VISIT 2015

House: Cha-cha okayed by June T

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

he House of Representatives will pass the measure amending the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution—long sought by local and foreign businessmen—by the middle of 2015, its leader said on Thursday.

12 DAYS INSIDE

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the lower chamber will finish the period of interpellation for Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 1, or the economic Charter change (Cha-cha), when session resumes on January 18.

“Most of the interpellation is over [as of our Christmas break, which started last December 17].... So we still have time to pass this economic

THE BEST THINGS TO BUY IN JANUARY D

The family— the tree of life

EAR Lord, we are happy to know that Mary, Joseph and You were poor in material means but rich in mutual love that had its roots and culmination in God. Whenever they experienced difficulties, rejection or persecution, their mutual love and respect and shared love for God did the wonder that always kept them strong and united.

May the family—the tree of life be our inspiration to model in our families. Amen.

WORD AND LIFE, FR. SAL PUTZU, SDB AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

THE HOTTEST STORIES OF 2014 »C2

BusinessMirror

Friday, January 2, 2015

By Cai U. Ordinario

The best things to buy in January

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HE new year is upon us, and after all that shopping you likely did during the holidays, you may be looking forward to giving your credit card a rest. But January is an excellent month to bag deals like winter apparel or early Valentine’s Day gifts.

So before you resign yourself to steering clear of stores altogether this month, check out our list of the best and worst things to buy in January, which we compiled from our extensive archives.

RESOLVE TO BUY DISCOUNTED FITNESS EQUIPMENT A POPULAR New Year’s resolution is to get in shape, and fittingly, January is an excellent time to get a deal on fitness gear and equipment. In fact, in years past, there has been almost double the number of deals in January. (We otherwise didn’t see another spike in deals until late spring.) Look for stationary bikes, treadmills, elliptical trainers, complete home gyms and training accessories and DVDs that are marked 40 to 90 percent off and include brands, such as NordicTrack, Weider and Powerline. January is also a great time to start grabbing discounted equipment for winter sports.

SPRING FOR WINTER APPAREL IN general, a lot of the best things to buy during postChristmas sales remain good buys throughout the month of January, including winter clothing deals. We typically see discounts of 50 to 80 percent off on coats and winter accessories. Keep in mind, however, that “low as they can go” clearance pricing will come in late February, so if you’re just looking to replace this year’s style for future winters, you can save more by waiting until the end of the season.

A MONTH FOR HOME FURNITURE TYPICALLY, major home furnishing and accessories

retailers heavily discount their collections in January.

You’ll even see a few mattress sales, though we’ve found the best mattress deals come in April. Expect to see furniture clearance sales that take between 40 and 75 percent off regular prices. Meanwhile, mattress sales will see slightly more modest discounts of 40 to 60 percent off. By comparison, the best furniture sales in December take just 15 to 30 percent off regular prices.

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR EARLY TAX SOFTWARE DEALS THIS month, we will start seeing sales that take up to 50 percent off tax filing software and services. That usually resulted in about $10 to $20 off the retail price for software from H&R Block and TurboTax. Keep in mind, however, that discounts will become more frequent in February and March, and all of the Editors’ Choice deals we saw last year popped up towards the end of March.

GET AN EARLY START ON VALENTINE’S DAY GIFTS IT might seem like it’s far too early to think about Valentine’s Day, but the steep discounts during postChristmas clear-outs are an excellent opportunity to snag a deal for the romantic holiday. Typically, deals on jewelry and fragrances aren’t so hot right before Valentine’s Day; in fact, we’ve found that some jewelry prices actually go up slightly in February. Instead of waiting, think ahead and try shopping the numerous department store sales we see after Christmas.

STEEP SAVINGS ON CHRISTMAS GOODS WHO cares if it has a Santa Claus on the tin? Heavily discounted goodies abound this month from all sorts of gourmet brands, including Godiva, which will offer discounts of up to 50 percent off this month.

We say, start 2015 off with something sweet, even if it temporarily interferes with your New Year’s resolution to get in shape. Beyond these sugary goods, decorations also see strong sales, with discounts of up to 92 percent off at stores like Crate & Barrel. This is

an especially good time to save $100 to $250 (or more) on a new Christmas tree, so you’re well-stocked for the 2015 holidays.

IS THIS THE LAST CHANCE FOR MICROSOFT’S XBOX ONE PRICE CUT? JUST before the 2014 holiday season, Microsoft announced a $50 price cut on its Xbox One consoles that would remain in place until January 3. That ushered in a slew of great deals that knocked prices even lower than the new $349 base price point, and it even helped the console finally outsell the PlayStation 4. However, we’re skeptical that Microsoft will follow through with this timeline, since the strategy has been so successful, and customers are now accustomed to the lower prices for the console. (Plus, now that Sony’s sales have slowed, it seems reasonable to assume that the company will push more promos on their console, meaning Microsoft might not want to drop that competitive edge.) The only thing we know for sure, however, is that the prices will definitely be valid until January 3.

THE BEGINNING OF ELECTRONICS CLEARANCE SALES PAY attention to the gadgets that debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this month; pay even closer attention to those that improve upon a 2014 model. Such previous-generation devices will then start to see new price cuts. This includes electronics like cameras, audio equipment and Android tablets. Just remember that the announcement of a new model will inspire initial discounts (from both stores and the manufacturer), but the sales will get even better once the new model is actually available to buy. This timing can vary from device to device, so be aware of release dates.

2015 TVS COULD YIELD MODEST DISCOUNTS ON PREMIUM SETS NOVEMBER and December are without a doubt the best months of the year for TV deals. However, January is also an important month because manufacturers

are expected to announce their 2015 TVs at the CES in Las Vegas. While many of these new TVs won’t see store shelves till the spring, anyone who is considering a premium TV purchase should look for deals on 2014’s top models as retailers may give these sets an extra discount to make room for 2015’s inventory.

Last year, the average deal price of name-brand 55inch HDTVs also dropped by 20 percent in January, when compared to November 2013’s best price on these TVs. In a similar manner, the average price of 42-inch 1080p name-brand LCDs also dropped 15 percent. So while January won’t see the same spectacular TV lows we saw in November and December, it’s still a strong month for name-brand TV deals in general.

NEW INTEL PROCESSOR WILL BRING PRICE CUTS ON LAST YEAR’S MODELS DEALS on mainstream 15-inch Core i5 laptops have been hot since the summer, and although prices rose for the first time in six months last month (by $20), these laptops still represent a tremendous value and we expect deal prices to drop again this month.

CES will be a big event for laptops as manufacturers will announce new systems built around Intel’s fifthgeneration processor, Broadwell. The new processor will sip less power than Intel’s current Haswell line and therefore provide better battery life and allow for thinner, fanless machines.

That means Haswell-based machines are nearing their end of life and retailers will quickly start the fire sale on these laptops (as they did with Ivy Bridge-based machines when Haswell first entered the market). In terms of deals, that means today’s mainstream Haswell machines could see additional price cuts of up to 8 percent.

Retailers have also been very aggressive with deals on budget machines. These dual-core systems are typically powered by an Intel Celeron or Atom processor, both of which provide sufficient muscle for daily tasks, but fall short of the type of power you’d need for gaming or HD editing. ■

life

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Wide, ugly race Sports C4

| Friday, January 2, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph

lEBRON jAMES and teammate Brendan Haywood enjoy a light moment at the Cleveland bench during a timeout in the second quarter of their game against the Atlanta Hawks the other day. AP

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LeBron misses 2nd straight game due to sore knee

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LEVELAND—LeBron James ended the year with a night off for his sore left knee and an assurance that he has no plans to run away from the Cavaliers.

James missed his second straight game on Wednesday, and said his knee has been bothering him since before Christmas.

He also sat out Tuesday’s game in Atlanta on his 30th birthday.

James said tests have been negative, and he joked that he’s got a lot of wear and tear on his joints after 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

“I’ve got 41,000 minutes on me, including the playoffs,” he said, cracking a smile. “You drive that car in the winter time.”

The Cavs, who have lost two straight games and three of the last four, also were without starting forward Kevin Love (back spasms) and forward Shawn Marion (sprained ankle) for their game with the Bucks.

James’s injury is the latest piece of news in a turbulent week, which began with a report that there was concern within the Cavs’ organization that first-year coach David Blatt was not connecting with his players. Both James and Kyrie Irving dismissed the ESPN report, which cited unnamed sources, but the team’s struggles haven’t helped Blatt’s transition to the NBA. Then, on Wednesday, a video of James and former teammates Dwyane Wade following Cleveland’s game on Christmas Day began making the rounds. In it, James appears to tell his former Miami teammate that “if things aren’t better this year, we’re gonna reunite again and do some bigger and better things, all right?”

Before sitting out against the Bucks, James called the hubbub over the video “outlandish” and made it clear he’s not planning any moves.

“I’ve seen that video, too,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what I said, but I know it had nothing to do about basketball. I wouldn’t say that on Christmas, in front of cameras.

That [conversation] had nothing to do with me leaving here. I didn’t go to college, but I’m not stupid,” he said. “If I would have said something, I would have said it the [previous] night to D-Wade.

“I’m here now and I’m here to build something in the future.”

James re-signed as a free agent with Cleveland this summer after spending four seasons in Miami, where he won two NBA titles and went to four straight Finals. Since his emotional return to Ohio, James has said several times that he intends to finish his career with the Cavaliers.

Blatt believes the four-time Most Valuable Player is dedicated long term to Cleveland.

“I know why LeBron James came back to Cleveland and I know what his commitment is to this team and to his teammates,” Blatt said. “And I also know exactly what he wants to do here.” AP

TRyING TO MAKE SENSE OF INjuRED NBA ROOKIE ClASS

WIDE, UGLY RACE

By Adi Joseph

rookie of the year race, one of the worst in NBA history, that we’ll try to handicap here:

IRST-ROUND National Basketball Association (NBA) draft picks are given three-year guaranteed contracts. These days, they need it.

The one-and-done trend that has become so popular in amateur basketball has had its effect the past two seasons, as rookie NBA classes have underwhelmed because of injuries and immaturity, mostly on the court. The 2014 draft class, heralded as the best since 2008, has had a rough start, with five of the top 7 picks missing significant time because of injuries.

Where does that leave us? Thirty years ago, Hakeem Olajuwon averaged 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks a game as a rookie... and finished runner-up for rookie of the year to Michael Jordan, who posted 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists a game. No rookie this season is averaging even 13 points a game.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker, the draft’s No. 2 overall pick, had a grip on the award before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee this month. He was averaging only 12.3 points a game but doing it on an efficient 49-percent shooting for the surprise Bucks. He joins No. 3 pick Joel Embiid, No. 4 pick Aaron Gordon and No. 7 pick Julius Randle on the sidelines. The result is a wide-open, but ugly,

FAVORITE SMALL Forward (SF) Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves Minutes played is a defining statistic in most rookie of the year races, and Wiggins should lead everyone as a starter for a rebuilding team. The No. 1 pick in the draft has disappointed, though, because of his inefficient and inconsistent play.

He’s shooting less than 40 percent from the field and has yet to make his mark on a regular basis defensively, where he was expected to thrive.

Wiggins, 19, is in an impossible position on such a young team, but his production should be helped by the return of veteran point guard Ricky Rubio and shooting guard Kevin Martin.

But he’s still mixing 20-point games with singledigit nights, a problem during his one season at Kansas, as well. There’s no doubt the Toronto native has tremendous upside, but his candidacy here hinges mostly on his opportunity.

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USA Today

NO. 1 CONTENDER

POWER Forward (PF) Nikola Mirotic, Chicago Bulls On the other end of the spectrum is the 23-year-old Montenegrin, who was drafted in 2011 but finally made his way to the NBA after polishing his game in Spain. If it weren’t for Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, Mirotic likely

would be running away with the award. But he’s not going to play 20 minutes a game, while those three are healthy and giving the Bulls the best frontcourt depth in the NBA. Mirotic is brilliant, an efficient shooter capable of mixing it up inside with a majestic beard. When any one of those veterans sits, he turns into an elite sixth man, and many voters will overlook time constraints in favor of his per-minute numbers. If only he could slide up to small forward more often, he’d have this.

RISING

POINT Guard (PG) Elfrid Payton, Orlando Magic The sparkplug from Louisiana-Lafayette was one of the few rookies in a starting lineup to begin the season, but he was benched when second-year combo guard Victor Oladipo got healthy again. Only Oladipo fits better at shooting guard, as Coach Jacque Vaughn showed he recognizes by moving Payton back into the starting lineup recently. The numbers aren’t there yet for the No. 10 overall pick, but he has improved and contributes in a variety of ways.

IN THE MIX

CENTER Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ers The No. 6 overall pick of the 2013 draft sat out all of last season rehabilitating his knee and developing his game. Then the season started, and those efforts of

rebuilding his shot and working on his offensive fundamentals didn’t show up immediately. But Noel has played better recently, and his athleticism is starting to translate to rebounds, blocks and steals. And like Wiggins and Smart, he should have the minutes played to contend.

PG MARCuS SMART, BOSTON CElTICS WHEN the Celtics traded Rajon Rondo, Smart went from the injury list to the starting lineup.

An ankle injury in November cost Smart a month and most of his hope to contend for rookie of the year, but the race is open enough for him to force his way back into the conversation. Now, he needs to take advantage; Smart already is an excellent defender, but his offensive numbers have not met expectations since taking the reins.

Still, he’s talented and competitive enough to figure it out quickly.

DARK HORSES

SMALL Forward (SF) K.J. McDaniels, Philadelphia 76ers The second-rounder out of Clemson was drafted for his defense and has made an immediate impact there. He arguably has been the Sixers’ best rookie, blocking more shots than Noel. But he doesn’t have a starting job and won’t get the same kind of opportunity as Noel, in part because he signed an unusual one-season deal

rather than being trapped at a minimum salary.

SF James Ennis, Miami Heat The Cal State-Long Beach product spent last season in the NBA Development League but might be a steal for the Heat. Ennis is very athletic and has helped in the rotation of wing players, particularly when Danny Granger or Dwyane Wade has been out. Ennis is energetic and efficient but doesn’t do enough on offense to build up statistics, much like McDaniels, and he’s playing less.

CENTER TARIK BlACK, lOS ANGElES lAKERS IT’S not often that a 6-11 center who went to Kansas can be the surprise undrafted rookie of the season, and Black didn’t even get on the court much for the Jayhawks behind Embiid last season. Then Dwight Howard went down, and the Houston Rockets used him as their starting center with decent results. His production wasn’t big, and his upside isn’t high. The Rockets released him to make room for Josh Smith, and the Lakers claimed him off waivers and might find more use for him in their soft frontcourt.

OTHERS TO WATCH PG/SHOOTING Guard (SG) Zach LaVine, Timberwolves; SG P.J. Hairston, Charlotte Hornets; PG Shabazz Napier, Heat; SG Bojan Bogdanovic, Brooklyn Nets; and SF Damjan Rudez, Indiana Pacers.

SPuRS FINAlly END OVERTIME BluES By EDGING PElICANS S

AN ANTONIO—San Antonio shook off its home-court overtime blues to beat New Orleans, 95-93, on Wednesday, having only tied the game with 0.2 seconds of time remaining in regulation.

The Spurs lost in overtime at home three times in the month of December and seemed destined for a fourth such defeat on New Year’s Eve when they fell behind by six points in the extra period, but Manu Ginobili had seven points in overtime to turn it around for the hosts.

Among other games to close

out 2014, Milwaukee downed a Cleveland side still without LeBron James; Oklahoma City beat Phoenix in a high-scoring thriller; and Houston posted a comfortable win against Charlotte.

San Antonio star Tim Duncan had 16 points and 10 rebounds, tying Hall of Famer Karl Malone for fifth in career doubledoubles with 814. It was Duncan who was credited with tipping in Boris Diaw’s inbound pass at the rim with a split second remaining in regulation.

Anthony Davis had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Pelicans.

Milwaukee led most of the way to

win, 98-80, at Cleveland.

LeBron James missed his second straight game with knee soreness, and Kevin Love was also absent with back spasms, and the Cavaliers went on to their fourth loss in five games.

Brandon Knight scored 26 points and O.J. Mayo added 15 points for the Bucks.

Kyrie Irving notched 25 points for Cleveland, which scored only seven points in the third quarter, a season low.

Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 44 points in his return from six games out with an ankle sprain, and helped the Thunder beat Phoenix 137-134 in overtime.

Durant was 13-of-23 from the field and 12-for-12 at the free-throw line. He also had 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Oklahoma City managed to win despite Russell Westbrook being ejected for his second technical foul just before halftime.

Anthony Murrow broke a tie in overtime with a four-point play, and the Thunder held on when Markieff Morris missed a threepointer attempt with 2.9 seconds left.

Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 29 points.

Houston made a big run early in the third quarter to set up a 102-83 win against Charlotte.

James Harden scored 36 points, including

eight straight to push the advantage to 9979 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining.

It was the National Basketball Association-leading 14th 30-point game this season for Harden, who leads the league in scoring. He made eight three-pointers and also had six assists and seven rebounds.

The loss extends Charlotte’s skid to four games. The Hornets played without leading scorer Al Jefferson, who is out with a groin strain.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Gerald Henderson scored 16 points apiece for the Hornets.

Los Angeles strolled to a 99-78 win

against hapless New York, which ended a dismal 2014 with its ninth-straight defeat.

J.J. Redick scored 20 points and DeAndre Jordan added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who scored 13 straight points at the start of the third quarter to push the lead to 23.

Carmelo Anthony was the only Knicks player in double figures with 19 points despite a sore right knee.

Indiana went on a 17-2 run to close the third quarter to turn the game around and beat Miami, 106-95.

Boston led throughout to record a 106-84 win against Sacramento, ending a threegame losing skid. AP

sports

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he interagency Investment Coordination Committee (ICC)-Cabinet Committee approved a total P3.03 billion worth of new projects at its last meeting for 2014.

Documents obtained from the National Economic and Develop-

ment Authority (Neda) show the new projects include one publicprivate partnership (PPP) project; one locally funded healthfacility project; and one official development assistance-funded lending project.

The largest of the three new projects pertained to the See “ICC,” A8

Opec’s crude output fell in Dec. as oil prices slide

WITH the leading Rookie of the year candidate jabari Parker of Milwaukee Bucks down due to a season-ending injury, the race has now been pruned down to (clockwise) Chicago Bulls’ Nikola Mirotic, Andrew Wiggins of Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers’ Nerlens Noel. AP

BusinessMirror

Continued on A2

I.C.C. CLOSES 2014 WITH P3-B new prOJECTS approved

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Cha-cha [until sine die adjournment on June 12, 2015],” Belmonte said.

Belmonte added that the measure suffered delays only because the principal sponsor of the measure on the floor, House Committee on Constitutional Amendments Chairman and Liberal Party Rep. Mylene J. GarciaAlbano of Davao City, got sick.

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il production by the 12 members of the Organization of thePetroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) slipped less than 1 percent last December, the first month after the group refused to cut output as crude prices tumbled, a Bloomberg survey showed.

Output by the Opec fell 122,000 barrels a day, or 0.4 percent, to 30.239 million last month, led by the declines in Saudi Arabia, Libya and the

PESO exchange rates n US 44.6170

United Arab Emirates, according to the survey of oil companies, producers and analysts.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures dropped to the lowest levels since May 2009 on Tuesday, capping the worst year since 2008.

Opec left its production quotas unchanged at a November 27 meeting in Vienna, prompting speculation that the group will let crude slide low

PIETY AND REVELRY The Year of the Sheep is greeted with both revelry and piety, as shown in these photos. Top photo shows the fireworks display prepared by the Iglesia Ni Cristo in Ciudad de Victoria, the site of the Philippine Arena, in Bocaue, Bulacan. A concert was also held at the arena, which aimed to raise funds for the residents of Eastern Samar and other provinces hit by Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit). Photo above shows the Plaza Miranda in front of Quiapo Church filled with Catholic devotees attending the traditional predawn thanksgiving procession of the Black Nazarene, a prelude to its feast day on January 9. alysa salen

See “Opec’s,” A2

n japan 0.3706 n UK 69.4062 n HK 5.7489 n CHINA 7.1813 n singapore 33.6961 n australia 36.2063 n EU 54.3390 n SAUDI arabia 11.8899 Source: BSP (29 December 2014)

News BusinessMirror

Friday, January 2, 2015

A2

news@businessmirror.com.ph

House: Cha-cha okayed by June Continued from A1

According to Belmonte, the economic Cha-cha is seen as a larger contributor to growth as foreign direct investments (FDI) are bound to increase once ownership of estates and corporations—one of the issues raised by investors for not investing in the country—is relaxed.

The resolution, filed by Belmonte and Sen. Ralph Recto, is eyeing to amend provisions on the 60-40 rule that limits foreign ownership of certain activities in the Philippines.

RBH 1 will include the phrase “unless provided by law” in the foreign-ownership provision of the Constitution, particularly land ownership, public utilities, natural resources, media and advertising industries.

Under Article XII of the Constitution, foreign investors are prohibited to own more than 40 percent of real properties and businesses, while they are totally restricted to exploit natural resources and own any company in the media industry.

The amendments to the Charter will be approved through separate voting by both Chambers, with a three-fourths vote required from them.

House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, in a recent news conference, said Belmonte’s economic Cha-cha remains as one of the priorities of the lower chamber.

“This Cha-cha is a legislative priority of the House. [However] It is not yet a legislative priority of the Senate. The lower chamber remains as the main proponent of the measure and Senate would still wait for the House version once it passed the third reading before they tackle it,” he said.

Gonzales said the measure should be passed into law before Congress’s sine die adjournment in June because “the month of August is for the annual budget deliberations, while the remaining months are for the campaign period [for 2016 national elections], so we expect the lack of quorum.”

Earlier, several businessmen expressed support

Opec’s. . . Continued from A1 enough to slow US production that has climbed to the highest level in three decades.

“Ultimately, the big producers will make significant cuts to support prices,” Dan Heckman, Kansas City, Missouri-based national investment consultant at US Bank Wealth Management, said over the phone. His firm oversees about $120 billion. “It will take time to work off this huge supply glut.”

Saudi Arabia trimmed output by 150,000 barrels a day to average 9.5 million last month, the biggest decline. The 300,000-barrel-a-day Khafji offshore fields in the Saudi Arabian-Kuwaiti neutral zone were shut on October 16 because of envi-

ronmental concerns. Asian demand for Saudi crude is weak, according to a person familiar with the matter.

for the passage of the economic Cha-cha.

Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan has said that, to promote inclusive growth in the country, Congress should pass the resolution amending the, economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Pangilinan added that Cha-cha is needed for the country’s economic development.

Makati Business Club Chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr. also supported economic amendments to the Constitution to attract more FDI as the unemployment rate in the country is increasing.

Del Rosario said the government should consider changes in the provisions of the Constitution that restrict complete foreign ownership of estates and corporations. However, the House of Representatives’s minority bloc vowed to block any effort to amend economic or political provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

They said any form of Cha-cha, whether it be economic or political, is dangerous because it will open the gates for any or wholesale amendments to the Constitution.

42-year rule. The country pumped 1.585 million in January 2011. The North African country is now pumping less than 300,000 barrels a day, after Islamist militants shifted attacks to energy facilities including Es Sider, the country’s largest oil export terminal, Energy Aspects Ltd said.

One of six storage tanks set ablaze in the assault on Es Sider collapsed on December 29, 2014, Ali Al Hasy, spokesman for the Petroleum Facilities Guard, said over the phone. The fires started on December 25, 2014, when the Islamists shot rockets at the port in a second attempt to take it.

Libyan unrest

“For a long time Opec, in particular the Saudis, has been the swing producer,” Adam Wise, who helps run a $6-billion oil-and-gas bond portfolio as a managing director at John Hancock in Boston, said over the phone.

“They would cut production when prices were heading too low. This isn’t a role they want to perform anymore.”

Libyan output fell 130,000 barrels a day to 450,000 in December, the lowest level since July. Production has slumped since the 2011 rebellion that ended Muammar Qaddafi’s

UAE cuts

The UAE trimmed production by

100,000 barrels a day to 2.7 million last month. There was a decline in shipments to Japan, where the Emiratis store crude. The Japanese economy is contracting and cargoes were delivered last November, reducing the need last December.

Iraqi production rose 150,000 barrels a day to 3.52 million, the most since 2000, according to the survey. It was the biggest output gain last December. The central government reached a deal with its semiautonomous Kurdish region early last month on oil exports through Turkey, paving the way for more shipments to international markets. Iraq is Opec’s second- biggest producer.

Bloomberg News

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST JANUARY 2, 2015 | FRIDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

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

LOW PRESSURE AREA WAS ESTIMATED AT 340 KM SOUTH OF PUERTO PRINCESA CITY.

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

TAIL-END OF A COLD FRONT AFFECTING BICOL REGION. NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING NORTHERN AND CENTRAL LUZON. (AS OF JANUARY 1, 5:00 PM)

Northeast Monsoon locally known as “Amihan”.

It affects the eastern portions of the country.

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

METRO MANILA

24 – 30°C

23 – 30°C

TUGUEGARAO

20 – 27°C

20 – 28°C

LAOAG

BAGUIO

LAOAG CITY 18 – 29°C

TUGUEGARAO CITY 19 – 25°C

SBMA/ CLARK

BAGUIO CITY 13 – 22°C SBMA/CLARK 21 – 31°C TAGAYTAY CITY 20 – 25°C

METRO MANILA 24 – 29°C

JAN 3 JAN 4 SATURDAY SUNDAY

TAGAYTAY

19 – 30°C

14 – 23°C

22 – 31°C

21 – 26°C

20 – 30°C

14 – 23°C

22 – 30°C

22 – 27°C

Jobless claims in US fell to 14-year low in 2014 F ewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits in 2014 than at any time in 14 years, as the economic expansion strengthened.

An average 308,500 workers a week filed jobless claims this year, the least since 299,600 in 2000, according to figures from the Labor Department in Washington. Applications climbed by 17,000 to 298,000 in the week ended December 27, more than projected, displaying the typical year-end holiday swings.

Other reports on Thursday showed consumer confidence had its best year since 2007, manufacturing in the Chicago region kept chugging ahead and home sales signaled a rebound in coming months, indicating the world’s largest economy is poised to pick up in 2015. The improvement will probably be driven by gains in hiring that are leading to bigger paychecks.

“Labor-market conditions are continuing to grind a little bit tighter,” said

PSE. . . Continued from A8

T he P S E d e r i v e s i nc o me from money being raised at the exchange. Its income, Sicat said, may be a proxy or a barometer of the country’s market activities.

In the first nine months of 2014, the PSE generated income totaling P718.96 million, traced to robust gains in its listing-related activities.

Operating revenues from January to September totaled P1.19 billion, higher by 18 percent from a year ago. Listing-related income, which accounted for 43 percent of

JAN 5 MONDAY

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 21 – 31°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 23 – 30°C

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JAN 05 -0.00 METER 2:31 AM 12:53 PM Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

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DEC 29

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operating revenues, soared 79 percent, as listing fees from IPOs and additional listings grew.

Trading-related income, which made up 18 percent of operating revenues, dipped by 8 percent due to lower transaction fees.

Total value turnover slipped to P1.54 trillion as of September 2014, from P1.99 trillion in September 2013. Data feed income and subscriptions fees rose by 13 percent and 42 percent, respectively, to reduce losses in trading-related income.

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3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

Thomas Simons, an economist at Jefferies Llc. in New York, whose claims estimate for last week was the closest among economists surveyed. “It’s moving us closer to the point when we get acceleration in wage growth.”

Stocks fell, erasing December’s gains for the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index and paring an annual advance after equity gauges reached all-time highs. The S&P 500 dropped 1 percent to 2,058.9 at the close in New York. Fewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits in 2014 than at any time in 14 years, as the economic expansion strengthened.

An average 308,500 workers a week filed jobless claims this year, the least since 299,600 in 2000, according to figures from the Labor Department in Washington. Applications climbed by 17,000 to 298,000 in the week ended on December 27, more than projected, displaying the typical year-end holiday swings. Bloomberg News

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Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Friday, January 2, 2015

A3

CA junks Agham party-list suit vs DMCI for environmental damage

By Joel R. San Juan

mined out and disturbed areas to the condition of environmental safety,” the CA said.

“To ensure that the laws are observed, this court orders the public respondents to exercise vigilance in closely monitoring the activities and operations being undertaken by DMCIHI and DMCI Mining Corp. in Barangay Bolitoc Santa Cruz, Zambales,” the CA ruled.

In its petition for a writ of kalikasan, the group accused DMCIHI of leveling the mountain in Bolitoc to put up a port in the area. The petitioner, however, claimed the permit given by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to DMCIHI did not authorize the latter to cut trees, flatten a mountain and dump its remnants into the sea for the port’s construction. Even its environmental compliance certificate issued by the DENR, the petitioner said, did not permit the firm to do the destructive activities.

It noted that the subject land formation being destroyed by the DMCIHI served as a natural barrier of the residents of Zambales

and that of the nearby towns of Pangasinan from typhoons and sea surges.

But, in ruling against the petitioner, the CA held that it failed to prove that there is environmental damage of great magnitude that merited the issuance of the privilege of the writ. The CA noted that the cutting of the land formation and establishment of the port was done in 2007, seven years before the petition was filed. The CA also said there is no evidence that the local governments or any of their constituents, complained about any kind of danger or harm affecting the life and health of the people in Zambales, Pangasinan and nearby towns.

“More important, there is no evidence showing the existence of actual, grave and real environmental damage on Barangay Bolitoc and the adjacent barangays that resulted from the cutting of the land formation from 2007 until the present,” the CA ruled. Concurring with the ruling were associate justices Fernanda Lampas Peralta and Francisco Acosta.

Gale over Sorsogon sea strands 360 trucks

PAL asks CAB for entitlements to PNG flights

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HE Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed the petition filed by the Agham Party-list group seeking the issuance of a writ of kalikasan to enjoin the mining operations of DMCI Holdings Inc. (DMCIHI) in Barangay Bolitoc Santa Cruz, Zambales.

Agham filed the suit to avert possible sea surges that devastated Tacloban City in 2013 and claimed more than 6,000 lives.

However, in a 34-page decision penned

by Associate Justice Myra Garcia-Fernandez, the CA’s Eight Division directed the Department of Environment and Natural

Resources (DENR) to closely monitor the mining activities being undertaken by the company to ensure compliance to environmental laws.

“In addition, contractors and permitees are mandated under the law to technically and biologically rehabilitate the excavated,

L

EGACY carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is seeking to corner all the existing entitlements to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, even as it has yet to utilize its allocations bagged roughly three years ago.

The Tan-led carrier has filed before the Civil Aeronautics Board a petition for the reallocation of the entitlements to the Oceanian nation out of Manila. The coefficients are currently held by its rival Cebu Pacific. Both carriers currently hold 300 weekly seats each, sharing the current 600-seat entitlement bagged by the Philippine air panel in 2012. None of them have ever used the coefficients.

The two nations conducted fresh negotiations for more liberal air-traffic rights in 2013, but Port Moresby junked Manila’s request due to unused capacities.

There are about 25,000 overseas Filipino workers in Papua New Guinea.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

PART of the 360 trucks stranded in Matnog, Sorsogon. OLIVER SAMSON

By Oliver Samson Correspondent

M

ATNOG, Sorsogon—The crew of over 360 heavy cargo trucks bound for Samar and Leyte provinces spent the first night of the year on their vehicles stranded along the highway that leads to Matnog seaport due to the strong wind over the sea.

The heavy freight vehicles were marooned after the vessel captains chose to cut down the regular number of their boats’ daily departures to Samar, said Midardo Adelle, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) division manager in Matnog on December 31, 2014.

The daily departures from December 25 to the present averaged 17, fewer than the regular daily average number of departures of December 22 to 24, 2014 when the weather is good, he said.

Aside from the holiday rush, the flow of freight to Leyte in preparation for the papal

visit this January contributed to the jam of vehicles along Matnog highway, Adelle said.

Several long rows of heavy cargo trucks were in full stop along one of the lanes of the national road, making an extensive file of dead engines and homesick crews about 3 kilometers long. The line cut along curves, bridges and slopes.

The shipment trucks were loaded with massive pipes, motorbikes, construction materials and equipment, basic commodities and other freight.

Some of the vehicles trapped in the long queue were already stranded due to the strong winds even before Christmas. Boy Gimbol, one of the homesick drivers, said the other delivery crews spent both Christmas and New Year’s Day on their vehicles.

Fortunately, the houses by the sides of the road allow them to use their toilet and laundry, he said.

Baby Raquel, a town resident, said some of the houses offer their toilet for P10 per use.

The crew buy their meal from the houses or from the eateries in downtown Matnog.

As of noon on December 31, 2014, the PPA said the buses lining the national highway in the town numbered 38, Adelle said. Buses, which carry passengers, and light cargo trucks are prioritized for the transport over heavy freight vehicles.

The buses, mostly from Manila, on the green signal from the seaport authority, are allowed to pass the long pile of heavy cargo trucks.

To ease the jamming of heavy cargo trucks along Matnog highway, while the gale continued over the ocean, the seaport in the municipality of Bulan started to ship heavy freight vehicles to the shores of Samar on December 31, 2014, Adelle said.

The congestion of stranded heavy cargo trucks will ease as soon as the strong wind over the route of the boats calms down, Adelle said. The average daily departures will also resume, he said.

Pinoy’s Indon wife, daughter onboard AirAsia flight that vanished

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By Recto Mercene

HE Indonesian wife of a Filipino and his daughter were onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 that crashed last Sunday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs made the confirmation on Wednesday, saying the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta was able to talk to Filipino Alejandro Santiago.

Santiago said his wife Romiah Siti and daughter Rose Ann Santiago, were aboard the flight that vanished in bad weather from Surabaya to Singapore.

Santiago, who is in Indonesia to provide

identification papers to authorities, said he is hopeful that his wife and daughter are still alive.

Onboard flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain.

The copilot was French.

Santiago said his daughter was not registered as Filipino, nor was she a bearer of a Philippine passport. Foreign Affairs Spokesman Charles Jose said the Philippine Embassy offered assistance to Santiago.

Ships and planes had been scouring the Java Sea for Flight QZ8501 since Sunday, when it lost contact during a bad weather

about 40 minutes into its flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

Indonesian rescuers have recovered various bits of debris, including luggage and several bodies floating in shallow waters.

Authorities in Surabaya were making preparations to receive and identify bodies, including arranging 130 ambulances to take victims to a police hospital and collecting DNA from relatives.

The AirAsia Group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, had not suffered a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002.

Township devt cited as property-growth generator in 2014

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By Roderick L. Abad

HE Philippine real-estate sector has grown substantially in 2014, with top developers building on the economy of scale of a township project, or via focused sectoral targets.

Unlike one-off projects, Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services Inc. Director for Research and Consulting Jose Romarx Salas told the BusinessMirror that townships have a wider reach as they cater to different sectors and segments in the property market.

“More important, the top developers can showcase their ability to create synergies across sectors and build communities in new locations,” he said.

Meanwhile, the private sector-driven growth, in turn, provides quality developments at competitive prices and rents to the public in general, Salas said.

“Ultimately, all of the top developers would pursue growth to take advantage of select demand drivers to create value for their shareholders,” he said.

As proof that township development is the biggest growth generator, the executive cited the tens of billions of pesos in net income of both the Megaworld and Ayala Land groups.

Amount- and growth-wise, the former claimed the top spot with a total net income of P19.03 billion for the first nine months of 2014, or 192 percent higher than P6.52 billion during the same period last year.

The latter posted a net profit growth of 35 percent for the first three quarters of the year to P10.8 billion.

Andrew Tan-led Megaworld is developing Bayshore City in Pasay City, Uptown Bonifacio and McKinley West in the Bonifacio Global City, Woodsite City in Pasig City; Alabang West in Muntinlupa City, Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu; Iloilo Business Park in Iloilo City; and Davao Park District in Davao City.

The group is, likewise, developing Southwoods City in the boundaries of Cavite and Laguna; Boracay Newcoast in Boracay Island; and Twin Lakes in Tagaytay City—all under the banner of Suntrust Ecotown.

Ayala Land Group is offering City Gate in Makati City, Arca South in Taguig City, Vertis North in Quezon City and Capitol Central in Bacolod City.

Not to be ignored is the SM Group, with its plan to merge the reclamation projects of Pasay and Parañaque cities into one major investment amounting to P100 billion.

Robinsons Land is also ramping up its P30billion mixed-use complex in Quezon City, with the construction of the Tera Tower for business-process outsourcing companies.

While the Aquino administration continues to work on sustaining the economic growth through various infrastructure investments, Salas said top property are seen to be relentless in pursuing growth this year and beyond.

A4

News BusinessMirror

Friday, January 2, 2015

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Sangley airport blueprint ready by June

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

he auction for the multibilliondollar contract to build an aviation hub that would replace the aging and dilapidated Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in Manila will soon be staged, as the feasibility study for the deal being crafted by Japanese consultants is nearing completion.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) has vowed to present in June the final study for the $11-billion airport to be built in Sangley Point in Cavite.

“Jica is supposed to give the study

to us in June. Then we will go through the approval process,” he said.

The approval process will start from the various committees of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), such as the Investment Coordination Com-

mittee, the Cabinet Committee and the Neda Board, which is chaired by President Aquino.

“But, realistically, the first thing there will be a reclamation. First, you need to build a platform where the airport will be built on,” the transport chief said.

The Philippine Reclamation Authority, the Cabinet official added, is now “helping out on that aspect.”

In a discussion paper, the Japanese pundits underscored the need to develop a new aviation hub that will replace the current airport in Manila, which currently has four terminals that are seen to burst at their seams this year.

Jica proposed that the new international gateway be constructed in Cavite to meet the parameters set by the transportation agency. The future airport will boast of four runways, which can handle 700,000 aircraft movements per year. It will have a rated capacity of 130 million passengers annually.

The consultants noted that the deal can be bankrolled through the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program, mixed with funding from official development assistance (ODA).

The commercial operations of the new airport should start by 2025.

Separately, the government is mulling over the prospect of constructing a new terminal somewhere near C5 Road, which is the fifth beltway in Manila.

The state also wants to auction off the operations and maintenance of the Naia to tap the expertise of foreign airport operators to improve the services at the aging aviation hub.

The feasibility study for the deal, which costs about $2 million, is set to be completed by March, hence a Neda Board approval slated for May would be realistic, PPP Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao said.

“If everything has been laid out and we have already received

the approval, by June or July we could start the bidding process. The awarding will definitely happen during the administration, and we can accelerate it further to hasten the implementation, hopefully, within the administration,” she said.

The deal will also involve the redevelopment of the four terminals of the decades-old airport.

The optimal capacity of the airport in Manila’s four terminals is at 30 million passengers, while the maximum capacity is at roughly 35 million passengers per year.

This year the airport is expected to handle 37.78 million passengers, the bulk of which, or 21.31 million, would be domestic traffic, while the remaining 16.46 million would be international passengers. Come 2040, the Naia’s passenger traffic would reach 101.49 million.

‘Game-changing’ master plan

Abaya said the future aviation hub in the south of Manila is part of the

“game-changing” master plan that his agency is crafting.

He said a multiagency body will soon come up with a list of priority deals, which are seen to plug major holes in the country’s infrastructure.

“The direction was we need to come up with our final last push for the last 18 months and, likewise, where will we take infrastructure beyond us. So these will be more of game-changing projects, one of which is the airport. That should be made in an officially declared plan and policy of the President.

We are currently working on that,” the Cabinet official said.

The body is composed of the departments of Finance, Budget and Management, Public Works and Highways, Transportation and Communications, and Socioeconomic Planning.

“Neda is lead, so we are all contributing our own projects or components of the plan,” Abaya added.

PSALM rejects proposal for Ilijan to shift to diesel

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‘COIN HOUSE’ A woman arranges the miniature houses that double as coin banks being sold from P100 to P1,000, depending on the size. NONIE REYES

Protected areas to contribute more revenues to govt coffers

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

cotourism is expected to ramp up the revenues generated by the country’s protected areas (PAs) this year, with the signing of a law mandating the automatic retention of the Integrated Protected Areas Fund (Ipaf), an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

Director Theresa Mundita Lim of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the DENR said the BMB’s activities this year are focused on developing the ecotourism potentials of the country’s PAs while promoting environmental protection and biodiversity conservation.

The DENR-BMB, she said, is in close coordination with the Department of Tourism (DOT) and other agencies to develop more ecotourism sites within the country’s 240 PAs. Ipaf is a trust fund created under Republic Act (RA) 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act of 1992, for the purpose of financing projects of Nipas.

With the implementing rules and regulation of Republic Act (RA) 10629, or the Ipaf automatic-retention law in place, the Protected Area Management Boards

(PAMBs) are now allowed to retain 75 percent of the revenues accruing to Ipaf, which include taxes from the permitted sale and export of flora and fauna, and other sources from protected areas; proceeds from lease of multipurpose-use areas; contributions from industries and facilities directly benefiting from the PAs; and such other fees derived from the operation of the PAs. Revenues from other sources include donations, endowment and grants from various sources.

Specifically, the signing of a law mandating the automatic retention of Ipaf will encourage managers of PAs to increase rental fees and lease for the use of lands covered by Nipas, Lim said.

A 2013 study by Resources, Environment and Economics Center for Studies Inc. commissioned by the DENR, which covers 22 PAs, revealed that income from rental or lease of lands can increase the total annual revenues derived from operation from a measly P16 million to a whopping P306 billion.

The study indicates that current rental or lease of lands in PAs, including national parks, marine-protected areas, natural parks and sanctuary, are covered by Commonwealth Act 141, or the Public Lands Act, which charges a minimal fee of not

less than 3 percent of value of the land to locators doing business within the PAs. The study said charging an additional 1 percent of the minimum allowable fees for rent or lease of the land within PAs based on a higher zonal land value than that of an agricultural land under CA 141 will do the trick. The study said with the proper application of Nipas, Ipaf, the automaticretention law and their implementing rules and regulation, the value of lands within PAs are actually higher and can be based on the zonal value of the nearest city or urban center; putting premium to the fact that the lands are special because of their unique features, aesthetic value and the fact that they are natural habitats of threatened and endangered species that need special care.

“Hopefully, with the Ipaf automaticretention law, our PAMBs will be more aggressive to think of ways to generate more revenues,” she said.

Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje and Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad issued Joint Circular 01 last September 26 on the Ipaf automatic retention law that amended Section 16 of the Nipas law.

The joint circular effectively puts in place the Ipaf automatic-retention law, which allows PAMBs to open up a bank account,

where 75 percent of their revenues can be deposited, with the remaining 25 percent to be remitted to the National Treasury.

Lim had earlier called on PAMBs to open a bank account for the purpose of establishing the trust fund within the trust fund. These funds can be used solely for the purpose of protection, maintenance, administration and management of PAs, as well as projects approved by the respective PAMBs contained in the approved management plan for the PAs and cleared by the DENR. Once the Ipaf automatic-retention law is in place, PAMBs’ access to funds for the rehabilitation and development of the PAs under them will be a lot easier and faster, Lim said. Before, it takes a year for the Department of Budget and Management to release funds for PAs due to the tedious process and bureaucracy.

This discourages PAMBs to play a more active role in managing the PAs, Lim explained. To familiarize the various stakeholders with the new setup, Lim said the DENR-BMB will schedule seminars and conduct capacity-building workshops this year.

“We will provide technical assistance and capacity-building seminars to help them maximize the use of the Ipaf,” she said.

By Lenie Lectura

HE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said there is no need to put up temporary fuel tanks for Ilijan power plant should it use diesel in the summer months of 2015.

This was in response to Sen. Sergio Osmena III’s proposal that PSALM could be refunded for the extra cost of putting up temporary storage fuel.

“There is no need to put additional tanks at ilijan.

Daily delivery of 6 million liters can serve the two units running at 50 megawatts [MW] each. This is possible if Shell can commission enough vessels for continuous daily delivery,” PSALM President Emmanuel Ledesma said.

There is a proposal for Ilijan to use pure diesel from biodiesel when the Malampaya natural-gas facility goes offline from March 15 to April 14, 2015.

Ilijan is among the three power plants fueled by the Malampaya facility. The other two are the 1,000-MW Santa Rita and the 500-MW San Lorenzo power plants.

The Santa Rita and San Lorenzo power plants of the Lopez group can run on expensive liquid fuel whenever Malampaya is offline. The Ilijan power plant, meanwhile, can run on biodiesel.

However, when Ilijan runs on biodiesel, its capacity will be reduced to 420MW from 600 MW per unit, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said.

The Ilijan combined-cycle power plant is composed of two units, with a capacity of 600 MW each. Unit 2 is scheduled to undergo a maintenance outage at the same time the Malampaya natural-gas facility also goes offline on March 15.

According to Osmeña, the impending joint resolution granting special powers to President Aquino to address the looming power crisis would give the President the power to exempt certain establishments from the Biofuels Act so they could use pure diesel, instead of biodiesel, when necessary to address a supply shortage.

Ilijan, he said, would benefit from this exemption.

But PSALM has said the fuel shift to diesel will not provide assurance that the load of the plant’s Unit 1 would increase from 420 MW to 600 MW whenever the natural-gas supply from the Malampaya is not available. “In any case, this shift cannot be completed in time for the Malampaya shutdown, from March 15 2015, to April 14 2015,” he added.

“The change in the Ilijan power plant’s alternative fuel from biodiesel to pure diesel has been proposed to augment the power supply during the Malampaya shutdown in 2015, with an expectation that this will ensure operation of Ilijan’s Block 1 at its full 600-MW capacity. However, this shift cannot guarantee the increase in capacity given [a] that the last performance test of the plant using liquid fuel was conducted 13 years ago, and [b] the effect of plant degradation and changes in ambient temperature during its operation,” Ledesma explained.

Moreover, Ledesma pointed out that the should the shift to pure diesel proceed, the following activities would require around six months to complete, which will extend beyond March 2015: (a) liquid operation of Ilijan for three days to consume the current biodiesel inventory; (b) cleaning of the fuel tanks to be undertaken by plant operator Kepco Ilijan Corp.; (c) PSALM’s procurement of contractor for removal of sludge, actual removal and sale; (d) preparation of the gas turbines for pure diesel operation; and (e) PSALM’s procurement of 60 million liters of pure diesel.

There is also a need to conduct a pure diesel tuning, stability operation and performance test, which will take at least eight days. Hence, PSALM recommends the continued use of biodiesel for Ilijan to ensure continuous power supply during the 2015 Malampaya shutdown,” Ledesma added.

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Lawmaker wants DOE, oil firms to explain oil-price hike

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By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

party-list lawmaker on Thursday is asking the Department of Energy (DOE) and oil companies to explain the recent increase in oil prices.

Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna made the pronouncement after Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Petron, Chevron and Seaoil Philippines raised the price of gasoline by P0.30 per liter and P0.10 per liter for kerosene products.

“What is this blip that they are talking about and why did

it cause an oil-price hike? Oil companies and the DOE should explain this, given that international oil prices are below $70 a barrel, unlike at the beginning of 2014, when prices were at $100 per barrel,” Colmenares said.

Given the decline in international oil prices, he said, local oil firms should implement more price rollbacks.

“We received report from industry insiders that oil prices should have been at least P1 to P2 lower, and the price of liquefied petroleum gas [LPG] should be at least P2 less by kilogram,” Colmenares said.

Because of the recent increase implemented by oil firms, Colmenares asked the lower chamber to hear House Resolution 755, which he filed in February last year. The resolution sought to investigate “oil price inconsistencies” nationwide.

He said the public deserves a “full and transparent explanation” from oil companies as to the formula they use in computing higher fuel prices.

“Thus, there is a need for the House of Representatives to exercise its investigative powers, in aid of legislation, in pursuit of such an explanation and to have more grounds to have the oil-deregulation law re-

pealed,” Colmenares said.

“We are also studying the possibility of scrapping, or at least reducing, fuel surcharges in the country considering the low price of oil, so we were shocked when oil companies announced an increase,” he added.

Citing reports, Colmenares noted that the oil market further weakened on Wednesday, closing a year that packed the steepest fall in prices since the 2008 financial crisis.

He said US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for February delivery fell 85 cents to finish at $53.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest close since May 1, 2009. The international benchmark, Brent North Sea crude for February delivery, settled 57 cents lower at $57.33 in London.

Friday, January 2, 2015

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Candaba community hospital to rise soon

By Ashley Manabat Correspondent

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ANDABA, Pampanga—A 50-bed community hospital, which will provide primary health care, will soon rise in this town.

Town Mayor Rene Maglanque said recently that construction of the hospital is now under way.

By May, a 20-bed infirmary will be completed, ending Candaba’s reputation as the only first-class municipality in Pampanga without a hospital.

In a year’s time, Maglanque said the infirmary will be expanded to 50 beds. He said another building will be constructed for this.

Maglanque added that the first building will be called the “Candaba infirmary.” After the second building is constructed, it will be called the Candaba

Community Hospital.

“The first building will be opened by May. Operational funds were already allocated by the local government unit. Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda has also pledged her support,” he said.

Maglanque said Rep. Rimby Bondoc of the Fourth District of Pampanga has also given his backing to the construction of the community hospital.

He said the local government spent P10 million to purchase a 6.7-hectare property for the community hospital, while the building costs P12 million.

Adjacent to the property is a 2.5-hectare lot donated by the owner to the local government.

The deed of donation was signed in April 2014.

Maglanque said the local government is targeting to complete the construction of the entire community hospital by 2016.

AFP to fast-track modernization program

By Rene Acosta

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PICK AND PAY A motorist struggles to cross a paddy carrying heads of cabbage he harvested from a farm in San Mateo, Isabela.

Many prefer the “pick and pay” scheme being offered by vegetable farmers near highways. LEONARDO PERANTE II

Health advocates back probe on cigarette trade Bangsamoro law, emergency powers

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ntismoking advocates have joined the growing clamor for a congressional probe of cigarette maker Mighty Corp. over alleged tax malpractices.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), New Vois Association of the Philippines (NVAP) and Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) said there is a need for an investigation on how tobacco companies, particularly Mighty Corp., are adhering to Republic Act (RA) 10351, or the “sin” tax law, to ensure that the law, which took almost a decade to pass, would not become inutile.

“There should be a congressional probe of sin-tax malpractices and illicit trade [not just of Mighty] but of all tobacco companies,” said FCAP Executive Director Maricar Limpin in a statement.

Limpin said it is a “dangerous precedent” to allow violations of existing tax laws as it invalidates the purpose of the measure. She said failure to comply with the sin-tax law

means that cigarettes would remain affordable to children and the poor.

Bulacan-based cigarette firm Mighty Corp. has been receiving flak for selling its products at “economically unsustainable” prices—even below the cost of production, excise tax and value-added tax. Antismoking advocates said cigarettes priced at P1 per stick continue to flood the market, defeating the spirit of the law.

“They get to undermine the law and, thus, prevent us from achieving the two main objectives of sin tax: health and revenues,” Limpin said.

She added that not having proper sin-tax collection deprives the government of true revenues that can help finance the country’s healthcare system.

“An assessment of the sin-tax law is necessary. And that is stated in the law, that the sin-tax law must be assessed again before 2017 or the final year of implementation,” NVAP President Emer Rojas said.

PCP President Tony Leachon also welcomed the sin-tax review, espe-

cially to assess its health and revenue impact.

“But a review has just been done and it will be redundant to have another review this soon,” Leachon said. RA 10351 is one of the major health and revenue measures passed by the Aquino administration, with the aim of increasing cigarette prices and alcoholic drinks to make them unaffordable for the youth and the poor. Under the law, 85 percent of sin-tax revenues is earmarked for the enrollment of the poorest of the poor to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

Earlier, the Department of Health and lawmakers, led by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Juan Edgardo Angara, called for a congressional inquiry against Mighty Corp.

They also want to find out why the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has not lifted a finger on its alleged fraudulent practices to evade hundreds of millions, if not billions, of pesos in tax and duty payments.

remain under Senate scrutiny

By Butch Fernandez

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bill creating a new entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) remains on top of administration priority bills which Malacañang expects Congress to pass when they go back to work on January 19.

Also high on the list is President Aquino’s pending request for early passage of a joint resolution, granting him emergency powers to address a looming energy supply shortage projected to trigger recurrent brownouts in the summer months.

But both Palace priority bills have yet to hurd le Senate committeelevel scrutiny before the proposed Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) and the emergency power resolution could be submitted for approval in a floor vote on final reading. Should the Senate succeed in passing the two measures upon resumption of sessions, these will still need to go through a bicameral conference committee process.

The process allows lawmakers to recon-

cile conflicting provisions in the House and Senate versions before the measures could be submitted to the President for signing into law. Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. and President Aquino’s Spokesman Secretary Edwin Lacierda separately confirmed that the Palace gives the BBL and power bills the most urgent attention.

“Highest priority [is placed] on BBL and joint resolution on energy supply,” Coloma told the BusinessMirror on Thursday.

In an earlier interview, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon admitted that the BBL has yet to be endorsed for floor deliberations

by Sen. Bongbong R. Marcos who chairs the reviewing Senate committee on local governments while the emergency power bill is still being heard by the energy committee chaired by Sen. Sergio R. Osmeña-III. Still, Drilon said both measures are also in the Senate’s priority agenda. He also said the proposed BBL may be enacted into law by the first quarter of the year to allow for a plebiscite ratifying the new Bangsamoro entity.

he Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said it will hasten the implementation of its modernization program so the military can achieve a “credible defense posture” before President Aquino steps down from office in 2016.

The modernization program is focused on territorial defense operations (TDO), and humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR), as the military gradually shifts from internal security operations. The Army, Air Force and Navy will lean toward the TDO campaign, while also beefing up their capabilities to respond to natural disasters and calamities.

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said the Aquino administration has already funded 46 modernization projects, most of which are for territorial defense. He said the figure is more than the combined completed projects of previous administrations.

“The unprecedented support of the present administration to the AFP Modernization and Capability Upgrade Program is a significant contribution toward achiev ing the AFP ’s credible defense posture,” Catapang said.

He said, however, that there is also a need to bolster the capability of the military to confront the challenges posed by natural disasters.

Catapang said this need was highlighted by destructive typhoons, such as Yolanda, which battered the country in early-November 2013.

While the military’s HADR capabilities had improved since then, as seen during Typhoon Ruby, Catapang said the AFP needs more assets and equipment for HADR operations and to train personnel. The military helped in preparations, particularly in prepositioning of relief goods, rescue and clearing equipment, and assisting in preemptive evacuation during Ruby, which lashed the Visayas and Southern Luzon. For the operations, the Air Force deployed 18 aircraft, including two C-130 aircraft and two Sokol helicopters that transported a total of 629,274 pounds of relief goods to affected areas.

The Navy also deployed six of its ships, which transported 38.5 tons of relief goods, while the Army used 173 of its ground assets for HADR work.

After the storm, soldiers did aerial reconnaissance, clearing, rescue and relief operations in affected areas.

“HADR has now become a major role for the AFP due to the impact of climate change, which is one of the global challenges the AFP is currently facing,” Catapang said.

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Friday, January 2, 2015

Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial Poverty and investment

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WO recent news stories could have shared the same the page in the newspaper. The first story was about the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) report that slightly more than half of Filipino families claimed they were poor in the last quarter.

The SWS poll was conducted in late November and asks people two simple questions. The first is “Saan po ninyo ilalagay ang inyong pamilya sa kard na ito? [Where would you place your family in this card]?”

A show card with the choices “hindi mahirap” (not poor), “sa linya” (on the line) and “mahirap” (poor) is shown.

The nationwide results for this past quarter puts the 2014 average at 54 percent. That is a terrible number. It is the worst under the Aquino administration and is at the same level as in 2006.

While “self-rating” if you think you are poor is completely subjective without any numerical standards, the SWS has been doing this for many years and, therefore, has a statistical consistency. While opinions and income thresholds may change about what it means to be poor, it is valid to assume that if you think you are poor, you probably are in comparison to the rest of society.

The second question was farmed and answered the same way, but dealt with hunger and “food-poverty.” The 2014 average self-rated food-poverty rate at 41 percent is worse than 2013’s 39 percent but the same as in 2012.

The second news story was headlined in the BusinessMirror (December 30, 2014): “BOI-approved investments fell 24 percent to P354.5B in 2014”.

Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Adrian Cristobal Jr. attributed the decline to “fewer applications for energy-related projects this year.” The implication is that BOI-approved investments for 2014 are being compared against a high base from 2013, and that may be true.

However, this is the grave cause for concern: “Domestic investments accounted for the bulk of BOI approvals at P317.69 billion, or 90 percent of the total, while foreign investments accounted for 10 percent, or P36.85 billion.”

The Philippines is still not getting substantial foreign direct investments (FDI).

The BOI pushed the fact that the type of investments would create more jobs, about 60,000 over the next few years rather than the 38,100 from 2013 investments. Consider then that it takes over P5 million of investments to create one of these jobs. That is why FDI is so critical to the economy and in reducing the poverty rate.

While correlation does not imply causation, we cannot ignore that the self-rated poverty numbers are doing just as badly as our foreigninvestment numbers.

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Samson Alcantara James Jimenez

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spox

AST week one of the people I admired most joined his Maker.

I first met him in law school, where he was my professor on labor law. Right off the bat, I was struck by how different he was. There were unholy terror teachers who had many of us shaking in fear; there were those who rewarded our every misstep with the exhortation to “go home and plant kamote;” and there were those who would peer over the top of his glasses and check who among his students had fallen asleep. And then, there was Samson Alcantara.

My most indelible memory of him has to be of that time when, after a particularly tortuous lesson that we just weren’t getting, he cited a provision of the Labor Code. I can’t remember exactly which it was, only that it was paragraph G that he was talking about. He goes, and I paraphrase: “If you look at section 34-G,” then he takes a long pause.

“G! As in…guapo [handsome].” He delivered the punchline with a long, sprawled-out basso. The whole room exploded in laughter and it was a wonder that any of us regained composure before the class ended.

That pretty much set the tone for the entire semester, and for every other time we found ourselves learning from him. It was an easy relationship between student and teacher that, in my opinion, debunked the notion that law school has to be hell.

After many years, I ran into him again when he was filing his certificate of candidacy for the 2013 Senate race. He was the same funnyserious kind of man that I remembered from law school, although I did sense a kind of edge in his voice whenever he spoke about his candidacy. It was an earnestness that

I heard between the lines. A kind of renewed faith in the Filipino electorate, and an eagerness to share his vision of a society firmly grounded in the principles of social justice.

I couldn’t help but be inspired by his courage. I couldn’t come out and vocally support his candidacy, of course, but I’m a voter, too, and this man had my vote.

I knew him to be exceptionally qualified to be a senator, both intellectually and morally. I knew him to be genuinely concerned about the plight of the people, and I knew him to be a gentle man unlikely to be corrupted by power.

I watched his campaign with interest and, truth be told, a breaking heart. Perhaps, the greatest paradox of democracy is that, while anyone can theoretically be elected into office, in reality, that outcome is only within reach for a privileged few. Unfortunately, Alcantara wasn’t one of those.

He had no campaign kitty to match those of other candidates; his unfamiliarity to the audiences of mass media relegated him to the status of an “also running”; and, at times, his straight talking flew over the heads of the audiences, anyway.

As they say in the magic business, his patter wasn’t flashy enough.

And, yet, he soldiered on. He even-

tually lost, of course. I don’t think that surprised him or anyone, for that matter. Nor was his absence in the halls of the Senate noted. Like most of the other candidates who didn’t make the cut, my teacher faded from the limelight.

But doesn’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got—or almost had—‘til it’s gone?

When the statements of contributions and expenditures came in, I knew. Out of all the candidates who ran for the Senate in the 2013 elections, only one candidate had a spotless record. No overspending, no questionable reporting, no documentary deficiencies. Nothing. Just one—Samson Alcantara.

In an arena that endlessly reverberates with excuses and tortured interpretations of the rules, Alcantara stood out with a thoroughness and meticulous adherence to the rules and regulations that speaks volumes about the character and integrity of the man the Filipino electorate passed up on. One can only hope that we, as voters, don’t make that sort of mistake too often.

G, sir. As in good job.

Rest well.

James Jimenez is the spokesman of the Commission on Elections.

Three flights: A mystery, a tragedy, an act of war

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HE discovery of debris and bodies from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea on Tuesday provided sad confirmation of the fate of 162 passengers and crew. Days after the plane disappeared en route to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia, there is no expectation of finding survivors.

The crucial task now is to recover the bodies and to find as much of the destroyed jet as possible for the investigation into why this plane seemingly fell from the sky. The initial focus is on stormy weather and the pilots’ request to alter their course and climb to a higher altitude.

Soon after, the plane disappeared without issuing a distress call.

This has been a shocking year for air travel, riven by an eerie coincidence: three commercial airline disasters connected to Malaysia took 699 lives. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished in March.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was blasted out of the sky over Ukraine in July. The AirAsia jet was operated by the Indonesian affiliate of a Malaysian airline.

Accidents in 2014 resulted in the most civilian flight-related deaths since 2005, though this was still among the safest years in aviation history when measured against the volume of traffic. Improving flight safety comes from an extraordinary commitment by all involved, and vigilance when investigating accidents.

Yet, there is nothing in that

assessment that will console the families of the victims in those three air disasters.

The cause of the AirAsia crash will, most likely, be determined.

Responsibility for the shooting down of Flight MH17 over a war zone has not been officially established, a maddening fact.

The fate of Flight MH370 is still utterly mystifying.

Incredibly, more than nine months after Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, its fate remains unknown. The plane took off with 239 people aboard, veered off its planned course and vanished from radar screens with no distress signal, and no evidence of technical or weather problems.

No one expects to find passengers and crew alive after these many months. Continuing to search for Flight MH370 is costly, and could be risky for those scouring the seabed west of Australia, where the plane is thought to be resting on the Indian Ocean floor.

Still, the hunt for Flight MH370 should go on. Providing closure for

the loved ones of those who vanished is reason enough. But there’s another practical reason to continue the search.

When planes go down, investigators work to identify—and remedy—the causes. Redesign or better maintenance can correct mechanical failures; training can avert pilot error. Improved procedures can lower risk from bad weather.

In case of criminal acts—bombings, hijack ings—author ities similarly need to know exactly what happened.

In the months since the Boeing 777 went missing, not a shred of physical evidence has turned up.

Skepticism about the official investigation runs deep. Conspiracy theories abound.

The prevailing theory is that Flight MH370 kept flying until it ran out of fuel and spiraled into the depths many miles off the western shore of Australia.

On March 17 Australia took over the search, in cooperation with the Malaysian government. Since then, its experts have mapped the underwater topography of the most likely crash area and used deep-water submersibles to examine objects. That process is expected to take until May. Primary targets of the search are the 777’s two engines, likely still intact.

Even if the plane’s location were

to be found, wreckage and human remains could not be recovered immediately. Any debris field would need to be carefully mapped and photographed before it was disturbed.

Australian authorities say they will continue the search, despite budget concerns.

Meantime, how can we make sure aircraft don’t disappear without a trace, and are more quickly found?

One step: Ensure that commercial airlines are equipped with more comprehensive flight-tracking systems.

The International Air Transport Association, a trade group representing 250 global airlines, recently issued recommendations for improving that tracking system. One key proposal: Aircraft should transmit longitude, latitude, altitude and local time every 15 minutes during flight.

Not every airline is onboard with that recommendation. Some regard that 15-minute tracking standard as burdensome and expensive; some airlines say it will take years to implement.

Few tragedies capture global attention the way a plane crash does, because of the inherent trust all passengers place in the miracle of flight, and the potential scope of the tragedy when something goes wrong.

Our hearts go out today to the victims and families of AirAsia Flight QZ8501. Chicago Tribune/TNS

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Friday, January 2, 2015

A7

Cementing growth A serpent, this earth and the end of the year requires local participation Tito Genova Valiente

Dr. Alvin P. Ang

EAGLE WATCH

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S we enter the homestretch of the Aquino administration, doubts have begun to cloud the so-called growth spurt that we are now experiencing. The Philippines’s thirdquarter economic performance has exposed some critical weaknesses that continue to hound the economy. There is also that lingering question on how the next administration can sustain the growth. As we begin a new year, it would be good to look at these challenges and prepare the right responses in transforming them into opportunities and increased options for business and investments.

Last week my colleague Dr. Leonardo A. Lanzona explained that the third-quarter performance is actually reflective of a structural transformation. The observed slack in government expenditures, due to the Disbursement Acceleration Program challenge, has actually been picked up by investments by the private sector, as seen in its doubledigit growth. The resurgent growth of manufacturing and the sustained expansion of services have also validated this structural shift. This is good in the long term, as this will allow the government to focus on its role of improving the environment for private investments.

However, the critical role of agriculture in the growth process remains a huge challenge. Because of its erratic growth and its stillsignificant share of the work force (about 30 percent), agriculture cannot be left on its own. Poverty incidence among farmers and fishermen are also much higher than the national average. This is not to say that government policies favoring and supporting the agricultural sector are lacking. To date, the revised Agri-Agra law and the landmark Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act, which cover a wide range of policy and project-implementation support—from credit facilitation and fiscal incentives to research and human development—remain in place. The disconnect might be happening at how these national programs are delivered and coordinated at the local level. Thus, the challenge for broad-based and sustainable growth has to be responded strongly and deliberately at the local level.

While there are still loose ends in the national-governance process, much of the growth and development issues that relate to sustainability are really local in nature.

Climate change and social and political risks need to have effective response mechanisms that should be in place in local government units. Thus, cementing the growth requires that the homestretch strategy of the Aquino administration and the beginning of the next administration’s term in 2016 must focus on addressing the capacities of local governments to improve their governance processes, particularly in addressing the needs of the agricultural sector.

To this end, the national government must give premium in institutionalizing efforts, such as the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness rankings being undertaken by the National Competitiveness Council under the Department of Trade and Industry, and the national implementation of the local socialprotection framework under the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Both initiatives work on strategies that allow local governments to understand, develop and build local capacities in improving their economic competitiveness, as well as respond to various types of risk. With the weather becoming unpredictable, risks are becoming highly local, and preparations need to be updated on the ground, as well.

Finally, locally initiated activities will also help private capital to flow and match the opportunities that are available to them in these areas.

To further bolster growth, 2015 should be a year of enabling local governments and encouraging the private sector to further expand their investments. Let us all look forward to an even better 2015 for the Philippines and for every Filipino.

In the meantime, for business and investments, this year will be one of preparation for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) 2015. Officially, Asean 2015 will start on January 1, 2016.

There is a still a full year to connect with the 600 million strong market of Southeast Asia. Local companies with access to Southeast Asian manufacturers will have a good potential for expansion. Currently, these are mostly on the food-manufacturing side.

Hence, there is an incentive for the agricultural sector to be connected to this supply-chain link.

Smaller enterprises, on the other hand, should prioritize local services, such as transportation, tourism and health. Despite this week’s AirAsia tragedy, air transport will continue to expand and link many cities in the region due to the “open skies” policy. There will be a need to respond to this kind of market—not as rich as our tourists from East Asia, but capable of invigorating the local tourism industry. Local souvenir markets will benefit from this. With a number of available and capable health practitioners and increasing health needs, there is an opportunity to provide private basic clinics, especially in emerging cities and large municipalities.

These are just some opportunities that can be considered for the private sector in 2015. As more resources are discouraged from flowing into banks by the low deposit interest rates (and it will remain low this year), it is expected that there will be more people wanting to engage in business. This, again, will require a lot of local government facilitation to shorten the business-application process, lower application fees and simplify the requirements. Thus, to further bolster growth, 2015 should be a year of enabling local governments and encouraging the private sector to further expand their investments.

Let us all look forward to an even better 2015 for the Philippines and for every Filipino. nnn

FOR more of our views on and forecasts for the Philippine economy and the financial markets in 2015 and beyond, we would like to invite you to attend the Eagle Watch Economic Briefing with Drs. Luis Dumlao, Alvin Ang and Cielito Habito at the Justitia Room of the Ateneo Rockwell Campus in Makati City, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon on January 22, 2015. For inquiries and reservations, call (632) 263-3221 or send an e-mail to info@ifpmphilippines.org.

Alvin P. Ang, PhD, is a professor of economics at the Ateneo de Manila University and a senior fellow of Eagle Watch, the school’s macroeconomic research and forecasting unit.

annotations

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URF the Internet or browse through books in the library, and you will encounter images of a serpent or dragon with a ball between its fangs or caught in its mouth. The names for this creature are legion, but we commonly call it the Bakunawa.

In some narratives, the Bakunawa is a moon-gobbling serpent that causes lunar eclipses. When the moon starts to disappear, people would line up along the street of the town or at the beach.

They have pots and pans that they beat with sticks and stones, so as to distract the Bakunawa and compel it to spit out the moon.

The old men and women would shout at the sky and implore the monster to give them back the moon.

The Bakunawa, however, is not just into moons. In many tales the Bakunawa could threaten to end the earth’s existence, because it can swallow our planet, our only home.

In other islands in the Philippines, the Bakunawa is identified with the Tandayag, a serpent-like creature that outgrows its lair, leaves it and swims into the depths of the sea.

The strongest noise is the only way for the serpent/monster to disgorge the moon or earth. In other illustrations, one can also see another creature, called Nāga. More virulent and villainous in character, this serpent/monster is the “counterlife”, or contravida, to many folk heroes, as well as kings and princes in Southeast Asia’s sacred myths.

In Cambodia, for example, while the Nāga stands for negative energy, it also stands for immortality and timelessness. The symbolism can be stretched to cover the notion of time, which, while controllable, requires a communion or engagement with the forces of the universe so as to access its influences.

I wonder if people see in the lighting of firecrackers a universe where monsters rule human fate? I wonder if they see at all Time in its most organic form, monumental and towering above us all.

I pine for this age of sacred monsters, but it is an age that will never come back. There is so much bad noise around us that monsters will not survive in our loud society. This noise assumes many forms: bad

films, bad interviews, bad news. The most significant news at the end of 2014 was not one of development for our country—which continues to be underdeveloped—but a wedding.

Another story that emerged from that wedding, to which 700 guests were purportedly invited, was the reconciliation between comedienne Ai-Ai de las Alas and this person who’s always known by that inane title, “presidential sister”. Like, who cares? Would the universe care at all?

The noise of indifference persists

A salute to Salud Isabel “Beng” Tesoro

Women Stepping UP

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EBRUARY 6, 2015, will mark a hundred years since the birth of a certain girl in Baliuag town, Bulacan province.

This girl, who was inspired by her Thomasite teachers and bolstered by her exceptional academic grades, had dreamed of becoming a high-school principal. But, at 14, she forsook that dream when her taskmaster of an uncle made her work at the family’s hat shop in Intramuros to lessen overhead expenses and support her fellow orphaned sisters so that they could survive the Great Depression of 1929.

In that crucible of broken dreams and the unrelenting grind in earning a living, the young Bulakeña learned about the retail trade. With her uncle mentoring her, and aided by her own astute powers of observation, she developed strategies for survival and competitiveness that no business degree or self-help book could ever instruct. Despite the hardship, she had a happy family life, overseen by a benevolent, yet strict grandmother.

She recalled how “grandma” stayed up all night to sew proper white dresses for the three sisters to wear as sagalas (costumed maidens) for the all-important Flores de Mayo (Flowers of May) procession. But she never forgot the feeling of deprivation, as former classmates savored half-centavo bananacues, while she had no money to spare. Thus, she vowed she would work hard so that her children would never feel the same pain.

The girl grew up, married and settled down. Emboldened by the bustle of restoration efforts at the

end of World War II in 1945, and by her husband’s steady job as a lawyer, she used their savings to set up Sally’s Hat Shop on Escolta Street. Business was so good, she persuaded her husband to take a leave of absence from his promising law career to help her—and he never reported back, a decision that he never regretted. They were a formidable husband-and-wife team: She, at the “front of the store”, meeting customers, choosing the merchandise and deciding on the price and product development; he, in the “back office”, managing the accounts and finances, and in charge of administration. The business thrived so much that its name is still recognized as a byword of the best in all things Philippine.

That child of hardship, unrelenting industry, rewarded ambition, fortuitous marriage and business partnership was my mother, the late Salud S. Tesoro. Next year we honor her memory and her birth centennial

around us. Even after an investigation about it has been launched, people are still talking about how the Department of Social Welfare and Development supposedly misspent its aid to the poor. That there are many poor communities that do not receive the funds that are supposed to help some people have a bit of food on their table troubles our minds. While we are discussing this assistance to the needy, some lawmakers are already questioning it. The reason is the old notion that if you help them, they will forever depend on your assistance. This comment came from supposed lawmakers whose career depends largely on the largesse of their position. And while we are at this notion of the poor, here comes the declaration of 2015 as the Year of the Poor.

What exactly do we mean by “poor”? An old paper by Benedict Kerkvliet still stuns me for its daring to reclassify the nation’s poor by coming up with several layers of poverty. At the bottom are those who call themselves isang kahig, isang tuka, which is a stirring equivalent to that socioeconomic concept of subsistence. If you do not scratch, what can you eat or peck at?

How does the declaration of this year as the year of the poor alleviate

poverty, when the institutional Church that made that declaration wallows in wealth?

Filthy wealth is noise. Celebrity is noise. Politics is noise. Incompetence is noise. There is no need to strike pots and pans to create a racket that should strike fear in the heart of the great Bakunawa.

But there is a trick to this mythmaking. Look closely again at the images of the Bakunawa. The moon or earth is floating inside its gaping mouth. The Bakunawa has not yet swallowed the moon or earth.

The Bakunawa has inked a social contract with us human beings. Its role is to threaten that it will swallow the earth or moon. That tension between disappearance and appearance is ultimately the engine. But in that contract, the universe made sure that there is the fine print to favor us human beings. We make the noise; the Bakunawa relents. Time is restored and we have a happy new year.

But when will this contract expire? If the noise we make persists, then the Bakunawa will not even attempt to try to consume our moon or planet. There will be no beginning, no promise of cosmic change. The year will be forever old.

with a major relaunch of Tesoros and the Philippine Postal Corp.’s special issuance of a commemorative stamp recognizing her as “The Mother of Philippine Handicrafts”.

Tesoros started the “all under one roof” concept of presenting Philippine gifts and crafts in a modern retail setting. Through Tesoros, both Filipinos and foreign visitors to the country see quality native products at attractive prices and are attended to by the most knowledgeable and attentive retail staff. This formula is the reason we are now 70 years in business. At Tesoros today, you’ll find everything, from heritage crafts to contemporary apparel, from artifacts made by our indigenous peoples to unconventional souvenir and food items produced by young urban entrepreneurs.

The times, combinations and circumstances that led to our success are, perhaps, irreplicable. But there are timeless lessons one can learn from Salud’s life. One wonders how she, a woman from a less liberal era, achieved so much. First, she did not let being a woman stop her from being ambitious. While she was graceful and lady-like, she exuded power and decisiveness, as well as any man.

Second, she was forthright in all her business dealings, whether it was with her suppliers or buyers. If she agreed to a price, it was paid on time. If she promised a delivery, it was done according to specifications. Ultimately, whatever she did, she gave it her best, whether it was accomplishing an export order or managing her volunteer organization’s international convention. Though she was widowed early, she forged on and expanded the business even more.

If there was one thing that, I sensed, she had unease with, it was her role as a mother—having 10 of us and building a business at the same time, and herself not knowing a mother’s love (she lost her mother when she was six). She tried her best, but she knew she could not be both a 100-percent successful mother and a 100-percent successful businesswoman. So she did the part she was better at: working. The strange thing is, despite the vagaries of growing up and the typical parent-child issues, today, long after she has passed on, we, her children, revere her memory, because we know that, in doing her best at work, she gave the best part of herself to us. That everything she did was all for us. And she left us this lasting legacy, a business and values to abide by. It is fitting that we salute the indomitable Salud. Her name literally means “life”. But in the more correct figurative sense, during a toast, it is a salute, “To life!” Thus, we salute the memory of a revered mother and an exemplary businesswoman. She is our inspiration in continuing Tesoros: a meaningful business that is the repository of our country’s culture and the nurturer of our nation’s soul. Indeed, we salute Salud!

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com.

Isabel “Beng” Tesoro is the president of the Tesoro’s Group of Companies and the vice president of Business and Professional Women (BPW) Makati.

This article reflects her opinion and is not the official stand of BPW. Women Stepping Up is the rotating column of members of BPW Makati and comes out twice a month.

For more information on BPW Makati, visit www.womensteppingup.org.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Friday, January 2, 2015

Credit-card business in PHL grew 7% in 2014

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By Genivi Factao

he local credit-card industry capped 2014 on a satisfactory note by growing at an estimated 7 percent despite stricter regulations by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP) said the industry posted modest growth in card issuance last year.

“The overall performance of the creditcard business in 2014 is still satisfactory despite the modest growth of only around 7 percent in the total number of cards issued due to stricter regulations from the BSP,” CCAP Executive Director and Spokesman Alex Ilagan told the BusinessMirror.

CCAP estimated around 7.6 million credit cards have been issued in the Philippines as of December 2013. This translated roughly to 3 million or 4 million credit cardholders, as most Filipinos carry two or three credit cards in their wallets.

With 7-percent growth in card issuance, this number was seen aggregating 8.132 million issued in 2014.

“Total card billings grew slightly higher at 10 percent versus the same period last year, while credit-card delinquency continued to improve,” Ilagan added.

The CCAP official said credit-card billings rose 10 percent, from P540 billion in 2013 to P594 billion in 2014.

Ilagan said for 2015, they expect stronger credit-card performance as the country’s economic growth story continues.

“As the Philippine economy gains momentum this year, an expanding middle class will [allow] a larger segment of the population to own a credit card,” he said.

CCAP is thankful for the growing popularity of online shopping or e-commerce transactions, which create new opportunities for credit-card usage.

This online shopping, he said, will induce more people, especially the younger generation, to acquire a credit card as a safer mode of payment online compared to debit cards linked to a deposit account.

Ilagan said the service providers or utility companies migrating to paperless transactions should also encourage payments online using credit and debit cards.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PSE sees more firms listing to take advantage of growth

BSP: Fewer head offices sign industry in better state

he operator of the country’s stock market looks ahead to more or less 10 companies becoming public this year, in a mix of initial public offerings (IPOs) and so-called backdoor listing.

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By VG Cabuag

Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) President Hans Sicat said, however, that the pace of IPOs will be slower this year although a number of companies still need

to raise capital as the Philippine economy continues to expand.

“I think it will likely be the same story this year as last year.

You’ll have a base level of IPOs,

maybe a few backdoors, but follow-on offerings will probably continue to be the bulk. There is also a need for companies to raise capital because of the fact that they need to expand,” Sicat said.

Sicat added that the PSE also maintains the target P200 billion raised from the stock exchange this year.

The PSE failed to realize its target of P200 billion two years in a row, beginning 2013 and again in 2014, on account of global economic jitters as companies put off plans of becoming public as share prices weakened.

Last year a total of seven new listings were had at the PSE.

These include property developer DoubleDragon Properties Corp., which listed in April; canned-tuna producer Century Pacific Food Inc., which listed in May; Trans-Asia Petroleum Corp., listed by way of introduction in August; SSI Group Inc. in November; Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corp and Xurpas Inc., both listed in December.

DoubleDragon and Xurpas both traded at the second or the small, medium and emerging board at the PSE. “The equities market provides a very good asset class for various companies to raise their profile,” Sicat said.

See “PSE,” A2

new year at the top A mountaineer negotiates a steep part of the Akiki trail on his way to the summit of Mount Pulag, which, at 2,922 meters above sea level, is Luzon’s highest peak and the third highest in the country. The borders of Benguet, Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya meet at its peak. Famous for its majestic “sea of clouds,” its otherworldly summit view has attracted a lot of mountain climbers, some of them opting to celebrate the new year communing with nature. NORIEL DE GUZMAN

IMPORTERS, BROKERS ORDERED TO FILE TAX PAYMENTS ONLINE

By David Cagahastian

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mporters and Customs brokers accredited by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) are now mandated to file their income tax returns and tax payments online.

Effective January 1, 2015, importers and Customs brokers, including prospective importers applying for accreditation, are required to file their returns and make their payments through the BIR’s electronic filing and payment system (eFPS).

Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares issued Revenue Regulation 10-2014, requiring importers and Customs brokers to use the eFPS to make easier the filing of returns and for the BIR to track the payments on these returns.

Also mandated to use the eFPS system were taxpayers, whether individual or juridical entities, ident if ied by t heir respect ive revenue d istr ict of f ices to be par t of the Ta x payer Account Management Program.

The expanding use of the eFPS system started in 2001 as a voluntar y option for large ta xpayers. But the convenience it presented t a x payers when f i l i ng returns and paying ta xes online convinced the BIR to make the

Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares issued Revenue Regulation 10-2014, requiring importers and Customs brokers to use the eFPS to make easier the filing of returns and for the Bureau of Internal Renevue to track the payments on these returns.

system mandator y for certain ty pes of ta xpayers.

Other taxpayers required to use eFPS include large taxpayers notified by the BIR; the top 20,000 private corporations notified by the BIR; the top 5,000 individual taxpayers notified by the BIR; taxpayers who wish to enter into contracts with government offices; corporations with paidup capital stock of P10 million; entities registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and those within special economic zones; and government offices, insofar as remittance of withheld value-added tax and business tax is concerned.

Any violation of the provisions of the regulations regarding the mandatory use of the eFPS is punishable under the pertinent provisions of the Tax Code.

By Bianca Cuaresma

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he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) welcomed the declining number of head offices of banks in the country, viewing it as a positive development for the industry.

Recent statistics from the central bank show that the number of head offices of banking institutions declined as of end-September 2014 to 652 offices.

This was lower compared to 676 head offices seen in the same period last year.

In a report on the economic and financial developments of the country, the central bank said the lower number of head offices was indicative of “continued consolidation of banks, as well as the exit of weaker players in the banking system”.

The bulk of the 652 head offices are owned by rural banks, while thrift banks own less than 100, and universal and commercial banks still fewer head offices with only 36 nationwide.

The central bank also noted that while head offices declined, the total offices—including branches across the country—continued to trend up.

In particular, branches of the local banking system number 10,207 as of end-September 2014, from only 9,720 total offices a year earlier. This means 480 bank branches were established during the year.

The central bank expressed optimism on the prospects of the banking system given its sustained growth in years past.

“Philippine banking remains sound and stable. Banks’ balance sheets were marked by a sustained growth in assets and deposits,” the BSP said.

“Resources of the banking system rose by 2.3 percent, to P10.8 trillion as of endSeptember 2014, from quarter-ago and 14.6 percent from year-ago levels. This could be traced to the growth in loans, financial assets and equity investments,” it added.

The central bank implemented a number of reforms in the banking sector the past year and took advantage of the lenders’ “good position” to implement changes in the system.

ICC. . . Continued from A1

P2.4-billion Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, a locally funded project of the Department of Health.

Included in the list of approvals was the P400.12-million Tanauan Public Market Redevelopment Project, representing the first local government PPP approved by the Aquino administration.

Also included was the P231.21-million Local Government Units Investment Program Supplement III of the Land Bank of the Philippines that will be funded by the German government.

Further, the ICC-Cabcom reapproved changes in two key PPP projects, which are the P35.43-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway Project and P25.56-billion North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway Connector Road project.

Both projects are at the tail end of the PPP process and are included in the list of PPPs that may be rolled out this year. All these projects will be included in the upcoming 16th Neda Board meeting scheduled to convene after the pope’s visit this month.

The Neda Board is the country’s premier social and economic development planning and policy coordinating body. The Neda Board is also the highest policy-making body of the Neda, chaired by the President himself.

As an interagency committee, the ICC is tasked to evaluate the fiscal implications of major national projects. It also recommends to the President the timetable of their implementation on a regular basis.

All ICC approvals are subject to evaluation and confirmation by the Neda Board before these are placed under a competitive bidding process. The ICC consists of the secretary of finance, as chairman; the Neda director general, as cochairman; and the Executive Secretary, the secretaries of the departments of Agriculture, Trade and Industry, and Budget and Management, and the governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines, as members.