Businessmirror june 14, 2015

What is Net neutrality?

WHAT IS NET NEUTRALITY, AND WHAT ARE THE NEW RULES?

N

ew rules that treat the Internet like a public utility and prohibit blocking, slowing and creating paid fast lanes for online traffic took effect on Friday. Here’s a look at what the developments mean for consumers and companies:

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

U.N. Media Award 2008

So-called Net neutrality is the principle that Internet providers treat all Web traffic equally, and it’s how the Internet works today.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) enacted rules that protect that, to make sure cable and phone companies don’t manipulate traffic: They can’t create special fast lanes for some content, like video from YouTube, or intentionally block or slow Web traffic. Many Internet providers say they don’t plan to do those things, but the FCC worried that they could.

WHAT’S CHANGING FOR CONSUMERS?

WHAT ABOUT FOR COMPANIES?

In enacting its rules, the FCC placed Internet service in the same regulatory camp as telephone service. That means providers have to act in the “public interest” when supplying Internet service and refrain from “unjust or unreasonable” business practices. The FCC can investigate complaints about industry practices that might violate Net neutrality principles, even if they’re not specifically prohibited by the rules. Complaints can be filed here: https://consumercomplaints. fcc.gov/ .

WHICH COMPANIES ARE AFFECTED?

Internet companies like Netflix and companies that manage Internet traffic, like Cogent, can also complain to the FCC about “unreasonable” behavior by broadband providers over networkconnection deals in the backbone of the Internet.

Companies could complain that broadband providers are charging them too much to connect to their networks, for example.

Fights over these arrangements had in the past led to a slowdown in Netflix streaming speeds for customers of several major Internet service providers.

WHY IS THE INDUSTRY OPPOSED?

Companies say they don’t want the stricter regulation that comes with the Net neutrality rules. They say the regulations will undermine investment in broadband, and that it’s not clear what is and isn’t allowed under the greater authority the FCC has to investigate unspecified complaints.

They are also concerned about price regulation. The FCC says it won’t preapprove the prices companies set for Internet access. But consumers can complain about the cost of their service, and the government can look into it under the new rules. AP

Cable companies like Comcast; phone companies that provide Internet service to people’s homes and smartphones, like AT&T and Verizon; and cell-phone companies like Sprint.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A broader look at today’s business

n Sunday, June 14, 2015 Vol. 10 No. 248

P25.00 nationwide | 7 sections 32 pages | 7 days a week

PPP executive sees sluggish infrastructure development week ahead

ECONOMIC DATA PREVIEW

Peso

n Previous week: The local currency hit a downhill in the previous week, largely trading within the 45 territory during the period. The peso entered the 45 territory at the beginning of the week’s trade, at 45.025 to a dollar.

The peso then slightly reverted back to 44.99 to a dollar on Tuesday and 44.91 to a dollar on Wednesday. The peso then hit its lowest value for the year at 45.15 to a dollar on Thursday, at the end of the week’s trade. The total traded volume is at $2.595 billion, and the average for the week is at P45.018 to a dollar.

n Week ahead: With the continued strength of the US dollar brought about by positive data from the US and expectations that the world’s largest economy will improve, the peso is seen to likely remain within the 45 territory for the next week and may weaken further due to the shift of sentiment toward the dollar.

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HE dearth in infrastructure development will remain in the next few years, a senior state official lamented, but, by the way the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program is moving, it seems that hope is just a few more blocks away.

Metro Manila and other urban centers have been experiencing traffic congestion of all sorts: from land and air, to sea and rail transports.

While this is a clear sign of economic expansion, it also is a deterrent to growth itself. The solution, PPP Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao said, lies in

See “Outlook,” A2

two things: government financing and private-sector participation.

“The dearth in infrastructure will remain in the next few years. It can be eliminated by government financing or asking the private sector to participate,” she said.

Indeed, the government is moving to increase its spending in Continued on A2

American consumers getting mojo back as wages start rising Living on minimum wage

Hours needed to work in order to afford rent at minimum wage, without paying more than 30% of income. In no state can a minimum wage worker afford a one-bedroom rental unit at fair market rent, working a 40-hour work week.

Hours needed at minimum wage to afford a one-bedroom unit 60 hours per week or less

WA 73* OR 58*

CA 92*

MT 54* ID 59

NV 71*

Between 61-79 hours per week

WY 64 UT 69

AZ 67*

CO 75* NM 64*

By Roderick L. Abad

T

HE actual re s i d e nt i a l m a rket ’s output cannot keep pace with the real housing backlog in the Philippines, according to an asset-management and real-estate brokerage company.

Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services Inc. revealed in its Market Insight June 2015 report that the average annual production of residential lots or units, including those of condominium projects, reached more than 200,000.

This is based on the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board’s

PESO exchange rates n US 44.9660

figures of approved licenses to sell in the past five years, which also indicates that condominium and economic housing are the top 2 categories that supply the demand.

The latter was approved to sell 63,997; 45,117; 54,535; 59,464; and 63,398 units from 2010 to 2014, respectively.

On the other hand, the former was licensed to sell 39,476; 51,388; 129,204; 78,458; and 76,413 units during the same years.

Meanwhile, the breakdown for approved number of “for sale” socialized housing during the period covered is as follows: 52,602; 35,682; 45,285; 49,410; and 41,663.

MN 68*

SD 49* NE 54* KS 62 OK 59 TX 73

AK 79*

B

80 hours per week or more

NH 89 ME VT 70* 71*

ND 62

Demand outpaces housing supply–Pinnacle

Remittances (April 2015)

Monday, June 15

n March remittances: Money sent

by Filipino migrant workers surged to its strongest growth in over five years in March this year, after showing worrisome growth rates in the first two months of the year. The Bangko Sentral reported last month that the cash remittances sent by overseas Filipinos in March 2015 hit $2.1 billion, thereby posting a growth of 11.3 percent during the month.

n April remittances: As remittance growth became volatile in the first three months of the year, more and more people are speculating that the remittances in the country are slowing down. However, in a response to a query from the BusinessMirror, Moody’s Analytics economist for the Philippines Katrina Ell said the possible declining trend of

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

WI 67

IA 58 MO 59* AR 54* LA 69

MI 58*

IL IN 75* 62

OH 54* KY 57

TN 65

MS AL 61 61

HI 125*

IGGER paychecks are giving American consumers reason to believe again.

The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for June rose to 94.6, topping all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists, from a reading of 90.7 last month, figures showed on Friday. Households were the most upbeat about their wage prospects in seven years.

NY 98* PA 78 WV VA 53* 97

MA 87* RI 67* CT 84* NJ 100* DE 89* MD 101* DC 100*

NC 66 SC GA 66 72

*This state’s minimum wage exceeds the federal minimum wage of $7.25

FL 77 Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition Graphic: Tribune News Service

As the ranks of the unemployed shrink, the competition for skilled workers is heating up and forcing employers to boost wages to attract and retain staff.

Firming confidence makes it likely that the recent pickup in consumer spending, which accounts for almost 70 percent of the economy, will be sustained.

“The labor market continues to improve, and that’s probably the biggest determinant

of sentiment,” said Aneta Markowska, chief US economist at Société Générale in New York, whose forecast for a rise to 93.8 was among the closest in the Bloomberg survey.

People “see their employers trying to fill positions and having a difficult time—that probably gives them a sense of having a little more pricing power.”

See “Wages,” A2

See “Housing,” A2

n japan 0.3667 n UK 69.8457 n HK 5.7997 n CHINA 7.2455 n singapore 33.3972 n australia 34.8763 n EU 50.9420 n SAUDI arabia 11.9916 Source: BSP (11 June 2015)

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, June 14, 2015

Housing...

continued from A1

For the open market segment, the numbers of residential units for take-up were 39,732; 38,192; 35,213; 37,719; and 35,029.

When combined, they aggregated to 195,807 in 2010; 170,379 (2011); 264,237 (2012); 225,051 (2013); and 216,503 (2014).

“While these figures appear to be high, they pale in comparison to the projected housing needs,” the report said.

According to the Statistical Research and Training Center—an attached agency of National Economic and Development Authority—the requirement for dwelling units stand at over 800,000 per year.

Such is estimated from 2013 to 2017 using the Census of Population and Housing 2010 data.

Of the total five-year projected housing need, close to 400,000 households can afford to purchase acceptable units annually.

Despite the gap between the supply and demand, however, housing activities remain to be robust in recent years according to the study, especially when it comes to condo leasing.

Pinnacle said that rents have been generally stable, where high-end and upper-mid market condominium units have dominated the other segments.

Depending on their sizes, leasing

Outlook...

continued from A1

overseas Filipino workers’ remittance may be a positive indicator for the development of the Philippines. “Remittances have long been the backbone of the Philippine economy, but growth is cooling as opportunities, including employment at home, improve, encouraging more Filipinos to stay at home,” Ell said.

BOP (May 2015)

rates for the latter range from P50,000 to P100,000 per month, and more than P100,000 a month for the former.

Luxury condominium units can go up north monthly at P300,000, and even breaching the P400,000 level.

Rental fees of studio and one-bedroom units go between P15,000 and P30,000, and may reach up to P50,000per-month range, based on location, furnishing and amenities.

Quoted on per-square-meter (sq m) rate, condo leasing in various central business districts in Metro Manila are presently firm by and large.

In Makati City, monthly rents are from P575 per sq m to P1,100 per sq m.

Rockwell condos offer a higher base of P700 per sq m a month, but have the same upper range of P1,100 per sq m per month.

Units in Bonifacio Global City have a lower level of P600 per sq m a month, and an upper range of P1,000 per s qm monthly.

Formerly Capital Servicing Advisors Phils. Inc., Pinnacle offers a full range of services to local and foreign investors, buyers and realestate lenders.

Its primary business lines are real-estate asset management and brokerage, real-estate closing and advisory services, and nonperforming loan asset management.

n April 2015 BOP: Actual BOP surplus of the country has already exceeded government assumption as early as April this year, hitting a $1.257-billion surplus in the first four months of the year. In particular, the BOP hit a surplus of $380 million in April alone this year, reversing the $19-mil-

lion deficit seen in April last year and the $244-million deficit seen in March this year.

The four-month total BOP surplus of the country is also an improvement from the $4.49-billion deficit seen in the same fourmonth period in 2014.

n May 2015 BOP: BOP in the country is expected to improve more than earlier expected for the year as indicated by the adjustment in the central bank’s BOP forecast upward for this year. However, the foreign portfolio investments (FPI) in the country registered net outflows in May this year. The country’s FPI is one of the components of the overall BOP position of the country. Bianca Cuaresma

news@businessmirror.com.ph

PPP executive sees sluggish infrastructure development continued from a1 infrastructure for this year and beyond, and it is attracting business groups to invest in the state’s key infrastructure thrust

“In terms of an enhanced, improved, or attractive environment for private-sector participation, we’ve done our homework,” Canilao said.

The government is expected to net some P64 billion from the PPP Program, owing to the premium bids offered by the private sector to win projects.

The sum is almost double the total revenue last year, after Metro Pacific Investments Corp. submitted a P27.3-billion offer to bag the Cavite-Laguna Expressway.

It is currently the highest single premium that the government has recevied from an auction.

Half of the 10 awarded projects were won by the private sector

Wages...

Survey results

THE median forecast in the Bloomberg survey of 68 economists projected the sentiment index would climb to 91.2. Estimates ranged from 87.7 to 94. The gauge averaged 84.1 last year.

The Michigan sentiment survey’s index of expectations six months from now increased to 86.8 from 84.2 last month. The gauge of current conditions, which measures Americans’ views of their personal finances, rose to 106.8 in June from 100.8 a month earlier.

“The June data are consistent

was the lowest since May 2008.

The Michigan survey for June showed consumers projected wages would rise 2.2 percent a year, up from an estimated 1.3 percent last month and the highest since 2008.

Households held the most favorable views about the outlook for their finances since 2007.

Average pay for all civilian workers climbed 4.2 percent in the first quarter from the same period in 2014 to $22.88 an hour, Labor Department figures showed this week. That compares with a 4-percent year-over-year gain in the fourth quarter and is the strongest since July to September 2006.

Average hourly earnings reported with the Labor Department’s monthly jobs figures accelerated in May to a 2.3-percent year-over-year pace, the fastest since August 2013.

Another report on Friday showed wholesale prices rose in May as the biggest jump in fuel costs in at least five

years swamped muted advances in other categories.

The 0.5-percent increase in the producer-price index followed a 0.4-percent decline the prior month, according to data from the Labor Department. Costs dropped 1.1 percent over the past 12 months.

Consumer sentiment measures have been mixed this month. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index decreased to 40.1 in the period ended June 7, marking a record nine weeks of declines and the lowest since November, according to data issued on Thursday. Fewer Americans said now was a good time to make purchases, even as views of their personal finances improved.

At the same time, consumer spending is showing signs of life.

Retail sales increased 1.2 percent last month following a 0.2-percent advance in April, Commerce Department figures showed Thursday. The May gain was broad-based with 11 of 13 major categories increasing. Bloomberg

COST

PREMIUM

Daang-Hari South Luzon Expressway Link Road

P2.2 billion

n/a

First Phase of PPP School Infraastructure Program

P16.42 billion

n/a

Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway

P15.68 billion

P11 billion

Second Phase of PPP School Infraastructure Program

P3.68 billion

n/a

Modernization of Philippine Orthopedic Center

P5.69 billion

n/a

Automatic Fare Collection System

P1.72 billion

P1.8 billion

Mactan-Cebu International Airport New Passenger Terminal

P17.5 billion

P14.4 billion

Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension

P64.9 billion

P9.35 billion

Integrated Transport System Southwest Terminal

P2.5 billion

n/a

Cavite-Laguna Expressway

P35.42 billion

P27.3 billion

TOTAL

P165.71 billion

P63.85 billion

by offering premium rates.

“We hope that PPP program will be sustainable beyond this administration,” Canilao said. “We are currently in the process of institutionalizing the reforms in each implementing agency.”

continued from A1

Stocks fell, with equities almost erasing the week’s advance, amid growing concern Greece won’t reach a deal with its creditors in time to avoid default. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.7 percent to 2,094.11 at the close in New York.

In addition, the government is currently pushing for the passage of the PPP Act, the amendment of the build-operate-transfer law, which is the cornerstone of the infrastructure program.

When enacted, the PPP Act

will institutionalize the Project Development and Monitoring Facility, the PPP Governing Board and the contingent liability fund.

The proposed amendments include the separation of regulatory and commercial functions of government-owned and -controlled corporations and create a list of projects called “Projects of National Significance.”

By virtue of being included on the list of projects of national significance, projects will be “insulated” from local laws, among others, by local governments.

The proposed amendments also include allowing time-bound temporary restraining order and the extension of the period for Swiss Challenge to six months from the current two-month period.

The amendments are expected to be approved within the term of President Aquino.

PROJECTS

with a 3-percent annual growth rate in real personal consumption expenditures during 2015,” Richard Curtin, director of the Michigan Survey of Consumers, said in a statement. “The majority of consumers anticipated good times in the economy as a whole during the year ahead.”

A 3-percent gain would make 2015 the strongest year for consumer spending since 2006. It grew 2.5 percent last year.

Payroll gains

SUSTAINED labor-market progress should help bolster expectations for a pickup in economic activity. Employers added 280,000 jobs in May, the most in five months, after a 221,000 April advance.

An increase in the number of people entering the labor force caused the jobless rate to creep up to 5.5 percent from 5.4 percent, which

EconomySunday

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

Lawmaker pushes for single body to oversee operations of LRT, MRT lines

By Jovee Marie N. de la Cruz

A

leader of the House of Representatives has filed a resolution urging President Aquino to create an agency to regulate the operations of both the Light Railway Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2 lines and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 system.

In House Resolution 1818, Liberal Party Rep. Alfredo Benitez of Negros Occidental, head of the so-called Visayan bloc and member of the House Committee on Transportation, said that amid the direction of the government to fully privatize the operations of the light-rail systems, the creation of a regulatory agency, with quasijudicial functions over the MRT 3 and LRT 1 and 2, is a crucial step toward promotion of transparency and protect the public from any abuse from the private investors taking over the operations.

Benitez, who is also the chairman of House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, said that the MRT 3 and LRT 1 and 2 lines are public transportation and under the coverage of the Public Service Act, which provides that the approval of fares that are “just and reasonable, and not any that are unjustly discriminatory or unduly preferential, only upon reasonable, notice to the public services and other parties concerned, giving them a reasonable opportunity to be heard and the burden of the proof to show that the proposed rates or regulations are just reasonable shall be upon the public service proposing the same.”

While LRT 1 and 2 are under the Light Rail Transit Authority, the MRT 3’s operations in only lodged to a special project management office under the Department of Transporation and Communications (DOTC), Benitez said.

He added that there should be a separate government office that will ensure that operations and fares are regulated, and will guarantee adequate number of public consultations on the fare concerns for the light-rail systems, instead of being decided unilaterally by a board of a government agency without sufficient input from the public.

The fare adjustments that took effect on January 4 marks the first such hike in ticket prices for Metro Manila’s train riders in a decade.

The base fare for the LRT Lines 1 and 2, and the MRT 3, is now P11 and an additional P1 will be charged for every kilometer from the station of origin.

This means that a single-journey ticket from Baclaran station to Roosevelt station will cost P30 from the present fare of P20.

Passengers who use storedvalue tickets for end-to-end trips on the LRT 1 and 2 will get a P1 discount. For MRT 3 single-journey and stored-value tickets from Taft station to North Avenue station or vice versa, the journey will cost P28. The DOTC said the fare adjustments would enable the government to save P2 billion in annual subsidies, or 17 percent of the P12 billion that it allots each year to subsidize, the LRT/MRT train systems. Moreover, Benitez said, “The increase in the fares of LRT lines and MRT has generated a public uproar with many demanding for a clear justification for the said increase and questioning the process of fare adjustments.”

“Sectoral groups opposing the MRT, LRT fare increases are accusing the DOTC of deciding unilaterally and did not subject the then-proposed fare increases to public consultations, as is being done with the fare adjustments in other kinds of public transportation,” he added.

BusinessMirror

Sunday, June 14, 2015 A3

IFC expects Philippines to create data repository to boost lending

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AGAC, Bataan—The International Finance Corp. (IFC) expects the Philippines to start an accreditation process soon to allow more institutions to gain access to information from the Credit Information Corp.

(CIC), which would spur lending activities in the country.

At a news conference here on Thursday, IFC risk management advisor, Collin Raymond, said they had been working with the CIC in the past several years and a process was under way to collect current accounts from a number of banks.

The CIC, Raymond said, would get the data from those entities this month and the ideal was to increase the contribution by the submitters

before the end of the year. “Parallel to that, there is an initiative to enable the accreditation of special accessing entities, especially private bureaus, to be able to access information from the CIC and to add value on top of that information, such as credit assessment, credit scores, fraud, products, etc.,” he said.

The objective is to have the accreditation process in place by the

end of the year to have a number of institutions contributing information to the CIC, he noted.

He, however, observed that this is not an easy process, as globally, it could take two to three years before any significant amount of submitted data could be gathered.

There are issues about data quality, not only on the borrower’s side, he said, citing that the lack of a national ID in the Philippines makes the process of capturing data quite a challenge.

There is also a disparity in the capability of financial institutions, with big banks having the capability, but smaller entities lacking it, making data pooling quite difficult, he said.

Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam have already had the system in place for a long time, he said, noting, however, that although the Philippines lags behind, it could have a good start. “The Philippines is starting from an environment

where you have bureaus that are not regulated but are already operating, so this is a bit of an advantage. You’re not starting from scratch completely, compared to other markets,” Raymond said.

He explained that the credit information bureau is a central repository being shared by creditors in a country.

The idea is to have comprehensive information on any borrower across all lenders, he said, noting that the repository helps lenders assess the borrowers’ capacity and exposure for them to be given additional loans.

Borrowers could present a “reputational capability,” Raymond pointed out. “You may not have physical collateral to offer to the lender, but by your good repayment behavior in the past, you can show your reputation that you pay your bills on time,” he said. In this case, lenders could offer credit, based on reputation, rather than having physical collateral, he said. PNA

4th House bill seeks to end contractual labor anew

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nother bill seeking to ban labor contracting in the Philippines has been filed at the House of Representatives. House Bill 5806, authored

by Chairman of the House Committee on Labor and Employment, and Liberal Party (LP) Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles of Davao City, declared that all employees are deemed regular after a period of six months from the first day of their employment.

The measure also said that the probationary employee shall automatically become a regular employee after meeting the standards stipulated in the written contract of probationary employment.

The bill seeks to amend Articles 279, 280 and 281 of Presidential Decree 442, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines.

End- of - cont r ac t work ers, or “endos,”refers to short-term and unprotected temporary work arrangements, and are bound by a five-month timeframe so that companies will not make them regular employees after six months under the Labor Code.

But under the bill, those under industry-specific work arrangement, as may be determined by the Department of Labor and Employment through tripartite approval, are not considered regular employees, unless there is a written contract of employment of not less than six months, but not more than one year specifying the rights, terms and conditions of employment not lower than the minimum standards set by laws or regulations.

The bill said that the illegally dismissed employee, without cause

and due process, shall be entitled to reinstatement without loss of seniority rights and benefits, full back wages, allowances, commission, including Social Security System, Pag-IBIG and all other benefits and remunerations provided by law.

In filing the bill, Nograles said a probationary employment should not exceed six months from the first day of service regardless of the nature of work to be performed.

Nograles also raised the issue on security of tenure of workers, who are under probationary, project, fixed term; casual, seasonal, temporary, extra and 5-5-5 work arrangements.

“All employees, irrespective of employment status and position shall not be dismissed without cause and due process,” he said. On his part, LP Rep. Deogracias B. Ramos Jr. of Sorsogon, coauthor of the bill, said

the rights, terms and conditions of employment of probationary employee shall not be lower than the minimum standards set by laws or regulations. “The job description and qualification standards of a worker to qualify for regular employment shall be in a written contract and made known by the employer to the employee at the time of his or her engagement,” Ramos said.

The majority of the 37.6 million labor force in the country are either employed as contractual, temporary, probationary and as odd jobs, while seven out of 10 firms in the country are implementing the contractualization scheme. Currently, there are three pending bills in the lower chamber prohibiting a labor-contracting scheme being employed by local and foreign-owned companies in the country. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

briefs

Independence Day job fair attracts 15,000 applicants

Over 15,000 job seekers applied for vacant positions offered by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) during the Independence Day job fair in Manila’s Rizal Park on Friday.

Preliminary data showed that of the total 15,273 Filipino job applicants, 12,488 are seeking jobs in the country, while 2,785 are looking to be employed abroad.

Applicants who were hired-onthe spot totaled 2,890; 2,692 for local jobs; while 198 are going to work abroad. According to DOLENational Capital Region Assistant Regional Director Nelson Hornilla, there was a small number of employers who participated in the job fair this year because of space limitation. “Mas maliit in terms of participating employers, una kasi maliit ’yung area na ibinigay. So ngayon 92 lang compared to last year with 150,” he said. The DOLE official noted more than 33,000 local, overseas and government job vacancies were available for job seekers in the job fair. More than 60 local employers, 25 licensed overseas employment agencies and six government agencies participated in the event.Close to 7,000 applicants were near-hires, with 5,729, and 1,351 for local and overseas jobs, respectively. PNA

Renovation of PAL Mabuhay Lounge starts next week

Beginning next week, the Philippine Airlines (PAL) Mabuhay Lounge (domestic) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 (Naia 2) will undergo renovations. PAL announced in a news statement that the renovation will kick off in June and will go on until August this year. “We are very excited to see you in our newly renovated Mabuhay Lounge [domestic] when it opens in August 2015,” PAL said. The airline company noted that passengers may use the vouchers at the following outlets: CaféFrance, Yan Kun Kaya Toast or Vin-Vin Kiosk between Gate 5 and 6. While the lounge is being renovated, Mabuhay Miles Elite, Premier Elite, Million Milers, Business Class and Premium Economy PAL domestic passengers will be extended a preflight refreshment vouchers upon check-in. PNA

Bicol solon seeks SLex extension up to Sorsogon

Say it with diamondS Assorted gold and silver jewelry imported

from China and Hong kong are on display and sale at a 50-percent discount at a jewelry store at Ongpin, Chinatown district in downtown Manila. ROY DOMINGO

Detailed study on Angat Dam rehab done by Q2 2016

A

By Lenie Lectura

more detailed study on the rehabilitation of the Angat Dam in Bulacan, by international experts commissioned by the joint venture between San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-Water), is expected to be finished in the second quarter of 2016.

Only after the study has been completed can Angat Hydropower Corp.

(AHC) go full blast in the construction. Meantime, AHC can already undertake predevelopment works.

AHC has received offers from two local firms and one foreign contractor to undertake the rehabilitation.

AHC President Geungjeon Han said the contract for the project will be awarded by end June or early July this year. This is going to be the first time for the Angat Dam to be rehabilitated since it was commissioned in 1968.

Based on results of an initial study conducted by Pöyry Energy Ltd., the dam may not withstand a 7.2-magnitude earthquake.

“We can’t completely exclude that the dam will remain sound and safe

with such magnitude earthquake.

We have to take more investigation to ensure that the dam will be able to resist earthquake of that magnitude,” said Pöyry Senior Engineer Stefan Ehlers during his presentation on the Angat Dam rehab study last week.

Pöyry was commissioned by AHC to conduct a study and retrofitting on Angat Dam. Ehlers said a detailed study will be completed by next year.

AHC is the locally set up corporate vehicle between K-Water and SMC. K-Water won the bid to privatize the 218-megawatt (MW) Angat Hydro Electric Power plant (HEPP)

project in Bulacan. It took in SMC as its local partner and formed AHC. The rehab of the dam is part of the contract awarded to K-Water. “Rehabilitation of Angat Dam is a go, that’s in the agreement,” SMC President Ramon S. Ang said earlier.

Ang said the rehabilitation works would address the problems on safety and structural integrity of Angat Dam. “No one can stop a massive earthquake, we will try to minimize the risk,” he added. Angat HEPP in Barangay San Lorenzo, Norzagaray, Bulacan, consists of four main units, each with a 50-MW capacity.

LEGAZPI CITY—A Bicol congressman has filed a legislative measure that seeks to extend the South Luzon Expressway (Slex) up to Matnog, Sorsogon, the farthest point of Bicol serving as the jumping board to the Visayas and Mindanao islands.

Rep. Cesar Sarmiento of the Lone Congressional District of Catanduanes recently filed House Bill 4746 seeking for the further lengthening of Slex even as its government-approved extension project from Santo Tomas (Batangas) to Lucena City (Quezon Province) is yet to be started. Called the SlexToll Road 4 (TR4) Project, the planned Santo Tomas-Lucena expressway extension— involving the construction of a 58-kilometer, four-lane toll road worth P13.10 billion—is mandated under Presidential Decrees 1112 and 1894.

Groundbreaking ceremonies of the project were done on March 23, while actual construction works to be performed by private contractors through public-private partnership scheme are scheduled to start on January 1 next year. Its completion is set in September 2019, according to the South Luzon Tollways Corp., which runs Slex. PNA

SundayV

Busine

A4 Sunday, June 14, 2015

editorial

A battle lost, a war to win

A

S courageous as it was, it was a lonely effort from the very beginning.

It had to contend with gross ignorance and political opportunism.

At the end, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.’s initiative to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution could not be put to a vote because it did not have the numbers to ensure approval.

As matters stand, we just have to accept our fate—of being the least desirable destination of foreign direct investment (FDI). Consider the following data from the Asean database.

FDI (million dollars):

2011 2012 2013 Total % Share Indonesia 19,241.6 19,137.9 18,443.8 56,823.3 0.17 Malaysia 12,000.9 9,400.0 12,297.4 33,698.3 0.10 Philippines 1,815.9 2,797.0 3,859.8 8,472.7 0.03 Singapore 48,474.5 59,811.5 60,644.9 168,930.9 0.51 Thailand 3,881.1 10,699.2 12,999.8 27,580.1 0.08 Vietnam 7,519.0 8,368.0 8,900.0 24,787.0 0.07 BCLM* 4,158.6 4,070.5 5,430.9 13,660.0 0.04 Total

97,538.1

114,284.0

122,376.5

334,198.6

100.00

*Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar

No doubt about it, the Philippines is the worst performing kid in the block, attracting the least FDI—$8.5 billion—a miserable 3 percent of the total that entered into the Asean region from 2011 to 2013. It is superior only to each of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Brunei who does not need FDI. Rubbing salt to injury, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has just informed us that FDI in the Philippines in the first quarter of 2015 was down by 50 percent as compared to the FDI of the first quarter of a year ago.

Many things account for the attractiveness of a country to FDI, among them infrastructure, policy framework, perks and incentives. But the most extensive infrastructure, the friendliest policy environment and the most favorable incentives amount to nothing if FDI is not allowed to enter the country except under highly discriminatory conditions, to begin with, as is the case of FDI in our Constitution.

President Aquino has been opposed to any amendment of the Constitution, dismissing the restrictive economic provisions as having no significance since FDI has been coming into the country notwithstanding them. This is just plain inexcusable ignorance. What about the FDI that could not come into the country precisely because it is prevented from coming?

If there is appalling lack of knowledge in Malacañang, political opportunism reigns supreme in the of House of Representatives. There, a great many representatives of the people have never heard of such things as principles or convictions. Their vote always goes to the highest bidder. In the case of the aborted voting on the proposed amendments, these people simply absented themselves from the session, to appear harmless while stabbing the Speaker in the back.

Our deepest admiration goes to Belmonte for standing up to overwhelming odds. We hope he persists in an endeavor that is clearly in the people’s interest.

Cli-fi film from PHL packs a punch

By Dan Bloom InterPress Service

T

AIPEI—I live on a crowded, subtropical island-​n ation​ in the Western Pacific, on the opposite side of the “Pacific Pond” from North America. And just south of Taiwan is the m ​ anysplendored island-nation of the​ Philippines. We are neighbors.

You can fly there in one hour; it’s that close.

So when Supertyphoon Y ​ oland a (inter nationa l code name Haiyan) hit Tacloban City in the Philippines in November 2013, we, ​i n south Taiwan, ​c ould feel the rain and wind here, although the storm made its direct hit on Tacloban and ​s adly ​k illed 7,000 people there.

“Movies like Taklub present scenarios that make large events comprehensible and future possibilities concrete.”—Prof. Edward Rubin The Philippines has been a Catholic country for over 400 years now. People ​t here ​k now the Bible, people know Jesus, and people are devout and deeply religious.

So when the well-known Filipino film director Brillante ​M a.​ Mendoza decided to make a feature film about the aftermath of​ what the international community called ​Typhoon Haiyan— known as Yolanda in the Philippines—he used a quote from the ​B ible to bookend the story: “A time to tear ​o ne’s garments and mourn, and a time to ​m end and ​​build up.”

Mendoza’s ​p owerful and emotional ​c li-fi movie Trap (called Taklub in Filipino, the national language of the Philippines) was set up originally as an ”advocacy movie” financed by the government of the Philippines ​a nd produced by a senator from the national parliament ​t o help raise

Gospel

Sunday, June 14, 2015

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awareness of typhoon readiness and the resilience of the Filipino people.

The carefully crafted 90-minute feature has already been shown at the Cannes Film Festival and has a good chance of bagging an Oscar next year in Hollywood in the best foreign-film category.

It has also been recently hailed by t he C l i-Fi Mov ie Aw a rd s (dubbed the “Cliffies​” )—a film awards program that recognizes the best climate-themed movies worldwide—as the winner of the international 2015 cli-fi awards for: best picture, best director, best actress, best actor, best child actor, best screenplay, best cinematography, best producer, best government sponsor and best trailer.

It’s that good, it’s that poignant, it’s that brilliant. Mendoza is a film director who is wellknown in Asia, but while Trap is a powerful climate-themed movie with a great cast and helmed by a savvy director, whether the movie will catch on among arthouse fans in Europe and America ​i s hard to say.​ But for the Cli-Fi Movie Awards, whose mission is to wake up the world via movie awards about climate-change issues, of all the cli-fi films nominated for 2015, Taklub took top honors in all categories this year! It is that important a movie.

Trap is a quiet, slow-moving, thoughtful piece of international cinema. It stars the famous Filipina actress Nora Aunor, and for her performance alone, the film is worth the price of admission.

The quote from Ecclesiastes​ fits this movie to a T. For me, that’s what Trap is about: A powerful piece of cli-fi storytelling that is about an almost unspeakable tragedy, following the lives of a group of typhoon survivors trying to pick

nd He said, “The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how.

The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

And He said, “With what can we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for

up the pieces of their lives, but, at the same time, Mendoza says after the tear​i ng of garments​ and mourning, it’s time to mend the country and get things right again. And prepare for the next big storm as well.

I asked a professor from Vanderbilt Law School in Nashville, Tennessee, Rubin, who is very concerned with climate-change issues and the power of novels and movies to impact changes in public awareness, what he thought of Mendoza’s movie and its power to effect change.

“Written and audio-visual fiction [cli-fi novels and cli-fi movies like Taklub] can—and must—play a crucial role in educating people worldwide about climate change,” Rubin told me. “To begin with, people will watch the movie and be moved by it; they are not going to look at government charts and scientific research papers.”

“Even more important, movies like Taklub present scenarios that make large events comprehensible and future possibilities concrete,” he added, noting: “What is truly false, and belongs in the category of puerile fantasy, is to deny that climate change is occurring.

The fact is that many of the grim possibilities portrayed in a cli-fi movie like Taklub will become realities unless we take global concerted action.”​ Trap is not a documentary. It’s pure storytelling, pure cinema, pure magic. Can it help to raise awareness about global warming and climate change in the Philippines and worldwide?

Mendoza set out to make a touching local movie for audiences in the Philippines first, but he has succeeded in creating a piece of art that transcends borders now and has a global tale to tell.

It’s well worth seeing if it comes your way.

it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

With many such parables, He spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to His own disciples, He explained everything. Mark 4:26-34

Voices

essMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph • Sunday, June 14, 2015 A5

Why Europe outsources terror trials T

Bloomberg View Noah Fieldman

he United Kingdom government made headlines last week by withdrawing a terrorism prosecution against a Filipino-Swede who had fought for an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

It’s unclear what’ll happen to him now. It’s politically unlikely but, in principle, he could actually be sent to the US for trial. He wouldn’t be the first European jihadi to land in the Southern District of New York; two Somali-Swedes and a Somali who had been a British subject recently pleaded guilty to terrorism charges. That they’d never been to the US until the FBI brought them here couldn’t stop the prosecution.

It turns out US law is distinctly well-suited to prosecuting jihadis— and that’s making us into a clearinghouse for minor fighters whose European countries of citizenship can’t or won’t put them behind bars.

This is a prime example of the extraterritorial reach that was demonstrated in the indictment of the soccer federation Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) as a global criminal enterprise. It’s also a marker of the extremity of the US material support for terrorism statute, which uses the law of conspiracy to criminalize even a small step in the direction of participating in jihad, and allows for conviction of anyone who materially supports any

organization designated as terrorist by the secretary of state.

Consider Bherlin Gildo, whose case was just dismissed in London.

Born in the Philippines in 1978, Gildo immigrated to Sweden in 1992 and eventually became a citizen. He reportedly belonged to a gang in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second-largest city. It’s not clear exactly when or how Gildo was radicalized. But by 2012 he was in Syria with Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate fighting President Bashar al-Assad that splintered and sent some of its followers into Islamic State. Gildo posted pictures of himself on Facebook with what he said was a dead government fighter (the man was wearing civilian clothes) and in front of a black jihadi flag. He also took the nom de guerre Abu Dhirar al-Filibbini (the Filipino).

Somehow this activity captured the attention of international authorities, and Gildo was detained at London’s Heathrow Airport while in transit from Copenhagen to Manila.

The British, who had arrested him, didn’t send him back to Sweden. Instead they put him on trial. The authorities charged Gildo with attending terrorist training in 2012 and 2013, and with receiving firearms training for the purposes of terrorism, both crimes under British law.

In court, things fell apart after

news reports that MI-6 had sent weapons to Syrian rebel groups.

Gildo’s lawyers argued that it would be “unconscionable” to convict him for working with an organization that was fighting against Assad, and was receiving British government support to do so. As evidence, they provided news reports of MI-6 facilitating the transfer of arms from Libya to antiregime forces in Syria.

For good measure, Gildo’s lawyers emphasized that Gildo’s alleged crimes were not crimes under Swedish law—and that Gildo had no connection to the UK, had never tried to enter the country and was merely passing through Heathrow. The efforts worked, and the prosecution withdrew the charges against Gildo.

How different things are under US law. When Ali Yasin Ahmed, Mohamed Yusuf and Madhi Hashi were arrested by authorities in Djibouti for affiliation with the Somali group al-Shabab, they were questioned and held for months before eventually being shipped to the US for trial.

Ahmed and Yusuf are Swedish citizens of Somali origin; Hashi, also a Somali, was stripped of his UK citizenship before being sent to the US Sweden didn’t want them sent home. The FBI questioned the men in Djibouti without reading them their rights. Hashi later testified in US court that Djiboutian authorities

tortured one of the others.

Under US law, none of that matters—nor does the undisputed fact that the men had no connection whatsoever to the US. They were charged under the material support for terror statute, 18 US Code § 2339B. One of the farthest-reaching laws in American history, the statute outlaws not only any support for a designated terrorist organization, but also conspiracy to provide such support. It doesn’t even matter if the US government supported the organization in question.

Under this law, if two people agree to join some designated organization and take affirmative steps to fulfill their plan, they can be convicted, even if they never manage to participate in the jihad. Proof under the statute is remarkably easy to achieve.

Unsurprisingly, the men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support. They will serve their sentences, and then be deported. In effect, Sweden outsourced the trial and detention to the US. So is this a good system? US law makes it far easier to convict jihadis than the law of any other country, for two reasons. First, the US is happy to extend its material support statute beyond its borders, to reach anyone who ends up under US custody, regardless of how they got there or of what happened to them

along the way. Second, US criminal law has long embraced the crime of conspiracy, which holds participants responsible for the acts of an entire criminal group, even when the group is loosely organized.

The great majority of other countries refuse to exercise this kind of extraterritorial jurisdiction, and the great majority of other countries don’t use the law of conspiracy to make conviction so easy. If those countries want to outsource terrorism prosecutions to the US, it’s their business, and it’s up to their own citizens to object if they don’t like to see their legal systems circumvented.

From t he US perspect ive, however, the benefits of becoming a clearinghouse for detained jihadis are pretty hard to discern. The prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, didn’t work out very well in practice, and made many new enemies. The use of US courts and prisons is slightly better from a human rights perspective. But it encourages other countries to step aside and let the US be responsible for fighting terrorism.

The global struggle against jihadism won’t be won by criminal prosecution of minor figures. Once in a while, it might be necessary to be the world’s sheriff. But there’s little upside in being the world’s traffic cop—even when the violators are jihadi wannabes.

Canada, tomorrow’s super power

By Noah Smith Bloomberg

I

JUST finished reading Adam Tooze’s The Deluge, a history of how US economic power changed the course of history during the world wars. It’s almost impossible for people today to realize what a big shift this was—too much of the world’s population, the US has always been the Big Country, the driver of markets, innovation and geopolitical stability.

Right now, US hegemony is waning. With only a quarter the population of China, there is essentially no chance that the US can continue to reign supreme in the economic sphere unless China suffers a stunning collapse. But in the longer run, what shifts can we expect in the balance of economic power? Expect the US to make a comeback, since its openness to immigration allows the country’s population to keep growing even after fertility levels out. India’s huge population, of course, will make it a great economic power, as well.

But during the next couple of centuries, there is another country that I

think has a surprisingly good chance of becoming an economic and cultural superpower. That country is Canada.

With a population of only 35.2 million (in 2013), a famously frigid climate and a below-replacement fertility rate, Canada would seem an unlikely candidate to become a superpower. But Canada has three huge, fundamental strengths that will almost certainly be telling in the long run. These are natural resources, good government and an almost unbelievably tolerant and open culture.

In terms of natural resources, Canada is almost unmatched. In terms of renewable freshwater—the best candidate for the essential scarce resource of the next two centuries— Canada is exceeded only by the US and Brazil. Its percentage of arable land, at 4.6 percent, is relatively small, but this probably will increase as climate change proceeds and the glaciers retreat. Basically, there is room for a lot more people in Canada.

Good government is another hallmark of Canadian strength. Canada regularly ranks in the top 10 least-corrupt countries in the world, accord-

ing to Transparency International.

The US, in comparison, only makes it to the lower reaches of the top 20.

That’s especially impressive given Canada’s rich endowment of fossil fuels, which usually causes countries to become more corrupt—a phenomenon known as the Resource Curse.

Canada’s institutions, derived from the very best of the UK, are rock solid.

It is probably because of these high-quality institutions that Canada was able to implement universal health care. Whatever you think of the merits of universal health care, it definitely requires that citizens trust their government. In a country as spread out and diverse as Canada, attaining a level of public trust equivalent to that received by the ethnically homogeneous countries of Europe is quite a feat.

And Canada’s strong institutions have allowed it to implement less controversial economic policies, such as a low corporate tax rate (15 percent, compared with the US’s 35 percent).

Basically, Canada can usually get things done a lot better than the US. But the biggest win for Canadian

institutions is its immigration policy. While the US’s immigration system focuses on family reunification, Canada focuses on recruiting the best and the brightest. The country’s Federal Skilled Worker Program assigns prospective immigrants “points” based on language skills, education, work experience, age, existing job offers and a catch-all category called “adaptability.” This is a program for permanent immigration, unlike the US’s H-1B program for temporary guest workers.

Over time, this flood of talent can be expected to make Canada one of the centers of the new world economy, whose driving forces will be research and innovation. Canada now has a net annual immigration rate of about 0.57 percent of its population. This is already a rapid pace, corresponding to about a half-million immigrants a year. But with its strong record of assimilation, Canada might be able to increase this rate. As climate change makes the country less frigid, the country will certainly become a more attractive destination.

It may be centuries before Canada

competes with the likes of the US in terms of total population, since it is starting from such a low base. But in terms of an educated, high-skilled population, Canada may soon become preeminent. That could turn Canada into a global Silicon Valley or Singapore, but with lower inequality.

It could be for the 22nd century what the Netherlands was for the 17th.

What would the rise of Canada mean for geopolitics and global culture? I can only imagine that it will lead to good things. Canada is one of the world’s freest countries, an unflagging supporter of tolerance, openness and human rights. Its immigration system will make it one of the world’s most multiracial countries, if not the most. A century from now, it may be the maple leaf, not the stars and stripes, that is respected as the global standard of freedom and democracy.

So keep an eye on the big country to the north—it could be headed for very important, very good things.

And in the meantime, the US should think about reforming its creaky institutions to keep up.

Why the US forgets its women veterans

By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon TNS FORUM

S

INCE 9/11, more than 200,000 women have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and more than 160 women have died in service to their country.

Women have fought on the front lines as combat pilots and military police platoon leaders. They have received Silver Stars and Bronze Stars for Valor. Some have even joined special operations forces on combat missions.

Yet when people think of veterans, they rarely think of women. As the veterans organization the Mission Continues found in a survey out this week of female veterans, a “common theme among our respondents was a perception of invisibility both in the service and at home. While in uniform, nearly two-thirds of respondents said they had to work harder than men to prove themselves. When those women left the military, barely a third (37 percent) said they felt recognized, respected and valued by society for their contributions as veterans.”

One veteran in Minnesota told me recently that when she tried to join a local veterans organization, she was guided to the women’s auxiliary rather than the group for service members.

Another soldier based at Ft. Bragg told me that she saw a mandatory counselor after her tour in Afghanistan, who said that even though she “did not see combat” and was “mostly on base,” she might have some re-entry issues. He had no idea that she had served an eight-month tour as part of a special operations team of women and had been on night raids several times a week throughout her deployment.

And a few months back, a North Carolina Air Force veteran who served in Kuwait set off a media storm when she told local reporters about a nasty note she discovered after she left her car in a spot marked “Veteran Parking.” “This space is reserved for those who fought for America...not you,” read the missive Mary Claire Caine found stuck to her windshield. “I think they took one look at me when I got out of my car and saw that I was a woman and assumed I wasn’t a vet-

eran and assumed I hadn’t served my country,” Caine said at the time. “They have this image of what today’s American veteran is, and honestly, if you’ve served in the United States military, you know that veterans come in all shapes and sizes.”

Evidently America is still thinking small, even as women in uniform make strides on the country’s behalf.

Recent history is full of stories of women breaking new ground. The first woman to fly the F-35, the Air Force’s “premier fighter,” took to the skies last month. Years earlier she had flown combat missions in Afghanistan. The Navy’s Blue Angels have their first female pilot this year.

Army Ranger school recently opened to women for the first time. No women made it through the first phase of the course. But 19 women qualified. And 42 percent of them made it through the grueling physical tests of the first four days, compared with 48 percent of men. Three will soon try once more.

The gap between women’s service and our perceptions has consequences; it makes female veterans’ reen-

try into American society especially challenging. Many do not self-identify as veterans and do not apply for the help and the services—from housing to healthcare to job placement—they could receive once they return home.

The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that female veterans “commit suicide at nearly six times the rate of other women”—and, perhaps, not surprisingly, at nearly the same rate as their brothers-in-arms. In the piece, experts noted with concern that female veterans lack a “sense of belonging,” which can exacerbate depression.

In the two years I spent reporting on women who served on the front lines with special ops in 2011, I found that community sustained the soldiers in this pilot program while they were on the battlefield and, even more so, when they returned home.

While the rest of the Army and the entire US had no idea what they had done and seen, they at least had one another to rely on. They are now family for life, one another’s career coaches and marriage counselors and

best friends.

Such do-it-yourself communitybuilding is critical and important, but female veterans also need a nation that recognizes and celebrates them. Whenever female veterans do receive a mention in public life, the focus tends to be on their suffering.

The media leads with stories of military sexual trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder. Without doubt these are very real problems that must be addressed. According to the California Department of Veterans Affairs, nearly three-quarters of female veterans living in the state reported experiencing sexual harassment, and 40 percent reported experiencing sexual assault while in the military.

Homelessness is also a critical issue. But by defining female veterans by their victimhood, we leave out a crucial part of their service: their valor.

Women have shown courage, grit and heart on the battlefield. They have already proved themselves on the front lines and in service, even if our national narrative hasn’t yet recognized it.

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A6 Sunday, June 14, 2015

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

Recto issues ‘prescription’ to Aquino administration’s underspending woes

U

By Recto Mercene

nderspending? Give it to the sick was Sen. Ralp Recto’s effective cure to chronic government underspending.

“Rechannel a chunk of unutilized funds to health, specifically aid to the indigent patients because this is one kind of expenditure which will not be bogged by absorptive issues,” he said.

“Ibigay mo ’yan sa mga may sakit ’pag hindi ba naman kaagad magagasta ’yan,” Recto said, following news that five years into its term, the administration is still grappling with the problem of spending chokepoints.

“If you have a problem with wholesale spending, like big-ticket

items that don’t move, then go into retail,” Recto said, adding that money not optimized in projects should be diverted to the sick who need money for fast-acting cure. “ Walang capacit y issues sa may sakit,” he said.

He noted that mechanisms are already in place in the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local governments— which run provincial, district and municipal hospitals—to handle

funds which can be given as direct aid to indigent patients.

“Or it can be used to augment the purchase of medicine, needed equipment, or the things needed to run these,” he said, citing as example public hospitals with a shortage of chemotherapy drugs and dialysis machines. “In wards, the buyyour-own-dextrose rule prevails,” Recto added.

“These are things which are not complicated to procure. It is easier to buy a hospital bed than a Metro Railway Transit. Or the other alternative is to augment funds that the DWSD, DOH and local governments give out as financial assistance to the sick.”

He said his suggestion should be the default recipient of stuck-up funds but a prescription to shift a portion of hard-to-obligate allotments to health because there are waiting, deserving, visible recipients who can spend the money fast. Public hospitals, he said, are

crammed with people in need of government aid. “Kahit mag bed-tobed rounds ka doon, ang isang milyong piso ng isang social worker ubos kaagad sa laki ng pangangailangan.”

In the first quarter of the year, government expenditures fell 13 percent of target following last year’s trend of scrimping which resulted in a budget deficit of P73.1 billion, or about a fourth of what was programmed.

In 2013 government underspent

by P104 billion, and by P62 billion in 2012.

While the public-sector budget for health reached a historic high this year at P103 billion, of which P93.1 billion is allotted to the national government, he said on a daily per-capita basis, it is still small.

The government health spending this year is about P2.36 per person per day, Recto said, while in 2012 the combined expenditures of local government units,

government-owned and controlled corporations and the national government is P3.44 per person per day.

“Kulang sa dami ng nagkakasakit; two Filipinos die every hour from heart disease, five from pneumonia, two from diabetes, and three from TB [tubercolosis]. Sa diarrhea, 27 get sick every 60 minutes, while 59 are rushed to emergency rooms for hypertension. Sa dengue, isa bawat labindalawang minuto ang tinatamaan nito,” Recto said.

“Kaya tuloy sa bawat piso na ginagasta ng isang Pilipino para sa kalusugan, about 19 centavos come from the government, 11 centavos from social insurance and the biggest, about 57 centavos, is from out-of-pocket.”

“So if the government is asking where it can put money that can be spent quickly, then the answer is quite obvious. Give to the sick, that will cure the patient and cure underspending,” he said.

Expansion of creative play center planned

By Lenie Lectura

D

REAMPLAY, the world’s first DreamWorks-themed, indoor interactive play and creativity center that was put up in Manila, took in 76,000 visitors since first opening its doors to the public in March. This early, plans to expand the creative play center to make it more attractive are already being considered. “Overtime, we do have plans to add more new things. We will

do some fine-tuning. Within it, there’s still space,” DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told reporters during the formal opening of the family entertainment destination on Friday afternoon.

DreamPlay is a 5,000-square-meter creative play center located inside the more than $1-billion City of Dreams Manila. It brings a new dynamic to family-oriented focused entertainment in Manila and the Philippines as part of

Melco Crown Philippines’s strategy to widen the domestic, regional and international appeal of the city to leisure destination seekers. At any given time, DreamPlay, that is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m, can hold about 1,200 people. Its success can already be measured by the long queues outside its entrance gate. “Inside the lines are moving but we have a bottleneck outside. We just have to simplify. It will be done in 48 hours.

We see queues because it’s popular.

What we can do is process everything online, instead of spending time on buying tickets then putting the bracelets on, among others,” Katzenberg added.

Katzenberg and Lawrence Ho, Melco Crown CEO, collaborated for two years to make DreamPlay possible.

Katzenberg said the deal is not exclusive but he has no immediate interest in bringing DreamPlay elsewhere “until Mr. Ho is happy and fulfilled with this partnership.” The DreamPlay

center is a first-of-its-kind environment where kids can play and participate in a wide range of creative activities. It features 12 original attractions involving DreamWorks animated characters. City of Dreams Manila has been developed by integrated casino resort developer MCE Leisure Corp in cooperation with SM Group’s Belle Corp. and is under the sole management and operation by MCE Leisure Philippines, a subsidiary of Melco Crown Resorts Corp.

Solon: Phaseout of aging school buses may affect 700,000 students A

LAWMAKER has asked Congress to investigate the phasing out of “aging” school-transport service vehicles by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), which may affect 700,000 schoolchildren and displace 65,000 service workers nationwide.

In House Resolution 2102, Partylist Rep. Jonathan A. dela Cruz of Abakada questioned the reported haphazard, whimsical and undue haste in the implementation by LTFRB of Memo Circular 2013-006, which banned the operation of all school transport vehicles that are 15 years old starting January this year. Dela Cruz said the National Alliance of School Service Associations of the Philippines (Nassap) under the alliance of concerned Transport Organization (Acto) has appealed to LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez to give them one year to replace the school transport vehicles but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

T he one - y e a r mor at or iu m would have given members of Nassap, all of whom are legitimate franchise holders of schooltransport services, to purchase brand new vehicles using loans from some financing units of the government, dela Cruz said, quoting Nassap-Acto Board Resolution 15-001.

“The Cleaner Public Transport Financing Program under the Development Bank of the Philippines has just started processing loans to school-service operators and hopefully complete the processing

within a year,” the Nassap-Acto board resolution said.

According to dela Cruz, the government is mandated to provide safe and affordable school service to students in both public and private schools, the need for which has been increasing over the years as a result of the unprecedented rise in “two breadwinner” households and the country’s chaotic land transport system. “The said service concern has been filled up by a number of school service transport operators, the biggest of which is the NassapActo, which counts with 30,000 members nationwide employing no less than 60,000 workers,” dela Cruz said.

Dela Cruz added that with LTFRB’s memo circular, 30,000 school transport vehicles would have been non-operational by the end of May, putting in harm’s way close to 700,000 students being serviced and displacing 60,000 workers nationwide. “Nassap-Acto is not against the modernization program of the government but just asking LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez to defer the implementation of the age limit for one year to find a way for down payments for new units,” dela Cruz said, quoting the resolution.

Hesaid given the grave consequences of LTFRB’s memo circular, there is a need for the House Committees on Transportation and Basic Education and Culture to intervene at the soonest time possible to stave off the possibility of chaos, especially now that the classes have already started. PNA

briefs Ayala Bridge opens partially on Monday

The Ayala Bridge in Manila will be partially opened to motorists early next week, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said. DPWH National Capital Region (NCR) Director Reynaldo Tagudando said that one lane on each side will be open to vehicles early morning of Monday. “Nag commit sila [contractors] na bubuksan nila sa Lunes ng 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. both sides, one lane each,” he said.

The DPWH official explained that there was a delay in the supposed opening of the bridge this week but since they are concern with the safety of motorists it was moved to early next week.

“Ganito nangyari ang west side ng bridge na buksan natin partially tapos na, actually pwede na daanan. Ang problem ’yun paggawa sa east side yun mga equipment na gamit sa east side naka park sa west side. So for the safety of the motorists ’wag na muna I open,” he said. Tagudando added, “One lane each side. Isang north bound at isang south bound.” He noted that no commitment has been given by the contractor as for the full opening of the newly econstructed bridge. “’Yun full opening wala pa sila commitment dyan tatapusin pa ang dapat tapusin sa tulay. Kasi madami pa, installation of dampers, painting, post tensioning, drainage sa approach ’yun ginagawa pa,” Tagundando added.

DPWH 7 to bid construction of 214 classrooms worth P350M in Cebu City

CEBU CITY—The Department of Public Works and Highways-Region 7 (DPWH-7) will bid out this month a P350-million contract for the construction of at least 214 additional classrooms for Cebu City.

The Department of Education (DepEd) central office granted about P600 million for the construction of classrooms for the senior high school (SHS) in relation to the implementation of the K to 12 system.

The amount will be sourced from DepEd’s Basic Education Facility Fund. After the bidding for the P350-million contract, the DPWH will also bid out contracts for P200 million and PHP27 million for an additional 120 and 18 classrooms, respectively. The construction of each classroom will cost at least P1.5 million. The bidding will be done by phase. the DepEd has directed its district office and the DPWH Cebu City Engineering District to finish the construction of senior high school buildings

by March next year.

Cebu City Local School Board Chairman Rady Diola said the city is in need of more than 700 classrooms because at present, it lacks at least 350 classrooms for kindergarten to high school and about 400 for the SHS. PNA

DSWD expanding antipoverty program to 23 more towns in Central Visayas

CEBU CITY—The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 is expanding its antipoverty program to 23 more towns in Central Visayas. The 23 towns were tapped to implement the state welfare agency’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), a community-based anti-poverty program.

Identified towns tasked to start the program in July include 11 in the province of Cebu; 10 in Bohol and two in Siquijor.

DSWD 7 Information Officer Kerwin Macopia said they were able to help the marginalized communities through the program, in which they identify their needs and implement their own designed projects. Macopia said the Kalahi-CIDSS follows an open menu system in which communities are given the opportunity to propose any type of subprojects that will best address the community’s needs. Subprojects are divided into three categories: basic social services such as water systems, school buildings, health stations, day care center and electrification; basic access infrastructures such as foot bridges, pathways and access roads; and environmental protection and conservation community projects such as flood control systems, sea walls, artificial reef sanctuaries and soil protection.

“The program started in 2003 with only a few municipalities involved and sought to be gradually effective, then the agency decided to scale up the program,” Macopia said. He said the program is now being implemented in at least 69 towns in the region. PNA

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RegionsSunday BusinessMirror

Sunday, June 14, 2015 • Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo A7

Arroyo ally hits Aquino supporters for singling out Binay

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N ally of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo criticized entertainers Jim Paredes and Leah Navarro for their alleged political stunt in attacking Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, while keeping mum on the alleged graft and corruption of President Aquino’s allies in the government.

“I laud them for being active in the fight against corruption,” said former Mayor Jerry Pelayo of Candaba, Pampanga.

“But I am beginning to wonder why, up to now, they have yet to denoucne even a single act of corruption allegedly involving the relatives and friends of President Aquino,” Pelayo said in a statement.

He issued the statement in reaction to a rally staged by a group led by Paredes and Navarro, who are both known supporters of the President, denouncing Binay and his family for alleged corrupt practices.

Paredes, Pelayo noted, went on his anti-Binay campaign, and called on the people to stop the elder Binay from seeking the highest position in the land come May 2016.

Pelayo challenged Paredes and his group to join in filing cases,

ranging from graft and corruption to plunder, against the members of the Liberal Party (LP) who have been found by the Commission on Audit (COA) to have allegedly squandered people’s money through their allocations coming from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (Pdaf ) and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

“A number of lawmakers and Cabinet officials all coming from the LP have been found by the COA to have questionably disposed of hundreds of millions, and even billions, of pesos in public funds.

Plunder cases have already been filed against secretaries Butch Abad and Proceso Alcala and Rep. Boyet Gonzales,” Pelayo said.

According to Pelayo, despite the findings of the COA, the Department fo Justice has refused to file the cases against the third batch of

those involved in the alleged scam.

“But, surprisingly, we have yet to hear a word from Paredes and Navarro,” he said.

Pelayo said there were also allegations Mr. Aquino’s relatives were involved in the alleged $30-million extortion try against one of the losing bidders in the Manila Metro Rail Transit rehabilitation, the Inekon, and another presidential relative alleged to have benefited from the P51-million milk program courtesy of the DAP, but in both cases, Paredes and his group failed to act.

“Smuggling of agricultural products, including rice, onion, garlic, you name it, they continue to persist. Didn’t 2,000 container vans mysteriously disappear in broad daylight, and up to now they have to be located? But still, we haven’t heard even a groan from these two moral crusaders,” Pelayo said.

“The fares of the MRT and the LRT [Light Rail Transit] have been raised, but still their services suck.

Just where are Jim Paredes and Leah Navarro when you need them to speak,” Pelayo said.

“And now they are ganging up on Binay, not ony accusing him of being corrupt but also ridiculing his skin color and height, calling him nognog and pandak,” Pelayo said.

“Maliwanag na namumulitika lang sila lalo pa’t kasama nila sina [exMakati Vice Mayor Ernesto] Mercado sa rally nila,” Pelayo said.

SHARED GOAL In line with its effort to promote Batangas City as an all-year-round travel destination, in cooperation with the

provincial government, headed by Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto, Star Tollway Corp. (STC) commissioned Mia Lagos, a fresh graduate of Fine Arts in Information Design from the Ateneo de Manila University, to design a provincial map art (left photo) that shows “must-visit” destinations in Batangas, like the heritage churches, beaches and other natural wonders, like the Taal Volcano island. STC, through its Marketing Head Tony Reyes, and the governor (right photo) recently launched this program by distributing for free the destination-map art at selected exits of the Star Tollway and South Luzon Expressway to help motorists and tourists get to their destinations safe and quick. STC operates the 42-kilometer Star Tollway from Santo Tomas to Batangas City.

Commemoration of Battle of Bessang Pass’s 70th anniversary set today

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HE nation will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Bessang Pass on Sunday.

The battle resulted in the defeat of the Imperial Japanese Army units commanded by Gen. Tomoyuki “Tiger of Malaya” Yamashita, and led to his retreat and eventual surrender in Kiangan, Ifugao, to Filipino and American forces.

The Bessang Pass in Ilocos Sur is the site of last and most ferocious battle bet ween the Filipino guerrillas and the Japanese forces that transpired during the World War II—it started on June 1, 1945 and culminated on June 14, 1945.

Located in Barangay Malaya, Cervantes, Ilocos Sur, the Bessang Pass is a strategic gap with an altitude of 5,250 feet above sea level that serves as a gateway to the Cordillera mountains and Baguio City.

The victory at the Bessang Pass was brought about by the gallantry of the United States Army Forces in the Philippines—Northern Luzon guerrillas, who, for over three

years, never gave up their dream of retaking the Bessang Pass from the formidable enemy well entrenched in the mountain fortress, and, once and for all, win freedom for the country. A commemorative program will be held at the Bessang Pass Memorial Shrine in Cervantes, Ilocos Sur, on Sunday at 9 a.m., where survivors of the battle will be awarded for their valor and service to the country.

These veterans from the provinces of La Union and Ilocos Sur include Samson Valdez del Rosario, Leonardo Reyes Garrino, David Esteban Pascua, Marcos Mangac Timidan, Emiliano Gapacan Padac, Hilario Hufano Nisperos, Marcos Gapuz Misanes, Jose Flores Tadifa, Enrique Urbanes Malag, Vicente Ecolin Elefante, Eulogio Delfino Rocca and woman veteran Trinidad Bibangco Galutan, all aged 90 and above.

World War II veterans who will be given awards will also be given ambulatory devices, such as wheelchairs and walking canes. PNA

Cebu farmers receive tractor from DAR

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ARMERS from Bogo City, Cebu, recently received a brand-new farm tractor worth P3.1 million from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

The Massey Ferguson tractor was turned over to the Anonang Norte Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (Anarba) by the DAR to help improve the agricultural productivity of agrarian-reform beneficiaries in the town.

Antonio del Socorro, DAR assistant regional Director and concurrent provincial agrarian reform program officer, said the tractor that has a complete set of farm implements—trailing harrow, disc plow and trailer—would greatly help farmers achieve higher farm yields. Farm equipment, like tractors, are being provided to farmer-beneficiaries under the government’s Agrarian Reform Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services (Arccess) by the government through the DAR. A trust agreement was signed by the provincial office of the DAR Cebu, as represented by del Socorro as the grantor and Anarba Chairman Diomelico Bolambao as the grantee of the project at the Multipurpose Ground in Barangay Anonang Norte in the said town.

The turnover was witnessed by Bogo City Vice Mayor Santiago Sevilla, Anonang Norte Barangay Captain Josefina Balais, del Socorro and other DAR and local officials in a simple ceremony last week.

Mactan intl airport ready for Apec summit–exec C

EBU CITY —The MactanCebu International Airport (Mcia) will install more state-of-the-art amenities in time for Cebu’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in August.

GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Inc. (GMCAC) Chief Executive Advisor Andrew Harrison said the airport is completely ready for the Apec summit.

“In terms of our readiness, the Apec National Organizing Committee is happy with the changes they are seeing at the airport.

They did not ask for anything, other than the Apec Lounge,” Harrison said.

A new feat u re recent ly installed is the common self-service check-in kiosk, which was added to reduce queuing at the check-in counters.

The new system that initially catered to passengers of Cebu Pacific and Cathay Airlines was implemented on Saturday.

A flight-information display will be installed next month to al-

low passengers to check the status of their flights.

Passengers, according to Harrison, may also view the flight information using their smartphones through the airport’s web site.

By August, GMCAC will install VeriPax, a device that verifies flight and boarding-pass information to optimize passenger flow at the airport.

The device can also read mobile boarding passes of passengers.

They will also install a baggagereconciliation system to reduce offload time and mishandled bags through tracking.

The private operator will convert the VIP Lounge into a gate lounge in a month’s time to further address congestion.

Harrison said this will increase seating capacity to 20 percent.

The washroom refurbishment and expansion will be completed between August and October this year.

“In the coming months, passengers will have a completely different experience at the airport,” he said.

GMCAC has also built an airport medical center, which has four beds and an ambulance. The new clinic operates 24 hours daily.

In the coming weeks, Harrison also disclosed that there will be new tenants at the airport. “We are looking at eight to nine new categories for retail,” he said.

Harrison added that the 10-month delay of the construction of Mactan airport’s Terminal 2 (T2) has been reduced to six months, after concerned parties reached an interim solution.

He said they have started the excavation works for certain areas early last week.

“We are still hoping to reduce the delay to a more reasonable period,” Harrison said.

T2’s completion is scheduled for summer of 2018.

The airport’s expansion may require capital spending between P17 billion and P22 billion.

T2 is seen to increase the total capacity of MCIA from 4.5 million to 12.5 million passengers yearly. PNA

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Sunday, June 14, 2015

MRT 3 execs fly to China

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

TEAM of Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 officials will visit China this week to check on the progress of its train car order from a Dalian-based manufacturer.

Roman R. Buenafe, the railway system’s general manager, said the team will inspect the first prototype made by Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co. Ltd., and check if it has met all the technical specifications under the contract.

“We approved the technical specifications in April. We will visit China next week, and I expect that there’s a train body ready,” he said.

“As per our our visit last month, they’re on track for the delivery this August.”

Chinese company Dalian Locomotive had committed to deliver at most 13 new coaches by the end of 2015. This will boost the capacity of the system by a sixth, or by some 59,000 more daily passengers.

The whole expansion project, amounting to P3.7 billion, will increase the capacity of the line to 880,000 daily passengers. The MRT 3 now serves some 350,000 commuters a day. Capacity expan-

sion of the line is expected to be completed by 2016.

The government also plans to modify the structure of its trains from three coaches to four in the third quarter this year.

A change in platforms at the stations is not necessary, as they are already designed to carry an additional train coach for each set. It will effectively cut the waiting gap per train to three minutes from five.

The MRT 3 has been underfire for more than a year now due to its bad service that arose from its sorry state. The government is currently rolling out P9.7 billion worth of projects to improve the train line.

The government also wants to buy out the corporate owner of the line.

But several private groups are proposing a different scheme to modernize the train system.

The group of businessman

DBP adopts core banking solution

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HE Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is upgrading its core BUENAVENTURA: “Polaris’s banking operations to be on a par proven domain with the world’s banking standards. expertise and DBP President Gil A. Buenaventura its core banking said the bank has chosen the expertise solution will and technology of Polaris Kaisa to help help us in the bank achieve its goal of helping in achieving our agenda.” nation-building.

“Polaris’s proven domain expertise and its core banking solution will help us in achieving our agenda. I also believe that the solution would also provide us with the flexibility and robust scalability required to support our growth plans,” Buenaventura said.

Polaris Kaisa is a joint initiative between Polaris Consulting & Services and Kaisa Consulting.

Jitin Goyal, CEO and executive director of Polaris, said the technology partnership with DBP comes at an opportune time.

“In the current global economic scenario, banks worldwide are focusing on digital transformation for more stable annuity revenue with lower risks,” Goyal said.

“We are pleased that DBP has chosen us and our digital core banking solution to assist it in its development agenda,” he added.

DBP has chosen the Intellect Digital Core, which is a core banking solution with an integrated set of products from the digital-ready Intellect suite of products, such as digital core, loans origination and loans management system and end-to-end trade finance.

The solutions will drive operational, technological implementation and support excellence at a very low total cost ownership for the bank.

Kaisa Managing Director Carlos R. Villegas Jr. said, “We are honored to provide the infrastructure, the expertise and the technology to support DBP’s noble mission of becoming a financial institution that serves as a catalyst for a progressive and more prosperous Philippines. We assure DBP and its customers that Kaisa will do its utmost to make the project a success.”

The digital core solution, which is based on a powerful technology platform, coupled with a superior software design, will help DBP become the primary bank of every customer by redefining the overall customer experience. Genivi Factao

Robert John L. Sobrepeña is proposing to do a “quick fix” solution to make the train system safe for public transport.

Together with foreign companies Sumitomo Corp. of Japan and Globalvia Infrastructuras of Spain, Metro Global Holdings Inc. is proposing to fix the ailing system through a $150-million investment that involves the procurement of a total of 96 new train cars, and the rehabilitation of the existing 73 coaches, increasing its capacity to 1.2 million daily passengers.

Under the proposal, a single point of responsibility will be implemented: meaning the rehabilitation and the maintenance of the line will be handled by a single company.

Separately, Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is proposing to shoulder the upgrade costs of the train system and release the government from the bondage of paying billions of pesos in equity rental payments.

The group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, which earlier entered into a partnership agreement with the corporate owner of the MRT, intends to spend $524 million to overhaul the line.

The venture would effectively expand the capacity of the railway system by adding more coaches to each train, allowing it to carry more cars at faster intervals. The

multimillion-dollar expansion plan would double the capacity of the line to 700,000 passengers a day, from the current 350,000 passengers daily.

It was submitted in 2011, but the Department of Transportation and Communications rejected the proposal.

On the other hand, German firms Schunk Bahn- und Industrietechnik GmbH and HEAG Mobilo GmbH are seeking to place the whole train system under a massive transformation program to augment its capacity and to provide a safe and comfortable travel to commuters from the northern and southern corridors of Metro Manila.

The P4.64-billion proposal, submitted in February with Filipino partner Comm Builders and Technology Phils. Corp., calls for the complete overhaul of the 73 light-rail vehicles of the MRT; the replacement of the rails; the upgrading of the line’s ancillary system; the upgrade of the track circuit and signaling systems; the modernization of the conveyance system; and a three-year maintenance contract.

The train system has been operating at overcapacity since 2004.

Currently, the line serves nearly 550,000 passengers per day, it even reached, at one point last year, the 650,000-daily-passenger mark.

It has a rated capacity of 350,000 daily passengers.

Savings rate hit all-time high in Q2

By Bianca Cuaresma

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ILIPINO consumers continue to indicate signs of improvement in their financial status as the economy grows, as shown by the higher savings rate registered by households in the country in the second quarter of this year.

The Bangko Sentral reported at the conclusion of a recent survey that 33.9 percent—about 34 out of 100 persons—were able to set aside extra money from April to June this year.

During the previous quarter, the rate was 31.6 percent. This is the highest savings rate of households in the country to date.

The higher savings rate was seen in all income groups, with the high-income group posting the highest increment quarter on quarter.

In the high-income group— or those with a monthly salary of P30,000 and above—76.9 percent are able to save during the quarter.

This is a steep improvement from the 68.9 percent in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, in the middleincome group—or those households with monthly salaries of

P10,000 to P29,999—had a savings rate of 41.2 percent, higher than the 40.2 percent in the previous quarter.

For those low-income households—or those with less than P10,000 monthly salary—about 20.7 percent are able to save, up from the 19.5 percent in the earlier quarter.

The BSP said that Filipino families are largely saving up money for emergencies, education, health and hospitalization, retirement, and business capital and investment.

The central bank also noted that among these households, 68.8 percent had bank deposit accounts for the safekeeping of their savings.

Meanwhile, about 38.3 percent kept their savings at home and 22.6 percent put their money in cooperatives, paluwagan, other credit/loan associations and as investments.

For the next quarter, although households anticipated higher consumer spending, the percentage of respondents who reported that they could set aside money for savings during the current quarter reached a record high at 42.4 percent from 40.9 percent outlook in the previous quarter.

European, American chambers push Charter change

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HE European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) is urging Congress to pass Resolution of Both Houses 1 (RBH 1), which introduces flexibility in the economic provisions in the Constitution, in its last session before the Aquino administration ends.

Congress will start its last regular session under the Aquino administration in late July.

“Congress should be courageous and do this important reform in its last period before the elections. More foreign investment will come in if invited and felt welcome…while the Philippine economy is in a sweet spot

and growing, it should be allowed to reach its potential,” Michael Raeuber, president of ECCP, said in a text message.

Raeuber added that, as local business groups also back the measure, protection provided by the limitations in the economic provisions in the Constitution should be relaxed.

This comes following House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.’s statement that RBH 1 will not likely be approved in the present Congress.

Belmonte expressed doubt of rallying enough support for the measure and did not put it to a vote before lawmakers during Wednes-

day’s session. He also intimated to the media that certain lawmakers wanted to introduce amendments in RBH 1 at the last minute.

John Forbes, senior advisor to the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, expressed hopes that Belmonte’s pronouncement of RBH 1’s unlikely passage is just a “conservative” sentiment.

“I hope the Speaker’s assessment proves too conservative. We were quite shocked by some of the public statements by Filipinos opposed to the resolution. They appear to either misunderstand the proposal or to be against the progress for the Philippines that other countries are enjoying,” Forbes

said in a text message.

RBH 1 aims to insert some leg room into the economic provisions of the Constitution pertaining to national economy and patrimony, by including the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in its sections.

By doing so, the limitations on the restrictive articles will remain, unless Congress passes legislation to reverse enact changes.

While local and foreign business groups have openly supported RBH 1, Malacañang maintained that the country would remain an attractive investment destination, without changing the Constitution. Catherine N. Pillas

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Barangay Krus na Ligas in UP may soon be sold to residents

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By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

HE House of Representatives’ Committee on Housing and Urban Development recently approved a measure declaring a portion of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City—Barangay Krus na Ligas (KNL)—as a disposable asset for housing and urban settlement.

Liberal Party Rep. Alfredo Benitez of Negros Occidental, chairman of House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, said that members of the panel have unanimously approved on Wednesday House Bill (HB) 5737, or “An Act Authorizing the Sale of Barangay Krus na Ligas to its Legitimate Resident, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act 9500, Otherwise Known as the University of the Philippines Charter of 2008,” authored

by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

The committee report of HB 5737, which provides for the qualifications of beneficiaries who can be covered by the proposed amendatory statute, is now being prepared to be presented to the chamber in plenary session for second reading in July or August.

Under the Belmonte bill, Section 23 of Republic Act (RA) 9500, or the UP Charter of 2008, was amended to read: “The preservation of the value of the assets of the national university shall be of primordial consideration. The sale of any existing real property of the national university shall be prohibited: provided that the board may alienate real property donated after the effectivity of this act if the terms of the donation specifically allow it. Provided, further, that as a matter of specific exception, Krus na Ligas is hereby declared as a disposable asset of the national university subject to the provisions of RA 7279, or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.”

The bill defines qualified KNL residents as “only those who by themselves, or through their predecessors-in-interest, have been in continuous possession and occupation of the same in the concept of owner since time immemorial, or for a period of not less than 30 years immediately preceding the approval of this act [HB 5737], and uncontested by any other resident of the same, shall have the option to secure title under the provisions of this act.”

In filing the bill, Belmonte said that “the precepts of social justice that are enshrined in the 1987 Constitution compel us to give the highest and utmost priority to enact this law in order to fully

BELMONTE: “KNL’s history and existence preceded even the establishment of the University of the Philippines.”

and finally protect and recognize the rights of the people of Barangay Krus na Ligas to the land over which they have long resided.”

“The UP administration and the UP community have manifested through the years their willingness to recognize the right of the people of Barangay KNL, and to transfer to qualified residents of KNL the ownership over the properties upon which they have built their homes and raised their families for generations,” he said.

Barangay KNL is a community in Diliman, Quezon City, that has been in existence as early as the Spanish occupation of the Philippines.

“During the 1896 Philippine Revolution, the area was used as a retreat place of Andres Bonifacio and the Katipuneros. Numerous other documents indicate the history and existence of KNL as early as the 19th century, preceding even the establishment of the University of the Philippines,” Belmonte said.

The Speaker also cited President Elpidio Quirino, who, on April 2, 1049, sold a large parcel of land to UP for just P1, which included the KNL area.

“Various petitions have been made by the resident to protect their lands, but the right of ownership remained with UP,” the Speaker said.

In explaining his legislative move, Belmonte said that from 1975 to 1981, the UP administration took the initiative to resolve 26 cases involving UP and the residents of KNL.

He added that on July 28, 1979, then-UP President Onofre D. Corpuz recognized the need to address the issue concerning the ownership of land due to the growing number of residents of KNL and the UP community.

Belmonte said a number of UP administrations have also shown resolve to transfer ownership of KNL to its legitimate resident, including an attempt to donate the KNL estate to the local government of Quezon City.

“Unfortunately, these efforts have not come into fruition,” Belmonte added.

Sun Life’s sales up 39% in Q1

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By Genivi Factao

UN Life of Canada (Philippines) continued to show strong performance in the first quarter with sales up 39 percent over the same period last year, reflecting the consumer’s positive outlook on insurance.

Sun Life Philippines President Rizalina Mantaring said the growth in new business or first-year premiums in the first quarter is a continuation of the growth story in the third and fourth quarters of last year.

“Sun Life’s new business went up 39 percent, while Sun Life Grepa Financial Inc.’s [Sun Life Grepa] new business rose 100 percent year-on-year in the first quarter,” Mantaring said, adding that they saw strong persistency in Sun Life’s business.

Sun Life Grepa is a joint venture between Grepa Life Financial of the Yuchengco Group of Companies and Sun Life of (Canada) Philippines.

“Sun Life Philippines ranked first among life insurers in the Philippines in total premium income for the fourth consecutive year and first in new business premiums for the sixth year, as reported by the country’s Insurance Commission during the first quarter of 2015,” she said.

Mantaring added that the 100-percent jump in new business, or first-year premium of Sunlife Grepa, can be attributed to strong product sales.

“Sun Life Grepa introduced new product, and it was well received by the investors. The variable unit-linked life insurance policy [VULs] was very popular in banks,” she said.

Last year was a challenging year for the insurance industry, but Sun Life managed to post healthy growth of 16 percent in new business.

She said that long-term outlook is still very good, as people who held back their money last year are the ones investing this year.

She is optimistic on the growth prospects, as insurance penetration rate in the Philippines remains low at 1.2 percent compared to neighboring countries, like Indonesia and Malaysia, that have a 3-percent penetration rate.