BusinessMirror March 21, 2015

world’s Favorite Beach Sunset on the white-sand beaches of Boracay draws local and foreign tourists. Boracay Island, in Malay, Aklan, has been declared the Favorite Beach Destination 2015 by the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) during its annual Matta Fair at the Putra World Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. NONIE REYES

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

U.N. Media Award 2008

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A broader look at today’s business

Tuesday, November 18,2015 2014Vol.Vol.1010No.No.16340 Saturday, March 21,

nn

P25.00 nationwide | 6 sections 28 pages | 7 days a week

philippine economy seen to remain healthy on significantly low oil prices

Current-account surplus at record high in ’14

By Bianca Cuaresma

T

Firm clean-fuel rules to rev up Mitsubishi new-car rollout

HE Philippines’s current-account surplus hit a multiyear high in 2014, proving the component’s stronghold amid the deficit in the overall balance of payments (BOP) seen in the previous year.

This record high surplus in current account, which is the difference between how much the country saved and its investments, will likely be exceeded again this year, according to ING Bank economist Joey Cuyegkeng.

Cuyegkeng explained that the continuous “significant” slide in oil prices in the previous months has helped bumped up currentaccount figures.

This development will likely add about $1 billion to $2 billion in the country’s current-account surplus this year, he added.

Cuyegkeng shared his view, after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday that the Philippines’s current account yielded a surplus of $12.6 billion in 2014. In 2013 the figure was at $11.4 billion.

On record, this is the highest current-account surplus the country recorded since 2005, or when the central bank began recording the BOP position under the new format “BPM6”.

T he latest current-account figure also exceeded a government projection of $6.6 billion, or 2.2 percent, of the country’s gross domestic product. The latest surplus numbers contrast with the $2.9-billion BOP—the summary of all the country’s transactions with the rest of the world—deficit seen in 2014.

The central bank attributed the high current-account surplus to the narrowing of the trade-in-goods deficit, and to the gains in the See “Current account,” A2

M

LESSONS FROM HISTORY President Aquino tours and inspects the facilities of the Museo ni Emilio Aguinaldo during the inaugural ceremony at the Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite, on Friday. The museum chronicles the life and times of Aguinaldo, especially during the revolution against Spain and the war against the United States. The displays and narratives are new and contain interactive features. Also in photo are National Historical Commission of the Philippines Chairman Dr. Maria Serena I. Diokno (right) and Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya (second from right). Gil Nartea / Malacañang Photo Bureau

Philippine peso set for biggest weekly loss in Asia

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he Philippine peso was heading for the biggest weekly loss in Asia on slowing remittance growth, and amid speculation President Aquino will find it hard to push through policy changes as his popularity wanes.

Money sent home by Filipinos working overseas rose 0.5 percent in January from a year earlier, the least since January 2009, the central bank reported on March 16.

The approval and trust rating of Mr. Aquino, who isn’t allowed to seek reelection after his six-year term expires

PESO exchange rates n US 44.6610

next year, fell to a record low amid anger over an antiterror operation in which 44 policemen died in Maguindanao province in January.

The peso declined 1.2 percent from March 13 and 0.3 percent on Friday to 44.840 a dollar as of 11:31 a.m. in Manila, prices from Tullett Prebon Plc. show. Until last week, it was Asia’s bestperforming currency for the year with a gain of 1 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“The peso was resilient, when every currency was coming off” against the

dollar, said Leong Sook Mei, Singaporebased Southeast Asia head of global markets research at Bank of TokyoMitsubishi UFJ Ltd. “It needed a reason to come off, and there was the remittance factor. [President] Aquino is not going off on a high, and it would be very difficult to push through with certain policies.”

The slow remittance growth will likely be temporary and reflects the impact of a three-day bank closure during Pope Francis’s visit in January that the government declared a public holiday, Bill Diviney and Rahul Bajoria, econo-

mists at Barclays Plc. in Singapore, wrote in a note on March 16.

President Aquino’s approval rating dropped to 38 percent, from 59 percent in November, according to a March 17 statement from Pulse Asia, which polled 1,200 adults from March 1 to 7.

Philippine 10-year government bonds were little changed for the week.

The yield on the 13.75-percent benchmark notes due 2024 was at 4.06 percent, according to fixing prices from the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp.

Bloomberg News

itsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) said it could not yet decide on which car models to roll out in the country, due to the government’s bid to advance the implementation of cleaner-fuel standards.

MMPC Vice President for Marketing Services Froilan Dytianquin said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s (DENR) bid to advance the implementation of Euro 4 fuel standards to June this year could lead to “unpredictability”. “[Early implementation of Euro 4 fuel standards] is not hindering the introduction of new models, but, rather, it is complicating [matters], because we can’t decide the kind of vehicles to introduce this year,” said Dytianquin in a media briefing on Thursday evening.

The DENR is pushing for early compliance to Euro 4 emission standards, which would entail lowering sulfur content to 50 parts per million (ppm) from 500 ppm in Euro 2 fuel, six months ahead of the original January 2016 target.

Automakers, such as Isuzu Philippines Corp., said, however, that oil players should take the first step by developing and making accessible Euro 4 fuels before car companies could make adjustments.

Dytianquin said MMPC shares the same sentiment, as well as the local automotive industry’s position that the original target for implementing Euro 4 fuel standards should be followed. Local car assemblers have noted that oil companies, and even the Department of Energy (DOE), are not keen on advancing the implementation of the standards.

See “Clean fuel,” A2

n japan 0.3697 n UK 65.8214 n HK 5.7558 n CHINA 7.2079 n singapore 32.1974 n australia 34.1132 n EU 47.5640 n SAUDI arabia 11.9083 Source: BSP (20 March 2015)

News

BusinessMirror

Saturday, March 21, 2015

A2

Ayala Bridge closure seen to affect close to 35K vehicles daily–MMDA

Oil slump extends to 5th week amid worsening global glut

C

lose to 35,000 vehicles will be affected daily by the closure of the Ayala Bridge in Manila, which will be undergoing a one-month rehabilitation starting on Saturday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said on Friday.

Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI contracts, climbed by 2.87 million barrels to 54.4 million, the highest level since April 2004, the EIA said.

WTI may extend its drop next week, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Seventeen of 32 analysts and traders, or 53 percent, forecast futures will fall through March 27, while eight respondents predict a price advance. Brent’s weekly relative strengt h index is sliding to a six-week low of 30.2, data compiled

by Bloomberg show. A reading below 30 typically signals the market is oversold and further losses probably aren’t sustainable. Bloomberg News

Continued from A8

European officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

US supply

Crude stockpiles in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer, rose by 9.62 million barrels to 458.5 million through March 13, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). That’s the highest level in weekly records from the Energy Department’s statistical arm dating back to August 1982. Production accelerated to 9.42 million a day, the fastest pace since at least January 1983.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said about 34,400 cars pass the structure every day.

Of the figure, about 18,200

Clean fuel. . .

New Palace E.O. paves way for privatization of UCPB Aquino’s self interest.” “The privatization will completely diminish and deny small coconut farmers of their legitimate and rightful claim over coco levy-funded assets and corporations, which include, among others, the CIIF oil mills and the United Coconut Planters Bank,” he warned.

“There is no guarantee that small coconut farmers will benefit from the proceeds of [Mr.] Aquino’s sell-out and privatization. This

vehicles pass by the southbound lane of the structure headed toward the University Belt, while 16,200 vehicles make use of the northbound

diesel-fed vehicles. It is expected to have a minimal impact on the price of gasoline-fed cars.

“The cost for Euro 4 implementation is, of course, going to be expensive as there will be changes into more components, especially for new models that will be Euro 4 emissionready,” Dytianquin said.

As early as 2010, the DENR had issued an administrative order requiring passenger and light-duty vehicles to comply with Euro 4 emission limits by January 1, 2016. This, however, is subject to the availability of Euro 4 fuel.

In September 2014 Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje proposed to the DOE to implement the fuel

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST MARCH 21, 2015 | SATURDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

MAR 22 SUNDAY

MAR 23 MONDAY

METRO MANILA

23 – 32°C

22 – 32°C

TUGUEGARAO

19 – 33°C

19 – 33°C

LAOAG

BAGUIO CITY 14 – 26°C SBMA/CLARK 22 – 32°C

MAR 24 TUESDAY

primary and secondary income accounts.

In particular, the trade-in-goods deficit narrowed by 10.3 percent, to $15.9 billion from the $17.7 billion in the previous year.

This, as the expansion of exports exceeded the growth of imports during the year.

Also, net receipts in the primary income account reached $1.1 billion in 2014—higher by 11.9 percent than the $957 million last year.

Net receipts in the secondary income account, meanwhile, grew by 7 percent to $22.6 billion.

MAR 22 3-DAY SUNDAY EXTENDED FORECAST

MAR 23 MONDAY

MAR 24 TUESDAY

23 – 32°C

METRO CEBU

23 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

20 – 31°C

TACLOBAN

22 – 33°C

23 – 33°C

22 – 33°C

22 – 30°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

TAGAYTAY CITY 21 – 27°C

20 – 32°C

21 – 32°C

23 – 32°C

22 – 32°C

22 – 32°C

24 – 33°C

24 – 34°C

24 – 33°C

22 – 33°C

22 – 33°C

21 – 34°C

BAGUIO

15 – 25°C

15 – 25°C

16 – 24°C

SBMA/ CLARK

21 – 33°C

22 – 33°C

22 – 32°C

ZAMBOANGA

TAGAYTAY

LEGAZPI

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

Continued from A1

Catherine N. Pillas

20 – 29°C

19 – 30°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 24 – 32°C METRO CEBU 23 – 31°C

TACLOBAN CITY 22 – 33°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 22 – 31°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY 21 – 34°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD

21 – 32°C

22 – 32°C

21 – 32°C

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

6:00 AM

6:07 PM

7:04 PM

6:28 AM

NEW MOON HALF MOON

5:36 PM

23 – 32°C

22 – 32°C

23 – 32°C

MAR 27 3:43 PM

CELEBES SEA

4:45 PM

0.08 METER

11:27 PM

0.85 METER

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers and/or thunderstorms Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers

23 – 32°C

24 – 33°C

23 – 33°C

Partly cloudy skies Cloudy skies with rainshowers and/or thunderstorms

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

www.panahon.tv

SABAH

LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

MAR 20

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

METRO DAVAO 25 – 34°C

SUNRISE 19 – 30°C

LEGAZPI CITY 22 – 31°C

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 23 – 31°C

Current account. . .

standards six months ahead of schedule or by June, citing the urgent need to improve Metro Manila’s air quality.

However, the government and companies have yet to agree on the order’s final rules and regulations.

Seaoil, Unioil and Petron are expected to offer Euro 4 fuel products but it remains to be seen whether oil firms could make it readily available in far-flung areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Despite the uncertainty, MMPC said it is bullish on its prospects for 2015, as it expects to increase sales by 20 percent to 62,000 units from the 50,000 units recorded in 2014.

METRO DAVAO

TUGUEGARAO CITY 18 – 34°C

METRO MANILA 22 – 31°C

(Otis), straight to UN Avenue to their place of destination.

Another option is for vehicles from Magsaysay Boulevard, Legarda Street and Lacson Avenue to Nagtahan/Mabini Bridge straight to President Quirino and vice versa. For those coming from P. Casal Street, they should turn right at Carlos Palanca Street toward MacArthur Bridge to their place of destination.

On Friday the MMDA conducted clearing operations along Carlos Palanca Street since it would be used as the temporary road for vehicles, particularly buses and pedicabs that would be affected by the closure of Ayala Bridge. PNA

LOW PRESSURE AREA WAS ESTIMATED AT 460 KM EAST OF INFANTA, QUEZON (AS OF MARCH 20, 5:00 PM)

Low Pressure Area is an elongated region of LPA. It can bring in cloudy conditions and precipitation or cold air mass.

LAOAG CITY 19 – 32°C

direction going to Taft Avenue.

With this, the MMDA has advised owners of northbound vehicles to take Romualdez Street, left to Ayala Boulevard, right to Taft Avenue and take Quezon Bridge or Jones Bridge to get to their destination.

Those coming from Roxas Boulevard and Taft Avenue should take Quezon or Jones Bridge toward Quezon Boulevard to get to their destination.

For southbound (via Otis or President Quirino) vehicles coming from Magsaysay Boulevard, Legarda Street and Lacson Avenue, they may take Nagtahan/Mabini Bridge, right at M. Guazon Street

Continued from A1

As the government has yet to issue a final decision as to whether it will pursue early implementation of Euro 4 fuel standards, Dytianquin said the company is in a bind over whether to introduce Euro 4-compliant vehicles or to continue offering Euro 2-compliant cars this year.

As per the agreement with the DENR, automotive players that have already introduced Euro 2 vehicles have until 2017 to keep offering the said models before shifting to the Euro 4-adjusted versions.

The BusinessMirror reported last year that the shift to the Euro 4 fuel standards will cause car prices to rise by at least 20 percent for

is plunder in the highest order,” Villanueva said.

KMP Chairman Rafael Mariano said that in signing the EO, “Aquino appears to be saving the best for last,” Mariano said.

President Aquino signed the co co - le v y EO s to f a st - t r ac k the completion of their plunderous scheme and benefit from the billions of pesos of small coconut fa r mers’ mone y be fore their imminent downfall,” Mariano alleged.

David Cagahastian, Marvyn Benaning

Continued from A8

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Promotion, probes related to SAF 44 deaths continue

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By Manuel T. Cayon & Recto Mercene

AVAO City—Calls for investigation and promotion to higher rank continue nearly two months, after 44 members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) were killed during a bungled operation on January 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

In Davao City, Major Carlos T. Sol said they called for investigation on an alleged training camp newly established by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) at the outskirts of Iligan City.

Sol, head of the government half of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH), said they called for the probe after receiving the report of the Army’s 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade.

According to Sol, the joint CCCH was already validating the report to immediately undertake measures to dismantle the camp. The joint CCCH

is composed of representatives from the government and the MILF. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said the CCCH was created to monitor the implementation of the longstanding cease-fire between the government and the MILF. The body is also mandated to resolve cease-fire violation complaints in order to prevent conflict escalation and cease-fire breakdown.

Promotion SOL’S call came nearly a week after results of investigations on the Ma-

masapano incident were released by the Board of Inquiry (BOI) and the Senate.

According to Sen. Ralph Recto, there are many “noncontroversial, unchallenged” recommendations in both the BOI and the Senate reports that government can immediately act on.

“There are many prescriptions, which can be acted upon motu propio.

Reports are meant to be acted upon, not archived,” Recto said.

He cited the BOI recommendation to grant a posthumous promotion to the 44 killed and a one-rank promotion to the surviving members of the 84th Seaborne and Police Officer 2 Christopher Lalan, “the lone survivor” of the 55th SAF Company.

“I think there is universal agreement on this, so the ball on their promotion should have started rolling a long time ago,” Recto said.

The 38-man 84th Seaborne was the “main effort,” which killed alleged Malaysian bomb maker Zhulkifli Bin Hir, alias Marwan, at Mamasapano. Nine of its men were killed, while 14 were wounded after exchanging gunfight with suspected MILF and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters guerrillas on their way back to camp, according to the BOI report.

The main support unit, the 36man 55th SAC, suffered the most casualty when its members were pinned down on the way to rendezvous with the withdrawing 84th. Lalan is the lone survivor of this group.

Recto said the BOI findings on dud ammunition and faulty radio devices also merit an official probe on the PNP procurement process and status of equipment.

Page 89 of the BOI report noted that “several rounds of ammunition of M203 grenade launchers were defective” and “some radios of the SAF Commandos were unreliable [and] were not designed for military-type tactical operations.”

Other logistical deficiencies bared by the report “is our lack of air assets, to provide fire support and medical evacuation.”

According to Recto, there are many items in the BOI and Senate reports that require neither debate nor discussion because these could not be disputed.

“There is too much hair-splitting on what the President [Aquino] should have or could have done, or should be doing, but if you read the two reports, there are far more important actionable recommendations there which are undisputed,” Recto said.

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Saturday, March 21, 2015 A3

Jailed suspected ASG members flown from Zambo to Manila

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EVENTEEN members of the Abu Say yaf Group (ASG) were transferred on Friday from the Zamboanga City Jail to a more secured detention facility in Manila due to threats they may be rescued by their colleagues, the military said.

The terrorists were transported to Manila through an Air Force C-130 plane, with the military and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) jointly providing for the security, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc.

“The transport assistance was given out of the request of the BJMP Zamboanga for the transfer of the prisoners from their facility.”

W hile Cabunoc declined to specify where in Manila the prisoners would be taken to, he said it could be at the Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City.

The alleged terrorists came from different places in Mindanao and were held at the Zamboanga City Jail.

Cabunoc said the detainees are facing different charges. “ The Wesmincom [Western Mindanao Command] had the list of names of the detainees along with the cases they are facing,” he said citing murder, frustrated murder and kidnapping among the charges.

Meanwhile, Cabunoc alleges that the Moro Islamic Liberation

Front (MILF) had been asking its recruits in Iligan City in Lanao del Norte to pay for P800 in membership fee.

“They were being asked to pay P800 each in order to become members of the MILF and they are afraid because there are armed men, along with MILF trainors, who were visiting their areas,” Cabunoc said.

On Thursday, Col. Gilbert Gapay, commander of the Army’s 2nd Mechanized Brigade, told reporters they have been asked by residents of Barangay Robongon, Marawi City, to dismantle the MILF’s 103rd Base Command in the barangay.

The request was made by the villagers through two Higaonon datus, Diodato Abugan Sr. and Lantong Limunsudan, who claimed the MILF has recruited 80 members from different tribes last year and another 90 in January this year.

Gapay said the creation of the MILF of its camp in Lanao del Norte is a violation of its peace negotiations and, even agreement with the government, as it was not supposed to increase its membership or even create other camps, other than those existing ones.

Because of the complaint of the villagers, Gapay filed a complaint before the government and MILF peace panel for violation of the peace agreement. Rene Acosta

Economy

A4 Saturday, March 21, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

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CCT households may have less incentive to work–study

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By Cai U. Ordinario

amilies enrolled under the government’s Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) Program may have less incentive to work or find employment, according to a study conducted by economists from the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE).

The study, titled “Where does the money go: Assessing the expenditure and income effects of the Philippines’ Conditional Cash Transfer Program” and authored by UPSE Health Economics Program Department Chairman and Coordinator Stella Luz Quimbo, et. al., found that CCT families spent less on work-related items.

“Total household expenditures are lower among CCT households, particularly, those that are work-related. These include transportation and communication, personal care and effects, and clothing,” the study stated.

“Thus, although we do not observe program effects on labor decisions, reduced spending in work-related items could suggest lower work effort, but not truthfully reported,” it added.

The study also found that CCT house-

holds spent less on housing maintenance and repairs, which, the study noted, may be linked to program eligibility.

Overall, CCT families had lower household expenses compared to non-CCT households. There was also lower dissaving among poor CCT families.

“Arguably, if CCTs are sufficiently large, there could be disincentives to spend on housing maintenance and repairs to ensure that program eligibility is retained,” the research stated.

Compared to other countries with CCT programs, the study stated that the Philippines provides a larger amount of CCT in terms of percentage of per-capita expenditures.

The authors said the mean amount received by CCT households reached P11,201,

or $251.85, annually, based on data provided by the Philippine Center for Economic Development (PCED).

This amount, the authors said, is approximately 12 percent of per-capita consumption of the CCT beneficiaries. When compared to other countries with CCTs, the Philippine CCT has the fifth highest amount of cash transfer.

The authors cited World Bank data that showed that the highest was Nicaragua’s CCT, the Red de Proteccion Social, which is 27 percent of the per-capita consumption of beneficiaries.

The country with the lowest CCT amount in terms of per-capita consumption was Bangladesh’s Female Secondary School Assistance Program that only extended 0.6 percent of beneficiaries percapita consumption.

“This is slightly higher than mean CCTs implied by the 2013 Annual Poverty Indicator Survey (APIS) [about P8,000 per year or $179.88]. One possible explanation for this difference is the one-year gap between the APIS and PCED surveys,” the study noted.

The PCED data was based on the results of its Social Protection Survey participated in by 3,100 households. The survey was conducted from April and May 2014.

The survey aimed to profile shocks that households experienced and assess whether the country’s CCT Program helped households cope with these shocks.

E. Samar seeks P7.67B to fund devt projects

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ACLOBAN CITY—The Eastern Samar provincial government is seeking a P7.67-billion outlay to finance local harmonized development priorities through nine national government agencies and local government units (LGUs) in the province in 2015 and 2016.

The province asked the Regional Development Council (RDC) to support the harmonized initiative drafted by LGU officials, congressional office of the lone district in the province, and government agencies based in Eastern Samar.

“Harmonization will translate into programs and services that are coordinated to reduce, if not eliminate, duplication and wastage in project implementation,” the provincial government said, in its letter sent to the RDC. Of the P7.67-billion proposed budget, P134.35 million is from the Department of the Interior and Local Government, P1.12 billion from the Department of Public Works and Highways, P64.57 million from the Department of Agrarian Reform and P597 million from the National Irrigation Administration.

Also included are the P41.64 million from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, P301 million from the Philippine Coconut Authority, P190 million from the Department of Education, P84.16 million from Eastern Samar State University, and P7.1 million from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Borongan City, the provincial capital, and 22 towns are seeking P1.61 billion, while the provincial government needs P3.51 billion in the next two years.

Priorities are based on the approved five-year provincial development investment program and approved annual investment plan for 2015.

The RDC endorsed last week the project to the national government for funding. PNA

Beefy A butcher at the Baguio City Public Market meat section cheerfully puts up a creative display of chopped cow parts—from head to hind legs—hoping to make a good profit from the latest slaughter. Beef is being sold in the summer capital at an average of P230 per kilo. Mau Victa

briefs

ENOUGH WATER SUPPLY FOR METRO MANILA IN NEXT two MONTHS–EXPERT

AN expert believes that the prevailing El Niño phenomenon won’t significantly affect availability of water in Angat Dam, which supplies some 97 percent of water in Metro Manila, the country’ top urban center.

Senior Hydrologist Max Peralta from government weather agency Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) made the assessment, noting that Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan, has enough water to meet Metro Manila’s needs until May, when the dry season in this megalopolis normally ends and the wet season begins.

“Angat’s water level is high, so that dam has water sufficient for the next two to three months, despite El Nino,” he said this week.

He continues urging people to conserve water, though, so they can help ensure availability of this commodity for all. Latest available Pagasa data as of 6 a.m. on Friday show Angat’s water level at 198.55 meters. PNA

defense dept to acquire 4,464 units of night fighting equipment for army The Department of National Defense (DND) is acquiring 4,464 units of night fighting equipment for the Philippine Army.

The equipment is an optoelectronic device that allows images to be produced in levels of light approaching total darkness.

The image may be a conversion to visible light of both visible light and near-infrared, while, by convention detection of thermal infrared is denoted thermal imaging. The program has an allotted budget of P1,116,000,000, which will be sourced from the Capability Upgrade Program 2013 to 2017.

Interested bidders must have completed a similar project within the last five years.

Prebid conference is scheduled at 10 a.m. on March 31 at the DND bidding and awards committee conference room, right wing, basement, DND Building, Quezon City, and bid opening is scheduled on April 14. PNA

lrt lines 1 and 2 operations suspended from maundy thursday to easter sunday Operations of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2 will be suspended for four days in observance of the Holy Week and, at the same time, to give way to annual maintenance works.

According to the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts, the LRT 1 and 2 will have no operations from Maundy Thursday (April 2) to Easter Sunday (April 5).

The LRTA said that, on Holy Wednesday (April 1), the last trains from the Baclaran terminal and Roosevelt station of LRT 1 and from Santolan station of LRT 2 would depart at 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, the last train from LRT 2’s Recto station would depart at 8:30 p.m. LRTA also said normal operations will resume on April 6. PNA

Economy BusinessMirror

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briefs

construction industry holds promise for foreign suppliers

Foreign suppliers in the Philippine construction are reaping benefits from the booming sector.

Embassy of Malaysia Trade Office (Matrade) Manila Commissioner Nyaee Ayup said a Malaysian glass manufacturer here is optimistic over growth prospects in the Philippines with the strong construction activities in the country.

“With more infrastructure and property projects in the Philippines, we’re optimistic about the growth in Ajiya’s [Ajiya Safety Glass Sdn. Bhd.] order book coming from Filipino buyers,” Ayup said.

According to Ayup, Ajiya, along with other Malaysian construction suppliers, participated the Worldbex 2015 in Pasay City from March 11 to 15.

“The market is good. The demand is there. We supply glasses for high-rise residences, office tower and shopping malls,” Ajiya Sales Manager Low Yite Shung said, noting that the company is also supplying to subcontractors of big property developers in the country.

“There’s the demand in the Philippine market because our glass products can be used for everything, from skyline palace, stand, walkway, staircase and skylights.

The price depends on the glass-type, whether it’s regular or high-performance glass,” he added.

Shung mentioned that there is also a strong growth in the Cebu market. PNA

ECOP SETS CONFERENCE ON JOB, WEalTH CREATION

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) has set its sights on job and wealth- creation for a sustainable economy when it holds its 36th National Conference of Employees on May 14 and 15 at the Marriott Hotel in Manila, according to Ecop Assistant Corporate Secretary and Membership Chairman Federico Marquez Jr. Marquez, also senior vice president and human resources head of Saint Luke’s Medical Center, said various topics have been arrayed for what he deemed the most significant challenge for the Philippine economy today: jobless growth and widening income gap.

The conference which will carry the theme “The Ultimate Challenge: Creating More Wealth, Creating More Jobs,“ aims to chart the path to better opportunities for both employers and employees through wealth creation and job abundance, which are the fundamental elements of economic progress, Marquez said.

Saturday, March 21, 2015 A5

PHL needs to build more infra to be SEA’s MICE hub

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By Kris M. Crismundo | Philippines News Agency

he Philippines is being urged to hasten its infrastructure development in order to achieve the government’s goal of transforming the country as the meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions (MICE) tourism hub in Southeast Asia.

KMC MAG Group Inc. Head of Operations and Investments Jose Carmelo Porciuncula told reporters that infrastructure remains a challenge for the country to attain its target of 10 million foreign tourist arrivals by 2016. “This is a wonderful target for the country, but there is a challenge with current infrastructure, including our airports,” Porciuncula said.

“But there are lot of initiatives outside Metro Manila for redevelopment and expansion of airports… that will aid this,” he added.

Moreover, he said the government’s move for tourism destination clusters will also help to achieve its goal of

being a MICE hub in the region.

Establishing tourism economic zones will also push development in the industry, particularly the construction of new hotels. To date, the country has 18 tourism ecozones.

Porciuncula also noted that the new international routes to and from Manila is also a gain for the country’s tourism. New international routes to and from Manila include Istanbul to Manila via Turkish Airlines; Jakarta to Manila via Garuda Airlines; New York to Manila via Philippine Airlines; Xiamento Jinjian to Manila via Xiamen Air; and Addis AbabaManila via Ethiopian Airlines. PNA

MANILA, OTTAWA, deepen trade ties

Filipino and Canadian trade officials are making strides to deepen bilateral trade and economic relations between Manila and Ottawa.

Canada’s Minister for International Trade Ed Fast recently met with Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo to expand future areas for commercial cooperation, according to a news statement released by the trade department.

“We discussed ways to build on our current commercial relationship, which is already supported by existing agreements, such as a double taxation agreement, an investment promotion and protection agreement and a recently expanded air transportation agreement,” the two key government officials said in a joint communique. Catherine N. Pillas

FoodPHL nets $90 million in world’s largest food expo

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he country’s initial earnings at the Gulfood 2015—the world’s largest annual food and hospitality show held in Dubai— reached $90 million, according to the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) export promotions and international marketing arm Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem).

Citem Executive Director Rosvi C. Gaetos said 24 Philippine food exporters represented the country’s pavilion “FoodPhilippines,” which promotes local food with the tagline “Taste by Design.”

“The FoodPhilippines Pavilion was designed to attract and lead buyers to a lineup of exciting food products, as well as staple favorites that included native desiccated coconut, coco water, dried or canned fruits and juices, fresh Cavendish bananas, mangoes, pineapples, processed meat, condiments, pili nuts, salted shrimp paste and instant rice mixes of native delicacies,” Gaetos said.

She added that the FoodPhilippines’s international brand campaign are also developing some local food products, including corniks, Bonoan bangus, kumpao, coffee with malunggay, sardines in bottles, and organic rice and preserves, which are all in their introductory stage.

According to Citem, $21.3 million of the initial sales of FoodPhilippines at the Gulfood were booked orders, while $69.04 million were negotiated.

Citem, on the other hand, is still tallying total sales of FoodPhilippines during the Gulfood.

“The results of the Philippine participation in Gulfood 2015 continues to strengthen the country’s food exports to the Menasa [Middle East, North Africa and South Asia] region, where Dubai is being groomed as Islam’s global economic capital,” Gaetos said.

“The show also opens up great opportunities for the Philippines’s halal-certified food products to capture a good share of a $1.1-trillion market mostly spanning the vast Muslim-dominated Menasa and its cultural extensions worldwide,” she added.

Moreover, the country’s participation at the Gulfood also invites global food distributors and retailers to visit the International Food Exhibition (Ifex) Philippines 2015 at the SMX Convention in Pasay City from May 21 to 24 this year.

Organized by Citem, Ifex Philippines is an exhibition for Asia’s ethnic food and ingredients and is also a platform for Asia to partner to the rest of the world in supplying food products. PNA

Getting a mouthful

Sen. Cynthia A. Villar (right), chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Enterprises, confronts Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) General Manager Jose Angel Honrado on the latter’s refusal to abide by a resolution signed by 20 senators to rescind a Miaa order integrating the P550 airport-terminal fee to airline tickets of international passengers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Villar berated Honrado on the issuance of the controversial order that was implemented without consultation or public hearing. She added that the order is a violation of the 1995 Migrant Workers’ Act that exempts OFWs from paying the P550 terminal fee. Roy Domingo

Pilot test for ‘express-bus system’ set on Monday–DOTC

By Christopher Lloyd T. Caliwan

Philippines News Agency

P

ilot-testing of the proposed “express-bus system” in Metro Manila is set on Monday to determine its potential benefits to commuters in terms of lesser commuting time, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) official said on Friday.

At a news conference at the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) headquarters in Makati City, DOTC Assi stant Secretary Sherielysse Bonifacio said the express bus system is a joint project of the MMDA, the DOTC and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to lessen the travel time of commuters, particularly during rush hours, along the stretch of Edsa.

Bonifacio said a pilot run of 50 buses will begin at 5 a.m. on Monday at the MMDA dispatching system in Fairview, Novaliches, Quezon City.

According to the DOTC, the

express buses will run along three initial routes—the Express 1, or E1, with 20 units from Fairview to Ortigas-Ayala Avenue/Gil Puyat Avenue with stop at SM Megamall/Ortigas; E2 with 10 units from Fairview to Ayala/Gil Puyat (the same route of E1 but without a stop in Ortigas); and E3 with 20 units from Fairview to Ayala Metro Railway Transit (MRT) stationSM Mall of Asia in Pasay City with a stop at the Ayala MRT 3 station. ”These destinations are chosen because many people are working in these areas. When we did a dry run, there was a time saving of 20 to 30 minutes during peak hours on a Friday. Kumbaga, ’yun ang pinakaheaviest traffic day within Metro Manila so ’yung nakuha naming average ay 20 to 30 minutes per route,” Bonifacio explained. ”There will likely be some ‘bugs’ at the start, because drivers and commuters will be both new to the concept, but with the cooperation of the riding public, we can quickly address any start-up issue and develop a good public transport option,” she

said, adding that, if there are comments and suggestions, they can go directly to the hotlines of MMDA, the DOTC and LTFRB. The express buses will offer free Wi-Fi conectionand are also required to have GPS and closed-circuit television devices to promote safety and no-standing passengers will be allowed to enable faster boarding and alighting.

LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez said they have already tapped around 10 bus companies for the project and the express buses will not add to traffic congestion because they have existing franchises.

He said the 50 express buses are currently plying the same routes.

To get passengers more directly to their destinations, the express buses will be allowed to use flyovers, underpasses and mixed traffic lanes and this will help to decongest the “yellow” bus lanes and reduce competition at bus stops for passengers.

Ginez said they will make use of the MMDA dispatch stations to serve as terminals for these buses.

The buses will also be exempted from coding and will not travel along the yellow lanes, which are used for picking up passengers.

Regarding fare rates, the LTFRB chairman said, “The fare would be parehas lang, walang pinagbago dun sa dati at ngayon. We can release the fare matrix on the web site at the same time naka-attach dun sa special permit at nakalagay din sa mga buses.”

For his part, MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the express buses will be allowed to use the flyover and underpasses along Edsa, but reminded the operators and the drivers to always make sure their vehicles are in good condition because some of the reported accidents along Edsa were caused by buses that resulted in heavy traffic.

Tolentino said the new bus system aims to lessen the volume of vehicles along Edsa by encouraging employees to leave their cars at home and take buses in going to work.

He added that the express buses will have a designated color or sticker for easy identification.

Philex declares 110.9M tons of addl mineral resources in Benguet mine site

P

Thrash to cash

Enterprising residents and community volunteers collect recyclable garbage at the Zapote Riverside on Friday in Las Piñas City. PNA

hilex Mining Corp. on Friday announced an additional 110.9 million tons of estimated mineral resources identified from the 800-to-600 meter levels (ML) in its Padcal Mine in Benguet Province.

According to Philex, the increase in tonnage corresponds to incremental contained metal of 473.0 million pounds (lbs) of copper (Cu) and 1.342 million ounces (ozs) of gold (Au).

Noel C. Oliveros, exploration division manager and head of the resource management of Philex, prepared the Mineral Resource Estimate at the 800 ML to 600 ML of the Santo Tomas II Porphyry Copper-Gold deposit of the Padcal Mine based on the Resource

block model prepared by R.C. Obial & Associates. The mineral resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.314 percent copper equivalent (CuEq). The CuEq cut-off grade is based on metal prices of $2.75/lb copper and $1,275/oz gold and metal recoveries of 82 percent for copper, and 80 percent for gold. As the mineral resources estimated for the 800 to 600ML are part of the Santo Tomas II ore body that is currently being mined, Philex said the estimated resources have a reasonable prospect for economic extraction.

R.C. Obial & Associates’s estimates followed the terminology and guidelines set forth in the Philippine Mineral Reporting Code (PMRC).

Currently, Philex operates in the 908 ML to 782 ML. It said feasibility studies to mine within the 800 ML to 600 ML are ongoing, where the additional resources were defined. The incremental resources are on top of the resources the company declared in its Padcal mining operations.

“The Padcal Mine’s measured and indicated resources at 800 ML to 600 ML is expected to augment the mineable inventory of the company and may likely extend the mine’s life beyond 2020. We look forward to the next two years of exploration within the vicinity of the Padcal Mine to further identify additional resources and increase the company’s current mineral inventory,”

Philex President Eulalio B. Austin Jr. said.

The completion of the new mineral resource estimate increased the total mineral resources of the Padcal Mine by 71 percent to 267.7 million tons by the end of 2014, now covering the 908 ML to 782 ML, and 800 ML to 600 ML. This also raised the contained metals to 1.23 billion pounds of copper and 3.24 million oz of gold, higher by 62 percent and 71 percent, respectively.

The adjusted aggregate mineral resources of Padcal Mine are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.314 percent CuEq, which is further based on metal prices of $2.75/lb for copper and $1,275/oz for gold, and recoveries of 82 percent and 80 percent, respectively. PNA

A6 Saturday, March 21, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

A new kid in town

O

NCE upon a time, there was this person whom we have probably all met, best described as a Big-Man-On-Campus. He was tall, handsome, strong and rich. Everyone wanted to be his friend, and gain his attention and goodwill. He was a relatively nice guy who helped people out but expected a little extra respect, and also expected others to agree with him and do what they were told.

Then, one day, a skinny kid from faraway showed up. He was not very refined, and did not know the local customs and the way things were supposed to be done. He was not strong, handsome or rich. But he was smart, and worked very hard to get ahead.

Eventually, people started paying more attention to the new kid and, over time, some, if not many, started to be his best friends. Finally, the Big-ManOn-Campus took notice, and realized that he was not as popular or influential as before. In fact, nowadays, his “best friends” are saying “yes” to his face, and then hanging out with the skinny kid, who is not thin any longer and is much more rich and powerful.

On October 24, 2014, a signing ceremony was held in Beijing, China, formally recognizing the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Sharing the dais with Chinese President Xi Jinping was Russian President Vladimir Putin.

There are 33 founding members of the AIIB, from Bangladesh to Vietnam, and including the Philippines. Invited to join were also several European nations.

The AIIB is a direct competitor to the American-led World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, headed by the Europeans. The United States made it clear in backroom talks that it would not be happy to see countries outside the Asian sphere of influence participate in the AIIB. It would not be in their best interest to join the AIIB. But now, nearly six months later, after having been told directly by US Secretary of State John Kerry on his recent visit to Asia not to join, Australia is quietly joining the AIIB. Further, France, Germany and Italy, as well as the United Kingdom, India, Singapore and New Zealand, have now all agreed to join China’s development bank.

An Australian newspaper described its country’s decision this way: “Make no mistake—all this represents a colossal defeat for the Obama administration’s incompetent, distracted, ham-fisted diplomacy in Asia.” That is a pretty negative comment to be making about the former Big-Man-On-Campus.

The US has voiced its strong concern about the “governance” of the AIIB as its motive for encouraging other nations to go slow in joining China’s new bank. That is reasonable. China is not the monetary-policy expert of the world.

However, the US has its own financial “governance” problems, and it is likely that the members of the AIIB, including the Philippines, can handle their own money without the US telling them what to do.

The raising of interest rates...or not John Mangun

M

OUTSIDE THE BOX

ORE than 20 central banks around the world have lowered their interest rates in 2015 alone. Yet, the same world is expecting the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) to raise interest rates in the next months.

The truth is that it would probably make more sense just to stop reading my words right now and turn to the “weather forecast” for the weekend.

At least, there is a common-sense reality to the weather that is not going to be found talking about global central bank interest-rate policy. Unfortunately, for some of us, what the central banks do or do not do is as addicting as the latest Korean telenovela.

Stock-market commentary over the last weeks has been all about the potential impact on the trading of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

So the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting came and went and, for all intents and purposes, nothing happened momentous or otherwise.

Fed Chairman Janet Yellen said they were still on track to raise rates sometime in the future but that the target, instead of being 1.2 percent by the end of 2015, would now be 0.65

percent. Further, while the employment situation in the US is getting better with all those new waiters and bartenders being hired, economic growth is actually below what was forecast, and is probably going to grow even less than current expectations.

Yellen also said that inflation is much lower than the Fed feels is necessary to stimulate the economic spending, and there is no indication that inflation is going to increase in the future.

Normally—if anything can be considered normal anymore—interest-rate increases only come when an economy is growing at too fast a pace and inflation is or might become a problem. So, if the US economy is not growing at anywhere near “too fast a pace,” and inflation is virtually nonexistent, then what would be the purpose of raising interest rates anytime in the foreseeable future?

A strong US dollar is creating some problems for the US economy as the

current trade balance and currentaccount numbers show and, if the Fed raises interest rates, should attract even more money to come into the US. The Fed does not want that to happen.

The US economy is growing at such a slow rate that even the slightest negative effect that an interestrate increase might have on growth is a disaster.

The US government has such a large debt-service burden that here, too, even a slight increase in interest rates will cost millions of dollars that the government does not have.

So what possibly could be the rational for increasing US interest rates?

Now, here is why weather forecasting makes more sense than central bank interest-rate policy.

The reason the Fed needs to raise interest rates now is that if it does not, then it will not be able to lower interest rates in the future to stimulate the economy. The Fed’s logic is that low interest rates have not really stimulated the economy but raising interest rates probably won’t hurt. And in the future, if economic growth is still slow, rates can be lowered to stimulate the economy.

I told you, weather forecasting makes more sense.

However, the great monster hiding under the bed is the US stock market.

What if even a slight increase in inters rates causes a massive selloff in US stocks? A barely growing economy and a drop in the stock market would

Innovation in an age of global science

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By Michael S. Lubell | CQ-Roll Call/TNS

CIENTIFIC research is dramatically more global in its practice and impact than it was just a decade ago. Whether the United States is able to capitalize effectively on new discoveries stemming from international collaborations will determine future economic growth and job creation in America.

High-energy physics, or particle physics as it is often called, is the epitome of the growing globalization of science, and its recent history holds lessons for the innovation possibilities of tomorrow.

Not long ago, the US was home to three world-class accelerators, megamachines that are the mainstays of particle physics. Now all three— Brookhaven’s AGS, Stanford’s Linear Collider and Fermilab’s Tevatron—are mere memories. What remains is the heritage of the pioneering technologies they developed that are vital to accelerator facilities throughout the world.

Today many American particle physicists are members of international teams working at such facilities, principally the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a mammoth circular device stretching 17 miles in length and buried as far as 574 feet below ground near Geneva, Switzerland. Dan Brown fictionalized the machine half a dozen years ago in Angels and Demons, a best-selling tale he spun around the creation of a single gram of antimatter.

The LHC, as physicists around the

world call it, never did what Brown imagined it could, but it did produce the Higgs boson with the help of 1,500 US scientists. In physics circles, the Higgs discovery represented a dazzling conclusion to decades of work by thousands of scientists from more than 30 countries. But along the way, CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, which hosts the LHC, spawned something even more revolutionary, at least in a public sense.

Spread across the globe, Cern’s scientific cast desperately needed a communication tool that could transmit images and massive sets of data.

In 1989 Tim Berners-Lee, working in Geneva, delivered the tool: the World Wide Web. And, in less than 20 years, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, http, transformed commerce, entertainment, finance and the way we connect with each other.

Clever people in any nation could have seized on Berners-Lee’s creation and made their fortunes. But the dotcom revolution happened here. And it was no accident. We had a wellhoned entrepreneurial engine: brainy

students at top-flight universities; science agencies with a history of supporting the best peer-reviewed research; a legacy of federally funded science discoveries ripe for exploitation; risk-taking venture capitalists with deep pockets; and well-established laws that protected intellectual property. What ensued is nothing short of one of the most spectacular episodes in the American dream.

The High-Performance Computing and Communications Initiative—credit Al Gore—enabled Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina, then students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to develop Mosaic.

That graphical browser, introduced in 1993, morphed into Netscape Navigator and eventually into today’s three most popular tools, Internet Explorer, Mozilla and Safari.

In 1994 two Stanford electricalengineering graduate students, Jerry Yang and David Filo, developed the portal “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web.” Today we know it as Yahoo.

A few years later, Larry Page, who was pursuing his PhD at Stanford, teamed up with fellow student Sergey Brin, who was drawing support from the National Science Foundation, and began work on a Web crawler. Their venture is better known as Google.

In 1998 Peter Thiel and Max Levchin launched PayPal, the electronic money-transmission service.

Reid Hoffman, who was one of its

be a political disaster for the incumbent presidential party going into the 2016 national elections.

US stocks rallied on Wednesday, after the Fed suggested a less aggressive timetable for raising interest rates.

The US dollar went down. Further, the Fed has come under intense pressure from other countries not to raise rates, as it would damage their fiscal position even more.

But even at current levels, US interest rates are higher than much of the world, particularly in Europe, where negative real and actual rates are becoming more common. Therefore, the potential for a genuine US stockmarket bubble—not simply high prices that the bubble-heads talk about—is becoming greater.

A genuine bubble is when the asset price increases in relation to the value of all currencies not just the home currency. At that point, the Fed will be forced to raise rates regardless of what the US economy might suffer or not suffer.

Therefore, let’s talk about a rate increase when the Dow Jones gets to 20,000 from its current 18,000.

In the meantime, we will have nice weather until the storm comes in later this week.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com.

Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

board members, cofounded LinkedIn in 2002. That same year, Mark Zuckerberg and four of his Harvard classmates launched Facebook. Social media was here to stay.

All that was missing was hardware to make the connectivity portable.

In 2007 Steve Jobs turned hope into reality, when he unveiled the iPhone.

Jobs was a visionary and an extraordinary salesman. But neither he nor his company, Apple, was a technology originator. The iPhone and the iPad, which followed in 2010, were enabled by decades of research funded by the US government.

The World Wide Web was the product of international science. Any nation could have capitalized on it, but the US had the capability to run with it best and fastest. Today science is even more global. Whether we will be able to replicate our past success when the next big thing happens somewhere else in the world depends on the preparations we make now: ramping up support of public universities; reinvigorating federal research budgets; and getting venture capitalists to return to the days when risk was not a dirty word.

Michael S. Lubell is the Mark W. Zemansky professor of Physics at the City College of the City University of New York and director of public affairs of the American Physical Society. He writes and speaks widely about scientific research and science policy. He wrote this for CQ-Roll Call.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Wanted: a leader for this generation

Evangelii Gaudium Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

SERVANT LEADER

Cecilio T. Arillo

database

T

WENTY-NINE years since the 1986 Edsa uprising and, because one generation is 30 years, it’s only a little over a year away to complete the current generation and, by that time, President Aquino’s term will have expired.

Indeed, by October this year, the selection for President Aquino successor officially begins.

In the order of precedence established by the 1987 Constitution, the most coveted, compelling and exciting position is, no doubt, the presidency.

But what makes for success or failure in presidential governance?

What determines, for instance, if a President can handle well or poorly such issues as laws, politics, economics, sociology, foreign affairs, national security and public order?

The answer is strong leadership, a broad knowledge of statecraft and the ability to govern and draw up a strategic plan with a very clear vision and mission where the country is now, where it should go and what means are required to get there and make it competitive, peaceful and progressive.

The presidency is actually a mixture of several factors: How to deal with Congress, the Judiciary and the people; how to strike a balance between hypocritical acts in dealing with corrupt officials, politicians and businessmen; and how to apply moral and ethical standards on other people in an environment where convincing, cajoling and hustling are needed, requiring the exercise of flexibility, creativity, understanding and competitive intelligence to survive the day.

This is not just a simple case of governance and propaganda mileage. Think of it: the information flowing into the inner circles of the Presidential Palace is astounding in its volume and complexity and the potential for blunder is always lurking there to trap the President and aggravate his problem.

For instance, the President may, on days or weeks, have to cope with difficult problems on the economy, energy, the size of the defense budget, types of tactical and strategic plans to stifle insurgency and criminality, how to deal with anxious businessmen, the media and the public that are always looking at what the chief executive or commander-in-chief is doing on various issues.

For instance, where and when does the President find time to deal with all these problems, to say nothing of other issues, themselves not so easy to meet and master?

And how does a President remain in command of the State (and its four elements: people, government, territory and sovereignty), so that he can move from one issue to another in an orderly manner, ask the right questions in advance and be responsive to public expectation?

It can’t happen unless he can organize and manage the government and bring the nation and the outside world to his attention in a way he can understand it, to permit him to handle problems of state intelligently, to make concrete decisions, to take actions and to see them through to a successful conclusion.

No President can do the job alone. He must be guided with the right combination of policies and be able to call upon a talented pool of men and women in the civilian bureaucracy, supported by the members of the police and military organizations.

In the final analysis, the President can bring them together as a team, combining all their talents to produce a cohesive and responsive bureaucracy, certainly not the kind of bureacracy that increases in number of temporary committees,

The presidency is actually a mixture of several factors: how to deal with Congress, the Judiciary and the people; how to strike a balance between hypocritical acts in dealing with corrupt officials, politicians and businessmen; and how to apply moral and ethical standards on other people in an environment where convincing, cajoling and hustling are needed, requiring the exercise of flexibility, creativity, understanding and competitive intelligence to survive the day. commissions or task forces every time there is a crisis and, thus, inordinately expand the size of the government and the budget.

How to handle personalities is certainly important. It is a question of personal pride, power and prestige. A President must have a good memory and a sense of history, including the kind of history that the country had already seen for more than five generations.

Retrospectively, some presidents had merely wasted the country’s time and resources, creating and managing crises, instead of shaping the future and the attendant ills of plunder, corruption, insurgencies, tax evasion, smuggling, carnapping, kidnapping, killing of journalists and the breakdown of morality, peace and order compound the problem.

Whether personalities come to overshadow policies or are submerged beneath them and whether the inevitable tensions and squabbles among contending officials, all claiming dedication to the nation’s service but with different views on how to achieve them that may lead only to paralysis at the top, is partly a matter of strong leadership.

Looking back and forth, I am referring to five presidentiables that this generation can hope for: Vice President Jejomar Binay, for now the most popular candidate in the recent Pulse Asia Survey despite potshots aimed at him by his political enemies on issues of graft and plunder; Grace Poe, the neophyte, studious and charming senator who’s No. 2 in the Pulse Asia Survey; Interior and Local Government Sec. Mar Roxas, who’s trying his best to woe more votes by keeping on top of the worsening peace and order situation and by picking on Binay; Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the only son of President Marcos, who, warts and all, built more social and economic infrastructures, unmatched by his successors until today despite limited resources, foreign interventions and raging insurgencies during his 20 years reign; and Panfilo Lacson, the uncompromising leader, known for his strictness and his strength of character.

Whatever his critics say, it’s on record that Lacson is the only senator in contemporary history who swiftly turned down his pork barrel and the only police general who relatively made our streets and highways safer from criminals; and not only does he understand the meaning of the chain of command, national security, public safety and the Constitution, his name remains untarnished by the issues of plunder and corruption.

To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio. arillo@gmail.com

56th part

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oving others is a spiritual force drawing us to union with God; indeed, one who does not love others “walks in the darkness” (1 John 2:11), “remains in death” (1 John 3:14) and “does not know God” (1 John 4:8). Benedict XVI has said that “closing our eyes to our neighbor also blinds us to God”, and that love is, in the end, the only light which “can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working.”

When we live out a spirituality of drawing nearer to others and seeking their welfare, our hearts are opened wide to the Lord’s greatest and most beautiful gifts. Whenever we encounter another person in love, we learn something new about God. Whenever our eyes are opened to acknowledge the other, we grow in the light of faith and knowledge of God. If we want to advance in the spiritual life, then, we must constantly be mis-

sionaries. The work of evangelization enriches the mind and the heart; it opens up spiritual horizons; it makes us more and more sensitive to the workings of the Holy Spirit, and it takes us beyond our limited spiritual constructs. A committed missionary knows the joy of being a spring which spills over and refreshes others. Only the person who feels happiness in seeking the good of others, in desiring their happiness, can be

Saturday, March 21, 2015

a missionary. This openness of the heart is a source of joy, since “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). We do not live better when we flee, hide, refuse to share, stop giving and lock ourselves up in own comforts. Such a life is nothing less than slow suicide.

My mission of being in the heart of the people is not just a part of my life or a badge I can take off; it is not an “extra” or just another moment in life. Instead, it is something I cannot uproot from my being without destroying my very self. I am a mission on this earth; that is the reason I am here in this world. We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded, by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing and freeing. All around us we begin to see nurses with soul, teachers with soul, politicians with soul, people who have chosen deep down to be with others and for others. But, once we separate our work from our private lives, everything turns grey and we will always be seeking recognition or asserting our needs. We stop being a people.

If we are to share our lives with others and generously give of our-

Why Asia should welcome the taper William Pesek

BLOOMBERG VIEW

N

OW that Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Janet Yellen has set the stage for Federal Reserve rate hikes, the conventional wisdom is that Asia is in trouble. If the taper tantrums of 2013 threw markets and currencies into turmoil, just wait until the US tightens for the first time since 2006. But what if the coming Fed cycle is really an opportunity for the region?

A positive new report from Morgan Stanley would seem to bolster the case. Two years ago, the bank created a list no one wanted to be on: the “Fragile Five” economies most at risk as the Fed drains liquidity.

Much to their chagrin, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey made the cut. This week Morgan Stanley whittled the group down to three, dropping Asia’s two weak links. As its economists put it, New Delhi and Jakarta are implementing enough changes—and pledging to go further—to have passed a “point of inflection away from their old models of growth.”

Naturally, much of the credit goes to central bankers in those two nations: India’s Raghuram Rajan and Indonesia’s Agus Martowardojo. But history will show that the Federal Reserve effect played an outsized

role in disciplining Asia. “The lessons from the mid-2013 Fed taper tantrums have led to Indonesia and India basically trying to improve their macro risk profile,” says Gundy Cahyadi, an analyst at DBS Group.

Would Rajan and Martowardojo have acted so expeditiously to raise borrowing, tweak regulations and stare down speculators if not for the threat of Fed rate hikes? Would Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo feel as much urgency to reduce current-account deficits, trim subsidies and strengthen national balance sheets without Yellen holding their feet to the fire?

I highly doubt it.

There’s every reason to think a tightening Fed will transform the economic landscapes for both countries in the year or two ahead.

Take India, toast of the developing world with a China-beating 8-percent growth rate projected for next fiscal year. Modi is shrinking the current-account deficit and pledging to reduce government debt and red tape. Last week he scored his first big reform win: An increase in the amount foreign companies can own in insurers to 49 percent from 26 percent.

Much remains to be done. The insurance bill was the easiest to pass.

Steps to liberalize land laws, open the retail sector, deregulate labor and enact a goods-and-services tax will require Modi to spend considerable political capital.

The good news is there’s no going back. With the turmoil of 2013 fresh in policy-makers’ minds and the Fed on the move, backing off progress just isn’t an option. Just two years ago, hedge funds bet New Delhi would become the first government of a BRIC nation—Brazil, Russia, India and China—to be downgraded to junk. The semi-perpetual risk of returning to those dark days gives Modi a sizable bargaining chip in negotiations with opposition parties. And, if Modi fumbles with the reform-or-crisis argument, he can always enlist the widely respected Rajan, who correctly predicted the 2008 global crisis while working at the International Monetary Fund.

Governments will need to act differently when there’s less Fed money

Facebook crashes the payments party

By Katie Benner Bloomberg View

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ACEBOOK is now allowing its users to send money to friends via its mobile Messenger app. The feature has been anticipated ever since PayPal executive David Marcus joined the company last June to lead its mobile messaging business. Why else would a PayPal guy move to Facebook unless it was to create a payments business?

We had further confirmation that we’d see in-app payments last November, when Marcus said during an interview at the Techonomy conference that he’d been looking at messaging apps in Asia. (Customers who use Tencent’s WeChat in China, or KakaoTalk in South Korea, or Line in Japan can do everything from hail cabs to pay friends, all while chatting with friends).

I’m gonna come right out and say that, I think, Facebook can really succeed here, even though every company on the planet wants to get into payments.

On the retail side, Apple and Google are fighting it out for domi-

nation over the payments we make when we buy things in stores, in apps and online. But in the peer-topeer market, which Facebook has entered, the leading competitors are much smaller players, including Square, a late-stage startup, and Venmo, the popular payments app that PayPal owns.

While smaller players have beaten Facebook before (Snapchat, with its disappearing messages, comes to mind), Venmo and Square are both saddled with some problems.

Square is, by all accounts, still figuring out a way to turn hardware (the Square credit reader), cash register software and a working capital program for small businesses into a cohesive business model.

Venmo is owned by a payments giant with money and expertise, but that owner, PayPal, is also undergoing a split with its parent, eBay, that has created—for the time being, at least—uncertainty about how it will fare apart from the mothership.

Venmo has already shown that people are willing to embrace the idea of paying their friends with the touch of a button. According to a Bloomberg

Businessweek feature, Venmo processed $700 million in payments in the third quarter of 2014, up from $141 million over the same period the year before.

Much like any social platform, the network effect around peer-to-peer payments is important. You can’t pay your friends if they’re not using the product. And, when it comes to networks, it’s hard to compete with Facebook.

After Facebook decided to make Messenger a standalone app last April, Business Insider said that monthly active users soared from 200 million to 500 million. (Just imagine what might happen if WhatsApp, a huge network with 700 million users, gets a payments product, too.)

Venmo lacks Facebook’s dominant global reach. Square is trying to create a network by teaming up with Snapchat and its estimated 100 million users, but that experiment has yet to pan out.

Another huge advantage that Facebook has, especially over the unprofitable Square, is that it doesn’t have to worry about whether its peer-to-payment systems generate

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selves, we also have to realize that every person is worthy of our giving.

Not for their physical appearance, their abilities, their language, their way of thinking, or for any satisfaction that we might receive, but rather because they are God’s handiwork, his creation. God created that person in his image, and he or she reflects something of God’s glory. Every human being is the object of God’s infinite tenderness, and He, Himself, is present in their lives. Jesus offered His precious blood on the cross for that person. Appearances notwithstanding, every person is immensely holy and deserves our love. Consequently, if I can help at least one person to have a better life, that already justifies the offering of my life. It is a wonderful thing to be God’s faithful people. We achieve fulfilment when we break down walls and our heart is filled with faces and names!

To be continued For comments, e-mail caritas_manila@yahoo.com. For donations to Caritas Manila, call 563-9311. For inquiries, call 563-9308 or 563-9298.

Fax: 563-9306.

sloshing around global markets.

Challenges like excess money supply in China and asset bubbles from Hong Kong to Singapore will seem preferable to massive capital outflows. In Indonesia’s case, the threat of Fed austerity is forcing policy makers to improve fundamentals.

Case in point: Widodo’s bold move to scrap gasoline subsidies to trim the budget deficit to 1.9 percent of gross domestic product. He’s also ramping up efforts to attack corruption and implement a two-pronged growth strategy. By investing in education, infrastructure and health care to ensure worker productivity grows in sync with wages, Widodo is trying to win more foreign investment and address income inequality. Also, says economist Eric Sugandi of Standard Chartered, expect central banks in Jakarta and beyond to “display anticipating gestures,” like adding foreign-exchange reserves.

As the Fed ratchets up the pressure, Widodo will find markets to be merciless arbiters. Capital will flee at the slightest hint of backsliding. Officials in Jakarta never much liked being included on Morgan Stanley fragile list. But as 2015 unfolds, says economist David Sumual of PT Bank Central Asia, “Fed policy will have a positive disciplining effect for both companies and regulators in emerging Asia.” Today that’s something leaders in the region can and should welcome.

revenue. Businessweek noted that Venmo isn’t profitable (although PayPal certainly is).

Facebook makes most of its money by selling ads to users, so it can spend time developing an enormous user base for a payments product and not worry (for now) about generating revenue. That will also allow it to let Facebook users get comfortable with mobile transactions.

Some caveats. Facebook has gone down the payments road before, with little success. Most famously, the Credits product that it wound down at the end of 2013 was a dud. It was plagued with tech issues and no one really used it.

Facebook has had better luck deploying free tools that make it easier for users to connect with others, such as Newsfeed and “Log In With Facebook”—products that keep you coming back to the Facebook ecosystem and that quietly make Facebook an essential nexus.

Offering Facebook users a free, easy payments button seems of a piece with this strategy. If it works, it could be a big win for a company that’s tried for years to figure out a way into the payments game.

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Oil slump extends to 5th week amid worsening global glut

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il trading near the lowest price in six years is headed for a fifth weekly drop, amid signs the global supply glut is worsening.

Futures were little changed in New York, after falling for the seventh time in eight days on Thursday. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) needs to keep its output target unchanged to maintain market share, said Kuwait, the group’s third-largest producer. Iran may increase oil exports within months of reaching a deal on its nuclear program, according to US and European officials.

Oil has renewed its slump after losing almost 50 percent last year, as US crude stockpiles expand to the highest levels in more than three decades, even as drillers idled the number of active rigs to the fewest since 2011. Opec maintained its quota at 30 million barrels a day last November, resisting calls to curb output amid surging supply from shale producers.

“The demand-supply imbalance is going to need to be fixed by an adjustment to supply,” Ric Spooner, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by phone. “Traders are waking up to the harsh reality of the US inventory builds, and it’s getting difficult to ignore that.”

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery was at $43.78 a barrel in electronic

trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 18 cents, at 12:59 p.m., Sydney time.

The contract, which expires on Friday, closed at $43.46 on March 17, the lowest since March 2009. The volume of all futures traded was about 68 percent below the 100-day average.

Opec policy

WTI’s more active May contract gained 19 cents to $45.72 a barrel. Front-month prices have decreased 18 percent this year.

Brent for May settlement was 11 cents higher at $54.54 a barrel on the Londonbased ICE Futures Europe exchange. It slid $1.48 to $54.43 on Thursday. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $8.80 to WTI for the same month, compared with $9.83 on March 13.

Opec, which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s crude, has no plans for an extraordinary meeting to discuss ways to shore up prices, Kuwait Oil Minister Ali Al-Omair said in Kuwait City. The 12-member group, scheduled to gather on June 5, pumped 30.6 million barrels a day in February, exceeding its quota for a ninth straight month, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

World powers have offered to suspend restrictions on Iran’s oil exports if the Islamic Republic accepts strict limits on its nuclear program for at least a decade, said US and Continued on A2

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DOF’s Purisima pushes for Asean tax ID system

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By David Cagahastian

he Philippines will raise the idea of a regional tax identification number (TIN), when Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima attends the 19th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Finance Ministers’ Meeting this weekend in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Purisima said the idea of an Asean TIN, similar to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) TIN that the Philippines is introducing in its hosting of the Apec meetings this year, will encourage growth in the Asean because it will provide better access to credit and finance, especially for

small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The Apec TIN is part of the Philippines’s Cebu Action Plan, which will be launched in September in Cebu as part of the Philippines’s hosting of the Apec meetings this year.

“I highly look forward to offering insights on our proposed Cebu Action Plan in Apec as a way to enhance our progress in Asean. For example, part of our vision for an integrated region is to see interlinked economies with ease of access to credit and finance, especially for small-income households and SMEs. This ensures that an integrated Asean is one that is inclusive,” Purisima said.

A similar Asean TIN seeks to strengthen the efforts of the Asean in enforcing taxation even across different jurisdictions.

These efforts to strengthen taxation is part of the Asean economic integration which is scheduled to start by 2016.

PURISIMA: “I highly look forward to offering insights on our proposed Cebu Action Plan in Apec as a way to enhance our progress in Asean. For example, part of our vision for an integrated region is to see interlinked economies with ease of access to credit and finance, especially for smallincome households and SMEs. This ensures that an integrated Asean is one that is inclusive.”

Other issues that will be tackled in the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Malaysia are the Asean Infrastructure Mechanism; the Asean Insurance Cooperation; and projects regarding cooperation on customs and trade, antimoney laundering and counter-terrorism financing.

Purisima said that he will also push for more measure to make Asean less vulnerable to natural disasters and volatility in the global markets.

“This requires a concerted effort on disaster risk financing among members to build risk insurance facilities and mechanisms. A reliably robust buffer makes for a stronger, more prosperous region,” Purisima said.

New Palace E.O. paves way for privatization of UCPB

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new executive order (EO) issued by President Aquino is expected to pave the way for the privatization of the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB), the proceeds of which will go to a special account in the general fund in the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

The Department of Finance (DOF) said that the issuance of EO 179 will usher the privatization of assets acquired through the coco-levy funds, and the use of the proceeds for the benefit of the coconut industry that will bring “economic and social justice” to coconut farmers seeking their share in the coco-levy funds imposed during the Marcos era.

Under the EO, an inventory of all the assets acquired through the cocolevy funds will be made, including the shares of stock in UCPB, the shares of stock in the companies acquired using the Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF) and the shares of stock in the CIIF holding companies.

The inventory will be conducted by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and the Office of the Solicitor General, while the Privatization and Management Office under the DOF will sell the coco-levy assets that have been approved for divestment by the President, upon prior approval of the Privatization Council.

The proceeds from the sale will be put in the Special Account in the General Fund for Coco Levies (Coco Levy SAGF), the use of which is not specifically provided for in EO 179, although the said order reiterates the policy that all proceeds emanating from the coco-levy assets shall be used solely and exclusively for the benefit of all coconut farmers and for the development of the coconut industry.

Earlier, the privatization of UCPB was stalled due to issues on whether the proceeds from the sale of UCPB will be given directly to coconut farmers

claiming ownership over such shares by virtue of having in their possession the stock certificates. The claims of these farmers, persisted despite a Supreme Court ruling in 2012, which declared that the shares of stock in UCPB that were distributed to some 1.4 million coconut farmers should be reverted to the government because the funds that were used to buy these shares are public funds.

EO 179 resolves this issue by providing that the proceeds of any sale of the coco-levy assets, including UCPB shares of stock, shall be put in the Coco Levy SAGF. In December 2013 UCPB stockholders, led by the PCGG, approved the increase in the authorized capital stock of the bank from P20 billion to a maximum of P40 billion in preparation for the coming in of a strategic investor and the eventual divestment of the government in the bank.

‘Plunder in the highest order’

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the Coco Levy Funds Ibalik sa Amin (Claim) have slammed President Aquino for signing EOs 179 and 180 that seek to privatize the cocolevy funds.

KMP and Claim said that the twin EOs diminish the claim of small coconut farmers over the funds and could even be a “scheme of plunder in the highest order.”

By signing the EOs, President Aquino privatized the coco-levy funds, the proceeds of which are specifically shares in UCPB, San Miguel Corp. and CIIF. Claim Spokesman Nestor Villanueva said that “the small coconut farmers’ long demand is for the government to return the coco-levy money and assets to its legitimate owners and not to privatize and sell these fund and assets for the benefit of big businesses in the coco industry and Continued on A2