BusinessMirror

Corporate U.S. healthiest in decades with lower debt under Obama

U.S. poverty and health insurance The percent of people living without health insurance is now lower than the amount of people living in poverty Poverty rate

People without health insurance

S

Recessions highlighted

17%

teve Wynn, founder of the Wynn Resorts Ltd. casino empire, once called President Barack Obama’s administration “the greatest wet blanket to business and progress and job creation in my lifetime.”

Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Property Trust Inc., said Obamacare was driving down wage growth, and “affecting spending and the desire to buy houses and everything else.” They are among a chorus of corporate executives and lobbying groups that regularly assail Obama for policies that they say are stifling investment and hurting companies. Corporate and economic statistics almost six years into his administration paint a different picture. GlobalEye»C3

16 15

14.5%

14

13.4%

13 12 11 ‘90 ‘92 ‘94 ‘96

‘98 ‘00 ‘02

‘04 ‘06 ‘08 ‘10 ‘12

Source: Reuters Graphic: Erik Rodriguez

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

U.N. Media Award 2008

‘14

© 2014 MCT

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

week ahead

Foreign exchange

n Previous week: The local currency rallied in the first days of the week, but showed relative calm toward the end of the week. The peso peaked at a six-month high on Monday at 44.995 against the dollar, but quickly recovered to 44.875 on Tuesday. The peso then slumped back to 44.9 to a dollar on Wednesday, and then sustained a two-day recovery to 44.81 on Thursday and to 44.75 at the last trading day of the week. The total traded volume during the week was lower at $3.635 billion from the previous week’s $4.036 billion.

n Week ahead: Bank economists said the market will continue to focus on data releases toward the next week, and thus will retain bias on the US dollar. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officials said they will retain presence in the foreignexchange market to smoothen out excess volatilities.

Inflation (September 2014)

Tuesday, October 7

n August inflation: The country’s inflation rate hit 4.9 percent in August, unchanged from the 4.9 percent in July. This brought the country’s eight-month inflation average at 4.4 percent.

n September inflation: BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. earlier said inflation may have slowed down to reach 4.1 percent to 4.9 percent in September due to lower prices of food and oil. Economists were also of the view that inflation for September will go down due partly to favorable base effects (see related story).

Production index (August 2014)

Friday, October 10

n July manufacturing: The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported last month that the country opened the second half of the year with a 9.6-percent growth in the volume of production index, slower from the 13.3 percent in the previous month. The rise in manufacturing production was attributed to the improved production of printing, fabricated metal products, leather, beverage and machinery.

A broader look at today’s business

n Sunday, October 5, 2014 Vol. 9 No. 358

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

Govt sets rollout of 17 PPP projects worth ₧553B in ’15 T

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

HE lack of infrastructure has always been one of the weak spots of the Aquino administration and, with the Philippine economy expanding at rates that the country’s current facilities could no longer accommodate, the government had vowed to be more aggressive in pushing key infrastructure deals out of its rich pipeline of projects.

Signs of overheating are discernible with the congestion of major arteries, aviation hubs and seaports, not to mention a looming energy crisis by summer of next year.

To address these, the government has been rolling out key infrastructure deals and drumming up support from the private sector to aid the government in plugging the holes in the country’s infrastructure.

Through mid-2015, the government aims to auction off 17 public-private partnership (PPP) deals amounting to roughly P553 billion, the bulk of which, or 13 projects, will be under the Depart-

ment of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

A document from the Public Private Partnership Center showed that at least P463.2 billion worth of contracts involving rail-, air- and sea- transport developments will be auctioned off by June 2015.

Listed in the document are the auctions for the operations and maintenance, and the development of a number of aviation hubs, such as the Panglao Airport (P2.3 billion); Laguindingan Airport (P15.9 billion); Puerto Princesa Airport (P5.2 billion); Davao Airport (P40.6 See “PPP,” A2

Economists: Inflation likely eased to 4.2%-5% in Sept

By Bianca Cuaresma

T

he country’s inflation rate is seen to slow down in September this year due to the convergence of lower food prices and favorable base effects in the last quarter of the year, economists said.

According to economic experts polled by the BusinessMirror, inflation will likely fall between the range of 4.2 percent and 5 percent

See “Outlook,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 44.7570

Mob attacks HK protesters as students shelve talks

in September this year, or will average at 4.55 percent during the month.

The economists’ forecast is slightly higher than the forecast range of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. announced earlier, at 4.1 percent to 4.9 percent. Its computed average inflation rate is also lower than August’s inflation of 4.9 percent.

Among the drivers cited by the economists echo that of Tetangco’s made public at the end of September this year.

See “Inflation,” A2

H

ong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrators were attacked by hundreds of men at two sites in the city, prompting student leaders to shelve talks with the government aimed at ending weeklong street protests still engulfing the city.

The city’s embattled leader, Leung Chun-ying, appealed for calm on Friday night after the baying mobs, which began gathering in the afternoon, tried to remove barricades, shouted abuse and tussled with students. Student federation leaders in a Facebook posting accused the government of betraying their trust by allowing organized violence to be directed at them.

With dialogue on hold, prospects receded for a negotiated solution to the biggest crisis Hong Kong and its Communist Party overlords have faced since the British handed back sovereignty in 1997.

Talks were agreed upon by both sides late Thursday as a step to resolve demonstrations that have paralyzed much of central Hong Kong, closing schools, offices and affecting sales at retailers, including Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd. The Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 2.6 percent in the week, its steepest drop since March.

See “Protesters,” A2

Residents and pro-Beijing supporters tear down a pro-democracy activist tent in Kowloon’s crowded Mong Kok district on Friday in Hong Kong.

Clashes broke out as Hong Kong residents and proBeijing supporters tried to force pro-democracy activists from the streets they were occupying, reviving the possibility that the weeklong standoff could turn violent despite an attempt by the city’s leader to defuse the situation. AP/Wong Maye-E

n japan 0.4128 n UK 72.2602 n HK 5.7656 n CHINA 7.2774 n singapore 35.2029 n australia 39.2709 n EU 56.7026 n SAUDI arabia 11.9311 Source: BSP (3 October 2014)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, October 5, 2014

Protesters...

The biggest social upheaval in the city for almost half a century was sparked after protesters began gathering on September 26 to demand a greater choice of candidates in the 2017 leadership contest, and the resignation of Leung.

Police arrested 19 people following clashes in the Mong Kok district north of the harbor, including eight suspected of having triad gang backgrounds, Senior Superintendent Kwok Pak- chung said at a news conference on Saturday. At least 37 people

Outlook...

were wounded on Friday in the violence, taking the number of injured throughout the protests to 131, health officials said.

Numbers of pro-democracy supporters swelled again overnight, escalating tensions as police carrying riot shields took to the streets at one stage. Police had to take the city’s subway to reach the Mong Kok fighting, Kwok said. He asked that protesters move to the main protest site near government offices in Admiralty, which escaped the clashes.

Exports (August 2014)

Friday, October 10

n July exports: The PSA reported that the value of exports grew by 12.4 per-

cent in July, posting the second highest exports among major economies in the East and Southeast Asia, next only to China during the year.

n August exports: Earlier this year, officials were of the view that the continued recovery of the global economy, particularly in advanced markets, will support the country’s trade numbers due to the heightened demand for products. Firms surveyed by the BSP also said that garments and metals will pull exports upward toward the end of the year. Bianca Cuaresma

continued from A8

The winning bidder will start designing and constructing the expressway-dike by April next year.

The thoroughfare should be commercially operational by 2022.

The project involves the construction of a 47-kilometer floodcontrol dike—on top of which will be a six-lane expressway—on an offshore alignment 500 meters away from the western shoreline of Laguna Lake. It includes interchanges, bridges, floodgates and pumps, from Taguig to Los Baños

in Laguna.

It also involves the reclamation of 700 hectares of raw land adjoining the expressway-dike.

The public works department has so far awarded two key infrastructure projects, namely: P1.96billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway project bagged by Ayala Corp. in 2011; and the P15.68billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport expressway, given to San Miguel Corp. unit Vertex Tollways Development Inc. in 2013.

P17.5-billion development of the Davao Sasa Port.

The port is being eyed as a regional hub come the integration of the economies of the Asean nations next year.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said that some of these projects are part of his office’s 34 priority ventures for 2014.

Included on the list are the redevelopment of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) and the auction for its operations and maintenance, the P62.7-billion Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 7, the three terminals of the P7.7-billion Integrated Transport System, and the P10.62-billion Cebu Bus Rapid Transit System, among others.

All these ventures are aimed at reducing the cost of transportation in the country by 8.5 percent.

To do this, Abaya said that the State intends to increase urban mass-transport ridership from 1.2 million to 2.2 million by 2016, amid the development of intermodal facilities.

The government also aims to lessen logistics costs to 15 percent from 23 percent by improving transport linkages and efficiency.

“All these infrastructure that we’re doing such as the reforms in shipping, making airports jet-capable and night-rated, containerizing port operations that would further bring down logistics cost, as well as the Transport Dream Plan that will address congestion in Metro Manila—everything that we’re doing in DOTC contributes to that,” Abaya said, referring to the lowering of transport and logistics costs.

Currently, the government is rolling out a transportation dream plan that costs about P4.76 tril-

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

TODAY’S WEATHER

OCTOBER 5, 2014 | SUNDAY

Typhoon is a cyclone category with winds of 118 - 181 kph.

TYPHOON “NENENG” (PHANFONE) WAS LOCATED AT 1,240 KM NORTHEAST OF ITBAYAT, BATANES (AS OF OCTOBER 4, 5:00 AM)

SBMA/CLARK 24 – 33°C METRO MANILA 23 – 33°C

TAGAYTAY CITY 21 – 29°C

OCT 7

TUESDAY

24 – 33°C

23 – 33°C

TUGUEGARAO

24 – 33°C

23 – 33°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 33°C

OCT 8

WEDNESDAY

23 – 31°C

23 – 32°C

TACLOBAN

24 – 31°C

24 – 30°C

23 – 30°C

24 – 32°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

23 – 31°C

23 – 30°C

23 – 31°C

25 – 32°C

25 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

24 – 29°C

23– 30°C

24 – 30°C

SBMA/ CLARK

24 – 33°C

24 – 33°C

24 – 33°C

ZAMBOANGA

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 24 – 32°C

TACLOBAN CITY 24 – 30°C

METRO CEBU 24 – 32°C CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 23 – 32°C ZAMBOANGA CITY 23 – 30°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD

24 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

5:46 AM

5:43 PM

2:17 AM

3:07 PM

LOW TIDE

HIGH TIDE

20 – 29°C

23 – 30°C

HALF MOON FULL MOON

MANILA BAY

OCT 02

3:33 AM

23 – 33°C

23 – 30°C

24 – 32°C

23 – 31°C

23 – 31°C

23 – 30°C

OCT 08

6:51 PM

CELEBES SEA

6:23 AM

1.02 METER

Cloudy skies with rainshowers and/or thunderstorms SEP 24

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

2:33 PM

0.07 METER

Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers and/or thunderstorms

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

METRO DAVAO 24 – 32°C

OCT 8

WEDNESDAY

23 – 31°C

16 – 24°C

LEGAZPI

OCT 7

TUESDAY

24 – 31°C

16 – 24°C

20 – 29°C

OCT 6

MONDAY

24 – 32°C

16 – 24°C

21 – 30°C

Main factors of lower inflation expectations include lower rise in food prices, favorable base effects and drop in petroleum prices.

“Aside from favorable base effects, lower electricity charges along with month-on-month drops in food and petroleum prices could lead to a sharp deceleration in the headline print,” Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) economist Emilio Neri Jr. told the BusinessMirror.

Neri forecasted inflation to hit 4.2 percent in September.

“The impact of Typhoon Mario may have not have been as severe as Glenda’s impact on food supply,” he added.

ING Bank economist Joey Cuyegkeng said he is hopeful that an efficient rice importation program of the government could help ease price pressures on the staple food.

“Base effects on a positive note is likely to kick in soon. And this would likely confirm that we have seen the peak of inflation,” Cuyegkeng said, adding he sees inflation hitting 4.6 percent for September.

With lower inflation expectations in September this year, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. economist Trinh Nguyen said that the country’s monetary board will likely pause from its tightening cycle in the upcoming October 23 meeting.

“We expect easing inflation to give the BSP space to pause at the October meeting,” Nguyen said. He sees inflation hitting 4.4 percent for September.

Meanwhile, Security Bank economist Patrick Ella sees inflation hitting 5 percent, while First Metro Investments Corp. Senior Vice President Reynaldo Montalbo Jr. said inflation likely hit 4.5 percent. Barclays economist Rahul Bajoria sees inflation at 4.6 percent.

The Philippine Statistics Authority is expected to release the actual September inflation numbers on Tuesday.

METRO CEBU

LEGAZPI CITY 23 – 32°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 24 – 31°C

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

BAGUIO

TAGAYTAY

continued from A1

lion through 2030. The road map was laid out by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, who said around P539 billion must be invested in traffic infrastructure beginning 2014 up to 2016, and another P1.52 trillion must be invested from 2017 to 2022. The biggest investment requirement was seen in the period 2023 to 2030, costing at least P2.69 trillion.

These investments, the agency said, will translate to a reduction in transport fares and reduced travel time, resulting in gains and savings.

If the measures laid out by the Japanese consultants were not realized, the country is set to lose some P6 billion a day in productivity losses. Currently, the Philippines is said to be losing some P2.4 billion daily due to the gridlock around the country’s major arteries.

Some of the proposals in the road map are currently being undertaken by the private sector and the State under the Aquino administration’s key infrastructure thrust.

So far, the government has awarded eight PPP deals since the flagship infrastructure program was launched in 2010, involving: the P2.01-billion Daang HariSouth Luzon Expressway; the P16.42-billion first phase of the PPP School Infrastructure Program (PSIP); the P15.68-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway; the P3.86-billion PSIP Phase II; P5.69-billion Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center; the P17.5-billion Mactan Cebu International Airport New Passenger Terminal; the P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System; and the P64.9billion Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension.

METRO DAVAO

TUGUEGARAO CITY 24 – 33°C BAGUIO CITY 16 – 23°C

OCT 6

MONDAY

METRO MANILA

LAOAG

LAOAG CITY 24 – 32°C

Inflation...

continued from A1

billion); Bacolod Airport (P20.3 billion); and Iloilo Airport (P30.4 billion).

All of these air hub deals are still awaiting the approval of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board, which is chaired by President Aquino.

In the rail sector, the government has started the bidding for the operations and maintenance of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2, which runs from Santolan in Pasig to Recto in Manila. The winning concessionaire will also run the extension of the line to Masinag in Antipolo, which is expected to be completed by the time President Aquino bows out from office in 2016.

The agency is currently reviewing the draft feasibility study of the LRT Line 1 Dasmariñas Extension whose indicative cost has yet to be formally announced.

The DOTC, according to the document, is also nearing the completion of the feasibility study for the P176.7-billion North-South Commuter Railway, which is an 89.7-kilometer mass-transport system that will run along the tracks of the dilapidated Philippine National Railways.

Also, the department is also set to complete the feasibility study of the P135-billion Mass Transit Loop, a 12-kilometer underground railway that will link the central business districts of the cities of Makati, Pasay and Taguig.

The study on the possibility of setting up a ferry system along network of the Manila Bay, Pasig River, and the Laguna Lake is also nearing completion.

The approval of the Neda Board is also being sought for the P19.3-billion Motor Vehicle Inspection System deal, and the

continued from A1

n August manufacturing: In the latest Business Expectation Survey, firms in the country see increase in orders of products toward the end of the year, leading to higher volume of production. Likewise, the central bank said demand indicators point to robust real sector activity and other indices pointing to continuous production.

Laguna...

PPP...

continued from A1

news@businessmirror.com.ph

@PanahonTV

EconomySunday

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

BusinessMirror

Sunday, October 5, 2014 A3

Mining firms told: Adhere to transparency initiative

A

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco | Correspondent

ROMAN Catholic bishop and his priests on Friday said that mining companies should be open for scrutiny by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) as they call for increased transparency regarding the revenue and the activities of mining companies in Surigao del Sur in eastern Mindanao.

Fr. Emmanuel Dumadag, president of Tandag diocesan clergy, said EITI is a coalition of governments, companies and civil-society groups working together to ensure transparency in the revenue col-

lected from the mining industries and foster its proper use.

In the Philippines, the civil-society group Bantay Kita is spearheading the move to make the country part

of the coalition. “…We challenge the mining industry to subject all its operators and members under the terms of this monitoring institution,” Dumadag said in a statement.

The priest’s statement was approved and signed by Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar, former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

“Indeed, if the mining industry will truly be valuable, then it must first be beneficial to the people to whom the minerals belong,” Dumadag said in an article posted on CBCP’ conference of the Philippines web site.

“If mining is inevitable, let it bring peace, justice and development to the people, both today and tomorrow, as a sign of its real progress,” he added.

The clergy also reiterated strong opposition against mining and their concern over the risk it posed to the communities where most of the people rely on farming

and fishing as their livelihood.

“What will be left for the next generations? Where can they access safe water?

How can they fish and farm when everything is destroyed already in the name of the present-day profit? What happens to the gift of God’s creation for all?” he asked.

He added: “In solidarity with other mining-affected communities in our country, we cringe as we foresee extreme difficulties ahead if the current mining continues to operate in our province.”

He also said that the supposed benefits of mining—jobs and local revenues—are only temporary compared to its “irreversible” impact to the environment and the affected communities.

“Its social cost clearly outweighs the benefits it outwittingly preaches. The damage is immediate and fast. Its effect is irreversible,” Dumadag said adding that “the ones who benefit the most are not the people but the very few capitalists.”

Bill creating e-money for Internet trade pushed

A

LAWMAKER recently filed a bill creating electronic money (emoney) as a medium of exchange for use on the Internet and all other electronic and nonelectronic means of communications.

House Bill 4914, authored by Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Kimi Cojuangco of Pangasinan, provides that the e-peso shall be recognized as the electronic legal tender and shall be available in all banks operating the country.

The bill provides that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) shall explore and study the technology of “bitcoin and post bitcoin cryptocurrencies” to expand the knowledge base, which it

will use in deciding what technology to use in e-peso.

The BSP will also choose a system that uses peer to peer processing of the log chain and shall exert its utmost to leverage existing hardware being used by the other leading cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, it added.

The measure also said the BSP shall mandate all bank branches to dedicate at least one computer with adequate technical specification to serve as a local peer.

An initial amount equivalent to 1 percent of the total amount of Philippine currency in circulation shall be minted by the BSP within one year from the enactment

of the proposed act.

In her explanatory note, Cojuangco said there is an urgent need to enact the proposed e-Peso Act of 2014 since there is no official medium of exchange or money for the Internet.

“What exists is a patchwork of methods using traditional credit systems, which act in place of money on the Internet. The epeso is the electronic equivalent to the paper peso,” he said.

T h e l aw m a k e r added t he e-peso

Peanut power A budding entrepreneur displays her peanut butter products carrying the brand name EHJE’s Crunchy Peanut Butter

at a recent product fair in Pasay City. She sells her peanut butter products between P85 and P110, which is considerably cheaper than leading brands. JENZINE ALCANTARA

Snacks a source of nutrition among Filipinos–Nielsen

M

OST Filipinos turn to snacks as a source of nutrition, according to the latest global survey conducted by Nielsen Philippines.

Nielsen said around 74 percent of Filipino respondents said they consume snacks as a source of nutrition, in contrast to their counterparts in other Southeast Asian countries.

Data showed that Indonesians, Malaysians, Singaporeans and Vietnamese rank enjoyment as the foremost reason for snacking, while eight out of 10 Thai consumers or 79-percent snack to satisfy a craving.

“Consistent with their demand for nutrition, Filipinos look for beneficial ingredients, rating fiber as the most important attribute in the snacks they eat [63 percent],” Nielsen said.

It added that this is the reason 56 percent of Filipinos surveyed said they prefer snacks that contain natural ingredients. Around 54 percent of those Filipinos surveyed said they also prefer snacks with natural flavors.

In addition, Nielsen said Filipinos are the most envi-

ronmentally conscious snack consumers along with the Vietnamese. “More than half of Filipino respondents say that it is very important that snacks include ingredients that are organic and 40 percent prefer the uses local herbs.

Close to half of Vietnamese consumers [45 percent] say sustainable sourcing is important,” Nielsen said.

The report added that global consumers spent $374 billion on snack foods annually between 2013 and 2014, a year-over-year increase of 2 percent, while Europe and North America make up the majority of worldwide snack sales with $167 billion and $124 billion respectively.

Developing nations in Southeast Asia also contributed significantly to the category’s growth at a rate of 3.6 percent year-on-year.

The Nielsen Global Survey of Snacking polled more than 30,000 online consumers in 60 countries to identify which snacks are most popular around the world and which health, taste and texture attributes are most important in the selection criteria. Cai Ordinario

would be a legal tender and legal payment for debt, taxes, goods and services transacted through the Internet.

Cojuangco said the amount on circulation of the e-peso would be limited to P1 billion in the initial two years. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Office space rent seen to remain stable this year

By Roderick L. Abad

S

TABLE rents for office space are expected to continue even with new leasable area of around 500,000 square meters coming this year, according to Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services Inc. In its October 2014 Market Insight Report, the company said that the majority of the office buildings being constructed have been already pre-committed and contracted for lease.

Vacancy of Premium Grade A and Grade A buildings, it added, is seen to remain below 5 percent in all the major central business districts (CBDs) in the country by end-2014.

The former category will keep on commanding rates to hover about $25, or P1,100 per sq m a month, which is 20 percent lower than rents in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, lease charges for the latter segment in Makati CBD has an average of P765 per sq m per month.

Rental fees in small and old buildings, according to the report, are also competitive across all financial areas.

In Makati City for instance, P550 per sq m is charged on a monthly basis. This is applied also in the Mall of Asia Complex.

Monthly office rent in Ortigas is slightly higher at P575 per sq m; Quezon City, P625 per sq m; and Bonifacio Global City, P800 per sq m.

Still driving the take-up for office spaces is the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry that Pinnacle said accounts for an estimated 80 percent of the demand for the Grade A office spaces.

The BPO sector is projected to hire additional 120,000 employees—breaching the 1-million employee mark—and generate a total of $18-billion revenue for 2014.

By 2016 the industry is expected to absorb 1.3 million full-time employees with $25-billion revenue.

SundayV

Busine

A4 Sunday, October 5, 2014 • Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

Long overdue: A complete transport infrastructure

T

he “Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and Surrounding Areas” was submitted some six months ago by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to the Philippine government. This road map represents what may be our best hope yet for the solution of our intensifying traffic woes and the accelerating deterioration of the quality of life in greater Metropolitan Manila.

Over the next 15 years, the master plan calls for a modern, well-integrated and coordinated affordable transport system for the greater National Capital Region, from Pampanga province to Batangas province.

The system will consist of new ground and elevated roads, upgraded existing roads, railways, subways, airports and seaports, all linked together in an efficient transportation network. Near-term components are for execution in the years surrounding 2016, while the medium- and longer-term components are for completion by 2020 and 2030, respectively.

The total funding required seems mind-boggling, approaching P10 trillion.

But this is a realistic amount when shared by both the private and public sector during the 15-year implementation period. In the words of Jica, the plan is eminently “doable.”

What will be the impact of this transport infrastructure once completed?

In general terms, completion would mean, for the country as a whole, a jump from near the bottom of the transport-system quality of countries around the world to the near top. For the commuting public, it could mean “goodbye” to traffic congestion, emotional stress and much of our air pollution. For our poorer families and for households in blighted communities, it would mean partial liberation from the man-made misfortunes of daily life.

In money terms, completion would mean savings amounting hundreds of billions of pesos in current losses due to traffic congestion; expenditures arising from air pollution; and gains in trillions worth of increased output and production, including salaries. An important additional benefit that we do not often consider in speaking of better transportation is that new towns may develop and old towns will grow, as access to and from the center becomes more viable and easier.

In other words, there will be a tremendous and undeniable gain for the nearby regions affected, and for the country as a whole.

That is the good news. The better news is that President Aquino approved the master plan in June. The best news is that the implementation has started, at last. We now call on the Department of Transportation and Communications, the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to move forward. We can hardly wait.

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Take the forfeiture case that the PCGG finally won involving the assets of former National Bureau of Investigation Director Jolly Bugarin, which include pieces of property in North Greenhills in San Juan City, Valle Verde in Pasig City and Capitol Hills in Quezon City; and the suit to recover United Coconut Planters

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HERE is a lot of talk—and a petition—on the Internet about “the naked truth” that clothing company Bench (named after owner Ben Chan) had revealed with its hugely popular fashion show, which had ruffled the feathers of a lot of people, especially women.

According to the online petition, a female model wearing skimpy clothing, walking on all fours like a dog and on a leash held by actor Coco Martin, who had played her “master”, is dehumanizing.

What has caught the attention of the petition’s creators, however, is that the apology posted by Bench on its Facebook page was withdrawn in less than a day without explanation.

That has generated a lot of discussion, with some saying that Bench should not be faulted for the wild-animals storyline that the show organizer adopted, and that it’s not Chan’s fault that a scantily clad model was put on a leash and acting like an animal while on the runway.

It’s a tough call: Should the petition’s creators and supporters boycott Bench products if the company refuses to formally promise that such trivialization of women would not happen again, especially since the fashion show violated provisions of the Magna Carta for Women? And then there’s the threat from San Francisco, California-based Change. org, which hosts the petition, that Bench, which manufactures its products in China, would be haled to court. When that happens, how long would the court case last? Read below and cry—or, rather, bellow some more.

Gospel

Sunday, October 5, 2014

‘H

Bank (UCPB) shares issued in the names of Eduardo M. Cojuangco Jr. and his nominees.

PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista, former dean of the law school of Far Eastern University, said it took 27 years before Bugarin’s assets could be transferred to the government—the same number of years that it took for the government to recover the majority shares in UCPB, which used to be First United Bank, wherein the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) bought a 72.2-percent controlling stake. The PCA used the proceeds from the coco levy that was the focal point of a Supreme Court (SC) ruling that says only the government, not a private entity, could collect taxes.

The SC voided the transfer of the UCPB shares to Cojuangco and other nominees with finality in October 2013, declaring that the shares “belong to the plaintiff Republic of the Philippines as their true and beneficial owner.”

Boracay’s Atis get water connection

BORACAY’S indigenous people, the Atis, are now the beneficiaries of a 24/7 water connection, thanks to the combined efforts of Boracay Water and the Manila Water Foundation.

With this water connection, the Atis would no longer need to line up at a lone standpipe and fill their buckets with the water they need.

The water connection will benefit

ear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his

188 individuals from 30 households.

According to one beneficiary, Evangeline Tamboon, this connection would eliminate the challenge of availing themselves of water every day, as well as the need for Atis to pay exorbitant fees so they could get water from the lone standpipe. Now, they can be assured of potable water in their very own homes, thanks to the water firms’ Lingap Para sa Katutubo program.

This project was made possible by Boracay Water, a company formed through the partnership of Manila Water and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority in 2009. It provides water and water services in Boracay, Malay town, Aklan province, particularly in its three barangays: Manoc-manoc, Balabag and Yapak.

Monstrous traffic jams

PEOPLE vented their frustrations on social media over the thunderstorm-caused monstrous traffic jams on Wednesday and Thursday night. People had to queue for the buses that were available on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, España Avenue and other major thoroughfares because many of Metro Manila’s streets were flooded.

The traffic jams were so bad, it took some people two hours to travel 5 kilometers. For others, it took more than that. Maybe it’s time to really look at the traffic problem, for it wastes so much time, energy and money.

inheritance.’ And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures: The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”— Matthew 21:33-43

Voices

essMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph • Sunday, October 5, 2014 A5

Black is black I Free Fire

By Teddy Locsin Jr.

N a recent piece on The Huffington Post, Charlotte Alfred wrote that, “on the night of April 14, 2014, hundreds of schoolgirls at the Chibok Boarding School in Nigeria awoke to the sound of gunfire. They saw men in camouflage approaching and thought soldiers were coming to save them from a militant attack.”

Instead, to their horror, the schoolgirls—more than 270 of them—found themselves in the slimy paws of the Islamist group Boko Haram, which announced that it would sell the girls into slavery once it is tired of them. The West erupted in outrage, but that was six months ago. In the days following the attack, 57 girls escaped on their own; none of the rest have escaped since.

A Nigerian officer said he knew where the girls were held; he was ignored. A few months ago, United States surveillance spotted what may have been the girls; nothing came out of it. An Australian cleric brokered a deal to free the girls, but it fell apart three times. He claimed that Nigerian officials had almost certainly sabotaged it, and accused them of funding Boko Haram. Why? Because they believed in its leader’s cause of fundamentalist child sex slavery—or he gets girls for them.

It’s almost certainly the latter, as I knew a Nigerian at Harvard who walked around with an ivory-handled cane, which he didn’t need and which he only used as a fashion statement. He had the temerity to stand up in the Massachussetts Institute of Technology auditorium one night to question novelist V.S. Naipaul’s integrity as a critic of Third World Islamic countries because he wrote and spoke in impeccable English. The Nigerian himself spoke with a British accent. Naipaul answered that his brilliant gifts of thinking

and expression had been painstakingly acquired and that, having descended so far down the tree where the Nigerian people were still dangling, he would not reverse his evolution by going back up it.

The auditorium erupted in laughter. The Nigerian fled; f------ monkey.

Nigeria initially refused international help, but the US sent 80 special-force units in May. Canada, France, Israel and the United Kingdom also sent their special forces. Six weeks later the Pentagon announced a pullback. Meanwhile, the town from which the girls were taken continues to confront the threat of an attack from Boko Haram, which has taken five more towns. The group has kidnapped three more groups of girls and killed 2,100 people.

The dead included parents of the kidnapped girls, so that puts them out of their anxiety.

After they were ordered to fight Boko Haram, 600 Nigerian soldiers fled to Cameroon. The Nigerian army called it a special maneuver; we call it throwing the fight. The one thing the Nigerian military is good at is violating human rights. Evidence has emerged that countless civilians have been falsely accused of having links to Boko Haram and tortured—and butchered, when they did not cough up the money for their release.

Meanwhile the Nigerian government has paid a white-trash Washington public-relations firm $1.2 million to put a good face on a really ugly situation.

This is why, our alliance with America notwithstanding, we cannot risk having Washington broker any peace with China; we are bound to be sold downriver.

Despite its infinitely superior firepower, the West will not rescue the girls or punish Boko Haram for two reasons: 1) Nigeria has oil contracts with the West; and 2) the girls are black.

“These friends of yours [who donated money to build the P11million ‘White House’ in Camp Crame], they are not doing that out of the goodness of their hearts. As long as you are in office, they know that they will get something.”

—Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, interrogating embattled Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Alan Purisima during a Senate hearing on September 30. “White House” is the nickname given to the PNP chief’s new official residence, which he accepted from those close to him without seeing the construction plans for the house and without following correct procedure.

Read this column ASAP or immediately

By Reg Henry

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)

A

S one who works in a word factory and takes a proprietary interest in the preservation of the raw material, my subject today is the attack of the killer acronyms.

Everywhere you go, acronyms are serving where honest words were once employed.

How did this happen? It used to be that a person had to go into the military, also known as the DOD, to encounter acronyms in brigade strength.

Perhaps, because of a shortage of Navajo code-talkers, the DOD continues to add to its vast store of acronyms in order to confuse the enemy and civilians. Even bad words have acronyms among those who serve, an enduring source of pride to veterans everywhere.

So when someone is at a FOB eating an MRE, temporarily safe from

IEDs and contemplating SNAFUs, he or she can long for the day when discharge comes and the weary warrior can use actual words once again.

No such luck. The DOD may be the acronym producer-in-chief, but other government bureaucracies have played their part in turning the English language into alphabet soup.

Many states have their departments of transportation, which they call DOT and adorn with something else in a futile attempt to make the agencies more cozy-sounding. In Pennsylvania we have PennDOT, and never mind that this bureaucracy isn’t a dot, but a huge glob of government that makes nobody feel cozy down at the DMV. It isn’t just public servants who sling the acronyms. Business, nonprofit and academic circles are also fond of using letters when words might do. But, perhaps, the greatest boost to the acronym industry was the invention of smartphones

to dumb down communication. Text messages and tweets are fast becoming completely incomprehensible to the technologically unsavvy, i.e., me. If you don’t believe me, all I can say is LOL. Careful readers—or, as we know them in my trade, PPBs or Perfect Pains in the Butt—will recognize that a distinction can be made between acronyms and initialisms, which are spoken as initials—not as actual-sounding words, such as Sonar (the military again). Thus, IRS is pronounced only as the initials for what it stands for—the Infernal Revenue Service.

In regard to this careful distinction, I have decided to go AWOL and treat all acronyms, however arrayed, as the common enemy of words. So there.

And now it is time for pet peeves.

The trouble with pets is that, every so often, the pet owner must take his peeves out for a walk, and it’s no dif-

ferent for dogs than acronyms. You don’t have to have a STEM education to know this.

Ah, STEM education. Apparently, a law exists that every discussion of education must now include the acronym STEM. I hope I do not have to explain to you what this stands for, because, if so, this lack of knowledge has already doomed your offspring for generations hence. Having not focused on math and science and stuff, they will have to flip burgers or, worse yet, work at newspapers.

I can’t stress enough how important STEM education is. It’s just that I am sick of hearing the acronym.

Is there not a word—modern, advanced, epoch-creating—that could be deployed in the service of the idea?

Now I turn sadly to the acronym LGBT, which refers to a community I have been highly supportive of for years. Yet, whenever I hear LGBT, I think of a BLT sandwich. Forgive me.

It is not prejudice; it is the power of

bacon. Now more initials have been added to the acronym, which has become LGBTQIA in some circles. It’s as if a mad Scrabble player has been put in charge of a cause.

Does nobody realize that acronyms essentially dehumanize the people they cover, which is the last thing this group wants or deserves?

Could not one word work for all? My recommendation is that, if a suitable English word is not available, someone should call up the French, who have a word for everything.

Members of ISIS, IS or ISIL have arrived predehumanized on the world scene and they terrorize us with several acronyms. Are there not a few words for the whole wretched bunch? Surely the word “sadists” has not lost its power. “Vicious demented fools” has a nice ring to it, too.

Attack of the killer acronyms. It’s getting to the stage where Americans will have to go to classes in English as a foreign acronym just to get by.

Regarding political differences, just blame biology

By Cynthia M. Allen Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TNS)

I

N an age of heightened political correctness, the suggestion that a person’s political orientation might be related to physiology, genes or brain development would probably be considered gauche, if not wholly offensive.

One isn’t born with a propensity to be liberal or conservative. Such beliefs have long been thought to be wholly within human control; formulated over time, influenced by those we encounter, animated by persona l e x per iences and solidified (one would hope) by thoughtful consideration.

Humans are nothing if not rational creatures, after all.

Or are they?

It may be that, even when it comes to politics, people are less the products of their environments and more the products of their own biology.

This is according to a growing body of scientific research—genopolitics or political neuroscience—that sug-

gests exactly that.

“Politics might not be in our souls, but it probably is in our DNA,” wrote John R. Hibbing, Kevin B. Smith and John R. Alford, three political scientists (two from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and one from Rice University) in a study published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

That postulation is not entirely novel; it’s largely consistent with the finding of a 2012 University of South Carolina study, which concluded that “Democrats and Republicans are hard-wired differently and may be naturally inclined to hold varying, if not opposing, perceptions and values.”

Similarly, a 2013 study published in the journal PLOS ONE, suggested that self-identified liberals and conservatives engage different cognitive processes when facing decisions that involve risk.

The Hibbing study, for which the researchers reviewed a large body of evidence, including studies of brain imaging and eye activity, as well as some of their own experiments,

found that people who identify as conservatives possess a “negativity bias.”

And no—that does not mean that conservatives are more prejudiced.

Such a bias presents itself in the much stronger reactions to negative stimuli (usually images of horrific or disturbing things) displayed by conservatives, and is believed to support the underpinnings of traditionally conservative ideology—a desire for order, stability and security.

The comparatively more limited reaction to aversive stimuli exhibited by liberals is consistent with the sense that they are more open to new experiences, and more likely to avoid conflict and harm.

Oddly enough, in spite of their tendency to be more attuned to the dangers of the world, conservatives are consistently happier individuals than their counterparts. Liberals, take note.

The findings of Hibbing and his coauthors are largely supported by others in the field. Along with their report, they published 26 peer com-

What is so striking about their research, though, is the notion that, in spite of the stark political disparities that have existed since the formulation of human society, there seems to be a certain natural balance to political differences.

While political paradigms are in constant flux, the idea the people might naturally favor one ideology over another suggests that political diversity has value and exists for good reason. mentary articles (and their responses to them), most of which accept their general finding.

And, unlike most politically motivated people, Hibbing and his cohorts are careful not to make value judgments about their conclusions.

They cite good evolutionary reasons to possess a strong negativity bias—particularly during epochs, when heightened threat awareness was critical to survival. (Recent events suggest such a bias may not

be without its value in modern times, either.) But too much vigilance, they suggest, can also be an impediment to progress, something that liberals argue to this day.

What is so striking about their research, though, is the notion that, in spite of the stark political disparities that have existed since the formulation of human society, there seems to be a certain natural balance to political differences.

While political paradigms are in constant flux, the idea the people might naturally favor one ideology over another suggests that political diversity has value and exists for good reason.

It’s also a reminder of how, despite our regular attempts to defy or circumvent nature, we are often beholden to it and frequently limited by our own biology.

So conservatives, go easy on your liberal brethren, and liberals, give your conservative colleagues the benefit of the doubt.

After all, their political affiliation may not be their fault.

NewsSunday

A6 Sunday, October 5, 2014 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Group to Aquino: Stop coddling Purisima

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By Marvyn N. Benaning | Correspondent

HE Bayan Muna party-list group has expressed disgust at the continuing defense of the National Police chief, Director General Alan Purisima, by President Aquino adding that he is blocking any inquiry into Purisima’s alleged unexplained wealth.

Former Party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna, also argued that such exoneration by Mr. Aquino would blunt any investigation into Purisima’s alleged commission of graft.

“The revelations about Purisima’s millions worth of undeclared or undervalued properties, plus the controversy over the White House mansion donated by his contractor-friends, bring to light many similar practices of police officials who use their positions of power to unjustly and illegally enrich themselves at the expense of their sworn duties,” Casiño stressed.

Now the spokesman for Bayan Muna, Casiño said, “If the Presi-

CASIÑO: “But by prematurely exonerating Purisima and coming to his defense, the President once again sends the message that Aquino loyalists are protected at all cost from being held accountable for their

dent is truly serious in getting to the truth and holding wrongdoers to account, he should immediately

relieve Purisima of his position and order him to at least take a leave of absence to allow authorities to establish the facts and pursue the appropriate charges against the National Police chief.”

Casiño advised Mr. Aquino to stop acting as apologist for his underlings.

“But by prematurely exonerating Purisima and coming to his defense, the President once again sends the message that Aquino loyalists are protected at all cost from being held accountable for their wrongdoings,” he added.

“We recall the case of then-Armed Forces comptroller, Gen. Carlos Gar-

cia, and his budget officer Col. George Rabusa who were immediately relieved of their positions when the story about Garcia’s son’s $100,000 stash in the US broke out in the media.

Both were eventually issued preventive suspension orders and detained by the military,” Casiño said.

“The Purisima case can be the start of a thoroughgoing campaign to cleanse the PNP [Philippine National Police] and rid it of scalawags from top-to-bottom. But that will only happen if the President himself stops coddling Purisima and allows truth and justice to seek take their due course,” he added.

Lawmaker calls on Chinoys to be pro-active in combating kidnap-for-ransom gangs

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

T

HE Filipino-Chinese community should be more proactive in the campaign against kidnapping, a lawmaker said over the weekend.

Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela City also reminded Chinoys to take precautionary steps not to fall victim to kidnap gangs.

He issued the statement following the reported upsurge in kidnapping cases involving Filipino-Chinese, who appear to be a favorite target among syndicates.

“We cannot rely to the police too much because they are undermanned and under equipped. The FilipinoChinese communities have no choice but to strengthen their own support groups. These groups can discuss and brainstorm various methods in preventing KFR’s [kidnap-for-ransom] from happening in their own communities. Coordination and liaising with local government units is also very vital in fighting criminality,” said Gatchalian, a former three-term mayor of Valenzuela City, where many Chinoys have been kidnapped in the past.

“Chinoys constitute only 1.2 percent of the population but they, nevertheless are the kidnappers’ ‘victims of choice.’ Recorded Chinoy KFR cases: 18 in 2012; 26 in 2013; 28 as of August 2014. And the numbers keep rising,” he said, citing a report from

Animal blessing

Roman Catholic priest Fr. Benjie Ledesma sprinkles holy water to pet owners and their pet animals after officiating a Mass to highlight the commemoration of World Animal Day at the Manila Zoo compound in Malate, Manila, on Friday. Also among the “blessed” animals was a resident baby crocodile (left photo). PNA

the Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order (MRPO) headed

by Teresita Ang-See. Among the most recent KFR victims was a 69-year-old owner of an umbrella factory, Benito Chao, who was abducted in Caloocan City on the night of August 27. The next evening, an MRPO leader received

a text message: Chao had been found dead in Santa Maria, Bulacan, shot through the head. After Chao, three more KFRs incidents were committed against Chinoys on August 31.

“They should be proactive and this includes the employment of close-in security, the avoidance of

Solon calls for propagation of bamboo, rattan to fight climate change

D

eforested lands in the country may be rehabilitated soon with bamboo and rattan plants to help mitigate the illeffects of climate change.

Rep. Linabelle Ruth R. Villarica of the Fourth District of Bulacan said studies have shown that growing bamboo can reduce the sensitivity of ecosystems and help rehabilitate degraded lands.

Villarica filed House Bill 4965, which provides for an Integrated National Bamboo and Rattan Development Program (INBRDP) and establishes the Philippine Bamboo and Rattan Centers.

She said, as provided under the bill, it is the policy of the State to promote a program to achieve environmental equilibrium and

ecological awareness through the conduct of scientific and technological studies on the application and utility of bamboo and rattan.

One of the objectives of the INBRDP is the propagation of high-quality, genetically superior planting stocks through biotechnology to reduce losses caused by pest and diseases.

Another is the dispersal or distribution of planting materials to be disposed at nominal amount. This should benefit the small holder farmers and Comprehensive A g ra r i a n R efor m Program beneficiaries.

The production or bamboo farming and/or plantation development and management for backyard and semi-commercial

production and the utilization, processing and marketing, including high-value product development, are just among the objectives of the program.

Likewise, training and extension, including technology packaging and transfer; research and technology, as well as socio-economic researches to ensure economic viability and acceptance of technology by farmers, are within the scope of the program.

The INBRDP also calls for the establishment of at least 5 hectares of bamboo setum and 5 hectares of rattan gene bank to ensure the preservation of the existing bamboo and rattan genetic materials in the country and provide option to the farmers. PNA

a set pattern in going to the office and to the school and the bulletproofing of vehicles to those who can afford it,” he said.

Gatchalian said it is important that Chinoys who are potential targets of kidnap gangs make themselves “hard targets” by employing such proactive measures

and reliance on the Philippine National Police for protection should be the last thing that Chinoys should do.

“If Chinoys have the resources, it is best that they use it to make themselves hard targets for kidnappers since these lawless elements prefer the easy ones as this

involves lesser risk for their group,” the lawmaker said.

Earlier, Gatchalian has filed a bill requiring the registration of all prepaid SIM cards since it has been an open secret that criminal elements have been using untraceable SIM cards to ply their illicit activities, including kidnapping.

Puregold to hold 1st KAINdustriya Convention

A

fter 11 years of successfully holding Aling Puring Convention for sari-sari store owners, retail giant Puregold will now hold the First KAINdustriya Convention to gather food entrepreneurs.

In a news statement, Puregold said the K AINdustriya Convention will gather over 10,000 caterers, canteen, hotel and even karinderya entrepreneurs on October 14 and 15 at the World Trade Center’s Tent Area in Pasay City to highlight the role of food entrepreneurs in the local economic growth and further help them to expand their businesses.

“These food resellers stir the local economy through their businesses.

They rely on supplies from within

their own localities and even generate jobs in their communities,” Puregold Merchandising Director Vincent Co. said.

“They also provide nourishment to the country’s work force—laborers, office workers, even executives who may not have the time to prepare meals on their own but look to enjoy Filipino homecooking while at work, perhaps during lunch break, merienda or dinner,” he added.

Puregold welcomes small- and medium-scale food entrepreneurs in the convention, who may take advantage of free seminars from food-business experts like RJ Ledesma and Anton Diaz of Mercato Centrale, the organizer of Manila’s most popular night food markets.

Aside from seminars, the convention will also have cooking demonstrations by renowned chefs, trade showcase, and Puregold will offer discounted prices of food retail products.

“It will be two days of kita, kain and kabuhayan for our neighborhood chefs. Through this event, we hope to foster a sense of community among our food entrepreneurs and inspire them to bring their business to another level,” Co said.

Puregold will also hold food seminars, cooking demos and contests in several Puregold branches, including QI Central, Parañaque and Valenzuela in Metro Manila; Cainta Junction in Rizal; Meycauayan in Bulacan; and Dau in Pampanga. PNA

Medal of Valor awardees left unrewarded, Party-list legislators say

T

WO party-list lawmakers are seeking an investigation into the delayed issuance of the implementing rules of Republic Act (RA) 9049 enacted 13 years ago that grants monthly gratuity and privileges to Medal of Valor awardees.

House Resolution 1442, authored

by Party-list Reps. Francisco Ashley Acedillo and Gary Alejano of Magdalo, said that RA 9049, or “An Act Granting Monthly Gratuity and Privileges to an Awardee of the Medal of Valor,” which according to them undermines the implementation of the provisions of the law,

provides Medal of Valor awardees with adequate social services and financial rewards in recognition of their exceptional bravely.

It said that the Medal of Valor is the highest award that may be given to a Filipino soldier in recognition of his or her act of gallantry above and beyond the call of duty and in total disregard of one’s safety.

According to Acedillo and Alejano, a House inquiry will enable the appropriate House committee to revisit RA 9049, which was enacted on March 22, 2001, and identify the necessary amendments

to afford awardees of the Medal of Valor the proper recognition and support for them.

“The rewards provided under the law also serve to encourage men and women in the military to perform heroic deeds for their country,” Acedillo said. He added many of the awardees, however, claim that they do not enjoy the full benefits of the law.

He cited a news report wherein Medal of Valor awardees asserted that they are not enjoying the full benefits of RA 9049 because of lack of awareness with regard to the provisions of the law.

“Due to lack of awareness, many awardees and their dependents have had to bring a copy of RA 9049, the awardees’ Medal of Valor citations and birth certificates with them to prove they are entitled to the privileges stated in the law,” the lawmaker said.

Under the law, the defense secretary jointly with the secretaries of education, health, transportation and communications and finance and other government agencies shall issue the rules to carry out the objectives of the law.

“This humiliating and diminished repute of RA 9049 may have

been avoided if the rules of the law were issued by the agencies involved in the effective implementation of the Act. The rules would have provided the guidelines and informed the concerned agencies about the proper implementation of what is stated in the law,” added Acedillo, an Air Force officer.

Alejano, meanwhile, said there is a need to find out the reasons behind the blatant delay, if not inaction, of the different government agencies involved in the crafting of the implementing rules of RA 9049, which undermined the purpose of the law

in recognizing the sacrifices made by the awardees.

Alejano said on the part of the awardees, they have proposed that their present P20,000 monthly gratuity pay be raised.

Section 2 of RA 9049 provides that adjustments in the lifetime monthly gratuity pay may be done in consideration of applicable economic and social factors such as inflation rate, and that such adjustments may be done within three years following the effectivity of the Act and no oftener than once every five years.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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

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Government eyes expansion of sugar-cane areas in Negros

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

HE Departments of Agrarian Reform and Agriculture through the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) are eyeing the planting of sugar cane in more area in Negros provinces to help increase the country’s sugar production.

The strategy is to form more sugarblock farms to encourage farmers to venture into sugarcane, says Helen Lobaton, SRA focal person for sugar block-farming in the Visayas.

The SRA in the Visayas has identified some 2,000 hectares in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental as potential areas for expansion.

However, this will require the construction of more farm-to-mill roads to make sugarcane farming economically viable, Lobaton said.

The Visayas contributes around 60 percent of the country’s total sugarcane production. Areas currently planted to sugarcane in the Visayas

is pegged at 273,000 hectares.

Sugar block-farming was introduced in 2012 as a means to help farmers to increase yields and reduce production costs.

Each sugar-block farm will require at least 30 hectares which means pooling together land resources of agrarian reform beneficiaries with small lands averaging 500 square meters.

There are currently 26 sugar block farms in the Visayas, which covers Regions 6, 7 and 8 covering a total of 1,130 hectares. So far a total of 1,090 farmers are enrolled under the DARDA-SRA sugar convergence initiative, Lobaton said.

The DAR provides common service facilities such as farm tractors to those enrolled in the program through their Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, while DA and SRA conducts training to enhance the capability of farmers in sugarcane plantation management.

So far, 22 of the 26 sugar block farms have benefited from such government support.

Aside from 26 sugar block farms covered by the DAR-DA-SRA partnership, the SRA has identified 79 potential sugar block farms in the Visayas.

These sugar block farm covers a total of 4960 hectares, Lobaton added.

“These potential sugar block farms are already existing but needs intervention to increase farmers’ incomes through better yields and lower production costs,” she said.

So far, the SRA has provided 20 on-site trainings in the Visayas to help enhance farmers’ skills in managing their sugarcane plantations, Doreta de los Santos, manager for research and development extension department of SRA said.

The SRA is into technology transfer to improve productivity of small farms in the Visayas, de los Santos said.

Under the DAR-DA-SRA sugarblock farm initiative, the target is to

increase production to 75 tons per hectare. The Visayas sugarcane production average is 62 tons to 64 tons per hectare. The Visayas contributes about 60 percent of the country’s total production with its 273,000 hectares planted to sugarcane.

Research and development says de los Santos, will further increase the region’s potential to push up exports to the world market.

“After harvesting, we conduct GPS mapping, soil testing and analysis so that we can apply the right amount of fertilizer or pesticide,” she said.

SRA is also supplying sugarcane farmers with planting materials developed through research and development by SRA research specialists.

The varieties the SRA is providing farmers for reasonable cost are high-yielding and already free or resistant to two of any major diseases known to affect sugarcane production in the Visayas.

Through the right technology, and with farmers having the resources to adopt the technology we developed, which are tested in our demo farms, we are hoping to come up with better yields not only in terms of quantity, but also in terms of purity or quality of the sugarcane,” she said.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

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Malacañang explores ways to tackle war scars in Moro Mindanao

By Manuel T. Cayon Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CITY—Malacañang has formed a commission to explore creative ways to handle the scars left by several decades of fighting in Moro areas.

Presidential Peace Adviser, Teresita Deles, told reporters here that a commission to formulate approaches to tackle issues, like victims of human rights and years of sporadic displacement and loss of properties was recently formed. “ The commission is handling this transitional justice issue that may not tread along the lines of only compensation and persecution of those who committed the abuses,” Deles said, after attending a meeting of a proadministration group at the Ateneo de Davao University.

The Transitional Justice Reconciliation Commission is part of the normalization component in the peace process in Mindanao.

“It’s a process of healing

the wounds of war. The commission would work toward evaluating what scars are left behind the decades of war in Mindanao,” she said.

Government Chief negotiator, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer revealed the creation of the commission in August while the two panels were putting up the finishing touches of the basic law before it was submitted to Congress last month.

Ferrer said that the commission was doing the rounds of consultation and brainstorming to find out the workable discussion points.

A participant in these meetings disclosed that the discussions tackled the sensitive nature of the issue.

“It is more exploratory...putting ideas in the table, and extrapolating what issues may also arise,” he said on condition of anonymity.

The source, a member of a religious-ran university, said other participants in the discussions were also persons of local prominence and stature in the peace efforts.

Malampaya program showcased in winning photo at CSR contest

A AS PROMISED

Archbishop Paciano Aniceto of the See of San Fernando, Pampanga, together with representatives of Leonio Land Inc. distribute land titles to 75 more families during the patronal fiesta in Barangay Dolores, Porac, Pampanga.

Sharing dreams with Bajaos

‘B

IYAH na kaw dagbus Samal!”

A local expression that is commonly used to describe someone who looks dirty, filthy or everything unsightly. But, for Party-list Rep. Sitti Djalia TurabinHataman of Anak Mindanao, these few words just utter a matter-offactly about the current condition of country’s ethnic tribes and their people, especially in Mindanao.

“I grew up with this expression. It is often said with utmost discrimination, unapologetic to people made a symbol of such degradation: the Samal, Luwaan or Bajao. If one wrote a dictionary and any of these words is defined as dirty, or lowly or semihuman, perhaps no one will even question it,” said Hataman, concurrent executive director of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos.

Hataman, wife of Autonomous

Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman, is a known advocate of women’s rights in Mindanao. She also leads various nongovernmental organizations that seek to improve people’s lives and advocate human rights of indigenous people in the South.

“From our end in Anak Mindanao, they are our favorite example in lobbying for the Anti-Racial Discrimination bill,” she said, adding that hearing the expression “Biyah na kaw dagbus Samal” became an opportunity to educate and inform, starting with the caution that such racists comment, when the bill becomes a law, is a crime.

Hataman, who hails from Basilan, recalled that her own tipping point came during the distribution of Ramadan packs a few months ago.

While handing out the goods, looking into their eyes, seeing their smiles up

close, she said she saw “the gentlest souls, the purest hearts and the most beautiful people.”

“After the distribution, I shared my thoughts with the Pink and Amin people. We must share the beauty we saw. The world must see the value of the Bajaos, and the Bajao himself or herself must see that value within,” Hataman added.

This activity gave Hataman and her peers an idea to create a campaign that will focus to the needs of the marginalized Bajao communities.

Thus, Focus: Bajao was born.

“Our work had brought us to interactions with and interventions for marginalized sectors, as we journey with them towards the recognition, appreciation and strengthening of their indigenous identity toward empowerment,” Hataman said.

PIONEER ING capacit ybuilding program for coastal communities in Subic proved to be a winning subject in the Sixth Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Photo Competition of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (AmCham).

Sikap or Sanayan sa Ikauunlad ng Kaalamang Pangkabuhayan is a social-investment program by the Malampaya Foundation Inc., captured in a photograph titled Wired for Success submitted by Shell Philippines Exploration, B.V. (SPEX), the operator of the Malampaya gas project.

The photo was adjudged the best in the Livelihood Category, among a total of 116 entries to the prestigious annual competition that seeks to recognize impactful CSR initiatives of AmCham member-organizations in the Philippines.

The photo categories represent six major areas of social and economic development, namely: Environment, Education, Health, Livelihood, Peace and Disaster Risk Management.

Shell Companies in the Philippines (SciP) also submitted several other entries featuring its various CSR programs across the country: the Ganda (Galing at Negosyo Dulot ay Asenso) livelihood program; the Kalsada (Kaligtasan sa Daan) road-safety program; the seminal Movement Against Malaria health program; and Shell’s relief-and-rehabilitation response for the Macatunao fisherman who were victims of Supertyphoon Yolanda late last year.

Sikap offers enterprise development and training on computer

hardware servicing, consumer electronics, housekeeping, and bartending, among other livelihood opportunities.

The program was implemented in October 2013 and has so far benefitted more than 500 residents in Subic, which is the site of the fabrication of the second Malampaya offshore gas platform.

“Sikap is one of Malampaya’s numerous programs that help the Malampaya Project in its goal to leave a positive legacy in the communities where it operates,” said Paulo Gavino, Shell upstream communications manager.

Shell is marking its centennial anniversary in the Philippines this year.

“This award inspires us to continue strengthening our social programs

to uplift the lives of more people as we go through Shell’s next 100 years of doing good and sustainable business in the country and for Filipinos,” Gavino added.

The Malampaya gas project provides up to 30 percent of the country’s electricity needs. It is operated in socially, environmentally and economically responsible ways by SPEX using expertise drawn from Shell’s extensive global experience in deepwater technology and oil and gas exploration and production.

It is also an important aspect of Shell’s commitment as a global leader in power, energy and gas technology to effectively address energy challenges while mitigating environmental impact.

A housewife in Subic, Zambales, learns computer electronics wiring through the Sikap livelihood program of the Malampaya Foundation. The photo is a winning entry in the sixth Corporate Social Responsibility Photo Competition of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines.

Pamalakaya blames BFAR for depletion of ‘ludong’

T

HE Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) blamed the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) for its alleged negligence that led to the near-extinct status of ludong, a freshwater fish that used to thrive in the rivers in Northern Luzon.

Pamalakaya expressed concern as to the possible economic impact of the fishing ban to small fishermen who depend on catching ludong and other fishes in the next three months.

The group issued the statement after catching of ludong was banned for three months in the rivers of Cagayan Valley, Nueva Vizcaya and Abra.

The Bfar said the reason for the fish ban is for conservation and to allow them to multiply during the spawning season.

The ludong is endangered, owing to illegal and destructive fishing.

Pamalakaya Vice Chairman Salvador France said the depletion of ludong is because of the negligence and incompetence of the Bfar.

“The Bfar is also responsible for the dwindling of ludong.

This agency is continuously giving permit to the big private fishing corporations and individuals who are responsible for the illegal modes of fishing like blast fishing, which exhausts the ludong’s population,” France said.

The Pamalakaya official said that, because of the wrong and illegal fishing of those private and big fishing corporations and individuals, the small fishermen are to be affected.

“The small fisherfolk should not be included on the BFAR’s order to ban the catching of ludong. Under Bfar Fisheries Order 31, which prohibits ‘any person, association or corporation to catch, sell, transport and have possession of the fish, the small fishermen are the ones who suffer and not the big fishing corporations,” France said.

The group also added that, if there’s anyone who should subject to the fisheries order, it should only be the big fishing corporations and not the small fishermen.

“Now, the question is: What alternative livelihood and concrete help can the BFAR give to the affected small-fisher folks?” France said. Jonathan L. Mayuga

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

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Sunday, October 5, 2014

www.businessmirror.com.ph

60+ companies keen on ₧122.8-B Laguna Lakeshore Expressway project–Canilao

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

“Following the issuance of the invitation to prequalify to bid and the information memo, we hope to successfully tender the project and get the best deal for both the public and private sector alike. This is the true essence of robust PPP, after all—reasonable returns for the private sector, while ensuring the delivery of effective and high-quality infrastructure projects for the public,” the government official stressed.

The PPP chief vowed to stage a smooth auction as the State has already learned its lessons from the past tenders.

“As we have done in the past, we assure all of you that we are working to make the bidding process as smooth as possible and look forward to seeing the day when this project comes into fruition,” Canilao said.

So far, the multibillion-peso high-standard highway-cum-dike has attracted 22 companies to

fter drumming up support from investors on Friday, the government received an overwhelming response from more than 60 companies that expressed keen interest on participating in the auction for the P122.8-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway-Dike Project, the largest key infrastructure contract to date.

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao said the government is thankful for the “signifi-

cant interest that local and foreign companies have shown to participate in the bidding process” for the infrastructure deal.

Malaysian investment bank lauds BSP’s inflation targeting policy

M

IDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd. said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s (BSP) inflation targeting policy is successful in anchoring inflation expectations.

MIDF said nominal wage growth has gone down and has been recording muted increase in recent years. Inflation is likely to be within the BSP’s target of 4 percent (+/- 1 percent) this year.

“For 2015 and 2016, the BSP is looking at 3 percent [+/- 1 percent], though the risks is tilted toward an upside, with the coming of El Niño, which will affect crop production and prices, and the persistent port congestion that may cause disruptions to supply and push costs higher,” MIDF said.

“Hence, policy for the next 12 to 18 months will continue to be geared toward ‘disinflation,’” it added.

It noted that the BSP believes that the economy is strong enough to absorb the impact of higher interest rates.

“Thus far, the Financial Supervision Division of the BSP believes that real estate has yet to pose risk to financial stability,” it added.

Real-estate prices are more driven by demand on the back of younger demographics profile, with average age of the population at about 23 years old and increasing migration from the other islands into the cities.

The low base factor was also cited as the factor behind the surge in prices in the last one to two years. Nonetheless, supply has also increased in tandem, hence the BSP expects prices to stabilize

formally join the prequalification stage of the bidding.

In August the public-works agency launched the tender of the expressway project that aims to ease traffic flow and to facilitate faster transport of goods and services to and from Metro Manila, Laguna, Batangas and Quezon.

A two-stage bidding system will be implemented for the auction, meaning, bidders must first prequalify on minimum legal, technical and financial requirements as set by the implementing agency. Only prequalified bidders will be permitted to submit their technical and financial offers for the contract.

Documents to prequalify to submit financial and technical proposals should be forwarded on or before October 16.

Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson stressed that the winning consortium must have ex-

perience and expertise in building dams, reclamation, property development, and running toll roads and expressways.

He added that bidders should be able to use new technologies that will make the construction easier, particularly in the aspect of dredging.

For his part, Laguna Lake Development Authority General Manager Juan Romeo Nereus O. Acosta welcomed the construction of the expressway, saying the project will help mitigate the effects of climate change, which severely affects the coastal towns along the Laguna Lake.

“The Philippines is very vulnerable to climate change. There should be flood-mitigation measures in place, especially in the flood-prone areas along the lake,” he said, adding that there are 65 local government units under the jurisdiction of his office that will

Surge of hiring cuts U.S. jobless rate to 5.9 percent

though likely to remain elevated because of the strong demand.

The MIDF research note said overseas Filipino worker (OFW) remittances “have a life of its own.”

The remittances, which reached $23 billion in 2013, are likely to be sustainable, providing funding to current account and that helped to support the exchange rate.

These inflows are more efficient in the sense that they reach out and got distributed widely throughout the provinces, which help support lending activities in rural areas.

OFW remittances help offset the impact of high jobless rate.

However, the country still needs to find balance in exploiting its young demographics and build rising middle-income class.

“The country is striving to move away from the stigma of ‘labor exporter’ and aspires to be a broad-based growth-driven economy to catch up with the other more advanced Asian countries,” it said.

Various law reforms and economic programs to encourage foreign direct investments are testaments to the country’s move to transform itself.

It noted that the recent upgrade in its credit rating, strong performance in the stock market and the success in its PPP programs thus far showed that these measures are welcomed by investors.

OFW remittances and the thriving business-process outsourcing industry contributed significantly to its current account, as well as economic growth. G. Factao

By Christopher S. Rugaber

signs point toward improvement, 62 percent of likely voters still consider the Percent of 4 7.4 economy “poor,” litcivilian labor 2 force that tle changed from two 0 ’13 is unemployed, ’03 years earlier. by month, Given the latseasonally est conditions, the adjusted: 5.9% Fed may not move 10 10 up its timetable for 88 raising interest rates 66 to control inflation, economists say. Most 44 expect the Fed won’t 22 act until the middle 00 of next year.

September September

Friday’s data ’13 ’14 “are generally con© 2014 MCT Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sistent with the Fed’s economic forecasts and, therefore, should not change their thinking,” Doug Handler, an economist at IHS Global Insight, said in a note to clients.

The Fed has kept its benchmark interest rate near zero for almost six years in an effort to encourage more borrowing, spending and growth.

When the Fed begins raising the rate, the effects will ripple throughout the economy and could have a profound impact on businesses and consumers. Rates for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards will probably rise. Businesses may cut back on borrowing. And stock markets frequently drop when rates rise.

Lower unemployment usually forces up wages as employers bid for a dwindling supply of job-hunters. Higher paychecks can also push up prices. Some Fed policy-makers have already warned that unemployment is low enough to spur higher inflation.

Jobless 10 ANNUAL 8 6% rate 6

The Associated Press

W

ASHINGTON—A surge in hiring last month helped drive the nation’s unemployment rate down to a six-year low of 5.9 percent—within striking distance of what economists consider a healthy level.

The encouraging numbers—contained in the last government report on unemployment before the midterm elections—pushed the Dow Jones average up 209 points to 17,010 and could give an important boost at the polls to Democrats and to incumbents, in general.

US employers added a robust 248,000 jobs in September and generated 69,000 more jobs in July and August than previously reported, the government said on Friday. That helped bring unemployment down from 6.1 percent in August.

The jobless rate now stands at the lowest level since July 2008, in the middle of the Great Recession, and is getting close to the roughly 5.5 percent that the Federal Reserve (the Fed) considers consistent with a healthy economy.

In a speech in Princeton, Indiana, President Barack Obama exulted over the numbers, noting that businesses have added jobs for 55 months in a row, the longest such stretch on record.

He credited “the drive and determination of the American people,” and added: “It’s also got a little bit to do with some decisions we made pretty early on in my administration.”

Nevertheless, other gauges of the job market still bear scars from the recession. Wages aren’t rising. And the number of people out of a job for more than six months or stuck in part-time jobs when they want full-time ones remains elevated.

An Associated Press-GfK poll found that the economy is the top issue in voters’ minds as the November 4 elections near, and, while most

benefit from this venture.

The thoroughfare-cum-dike project will help mitigate flooding along the western coast of the Laguna Lake running from Taguig to the town of Bay in Laguna. It will also serve as an alternative transport route to the congested South Luzon Expressway and enhance the hydrology for the ecosystem of Laguna Lake.

Singson said the agency is considering the suggestion of extending the deadline for the submission of prequalification documents by three months to allow more parties to participate in the auction.

“We will seriously consider it, as long as it does not affect the submission date for the bids set for July 2015,” he said.

The deadline for the submission of bids is now scheduled on July 6 next year, a notice of award is targeted to be issued a month after.

See “Laguna,” A2

Daang Hari-SLex road link NOW 52% complete

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ONSTRUCTION of the P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway (Slex) Link is now halfway done, according to an update from the PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) Center.

The PPP Center’s web site showed that the facility is now 52-percent complete. The new thoroughfare is expected to be launched in the first quarter of next year.

Earlier, AC Infrastructure Holdings Inc., the infrastructure arm of the Ayala Corp., announced that the thoroughfare will begin commercial operations in June this year, but was pushed back to the third quarter of the year due to the late signing of the contract involving issues on the link between Daang Hari Road and Slex.

But the recent signing of an agreement with South Luzon Tollways Corp. (SLTC) paved the way for the concession to “go full blast” in the construction of the interchange.

The Daang Hari-Slex project was the first PPP project auctioned off and awarded under the flagship infrastructure program of the Aquino administration. The project starts from the junction of Daang Reyna and Daang Hari in Las Piñas/Bacoor in Cavite to Slex through the Susana Heights Interchange in Muntinlupa City, traversing the New Bilibid Prison Reservation.

Under the initial design, the proposed link road will use the Susana Heights Interchange as exit and entry from north and south of Slex and will include the construction of a new bridge/widening of the existing bridge crossing Slex, as well as the expansion of the Susana Heights toll plaza.

Ayala bagged the 30-year concession contract in 2011. The project is being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways under a build-transfer-operate scheme.

Inflation highest in Yolanda-hit Central Visayas, BSP report shows

By Bianca Cuaresma

T

he Yolanda-stricken Central Visayas has been found to be experiencing the highest acceleration in consumer prices, necessitating the need for assistance and access to resources this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

In a report published recently, the central bank said that inflation rate is highest among the poorer areas in the country, most particularly in Region 8.

“The inflation rate higher for the bottom 30 percent [of the income group] is true in almost all the regions, with Region 8 experiencing the highest inflation rate possibly due to the impact of Typhoon Haiyan [local code

name Yolanda], which devastated farms and destroyed infrastructure causing a spike in transportation and logistics costs,” the central bank said.

The trend is likewise true with the lower-income group population in other regions, according to the central bank.

The central bank explained that the lower 30 percent of the income groups in the country are most affected by inflation, which is due to the fact that these lowerincome individuals spend a larger bulk of their salaries to food prices.

In particular, food items comprise 50 percent of the total consumer price index in all income groups, or the average for the entire country. The bottom 30 percent of the income class,

Q1 2014 INFLATION RATES ALL INCOME VS. BOTTOM 30% BASE YEAR: 2000 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

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however, spend about 75 percent of their total salaries to food items, particularly rice, which had the largest increase of prices in the last months.

“The steady increase in the inflation rates for the bottom 30 percent bears watching given that this income group is most economically sensitive and vulnerable to price increases,” the central bank said.

The central bank also said that the higher inflation in the country for the bottom 30 percent can potentially increase the incidence and severity of poverty in the short run.

The BSP also warned that high inflation in the poorer sectors of the economy could exact a toll on the country’s long-run

development as lower-income households, in order to meet food requirements, reduce spending on health and education.

The BSP had vowed to “take special interest” in improving the government’s attention to supply side management, which could include improving the scheduling and monitoring of rice imports; tighter monitoring of retail prices; lowering logistics and shipping costs; and increasing agricultural productivity.

The country’s inflation has hit 4.9 percent in August this year, nearing the upper bound of the government’s target due to higher prices of food. The Philippine Statistics Authority will release the September inflation rate on Tuesday.