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W.H.O. faulted for Ebola failures as Obama taps czar

Ebola armor Protective suits shield health care workers from bacteria, viruses and other hazards. Users are most vulnerable to contamination when removing the gear. Here are the steps used by Doctors Without Borders, which has been responding to Ebola outbreaks in Africa for decades.

Steps to remove protective gear

T

he World Health Organization (WHO) bungled efforts to halt the spread of Ebola in West Africa, an internal report revealed on Friday, as President Barack Obama named a trusted political adviser to take control of America’s frenzied response to the epidemic.

U.N. Media Award 2008

Hand washing occurs nine times in the removal process.

Wash gloved hands

Spray front and back of apron and suit with chlorine disinfectant.

Wash gloved hands

Remove outer gloves and put in a biohazard container.

Wash gloved hands

Wash gloved hands

Disinfect boots and remove

Open suit

Remove suit

Remove mask

Remove gloves

Wash bare hands with 0.05% chlorine.

Wash gloved hands Remove goggles

Ebola travel ban sought by U.S. lawmakers opposed by Companies

2006, 2010, 2012

Wash gloved hands

Remove apron

GlobalEye»C3

three-time rotary club of manila journalism awardee

Disinfect outer gloves with 0.5% chlorine solution.

Wash gloved hands Remove hood

Sources: Medecins Sans Frontieres, Centers for Disease and Prevention, World Health Organization Graphic: Lorena Iñiguez Elebee, Los Angeles Times

© 2014 MCT

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

week ahead

Foreign exchange

n Previous week: The local currency traded at a straight downward trend for the entire week last week, starting Monday at 44.795 to a dollar.

The peso further shed value, closing at 44.82 against the US dollar and 44.825 versus the greenback on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

The peso lost 4.5 centavos in value on Thursday’s trade to hit 44.87 to a dollar. The peso closed the week’s trade on Friday to hit 44.91 to a dollar. This is the weakest value of the peso for the month.

n Week ahead: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor for the Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo said the peso is being affected by the negative sentiment stemming from the expectations of a slower global growth this year. Guinigundo said that if both Europe and Japan will continue to post soft growth, capital flows will head back to the direction of the US, prompting further strengthening of the dollar in the future.

Balance of Payments (B.O.P.) (September 2014) Monday, October 20

n August BOP: The country’s BOP position—or the broad measure of the Philippines’ economic dealings with the rest of the world— registered a surplus of $114 million in August this year. While this is a sharp turn-around from the BOP deficit of $318 million seen See “Outlook,” A2

A broader look at today’s business

n Sunday, October 19, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 11

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

Neda Board’s newly approved infra projects to bolster inclusive growth

By Cai U. Ordinario

T

HE projects recently approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board will increase the poor’s access to various infrastructure facilities, as well as social and economic services.

Yellen sounds alarm on widening economic inequality in America While the recovery from the 2008 Great Recession is gaining momentum in the U.S., the wealthiest are seeing far more gains than the rest of the population, continuing a trend in widening income inequality in the country.

PESO exchange rates n US 44.8180

billion. However, the biggest project in terms of cost, the P122.8-billionworth Laguna Lakeshore Expressway-Dike Project, has already been approved by the Neda Board in a previous meeting.

What was approved in the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway-Dike Project on Friday was merely the request of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to allow the project to proceed under a hybrid contractual arrangement pursuant to Section 2.9 of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Build-OperateTransfer Law.

Further, the Neda said the Neda Board also amended the approval of the requirement of a Department of Justice opinion regarding the delineation of the jurisdictions of the Laguna Lake Development Authority and the Philippine Reclamation Authority over the reclaimed land of the project areas.

Meanwhile, the 12 new projects approved by the Neda Board on Friday include the P8.55-billion Flood Risk Management Project for Cagayan de Oro River; the P4.01billion Metro Manila Interchange

Top 1%

Before the Great Recession

Top 10% to 1%

In the decades leading up to the 2008 recession, more than four-fifths of gains in income in the U.S. went to the top 10 percent, far more than in any other industrialized country; share of income growth, 1975-2007 Denmark

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said increasing the access of the poor to these facilities and services is key to realizing the Philippines’ goal of achieving inclusive growth.

Balisacan earlier said that apart from low incomes, the lack of access to social services, such as education and health, makes millions of Filipinos poor.

“These approved projects will significantly contribute to the infrastructure investment needed to sustain growth, and make it inclusive. The projects will allow Filipinos to have more access to social and economic opportunities. The transportation and port projects will improve the mobility of people and the efficiency of the flow of goods and services,” Balisacan said.

“Also, some of these projects will instill or enhance resiliency of many areas against climate-related risks and disasters.”

The Neda Board approved 12 new infrastructure projects, worth P183.8 billion, after a meeting chaired

by President Aquino on Friday.

On Friday the Palace announced that the projects approved by the Neda Board amounted to P303

By Martin Crutsinger | The Associated Press

The rich and the rest

Sweden

Spain

France

72

70

68

Norway N. Zealand Australia

90%

72

Bottom 90%

Canada

U.S.

70 50 34 18

Since the Great Recession

While incomes fell across the board as a result of the recession, in the U.S., they recovered quickly for those at the top and stagnated for virtually everyone else; percent change in real incomes, 2008-2010* Denmark Sweden Spain France Norway N. Zealand Australia Canada U.S. 22.8%

By 2012, gains hit 13.9%

9.0 2.0% *Latest data for most countries

3.5

8.2

–6.5

0.3 –0.7 –0.5

–1.3

–3.9

Behind the income gap

+5.2

4.2

0.3

0.1

–8.3

–1.0

–6.8

Two factors that contribute to widening inequality are income tax policies that favor the wealthy and low minimum wage

Tax rates

Minimum wage

Top statutory personal income tax rate (includes Social Security, Medicare taxes), 2012

At $7.25, or $15,080 yearly for a 40-hour work week, the U.S. minimum wage is below the poverty threshold of $15,730 a year for a family of two; minimum wage as a percentage of median wage, 2012

Denmark Sweden France Belgium Neth.

Spain Austria Japan U.K. Finland Portugal Greece Italy Ireland Canada Israel Germany Australia Iceland U.S.

60% 57 54 54 52 52 50 50 50 49 49 49 49 48 48 48 48 48 46 42

U.S. Japan

37.8% 38.3

Spain

44.2

Canada

45.1

Neth.

46.9

U.K.

47.2

OECD avg.

Australia France

48 52.7 61.5

NOTE: U.S. rate from 2003-2012; raised for 2013 tax year to 46 percent

© 2014 MCT Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Graphic: Pat Carr

W

ASHINGTON—Federal Reserve (the Fed) Chairman Janet Yellen sounded an alarm on Friday about the widening economic inequality in the US, suggesting that America’s long-standing identity as a land of opportunity was at stake.

The growing gap between the rich and everyone else narrowed slightly during the Great Recession but has since accelerated, Yellen said in a speech at a conference in Boston on economic opportunity. And robust stock-market returns during the recovery helped the wealthy outpace middle-class America in wages, employment and home prices.

“The extent and continuing increase in inequality in the US greatly concerns me,” Yellen said. “By some estimates, income and wealth inequality are near their highest levels in the past hundred years.”

Yellen’s extensive comments on economic inequality marked an unusual public departure for a Fed chairman. Her predecessors as head of the US central bank tended to focus exclusively on the core Fed issues of interest rates, inflation and unemployment. Indeed, the Fed’s mandate doesn’t explicitly include issues like income or wealth disparities.

But since taking over from Ben Bernanke in February, Yellen has made clear she is deeply concerned about the financial challenges that ordinary workers and families face.

Throughout this year, she has stressed the need for the Fed to keep rates low to boost economic expansion and hiring. She has said that the unemployment rate, now at 5.9 percent, doesn’t fully reflect the health of the job market: Yellen has expressed concern, for example, about stagnant incomes, the number of part-time workers who want full-time jobs and the many people who See “Yellen,” A2

Continued on A2

n japan 0.4216 n UK 72.0942 n HK 5.7773 n CHINA 7.3195 n singapore 35.2149 n australia 39.3727 n EU 57.3939 n SAUDI arabia 11.9479 Source: BSP (17 October 2014)

News BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, October 19, 2014

Outlook...

Monetary Policy Stance Thursday, October 23

n Previous monetary policy decision (September 11): The BSP took

PPP...

Neda Board’s newly approved infra projects to bolster inclusive growth

continued from A1

in the same month last year, it is a lower surplus compared to the $501 million registered in July this year. The BOP surplus in August this year brought the total deficit of BOP for the year to $3.53 billion.

n September BOP: Monetary officials have earlier said that they are expecting a recovery of the BOP on a par with the recovery of the global economy for the year.

Their forecast of BOP—which is currently to hit a surplus of $1.1 billion at the end of the year— will be revised. The Development Budget Coordinating Committee will be meeting about the new assumptions this month.

Continued from A1

a stronger action previously and raised both its overnight rates and special deposits account (SDA) interest rates by 25 basis points, respectively, pushing the overnight borrowing or revere repurchase (RRP) rate to 4 percent and the overnight lending or repurchase rate by 6 percent. SDA rates are now at 2.5 percent. Their basis for doing so is to rein in inflation pressures threatening the withintarget path for 2015.

n Upcoming policy decision: Local and foreign economists of banks see the central bank pausing from its rounds of monetary policy tightening this week as the lower inflation allowed the central bank more breathing room to do so (see related story on page A8). This is the second to the last policy meeting of the central bank for the year.

Iloilo Airport Operations, Maintenance and Development Project; P20.26-billion Bacolod Airport Operations, Maintenance and Development Project; and P40.57-billion Davao Airport Operations, Maintenance and Development Project

The list of approved PPP projects also includes the P5.23-billion Puerto Princesa Airport Operations, Maintenance and Development Project; P50.18-billion Regional Prison Facilities through PPP Project; and the P18.99 billion Davao Sasa Port Modernization Project.

Other projects approved by the Neda Board include the P1.86billion Fisheries, Coastal Resources and Livelihood Project and the P2.28-billion Project Convergence on Value Chain Enhancement for Growth and Empowerment.

The Neda Board also approved the Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue-Makati Avenue-Paseo de Roxas Vehicles Underpass Project. The total cost

Construction Project, Phase VI; and the P0.81-billion Restoration of Damaged Bridges along the Bohol Circumferential Road through the Mega Bridges for Urban and Rural Development (MBURD) and the Tulay ng Pangulo Para sa Kaunlarang Pang-Agraryo and Road Upgrading and Preservation Project.

The 12 new projects include the P8.55-billion Flood Risk Management Project for Cagayan de Oro River; P4.01-billion Metro Manila Interchange Construction Project, Phase VI; and the P0.81-billion Restoration of Damaged Bridges along the Bohol Circumferential Road through the MBURD and the Tulay ng Pangulo Para sa Kaunlarang Pang-Agraryo and Road Upgrading and Preservation Project.

The list also includes six public-private partnership (PPP) projects including the P30.40-billion

BSP...

continued from A8

finalizing with the support from World Bank.

Part of the Bhutan delegation’s study tour was to visit to the different agencies that play a big part in the Philippine PPP program. They spent time with officials from the Department of Finance, the National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of Transportation and Communications, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Education and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority to learn about their experiences in implementing PPP projects.

Bhutan officials also toured some of the awarded PPP projects including the ongoing construc-

news@businessmirror.com.ph

tion of Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Link Road and a completed classroom under DepEd’s PPP for School Infrastructure project in Cabilang Baybay Elementary School in Carmona, Cavite.

Representatives from Guam, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain earlier went to the Philippines to seek the insights of the PPP Center to develop their own key infrastructure thrust.

The flagship infrastructure program of the Aquino administration consists of more than 50 projects amounting to more than P800 billion in investments. The government aims to sign at least 15 contracts before President Aquino bows out from office in 2016.

continued from A8

requirement ratio for banks, tow rounds of 25-basis-point increase in the Central Bank’s SDA facility interest rates and two rounds of 25-basis-point hike in the country’s main policy rates this year—the latest being the twin action of SDA and policy adjustment.

The country’s inflation went down to 4.4 percent in September this year after sustaining a three-year high inflation rate of 4.9 percent in July and August this year.

Cash-supply growth—measured broadly as M3 in the country—also went town to 18.5 percent in August compared to the previous year’s levels.

Earlier this month, Central Bank Deputy Governor for the Monetary Stability Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo also said both the inflation and cash-supply growth numbers are still seen to go down further in the latter parts of the year.

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST OCTOBER 19, 2014 | SUNDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

Northeast Monsoon locally known as “Amihan”. It affects the eastern portions of the country. It is cold and dry; characterized by widespread cloudiness with rains and showers.

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING NORTHERN LUZON. TAIL-END OF A COLD FRONT AFFECTING SOUTHERN LUZON. (AS OF OCTOBER 18, 5:00 PM)

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

SBMA/CLARK 22 – 30°C METRO MANILA 23 – 30°C

TAGAYTAY CITY 19°C – 27°C

OCT 20

MONDAY

OCT 21

TUESDAY

24 – 31°C

25 – 31°C

TUGUEGARAO

23 – 27°C

22 – 26°C

23 – 32°C

23 – 33°C

OCT 22

WEDNESDAY

24 – 31°C

23 – 30°C

24 – 28°C

TACLOBAN

22 – 30°C

23 – 30°C

25 – 32°C

23 – 32°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

23 – 31°C

24 – 32°C

25 – 32°C

24 – 33°C

25 – 33°C

24 – 33°C

24 – 34°C

24 – 34°C

24 – 34°C

SBMA/ CLARK

24 – 32°C

24 – 33°C

24 – 33°C

ZAMBOANGA

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 25 – 32°C

TACLOBAN CITY 23 – 31°C

METRO CEBU 23 – 30°C CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 24 – 32°C ZAMBOANGA CITY 23 – 33°C

PUERTO PRINCESA

ILOILO/ BACOLOD

22 – 30°C

22 – 29°C

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

5:48 AM

5:34 PM

2:28 PM

1:51 AM

22 – 27°C

23 – 30°C

HALF MOON NEW MOON

OCT 16

24 – 31°C

24 – 31°C

OCT 24

CELEBES SEA

HIGH TIDE

MANILA BAY

2:00 PM

5:57 AM 0.14 METER Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms

24 – 30°C

24 – 31°C

22 – 30°C

5:58 AM

0.76 METER

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

Light Rains

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 TIDE

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rain showers.

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

METRO DAVAO 25 – 33°C

SUNRISE

3:12 PM

25 – 32°C

OCT 22

WEDNESDAY

25 – 32°C

15 – 21°C

LEGAZPI

OCT 21

TUESDAY

25 – 31°C

16– 22°C

21 – 28°C

OCT 20

MONDAY

METRO CEBU

LEGAZPI CITY 23 – 30°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 24 – 30°C

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

15 – 21°C

20 – 28°C

continued from A8

“The narrowing we expect in the 2015 surplus is largely driven by stronger import demand, as investment is likely to remain elevated,” Barclays said.

A country’s current account consists of the transaction in goods and services, and primary and secondary income, including remittances from overseas Filipino workers and business-process outsourcing receipts.

Latest data from the central bank showed that the country’s current account yielded a surplus of $3.1 billion at the end of June this year, rising by 41.5 percent from the $2.2-billion surplus seen in the same quarter last year.

The country’s end-June current account surplus is already equivalent to 4.4 percent of the country’s GDP.

“The narrowing of the deficit in the trade-ingoods account, combined with the higher net receipts in the secondary income account, contributed to the substantial rise in current account surplus,” the central bank noted for the period. Bianca Cuaresma

BAGUIO

TAGAYTAY

first six months of 2013. This is higher than the P29,993 posted in the same period in 2012.

The second-highest increase was recorded by the sixth decile or those that could be part of the middle class with a 9.5-percent rise in incomes.

Incomes of Filipinos in this decile increased to P95,014 in the first semester of 2013 from P86,751 in the first six months of 2012.

The third-highest increases were in the incomes of the second and third deciles which each posted a growth of 8.4 percent. It can be noted that together with the bottom 10 percent, this comprise the bottom 30 percent of the population.

The income of the second decile increased to P45,922 in the first semester of 2013 from P42,363 in 2012. The income of the third decile, meanwhile, increased to P55,634 in 2013 from P51,330 in 2012.

Barclays...

METRO DAVAO

TUGUEGARAO CITY 20 – 26°C BAGUIO CITY 15 – 19°C

continued from A1

have given up their job searches and are no longer counted as unemployed.

In her first speech as Fed chairman, she highlighted the hurdles faced by three unemployed workers. And in congressional testimony in February, Yellen called income inequality “one of the most disturbing trends facing the nation.”

Her remarks on Friday, accompanied by extensive data compiled by her staff, expanded on her concerns. Between 1989 and 2013, Yellen noted, the average income of the top 5 percent of households rose 38 percent. For the remaining 95 percent of households, it grew less than 10 percent.

Thewideninggapinoverallwealthisevenmore pronounced. The average net worth of the bottom 50 percent of families—a group of about 62 million households—was $11,000 in 2013, Yellen said.

Adjusted for inflation, that figure is 50 percent lower than in 1989.

METRO MANILA

LAOAG

LAOAG CITY 22 – 31°C

Yellen...

of the project is P1.4 billion, which includes the P11.87 million worth detailed engineering cost financed

by Ayala Land Inc. and the P1.27billion project cost to be funded by the government.

Earlier, Balisacan said poor Filipinos remain impoverished because they lack access to basic services such as health and education.

He said this is the reason the national government is increasing its investments in education and health to achieve a trickle-down effect in these basic services.

Data from the first-semester 2013 poverty statistics showed that the reduction in the country’s poverty incidence rate to 24.9 percent was largely due to the increase in the incomes of the bottom 10 percent.

The government explained that the incomes of the first decile or the bottom 10 percent increased by 12.3 percent to P33,683 in the

@PanahonTV

EconomySunday

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

BusinessMirror

Sunday, October 19, 2014 A3

Globe to gain edge over PLDT next year–Fitch

P

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

UBLICLY listed mobile services operator Globe Telecom Inc.’s topline is expected to rise faster than rival Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) next year amid intense competition in the cellular data arena, a global credit-rating agency predicted.

The second largest telecommunications firm in the Philippines, due to its continued acquisition of postpaid subscribers who avail himself or herself of smartphone deals, is set to outpace the growth trajectory of the dominant telco by 2015.

“Competition is intense in the data segment as both telcos continue

to offer handset subsidies and are only gradually migrating to volumebased tariffs from unlimited tariffs.

Globe’s revenue is likely to rise by mid-single digits in 2015, greater than PLDT’s growth; given it has a higher proportion of smartphone users,” Fitch said in an analysis.

The debt watcher noted that the

Pangilinan-controlled multimedia firm will continue to shed its market share annually, given the aggressive stance of its competitor.

“We forecast that PLDT will continue to lose 100 basis points of market share annually to Globe, which increased its mobile-revenue market share to 43 percent from 34 percent during 2010 to 2013,” Fitch pointed out.

The two telcos have been aggressively expanding their infrastructure to cater to the growing need for data services in the Philippines. The two firms are banking on mobile data to increase their revenues this year.

Globe recently completed the roll out of its 3G and 4G facilities. PLDT, on the other hand, is targeting to fully serve 100 percent of the population with its 3G network by the end of the year. It’s LTE network, meanwhile, is set to be expanded to 50 percent population coverage by yearend.

The telco arm of Ayala Corp. is

spending P27 billion this year to further modernize its network. The telecommunications company of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, meanwhile, earmarked P32 billion for this year’s capital investments, bulk of which will be used to expand its coverage.

The dominant telco’s net income stood at P20 billion in the first semester this year, a 2-percent increase from the P19.7 billion it booked in the same period in 2013.

In the same comparative periods, consolidated service revenues grew 3 percent to P85.43 billion, while expenses rose by a faster 6 percent to P62.52 billion from P59.11 billion.

Globe’s net income stood at P6.8 billion in the first half of the year, a fivefold growth versus the P1.4 billion it recorded in the same period in 2013. Revenues grew by 7 percent to P47.7 billion from P44.5 billion, while expenses rose by a faster 12 percent to P28.62 billion from P25.59 billion.

House passes bill to extend credit assistance to OFWs on 2nd reading

A

MEASURE establishing a credit assistance program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has been approved on second reading at the House of Representatives.

House Bill 4985, or the proposed Overseas Workers Credit Assistance Act, authored by Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Susan Yap of Tarlac, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II of Mandaluyong, Party-list Rep. Juan Revilla of OFW and Liberal Party Rep. Joseph Gilbert F. Violago of Nueva Ecija, would provide credit assistance to OFWs even before they leave the country.

Under the bill, an OFW can avail himself or herself of a loan of not more than P50,000 from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to defray the living expenses of the worker’s family during his or her first months of absence or to pay for recruitment expenses, including placement fees, documentation costs and plane tickets.

The bill provides that, within one year after

the effectivity of the measure, an online payment system shall be established wherein the OFW borrower may pay the loan amortization through the Internet.

However, failure to pay the loan or any violation of the terms imposed upon the loan shall be sufficient ground for the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and all its offices, including its deputized and accredited private entities and the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (Polos) to withhold the issuance of the Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) and any other exit permit or clearance to work abroad to the overseas worker-borrower concerned.

It added that that private entity, which issues anOECandexitpermittoanyoverseasworker-borrower,shallsufferthepenaltyof60-daysuspension ofitslicenseoraccreditationforthefirstoffenseand permanent cancellation of license or accreditation for the second offense. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

SundayV

Busine

A4 Sunday, October 19, 2014 • Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

A decision that strengthens faith in PHL judicial system

B

EFORE it disappears into the mists of history, we must hail the Sandiganbayan’s decision earlier this year to dismiss the charges of the Ombudsman and current officers of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) against businessman Roberto Ongpin and former DBP officials as a contribution to the cause of Philippine development.

We hold no brief for Ongpin, but we, like him, have been strengthened in our belief that our country’s judicial system is just after the Sandiganbayan found the accusations against him to be without basis. That system is nobody’s tool, especially in exacting revenge.

The facts of the case show that Ongpin was granted a P660-million loan by the DBP. He used the loan to buy the Philex Mining Corp. shares held by the DBP, which he subsequently sold. He repaid the loan ahead of maturity, with the stipulated interest. As a result, the DBP earned an amount said to be one of the highest it has ever gotten from a single transaction.

One does not need a doctorate in political science to see that the charges, for what they were worth, were erroneous. The charges held that: 1) the loan applicant is responsible for the approval of his application; and 2) showed a preference for red tape and bureaucratic inefficiency to take precedence in earning a positive income for the bank.

The first count is obviously wrong, for the reason that it is the approving authority that is responsible for the approval, not the applicant. On the second count, it is true that the DBP is governed by administrative rules, but these cannot be so important as to override any effort of the bank to earn a return for itself.

Under normal circumstances, the DBP officials who approved the loan would have been highly commended for doing a fantastic job. They were not. Instead, they were vilified. That DBP lawyer who committed suicide because of the case was believed by many to have been innocent. Ongpin can take care of himself, but what about these public officials who may not have the resources to pursue costly litigations?

Public officers, we are told, must be held accountable for their actions. But in this situation, this seems not to be the case. To quote the Sandiganbayan’s decision: “This case should have been dismissed at the preliminary investigation stage. Pressures of public opinion, however, dictate that, in order to avoid the brunt and pain of criticism, it would be most convenient to pass unto the Court the responsibility to dismiss these cases.” The Office of the Ombudsman apparently does not even have the character to bear the burden of its conclusions.

Where can abused citizens go for redress? Let the authorities answer that.

Stability is one of the important features that a country’s political economy should have to encourage businesspeople to put their money into it. The Sandiganbayan’s dismissal of the charges against Ongpin contributes to the attainment of that stability.

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Gospel

Sunday, October 19, 2014

HE economic costs of traffic in Metro Manila are going up every single day, and unless the government implements the solution offered by the exhaustive one-year study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), the horrendous traffic jams bedeviling motorists will cost a staggering P6 billion a day in 15 years, as opposed to P2.4 billion today.

The study revealed that the metropolis needed 137 kilometers of new roads, 78 km of urban expressways and more than 200 km of new rail transit lines, both elevated and underground.

But instead of building such infrastructure, the measures being proposed by the government to ease traffic woes are downright silly: Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board member Ariel Inton wants private vehicles off Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa), while Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis N. Tolentino wants traffic lights and traffic enforcers to alternately manage traffic on Katipunan Avenue.

One key road infrastructure that falls within the ambit of Jica’s offered solution to the daily traffic, but is yet to materialize, is the planned North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway Connector Road. Once constructed, the 13-km connector road will greatly ease the daily traffic jams on Edsa and Circumferential Road 5, or C-5, that now threaten our agricultural and manufacturing industries.

The connector-road project will also link Clark and Ninoy Aquino international airports, as well as provide access to Manila’s busy ports.

With the connector road, there will be tremendous savings and even the poor are seen to take advantage of its huge benefits, which the study extrapolated: The current average transport cost of P42 a day would be reduced to P24, while travel time would be cut from 80 minutes to 30 minutes.

There is no better concrete plan than that for the connector road, which is something that even Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand have constructed for their benefit, because they have scarce lands. As Jica Philippines Senior Representative Eigo Azukizawa said: “[An] efficient public-transport system is a pro-poor investment, as it provides

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reasonable ways of moving. [Also], it enables people to commute from suburban areas, where one can afford housing in a more spacious and safer area.”

Anchor Land’s dilemma A PLAN by listed Anchor Land Holdings Inc., which specializes in sophisticated property developments, to revive the glory of the Admiral Hotel has been put in hold, with the old hotel halfdemolished after the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) flip-flopped on its earlier decision to greenlight the demolition after heritage conservationists expressed indignation.

Anchor Land earlier sought the NHCP’s opinion after it bought the Admiral Hotel from the Lopez-Araneta group in 2009 and was intent on developing the property with the view of making it a cultural-heritage site. The commission then wrote that Anchor Land could consider the property for “adaptive reuse,” which led to its decision to put up an entirely new structure, since the hotel can no longer be retrofitted and is structurally unsound.

Thus, Anchor Land proceeded to demolish the building and, at the same time, tapped the Accor Group, a big European hotel operator, to take over the management of the new hotel once it is built. What followed, though, was a lamentable cease-and-desist order issued by the NHCP, acting on a petition from heritage conservationists.

The heritage conservationists made a fuss about the demolition and, after

hen the Pharisees went and took counsel how to entangle Him in His talk. And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Hero’di-ans, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God truthfully, and care for no man; for You do not regard the position of men.

Tell us, then, what You think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus,

an inspection of the site on September 23, petitioned the commission to stop it. Now, not only is Anchor Land in a big predicament, thanks to the NHCP flip-flopping on its initial decision, its P1-billion investment to resurrect Admiral Hotel as a 150-room super deluxe hotel is in danger of being “wasted,” due to no fault of its own.

Corporation Code seminar A SEMINAR on the proposed amendments to the Corporation Code and updates on corporate reportorial compliance that targets directors, compliance officers, corporate secretaries, business owners, practicing lawyers and certified public accountants (CPAs), among others, will be held on October 23, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., on the fifth floor of RCBC Plaza. CPA-lawyer Rosario S. Bernaldo will lead the discussions on the proposed amendments and how these may affect businesses.

Other CPA-lawyers will speak on best practices in conducting annual stockholders’ and board of directors’ meetings, and in keeping up-to-date corporate records and complying with the government’s reportorial requirements. Lawyers Danilo C. Cunanan, Pepito G. Po, Christopher A. Presto and Reynato M. Directo, all partners of Bernaldo Directo & Po Law Office, will act as resource persons.

For details, call Inah Gines at (632) 892-4487 or 812-1718 to 24, or e-mail rsbassoc@rsbernaldo.com; or call Vangie Idusora at 840-0535 to 38 or e-mail evangeline.idusora@rsbernaldo.com.

aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?

Show me the money for the tax.” And they brought him a coin. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

They said, “Caesar’s.” Then He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”— Matthew 22:15-21

Voices

essMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph • Sunday, October 19, 2014 A5

The sister did it P Free Fire

By Teddy Locsin Jr.

ILLSBURY Doughboy Kim Jong Un has been missing since his ankle gave way under his weight. No, no, his ankle, not his uncle: the one shot to pieces with an anti-aircraft gun for suspicion of loving his nephew less than totally, which is a capital crime in Pyongyang.

Was there a palace coup? Is he dead, the one in every photo out of Pyongyang now distinctly missing from photos of the big North Korean events? Even at the 70th anniversary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, he was a no-show. He did not visit the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the embalmed remains of his dad and granddad are displayed. Is it because his remains are being prepared to make the memorial a trio?

Curiously, his 27-year-old sister Kim Yo Jong has been photographed at key functions instead.

Yo Jong and her brother were in a Swiss school together, masquerading as children of a maid and a gardener at the North Korean embassy in Geneva. She was rarely seen before: once in Paris, shopping with her late mother, and another time in Singapore, at an Eric Clapton concert. Now there are photos of her all over the place. Could she have replaced her brother? Or did he lose enough weight to show up

in drag at party functions?

Was there even a brother, to start with, or only a sister, in which case she wouldn’t be one, because, without another sibling, one is called an only child or only a child? Had she dressed like a boy, acted crazy like Jong and, thereby, made the case for a female succession? ¿Quién sabe?

This is North Korea: the convenient excuse for the upkeep of the massive South Korean military.

With communism’s nemesis Park Chung-hee’s daughter ruling South Korea, has North Korea upped the ante and put up the daughter of its late dictator, as well? Female wrestling always offers a special thrill.

Frankly, I think Jong Un is just on a diet. He will surprise us by how much weight he lost incognito when he makes a dramatic reappearance in toto. Well, I had to find something to make it rhyme. A photo of Fat Boy in a baggy suit popped up on the Internet. Either I was right that he vanished to go on a diet and it worked, or that’s his sister wearing a Mao suit five sizes too large.

To our complete indifference over the possible fate of Fat Boy, prison guards in North Korea set deliberately starved guard dogs free to pounce on the newly born babies of detainees who didn’t have the authorization to get pregnant by their guards.

“Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community: Are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities? Often they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?”

—from the initial midterm report, formally called “Relatio Post Disceptationem”, of the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which was released to the media on Monday. This portion of the 12page document has been described by the media as signaling a dramatic and groundbreaking shift in tone for the Vatican, earning praise from liberal and moderate Catholics, and intense criticism from conservatives.

What makes the Extraordinary Synod of Pope Francis so extraordinary?

By Nicholas P. Cafardi Los Angeles Times (TNS)

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HEN the Roman Catholic Church’s Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family opened on October 5, many speculated about the earthshaking changes that might come out of it: Will the bishops change the Church’s approach to divorced and remarried Catholics, and somehow readmit them to Communion? Will they discuss the worldwide survey that found that most Catholics do not accept the Church’s ban on birth control and, if so, will they modify that ban? Will the bishops react to the impression that the Church speaks in a way that is unnecessarily condemnatory of same-sex attraction and find a way to be more welcoming to our gay brothers and sisters?

In fact, those questions miss the point, at least for now. This meeting is preliminary. It only starts a process that is meant to continue through the Ordinary Synod of Bishops,

scheduled for 2015. (“Synod” means “coming together” in Greek.)

But that does not mean that the meeting, which ends on October 19, won’t shake things up in an important way. It already has, by signaling a break in the strictly top-down rule of modern Catholicism, as Pope Francis reaches out to the wider Church.

For most of its history, the Roman Catholic Church clarified its teachings at regional (synodal) or worldwide (ecumenical) meetings of bishops. It was primarily “conciliar,” its teachings expounded by councils, not by a centralized papal bureaucracy.

This was true from the very start of Christianity, when the apostles met in Jerusalem to decide whether those who professed faith in Christ also had to accept the practices of the Jewish faith, such as restrictions on food and circumcision—that last, a difficult proposition for adult male converts. Paul reports on this meeting in Galatians 2:1–10, and Luke describes it in Acts 15:1–22. (The

outcome? Jewish law would be respected, but not required.)

From Nicea in 325 to Trent in 1545, the Church held 19 ecumenical councils. But since Trent, there have been just two: Vatican I in 1869 and Vatican II in 1962, as authority in the Church coalesced in the papacy and its bureaucracy, the Roman Curia, a trend that intensified after Vatican I established the doctrine of papal infallibility.

Then, in the 1960s, John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council. The bishops who were present in the nave of Saint Peter’s Basilica so strongly felt God’s presence, the Holy Spirit, guiding the Church through the gathering that they wanted to see such meetings continue. They knew that full ecumenical councils would be too large, cumbersome and expensive to hold on a regular basis, so they proposed a sort of minicouncil made up of elected bishops to help guide the Church.

Unfortunately, when Pope Paul VI created the Synod of Bishops in 1965,

he kept for himself the right to call its meetings, to appoint members in addition to those chosen by the bishops, to decide its agenda and to write up its results. The synod was not so much a teaching event in its own right as an adjunct of the papacy.

And a dreadfully dull adjunct, at that. There have been 25 meetings between 1965 and 2014, and anyone who was at the synods convened by Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI can tell you that most were stage-managed affairs in which the opinions of the bishops in attendance were never really sought.

But when Francis’s Extraordinary Synod opened, much was different. He commissioned the survey of the faithful in 2013 to establish the topics the bishops would discuss.

Such grassroots input into a synod was unheard of.

And then Francis made his welcoming remarks at a lunch on October 6. He told the bishops to say forthrightly what was on their minds: “You have to say all that which in the Lord

you feel you have to say; without human respect, without timidity. And, at the same time, you must listen with humility and accept with an open heart what your brothers say.

Synodality is exercised with these two attitudes.”

Such an approach returns the Church to its ancient roots, in which the world’s bishops are again meaningful participants in establishing Church teachings. It portends, over time, real movement on the searching questions of remarriage after divorce, birth control and acceptance of gay people.

But make no mistake; the biggest change has already occurred: A modern pope has told the bishops, and the world, that he trusts them to sense the Holy Spirit and to say what they hear the Spirit whispering, no matter where it leads.

Nicholas P. Cafardi is a canon lawyer and a professor at the Duquesne University School of Law, where he is also dean emeritus.

Remembering Mom through her sewing box

By Sally Friedman

The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)

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FTER weeks of the painful work of clearing out my late mother’s apartment six years ago, I had a meltdown. I just couldn’t look at one more thing that was so resonant of her.

So I scooped up the leftovers and carved out a corner in our basement for a few sealed cartons simply marked “Mom’s Things.”

Recently, while down in the basement, I caught a glint of silver from something that had pushed through one of those cartons. I knew for sure it wasn’t sterling, because my practical and frugal mother would have no use for such an indulgence.

But there it was, Lillian Abrams’s old sewing box, repurposed from an

old metal container that once held 2 pounds of dark chocolate. It had to be at least 50 years old. When I popped open the lid, I could swear the smell of chocolate still permeated the dank cellar air.

I seized that sewing box like pirate’s booty, not sure, at that moment, precisely why. I just knew it had stories to tell me.

Upstairs, I dusted it off and almost hesitated to go beyond that step. Going though the things that once belonged to my mother—that somehow defined her as surely as her handwriting or her cologne— seemed somehow an invasion of her privacy.

But I reckoned, sitting at the kitchen table, that Mom would understand why I suddenly had to see the contents of her old sewing box.

Maybe it’s because that silver box was actually so familiar to my touch. How many times had I carried it into my parents’ bedroom, the house’s unofficial “sewing room” when a skirt needed a hem or a dress needed darts?

How many sighs had I heard as Mom tangled with pins and threads, struggling to recycle clothes from one daughter to another. “Waste not, want not” was an anthem of her generation, lost over the succeeding generations.

Mom would find ways to do magic with a new set of buttons here, a ruffle there.

Sometimes, I hated her handiwork. Other times, I rejoiced that my old blue skirt had gotten a new lease on life.

Looking through that sewing box

in the quiet of my own house brought back primal sense memories.

It was in pristine order. Just as I remembered it—and as I remembered her, sitting and hand-stitching, enduring my petulant grumbles and groans about this or that alteration.

Why hadn’t I been more grateful? Had I ever really thanked her for her quiet labors by the old floor lamp with the slightly crooked shade?

Far too late for do-overs.

So I poked around, marveling at the old wooden darning “egg,” the gizmo that Mom used to position my father’s socks for mending. Does anyone darn socks anymore?

How orderly and color-coordinated her threads were. Mine are relegated to an old sneaker box along with a jumble of pins and needles sticking out of a makeshift

pincushion that is losing its stuffing.

Nothing like my mother’s silver metal box, where everything had a place: the worn tape measure, the scissors, the small pieces of leftover fabric wrapped in tissue paper.

And my last discovery: a jar of buttons. Tiny buttons, bold ones, a few rhinestone ones that still had some sparkle left.

And a set of beautiful brass buttons, finer than all the others.

Tucked into that jar was a note to herself in my mother’s unmistakable hand: “Save brass buttons for Sally’s winter coat.”

My mother’s unfinished business. Worrying about buttons for my winter coat.

And sitting alone in a quiet house, clutching that sewing basket, I just couldn’t stop sobbing.

NewsSunday

A6 Sunday, October 19, 2014 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

BusinessMirror

MGB allows nickel-mining company to resume operation, plant 3M trees

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga

he Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has finally allowed Marcventures Mining Development Corp. (MMDC) to resume its nickel-mining operation in Cantillan, Surigao del Sur, but ordered the company to plant 3 million trees as a consequence of its unauthorized operation outside its approved area last year.

MGB Director Leo Jasareno issued an order on October 15 authorizing the mining company to proceed with its development operation, including the extraction of nickel ore and associated minerals within its entire contract area covered by Minerals Processing Sharing Agreement 016-93-XI under certain conditions. At the same time, the MGB chief has placed the company’s operation under tight watch.

Among the conditions set by the

MGB is for the company to plant at least 3 million tree seedlings in areas identified by the MGB and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) outside the company’s contract area over a period of two years as penalty for the unauthorized operation outside its mining tenement. The company is required to ensure an 80 percent survival rate of the tree seedlings to be planted by the company.

The DENR is taking the lead in

implementing the National Greening Program, President Aquino’s flagship reforestation program, which targets to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares by 2016.

Mining companies are being blamed by environmental groups for causing environmental degradation, including the massive deforestation within their contract areas and contamination of nearby water bodies.

According to Jasareno, the company has substantially complied with the requirements for the approval of a Declaration of Mine Project Feasibility (DMPF), including sworn DMPF covering the entire contract area under its Minerals Processing and Sharing Agreement (MPSA); Mining Project Feasibility Study Report, T hree-year Development and Utilization Work Program; proof of technical competence and financial capability; Exploration Report; Environmental Compliance Certificate; Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program (EPEP) and the Final Mine Rehabilitation and/or Decommissioning Plan (FMRDP).

The company has also submitted its Social Development and Management Program; Application for

Order of Survey of the contract area under the MPSA; and prior approval or endorsement of the mining project by the majority of the concerned Sanggunian.

Some of the documents submitted by MMDC, including the work program, EPEP, FMRDP, are now under final evaluation by the Mining Tenements Management Division, Technical Committee on Mining Feasibility Studies and Contingent Liability and Rehabilitation Fund Steering committee.

It will be recalled that, on April 22, the MGB slapped the company with a suspension order as a consequence of the findings of a multidisciplinary team on the alleged adverse environmental impact of its unauthorized operation in the portion of its contract area but was not covered by the approved partial DMPF. Residents in Cantillan complained against contamination of a nearby river, which, they claimed, was at the receiving end of MDCC’s nickel mine in the area.

In allowing the company to resume operation, the MGB chief, however, has cautioned MDCC to operate in accordance with the existing applicable laws, their implementing rules and regulations; and the provision of its MPSAs.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

SC, NHCP urged to take action vs Army Navy Club developer

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PARTY-LIST lawmaker on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court (SC) to issue a special writ of national heritage against the developer of the foreclosed ArmyNavy Club in Manila in a bid to save the historical site from being converted into a casino and spa.

Party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe of Ako Bicol said something has to be done to preserve historical sites and buildings.

“While nations are trying to save their national heritage, the Philippines is destroying it as in the case of the Army-Navy Club [ANC] in Manila,” said Batocabe, a senior member of the House Committee on Tourism.

“We must protect our cultural landmarks from unscrupulous developers. I’m confident that the Supreme Court could act on the issue as it did in the issuance of the writ of kalikasan,” Batocabe added.

A writ of kalikasan (nature) is a legal remedy that provides protection of one’s Constitutional right to a healthy environment, as outlined in Section 16, Article II of the Philippine Constitution, which says “the state shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.”

Batocabe said the National Historical Commission (NHCP) should initiate legal action against the developer that ruined the ANC. Meanwhile, Party-list Rep. Terry L. Ridon of Kabataan said the NHC should maintain the cease and desist

order issued against the developer, Oceanville, unless it commits to restore the original ANC façade.

Ridon said that, while the ANC is a reminder of US military rule in the Philippines, the demolition of the ANC to give way for the construction of a casino is yet another case of big business triumphing over historical treasures.

Ridon said he will ask, through a resolution, the House Committee on Metro Manila Development to look into the demolition of the ANC and the construction of a casino in the iconic landmark on the edge of the Quirino Grandstand.

The lawmaker said the ANC is covered by Republic Act 10066 or the National Heritage Act of 2009.

“A House Resolution is in order, not only for the Army-Navy Club but for other endangered historical infrastructure. Congress must refuse to take this issue sitting down,” he said.

“No less than the Constitution mandates government to protect all of the country’s artistic and historical wealth, including historical infrastructure. The demolition of the Army-Navy Club to give way for the construction of a casino is yet another case of big business triumphing over historical treasures.

We cannot simply allow this recent spate of demolitions to proliferate and continue,” Ridon added.

Earlier, the NHC issued a cease and desist order against the developer of the ANC for tampering with its main building without the agency’s permission.

Stringent review, compliance procedure on filing of SALN sought briefs

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O ensure more transparency in the government, a lawmaker is seeking the strengthening of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Servants by providing among others a more stringent review and compliance procedure in the filing and submission of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) and disclosure of financial and business interests.

A more detailed SALN filing review and compliance procedure is one of the measures recommended by Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) Rep. Evelina Escudero of Sorsogon in House Bill 4783, or the proposed “Enhanced Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Servants.”

The bill, now pending at the Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation chaired by Liberal Party Rep. Andres Salvacion Jr. of Leyte, provides that all public servants, except those who serve in an honorary capacity, shall file under oath their SALNs and those of their spouses and children or partners, regardless of their legal status.

The SALN shall be filed with the Office of the Ombudsman within 30 days after assumption of office; on or before April 30 of every year thereafter; and 30 days before the effectivity date or separation from the service, the bill provides.

The bill also empowers the Ombudsman, Civil Service Commission (CSC) and Commission Audit (COA) to obtain, at any time, all documents as may show the declarant’s assets, liabilities, net worth, and business interests and financial connections, commencing from the time the declarant was employed or engaged by the government, and from all agencies, banks and financial institutions whether private or public.

In the case of the President, the Vice President, the Members of the Cabinet, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Commissions and other constitutional offices and officers of the armed forces with general or flag rank, the declaration shall be disclosed to the public in the most accessible and convenient medium, e.g. web site.

The bill provides for a review and compliance procedure in the SALNs filing. It provides that all public servants shall file under oath their SALN with their respective chief or head of personnel administrative division unit or human resource management office within 30 days after assumption of office; on or before April 30 of every year thereafter; and 30 days before the effectivity date or separation from the service.

Upon receiving the public servants’ SALNs and disclosure, the chief or head of personnel/administrative division/unit or human resource management office shall forward the same to the Review and Compliance Committee , the bill provides.

Failure of a public servant to correct, complete or submit his or her SALN, based on the procedure and within the deadline shall be a ground for disciplinary action and penalties which could either be one month and one day to six months for the first offense, or dismissal from the service for the second offense.

Heads of agencies or offices, who fail to comply with their responsibilities pertaining to SALN filing of public servants, shall be liable for simple neglect of duty, punishable by one month and one day to six months for the first offense, and dismissal from service for the second offense.

Another salient feature of the bill is the creation of the Code of

masskara festival climaxes this weekend The 19-day celebration of Bacolod City’s 35th MassKara Festival climaxes this weekend with the staging of the much-anticipated barangay street and arena dance competition on Saturday afternoon, and the commemoration of the city’s 67th Charter Day anniversary on Sunday.

Activities of this year’s event, themed: “One Rhythm. One Bacolod.

A Million Smiles,” is being held in four festivals sites, including the Bacolod public plaza, SM City at the Reclamation Area, the Tourism Strip on Lacson Street and the Bacolod People’s House.

Rhoderick Samonte, festival director and president of event organizer Kasadya Bacolod Foundation Inc., enjoined revelers to enjoy all the exciting events of the festival.

“MassKara Festival 2014 calls on us to unite and celebrate our diversity.

Let us move in one direction toward progress and development of Bacolod City,” Samonte said. PNA

Junk-food snacks on wheels An enterprising vendor pedals his bicycle loaded with assorted junk-food snacks to his customers in Dimasalang, Manila. A recent global survey by Nielsen Philippines showed that most Filipinos turn to snacks as a source of nutrition. The survey also showed that around 74 percent of Filipino respondents said they consume snacks as a source of nutrition. Roy Domingo

Conduct Committee (CCC), a multisectoral anti-corruption committee headed by the CSC chairman and the Ombudsman, and, as member, the COA chairman, one representative from any recognized government employee association, and one civil

society organization representative to be appointed by the President.

The CCC will develop, coordinate and implement anti-corruption policies.

The measure also provides for systems of incentives and rewards for public servants for their out-

standing work performance, and exemplary and ethical behavior. It also proposes a system of reward and protection to whistle-blowers, or those who expose wrongdoings and corruption in the government.

Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Labor arbiter junks cameraman’s complaint against TV network

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abor Arbiter Jonalyn M. Gutierrez has dismissed the regularization and illegal dismissal case filed by a former cameraman of GMA Network Inc. (GMA).

In her decision, Gutierrez dismissed the case on the ground of lack of jurisdiction, citing the lack of an employer-employee relationship between the two parties.

This is in relation to Felipe P. Alvarez’s allegations in his complaint

filed on August 5, 2013, that he was dismissed without due process after being employed continuously by the network.

In its defense, GMA said Alvarez’s services were contracted intermittently and only when the need arose for additional manpower. He was merely offered the chance to earn extra income, which the complainant may opt to accept or decline.

“He works at his own pleasure and had absolute freedom to perform his services in accordance with his own pace, manner, method and style,” GMA said in its answer.

Gutierrez, in her decision, cited the following as basis for determining the existence of an employeeemployer relationship: The selection engagement of the employee; The payment of wages;

The power of dismissal and, The employer’s power to control on the means and methods by which the work is accomplished.

In the case of Alvarez, she said the complainant’s services as cameraman reliever or pinchhitter were engaged by GMA and he was duly compensatedfor the services rendered.

His further non-engagement as a reliever or pinchhitter was a deci-

sion arrived at by the management to terminate his services. GMA had the power to terminate the services of Alvarez, the arbiter said.

Gutierrez also found that “the element of control by respondent [GMA] was not fully substantiated by complainant” as the facts clearly showed that Alvarez was engaged on a part-time basis, leading to the decision in favor of GMA.

mindanao army officials warn residents of unexploded ordnance The military is reminding residents in Maguindanao, North Cotabato and part of Sultan Kudarat to be careful of unexploded ordnance, especially in former war zones.

Unexploded ordnance litter in areas where soldiers and Moro bandits clashed in the past. They include landmine, mortars, grenades and many others.

Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, 6th Infantry Division chief, said the military is busy recovering unexploded bombs for disposal and have so far collected 260 unexploded ordnance. These were disposed of in June, July and August in the mountains of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

However, Pangilinan told reporters that not all areas have been scoured by military bomb experts so the danger of unintentional or accidental explosion is high.

Some of these unexploded ordnance landed in the hands of lawless elements who converted them into improvised explosive devices. PNA

RegionsSunday

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

BusinessMirror

SC asked to issue writ of kalikasan to prevent another mining disaster

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By Joel R. San Juan

PETITION has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking the issuance of a writ of kalikasan with a temporary environmental protection order to compel the national government and Marcopper Mining Corp. to put up mitigating measures to prevent a repeat of the 1996 Marinduque disaster.

In a three-page petition, former Mayor Pedrito Nepomuceno of Boac, Marinduque, noted that after the Marcopper mine-waste spill into Boac River in 1996, the mining company stopped its mining operation leaving its siltation dams, the Makulapnit and the Maguila-guila, without proper maintenance.

Thus, Nepomuceno said these dams pose imminent danger to the people of Boac and the town of Mogpog.

Nepomuceno noted that several letters were sent to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Public Works and Highways, as well as the

provincial government of Marinduque, informing them of the danger posed by the unmaintained dams.

Despite of this, the former mayor lamented that no action has been taken by concerned government officials.

“Whereas upon filing of this petition, a temporary environmental protection order and a writ of kalikasan be issued, ordering respondents and any person acting on their behalf to immediately respond to the call for a remediation and installation, construction of mitigating measures or whatsoever is necessary for the removal of any threat coming from the unmaintained Makulapnit and Maguila-guila dams of Marcopper Mining Corp.,” the petitioner said.

Nepomuceno also urged the Court to order the respondents to remove or cause the removal of all underground tunnels and any existing structure detrimental or a threat to the environment, or that may bring environmental disaster and prevent

a repeat of the 1996 mining disaster.

It can be recalled that on December 6, 1993, at the height of Typhoon Monang, the siltation dam of Marcopper broke, sending a sudden flood down the Mogpog River.

Two people were killed; the farms, crops, homes and livestockof the residents were destroyed owing to the deluge of mine tailings and toxic effluent.

After the incident, the Mogpog River was declared biologically dead.

The Boac River was also declared biologically dead on March 24, 1996.

The incident resulted in the suspension of Marcopper’s operation, which was ordered on April 1, 1996, by the Pollution Adjudication Board of the DENR. Separately from this order, the DENR ordered on June 21, 1996, the cancellation of Marcopper’s environmental compliance certificate, without which Marcopper could not continue to undertake its mining operations.

Pampanga’s quarry revenues hit P1.2 billion

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ITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Pampanga’s revenue from quarrying operations has reached P1,207,605,000 following the collection of P273,920,000 from January to October 14 this year.

Data obtained from the Capampangan a Lulugud at Matapat also showed that the revenue was generated from weighing-scale fees, with a total collection of P60,699,000. Records show that P57,960,000 of the amount was collected from quarry trucks doing

business in Pampanga. The provincial government also collected some P2,739,000 from weighing-fee charges from quarry trucks coming from other provinces that utilize public roads in Pampanga.

Records also showed that the collections from July to December 2010 totaled P119,395,000; P238,380,000 (January to December 2011); P292,017,500 (January to December 2012); and P283, 902,500 for the whole of 2013.

The provincial government is optimistic that this trend, where the

income is at the average range of P20 million to P23 million a month, or roughly P1.1 million a day, will continue within the next 20 months of the administration of Gov. Lilia “Nanay” Pineda.

The provincial government is trying to improve operations and the collection system.

Pineda hopes that before her second term ends in 2016, the province’s revenues from Pampanga will reach more than P1.6-billion.

Joel P. Mapiles

Sunday, October 19, 2014 A7

Former WV rebs now govt partners for environment

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

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FTER returning to the fold of the law, a group of former communist rebels in Western Visayas is now waging a different kind of war in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The rebel returnees, who used to be regulars of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipinas-Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade-Tabara Paduano Group (RPMP-RPA-ABB-TPG), have been tapped for reforestation activities under the Aquino administration’s National Greening Program (NGP).

Now known as Kapatiran Para sa Progresibong Panlipunan (Kapatiran), the rebel returnees have agreed to reforest some 100 hectares of forest land in Barangay Locotan, Kabankalan City, starting this year up to 2016.

Under its agreement with the DENR, Kapatiran shall produce and plant some 55,000 seedlings in the first year with a stock density of 500 seedlings per hectare, and maintain and protect the plantation its members have established for the succeeding years.

Kapatiran members were also tasked to conduct foot patrols and establish firebreaks in designated NGP planting sites.

The DENR has earmarked P1.45 million for the three-year program, which will be released

in three tranches.

The DENR-Kapatiran deal forms part of the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Pamana), a government peace and development program and framework aiming to reduce poverty, improve governance and empower communities through community-driven projects that address people’s needs while promoting peace, Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje said.

“The NGP and the Pamana are working toward a common goal, and that is to reduce poverty. Allowing these rebel returnees to take part in the NGP would help them lead a normal life and earn a living,” Paje said.

In April last year, some 700 former RPMP-RPA-ABB-TPG combatants formed themselves into a legitimate socioeconomic and political organization under Kapatiran in keeping with the requirements of the peace agreement which it signed in 2002.

DENR Region 6 Executive Director Jim Sampulna said it was Paje’s initiative that the provision of forestry-based livelihood activities be made available to Kapatiran members as part of the strategy of Pamana to support former and current rebels who desire to integrate into communities and be transformed into productive citizens.

“Grassroots actions in conflict areas greatly contribute to the overall peacemaking efforts of the national government,” Sampulna said.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

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Sunday, October 19, 2014

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BSP likely to keep policy rate at 4%–economists

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By Bianca Cuaresma

fter rounds of assault on high inflation and money supply, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is expected to hold its horses on Thursday, as previous actions continue to work their way through the system and as inflation has shown signs of slowing down toward the end of the year.

Economists polled by the BusinessMirror said the central bank is likely to “pause” from its tightening cycle in the upcoming October 23 meeting, as the tamed September inflation allowed the BSP to stop and assess the effects of the recent tightening measures implemented continuously earlier this year.

In particular, seven out of eight economists said the central bank will likely keep its overnight policy rates at the current level of 4 percent, as well as leave the reserve requirement ratio and special deposit account (SDA) interest rates untouched.

“The twin hikes in last month’s meeting was aggressive and decisive, hence the BSP will likely take an assessment of recent actions, so a hold-off on policy actions is most probable. Add to this the slower inflation in September vs. August, this suggests a no-action stance,” Security Bank economist Patrick Ella told the BusinessMirror.

“Externally, Europe is struggling with minimal GDP [gross domestic product] growth; China is faltering; and the US recovery remains weak,” First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) Senior Vice President and Treasury Group Head Reynaldo Montalbo

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mid slower global growth foreseen this year, the Philippines will still manage to post a stronger dollar income from its transfers of real resources from the local scene to the rest of the world— measured as the country’s current account surplus (CAS)—compared to 2013, an international bank said.

London-based Barclays said that on the external front, the country’s CAS remains at the pink of health, supported by the “steady growth” of remittances and the decline in oil prices, thus reducing the country’s

trade deficit for the year.

In particular, the Philippines is expected to post a CAS equaling 4.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014. This assumption is larger than 2013’s CAS, which is equivalent to 3.5 percent of the country’s output during the year.

If attained by the country. the Philippines’ external position will also exceed the expectation of the national government for the year, which is currently pegged at only 2 percent of the country’s GDP.

Bank, were also of the view that the BSP will pause its tightening cycle for the October meeting.

Meanwhile, Maybank ATR Kim Eng research economist for the Philippines Luz Lorenzo said the central bank is seen to add another 25 basis points on the policy rate to still rein on upward inflation risks.

Just this year, the central bank has continuously released tightening measures to curb the high growth of consumer goods’ prices and cash supply in the system. In total, the central bank has implemented two rounds of reserve See “BSP,” A2

Tonga, Bhutan seek to replicate PHL’s PPP infra program

Barclays: CAS to reach 4.2% of GDP

“This would be consistent with the strong export performance and the robust outlook for coming months,” Barclays said in its recent report following the country’s sustained remittance flows for September, as reported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last week.

The outlook for the coming year, however, is seen to be quite bleak, owing to the expectation of a lower CAS ratio to GDP. Barclays said it is seeing CAS to hit 3.7 percent of GDP in 2015.

See “Barclays,” A2

also told the BusinessMirror in a separate response.

Likewise, Bank of the Philippine Islands associate economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa said the central bank will refrain from tightening in its next two policy meetings, and will only hike rates in the first quarter of 2015 ahead of the projected Federal Reserve interest-rate hike cycle in the second quarter of that year.

Foreign bank economists, like Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. economist Trinh Nguyen, ING Bank Manila economist Joey Cuyegkeng, Barclays regional economist Rahul Bajoria and the DBS

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

he flagship infrastructure program of the Aquino administration was hailed as one of the best in the world, with neighboring countries seeking notes on how to successfully fuse the expertise of both the government and investors to construct much-needed facilities that are seen to spur economic growth.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) Director General for Southeast Asia and Pacific Development Hidetoshi Irigaki said the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program of the Philippines is widely known around the globe as one with sound policies and structure.

“The Philippines is known globally as having one of the best PPP policies,” the Japanese consultant said of the key infrastructure program that was launched in late 2010.

The program went off with a slow start, with the Philippines seeing only a few projects being rolled out at the onset. To date, eight projects have been awarded amounting to P128 billion in investments.

With the program gaining traction, several neighboring countries—both developed and developing—are seeking insights from the PPP Center about the country’s key infrastructure thrust.

Officials of the Royal Governments of Tonga and Bhutan recently sought the assistance of the Philippine government for the development of their own national policy and institutional framework on PPP.

“We welcome the opportunity to share our experiences to those who want to start their own PPP programs. Other countries and our development partners now recognize the successes gained by the program, which is an affirmation that we are on the right track,” PPP Center Deputy Executive Director Sherry Ann N. Austria said.

Tonga is the latest country that sent representatives in the Philippines to seek guidance in starting its own PPP program. PPP Center officials welcomed Tonga Minister Feao Vakata and Deputy Chief Executive Officer Sione Akuola from the Ministry of Public Enterprises.

Austria said officers of the PPP Center explained the agency’s functions and various initiatives to ensure the sustainability of the PPP program. It, likewise, emphasized the critical role that a central PPP unit would play in orchestrating various activities toward the success of a country’s key infrastructure endeavor.

Like the Philippines, the Asian Development Bank is also helping Tonga to develop and strengthen its own PPP program and establish its dedicated PPP unit.

The Royal Government of Bhutan also sent a high-level delegation in the country for a study tour recently.

Members of the delegation from the Royal Government of Bhutan were Dasho Sonam Tshering, Ministry of Economic Affairs secretary; DashoKinley Dorji, Ministry of Information and Communications secretary; Dasho Sonam Tenzin, Ministry of Works and Human Settlement secretary; Lam Dorji, Ministry of Finance secretary; Sonam Phuntsho Wangdi, Ministry of Economic Affairs joint secretary; Pema Chewang, National Land Commission secretary; PhuntshoWangyel, Gross National Happiness Commission deputy chief research officer; Sonam Tashi, Ministry of Economic Affairs chief planning officer; and Sonam Lhendup, Ministry of Economic Affairs planning officer.

The Bhutan delegation was particularly interested in the Philippines’ PPP legal and institutional framework, and how the country could apply it to the PPP national policy it is currently See “PPP,” A2

PNP, AFP to pursue ASG bandits after release of German hostages

By Norman P. Aquino Bloomberg

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hilippine police and military will continue to pursue members of the Abu Sayyaf in the nation’s South, after the group freed two German hostages last night, military chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang said.

“There won’t be a pullout of troops,” Catapang said in a mobile-phone message on Friday night. Authorities will conduct an “all-out offensive” against the kidnappers, he said.

Catapang on Wednesday last week ordered the deployment to Sulu of 100 elite soldiers from Zamboanga City in the Mindanao region. About 2,000 troops are conducting operations in the province.

Sulu authorities have prepared evacuation centers and relief goods for 5,000 people in case they’re affected by clashes between troops and the Abu Sayyaf, Sonny Abing, a Jolo provincial government spokesman, said by phone on Friday.

The militant Islamic group released Stefan Viktor Okonek and Henrike Dielen after almost six months of captivity in the jungles of Jolo island, 950 kilometers south of Manila. The Germans, seized in April in waters off Palawan province, arrived at Villamor Airbase in Manila at 6:45 a.m. on Saturday, and were handed over to German Embassy officials, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Domingo Tutaan said in a mobile-phone message.

The Abu Sayyaf earlier threatened to kill the hostages if Germany didn’t pay a ransom and end its support for the US-led fight against Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East, the SITE intelligence group reported on its web site last month.

The two were released following payment of a P250-million, or $5.6-million, ransom, a morning broadsheet in Manila reported, citing an Abu Sayyaf spokesman.

Other captives

the Abu Sayyaf, which New York-based security consultancy Soufan Group said has pledged allegiance to IS, is still holding about 13 captives, including seven foreigners, according to the military.

The Abu Sayyaf is the most violent of the Islamic separatist groups operating in Mindanao and has used terror both for financial profit and to promote its jihadist agenda, according to the US National Counterterrorism Center. It engages in kidnappings for ransom, bombings, assassinations and extortion.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which signed a peace agreement with the government in March, is also still active in the region.

President Aquino ordered the military to stop the Abu Sayyaf “once and for all,” Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin said in a radio interview on September 25. Government forces in Sulu will be reorganized, and the Army and the Marines will join forces to combat the militants, he said.