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

U.N. Media Award 2008

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Life

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EAR God, the two-fold dimension of our life is being called to holiness and mission. I relate my case in the field of education. The thrust of my mission to holiness is this long pattern of teaching minds, touching hearts, transforming lives and living Christ with others. The methodology that went with it came about for 48 years in academe. A life of prayers, good works, true service by giving my all, patience and with the help of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Anyone can do it in their own field, oh God, let holiness and mission be part of our life as You lead us to Your Kingdom. Amen.

ON A MISSION AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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Monday, October 27, 2014

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EMERALD VILLAHERMOSA (Alfonso Ossorio)

❷ GRACE TAGLE (Gus

Albor)

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JENNIFER HAMMOND (Nena Saguil)

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JO ANN BITAGCOL (Juan Luna)

❺ KIM ROSS (Arturo

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Luz)

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Is Jesus Lloren the savior of Philippine fashion?

B C. M L Photographed by Alex van Hagen

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HILE Yves Saint Laurent only had to focus on the geometric abstract paintings of Piet Mondrian, Jesus “Jojie” Lloren apparently was inspired by the vast archives of Filipino visual artists from the 19th century to contemporary times.

In the sixth edition of the Red Charity Gala, the fund-raiser for the Philippine Red Cross and the Assumption High School Batch 1981 Foundation of socialite-philanthropists Kaye Tinga and Tessa PrietoValdes, Lloren paid fine tribute to world-class Filipino artists, just like the designer himself.

Supermodel/photographer Jo Ann Bitagcol opened the show at the Rizal Ballroom of the Makati Shangri-La in a masculinized ensemble inspired by the Juan Luna 1892 oil on canvas impressionist painting, The Parisian Life, which was bought by the Government Service Insurance System for P45.4 million.

Quite apropos, since Bitagcol is Lloren’s muse and good friend, and she spent time with him in Paris when he studied at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de La Couture Parisienne after he won the grand prize at the Concours International des Jeunes Createurs de Mode in Paris in 1998. When he returned to the country, Lloren’s ascent to the top of Philippine fashion was inevitable.

Closing the show—directed by the brilliant Ariel Lozada, exquisitely styled by Noel Manapat and beautified by Patrick Rosas—was supermodel Ria Bolivar, in a column gown inspired by Lee Aguinaldo’s Linear 95 (1969). The acrylic on marine plywood painting, which is part of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Collection, comes closest to the Mondrian works that inspired YSL. With the most important gala in the country, Lloren has shown what 25 years in the fashion business has done to his astonishing talent. His range is stupefying— from sleek skirts to flowing gowns, from crisp shirts to

❿ smart blazers, from slim pants to fancy trousers. “[The process in creating the 40-piece collection] was madness. I knew I had to deliver. I had to finish pieces right away but then, you know, ideas don’t come automatically. I just had to wait for that and usually they come at the last minute,” Lloren said backstage after the gala. “I had to change six pieces, like the Amorsolo [piece]. With the Arturo Luz [piece], the beadwork was done three times,” starting with beads, then zippers and finally feeling satisfied with pearls.

In between the Luna and the Aguinaldo, Lloren also gave an haute-couture flourish to cubist, surrealist and expressionist Ang Kiukok’s Fruit on Table (1975), first Filipina abstractionist Nena Saguil’s cosmology of dots,

Cesar Legaspi’s cubism, Alfonso Ossorio’s abstract expressionism, abstract minimalist Arturo Luz’s Imaginary Landscapes (2011), and Gus Albor’s Untitled oil on canvas (2005). Though she was celebrated for her vibrant colors, Pacita Abad’s Filipina: A Racial Identity Crisis (1990), made of acrylic, handwoven cloth, dyed yarn, beads, gold thread on stitched and padded canvass, was given Lloren’s subdued, sublime and impeccable treatment.

Lloren didn’t collaborate with any living artists. “I consulted with Boots Herrera, who’s with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University, and Albert Avellana [of the Avellana Art Gallery]. They are art experts and they taught me about the painters—what’s their style, what are they

known for? There was a time I went to the Metropolitan Museum, and Boots was there” to educate him about the artists, shared Lloren, a B.S. Clothing Technology graduate from the University of the Philippines Diliman.

From the artists that inspired him, Lloren said that he owns one from abstractionist Lao Lianben and another by interdisciplinary artist Lexygius Calip. With his eye and empathy, Lloren captured quite remarkably the essence of the works of the artists he chose to pay homage to. “[I was aiming for] how I perceived the painting, or how the painting touched me or affected me, or sometimes I would ask, ‘What’s his style?’” Lloren intimated. “Also, I had to research through the Internet and books, and interview Boots and Albert, particularly about paintings.” “[Jojie’s work] is seemingly simple but his tailoring and sewing details can only be achieved by expert pattern makers and expert craftsmen,” said Lloren’s mentor, the legendary designer Christian Espiritu. “He joined me when I was already into ready-to-wear. So there was very little creativity involved but he was very quiet and industrious. When I came to see his first collection on his own while visiting from New York, I was so amazed at the great improvement. I’ve seen more collections from him since and he has been consistent.”

Lloren has presided over the Young Designers Guild and the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines.

He is still busy designing for Rustan’s ready-to-wear label Jill and Luna. As the mentor on Project Runway Philippines, someone who encourages cohesiveness in creating collections, finding a unifying element among his Red Charity Gala creations proved daunting for the mild-mannered designer.

“It was very challenging. I had to come up with distinctly different pieces so I had to use all the techniques I know without resorting to painting or dyeing the pieces,” Lloren explained. “I had to combine colors, fabrics, textures and materials. I had to experiment a lot with beading, sculpturing and even laminating.”

The designer’s efforts, needless to say, paid off in the most breathtaking fashion. ■

KRYSTAL ESPIRITU (Pacita Abad)

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MARGE GUTIERREZ (Cesar Legaspi)

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JODILLY PENDRE (Ang Kiukok)

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RIA BOLIVAR (Lee Aguinaldo)

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JOJIE LLOREN with Kaye Tinga and Tessa Prieto-Valdes

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stop people from wasting your time BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, October 27, 2014 E 1

Stop people From WaSting Your time P

By Dorie Clark

norms that include best practices such as eliminating generic “updates” and clearly indicating the decisions that need to be made as a result of the meeting.

eoPle who waste our time have become the scourge of modern business life, hampering our productivity and annoying us in the process.

Sometimes it’s hard to escape, especially when the time-waster is your boss.

But in many other situations, you can take steps to regain control of your time and your schedule:

State your preferred method of communication

You can often limit aggravation by proactively informing colleagues about the best way to reach you,

whether it’s via phone calls, texts, e-mails or even tweets.

Require an agenda for meetings

Force others to prepare

You can model the practice by writing an agenda for any meetings you chair and offering to share the template with others. In fact, you could push to establish company

SUcceSSFUl InnovAToRS Don’T cARe ABoUT InnovATIng

weeds out the uncommitted. Debbie Horovitch, a specialist in Google+ Hangouts, has long offered complimentary initial strategy sessions, but realized that some people were taking advantage with irrelevant discussions. She’s adopted a new policy: “Everyone who wants a call/chat with me must fill in an application” with specific questions about what will be discussed. “Now that I’ve set my boundaries and expectations of the people I work with, it’s much easier to identify the time wasters.”

Will you face blowback by toughening up and putting clear boundaries around your time? Inevitably.

But you may also find that people start to respect you—and your time—a lot more.

Police guest lists

If you’ve been invited to a meeting, ask two critical questions. first, do I need to be there? looking at the agenda, you can gauge whether your input would be valuable or if you can just find out details afterward. Second, will the (other) right people be there? Make sure you understand who the real decision-makers are, and don’t waste your time (or other people’s) until they can be present and participate. “forcE” is a harsh word, and that’s intentional—because it’s not burdensome for people who would have prepared anyway, yet it effectively

By Doug Sundheim

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uccESSful innovators care about solving interesting and important problems—innovation is merely a byproduct. If this distinction seems like hairsplitting, it isn’t. The two focuses create vastly different realities. focusing on innovating—as a worthy goal unto itself—tends to be born from self-centered motives: We need to protect ourselves from competitive forces. We need to ensure we have a growth engine.

We need to keep up with other companies. To do all these things, we need to innovate.

This perspective often comes from an executive suite looking to protect its turf. It isn’t inherently bad. But this focus tends to create a culture where customers are on the sidelines, not in the center of the dialogue.

By contrast, focusing on solving interesting and important problems tends to be born from customercentered motives: What’s going on with this set of customers? Where are they ecstatic? Where are they upset? Where do they feel good?

Where do they hurt? How can we better serve them? These types of questions put customer problems front and center and create a culture where that’s expected.

Dorie Clark teaches at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She is the author of reinventing You and the forthcoming Stand out.

And since people naturally want to solve problems, it encourages innovation. So how can you foster this mindset if it’s not already present in your organization? The simple answer is you just start doing it, even if you’re the only one.

Disabuse yourself of the notion that innovation is some high-minded creative process reserved for a certain class of people. remember that most great innovations have been developed by regular people inspired by a problem. Get out of the building and talk to your customers. listen to their challenges. come up with back-of-the-envelope, harebrained ideas about how you can help them.

Get comfortable with the idea that you’ll throw 99 percent of those envelopes in the trash. When you lose your motivation, go back to the problem statement. let it inspire you. let it lead you. Stay mindful that problem statements shift and move, but never stray too far from your customers.Before long you’ll embody a customer-centered, problem-focused mind-set. You’ll inspire others to start embodying it too.

That’s the only way innovation ever really happens.

Doug Sundheim is a leadership and strategy consultant. His latest book is Taking Smart risks: How Sharp leaders Win When Stakes Are High.

coRPoRATe UnIveRSITIeS ShoUlD ReFlecT A comPAny’S IDeAlS

By Raghu Krishnamoorthy

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f the number of executives from other companies who have been benchmarking General Electric’s (GE) management-development centers is any indication, interest in creating corporate universities is on the rise. While these visitors are always intrigued by the commitment and sense of mission they observe, many tend to focus on traditional metrics like the number of classes, the number of participants per year and the cost. They sometimes fail to understand that a corporate university can and should be used to drive strategic and cultural change and to champion individual and collective growth. Here are some of GE’s principles for achieving those essential aims:

Get buy-in for your global strategy with local partners

By Kip Knight

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urING my career, I’ve worked on adapting global brand strategies in 65 different countries, and I’ve learned three principles about how to do it well.

Show respect for your global partners in everything you do

STEpHEN covEY’S advice to “seek first to understand, then be understood” absolutely applies to working with teams around the world to expand a brand from one market to another. for example, I created a “Helping Hand” award at Kfc International given each quarter to a country team that went “above and beyond” to help an emerging market

team. This simple and free peer recognition was remarkably effective at fostering a spirit of mutual respect in all our markets.

WHEN I managed the global Kfc brand, my boss asked me to travel around the world and meet with various teams to develop a global strategy and initiatives. When I returned, I told him we were in big trouble unless we figured out a better way to explain the importance and rationale for such strategies to everyone. That led to the creation of the Kfc Global Marketing college, which brought in teams from around the world for exactly that purpose. While it took several years

SoME nonnegotiables are crystal clear, such as your trademark, logo and core products. But if you allow the local team to have flexibility about as many issues as possible, the more they will feel they own the finished product. for example, eBay allowed local market units to decide on the categories they wanted to focus on initially and how they wanted to promote them with buyers and sellers.

By being collaborative and flexible

A leadership institute should reflect the company’s leadership ideals

So being clear about what the corporate university stands for is an essential starting point. At GE, we use our corporate university to “inspire, connect and develop.” Employees of all levels, from all our businesses and regions, come together here.

for this to have a significant business impact, once we had a critical mass of teams that believed in our global strategy, there was no stopping them. Kfc International has since grown from a $2 billion to a $14-billion business.

These principles can apply to any business with international expansion aspirations, whether you’re aiming for two countries or 200. If you treat your global business partners with the proper respect, give them the insight into your brand strategy they need, and let them implement it as they see fit, odds are that strategy will succeed.

in how you enter a new market, your odds of success go up dramatically.

Understanding the “why” is a lot more important than the “what” for a global brand strategy

Be clear about “negotiables” and “non negotiables” for the brand

Deep leadership involvement is essential

SupErfIcIAl measures like number of classes or participants or even costs are not a real indication of value. Deeper qualities, some of which can’t be measured, are critical to success. one of the most important is how senior leaders engage participants in the learning process.

Jeff Immelt, GE’s chairman and cEo, spends more than one-third of his time on leadership development—

Kip Knight is president of US Retail Operations at H&R Block.

Monday, October 27, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 19

P25.00 nationwide | 7 sections 36 pages | 7 days a week

‘Build on PHL’s competitive edge’

SOLE PATROL »D2

BusinessMirror

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

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I.M.F. exec cites young and skilled filipino work force

is jesus lloren the savior of PhL fashion?

Called to holiness and mission

A broader look at today’s business

setting the tone for leaders at our flagship site in crotonville, New York, and worldwide. for instance, we have offered well over 100 sessions of our Manager Development course for midlevel executives since Immelt took the helm in 2001, and he has participated in all but one.

The experience matters as much as the content

WHIlE great content is vital, providing the right kind of environment and learning experience is just as important. We curate a participant’s experience with the aim of making it an immersive learning journey.

Everyone, from the hospitality staff to the faculty, endeavors to create an atmosphere of excitement, learning and connection.

It is about meritocracy, not hierarchy

WE want attendees to be open to learning from everything and everybody. Each individual who comes in is a student, a teacher and a coach, in keeping with our leadership philosophy of “we all rise.”

All the events are open to everyone.

Even the residence building reflects an egalitarian view: The accommodations are the same irrespective of seniority. All learners are equal.

The prime objective is to learn.

The physical space of a corporate university is the easy part. Infusing it with the company’s culture, or spirit, is what’s difficult. But in the end, a corporate university can play an instrumental role in creating a company’s future.

Raghu Krishnamoorthy is GE’s vice president of executive development and chief learning officer.

MONDAY MORNING

© 2013 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. (Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate)

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who: number of Ebola-linked cases passes 10,000

By Bianca Cuaresma

he International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the country’s so-called demographic advantage, essentially the youthfulness of an economy’s work force, may be put to waste if issues in the local labor market are not addressed.

In a speech delivered at the 23rd Journalism Awards of the Globe-Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines late on Friday, IMF Resident Representative for the Philippines Shanaka Jayanath Peiris said the $270-billion economy is now reaping the benefits of a demographic dividend borne of a young and skilled work force.

“The Philippines will be one of the youngest countries in Asia, even younger than India. So that is a huge opportunity. Why? Not only is it because you are young but also [because] others are going to be old, especially your neighbors in Asia. It’s not just about the US and Europe. It’s really about Asia, as well. Parts of Asia are going to age much faster than have ever [been] seen in human history…because the rest of Asia is going to age, [you] are going to be very young,” Peiris said.

The so-called demographic sweet spot has been dubbed by several economists—public and private alike—as one of the key growth drivers of the country See “IMF,” A2

DUSK CATCH A man gathers his fishnet as the sun sets on Coastal Road, Las Piñas City. A catch can give him extra income and food for his family to survive the day. NONIE REYES

BusinessMirror

World The

Cement sales up by 11.9% in Q3–Cemap

B3-1 | Monday, October 27, 2014 • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

In this photo taken on October 24, three people suspected of having contracted the Ebola virus await treatment outside a hospital in the Bomi County area, near Monrovia, Liberia. AP

WHO: Number of Ebola linked cases passes 10,000

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AKAR, Senegal—More than 10,000 people have been infected with Ebola and nearly half of them have died, according to figures released on Saturday by the World Health Organization (WHO), as the outbreak continues to spread.

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is the largest ever outbreak of the disease with a rapidly rising death toll in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

There have also been cases in three other West African countries, Spain and the United States.

The UN health agency said on Saturday that the number of confirmed, probable and suspected cases has risen to 10,141. Of those cases, 4,922 people have died. Its figures show about 200 new cases since the last report, four days ago.

Even those grisly tolls are likely an underestimate, WHO has warned,

as many people in the hardest-hit countries have been unable or too frightened to seek medical care. A shortage of labs capable of handling potentially infected blood samples has also made it difficult to track the outbreak. For example, the latest numbers show no change in Liberia’s case toll, suggesting the numbers may be lagging behind reality.

On Thursday, authorities confirmed that the disease had spread to Mali, the sixth West African country affected, and on the same day a new case was confirmed in New York, in a doctor recently returned

from Guinea. Mali had long been considered highly vulnerable to the disease, since it shares a border with Guinea. The disease arrived there in a 2-year-old, who traveled from Guinea with her grandmother by bus and died on Friday.

The toddler, who was bleeding from her nose during the journey, may have had high-risk contact with many people, the WHO warned. So far, 43 people are being monitored in isolation for signs of the disease, and WHO said on Saturday that authorities are continuing to look for more people at risk.

To help fight Ebola, the UN humanitarian flight service airlifted about 1 ton of medical supplies to Mali late Friday. The seats of the plane were removed to make room for the cargo, which included hazard suits for health workers, surgical gloves, face shields and buckets, according to the World Food Program, which runs the flights.

The spread of Ebola to Mali has highlighted how easily the virus can jump borders, and Malian border police said that neighboring Mauritania closed its border with Mali.

The health minister of Ivory

Coast, which borders Guinea and Mali, said authorities there were looking for a nurse who may have Ebola and fled from Guinea, where he was being monitored by officials.

But Raymonde Goudou stressed that it was still not clear whether the man had Ebola.

There was concern also in Ghana, where some worried a strike by health-care workers could leave the country vulnerable to the disease.

Ghana does not border any country with reported cases, but it is serving as the headquarters for the UN mission on Ebola.

In Liberia, the country hardest hit by the epidemic, US forces have been building desperately needed treatment centers and helping to bring in aid. On Saturday, Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, who was in charge of the troops assigned to the Ebola response, handed power to Maj. Gen. Gary J. Volesky, the 101st Airborne commander.

“I’ve been told that by a number of people that the task we face is extremely hard. Well, a fairly famous person once said hard is not impossible,” Volesky said. “Together, we’re going to beat it.” AP

Rohingya fleeing Myanmar already tops 100,000

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ANGON, Myanmar—A growing sense of desperation is fueling a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims from western Myanmar, with the number who have fled by boat since communal violence broke out two years ago now topping 100,000, a leading expert said on Saturday.

Chris Lewa, director of the nonprofit advocacy group Arakan Project, said there has been a huge surge since October 15, with an average of 900 people per day piling into cargo ships parked off Rakhine State.

That’s nearly 10,000 in less than two weeks, she noted, one of the biggest spikes yet.

Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 50 million that only recently emerged from half a century of military rule, has an estimated 1.3 million Rohingya. Though many of their families arrived from neighboring Bangladesh generations ago, almost all have been denied citizenship. In the last two years, attacks

by Buddhist mobs have left hundreds dead and 140,000 trapped in camps, where they live without

live in the northern tip of Rakhine state, where an aggressive campaign by authorities in recent months to register family members and officially categorize them as “Bengalis”— implying they are illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh— has aggravated their situation.

According to villagers contacted by the Associated Press, some were confined to their villages for weeks at a time for refusing to take part in the “verification” process, while others were beaten or arrested.

More recently, dozens of men were detained for having alleged ties to the militant Rohingya Solidarity Organization, or RSO, said Khin Maung Win, a resident from Maungdaw township, adding that several reportedly were beaten or tortured during their arrests or while in detention.

Lewa said three of the men died.

“Our team is becoming more and more convinced that this campaign of arbitrary arrests is aimed at triggering departures,” she said.

Rakhine State Spokesman Win Myaing denied any knowledge of arrests or abuse. AP

In this June 26 photo, a rohingya boy who recovers sellable items from garbage dumps, takes shelter in a roadside shop in the rain at the Chaung village north of sittwe, rakhine state, Myanmar. AP

access to adequate health care, education or jobs. Lewa, who has teams monitoring embarkation points, is considered the leading authority on the number of fleeing Rohingya.

But boats are now shoving off from more and more places, she said, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of how many are leaving.

“The real number may be higher,” Lewa said.

She said some Rohingya families

have received phone calls notifying them that ships from the latest exodus have started arriving in neighboring Thailand, where passengers often are brought to jungle camps, facing extortion and beatings until relatives come up with enough money to win their release.

From there they usually travel to Malaysia or other countries, but, still stateless, their futures remain bleak.

In Myanmar, the vast majority

VIsItOrs walk past the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, on October 25. the grounds and lawn of Parliament Hill reopened on Friday night following the shootings at the national War Memorial and Parliament Hill. AP

Canada reopens grounds of Parliament Hill

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TTAWA, Ontario—Canadians returned to the reopened grounds of Parliament Hill on Saturday just three days after a gunman shot and killed a soldier at the national war memorial and then stormed Parliament before he was gunned down.

House Speaker Andrew Scheer said tours of Parliament will resume on Monday, but visitors can expect to see a heightened Royal Canadian Mounted Police presence at building entrances. Counseling sessions will be provided for Commons staff, he said.

The reopening comes at a time when Canadians are debating how to balance homeland safety and freedoms in a country that treasures its image as an orderly, open society, a place where the seat of government welcomes weekly public yoga sessions on its front lawn beneath a monument called the Peace Tower.

Brett Connors was among the visitors who came to the reopened grounds of Parliament Hill, accompanying his 11-year-old daughter’s youth hockey team as players took photos in front of a flame commemorating the nation’s 1967 centennial. He said reopening Parliament Hill, and soon the building, to the public sends an important signal.

“It represents democracy. So by closing it, it’s like closing the country down,” said Connors, of Scarborough, near Toronto.

“One single incident can’t be bigger than our whole democracy.”

“You have tragedy, but you have to rise from that,” he said.

Shirley Savage made a point of visiting the grounds on Saturday, during a weekend trip from her home in Belleville, Ontario.

She had been there before, but

this time, the visit symbolized “the fact that Canadians are standing together,” she said.

The attack in Ottawa came two days after a man described as an “ISIL-inspired terrorist” ran over two soldiers in a parking lot in Quebec, killing one and wounding the other before being shot to death by police.

The man had been under surveillance by Canadian authorities, who feared he had jihadist ambitions and seized his passport when he tried to travel to Turkey.

The Ottawa gunman was identified as Michael ZehafBibeau. Muslim leaders said on Friday that Zehaf-Bibeau once complained that a Vancouver mosque he attended was too liberal and inclusive, and was kicked out after he repeatedly spent the night there even though officials told him to stop.

On Wednesday Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, shot to death Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, 24, who was assigned to the honor guard at the national war memorial. ZehafBibeau was eventually gunned down inside Parliament by the sergeant-at-arms of the House of Commons, Kevin Vickers.

Zehaf-Bibeau’s motive remains unknown, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called the shooting a terror attack, and the bloodshed raised fears that Canada is suffering reprisals for joining the US-led air campaign against Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria. Unlike the attacker in the Quebec case, Zehaf-Bibeau was not being watched by authorities. But a top police official said ZehafBibeau—whose father was from Libya—may have lashed out in frustration over delays in getting his passport. AP

World

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Level at 2-2 SAN FRANCISCO Giants’ Joaquin Arias is safe at second by umpire Jeff Nelson on a throw by Kansas City Royals’ catcher Salvador Perez to Alcides Escobar (center) during the sixth inning of Game Four. AP

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THE Giants’ Pablo Sandoval, seen here celebrating with Brandon Belt, helps the Giants tie the series anew. AP

BusinessMirror

LEVEL AT 2-2

replay challenge AN FRANCISCO—Kansas City Royals Manager Ned Yost lost the first instantreplay challenge in the World Series under expanded rules this season.

In the sixth inning of Game Four on Saturday, San Francisco’s Joaquin Arias was ruled safe at second on a pickoff attempt by Royals catcher Salvador Perez.

Yost hustled out of the dugout to challenge the call, which was upheld after a replay review that took one minute and 47 seconds. Crew chief Jeff Kellogg, the second base umpire, signaled safe.

Fans in the sellout crowd chanted “Safe! Safe!” and signaled so.

Umpire Jerry Meals worked the replay booth in New York after serving as the plate umpire for Game One. Arias wound up being thrown out at the plate trying to score the go-ahead run later in the inning. AP

The San Francisco Giants surge past the Kansas City Royals, 11-4, on Saturday at a raucous AT&T Park, ensuring the title will be decided at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium next week.

Sports

| Monday, oCtober 27, 2014 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

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By Ronald Blum The Associated Press

AN FRANCISCO—Pablo Sandoval’s single set up the tying run in the fifth inning before he followed with a go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth to send the San Francisco Giants surging past the Kansas City Royals, 11-4, on Saturday at a raucous AT&T Park.

Hunter Pence, eyes ablaze, had three hits, three RBIs and a terrific sliding catch in the ninth inning, and Joe Panik hit a two-run double in a four-run seventh. San Francisco piled on 16 hits in a game that took exactly four hours.

“We never give up, that’s the thing,” Sandoval said.

“We’ve been doing it all year in these situations. We know how that feels.”

The Series is level at two games each, ensuring the title will be decided at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium next week.

Madison Bumgarner tries to put the Giants ahead on Sunday night when he starts against Royals ace James Shields in a rematch of the opener, won by the Giants, 7-1.

“This was a great ball game, I thought, especially the way we came back,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. “So I enjoyed it.”

Showcasing baseball at its exciting best, the game included a sprawling catch by Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson that left a pair of divots, and the first use of expanded video review in Series history—which became a turning point. Jeff Kellogg’s safe call at second base was upheld on catcher Salvador Perez’s pickoff attempt of Joaquin Arias, helping the Giants build the pivotal rally.

Four fans in the first row near the Giants dugout wore giant—of course—panda heads as they cheered on 2012 Series Most Valuable Player Sandoval, nicknamed Kung Fu Panda and a veteran of the team’s World Series titles in 2010 and 2012. The switch-hitter batted just .199 righthanded during the regular season but came up with his first two-hit game from that side of the plate since August 25, emphatically tossing his bat after lining a single to center that put the Giants ahead.

“Clutch hitter,” Royals Manager Ned Yost said. “I thought we had the situation right in the palm of our hand.”

Lost in the torrent of runs was the earlier fit of pique

by Giants Manager Bruce Bochy, who threw his hat to the dugout floor when his infielders botched a thirdinning grounder. The mood was different by the eighth, when former Journey singer Steve Perry sprinted to the front row of the second deck behind home plate and led

the crowd of 43,066 in a sing-along of “When the Lights Go Down in the City.”

The Series outlook seemed far different in the third inning, when ominous, dark clouds formed over the bayside ballpark, and the Royals burst ahead, 4-1, against Ryan Vogelsong with the help of the botched grounder. Orange-clad fans quieted, and there even were scattered boos.

But Yusmiero Petit settled the NL champions with three innings of scoreless, two-hit relief to improve to 3-0 in the postseason, and 11 different Giants had hits. Three of the 10 Giants in the No. 9 spot had hits; Petit singled to become the first Giants reliever to get a hit in the postseason in 78 years.

Yost stayed with starter Jason Vargas into the fifth inning, removing him after Panik’s leadoff double.

Royals relievers had been 7-0 in the postseason and in Game Three pitched four hitless innings to preserve a 3-2 win.

But Yost couldn’t get to his HDH triad of hardthrowing relievers: Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland.

Jason Frasor and Danny Duffy combined to allow the tying run in a two-run fifth. And Brandon Finnegan, the first player to appear in the College World Series and World Series in the same year, allowed Sandoval’s two-run single and Brandon Belt’s RBI’s single in the sixth.

There was intermittent light rain in the early innings. Pence’s RBI force-out in the first gave the Giants a short-lived lead.

Kansas City went ahead with a two-out four-run rally in the third with the help of two infield hits that gave the Royals 18 in the postseason, matching the total of all other teams combined. Eric Hosmer hit a slow tapper to the right side. Belt ranged far off first base to field it, and quickly looked to see if he could get a force-out at second.

With no play there, Belt whirled around and tried to toss to Vogelsong. But the pitcher didn’t get to the bag cleanly, messed up his footwork and had no chance to prevent Hosmer from reaching with a tying single.

Bochy slammed his cap to the dugout floor. Omar Infante grounded a two-run single up the middle for a 3-1 lead, making him 10 for 15 against Vogelsong, and Perez followed with a bloop single to short center for a 4-1 lead.

Buster Posey cut the deficit in the bottom half with an RBI single, tying Barry Bonds’s team record of 21 career postseason RBIs, and the Giants tied the score in the fifth.

After Panik’s leadoff double, Frasor relieved with one out and Pence hit an RBI single that caused Frasor to throw up both arms in frustration. Duffy entered, Sandoval singled Pence to third, Duffy loaded the bases with a fourpitch walk to Belt and Juan Perez’s sacrifice fly made it 4-4.

RELIEVERS WASTE EARLY LEAD S

AN FRANCISCO—The plan this postseason has been pretty straightforward for the Kansas City Royals: Take an early lead and hand the game over to a terrific trio of hard-throwing relievers.

A four-run third inning provided the lead on Saturday night. But starter Jason Vargas got knocked out early and Jason Frasor, Danny Duffy and Brandon Finnegan failed to provide the bridge to the back end of the bullpen in an 11-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants in Game Four of the World Series.

“It just didn’t work tonight,” Manager Ned Yost said. “It doesn’t work every night, you know. Most nights we do a pretty good job doing it. It just didn’t work tonight.”

Now, instead of being in control, the Royals are tied two games apiece with the Giants and will send struggling starter James Shields to the mound against San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner in Game Five on Sunday.

The Royals hoped to take a 3-1 cushion into that game with a chance to clinch the Series or at worst head back home for the final two games with the lead. It appeared that might happen when they scratched together four runs in the third to take a 4-1 advantage.

The inning ended on a comic note when Vargas started jogging toward first base after taking a ball from Jean Machi with the bases loaded. After getting almost halfway down the line, Vargas realized that it was only ball three, froze in a playful stance and returned to the plate.

“Just a mental fart,” Vargas said. “We haven’t been in the box that much. It’s just one of those things that happen. It didn’t shake me up too much.”

The Royals laughed in the dugout and Vargas took strike three on the next pitch to end the inning. There wasn’t much else to laugh about for Kansas City on this night.

Vargas gave up another run in the bottom of the third and was replaced by Frasor after allowing a double to lefthanded hitter Joe Panik leading off the fifth.

“As a starting pitcher you want to get as deep in the game and close the gap to the bullpen as much as you can,” Vargas said. “I wasn’t able to do that tonight. I put our skip in a tough spot when Panik led off that inning with a double.

We went to what’s been working for us.”

The middle relievers needed to deliver six outs to get the Royals through the sixth inning, when Yost would be able to turn the game over to Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland. That trio has three wins, seven saves and an 0.84 ERA in 32 1-3 innings this postseason. But now they will have to wait at least one more night to get a chance to protect another World Series lead. AP

sports

C1

C

ement sales grew by 11.9 percent in the third quarter as clement weather allowed for increased construction activity, according to the Cement Manufacturers’ Association of the Philippines (Cemap).

Cemap President Ernesto Ordoñez said the outlook for cement sales for the year remains buoyant from the industry’s perspective despite a slow second-quarter growth of only 3.2 percent.

Cement sales for the third quarter alone amounted to 5.374 million metric tons (MMT), an 11.9- percent increase over last year’s sales of 4.805 MMT. This brought the year-to-date sales volume to 16.093 MMT, a 7.7-percent improvement over last year’s ninemonth sales of only 14.941 MMT. According to Ordoñez, the pickup in cement consumption was due to better weather, a factor that may have affected sales, which were stunted, in the second quarter.

However, an industry source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the more telling factor that hindered more buoyant sales in the second quarter was the political turmoil, and its consequent impact See “Cement,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 44.8220

BM’s Lenie Lectura gets two honors in Globe-sponsored business journalism awards

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HE B u s i n e s s Mirror’s Lenie Lectura was honored as best energy beat reporter and best telecommunications beat reporter at the 23rd Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (Ejap) Business Journalism Awards on Friday.

This year’s awards is the seventh that Lectura won for the BusinessMirror, where she worked since the prestigious business daily newspaper began in 2005.

Lectura, a Mass Communications alumnae of Letran University, also was honored by Ejap last year for best telecommunications and transportation beat reporter. Lectura, who was Ejap president in 2010, was awarded Best in Feature during the 21st Ejap Business Journalism Awards in 2012.

She and the other winners were selected by a panel of judges, led by Synergeia Foundation Inc. CEO and former Finance Undersecretary Milwida Guevara.

The annual Ejap Business Journalism Awards are sponsored

by Globe Telecom Inc.

Poor health systems in PHL, Asia cause for Ebola alarm

S

INGAPORE—The longer the Ebola outbreak rages in West Africa, the greater chance a traveler infected with the virus touches down in an Asian city.

How quickly any case is detected— and the measures taken once it is— will determine whether the virus takes hold in a region where billions live in poverty and public health systems are often very weak. Governments are ramping up response plans, stepping up surveillance at airports and considering quarantine measures. Still, health experts in the region’s less-developed countries fear any outbreak would be deadly and hard to contain.

“This is a non-treatable disease with a very high mortality rate.

And even a country like the US has not been able to completely prevent it,” said Yatin Mehta, a critical-care specialist at the Medanta Medicity hospital near New Delhi. “The government is trying. They are preparing and

they are training, but our record of disaster management has been very poor in the past.”

More than 10,000 people have been infected with Ebola and nearly half of them have died, according to the World Health Organization. The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is the largest-ever outbreak of the disease, with a rapidly rising death toll in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

There have also been cases in three other West African countries, Spain and the US. Early symptoms of Ebola include fever, headache, body aches, cough, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea, and patients aren’t contagious until those begin. The virus requires close contact with body fluids to spread so health-care workers and family members caring for loved ones are most at risk. Asia, home to 60 percent of the world’s population, scores higher than West Africa on most development indexes and includes Continued on A2

n japan 0.4140 n UK 71.8497 n HK 5.7783 n CHINA 7.3245 n singapore 35.1132 n australia 39.3037 n EU 56.6864 n SAUDI arabia 11.9471 Source: BSP (24 October 2014)

A2

News BusinessMirror

Monday, October 27, 2014

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Poor health systems in PHL, Asia cause for Ebola alarm workers in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, plus more than 100 peacekeeping troops in Liberia. The Department of Health (DOH) is suggesting a 21-day quarantine period before its citizens leave those three countries, but doesn’t know how it will pay for that, Spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy said.

“The DOH is doing its part, but it is downstream, it is on the receiving end,” said Dr. Antony Leachon, presi-

Continued from A1

emerging or developed countries like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. But countries like India, China, the Philippines and Indonesia have vast numbers of poor, many of whom live in crowded slums and underfunded health systems.

The Philippine government estimates there are up to 1,700 Filipino

Cement. . .

dent of the Philippine College of Physicians. “What is important is that Ebola shouldn’t be able to enter. Since we have 10 million migrant workers, we have problems containing that.”

Indonesia has put 100 hospitals that have experience of treating patients suffering from bird flu on standby for Ebola, said Tjandra Yoga Aditama, head of the Health Ministry’s research and development board.

Income-tax. . . continued from a12

continued from a1

on business, that came in the wake of the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

The DAP was declared unconstitutional in the third quarter but the nature of the contentious program of the Department of Budget and Management have divided government since late 2013.

The DAP was said touted as an economic stimulus program meant to speed up the public disbursement process and help boost economic expansion.

The program diverted savings and approved funds from slowmoving government projects to new activities/projects. Increased spending on infrastructure projects was one of the activities funded by the DAP mechanism.

An industry source also predicted a more pronounced demand for cement may be realized toward the end of the year as spending for public infrastructures accelerate.

Ordoñez said the acceleration from the second-quarter sales growth of only 3.2 percent to 11.9 percent bodes well for the industry.

“Probably they are not interested in helping out Filipinos. We gave them one month [to give their inputs]. They have been unfair already to the Filipino citizens. [The BIR and DOF] keep confusing the issue and they even prioritize the corporate taxpayers [over] individual taxpayers,”Romulo said.

Romulo said the various bills basically differ on the bracketing and tax rates. He said they had hoped the DOF and the BIR representatives would come to Congress and help the lawmakers understand the two agencies’ position and help the legislators choose the appropriate bracketing.

“We’ve given them enough time already. Other resource persons have submitted their inputs on what should be changed on the income tax

DTI. . . continued from a12 approach in support of the manufacturing resurgence program which aims to put in place a more inclusive growth profile for the Philippines.

“The manufacturing sector is really about job generation, but not just any job.

These are quality jobs,” Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal said in an earlier industry update on human resource development for the automotive industry.

In the first six months this year, manu-

The only way of ensuring that the virus doesn’t spread into a country is enforced quarantine for people coming from countries with an outbreak or—even more effective—a total travel ban. But those measures would mean that doctors and other experts trying to beat the virus at its source in West Africa would be less willing or unable to help, making the outbreak worse. AP

rates. I believe we can now work on a substitute consolidated bill, which can really be beneficial to ordinary Filipino citizens. Everyone has agreed that the rates need adjustment because of inflation.

The people’s purchasing power now is different from the purchasing power in the past because the tax rates have not changed [and] have remained high,” Romulo said.

Earlier Finance Assistant Secretary Soledad Emilia Cruz said the tax adjustments should be taken up on holistic basis, not separately.

“We’re trying to come up with a package. We are still discussing it right now. We just have to clear it with our principals,” Cruz said.

The DOF also assured lawmakers the agency

would contribute to crafting a restructured income tax system. But Romulo said the Finance secretary has been in office since 2010, but has not come up with any proposal on how to adjust the income tax rates to ease the burden of the taxpaying public.

“Your [Finance] secretary has been in office since 2010 but up to now has not come up with any proposal. And then he’s going to tell us in the TWG [technical working group] that [it] is being done now. Isn’t that the height of incompetence already?

It’s been four years,” Romulo complained. Quimbo said while Congress is determined to improve the income tax system, it needs specific inputs from the DOF to guide lawmakers on likely impact to revenue flows.

facturing accounted for 23.2 percent of the industry's 33.3-percent share of the national output. According to the recent Philippine Economic Briefing, the DTI said the sector has employed 3.2 million Filipinos as of July 2014.

Dichosa, however, added the completion and consolidation of the HRD road map will depend on how the industries respond as some sectors reported difficulty in identifying gaps in manpower

skills needed for their industry.

The director assured that DTI’s TWG will continue to work with the sectors.

Dave Diwa, president of the National Labor Union, said at the DTI industry development updates focusing on HRD that human capital must be integrated into the manufacturing industry plans to support the country's 8 to 9 million high school graduates who may eventually work in the manufacturing sector. Catherine N. Pillas

Catherine N. Pillas

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

TODAY’S WEATHER

OCTOBER 27, 2014 | MONDAY

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is the result of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere tradewind convergence; widespread cloudiness, occasional thunderstorms, precipitation and moderate to strong surface winds are associated weather conditions.

INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE AFFECTING SOUTHERN MINDANAO. EASTERLIES AFFECTING THE EASTERN SECTION OF LUZON AND VISAYAS. (AS OF OCTOBER 26, 5:00 PM)

Easterlies are winds coming from the east passing over the Pacific Ocean. These are warm and moist in nature; causing hot weather and generating thunderstorms.

SBMA/CLARK 23 – 33°C METRO MANILA 23 – 32°C

TAGAYTAY CITY 22° – 29°C

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CAGAYAN DE ORO

24 – 31°C

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BAGUIO

15 – 23°C

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24 – 32°C

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LEGAZPI

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 24 – 32°C

OCT 29

TUESDAY

22 – 32°C

TAGAYTAY

TACLOBAN CITY 24 – 32°C

OCT 28

23 – 33°C

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PUERTO PRINCESA

23 – 30°C

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SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

5:50 AM

5:30 PM

8:20 PM

8:35 AM

20 – 28°C

LEGAZPI CITY 23 – 31°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 24 – 32°C

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST METRO CEBU

TUGUEGARAO CITY 23 – 32°C BAGUIO CITY 16 – 24°C

TUESDAY

in the past few years and was seen at its optimum level over the next few decades. The high percentage of young adults among Filipinos was seen boosting the country’s work force, lift its efficiency, as well as help energize domestic consumption.

However, Peiris warned the Philippines may not experience the full benefits of a young and productive work force if jobs are not created and issues in the labor market are not adequately addressed. “[The young population] won’t be enough because a demographic dividend without creating jobs won’t mean higher growth and won’t mean better income. You have to create jobs,” Peiris said.

He added there are bigger issues in the labor market such as having too many short-term contracts, prevalent skills mismatch and low wages.

“Another area where the Philippines performs badly is on wages.

Minimum wage is less of a problem today than 20 years ago. Today, it’s there but not as high as in other countries,” Peiris said.

The IMF official also lauded the country’s macroeconomic stability best indicated by its low debt-to-gross domestic products ratio the past year and by its favorable external position.

Fewer debt allows the government to deliver far more effective and compelling public service such as education, security and health than the government would otherwise deliver, because paying down public sector debt obligations prove more pressing like in not so distant past. A strong external sector best indicated by hefty foreign currency reserves and a surplus in the current account also act as magnets for foreign investors whose contribution to the broad economy cannot be underestimated.

“As you all know Philippines has done well in the last two to three years. It’s not the first time that the Philippines has grown fast. I mean, we had fast growth in the Ramos years, as well but the last few years we have seen impressive growth. So the question everybody asks is, can the Philippines sustain this growth going forward and what do we need to do?” Peiris said.

“So with your population and macro stability, you have the opportunity to grow faster. You have natural resources, you have human capital—the young people—business-process outsourcing, English-speaking young people. You have good prospects in the service sector in Asia and globally. You have 7,107 islands [such that] tourism should be a no-brainer for the Philippines,” he added.

The number of unemployed Filipinos, defined as those actively looking for a job and as percent of total work force, improved to 6.7 percent in the second quarter, from 7 percent a quarter earlier. This has averaged 8.9 percent the past 20 years. Unemployment was lowest at 6.3 percent in 2007.

Nominal wages in the Philippines has vastly improved from 2004 when this averaged only P6,106 to P8,280 in 2012 based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

METRO MANILA

LAOAG

LAOAG CITY 22 – 32°C

OCT 28

IMF. . . continued from a1

22 – 30°C

NEW MOON HALF MOON

OCT 24

5:57 AM

23 – 32°C

23 – 31°C

OCT 30

10:48 PM

LOW TIDE

HIGH TIDE

6:56 AM

11:37 PM

MANILA BAY

- 0.11 METER

1.07 METER

24 – 30°C Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and/or thunderstorms

METRO CEBU 24 – 31°C CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 24 – 32°C ZAMBOANGA CITY 24 – 32°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD

Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.

23 – 31°C

24 – 31°C

23 – 30°C

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rain showers.

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

METRO DAVAO 24 – 32°C

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 CELEBES SEA

@PanahonTV

news@businessmirror.com.ph

The Nation BusinessMirror

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Monday, October 27, 2014 A3

Malacañang open to deadline extension for rights claimants

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By Butch Fernandez

ALACAÑANG on Sunday said it is open to extending the deadline for the filing of claims by martial-law victims, but will make a final decision based on whatever is recommended by the Human Rights Victims Claims Board (HRVCB).

“We will await the position of the claims board headed

by Chairman Lina Sarmiento,” Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said in a text message to the BusinessMirror.

Coloma was referring to the former police general appointed to be the first head of the HRVCB. The board was created by law, culminating decades of efforts to give justice to thousands who suffered human-rights violations during the Marcos dictatorship.

The Palace official assured the public on Sunday that the Office of the President acknowledges “the situation of those concerned as the government seeks to be responsive to their needs.”

He indicated, however, that Malacañang will defer to the wisdom of the Sarmiento-led claims board, which, in past months, had been trying to fast-track the processing of applications for claims, amid fears by leading human-rights support groups that thousands more have in fact been unable—for lack of material time and difficulties in sourcing required documents—to file their claims.

It was learned that this situation was behind the call last week of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (Pahra), a coalition of human-rights groups, for President Aquino to immediately act and certify as urgent a joint resolution for the extension of filing of martial-law victims’ claim.

Awaiting approval in Congress are Senate Joint Resolution 10 filed by Sen. Francis Escudero and House of Representatives Joint Resolution 16, filed by Party-list Reps. Barry Gutierrez

Eternal Gardens prepares for All Saints’ Day crowd

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HE management of Eternal Gardens in Baesa, Caloocan City, met with the officials of nearby barangays and other local support groups in preparation for the observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on November 1 and 2.

The barangay chairmen who attended include Eduardo Rivera Juan of Baesa; Roberto C. Orlin of Balon Bato; Jose C. Sicuana Jr. of Barangay 158; Tioticho Gajudo of Barangay 161; and Barangay Secretary Aloha Crusada of Barangay 157, who represented Chairman Wilfredo T. Mañacop.

They discussed plans for a safe and orderly remembrance of the departed with Eternal Gardens Baesa Branch Manager Romeo Santa Cruz The group first evaluated the previous year’s observance of All Souls’ and All Saints’ Days at the park to determine which aspects of their preparation need improvement.

Among the things discussed were the flow of traffic within and around the park, security of park visitors, restrictions and prohibitions, and emergency-response plans.

Also present during the meeting were Insp. Josefina J. Cuartero, chief of the Traffic-Anticarjacking Section of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD); Senior Insp. Pablo L. Temeña Jr. of the QCPD Station Traffic Enforcement Unit; the community precinct commander in the area, Senior Police Officer 3 Rogelio Sarabosing; Capt. Benito Go, who represented the Department of Public Safety and Traffic Management chief Hilario C. Castro; Senior Insp. Rodolfo Yu, who represented Talipapa Police Station commander Supt. Ariel Capocao and Pablo de los Santos, president of Santa Quiteria Jeepney Owners and Drivers Association.

US expert holds autism workshop

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WORKSHOP that will discuss breakthroughs on autism and a recommended way of dealing with it based on decades of medical research will be conducted on November 4 at the Eastwood Richmonde Hotel in Libis, Quezon City.

Speaker will be Ronald Leaf, a licensed psychologist, who has been studying this medical condition for 40 years. He trained in University of California in Los Angeles, where he also obtained his doctoral degree.

Among the topics to be discussed are: how to deal with challenging behaviors; how to increase children’s awareness and focus; and separating facts from fiction.

The workshop is organized by Autism Partnership Manila and will start at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m.

and Walden Bello of Akbayan. Both seek to extend for six months the application period for victims covered by Republic Act (RA) 10368, or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.

The deadline for filing on November 10 is fast approaching, and yet many victims have yet to file their claims before the claims board, Pahra Chairman

Max de Mesa said.

“There are, in fact, more than 7,000 undocumented human-rights violation victims from the cursory research conducted by our group, apart from the more than 9,000 Hawaii class-suit claimants. As of October 2014, HRVCB has received only around 29,000 claims, lower than the 55,000 to 90,000 applications expected by the board officials.

It is evident that much more work has to be done if we are going to provide compensation and give some measure of justice to all deserving claimants,” de Mesa said.

Pahra is leading the active search for and assistance to victims, alongside the efforts of the board to reach out to communities nationwide.

Both the HRVCB and the Commission

on Human Rights also acknowledge the “urgent need” to extend the period for filing of claims under the said law, said Pahra, as these two agencies have been dealing with the influx of applicants coming in to the board’s main office in Quezon City.

Under RA 10368, the “failure to [file] application within said period is deemed a waiver of the right to file the same.”

Economy

A4 Monday, October 27, 2014 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

PIDS report reveals 35% dropout rate among SGP-PA state scholars

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By Cai U. Ordinario

round 35 percent of those who dropped out of the Students’ Grants-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (SGPPA) were uninterested in pursuing tertiary education.

This was stated in a policy note titled “How Should Income-Based Grantees in Tertiary Education be Chosen?” authored by Philippine Institute for Development

Studies (PIDS) consultant Denise Valerie Silfverberg.

Silfverberg said that because of this, there is a need to refine the selection process of choosing

grantees of tertiary-degree programs in the future.

“The selection process needs to be refined to efficiently allocate the financial assistance to the targeted population. The program should aid those who are financially constrained but should focus on those who have the least ability constraints. The best available tool for gauging this would be admission exams,” Silfverberg said.

Silfverberg said the SGP-PA’s primary criteria for eligibility is if the potential grantee is a recipient of the Conditional Cash-Transfer Program and if there is no college graduate in the family.

The study also stated that academic merit was not considered when choosing the beneficiaries except for high-school completion.

However, the study showed that 139 students who dropped out of the program for various reasons.

The highest number of dropouts was recorded at 39 at the Cordillera Administrative Region.

There were 12 reasons the students dropped out and three of them accounted for 35 percent of the dropouts who cited lack of interest, preference to work and academic difficulties.

Silfverberg said this indicated that the chosen grantees were simply unprepared for tertiary education.

Other reasons for dropping out included pregnancy, health issues, familial obligations, behavioral issues, homesickness and even cultural change experienced through relocation.

Apart from ensuring the overall readiness of scholarship grantees, there is a need to increase scholarship funds and improve the delivery of stipends to scholars.

“A number of grantees who have dropped out have indicated their intention to return to university and finish their degrees. Most of these grantees were those who had unplanned pregnancies and those who had financial difficulties due to the delayed release of stipends,”

Silfverberg, however, said.

The SGP-PA supports students unable to afford tertiary education.

The program was implemented in academic year (AY) 2012 to 2013 and will be expanded to 36,000 students from 4,000 students in AY 2014 to 2015.

The total grant amounts to P60,000 per academic year per student. The amount covers tuition, textbook support, and stipend or living expenses for the grantees.

The government extends P10,000 per semester for tuition and other fees; P2,500 per semester for textbooks and other learning materials; and P3,500 per month for 10 school months as stipend.

Power users to pay for P36-B claim by former Napocor workers

By Lenie Lectura

A

top official of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.

(PSALM) said over the weekend that the government owes some former employees of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) about P36 billion, an amount that will be eventually passed on to end-consumers.

“Based on our list, we recalculated it. It was substantially lower than the P60 billion they were originally asking,” PSALM President Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said.

PSALM has yet to release its official recalculated figures but Ledesma believes that “it should be slightly more than half

of it. Personally, it should be P35 billion to P36 billion only.”

PSALM has been tasked to sell the stateowned power assets of the Napocor. It also collects and administers the Universal Charge (UC) for Missionary Electrification, which is the source of funds of the Napocor for its operations in off-grid areas.

Ledesma said that payment due will be sourced from the UC. This means that consumers are going to pay for the back wages and wage adjustments that Napocor owed to its former workers.

“The impact on electricity bills is estimated at P0.13 per kilowatt-hour over a period of 10 years,” added the PSALM chief.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla agreed that consumer would have to shoulder the expense. “Even if PSALM will borrow to pay off its dues, the amount will form part of the liability of the Napocor, and that will be charged to the people in the form of Universal Charge,” Petilla said.

The amount represents settlement claims of the Napocor’s Drivers and Mechanics Association (Dama) who were terminated in 2003. They contested the retrenchment and filed a case.

Napocor President Ma. Gladys Cruz-Sta. Rita had explained that the case stemmed from the restructuring of Napocor.

“It started with restructuring of the

electricity industry and the implementation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act [Epira] in 2001,” she said.

Sta. Rita explained that as part of the implementation of Epira, Napocor retrenched thousands of employees who were paid their separation benefits. The majority of them were rehired by Napocor, National Transmission Co. and the PSALM. Employees who were not rehired included members of the Dama who contested and filed a case before the court, questioning the Napocor board’s resolutions signed only by three duly constituted directors and the rest by their respective official alternates, she said.

In 2006 the Supreme Court (SC) ruled in favor of the more than 8,000 employees and upheld their claim of damages totaling to P34.7 billion in back wages

and wage adjustments. A notice of garnishment on Napocor’s assets was also issued.

This amount, however, swelled to P60.2 billion in 2014 as computed by the ex-officio sheriff of the Regional Trial Court in Quezon City. In addition to the claim is the P1.8-billion sheriff’s fee.

However, the SC lifted the garnishment but Napocor, through PSALM, would still have to settle the damages through other means.

The Napocor president said her office would still have to verify the total number of employees entitled to receive payment.

“Napocor and PSALM, likewise, seek to clarify the amount of back wages and wage adjustments since Napocor’s computation, considering already the interest rate and the Commission on Audit’s finding, is much lesser than P60.2 billion,” Sta. Rita said.

Labor Solidarity group in action Sen. Cynthia Villar commends the International Center for Labor Solidarity for their deep involvement in issues and concerns affecting our country.

In her keynote speech during the group’s Annual Labor Forum in Pasay City, Villar also encouraged transportation workers’ unions to feel free to approach her and her office on various issues facing the transportation sector.

Palace won’t wade into 2015 budget row over DBM errata

By Butch Fernandez

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alacañang is taking a wait-andsee stance on lawmakers plan to question before the Supreme Court (SC) the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) errata on key provisions in the P2.6-trillion 2015 budget bill that the Palace submitted to Congress, including a “redefinition of savings.”

Lawmakers belonging to the Makabayan bloc said they are questioning the legality of the DBM errata that included the redefinition of savings which critics say will institutionalize the outlawed Disbursement Acceleration Program, or DAP, which the SC struck down as unconstitutional in a unanimous ruling on July 1.

Asked if the Palace was ready to help defend in the SC the last-minute inclusion of the errata in the annual money measure that Congress had already passed on second reading last week, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said it would rather wait for final plenary action on the budget.

“We will await outcome of plenary deliberations on budget approval,” Coloma told the BusinessMirror.

The Palace official added that Malacañang was leaving it up to Congress to resolve the issues being raised by the lawmakers, led by Rep. Neri Colmenares, who earlier threatened to elevate the case to the SC.

“Let members of the House of Representatives decide on this matter,” Coloma added.

In a separate interview with state-run Radyo ng Bayan, Coloma confirmed the Palace remains confident that, despite the legal tussles, Congress would be able to pass the money measure before going on another two-week recess next weekend for the traditional All Saints’ Day vacation.

“Yes, we are confident because their deadline in the House of Representatives is to pass the new budget by October 29,” Coloma said, noting that the lawmakers are “rushing to have the budget approved by then.”

According to Coloma, the Palace is relying on the support of Congress leaders to attain its goal to have the budget bill passed in the House and the Senate within the prescribed period so that President Aquino, as in previous years, can sign and enact a new budget law to take effect on the first day of the new year.

“Umaasa po tayo na sa suporta ng liderato ng Kongreso ay matutupad po ’yung ating hinahangad na maipasa sa kabuuan ang pambansang budget ng Camara de Representantes at ng Senado sa loob ng panahong nakatakda para katulad noong mga nakaraang pagkakataon ay maaprubahan po ito at malagdaan ng Pangulo, at maisabatas para maipatupad mula sa unang araw ng papasok na taon, katulad po ng naganap para po sa mga nakaraang budget mula sa simula ng kasalukuyang administrasyon,” Coloma said.

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Economy BusinessMirror

House flips-flops on ILP stand; lease of gensets now being reconsidered

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By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

HE chairman of the House Committee on Energy on Sunday said the lower chamber is reconsidering the option of leasing generator sets (gensets) to address the projected power shortage next year.

Liberal Party Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro, also the co-chairman of the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC), said he will ask the House leadership if the panel can still conduct hearings to discuss the leasing option again following the statement of President Aquino that Interruptible Load Program (ILP) may not be enough to address the projected power shortage in 2015.

Last week the House committee said the joint resolution granting President Aquino emergency powers will not include as an option renting generator as the Department of Energy (DOE) admitted the country will face a reserve crisis and not a power-supply crisis. Because of this the lawmakers want the Aquino administration rely solely on the ILP and approve Mr. Aquino’s request for emergency powers before December 1, instead of October 29.

“Tomorrow [Monday] I will discuss this [schedule of hearings for leasing option] with Speaker [Feliciano] Belmonte and Majority Leader [Neptali] Gonzales despite the House’s tight schedule due to the budget approval this week.... We will see if this is possible [leasing of gensets] given the Senate and the House of Representatives are set to adjourn sessions by November 1 for a 15-day recess,” he told the BusinessMirror.

Umali earlier set a deadline of October 29 for the House to pass the joint resolution to give the Executive branch ample time to lease or purchase gensets before power supply becomes tight starting March 2015.

“The only reason we’re trying to rush the approval of the joint resolution is we’re trying to beat the deadline that will foreclose the options of leasing or purchasing additional generating capacity. If the [solution] will be purely ILP, then we will pass the joint resolution even in January or February,” he said.

Umali said, however, that besides the 847 megawatts (MW) from ILP, the Mr. Aquino’s emergency powers will also include 264 MW from power plants for interconnection as disclosed by Manila Electric Co. and 690 MW from committed power plants and various energy-conservation measures.

“I think these four are enough to address the shortage,” he said.

According to the draft resolution on emergency powers, the House of Representatives wants the government to use the committed ILP in addressing the looming power shortage next year, but a draft of the resolution submitted by the DOE to the Senate also seeks to grant the President an authority to negotiate contracts for the acquisition of additional generation capacity either via lease or purchase.

Umali said the government will be only needing P400 million under the ILP and P6 billion under the leasing option.

Based on the latest draft of the House resolution authorizing the President to establish additional generating capacity to effectively address the projected electricity shortage in 2015, the DOE projects a critical power shortage estimated at 700 MW to

occur in March to July 2015, consisting of 14 weeks yellow alert and two weeks of red alert for a total of 16 weeks of approximately one hour of brownouts for one day per week.

It said that provision and procurement of additional generation capacity shall be available on or before March 1, 2015, and the additional generating capacity shall be preferentially sourced from the ILP. The resolution added that the adoption and execution of energy and conservation measures shall be pursued as a further fallback mechanism.

It said that to stimulate additional generation capacities, private entities with self-generating facilities (SGFs) are hereby encouraged to participate voluntarily in the ILP on or before December 1.

“Provided, that the government shall reimburse the owners of SGFs or backup generators for fuel expenses and reasonable recovery for their use in accordance with ERC [Energy Regulatory Commission] rules and validated by the distribution utilities [DUs],” it said.

Based on established protocols, ILP is implemented during a red alert status (minimal power reserve) upon the notice of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and the DUs informing ILP participants to deload from the grid.

The ILP is a voluntary program whereby businesses such as malls and factories tap their own power generators for their power consumption and can be disconnected from the power grid in times of short supply, and can sell any excess power they generate to distributors.

Through the ILP, the aggregate demand for power from the system will be reduced to a more manageable level, helping ensure the availability of supply during the summer season.

DOE urged to tap to DILG, LGUs to ensure success of ILP

Meanwhile, Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela urged the DOE to vigorously enlist the support of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), local government units (LGUs) and the private sector in identifying and securing the participation of business establishments that have power generators in the government’s ILP to address the expected power shortage in Luzon.

Albano, member for the minority bloc of the House Committee on Energy and former executive director of the JCPC, said the DILG, which oversees LGUs and local business organizations, is in the best position to identify and secure the participation of business establishments and industries equipped with power generators to run their equipment to ease the power shortage in the summer months of next year.

“The DOE should vigorously push the ILP program to maximize privately generated power supply that commercial and industrial establishments can produce on its own to reduce dependence on the national power grid during the expected shortage in power supply in 2015,” Albano said.

Albano’s statement backs the position of House energy committee that it would pass a joint resolution in December granting President Aquino a special authority to implement the ILP, which encourages large private power consumers to use their own generators when supply is low.

Albano said the ILP should be in place before the end of the year so that the government will not have to resort to leasing or purchasing modular gensets that would cost P6 billion to P10 billion taxpayers’ money to address the expected power-supply shortfall next year.

“Proper and close coordination among the DOE, the DILG, LGUs and commercial establishments with large power-generating capability could help in effectively addressing the projected supply and reserve deficiency of 700 MW in the Luzon grid, which translates into two- or three-hour rotating outages as claimed by the DOE,” Albano said.

Monday, October 27, 2014 A5

PHL remains an investment destination among Chinese traders despite sea row

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espite a long-standing territorial dispute over portions of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) between the Philippines and China, Chinese investments and search for trade opportunities to the Philippines still flourish, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Chairman Emeritus Francis Chua said.

Chua told reporters at the sidelines of the 40th Philippine Business Conference that business relations between the Philippines and China still

continue, and that Chinese investors still consider the Philippines as an investment destination. He cited the latest partnerships and joint ventures between traders of both countries.

“On the local side or the private sector, we are not affected, they [Chinese] keep coming in and continue investing,” he said.

“They are heavy in agriculture and mining investments all over the country,” Chua added.

The PCCI official also mentioned that aside from agriculture and min-

ing, Chinese businesses consider longterm investments in the Philippines in tourism sector such as hotel and resort projects.

However, Chua said the dispute at the diplomatic level may have prompted some Chinese investors to keep their investments at a low profile.

“In the long run our government relationships will be better. At present, there are some hitches,” Chua said, stressing that Chinese and Philippine business relation is “business as usual.” PNA

Tourism&Entertainment A6

Monday, October 27, 2014 • Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

BusinessMirror

tourism@businessmirror.com.ph

Dubai cuts profile as Middle East’s plastic-surgery hub

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By Aya Batrawy | The Associated Press

UBAI, United Arab Emirates— Dubai, the emirate known for its celebration of over-the-top glamour and luxury, is racing ahead to dominate the Middle East’s plastic-surgery market with plans to attract half-amillion medical tourists in six years.

IN this October 15 photo, Emma Jordan, a 33-year-old British resident of Dubai and mother of three, receives from skin-care and laser specialist Jelena Jovanovic a treatment called Legato Microplasma to remove her stretch marks, at the Wellbeing Medical Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. AP

IN this October 14 photo, Dr. Luiz Toledo, one of the world’s most famous plastic surgeons who specializes in liposuction and the “Brazilian butt lift,” works in his office at the Medical Arts Clinic in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. AP

Where cosmopolitan Beirut was once the region’s best-known city for going under the knife, turmoil in Syria and violence often spilling into Lebanon is driving away wealthy Arab tourists. After splashing out on medical infrastructure over the past years, Dubai already ranks globally and aims to move up the list of top international destinations for medical tourism.

It plans to attract 20 million tourists by 2020, with half a million medical tourists bringing in revenues of 2.6 billion dirhams ($710 million).

The Dubai Health Authority says about 120,000 medical tourists came last year, generating revenue of about $200 million, which represents a 12-percent boost from the previous year.

That already puts it ahead of Turkey, with 110,000 medical travelers, and Costa Rica, with 40,000 to 65,000, according to 2013 figures from Patients Beyond Borders, a United States group that collects data on the industry.

Globally, medical tourism is big business: It is estimated to generate $50 billion to $60 billion a year and grow to $100 billion annually in the next decade.

To cash in on the boom, Dubai has rolled out three-month renewable visas for medical tourists and their companions and launched a campaign to brand itself as the Middle East’s top destination for wellness and plastic surgery.

Vasilica Baltateanu, who started the United Arab Emirates’s (UAE)

first plastic surgery consultancy, Vasilica Aesthetics, said Dubai’s glamour factor is driving the trend among the region’s well-heeled tourists who want to shop, indulge in spas and relax in opulent hotels.

“You don’t find them going anymore to Beirut and [they] are coming to Dubai. Why? It’s much safer in Dubai,” she said.

“I think they also choose Dubai because there are the best restaurants here, the best hotels. So you do a surgery and, at the same time, you can have a nice holiday.”

The World Travel & Tourism Council said in its annual 2014 report that the UAE was expected to attract 12.2 million international tourists this year, with Lebanon welcoming just 1.3 million.

Zamboanga City island expected to improve after inclusion in Asean tourism cluster

Silkor, a company specializing in laser treatments, says it brought its business to Dubai instead of waiting for Gulf clients to come to Lebanon, where it has opened eight branches since its founding 15 years ago.

In less than half that time, the company established six branches in the UAE and has plans to open two more.

“Gulf clients would come to Lebanon in the past,” owner-representative Sylva Wayzany said, adding that now, “unfortunately, the situation in Lebanon doesn’t help” to make it attractive to medical tourists.

To cater to the Gulf’s demand for cosmetic procedures, Dr. Luiz Toledo, one of the world’s most famous plastic surgeons who specializes in liposuction and the “Brazilian butt

lift,” closed his practice in Brazil and moved to Dubai in 2006 because he saw less competition in the Gulf and an opportunity to keep quality and prices up.

“If you think about 20 years ago, nobody in the world heard about Dubai. And today there is not a person in the world who hasn’t heard about it,” Toledo said.

Last year he saw patients from 73 different countries. His new practice has a private wing for high-rolling Arab clients.

Dubai has rapidly become home to one of the world’s highest saturations of plastic surgeons. Toledo says that, in the US, there are 20 plastic surgeons for every 1 million people, compared to 52 per million in Dubai.

The Emirates Plastic Surgery Society,

a professional group where he is a board member, says its membership has more than doubled to 150 in the past eight years.

The Dubai Health Authority says there are about 150 licensed plastic surgeons in Dubai alone.

Emma Jordan, a 33 year-old British resident of Dubai and mother of three, chose to undergo breast augmentation and stretch-mark removal here, instead of in London, because, while the price was similar at about $9,200, waiting times were shorter and the procedure, more personal.

“I think possibly back home, it’s more clinical. You have a consultation; you don’t always see the surgeon before and after. Sometimes, you see a nurse [instead],” she said.

“It’s a huge difference.”

Sweet treats await guests China to beat US in air travel at Richmonde Hotel Ortigas this Halloween

By Boonsong Kositchotethana Bangkok Post (TNS)

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THIS 2010 photo shows two men swimming near a boat on the beach of Santa Cruz Island in Zamboanga City. The island was known for its pink sand. WOWZAMBOANGACITY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

By Manuel T. Cayon Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AMBOANGA CITY—Santa Cruz Island, found off this city, has been added to the tourism cluster of the East Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Growth Area (Eaga) as part of a communitybased initiative to improve the lives of the mostly poor residents in the area, it was learned recently.

The move came when the heads of the tourism-development agencies of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines (BIMP), visited the island, the white-sand beachfront of which is populated by members of the Sama-Bangingi tribe, the target beneficiary of a multiple-agency development project.

Tourism Assistant Secretary Arturo P. Boncato Jr., said Santa Cruz is the fourth site to

be included in the BIMP-Eaga community-based ecotourism project. The first three are the Puerto Princesa Underground River in Palawan province; Lake Sebu in Lake Sebu town, South Cotabato province; and the Tibolo Trival Village in Santa Cruz municipality, Davao del Sur province.

He also said those behind the project are looking at sites with a tribal community as their target beneficiaries.

“In [including these] sites, we want…governments [to] pour in resources and support to develop them,” Boncato told the BusinessMirror.

As a result of their inclusion, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority gave Lake Sebu P12 million and the Tibolo Tribal Village, P10 million.

Noraini Haji Tersad, special duties officer of the Brunei

Development Department, told the BusinessMirror that her office has added to the project Kampong Malilas, a tribal village with long traditional houses. She added that it would also include another site, Kampong Kiudang.

Malaysia has included two sites in the project, as did Indonesia.

Tersad said she was impressed by the natural beauty of Santa Cruz, and agreed with how her counterpart in the Department of Tourism is planning to develop the island.

For his part, Gani Jumdani, a 74-year-old member of the SamaBangingi tribe, said he hopes the income his fellow tribesmen are generating from fishing would be augmented by whatever livelihood project the government may introduce alongside the improvement of the island ’s beaches and the promotion of its 200-hectare lagoon.

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SCAPE to a world of sweet treats and thrilling good times as Richmonde Hotel Ortigas (RHO) conjures up wicked deals to give you an exciting sugar rush on Halloween.

Journey to “Candyland” at RHO’s Exchange Bar on October 31 for a Happy Hour Halloween Party and have a rousing night during which sweet dreams and chilling nightmares will meet. Prepare yourself for limitless fun as you enjoy endless orders of local beers, featured cocktails, soda and iced tea, a wonderful buffet of tasty bar food, and lively retro music from the Big Bash Band, all for only P750 net. The Candyland Halloween Party is from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m., while the bar-food buffet is open until 9:30 p.m. only.

If a party is not enough, take your Halloween thrills to the hilt and book the Halloween Room Package for a shockingly

awesome deal with rates starting at only P4,600 net. This package, available from October 31 to November 2, will make you shudder with delight, as it includes a buffet breakfast for two; Wi-Fi access; and a choice of tickets for two to the Candyland Halloween Party (valid only on October 31), an in-room full body massage for one person, or room-service orders worth P1,000. But if a relaxing stay is what you need, the No-Frills Halloween Package provides you with a calming refuge from Halloween mayhem for as low as P4,000 net, inclusive of a buffet breakfast for two and Wi-Fi access. All room packages include the complimentary use of the hotel’s gym and heated indoor pool.

For more information, e-mail rho@richmondehotel.com.ph or visit www.richmondehotel.com.

FTER surpassing the United States as the world’s largest economy in terms of purchasing power, China is set to outrank the superpower as the leading global air-passenger market in the next two decades, it was learned recently.

By 2034 flights to, from and within China will account for some 1.3 billion passengers, 856 million more than this year’s total, with an average annual growth rate of 5.5 percent, according to a newly released projection by the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

Traffic to, from and within the US is expected to generate an average annual growth rate of 3.2 percent that will see 1.2 billion passengers by 2034, which is 559 million more than in 2014.

China’s growing dominance in the world air-travel market is a highlight of the Iata’s first 20-year passengergrowth forecast.

The airline-industry body foresees the world’s air passengers soaring to 7.3 billion by 2034, more than double the 3.3 billion passengers expected to travel this year.

The US will remain the world’s largest air-passenger market until about 2030.

Cumulatively over the next 20 years, the US will carry 18.3 billion more passengers and China 16.9 billion, the Iata forecast said.

The world’s ninth-largest market, India, will see 367 million passengers by 2034, an extra 266 million annual passengers compared to this year.

It will overtake the United Kingdom (148 million extra passengers; total market, 337 million) to become the thirdlargest market by about 2031.

Japan’s air-passenger numbers will grow by just 1.3 percent per year and decline from being the fourth-largest market in 2014 to the ninth by 2033.

TheElderly BusinessMirror

A8 Monday, October 27, 2014 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

LGUs cite ‘BusinessMirror,’ United Bayanihan Foundation, RiteMed

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

FFICIALS of local government units, including Parañaque and Muntinlupa, praised the BusinessMirror and its private-sector partners for their advocacy in promoting the welfare of the elderly through the Dakilang Adhikain ng Ating Lahi (Dangal) Awards for Elderly Care.

Dangal Awards, now on its second year, is a partnership between the BusinessMirror, United Bayanihan Foundation and RiteMed. “ The people of Muntinlupa would like to thank the Business-

Mirror, RiteMed and United Bayanihan Foundation for holding the Dangal Awards for Elderly Care, which has been an eye opener to us in the local government to launch more projects for our senior citi-

zens,” Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresendi said.

He noted that the Dangal Awards has served as an inspiration for his office to be more mindful of its elderly constituents.

“We now value our lolos and lolas more because of this initiative.

It has been an inspiration for us in the government,” Fresendi said.

The BusinessMirror presented the award on October 17, during the celebration of its ninth anniversary at Resorts World Manila in Parañaque.

Parañaque Councilor Vicente Kenneth “Binky” Favis said the awards prompted the city government to further improve its services to its senior citizens.

“It has helped us figure out what things we need to improve and what we have to continue. The advocacy supported by United Bayanihan Foundation and RiteMed has been a great help to us. We commend you

for this,” Favis said.

The Offices of the Senior Citizens Affairs of Parañaque and Muntinlupa were recently cited for their efforts to improve the elderly care at the local government level.

“We are very glad that our friends from the United Bayanihan Foundation and RiteMed readily offered their all-out support to the project,” T. Anthony C. Cabangon, BusinessMirror publisher, said.

Every Monday, the BusinessMirror devotes a weekly page, titled “The Elderly” featuring articles that concern the elderly, including their rights, care and how they can enjoy the rest of their lives to the fullest. Also featured are stories on what local government units, foundations and groups are doing to help and honor the country’s older citizens. It also showcases the life achievements of some older people.

Will new federal rules force bodega owners to shun food stamps?

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LITTLE-NOTICED change in federal law may hurt small neighborhood grocery stores and their low-income customers who use food stamps.

In 2004 food stamps went digital, switching from paper coupons to electronic cards. In large supermarkets, such Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards are swiped at checkout terminals along with credit and debit cards. But in around 118,000 bodegas, corner stores, and mom-andpop markets nationwide, EBT cards have been used in specific EBT machines provided to stores free in a federal-state partnership, according to the US Department of Agriculture, which administers the food-stamp program, known as SNAP. Now, all that is changing. The states and the federal government will no longer foot the bill for EBT machines, a measure that could save an estimated $154 million over 10 years, according to federal officials.

Beginning as early as this week, stores will be charged around $1,000 or possibly more a year to use EBT equipment, supplies and related services, according to Xerox Corp., which administers EBT card programs in 19 states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

For small retailers living on razor-thin margins, that could be a great deal of money, antihunger advocates say. As a result, advocates fear, stores may either raise prices or decide not to accept EBT cards, aproblemthatwouldultimatelylandonlow-income peopledependentonSNAP.MostSNAPrecipientsare children, the disabled and the elderly.

“If they charge me that much, I don't think it's worth it for us to accept food stamps anymore,” said Gino DiMarco, owner of the Roman Pantry, a small grocery and deli in Carneys Point, Salem County.

Vinod Patel, who runs a small store in Camden named Lou’s, was unhappy with the change.

“It’ll be way more than $1,000 a year,” he said.

Patel added he would not stop accepting SNAP, because so many customers use it. But, he added, “I may have to raise the prices” to compensate.

The EBT change was made in the federal farm bill, in which Congress sets spending on SNAP. The bill, which cut $8.6 billion in food stamps from 850,000 US households over the next decade, became law in February. Though the cut to SNAP was big news, few people noticed what was happening to the EBT machines.

“I’m most upset,” said Jessica Bartholow,

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Are we ready to face the coming of years?

By Cheridine P. Oro-Josef, MD, FPAFP, FPCGM

right to health

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O this date, I think we all agree that living longer is possible. The key factors responsible for this are: increased awareness on how to take better care of ourselves and that science and medicine are now taking better care of people. If this is the case, are we ready to face the coming of years?

We all dream of living longer with no disease nor illness, no maintenance medications and no stressful circumstances to live with. But do you know that even among those who live normally, there are those who undergo the usual aging and those who age successfully?

Usual aging refers to the more common mode of aging, where associated decline in renal, immune, visual and hearing functions are observed.

Those who are called to have aged successfully are those who demonstrate very minimal functional decline from aging alone. Successful aging is also known as optimal aging.

According to the MacArthur Foundation Study on Successful Aging, there are three important things to achieve to be able to age successfully.

One is, there should be absence of disease, there should be high physical and cognitive functioning and people should be able to maintain engagement in life.

Absence of disease mean no chronic diseases diagnosed at a younger age. They say that even familial diseases can be avoided if one advocates healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle includes a balanced meal with generous amounts of vegetables and regular physical activity.

Physical and cognitive functioning should be intact if one is to choose successful aging. Older persons may not be demented but are able to communicate and make use of their own understanding to take care of themselves and their daily needs. This means flexibility in handling stress and able to cope with its consequences, too.

Daily exercise which focuses on endurance and resistance training is very important.

Maintaining engagement in life means a harmonious relationship with other people and their families. Being with other people means working with or getting along with others. We have to engage in worthwhile activities, perhaps volunteer in some advocacies or perhaps be prime movers of such causes.

When we follow these three early on in life, then perhaps longer years are waiting for us. If we all work it out to achieve optimal aging even while we are young, then, we will be able to face the coming of years successfully.

Cebu City releases P113-M cash aid to 60,000 seniors

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Older people join disaster drill in Quezon City Senior citizens in Barangay Bagong Silangan participate during the “Community Drill with Special Focus on the Participation of Older People” in celebration of the Elderly Filipino Week and observance of the International Disaster Risk Reduction Day held at the Barangay Bagong Silangan Proper in Quezon CIty. ALYSA SALEN

legislative advocate with the Western Center on Law and Poverty, a Los Angeles legal services nonprofit that helps low-income people.

“A careless policy change without full vetting will cause so many ripples,” said Bartholow, an expert on SNAP, “and there will be people trying to get food who won’t be able to. “Congress didn't even hold a hearing to ask how this impacts stores and low-income people. It’s abhorrent, disgraceful and embarrassing.”

A staff member of the House Agriculture Committeewhodidnotwanttobenamedcalledpeople’s ire over the EBT change “baffling,” saying it “never drew any objections from anyone until now.”

That’s because "no one realized how big a problem it would be,” said Patricia Baker, senior policy analyst at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, a nonprofit working to advance social justice.

DSWD West Visayas emphasizes senior citizens’ important role in nation-building

LOILO City—In connection with the celebration of Filipino Elderly Week celebrated every October, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Western Visayas (DSWD 6) emphasized the important role of senior citizens in nation-building.

“Let us help emphasize the important role that the older persons play in nation-building,” said Judith Marte, focal person of the DSWD 6 for social pension.

Marte, who led the personnel of the DSWD 6 along with the municipal so-

news@businessmirror.com.ph

cial welfare officer of Oton, Iloilo, surprised the select senior citizens from Oton with a visit over the weekend as part of the Elderly Week celebration.

The group also handed the pensioners their P1,500 three-month pension for June, July and August. Each pensioner was also provided a food pack composed of rice, biscuits and other foods courtesy of Oton Mayor Vicente Flores. Flores and the senior citizens expressed their gratitude to the DSWD for all the benefits they are receiving. PNA

“We may end up with people not being able to successfully use their benefits," she added. In Philadelphia, more than 1,500 small, often familyowned, corner stores face increased charges that are “too costly,” which may compel them to stop accepting SNAP, according to a joint statement by the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger and the Food Trust.

“The EBT change caught us off-guard,” said David Palmer, a coordinator at the Food Trust, a nonprofit that works with corner stores to provide customers with nutritious foods. Kathy Fisher, policy manager at the coalition, speculated the change may disproportionately affect customers of stores where SNAP business is only 20 percent or less. At such places, Fisher reasoned, it may make sense for store owners to stop accepting SNAP purchases, because such sales would ac-

count for less than the $1,000 annual EBT equipment charges. That may happen at Pat’s Place in Manayunk, where owner Thomas Lees Jr. has perhaps three elderly SNAP customers amid a relatively moneyed college clientele.

“I would feel bad if I had 12 customers with EBT, and I’d try to see if I could pay for it and just break even,” he said. “But now, it’s just not profitable.”

For Elroy Huynh, who manages Hamilton Express Deli, owned by his father, paying for the EBT machine is a kind of duty. “We’ll be losing money,” Huynh said, explaining that SNAP purchases accounted for 20 percent to 25 percent of his family’s business, in Philadelphia’s Mantua neighborhood.

“It was a difficult decision, but it’s important we stay loyal to our customers on food stamps. If we didn’t take their business, I don’t know where they would go.” MCT Information Services

EBU CITY—The Cebu City government released last Friday over P113 million in financial assistance to the city’s 60,000 senior citizens as P2,000 each.

This is the third batch of cash aid from the city for this year.

Each senior citizen is allocated P12,000 cash assistance for each year which is given in tranches.

Cebu City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas advised the senior citizens to go early to their barangay halls or barangay sports complex where the distribution will be conducted starting at 8 a.m.

Those who fail to collect their cash assistance until 5 p.m. of November 7, will no longer get the aid, which will be forfeited in favor of the government.

The senior citizens still have a remaining balance of P5,000 to be collected until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the pre-World War II three-level Executive Building of the Cebu Provincial Capitol, which was inaugurated on June 14, 1938, now has an elevator.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said the elevator will mainly serve senior citizens and persons with disabilities who have transactions at the building.

”I pity the senior citizens who had difficulty using the stairs,” Davide said.

The elevator car’s dimensions are 1.05 meters by 1.25 meters by 2.35 meters. It can lift 535 kilograms or approximately six people.

The construction of the elevator shaft cost P1,077,015 while the elevator car itself was purchased at P1,366,507.

Construction for the elevator started around November of 2013 but took some time to be finished due to concerns on its location at the executive building.

The elevator can go up and down the three floors making it easy for those who need to go to the Governor’s Office, Capitol Social Hall and other offices, like the Provincial Agriculture, Treasury and Budget Offices which are on the second floor.

The offices of the Provincial Engineer, the planning and development and tourism are on the third floor.

The four-story Legislative Building of the Provincial Capitol, where the offices of the vice governor and Provincial Board Members are located, already has an elevator. PNA

Elderly people to lawmakers: Lower the age of indigent senior citizens qualified to receive pensions

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LDERLY people who have less in life should have more in law and all those 60 years old and above who are not receiving any pension should be given the privilege provided

by Republic Act 9994, or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010.

This was emphasized by Lydia Odroso, 71, vice president of Gabay sa Nakatatanda, an organization of older people and a member of the Coalition of Services of the Elderly Inc. (COSE), during an earthquake drill conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Sunday at Barangay Bagong Silangan in Quezon City.

“We are urging our lawmakers to make the

law really beneficial to older people in the country like me,” Odroso said in an interview with the Philippines News Agency.

Odroso said she and other older people lament the fact that only indigent senior citizens 77 years old and above are qualified to receive the P500 monthly pension provided by the DSWD at present.

“Many of us may not be lucky enough to reach the age of 77 years. If the government really wants to be fair with us and look after our welfare, they [the country’s lawmakers] must understand that there is really a need to lower that age to 60 years old,” she said.

She cited that when senior citizen get older,

a lot of them who are not receiving any pension want to at least have something in their pocket to spend in times of need.

In a budget proposal presented to Congress by the DSWD in September, Secretary Corazon J. Soliman said that one of their targets for next year, if the budget will be approved, is to at least lower the age of senior citizens entitled to the pension to 67 years old from the current 77 years old, if the 60-year-old target is not yet feasible.

While Odroso and other members of COSE and other older people’s organizations have welcomed the proposal of the DSWD, still they are urging the government to examine how much the senior citizens like them can ben-

efit if the present age limit will be lowered to 60-year-old, thus qualifying all the indigent senior citizens.

She believes that the qualifications on receiving the pension should also be reviewed because while it is true that some older people are supported by their children, still they should be entitled to the pension as well so that they will not totally be dependent on their children alone.

At present, a P500 pension is given as a monthly stipend for indigent senior citizens 77 years old and above who are not receiving any pension from the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System and Philippine Veterans Administration's Office. PNA

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Pope visit not linked to transfer of Yolanda survivors–archdiocese

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By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

HE Archdiocese of Palo, Leyte, on Saturday denied that the visit of Pope Francis has something to do with the planned transfer of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) survivors’ bunkhouses along the road that the pope is expected to take during his visit next year.

Some 250 Yolanda-affected fami lies w i l l be relocated in November in case their permanent houses were not finished as scheduled.

However, Archbishop John Du of Pa lo said the Yolanda survivors,who have been staying in bunkhouses since their homes were destroyed by the typhoon in November 2013, should be moved to permanent houses and not to another bunkhouse settlement.

Du reiterated that the purpose of the papal visit to the country is to be with the poor, saying it is “not fair” to think that the transfer is due to the papal visit.

Fr. Rex Ramirez, vicar general of the archdiocese, verified that the local government of Palo intends to transfer Yolanda survivors from the government center compound in Candahug, where they currently stay, to the

300 permanent houses being built for them.

“I had a meeting with Palo local government officials, and they informed me that the deadline for the relocation of Yolanda survivors is in November,” Ramirez said in an interview over Church-run Radyo Veritas.

Earlier the Yolanda survivors claimed that Palo Mayor Remedios Petilla plans to transfer them from Barangay Candahug to bunkhouses in Barangay Tacuranga, or in permanent relocation sites, which are still under construction, in line with the preparations of the local government for the pope’s visit.

Although some of them are already in permanent position, they added that they will be moved to another bunkhouse settlement 5 kilometers from the town center, which, they said, would greatly affect their livelihood and their children’s education.

Recently, Palo homeowners said they also face displacement because of the papal visit as the Department of Public Works and Highways has started demolishing houses and other structures along the highway leading to the seat of the archdiocese to make way for a

road-widening project.

Likewise, the People’s Surge has appealed to Church leaders to stand up for Yolanda-affected families living in Baras, Palo, following the alleged campaign being planned by local government officials in a bid to rid the town of “eyesores” ahead of—ironically— the visit of Pope Francis, who will be there precisely because of the typhoon survivors.

Among the structures in danger of being torn down are the Almadro family ancestral home, built in 1924, and the Palo public library, which is in a 200-yearold house that is one of the oldest “ bahay na bato” in the town that the National Historical Commission has acknowledged as an “Important Cultural Property.”

However,Yolanda sur v ivors said that, on September 15, Petilla told them around 80 householdbeneficiaries of houses to be built by the Tzu Chi Foundation would move into their new homes, while the rest would be transferred to another bunkhouse settlement in Barangay Tacuranga by November.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Unocha) is optimistic of attaining “zero

tent” before the first anniversary of Yolanda.

Local governments and nongovernmental organizations work hand-in-hand to move the families to the transitional shelters in barangays Tagpuro and New Kawayan.

Unocha Deputy Head Martin Andrew said there will be zero tents in the village since they had identified solutions for it.

“In San Jose village, nearly 200 families will be given cash grants to build their own house outside the 40-meter no-dwelling zone, and others will be moved to temporary shelters,” Andrew said.

Barangay San Jose, a peninsula, is one of the hardest-hit areas in the city. Families in the village had a horrible experience with the wrath of Yolanda last year.

“Tents are good to live in for three to six months, but should not last for a year because of its vulnerability. That’s the reason we want to transfer them to transitional shelters as soon as possible,” Andrew said.

At the same time, Andrew said recovery in the city is fast because of the resilience of Filipinos, who are used to deal with great disasters. With PNA

Filipinos will never forget Jewish help to typhoon victims–Cuisia

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HE Philippines will never forget the kind gesture of the Jewish community for the helping hand it extended to the Filipino people in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) last year, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose L. Cuisia Jr. said.

“The Filipino people will always remember that, during their time of need, the Jewish people came to their succor the same way we did when we opened our door to them to save them from Nazi persecution more than seven decades ago,” Cuisia said in his remarks during the recent special screening of the documentary Rescue in the Philippines: Refuge from the Holocaust at the Philippine Embassy in Washington.

In his remarks, Cuisia extended his gratitude to leaders of the Jewish community for immediately rushing to the assistance of the Philippines after Yolanda struck the Visayas last year, killing more than 6,000 people and displacing millions.

Cuisia cited the important role of the Joint Jewish Distribution Committee (JDC), the Israeli Defense Forces and other humanitarian organizations that provided food, shelter, clean water and sanitation to typhoon victims.

In addition to raising more than $1.3 million, Cuisia said the JDC also assisted in search and rescue efforts and helped in the reconstruction of damaged buildings and in the restoration of water supply in affected areas.

It also provided medical care to more than 2,800 typhoon victims, including 900 children.

“Rescue was being screened at the United Nations on the night Typhoon Haiyan hit the Central Visayas and its producers immediately set up a relief fund that raised $130,000 in five days,” Cuisia added.

“I believe this is the Jewish community’s way of reciprocating our gesture of taking in 1,305 Jewish refugees during the Holocaust and for being the only Asian member-state of the United

Monday, October 27, 2014 A9

Oxfam slated to distribute bigger boats in Leyte towns

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ACLOBAN CITY—An international organization will distribute three 60-footer boats to fishermen’s associations in Leyte for their long-term recovery.

Entering the new phase last month, Oxfam’s assistance program targets associations in order to support the link between fishermen, not only individuals.

“This time, more fishermen will be reached out to help them build back better and safer,” said Edizon Cahindo, Oxfam’s emergency and food security vulnerable livelihood assistant.

Oxfam’s objective in providing bigger boats is for the fishermen to reach deeper ocean to catch more fish and increase their income.

“We are worried because the fishermen might have caught few fishes since they’re just on the shallow part of the sea, and, worse, small fishes are being caught that leads to reduction in fish species,” Cahindo said.

“Small boats were given last time and now it’s time to procure them [fishermen] the bigger boats,” he added.

The boats will be distributed to fishermen’s associations in the severely affected localities by Supertyphoon Yolanda, such as the towns of Palo and Tanauan and Tacloban City.

“Oxfam aims to alleviate poverty.

Its mission is to provide equality among men all over the world,” the official said.

Fishing boats will be officially owned by the associations and will be used by their members.

Oxfam will also provide fishing materials and support the seaweed production in the northern villages of this city.

Oxfam, in cooperation with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, has distributed small boats, fishing gear and fish nets during its early recovery phase. PNA

Senate set to approve new fisheries code

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Cagayan de Oro landmark

Executives and officers of Eternal Gardens, together with special guests, pose with Greenhills Park’s sales managers and agents in front of the newly unveiled statue of the Transfiguration of Jesus that is bound to be a landmark in Cagayan de Oro (CdO) City. Inset shows Sean Moreno (center), son of CdO City Mayor Oscar Moreno, receive a glass-encased replica of the Transfiguration statue as a token of gratitude from Eternal Gardens Chairman and CEO D. Edgard A. Cabangon (left) and President Benjamin V. Ramos.

Nations that voted in favor of the creation of the State of Israel in 1947,” Cuisia said.

“I am glad we were able to screen this film about a littleknown story of the collaboration of Filipinos and Americans to offer Jews escaping the Nazi pogrom in Europe a safe haven when many other countries were turning them away,” Cuisia said.

Rescue tells the story of how President Manuel Luis Quezon

and five Jewish-American businessmen—brothers, the Frieders of Cincinnati, along with US High Commissioner Paul McNutt, Col. Dwight David Eisenhower and the Joint JDC worked together to save a total of 1,305 Jewish refugees.

The film has been screened at the US Capitol, the United Nations, the Library of Congress, the Philadelphia Museum of American Jewish

History, the American Jewish Archives and other venues in New York, California, Ohio, Montana, Texas, Maryland and Florida. On August 7 Rescue had its Manila premiere with no less than President Aquino hosting the event at Malacañang.

Rescue has also received positive reviews from the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Village Voice.

Present during the embassy

screening were director Cynthia Scott; executive director Russ Hodge; Producers Peggy Ellis and Barbara Sasser; surviving Jewish refugees, including Ralph Preiss, and direct descendants of other refugees, who fled to the Philippines.

Also present was Ruth Ephraim, widow of Frank Ephraim, author of Escape to Manila, which served as the basis for the documentary. Recto Mercene

By Recto Mercene

HE Senate is scheduled to approve on third reading tomorrow, Monday, a bill that will give more teeth to the country’s marine and fisheries laws in order to avert a possible ban by the European Union on Philippine marine and fisheries products.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said Senate Bill 2414, which amends the Fisheries Code, must be enacted into law by year-end in order to help advance the country’s fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

“Once the bill becomes law, it will ensure the country’s compliance with international conventions and standards,” Drilon said.

He said the present laws and rules “lack sufficient disincentives and sanctions against IUU fishing” and that is among the major issues raised by the EU through its Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in its 2012 audit report on the Philippines.

Drilon added that, “We only have until the end of the year to address the ‘yellow tag’ warning issued by the EU.” “Failure to act on the yellow tag and the observations made by the EU in its 2012 audit report on the Philippines may result in the blacklisting of all Philippine marine and fisheries products in Europe,” he added.

“We must pass the amendments to the Fisheries Code before the EU puts us under [the] ‘red flag,’ which would categorize us as a non-cooperating country by failing to discharge our commitment to eliminate IUU fishing,” Drilon explained. He said the ban will affect the fishing industry and the country’s economic growth.

Opinion BusinessMirror

A10 Monday, October 27, 2014

Editor: Alvin I. Dacanay

editorial

China sticking it to the US and Japan

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AST Friday the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was inaugurated with the signing of a memorandum of understanding at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Twenty other nations in Asia participated, including the Philippines on the Pacific Ocean, Qatar in the Middle East and nearly every country in between the two. As its name implies, the AIIB will provide loans and funding, primarily for infrastructure projects in Asia.

The AIIB was proposed a year ago by China, which will own and fund 50 percent of the bank, as an alternative to both the World Bank, which is dominated by the United States, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which is under the wing of Japan.

By establishing the AIIB, China had just stuck its finger in the eye of those two Group of Seven countries.

The media have played up the fact that three countries that should probably be participating in the AIIB—Australia, South Korea and Indonesia—were absent. That is not surprising in the least.

Australia may depend on the Chinese to buy its minerals, but the Australian dollar lives only at the mercy of the US. The US Federal Reserve could turn the value of the Australian dollar into something less than used toilet tissue at any time. The Australian Financial Review said US Secretary of State John F. Kerry had personally asked Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to keep Australia out of the AIIB. While the world is all excited by the election of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been “influencing” Indonesian politics even before he was born. In 1958 the CIA directly supported military rebels opposed to then-President Sukarno because of his close political alliance with the Communist Party of Indonesia or PKI. It is an open secret how closely the CIA worked with the Indonesian military through the decades, and Widodo is the first nonmilitary-linked leader in Indonesia’s history. For now Widodo is always 15 minutes away from being “asked” by the military to go back to being a furniture salesman.

The only thing that keeps the 1 million-strong Korean People’s Army from turning Seoul into its own rest-and-recreation center is the US having 30,000 American troops stationed in South Korea.

China, along with Russia, Brazil and India, has been pushing for an alternative global currency to the US dollar. The AIIB is a major step in that direction.

While the AIIB will not eliminate the need for the ADB and the World Bank, the AIIB will significantly lessen the power of these two banks in Asian countries over time. Furthermore, the AIIB will increase China’s influence.

Philippine relations with China are best described by the phrase “It’s complicated,” but our full participation in the AIIB is important, both domestically and internationally.

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PCSO opens Dipolog branch Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

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N line with its current board of directors’ objective to open a branch in every province, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) inaugurated its Zamboanga del Norte provincial office in Dipolog City on October 20.

PCSO Directors Mabel V. Mamba and Francisco G. Joaquin III represented the PCSO at the launch, which was also attended

by Vice Gov. Senen O. Angeles of Zamboanga del Norte, municipal mayors, other local officials and local Lotto agents.

The provincial government generously allotted to the PCSO 159 square meters of office space in its Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office building in Barangay Biasong under a rent-free arrangement for 25 years.

Angeles welcomed the PCSO officials to the province, and thanked the agency for being its “new partner” in delivering medical and health care-related services to the province’s residents.

“Without any hesitation, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan [pro-

Here’s what the Fed will do Mohamed A. El-Erian

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vincial council] gave the governor [Roberto Y. Uy] full authority to negotiate with the PCSO for the establishment of an office,” Angeles said.

“We cannot believe that, in less than a month, the PCSO has completed the office and are now here to open and inaugurate it.”

He also said the new PCSO branch, the agency’s 41st, “not only caters to the Lotto bettors, but most especially to…the underprivileged persons in our community.”

For his part, Joaquin said the branch’s inauguration allows the PCSO to “be closer to you” in terms of service delivery, such as processing medical-assistance requests and Lotto-agent support.

He emphasized that, since the agency does not receive any funding at all from the national government, and all its funds come

I

NTEREST in this week’s two-day United States Federal Reserve (the Fed) meeting has intensified after the extreme market gyrations of October 13 to 17. And views are quite diverse on Wall Street about what is likely to emerge.

When it first gave the timetable for an orderly exit from its third round of quantitative easing (QE3), the Fed hoped it would complete the final step this month amid a stronger economy—one with fundamentals that would also make markets a lot less sensitive to every utterance from Fed officials.

Instead, the economy has yet to attain liftoff and, judging from the financial excitement that erupted two weeks ago, the asset-price linkages between markets and the Fed are still in play.

In this context, some feel that, with that week’s disruptions also undermining liquidity even in the most liquid of financial markets (that for US Treasuries), the Fed has no choice but to surprise

markets by being dovish—by slowing its exit from QE3 and hinting at a subsequent QE4.

Others disagree, noting that yet another major flinch by the US central bank in response to market volatility would merely aggravate underlying imbalances and unhealthy dependencies. Moreover, markets have bounced back from that week’s sell-off, and the most recent data confirm that the economy continues to heal.

I think the Fed will try to strike a balance between these two views.

Here is how it will try to do that: 1. Fed officials will slightly upgrade their assessment of economic prospects. But their enthusiasm will be moderated by renewed concerns about global economic weakness.

from Lotto and its other gaming revenues, more public support for PCSO games means more funds for its charity programs.

“We thank those who buy Lotto tickets,” Joaquin said. “We can’t give what we don’t have, so keep on playing so we can keep on helping.” He also invited the province’s entrepreneurs to set up more Lotto outlets in partnership with the PCSO. The two PCSO directors also turned over to the local officials checks for the province, cities and municipalities that represent their shares from the January-to-June 2014 Lotto revenues of outlets hosted in the area.

The province received P455, 544.36 and Dipolog City got P1.42 million, while Dapitan City and 18 municipalities received their corresponding shares for a total of P3.091 million released by the PCSO that day. The more Lotto outlets hosted by an area, the higher the Lotto local government unit (LGU) shares it may receive.

After the Dipolog branch was inaugurated, Mamba, Joaquin and Angeles became the first players of Lotto there by buying tickets at the newly installed game machine. All PCSO branches nationwide have at least one Lotto terminal for the convenience of patrons.

The PCSO, which is celebrating

its 80th anniversary this year, has opened 16 branches since 2012 under its current board of directors.

The Dipolog branch is its eighth in Mindanao. Another branch will be established in Marinduque province next month, for a total of seven opened this year. Six to seven more will be set up in 2015.

Other branches that opened earlier this year were those in Aklan, Bukidnon, Capiz, Ilocos and Mindoro.

The PCSO’s vision for expansion encompasses the entire country.

Insofar as it is feasible and safe, we will try to open a branch in each of the country’s 81 provinces. At this point, we’re halfway there.

We renew our invitation to LGU officials to partner with the PCSO by providing rent-free office space in their province’s capital or major city and give their residents more convenient access to the agency’s services and products.

This entire week, we are marking our 80th anniversary with various activities, including a medical mission. We look forward to serving the Filipino people for eight decades more and beyond.

With a more decisive approach still eluding Fed officials, and understandably so, their immediate focus will remain on enhancing policy options, avoiding a short-term mistake and reducing the risk of a market accident. In other words, the Fed will again seek to muddle through a complicated situation.

they will reiterate their willingness to keep interest rates low, should economic conditions warrant it.

In doing all this, Fed officials will again try to buy time—both for the economy to heal and for politicians to step up to their responsibilities— and hope for better times ahead.

And in finalizing the exit from QE and offering assurances about its future interest-rate policy, they will sidestep the issue of how this pivot to full reliance on just “forward guidance” might reduce the overall effectiveness of monetary policy.

Two additional issues will remain obscure until the release of the more detailed minutes of the meeting.

First is the extent to which views are diverging even more within the Fed’s policymaking committee as the economy approaches a tricky inflexion point; and second is what progress is being made on how to raise interest rates when the time finally comes for that.

With a more decisive approach still eluding Fed officials, and understandably so, their immediate focus will remain on enhancing policy options, avoiding a short-term mistake and reducing the risk of a market accident. In other words, the Fed will again seek to muddle through a complicated situation.

2. They will acknowledge the further decline in the unemployment rate, while also noting that it overstates the improvement in labormarket conditions.

3. They will recognize the moderation of inflationary pressures, but hold back on declaring deflation an imminent threat to economic wellbeing. Instead, they will observe that part of the downward pressures on prices—coming from lower oil prices —provides both a boost to consumer spending and offsets higher food costs.

4. They will complete the phased exit from QE3, bringing large-scale purchases of securities to an end.

5. Finally, central bankers will shy away from hinting that they are willing to consider a subsequent program of asset purchases (QE4). Instead,

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II is the vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Europe is positioning itself outside the international race

Two types of public officials Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free fire

Roberto Savio

Inter press service

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OME—The new European Commission (EC) looks more like an experiment in balancing opposite forces than an institution run by some kind of governance. It will probably end up being paralyzed by internal conflicts, which is the last thing it needs.

During the term of EC President José Manuel Barroso (2004 to 2014), Europe became more and more marginalized in the international arena, bogged down by the internal division between the north and the south of Europe.

We are going back to a new Thirty Years’ War—which took place nearly five centuries ago—between Catholics and Protestants. Catholics are considered profligate spenders, while there is a moral approach to economics from Protestants.

The Germans, for example, have transformed debt into a financial “sin”. The large majority of Germans support the stern position of their government that fiscal sacrifice is the only way to salvation, and the looming economic slowdown will only strengthen that feeling. As a result, the handling of Europe’s internal-governance crisis has largely pushed Europe to the sidelines of the world.

It is a mystery why it is in the interests of Europe to push Russia into a structural alliance with China and, in such a fragile moment, inflict on itself losses of trade and investment with Russia, which could reach €40 billion next year.

The latest issue of the prestigious Foreign Affairs magazine carries a long and detailed article on “Why the Ukraine Crisis is the West’s Fault”

by Chicago-based academic John J. Mearsheimer, who documents how the offer to Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was the last of a number of hostile steps that pushed Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop a clear process of encroachment.

Mearsheimer wonders how all this was in the long-term interests of the United States, beyond some small circles, and why Europe followed. But politics now has only a short-term horizon, and priorities are becoming conditioned by that approach.

Slashing budgets

A GOOD example is how European states (with the exception of the Nordic states) have been slashing their international-cooperation budgets. Not only have Spain, Italy and Portugal—and, of course, Greece— practically eliminated their official development assistance budgets, but France, Belgium and Austria have also been following suit. Meanwhile, China has been investing heavily in Africa, Latin America and, of course, Asia, where the term “cooperation” would not be the most appropriate one to use.

But the best example of Europe’s inability to be in sync with reality is the last cut in the Erasmus program, which sends tens of thousands of students every year to another European country. Has it been overlooked that 1 million babies have been born to couples who met during their Erasmus scholarships, and that this program is being cut at a moment when anti-Europe parties are sprouting everywhere?

In fact, education—and especially culture (and medical assistance)—are experiencing a continuous reduction in spending. As former Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti famously said, “You don’t eat with culture.”

The per-capita budget for culture in southern Europe is now one-seventh that of northern Europe. Italy, which, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, holds 50 percent of Europe’s cultural heritage, has just decided to open up 100 jobs in the archaeological field with a gross monthly salary of €430. In today’s market, this is half what a maid receives for 20 hours of work a week.

Italian politicians do not say so explicitly, but they believe that there is already such rich heritage that there is no need for further investment and, anyhow, the tourists continue to arrive. The budget for all Italian museums is close to the budget of the New York Metropolitan Museum. In the real world, this is like somebody who wants to live by showing the mummified body of his great grandmother for the price of a ticket!

It can be said that, in a moment of crisis, the budget for culture can be frozen because there are more urgent needs. But no need is more urgent than to keep Europe running in the international competition in order to ensure a future for its citizens. And yet, the budget for research and development (R&D), which is essential for staying in the race, is also being cut year by year.

Let us look at the situation since 2009. Spain has reduced investment in R&D by 40 percent, which has led to a 40-percent cut in financing for projects and a 30-percent cut in human resources. Italian universities have witnessed a total cut of 20 percent in spending, which has meant a reduction of 80 percent in hiring and 100 percent in projects, while 40 percent of PhD courses have disappeared.

France has cut hiring in research centers by 25 percent and in universities by 20 percent. Less than 10 percent of demand for projects receives financing, because funds are no longer available.

Greece has cut budget for research centers and universities by 50 percent since 2011, and has frozen the hiring of any new researchers.

In the same period in Portugal, universities and research centers have suffered a 50-percent cut; the number of PhD scholarships, by 40 percent; and postdoctoral courses, by 65 percent.

Action program

IT is important to recall that the Lisbon Strategy, the action program for jobs and growth adopted in 2000, aimed to make the European Union “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion” by 2010. Not only were most of its objectives not achieved that year, but Europe continues to slide backward.

The Lisbon Strategy had set 3 percent of gross national product (GNP) for R&D, but southern Europe is now below 1.5 percent.

A notable exception is the United Kingdom. The current government, which works in strong synchronicity with the City of London and its industrial constituency, has funded a €6-billion “Innovation and Research Strategy for Growth” plan, to the applause of the private sector.

China is steadily increasing its R&D budget, which is now 3 percent (what the Lisbon Strategy had set for Europe), but it aims to reach 6 percent of GNP by 2020 and, in just seven years, China has become the largest producer of solar energy, bankrupting several US and European companies.

Is cutting Europe’s future in international competition really in the interests of Germany? Or it is that politics are losing the view of the forest while they discuss how many trees to cut, to reach a compromise between the Catholics and the Protestants?

We are now making of economics a moral science, which makes of Europe an unusual world.

Roberto Savio is the founder and president emeritus of the Inter Press Service news agency.

Monday, October 27, 2014 A11

Conclusion

B

UT it is a service that banks did not render to the government.

All others, who did business with banks, could know if they wanted; only the government was left completely in the dark.

And the strange thing was that the government liked it that way.

There are animals like that; moles, for instance.

“The biggest single factor that prevents the [Bureau of Internal Revenue, or BIR] and [the Bureau of Customs] from efficiently collecting internal-revenue taxes and duties is their utter lack of a basic management information system that will give the actual total amounts they collect as soon as possible, broken down by taxpayer and kind of tax or duty paid,” Rep. Enrique “Tet” Garcia Jr. of the Second District of Bataan province said. Everyone else had that kind of information, but not the government. By now, I would be impugning the chastity of the mother of the secretary of finance and the

wife of the governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

But not Garcia. He kept his cool.

He pointed out the problem—indeed, the scam—and also the solution. He accused no one in particular, so everyone could prove his or her innocence by cooperating with him.

Or show they’re guilty or not.

He proposed: Why not make all payments to the government, made out to the National Treasury, instead of the agencies concerned, say, the BIR or Customs, or even the Department of Trade and Industry?

The payments should not be with just any kind of check, like those to

Binay’s estate Dong Puno

MY VIEW POINT

S

OME people are peeved that I had not been able to comment on the issues surrounding Vice President Jejomar C. Binay. The truth is, I did not quite understand the issues then. Now I do, and I really have something to say now: Binay has a lot of explaining to do, and he may have to do that in front of the media, where he, of course, may exercise much clout. That is what I think, at least.

pay your tailor, but special ones that indicate their exclusive use in government transactions and require enhanced authentication procedures to make sure the taxpayer is who he or she says he or she is, the amount is what he or she owes, and that his or her account has enough money to cover the amount of the check.

So the check will not be presented for clearance, along with a mountain of other checks for personal and commercial obligations, and then vanish into thin air, Garcia suggested that the checks be marked by three distinguishing digits as checks intended for the government.

The checks would be directly credited to the head office of the bank and not to the bank branch diverting it. The amount would be credited immediately to the government— which is to say as cash in government hands and not as sums owed by the banks to the government. Now the government could really say what it has at any point in time and who hasn’t paid yet.

All this data would be fed into the kind of information system every bank and business has, but which the government studiously avoided adopting. You would wonder why. A more detailed explanation is in Garcia’s forthcoming book.

For this column, suffice it to say that his proposal was first ignored by the government; and then viciously attacked by the government as the confession of one of the swindlers, which is to say Garcia. Now, why would a swindler complain to the swindled that he is swindling them? No less than the Monetary Board opposed Garcia’s reforms using this argument.

The government said this would be unfair to the banks, which make money out of floating the amounts that taxpayers pay as their fee for handling the transaction.

They had other arguments, as

well, to stop the adoption of Garcia’s safeguards, so as to stop the stealing that was patently taking place under the noses of government-finance officials, if not through their hands.

And, yet, those safeguards were not some novelty Garcia invented; the procedures making diversion harder and theft a thing of the past was standard operating procedure for banks when handling payments to the Manila Electric Co., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and other public utilities.

Why was the government preventing itself from being robbed? At this point, I would have paid someone to take out the finance officials concerned. But why go to jail? More likely, I would have walked away from it all.

Instead, Garcia repeatedly addressed his concerns and proposed his solutions to the Monetary Board.

Suffice it to say we are not being robbed in that way again.

See, this is the difference between someone who hates corruption, like myself, and some who does something about it, and never stops trying until he gets it done. He doesn’t alienate those who oppose him, even if, in fact, he suspects they are involved in the theft. But he enlists their aid only because they have the authority to do something about it.

If they won’t help him, it only shows they are guilty.

Both Garcia and I have been House representatives; he still is.

But, I think, he has done a whole lot more than outraged people like me, not to mention those who are part of the shenanigans in Congress and the Executive Branch.

Garcia is a traditional politician; I am not. Now, which would you prefer: Me fulminating against wrongdoing, or he quietly putting a stop to it? That’s all for now.

The Vice President has to counter what Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV has said, which has inflicted much damage on his reputation. Former Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado of Makati City was quoted as saying that the high-end estate in Rosario town, Batangas province, is 350 hectares and is owned by Binay using dummies through Agri-Fortuna Inc. This surprised me. I had always thought that two companies were involved and that Binay had thought this thing up. But I could be wrong, and if so, I would be the first to acknowledge it.

I must mention the fact that

the committee is still functioning.

Whether it exonerates Binay or not is still anybody’s guess. I think that anyone who is anti-Binay at this time and is running for a position in Makati would be popular, but that would be pure conjecture. At this time, I believe many would still vote for Binay, although their faith in him has been seriously eroded. Binay’s slide in the surveys has given hope to many other presidentiables, but his lead is still quite considerable, and the surveys have shown that Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II has not benefitted much from it.

Foreign-policy question mark over Indonesia’s new leader

By Matthew Pennington The Associated Press

W

ASHINGTON, D.C.—The remarkable rise of new Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has captured the popular imagination at home and won praise internationally, but he still needs to prove his foreign-policy prowess. The United States is looking for him to sustain Jakarta’s role as a regional leader in Southeast Asia.

US Secretary of State John F. Kerry attended last week’s inauguration of Widodo, whose personal story is symbolic of Indonesia’s own transition from autocracy to democratic rule. After he was sworn in, the leader of the world’s fourth-most populated country traveled to the presidential palace by horse and cart, underscoring his credentials as a champion of the poor.

The US and other foreign governments will be willing Jokowi to do well.

The 53-year-old, who previously served as governor of the congested capital, Jakarta, must make tough decisions, and soon, to boost economic growth in the sprawling archipelago of 250 million people. Washington will be hoping for a more welcoming climate for foreign investors.

Widodo is poised to announce his Cabinet lineup, including the key position of foreign minister, amid lingering questions about the president’s own dearth of experience in foreign affairs, and whether his ambitious domestic agenda, facing hostile political opposi-

tion, will preoccupy him.

US President Barack Obama’s administration is paying close attention to how Widodo fares, and his management of Indonesia’s relations. The US has made engagement with Southeast Asia a centerpiece of its attempt to rebalance its foreign policy toward the fastgrowing economies of the Asia Pacific, and has been supportive of Indonesia’s activist role.

Obama, who has a personal connection with Indonesia because he spent part of his childhood there, visited twice in his first term, and Kerry pulled out the stops to attend last Monday’s inauguration, taking 26 hours of trans-oceanic flights from Boston.

Bilateral relations have thrived during the tenure of Widodo’s predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, although the trade and investment ties with the US have been difficult because of Indonesian protectionism, including in the mining industry, said Murray Hiebert, deputy director of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International

Studies in Washington, D.C. Indonesia has emerged as de facto leader of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Indonesia mediated when a border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia flared; it nudged Myanmar toward greater openness; and it helped patch up differences among the Asean’s 10 members after an embarrassing public dispute in 2012 over its stance to maritime disputes involving China.

Indonesia performs a balancing act in its relations between strategic rivals US and China. Indonesia doesn’t count itself among nations contesting for islands in the West Philippine (South China Sea), but it is concerned that China’s expansive maritime claims extend to the Indonesian-held Natuna Islands. Indonesia’s military chief in April said it was strengthening its forces there.

The US also views Indonesia, the country with the highest population of Muslims, as a voice of moderation and important partner in countering Islamist militancy. Indonesia has outlawed membership of the Islamic State, which has taken control of a swath of Iraq and Syria. Washington wants Jakarta to stop any flow of fighters from Indonesia and tighten controls on terrorist financing.

Aaron Connelly, an Indonesia specialist at the Australian think tank, the Lowy Institute, predicted a continuation of Indonesia’s slight lean toward the West. But he said, Widodo was likely to show less leadership on foreign policy than Yudhoyono and delegate more to

advisers, which could lead to competition among them and give greater influence for nationalist voices at the margins.

“For the first time in 10 years, the Indonesian state will lack a paramount policymaker on foreign affairs at its apex,” Connelly wrote in a recent commentary.

Widodo, son of a furniture maker, has risen to prominence on the back of his hard work as Jakarta’s governor. He has a chance to make his international mark at a sequence of regional summits coming in November, to be hosted by China, Myanmar and Australia and attended by Obama.

In the meantime, he has plenty to grapple with at home.

The transition to democracy after the dictatorship of Suharto, who was toppled in 1998, took root during Yudhoyono’s 10-year tenure. But economic growth on the back of a commodities boom has slowed. Infrastructure is fraying and corruption is rife.

Economists say Widodo must soon decide how much to cut fuel subsidies that will cost the government $30 billion this year unless they are trimmed— a move likely to stoke street protests.

Widodo’s supporters have already expressed concerns that any reform he tries to enact could be blocked by an opposition led by the Suharto-era general he defeated in the July elections.

Legislators loyal to that defeated candidate voted last month to scrap direct elections for local officials, seen as a setback to the democratic system that enabled Widodo to rise in politics.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, October 27, 2014

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Investors remain bullish on PHL–DOF

By David Cagahastian

F

inance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima on Friday refuted the capital flight “story” being peddled by those opposed to the new Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) regulation requiring all withholding agents to provide an alphabetical list (alphalist) of payees of dividend and interest incomes subject to withholding tax.

Purisima cited the bullish investor sentiment in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) itself as positive proof that the opposition to BIR Revenue Regulation (RR) 1-2014 has no factual basis.

“Ten months since the amendment took effect, relevant indicators show that the regulation has produced none of the negative effects feared by investors. In fact, the Philippine Stock Exchange is maintaining its

all-time high; the monthly inflow of foreign portfolio investments [FPI] has surpassed outflows since April this year; and foreign trading in the PSE has increased as a share of total trading over the past few months.

The facts simply do not support the undue fears being raised,” Purisima said in a statement.

RR 1-2014 requires withholding agents to provide an alphalist of their payees for dividend and interest

income, instead of the customary practice of lumping such payments under such entries as “various employees,” “various payees,” or, as in the case of dealers in stock or securities, the “Philippine Central Depository Nominee.”

The Supreme Court has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against RR 1-2014, upon a petition by the PSE and other business groups that claimed the new requirement will spook investors in the Philippine markets. The government has a pending petition to lift the TRO. As of October 21, the PSE index (PSEi) closed at 7,068.03, reflecting bullish investor confidence in the Philippine markets and outperforming its regional peers. This high investor confidence comes amid the US Federal Reserve’s decision to end its quantitative easing stimulus program, and speculations that it will be raising interest rates soon.

Monthly net FPI, which comprise of securities and other financial assets passively held by foreign investors, have flowed inward on net basis since April, registering $489.5 million in August alone, up by more than 200 percent year on year.

“Clearly, all these indicators do not demonstrate capital flight.

The Department of Finance [DOF] remains committed to develop the Philippine capital markets. Thus, if any, BIR’s Revenue Regulation 1-2014 results to transparency in the market, which redounds to creating an atmosphere of trust among stakeholders.

Further, as investments with certificates are already required to have the very same information that RR 1-2014 asks for, there is no reason how investors’ privacy rights can be compromised by this regulation,” Purisima said.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Teresita J. Herbosa, who was also impleaded in the case filed by the PSE before the SEC, explained how RR 1-2014 supports a transparent and professional market. She also said that no privacy rights of the investors are compromised since taxpaying investors have all along provided the information sought in the BIR regulation.

“Only investors seeking to avoid taxes need to be concerned.

As Philippine markets are getting more attractive, such regulations only serve to protect our investors. There is no reason for investors to leave an increasingly attractive market that seeks to be more transparent,” Herbosa said.

D.T.I. primes up human Resource devt road map in manufacturing sector

T

he Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) plans to consolidate the human resource development (HRD) initiatives of the different manufacturing subsectors in a road map in a bid to come up with a unified strategy to achieve the goals of the DTI’s broader manufacturing resurgence program.

“Eventually, as we consolidate the sectoral road maps, we can come up with an HRD plan for the manufacturing program. It’s part of our cluster work in the resurgence program.

We coordinate with the Commission on Higher Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Department of Labor and Employment,” Executive Director for Industrial Policy Development Corazon HaliliDichosa, said in a chance interview with reporters.

Dichosa added the consolidation would require fine-tuning of subsector strategies as some, without targeting specific geographic locations, have identified gaps in their HR supply.

“We can’t just have national numbers saying this is how many engineers are needed for a sector. We have to identify for a specific sector where we can tap the talent. Calabarzon [Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon] is where most automanufacturing facilities are, so we can target the schools there and help in developing talent there for the sector,” Dichosa said.

The consolidated HRD road map forms part of an holistic See “DTI,” A2

House vows passage of amended bill to lower income-tax rate by Dec

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

T

he House of Representatives vowed on Sunday to pass the bill lowering income-tax rates for individuals by the end of the year, the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means said.

Liberal Party (LP) Rep. Romero Quimbo of Marikina City, committee chairman, said this after the technical working group (TWG) approved only recently the consolidation of bills recalibrating the income-tax schedule. “[We are eyeing its passage] by the end of the year,” Quimbo said in a text message. Last week the TWG approved the consolidation of bills amending the income-tax rate imposed on individuals and corporations and the crafting of a substitute proposal.

“The current income taxes imposed on individuals and corporations have become uncompetitive and unresponsive. Our tax system’s failure to keep in step with global corporate trends and to adapt with rising inflation rates must be resolved,” Quimbo said.

LP Rep. Roman T. Romulo of Pasig City, one of the authors, has expressed his disappointment after Department of Finance (DOF) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) representatives failed to comment on the pending bills and their estimated revenue impact despite the ample time given for them to do so.

See “Income-tax,” A2