‘2020 budget proposal to be submitted in August’ »Story on B1 HH
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•• 4 SECTIONS PAGES • VOL. 120 NO. 262 24
WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2019
3 myths about China and The Hague tribunal verdict
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HE following is a must read, a totally different perspective from what the Yellows and Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio have brainwashed a lot of people to believe in. This was written by two American scholars, Jared McKiney and Nicholas Butts, back in July 14, 2016, a few days after the arbitral panel issued its ruling on the Philippines’ suit against China, for which we spent P500 million.
RIGOBERTO D. TIGLAO
R w w w.manilatimes.net
Trusted since 1898
GSIS chief resigns BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
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OVERNMENT Service Insurance System (GSIS) President and General Manager Jesus Clint Aranas resigned from his post on Tuesday.
“I hereby tender my resignation as president and general manager of Government Service Insurance System, effective of business today,” Aranas said in his resignation letter addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte.
He added that he stepped down from his post “secure in the knowledge that I have unwaveringly advanced the interest of GSIS and its members in discharging the functions of the said office always in obeisance to all laws and
never once compromising my integrity or that of the office I now relinquish.” GSIS Vice President Marge Jorillo said Aranas cited personal reasons for his resignation. But sources who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that Aranas’ resignation stemmed from “a disagreement over a PPA (Philippine Ports Authority) property.” The GSIS is claiming ownership of a piece of property in Manila’s
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n Jesus Clint Aranas
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A wedding in the family
OMORR OW, my nephew Jam will be wed to a wonderful lady, a brilliant and cheerful lady-lawyer. I can be pardoned all the nostalgia that comes upon me now. äAquinoA5
FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO
REACH US AT: E-mail: newsdesk@ manilatimes.net Tel. Nos.: 524-5664 to 67 Address: 2/F Sitio Grande, 409 A. Soriano Avenue, Intramuros, Manila 1002
MIND THE FLAG
President Rodrigo Duterte holds the Philippine Air Force flag during the 72nd anniversary celebration of PAF at the Villamor Air base in Pasay City. PHOTO BY J.GERARD SEGUIA
What’s inside BONG GO FILES HEALTH, 9 OTHER BILLS SC JUNKS KAPA PETITION NewsA8
ROACH GUARANTEES PACQUIAO WILL KO THURMAN
SportsC1
CHINA SEEKS END TO BOAT ISSUE NewsA2
AFTER ASEAN, G20, THE SHOW KEEPS GETTING BETTER
Ei Sun OhA6
GMA NETWORK COMPLETES INVESTIGATION OF EDDIE GARCIA ACCIDENT
EntertainmentD1
CHINA is seeking closure of the issue on the ramming of a Philippine boat by a Chinese vessel in the Recto (Reed) Bank because it is hurting the relations between Beijing and Manila, Malaca-
ñang said on Tuesday. Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said China wanted the issue put to rest so as not to further strain its diplomatic relations with the Philippines.
He said China relayed the message through its Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua. “We have to put closure to this because
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Carpio inhibits self in Paolo Duterte South China Sea case surprises, eyes speaker post
SUPREME Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has recused himself from the West Philippine (South China) Sea case pending before the high court after the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) accused him of being biased and prejudging the case. Carpio made the abrupt turnaround despite his earlier pronouncement that he would not inhibit from the case, stating that while “there is no compulsory ground to inhibit,” he would voluntarily do so for the sake of Solicitor General Jose Calida. n Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio äInhibitsA2
THE speakership race took an unexpected turn on Tuesday when Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte announced that he might throw his hat into the ring if it would unify a “divided” House of Representatives Paolo, son of President Rodrigo Duterte, had earlier said he was not interested in becoming speaker. On Tuesday, however, he said he might join the speakership race following Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano’s proposal for term-sharing in the top House post. “Moapil na ‘ko pagka-speaker (I am close to
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WEDNESDAY JULY 3, 2019
Business Times
ASIAN STOCKS: t
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8,093.60 UP 0.62%
P51.11 TO $1
Shanghai 0.03%
What’s inside REASON FOR DELAYED LNG PROJECT SOUGHT
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NCR RETAIL PRICE INDEX AT 1.6% IN MAY
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CAPITAL RAISED AT PSE HITS P38B IN H1
»Corporate NewsB3
PSBANK TO RAISE P3B FROM BOND ISSUE
»Corporate NewsB3
TRUMP: TRADE TALKS ‘ALREADY BEGUN’
»Foreign BusinessB4
OPEC TO INK NEW DEAL WITH RUSSIA, OTHER ALLIES Foreign BusinessB4
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S i n g a p o re 0 . 0 4 %
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Seoul 0.36%
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‘2020 budget proposal to be submitted in Aug’ BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
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HE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has moved the submission date of the proposal for next year’s P4.1-trillion national budget to next month to ensure that the impasse that delayed the approval of 2019 appropriations would not happen again. “(The submission of the budget proposal is) within 30 days from [the] SONA (State of the Nation Address), so we have until August 21,” Budget Officer in Charge-Secretary Janet Abuel told reporters on Monday night. “But we will not be waiting that long. We’re targeting, worst-case scenario, [the] first half of August….” she added. Earlier, the Budget official said her department would submit the budget
proposal on July 22, the same day as President Rodrigo Duterte’s fourth SONA. Asked why, she explained that the DBM had opted to wait until the leaders of the new Congress were installed. “[W]e’ll have to wait because we need to have very close coordination with Congress. So we need to wait for their leadership,” she added. This strategy, Abuel said, is meant to
make sure that the approval of the 2020 budget would not be delayed. “Its really important to know that we can work with the leadership,” she added. A dispute between the Senate and the House of Representatives over alleged insertions resulted in a four-and-ahalf-month delay in the passage of the 2019 national budget. This forced the government to operate on last year’s budget, limiting it to spend for items detailed in the 2018 outlay and not on programs and projects supposed to be implemented this year. The would-be-proposed cash budget of P4.1 trillion is 9.1 percent or P343 billion higher than this year’s P3.757 trillion. Of this amount, 44.9 percent or
PSEi nears 8,100 on US-China trade news THE stock market again approached the 8,100 level on Tuesday as investors welcomed developments on trade negotiations between the United States and China. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) was six points shy of the 8,100 territory, rising by 0.62 percent or 49.89 points to finish at 8,093.60. The wider All Shares, meanwhile, climbed by 0.53 percent or 26.06 points to close at 4,941.71. Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said investors cheered news that Washington and Beijing were holding off the levying of duties on each other’s goods while trade talks between them resume. Philstocks Financial Inc. echoed the view, adding that expectations of better economic data boosted trading. Inflation for June is expected to ease, with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas seeing it settling between 2.2 percent and 3 percent on the back of lower petroleum, rice and electricity prices. The Philippine Statistics Authority will announce official inflation figures for the month on Friday, July 5. The local market traded in line with its global counter parts. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones grew by 0.44 percent, the S&P 500 rose by 0.77 percent, and the Nasdaq increased by 1.06 percent. In the region, Hong Kong
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P1.842 trillion will be allocated to “Tier 1” programs, activities and projects of government agencies. These include the ongoing modernization of the country’s military and the National ID system, as well as various infrastructure projects. Another P1.345 trillion — 32.8 percent — will go to automatic appropriations, including internal-revenue allotment and net lending; and special purpose funds, including special shares to local governments and a contingent fund. This leaves P911.7 billion to cover expanded and new programs, activities and projects, accounting for 22.2 percent of the total cash-based budget ceiling, Abuel said in a recent memorandum.
DoF: Professionals need not pay biz permit fees
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
In this June 24, 2019 file photo, workers assemble cars at the newly renovated Ford’s Assembly Plant in Chicago, Illinois. US manufacturing activity last month fell to its lowest level in nearly three years — well below the pace when US President Donald Trump took office — another warning sign for the world’s largest economy as it marks the longest expansion on record. AFP PHOTO
May producer price index hits 2.7% THE Producer Price Index (PPI) for the manufacturing sector eased to 2.7 percent in May from 3.6 percent in April, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said. In a report, PSA said the May figure was the lowest recorded so far this year, yet was higher than the 1.5 percent posted in the same month last year. Industry groups that registered increases were furniture and fixtures and non-metallic mineral products, posting 47.9 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
Other groups that increased prices were transport equipment (3.7 percent), rubber and plastic products (5.8 percent), tobacco products (5.3 percent), beverages (3.2 percent), fabricated metal products (3.7 percent), petroleum products (0.8 percent), machinery except electrical (0.8 percent), paper and paper products (1.9 percent), and printing (2.3 percent). In contrast, leather products led the nine groups that registered annual decreases, dropping by 13.7 percent.
Month-on-month, the PPI dipped by 0.02 percent in May from 0.4 percent in April. It was also down from May 2018’s 0.8 percent. Leather products, which went down by 13 percent, led the 10 industry groups that pulled down the index during the month. The others are food manufacturing, basic metals, footwear and wearing apparel, furniture and fixtures, chemical products, non-metallic mineral products, paper and paper products, and textiles. ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES
PROFESSIONALS are now exempt from paying business permit fees for the operation of their offices or clinics, according to new rules issued by the Department of Finance (DoF). In a statement on Tuesday, the Finance department said Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd issued the new rules on June 12 under Local Finance Circular 001-2019. These rules state that, while professionals still need to secure business permits from local governments, these should come at no cost during the registration or renewal of the operation of their clinics or offices, since these cannot regulate the practice of their profession. This is because regulations on the practice of professions are within the exclusive domain of the respective agencies or regula-
tory boards empowered by law to supervise and regulate them, the DoF explained. Local governments, however, may impose a local business tax on professionals if they are verified to be selling, trading or distributing goods of any kind or involved in trade and other business activities outside of their professions, it said. In this case, the local governments can impose a business permit fee during the registration and renewal of the operation of the office or clinic of the concerned professional. The Bureau of Local Government Finance is tasked to monitor the compliance of local governments with the circular and provide technical assistance in following the guidelines.
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SEC’s power to demand for inspection/reproduction of corporate books and records
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NE of the modifications introduced by the Revised Corporation Code (RCC), or Republic Act (RA) No. 11232, pertains to the specific corporate books and records a corporation must keep and preserve at its principal office, as well as the investigatory powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to conduct summary investigations if a corporation denies or does not act on demand for inspection and/or reproduction of corporate books and records. Section 74 of the old corpora-
SEC MATTERS
KELVIN LESTER LEE tion code, or Batas Pambansa Blg. 68, provides in part: “Every corporation shall keep and carefully preserve at its principal office a record of all business transactions and minutes of all meetings of stockholders or members, or of the board of directors or trustees,
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