July inflation likely eased to 2.2-2.6% – analysts HH
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MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2019
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B OAT S I N K I N G
Death toll surges to 31 Billion-peso govt firm under the control of Bayan Muna lawyer?
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RESIDENT Duterte’s critics claim that his popularity and political acumen, as well as his allies’ overwhelming victory in the May elections, have made him so powerful that he is on the way to becoming an absolute ruler.
RIGOBERTO D. TIGLAO
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Priests’ Day T
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FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO
JOHN Marie Vianney was not exactly the cleverest of priests in his day, but his holiness and his priestly zeal seemed to be resplendent that his fame as confessor reached far and
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BY RAFFY AYENG AND DIVINA NOVA JOY DELA CRUZ
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HE death toll from the sinking of three boats off Iloilo on Saturday rose to 31, as search and rescue teams recovered more bodies on Sunday, officials said.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said 20 more bodies were retrieved on Sunday. Ten of the victims were found under the overturned M/B Jenny Vince, the third boat that capsized at the Iloilo-Guimaras Strait. On Saturday, 11 bodies were fished out, including that of a child.
Hours before Jenny was hit by huge waves, M/B Chi-Chi and M/B Keshia 2 sank in rough waters. Chi-Chi was carrying 43 passengers. Regional police chief Rene Pamuspusan said six people were missing, while 55 individuals were rescued. The PCG suspended all trips between
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House to look into DoH overstocking of medicines A PARTY-LIST lawmaker representing health consumers has sought a House investigation to get into the bottom of the alleged overstocking of P18.5 billion worth of medicines by the Department of Health (DoH). Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Michael Defensor filed House Resolution 145 urging the House Committee on Health to conduct a public inquiry, following a report by state auditors that the overstocked medicines failed to reach health facilities nationwide. “We must stress that officials trusted
with public resources are duty-bound to see to it that these supplies are used efficiently for the public good and benefit, and not just left to spoil away,” Defensor said in a statement on Sunday. The Commission on Audit bared in its 2018 audit report that P400 million worth of medicines were nearing their expiration, including Metformin for diabetes and vaccines against Human Papillomavirus and Japanese Encephalitis. The report added that P30.3 million worth of medicines distributed to hospitals and health centers had expired as of
What’s inside DUTERTE TO HOLD BILATERAL MEET WITH XI THIS MONTH
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LEA SALONGA WON’T BE PART OF NEW‘MULAN’
Iloilo City and Guimaras, leaving some 600 passengers stranded at Parola Wharf. Search and retrieval operations continue, the PCG said. Scores die in maritime mishaps every year in the Philippines, usually aboard boats that move people from one small island to another. Sea accidents historically spike during the middle of the year, when the country is frequently hit by storms and typhoons. Many parts of Luzon and the Visayas had been lashed by torrential monsoon rain in the past week.
NEGROS ORIENTAL, A VICTIM OF BAD DECISIONS
Dec. 31, 2018. “Negligence in the management of perishable inventories, especially life-savings drugs, is unacceptable, considering that many poor Filipinos desperately need these medicines,” Defensor said. The Health department had said that it lacked manpower, warehouses and transport facilities to efficiently store and distribute the medicines. “If that is the case, then Congress might as well give portions of the annual multibillionpeso Health Facilities Enhancement Fund
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WARRIORS AGREE WITH GREEN ON FOUR-YEAR EXTENSION – REPORTS
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Probe human trafficking at NAIA – Marcos SEN. Maria Josefa Imelda “Imee” Marcos has sought an inquiry into the reported human trafficking at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which she said was one of the reasons behind the influx of illegal aliens in the country. The senator recently filed Senate Resolution 15 directing the proper committee to investigate the proliferation of illegal aliens in violation of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940.
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Rivera finishes third in Prudential Ride LONDON: Filipino-American Coryn Rivera grabbed third place honors in the crash-marred women’s classique event of the prestigious 2019 Prudential Ride London-UCI World Tour on Saturday (early Sunday in Manila) at The Mall here. Representing The Netherlands-based Team Sunweb, Rivera sprinted her way to the podium just a wheel behind
eventual champion and world No. 3 Lorena Wiebes of The Netherlands (Parkhotel Valkenburg) and second placer Elisa Balsamo of Italy (Valcar-Cyclane). “It’s nice to get my first World Tour podium this year and get back into the swing of things for the end of the season. It was really hectic in the final sprint for the
n Filipino-American Coryn Rivera (right), Lorena Wiebes of The Netherlands (center) and Elisa Balsamo of Italy celebrate during the awarding ceremony of the 2019 Prudential Ride London-UCI World Tour in London, England. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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DEATH AT SEA
A handout photo from the Philippine Coast Guard shows one of its personnel carrying one of those who perished at sea. PHOTO COURTESY OF PCG
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line but I had a really good sprint from the right side. Not enough for the win, but I’m pretty content with getting on the podium. I haven’t raced for a while, so I was a bit surprised,” said Rivera, whose mother hails from Tagaytay City and father from Tondo, Manila. It was a better finish this year
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What’s inside PAG-IBIG PAYMENT SYSTEM GOES DIGITAL
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DROP APPEAL AGAINST CSP RULING, ERC TOLD
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DELIOTTE. ON THE DOT
July inflation likely eased to 2.2-2.6% – analysts H BY ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES
EADLINE inflation likely continued to decelerate last month on reduced food and fuel prices, which would allow the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to resume slashing interest rates, according to analysts polled by The Manila Times.
Inflation forecasts for July ranged from 2.2 to 2.6 percent with a 2.3 percent average, lower than the 2.7 percent posted in June and the 5.7 percent recorded a year ago. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas earlier projected the rate of the increase in the prices of goods and services last month to fall between 2 and 2.8 percent.
The Philippine Statistics Authority will release official July inflation data on Tuesday, August 6. Moody’s Analytics offered the highest inflation projection at 2.6 percent. “We see CPI (consumer price index) cooling to 2.6 percent in July amid cooler rice and fuel prices. The door is wide open for the BSP to continue with [its] interest-rate
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cuts” Moody’s Analytics economist Katrina Ell said. The central bank on May 9 reduced interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) after a series of rate hikes last year on account of easing inflation. It took a “prudent pause” during its meeting on June 20, keeping overnight borrowing, lending and deposit rates at 4.5
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DoF sets timetable for tax bills’ passage
See you at Starbucks-Paseo de Sta. Rosa
ROM the readers of Due Diligencer, which appears three times a week in The Manila Times, I receive emails which I cannot ignore because they contain issues affecting listed stocks. Being listed means a portion of or the entire outstanding common or preferred shares are listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). This makes their common or preferred shares publicly traded but being listed does not necessarily makes them public at the same time. Last week, I received two emails regarding Calata Corp. I responded to the one sent by Demrod Schroth by writing about — or was it against? — it in Due Diligencer. Then another email came, which also complains about the same listed stock. Again, like the first, I won’t ignore the second email because it also tackles Calata. Here are the contents of the email sent by David Moille, who also gave his mobile phone numbers, to Due Diligencer: Hi, good morning Mr. Perez, Thank you for writing this article. Like thousands, I am also an unfortunate shareholder of Calata Corp. We have contacted PSE and SEC but they can’t really do anything for us. Maybe you could help us to echo our fight as “minority” — but majority with 75% voting rights — shareholders of Calata. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you. Posers Here is a question for Mr. Moille: If you and the other shareholders hold 75 percent voting rights, are you duly represented in Calata’s board? If you are, then you could have attended their board meetings. Holding 75-percent voting rights would have meant control of the board. Since Calata does not have its common shares listed on PSE, Due Diligencer has no way of finding out if it has nine or 11 directors. As the policy-making body, the board decides whether a company’s common shares are listed or not on PSE. It is unfortunate, however, that business owners enjoy the power over the board as they also appoint the independent directors (IDs). As I have been emphasizing in previous columns, IDs are not qualified to a board seat because they do not own enough number of common shares to get elected. This is the reason, at least for Due Diligencer, why I use
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MONDAY AUGUST 5, 2019
Business Times
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DEAL FOR DIGITAL PAYMENTS
Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) Chief Executive Officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti and PayMaya founder and CEO Orlando B. Vea (second and third from left, respectively), PagIBIG Fund Officer in Charge for the Support Services Cluster and Chief Legal Counsel Robert John S. Cosico (far left), and PayMaya Chief Operations Officer and Managing Director Paolo Azzola pose for a photo after signing an agreement formalizing their partnership to offer digital-payment options for the state-run agency’s members online and through its branch channels. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO ä SEE STORY ON B2
BIR: P200M collected from POGO workers FOREIGN workers of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) have paid about P200 million in personal income taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), according to its chief. “They (POGO workers) are already paying (their income taxes),” BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay said in an interview late last week. This comes after the tax bureau report-
ed that it had issued an initial 10,000 tax identification numbers to these workers after issuing notices to employers. “Initially, we collected about P200 million (in taxes),” BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa said. While not disclosing on how many individuals have paid, Guballa said these workers came from six POGO firms. The POGO sector has been the subject
of government scrutiny after investigations revealed that it has become a conduit for undocumented workers from China. Since they are undocumented, these foreign workers are also not paying taxes to the government. The BIR said it had matched the list of foreigners hired by local companies with
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SHARES OUTLOOK FOR THE WEEK
Sideways, lower trading seen in ‘Ghost Month’ THE stock market is expected to trade sideways or lower this week, with the “Ghost Month” into its fifth day, and ahead of the government’s release of official economic growth data this week. In a market comment over the weekend, AAA Southeast Equities Inc. research head Christopher Mangun said investors would remain cautious after the bourse officially entered the so-called ghost season last week, when big-ticket investments are expected to be held off. “All these factors will keep the market from going higher, and with a lack of buyers, we may potentially see it go lower,” he added. Running from August 1 to 29 this year, Ghost Month stems from the enduring Chinese belief that the seventh lunar month is when the gates of hell
open, releasing hungry spirits to visit the living, who must prepare food offerings for them. Failure to do so may bring bad luck. During this month, making important business transactions, such as investing in major endeavors, betting huge on capital markets or starting an enterprise, are avoided. However, Mangun said market players would watch out for the secondquarter gross domestic product data, which he expected to be better than the previous quarter. Economic growth in April to June is projected to settle between 5.7 and 5.9 percent, compared with the 5.2 percent recorded in January to March. “We shall see if it this has any effect on trading,” he added.
In a separate comment, online brokerage firm 2tradeasia.com said market players would sift through more corporateearnings results moving forward to heed for the Philippine Stock Exchange index’s (PSEi) trajectory. Other catalysts believed to buoy PSEi include the continuation of accommodative monetary policies; the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher-quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill, which proposes to reduce corporate income taxes from 30 percent to 20 percent in 10 years; and the expected passage of the Real Estate Investment Trust framework. Last Friday, the bellwether PSEi rose by 0.39 percent or 31.77 points to close at 8,129.93. The wider All Shares grew by 0.45 percent or 22.05 points to finish at 4,926.56. ANGELICA BALLESTEROS
THE Department of Finance (DoF) has set a timetable of 15 to 18 months to have the remaining packages of the government’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) passed before the 2022 election season begins. In an interview late last week, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd explained the period covered by the timetable was when his department and members of the 18th Congress would be most productive. “We can be the most productive at that time, because (by) 2021, everybody is looking somewhere else already,” Dominguez said, referring to lawmakers’ preparations for the 2022 polls. “This is the reality we have to face. We have to finish this thing by 15 to 18 months,” he told reporters. In his fourth State of the Nation Address last month, President Rodrigo Duterte urged the 18th Congress to pass the remaining CTRP packages, which he said would help finance its efforts to reduce poverty in the country. The remaining packages are: • Package 1B, which seeks reforms in the Motor Vehicle Users’ Charge and the bank secrecy law; • Package 2, better known as Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher-quality Opportunities measure, aims to reduce corporate income taxes from 30 percent to 20 percent in 10 years and rationalize fiscal incentives; •Package 2 Plus, which aims to further increase the excise tax on alcohol to provide additional funding for the government’s Universal Health Care program, and increase the state’s share from mining; • Package 3, which would broaden the tax base of property taxes of the national and local governments, thereby increasing government revenues without increasing the existing tax rates
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