PH trade deficit narrows further to $2.47B in June »Story on B1 HH
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019
Philippine EEZ almost as big as China’s OBSERVER YEN MAKABENTA First word F you want to understand why the South China Sea issue matters so much to our country and our people, I suggest to my readers to take time to read the article of Wikipedia on the subject, “Exclusive
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Trusted since 1898 PULSE ASIA SURVE Y:
Filipinos prefer automated polls BY WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL
äObserver A4
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GREAT majority of Filipino voters want the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to continue using its automated voting system in future elections, according to Pulse Asia.
I’m helping Digong clean up the Augean stables IN MY LINE OF SIGHT
RAMON T. TULFO
In an election survey presentation on Wednesday, the pollster said 9 in 10 Filipinos
äPolls A2
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CONVERSATION recorded on video between two officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) — Assistant Commissioner Teresita Angeles and Don Samson — that was featured in this column
äIn my line of sightA5
Dengvaxia: What President Duterte should do REPUBLIC SERVICE RICARDO SALUDO
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ITH a dengue epidemic officially declared by the Department of Health, the public and media pressure for a quick fix and a grand cure-all escalates, as cases near 150,000, nearly double the spread
äRepublic ServiceA5
There is hope for Philippine agriculture
DENGUE WARD
Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro comforts a dengue patient at the Amang Rodriguez Hospital, which has been swamped by dengue victims. PHOTO BY RUY L. MARTINEZ
Bong Go asked to probe Dengvaxia use SEN. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. has asked Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, head of the health and demography committee, to look into the growing call of various
OTHER PARTIES CAN STILL ‘ADOPT’ NewsA2 DUTERTE’S SON
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THE Supreme Court has lifted the temporary restraining order (TRO) it issued stopping the Sandiganbayan from trying the charges of graft and usurpation of authority filed against former President Benigno Aquino 3rd in connection with the death of 44 police commandos in
äGraft A2
‘DEAR BEA AND JULIA: IS HE WORTH IT?’ BY CHRISTINA ALPAD
MARINA ORDERS MANDATORY WEARING OF LIFE VEST
NewsA3
ENOUGH OF INTELLECTUAL BASHING
First of two parts IRST of all, I would like to thank President Rodrigo Duterte for giving me the privilege to serve the country anew as acting Agriculture secretary.
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THE squabble between actors Bea Alonzo and Julia Barretto over Gerald Anderson has reached even the judiciary and Congress. On Wednesday, Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Marvic Leonen weighed in on the issue after Julia
äWorth A2
n Julia Barretto and Bea Alonzo
Antonio ContrerasA5
äWays of the Oasis B4
newsdesk@ manilatimes.net Tel. Nos.: 524-5664 to 67 Address: 2/F Sitio Grande, 409 A. Soriano Avenue, Intramuros, Manila 1002
doctors, scientists and health professionals to lift the ban on the dengue vaccine and to allow its limited private use.
What’s inside
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groups to lift the ban on Dengvaxia. Revilla filed Senate Resolution 60 urging Go’s panel to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation on the call of a group of
High court lifts TRO on graft raps vs Aquino
RUSS, UNFILTERED
EntertainmentD4
FOR POPOVICH, FINDING A TEAM QUICKLY WILL BE A CHALLENGE SportsC1
NEW FFCCII OFFICERS
President Rodrigo Duterte, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and Education Secretary Leonor Briones join Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCII) President Henry Lim Bon Liong; Honorary Presidents Domingo Yap, Domingo Lee, Jimmy Tang, Robin Sy, Francis Chua, Tan Ching, Alfonso Siy and Angel Ngu; EVP Mary Go Ng; Vice Presidents Alex Yap Cho Ty, David Chua, William Gosiaco, Michael Tan, Victor Lim, Delfin Letran, Cecilio Pedro, George Chiu, William Yap Castro, Jeffrey Ng, Tai Lian and Jose Go; Treasurer Leonardo Chua; Auditor Antony Chan; and Corporate Secretary and Secretary General Fernando Gan after their induction in Malacañang. The FFCCCII pledged 700 new school buildings for poor rural areas. The President conferred on Lim the prestigious ‘Order of Lakandula’ award.
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PSA: Q1 GDP still at 5.6% DESPITE revising the growth rates of the country’s economic sectors, state statisticians on Wednesday kept the official economic growth figure for the first quarter at 5.6 percent. In a report, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said figures for services and agriculture were revised downward from 7 percent to 6.8 percent to 0.8 percent to 0.7 percent, respectively. It, however, revised upward the figure for industry, from 4.4 percent and 4.8 percent. Also revised upward are net primary income from the rest of the world, from 1.9 percent to 3.2 percent; and gross national income,
from 4.9 percent to 5.2 percent. “The PSA revises the GDP (gross domestic product) estimates based on an approved revision policy, which is consistent with international standard practices on national accounts revisions,” the state-run statistics agency said. The government initially aimed to record economic growth of 7.0 to 8.0 percent this year, but later revised this to 6.0 to 7.0 percent on account of the delay in the approval of this year’s national budget. A dispute between the Senate and House of Representatives
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PSEi bounces to 7,900 level on bargain-hunting INVESTORS resorted to bargainhunting on Wednesday ahead of the expected announcement of macroeconomic figures, pushing the stock market back to the 7,900 territory. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) increased by 1.94 percent or 150.64 points to close at 7,917.39, while the broader All Shares rose by 1.33 percent or 63.50 points to finish at 4,827.41. Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said market players repositioned their portfolios ahead of the release of official gross domestic product (GDP) data for April to June and of the MSCI rebalancing, and the meeting of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ policymaking Monetary Board (MB). The Philippine Statistics Authority will announce today the second-quarter GDP figures, which will coincide with the MB’s latest meeting, during which a 25-basis point reduction in interest rates is expected. Analysts polled by The Manila Times expect secondquarter GDP to grow at a slower pace yearon-year due to the continued impact of the delayed approval of this year’s national budget and the election ban on government spending. They project the growth rate to settle between 5.7 and 5.9 percent, with a 5.8 percent average. This is slower than the 6.2-percent expansion in the second quarter in 2018 and slightly higher than the 5.6-percent growth in the first quarter. Last month, thenBangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the economy likely grew by 6 percent in the period. The local market traded in line with Wall Street, with its three main indices all up by more than 1 percent. Regional markets were mixed, as Tokyo was down 0.33 percent, Shanghai declined 0.32 percent, Hong Kong slipped 0.11 percent and Seoul shed 0.41 percent.
Meanwhile, Jakarta was up by 1.46 percent, Singapore grew 0.30 percent and Bangkok rose 0.40 percent. Locally, only the mining and oil was down by 0.34 percent. Others finished firmer. More than 550 million issues were traded, valued at P6.6 billion. Winners led losers, 112 to 75, while 60 issues were unchanged. ANGELICA BALLESTEROS
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PH trade deficit narrows further to $2.47B in June T BY ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES
HE country’s trade deficit narrowed to $2.47 billion in June from $3.55 billion in the same month last year and $3.29 billion in May as exports continue to outpace imports for the third consecutive month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday.
The state-run statistics agency said total export sales during the month grew by 1.5 percent to $6.01 billion from $5.92 billion in June 2018. It attributed the growth to increases in the export sales of cathodes and section of cathodes; of refined copper (41.7 percent); fresh bananas (24.4 percent); ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in ve-
hicles, including aircraft and ships (17.6 percent); gold (10.1 percent); electronic products (4.3 percent); machinery and transport equipment (3.0 percent); and other mineral products (1.1 percent). Total value of imported goods, meanwhile, contracted by 10.4 percent to $8.48 billion in June from $9.47 billion year-on-year.
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Trump and China may have just blown up the world economy ROUGH TRADE BEN KRITZ
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N Monday, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) answered US President Donald Trump’s latest cannon shot with a nuclear bomb in the ongoing trade war between the world’s two biggest economies, devaluing the yuan in
retaliation for Trump’s announcement of a new round of punitive tariffs on $300 billion in Chinese goods. The trade war has now become a currency war, and any pretense that other countries — especially
New SEC name guidelines
HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the Amended Guidelines and Procedures on the Use of Corporate
and Partnership Names (Amended Guidelines) through SEC Memorandum Circular (MC) 13, Series of 2019.
The amended guidelines introduce amendments to the Consolidated Guidelines and Procedures
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this one, and others in this part of the world — are not going to be gravely wounded in the crossfire is foolishness of the highest order. The way in which the PBoC manages China’s currency is by
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MORE TO FOLLOW (MTF)
NICA MARSHA GASAPO
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