THE MANILA TIMES | AUGUST 10, 2019

Moody’s further trims PH growth outlook to 5.8% »Story on B1 HH

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2019

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China infra in SCS feared for ‘offense’

Malacañang vows to run after illegal recruiters in POGOs MALACAÑANG on Friday assured the public that the Philippine government would run after the illegal recruiters of workers of casinos and offshore gaming firms in the country.

Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo made the assurance after the Chinese embassy in Manila called on the Philippines to “punish” casinos and offshore gaming firms that

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BY DEMPSEY REYES

I

Port ops shutdown snarls Manila traffic

NSTALLED facilities of China on its man-made islands in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) could be shifted later on as “offensive” ones, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Friday.

THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) on Friday suspended operations in Manila South Harbor because of heavy rains, tangling traffic along Roxas Boulevard in Manila.

The suspension resulted in a long line of container trucks trying to enter Port Area, with their drivers caught by surprise by the PPA’s move.

PPA General Manager Jay Santiago instructed the Asian Terminals Incorporated (ATI), the operator of South Harbor, to

“You have to understand, in military terms, a defensive capability can be turned into offensive capability in an instant,” Lorenza said as he noted that Beijing repeatedly says that these facilities were designed for defensive capability only.

“If you listen to the Chinese narrative, they are not here to attack anybody but to protect their own interests. They always say that what they are doing in the South China Sea, on their artificial islands, are all defensive,” the Defense chief added.

He said China is becoming aggressive in pushing its its claims in the disputed South China Sea, backing remarks of US Defense Secretary Mark Esper who earlier called out Beijing for its “destabilizing behavior” in the region.

“I agree because they have militarized, reclaimed shoals and reefs and made them into artificial land,” Lorenzana added.

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A hymn to love, a prayer to God First word E S T I be typed as a political writer, I shift attention today to the subject of art and culture. I want to say a few words about the 2017 film of Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water,” which won best picture and best director in the 2017 Oscars.

L

OBSERVER YEN MAKABENTA

TRAPPED Container trucks fill Roxas Boulevard, snaring motorists on Friday after port operations at South Harbor came to a halt because of heavy rains.

PHOTO BY ENRIQUE AGCAOILI

DENGUE CASES UP 98% IN JULY – DOH DENGUE cases have gone up to a total of 167,606 from January 1 to July 27, Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said on Friday.

This was announced by Domingo after the Department of Health (DoH) declared

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a national dengue epidemic on Tuesday based on an initially reported 146,062 cases from January to July 20, which was 98 percent higher than that for the same period in 2018. Of these cases, 622 deaths were recorded.

What’s inside ‘HANNA’ EXITS BUT STOPS WORK, NewsA2 SCHOOL NATIONWIDE SENATE IRRATIONALITIES

With cases from the mosquito-borne disease expected to increase during the rainy season, latest data from the Health department reported 12,880 dengue cases with 39 deaths across the country in one week alone, from July 21 to 27. The DoH

noted that this was a 70-percent increase compared to 7,542 cases during the same period last year.

Earlier, the most number of cases was recorded in Region 6 or Western Visayas

äCasesA2

US lifts adverse security advisory on NAIA THE United States’ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday lifted the “public advisory” regarding security conditions at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Kevin McAleenan, acting secretary of Homeland Security, has ordered the immediate “rescission of the

public notice regarding security conditions at NAIA” that was issued in December 2018.

The DHS said the notice was issued “after multiple assessments of MNL (Manila) identified a failure to adequately implement and maintain international security standards and

recommended practices” established by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

“After months of direct engagement with the United States, the government of the Philippines has made significant improvements to the security operations

äAdvisoryA7

Antonio ContrerasA4

HOW GAZINI GANADOS MAINTAINS HER ROYAL WELLNESS

D4

PACQUIAO POISED TO TOP P4P LIST AGAIN

SportsC1

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

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President Rodrigo Duterte leads the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police in a joint command conference in Malacañang on Friday. MALACAÑANG PHOTO

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Moody’s further trims PH growth outlook to 5.8% M

BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

n Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia (right) answers a question while Philippine Statistics Authority Undersecretary and National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa listens during the briefing on the second-quarter gross domestic product growth data in Pasig City hotel on Thursday. PHOTO BY ALVIN I. DACANAY

OODY’S Investors Service reduced anew its growth forecast for the Philippine economy this year to 5.8 percent from 6 percent following the government’s announcement of slower-than-expected expansion in the second quarter.

“Our expectation of a recovery in domestic demand in the second half of this year and into next year underpins our full-year forecasts for real GDP (gross do-

mestic product) growth of 5.8 percent in 2019 and 6.2 percent in 2020,” the global debt watcher said in a report on Friday.

Moody’s revised outlook for the country’s economy is its second this year, with the previous figure itself a downward adjustment from the initial 6.2 percent.

The latest projection is lower than last year’s actual growth of 6.2 percent and falls near the lower end

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Analysts see another BSP rate cut this year Manila Water’s Dela PHILIPPINE monetary authorities are likely to implement another 25-basis-point (bp) cut on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) interest rates before the end of the year to boost the slowing economy amid the lower inflation rate, according to analysts.

ING Bank Manila and HSBC analysts both see the central bank’s policy-making Monetary Board implementing the rate reduction as early as September.

“With [the] BSP’s recent string of easing and government spending back online in 2H (second half), the Philippines will look to finish

the year strong with growth fueled by all sectors of the economy to get growth above 6 percent by yearend,” ING’s senior economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa said.

For his part, HSBC economist Noelan Arbis said the benign inflation trajectory in the months ahead gave scope for the Bangko Sentral to ease monetary policy further.

“Headline inflation continues to moderate and we expect it to fall further, potentially dropping below the BSP’s 2.0 to 4.0 percent target range by September,” he said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority announced on Tuesday that consumer price growth decelerated to 2.4 percent last month, slower than June’s 2.7 percent and 5.7 percent in July 2018.

ANZ Research analysts, meanwhile, expect the central bank to trim interest rates in November.

“The BSP has kept the door to further easing open, contingent on a sustained moderation in inflation. The central bank expects inflation to fall in the coming months on a high base effect,” ANZ’s junior economist Mustafa Arif and Asia senior strategist Irene

Cheung said.

For his part, Capital Economics economist Alex Holmes said that “with inflation set to fall back further and growth only likely to stage a moderate recovery over the coming months, we expect another 25 bp cut before the year is through.”

Expressing pessimism that full-year economic growth would be above 6 percent, given the tough external environment, Holmes pointed out that the impetus to support the economy was likely to remain throughout the rest of the year.

Inflation was likely to fall back

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Disappointing ‘Infra drive to slash transport costs’ GDP growth drags bourse THE stock market finished lower for a second day on Friday as investors digested the latest economic growth data announced the day before.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 0.76 percent or 59.77 points to close at 7,854.39, while the wider All Shares declined by 0.71 percent or 34.21 points to finish at 4,784.11.

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said investors took into account second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth, which slowed to 5.5 percent.

The figure, which the National Economic and Development Authority and the Philippine Statistics Authority announced on Thursday, is lower than the 5.6 percent recorded in the first quarter and the

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THE government’s ambitious infrastructure program would not only reduce traffic congestion in Metro Manila, but also slash transport costs to a little over P2 billion by 2022.

This finding emerged from the follow-up survey on the Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for the Greater Capital Region, or Roadmap 2, the results and recommendations of which the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board’s Committee on Infrastructure endorsed for board approval during a meeting led by Public Works Secretary Mark Villar on August 5, the NEDA said in a statement on Friday.

According to Roadmap 2, the Build, Build, Build program would reduce transport costs from P3.5 billion a day in 2017 to P2.13 billion daily by 2022.

“With the Build, Build, Build projects now underway, the public can expect a significant reduction in traffic congestion in Metro Manila as some of the projects near completion,” Villar was quoted as

saying in the statement.

Roadmap 2 updated the information and results of the Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metropolitan Manila and its Surrounding Areas (Regions 3 and 4A), or the Transport Roadmap, with technical assistance provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The board approved the initial roadmap in 2014.

Under the updated roadmap, the impact of the government’s infrastructure drive, as well as proposed additional projects, on the overall transport network performance of Mega Manila, was analyzed for the short term (by 2022) and long term (by 2035).

Transport projects under study included 29 railway projects, 14 road-based public-transport projects, two traffic management projects, 15 expressway projects, nine bridge/flyover projects, and 38 urban road projects with a total investment requirement of at least P2.8 trillion until 2035.

“We know that Filipinos desire

What’s inside FINANCIAL RULES OF THUMB – MONEY TALKS BusinessB2

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POWER USERS TO GET P1.40-BILLION REFUND

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LANDBANK INCOME SURGES TO P10.58B

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PNB EARNINGS DROP TO P3.9B IN JAN-JUNE

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greater mobility. The Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 also calls for efficiency in cities and connectivity between growth centers and lagging areas to promote growth and reduce regional disparities. This is why we are making our transport system convenient and efficient,” NEDA Officer in Charge-Undersecretary for Investment Programming Jonathan Uy said.

Roadmap 2, the NEDA said, also calls for the implementation of secondary and sub-urban roads, and other transport subsector strategies aligned with the proposed development of other growth centers in the north and south of Metro Manila.

With the survey results, Build, Build, Build in Mega Manila is expected to be fine-tuned toward speeding up implementation timelines of ongoing infrastructure projects and identifying needed priority infrastructure projects for the long-term to spread socioeconomic development to other parts of Luzon.

ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES

Cruz out, Almendras in MANILA Water Co. Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Ferdinand dela Cruz is leaving the Ayala-led East Zone concessionaire for good after more than two years on the job, and a former Aquino administration official is replacing him.

In a disclosure on Friday, the listed water utility said dela Cruz tendered his resignation as its director, president, CEO and chief sustainability officer, as well as a member of its executive committee, due to “personal reasons.”

His resignation will take effect on August 31.

In a text message, dela Cruz also said he was retiring from Manila Water’s parent company and would take a breather before planning his next career move.

I’m “[c]onfirming that I have resigned as CEO of Manila Water effective August 31 and have opted to retire from Ayala Corp. now that our services are relatively stable, a new water resources roadmap is in place and a demand management plan has been initiated,” he said.

“Will take a break first before charting my next journey. Thank you for your prayers and support all this time,” the Manila Water chief added.

Jose Rene Gregory Almendras will replace dela Cruz. His term will begin on September 1.

Dela Cruz joined Manila Water in 2011 as its East Zone Business Operations

n Ferdinand dela Cruz.

PHOTO FROM THE MANILA WATER FOUNDATION FACEBOOK PAGE and Corporate Strategic Affairs group director.

Before becoming president, dela Cruz was the chief operating officer for Manila Water Operations (Manila Concession), and president of both Manila Water Total Solutions Corp. and Manila Water Foundation.

As for Almendras, this won’t be the first time he will take the helm at Manila Water. He was the company’s president and COO before joining the government in 2010.

He served as Foreign Affairs secretary, Cabinet secretary and Energy secretary in the administration of then-president Benigno Aquino 3rd.

Dela Cruz’s resignation came after Geodino Carpio left Manila Water as its COO in April to avail himself of early retirement.

During their tenure, dela Cruz and Carpio tackled the supply crunch that first struck the East Zone

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A commuter’s bill of rights T

UESDAY, August 6, 2019, was a sad day for commuters in Metro Manila.

The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) decided to herd all buses into the two EDSA curbside “yellow lanes” so that they formed a long motionless queue stretching for kilometers. All city and provincial buses were prevented from using underpasses, flyovers, and “mixed traffic” lanes. All for the purpose of clearing three lanes of EDSA for the exclusive use of private motor vehicles; so that cars can go faster.

With buses “frozen” in the yellow lane, commuters suffered huge delays and inconvenience. In an on-line poll of commuters, 84 percent of respondents reported

MOBILITY MATTERS

ROBERT SIY that their travel time “worsened significantly” while only 3 percent reported that their travel time had “improved significantly”.

On social media, commuters described their ordeal. A journey from Quezon City to Makati by bus took over three hours, more than twice the usual travel time. One passenger reported being on a bus on East Avenue for more than two hours. Unable to catch any rides, some commuters ended up walking down EDSA.

With buses “imprisoned” in the yellow lane, the difficulties extended to rail services.

At around 1:30 pm, I was at the GMAKamuning MRT3 station. I was surprised to see packed trains, a crowded platform, and a long queue to enter the train station, with the line snaking down several flights of stairs and continuing along the narrow EDSA sidewalk.

In all our cities, we see the result of decades of misplaced policies and investments that have prioritized private motor vehicles, while neglecting the development of high-quality public transport and “active transport” (walking and cycling). To avoid a repeat of this unfortunate experience, the right strategies for better mobility need to be spelled out; the desired outcomes

should be explicit. Times like these underscore the urgency of a Commuters’ Bill of Rights.

Legislators in the House and in the Senate have recently filed bills to establish a Commuters’ Bill of Rights, consisting of eight (8) rights. Below are the key features of the bill.

1.The right to public transportation services that satisfy commuters’ mobility requirements. The State shall ensure that adequate public transportation services are available to meet the needs of its citizens.

Public transport services should be available within a 500-meter walk from any residence or activity center in a city, and

äMobility B3

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