THE MANILA TIMES | JULY 13, 2019

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Duterte: Use coco levy fund for agri reform

BY DANTE ‘KLINK’ ANG 2ND PRESIDENT AND CEO

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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will use the coco levy fund to support his next top agenda – agricultural reform and poverty alleviation – he said in an interview arranged to preview the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

GUARDING VS MISUSE

President Rodrigo Duterte grants The Manila Times an interview at the Presidential Room of the Malacañan Palace on Thursday evening. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA

The sorry state of discipline within the PNP

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IN MY LINE RonOF SIGHT a l d “Bato” de la Rosa has apologized for his insensitive remark — “shit happens” — over the death of a three-year-old girl at the hands of policemen during a “buy-bust” operation.

RAMON T. TULFO

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billion people are “multidimensionally poor,” which means that poverty is defined not simply by income, but by a number of indicators, including poor health, poor

AFTER securing an endorsement from President Rodrigo Duterte for speaker, Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano has been reaching out to his fellow lawmakers including his fellow speaker aspirants to iron out their differences.

Cayetano was seen with Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco in a briefing with around 90 members of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in Taguig on Thursday night.

The three were all smiles as they put their hands together in a symbol of unity while posing for photos for the media.

“I only have 15 months with you, so I will ask you to help me in the same way that you help your constituents.

It’s not enough that you vote for me

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UPHOLDING VICTORY

As the Philippines marked the third anniversary of its landmark victory at The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidating China’s claim to the South China Sea, a protester holds a banner asserting the country’s rights over the territory. PHOTO BY ENRIQUE AGCAOILI

1.3B of world’s 7.6B people are poor – UN 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

A UNITED Nations index report published on Friday showed that 1.3 billion of the global population of 7.6 billion people across the world are “multidimensionally poor.”

The 2019 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) from the UN Development Program showed that in the 101 countries studied — 31 low income, 68 middle income and 2 high income — 1.3

What’s inside DUTERTE: ICELAND CLUELESS ON PH DRUG CRACKDOWN NewsA2 ENFORCING THE ARBITRAL RULING IS OUR DUTY

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SOUTH CHINA SEA: FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION VS STEPPED-UP ARTIFICIAL ISLAND ACTIVITIES

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KRIS BERNAL IS UNSTOPPABLE

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‘ONE TIME’ VS ‘ALL TIME’

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Cayetano offers olive branch to speaker rivals

Sea row: Most Filipinos want PH to assert The Hague ruling ALMOST 9 of 10 Filipinos agree that the Philippine government should assert the rights it garnered from the 2016 decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration to islands in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea), according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The SWS survey, conducted from June 22 to 26, 2019, found that 87 percent agreed on the stance that the Philippines should take as a result of the arbitral ruling.

Only 5 percent disagreed, while 9 percent were undecided.

The survey was released on July 12, three years after the Philippines won its maritime case against China over the West Philippine Sea. The ruling trashed China’s “nine-dash

Duterte told The Manila Times late on Thursday that progress has been made in the law and order situation and that numerous bills have been passed to improve public health, access to education and infrastructure development.

“But we have to do more in the agricultural sector,” he said, adding later that most of the poor Filipinos were in the rural areas.

PH ‘75 percent ready’ to host SEA Games THE Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) has announced that the country is now “75 percent ready” to host this year’s 30th Southeast Asian Games from November 30 to December 11.

Phisgoc executive director Ramon Suzara made the announcement on

Thursday night during a meeting of the chiefs of missions (chefs de mission or CDM) of the participating countries at the Hilton Hotel in Pasay City.

“It’s a lot of hard work for the [remaining] 25 percent so we need to work double time. Starting in August, we will work also on Saturdays, all

of Phisgoc, to do a lot of catching up with the missing 25 percent to meet the target that we should be ready by October 1,” Suzara said .

He explained that the remaining 25 percent encompass procurement of sports equipment, construction of

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WILCON DEPOT OPOL GRAND OPENING RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY Wilcon Depot, the

Philippines’ leading home improvement and construction supply retailer, mapped another provincial store in Opol, Misamis Oriental on July 12. Celebrating its grand opening day, Wilcon Depot President and Chief Executive Officer Lorraine BeloCincochan (center) led the ceremonial ribbon-cutting together with (from left) Philippine Institute of Interior Design (PIID) Chairman Architect James Jao, Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano, Mayor Maximino Seno and Vice Mayor Louie Mark Neri. Visit Wilcon’s newest store at Zone 7, Barangay Barra, Opol, Misamis Oriental.

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JUNE RICE STOCKS RISE YEAR-ON-YEAR

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‘PAL, CEBU PACIFIC OTP IMPROVED’

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PHOENIX PETROLEUM TO SELL P3.5-B PAPERS

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TRUMP: CHINA BACKSLIDING ON BUYING US AGRI GOODS Foreign BusinessB4

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local court has ordered the Department of Energy (DoE) to suspend its implementation of a circular requiring oil companies to unbundle or itemize their fuel costs.

In its July 3 ruling, copies of which were released by consumer group Laban Konsyumer Inc. to the media on Friday, Taguig Regional Trial Court Branch 70 said it issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to the DoE “to cease and desist” from implementing Department Circular DC2019-05-0008, or the Revised Guidelines for the Monitoring of Prices in the Sale of Petroleum

thority; Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.; Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office; Manila International Airport Authority; and National Power Corp.

“We also want to recognize Pag-IBIG Fund for declaring its highest dividend payout ever in 2018, amounting to P28.2 billion,” he added.

Dominguez also said Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines were allowed to retain their cash contributions to enable them to shore up their capital to meet the country’s development needs.

According to him, the collected dividends help offset the subsidies given out to state enterprises performing crucial social functions.

As of May, government subsidies received by state-owned companies plunged by 62.9 percent to

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Will we ever have clean air?

LEAN air has huge significance for each of us; so much so that it would be difficult to put a price on it. With clean air, we would live longer. We would spend more time outdoors. We would have more active lifestyles.

We would be healthier and happier. We would be more productive. And so on.

Clean air is so valuable, yet achieving better air quality sometimes seems so unattainable.

Over decades, we have become resigned to breathing polluted air day in and day out, and allowing our loved ones to share in our unhealthy environment.

Though the Clean Air Act of 1999 (Republic Act 8749) sets standards for emissions from both fixed and mobile sources, we don’t have to look far to know

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DoE’s fuel-unbundling circular ordered stopped A

GOCC dividends hit over P61B as of July DIVIDENDS collected from government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) surged to more than P61 billion as of this month, the Department of Finance reported.

“As of July 2019, total dividend contributions from 53 GOCCs have…reached another record amount of P61.3 billion,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd announced during the 2019 GOCC Day at Malacañang on Thursday.

The dividends remitted in the first seven months of the year was 91 percent higher than the P32.03 billion collected in the same period last year.

The Finance chief said the top dividend contributors for the period were the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.; Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines; Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; Philippine Ports Au-

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SATURDAY JULY 13, 2019

Business Times

CURRENCY RATE

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MOBILITY MATTERS

ROBERT SIY that compliance is lacking and that the law has had little impact.

Twenty years after the Clean Air Act was passed, we don’t have much to show for it. This has to change.

Filipinos are dying earlier because of worsening air pollution, and the numbers are staggering.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that close to 50,000 Filipinos die prematurely every year because of ambient air pollution (43 deaths per 100,000 population). In addition, pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases

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Products by the Downstream Oil Industry in the Philippines.

“After a careful perusal of the allegations and arguments raised by the plaintiff in its complaint and additional arguments raised during the summary hearings on June 25 and July 2, as well as the counter-arguments raised... for [the] defendant,” the court found a reason to issue the order and “maintain

status quo,” the court said.

The circular, which was supposed to take effect this month, required firms to submit their respective pump and liquefied petroleum gas price movements (increase, decrease or no adjustment), and the detailed computation and supporting documents on the reason of the price adjustment.

It also required them to disclose the components of crude prices, including their profit margin.

The TRO is effective for 20 days from the day it was received.

The court had set a hearing for the application of a Writ of Preliminary

Injunction on Friday, during which the DoE must explain why the TRO should not be granted.

The order stemmed from a complaint filed on June 24 by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., which said the circular would lead the oil industry to regulation.

Pilipinas Shell is part of the Philippine Institute of Petroleum Inc. (PIP), which had applied for a TRO before a Makati regional trial court, which issued one lasting 20 days on June 28, according to PIP Executive Director Teddy Reyes.

Fed chief sends more signals of future rate cuts

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n Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during his presentation of the monetary policy report to the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Thursday (Friday in Manila). AP PHOTO

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell, testifying for a second day before the United States Congress, said on Thursday (Friday in Manila) that the US economy was in a “very good place” despite headwinds, and that the Fed was prepared to do what it could to “keep it there.”

Powell’s comments before the Senate Banking Committee strengthened the message he had sent to a House of Representatives panel on Wednesday that the US central bank is prepared to cut interest rates to support economic growth.

He noted that economic worries, reflected in surveys of business confidence, rose sharply in May. He did not specify what had caused the shock. But in early May trade talks between the United States and China broke down, and President Donald Trump announced that he was doubling tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods.

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‘Car sales recovery a good sign’ THE sales recovery seen in the automobile industry last month is a sign that economic conditions in the country are improving, according to an economist.

“With inflation falling back within target, and with the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) initiating the first round of rate reductions in May, we’ve seen an improvement in vehicle sales as purchasing power has been

restored somewhat and financing costs have begun to ease,” ING Bank Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Mapa said on Friday.

The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association reported on Thursday that the number of cars sold grew by 8.7 percent to 31,950 in June from 29,395 a year ago and by 3.07 percent from 30,988 in May.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported earlier this month that headline inflation decelerated last month to 2.7 percent — well within the government’s 2- to 4-percent target range — from 3.2 percent in May and 5.2 percent in June 2018.

In May, the central bank’s policymaking Monetary Board trimmed interest rates by 25 basis points

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Pros and cons of bank loans and private financing SME FIRST C CIRCLE CHRISTIAN NACORDA

ASH is the lifeblood of any business. The cash you need to keep on hand to pay regular operational expenses like payroll, utilities, marketing expenses, etc. is commonly referred to as “working

capital”. Sufficient working capital is always necessary to keep your business afloat and it tends to get tighter when you have growth opportunities—you now need to

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PSEi dips on profittaking THE stock market closed lower on Friday as investors took profits following a two-straight day gain.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 0.16 percent or 12.67 points to close at 8,141.82, while the broader All Shares declined by 0.27 percent or 13.27 points to end at 4,944.70.

Philstocks Financial Inc. said investors cashed in on gains at the last minute, while AAA Southeast Equities Inc. research head Christopher Mangun said the market was only on consolidation mode.

The local market bucked what was mostly a global rise. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed

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