Infra, capital spending drops by 56% in April ÂťStory on B1 ++
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•• 4 SECTIONS PAGES VOL. • 120 NO. 245 24
SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2019
The importance of a national ID
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IN MY LINE HE OF SIGHT stateowned Philipp i n e Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) WILL BE IN GOOD NAY BETTER HANDS IF Dr. Jaime Cruz, a doctor who owns many restaurants, takes over the corruption-wracked agency.
RAMON T. TULFO
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Politics as veneration
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Trusted since 1898
PhilHealth probing other dialysis clinics
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HE Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is investigating other clinics for fraudulent dialysis treatment claims in the wake of irregularities that have led to an overhaul of the stateOWNED kRM S MANAGEMENT
T is easy to ON THE LABEL THE CONTRARY diehard Duterte supporters, or the DDS, as irrational. This view is most pronounced among the elite.
*ANIMHE *ALBUNA PUBLIC AFFAIRS HEAD OF PhilHealth-Western Visayas, said two dialysis
ÂłContrerasA4
ÂłClinicsA2
ANTONIO CONTRERAS
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SAFE AND SOUND
Some of the fishermen abandoned near Recto (Reed) Bank were taken to the Philippine Navy’s BRP Ramon Alcaraz for medical treatment before returning to their homes in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILIPPINE NAVY/PNA
Malacaùang rejects China criticism MALACAÑANG ON &RIDAY PUSHED BACK against Beijing’s claims that Manila WAS gPOLITICIZINGu A COLLISION BETWEEN &ILIPINO AND #HINESE kSHING vessels in disputed waters, saying the issue at hand
WAS IRRESPONSIBILITY OF THE #HINESE BOAT S CREW 0HILIPPINE OFkCIALS HAVE CONDEMNED the unidentified Chinese vessel for ABANDONING &ILIPINO kSHERMEN AFTER THEIR BOAT SANK #HINA S &OREIGN -INIS-
What’s inside `EVIDENCE VS ESTRADA STRONG’ NewsA2
Mauro Gia SamonteA5 INJURY-RIDDLED WARRIORS VOW: ‘WE’LL BE BACK’ ATOP NBA
LILIBETH ON EDDIE: HIS HEART REMAINS STRONG NewsA8
SportsC1
ÂłCriticismA2
Raptors dethrone Warriors to capture first NBA crown
RIVETED
Players are glued to their gadgets during the Mobile Legends tournament held by Momentum eSports, in partnership with The Manila Times TV, at Fisher Mall in Quezon City. Eight teams competed in the event. PHOTO BY J GERARD SEGUIA
‘REMEMBER THE USS MAINE!’ REHASHED
try on Thursday said the collision was “an ordinary maritime accident� and ADDED THAT IT WAS IRRESPONSIBLE OF THE Philippines to “politicize the incident WITHOUT VERIkCATION u
Q Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard (No. 2) and guard Kyle Lowry (back) celebrate after the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors 114-110 in Game 6 of basketball’s NBA Finals on Friday in Oakland, California. AP PHOTO
ADUANA ART
An artist paints one of the ruins in Aduana, as she joins The Manila Times’ painting contest titled ‘Intramuros on Canvas.’ The contest will conclude on June 30. PHOTO BY ENRIQUE AGCAOILI
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
OOAKLAND, AKLA California: An upstart Toronto Raptors R apto squad dethroned defending cchampion ham Golden State on Thursday (Friday in Manila), defeating the Warriors (Frida 114-110 1 14-11 to win the NBA Finals and capture THE kRST CROWN BY A CLUB FROM OUTSIDE THE THE kR TH United U nite States. Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam each Kyl scored ssc cored 26 points while Kawhi Leonard AAND ND RESERVE R &RED 6AN6LEET BOTH HAD
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PSEi 7,451.37 UP 0.94%
P53.49 TO $1
SATURDAY JUNE 15, 2019 ASIAN STOCKS: W S h a n g h a i 0 . 9 9 %
What’s inside BUILDING MATERIALS’ RETAIL PRICE ROSE SLOWER IN MAY BusinessB2
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NO DELAY IN CSP – MERALCO
»BusinessB2
MISLATEL HOPES TO SECURE PERMIT TO OPERATE IN JULY Corporate NewsB3
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TRAVELLERS EYES GROWTH IN GAMING REVENUES Corporate NewsB3
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‘FRENCH OFFICIALS NOT TO BLAME FOR FIAT DEAL’
»Foreign BusinessB4
Business Times www.manilatimes.net
V S i n g a p o re 0 . 0 6 %
W Seoul 0.37%
V To k yo 0 . 4 0 %
W Jakarta 0.36%
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W H o n g Ko n g 0 . 6 5 %
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W B a n g ko k 0 . 1 1 %
Infra, capital spending drops by 56% in April Govt expenditures in first four months reached almost P1T BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
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TATE infrastructure and capital spending fell to P28.3 billion in April on account of the late implementation of public-works projects.
)N A REPORT ON &RIDAY THE $EPARTMENT OF "UDGET AND -ANAGEMENT $"- SAID THE AMOUNT WAS A PERCENT DECREASE FROM 0 BILLION IN THE SAME MONTH LAS YEAR DRAGGING DOWN THE YEAR
TO DATE TALLY BY PERCENT YEAR ON YEAR TO 0 BILLION g!LTHOUGH INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING INCREASED FOR THE kRST QUARTER OF due to the payment of prior years’
accounts payables for completed inFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS DISBURSEMENTS IN !PRIL WERE LOWER YEAR ON YEAR AS SOME INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS WERE NOT started following the late budget apPROVAL AND ELECTION BAN u IT EXPLAINED A dispute between the Senate and the (OUSE OF 2EPRESENTATIVES OVER ALLEGED insertions resulted in a four-and-a-halfMONTH DELAY BEFORE LEGISLATORS kNALLY AGREED TO APPROVE THE OUTLAY "EFORE THE APPROVAL THE GOVERNMENT
was forced to operate on last year’s BUDGET UNABLE TO SPEND ON PROJECTS and programs supposed to be impleMENTED THIS YEAR 4HIS RESULTED IN GROSS domestic product (GDP) growth to post A LOWER THAN EXPECTED PERCENT IN THE kRST QUARTER Government spending was banned FROM -ARCH TO -AY BECAUSE OF THE -AY MIDTERM ELECTIONS WHICH SAW many Duterte administration-backed
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‘Regional inequality lessened last year’
$3.7-B BoP surplus forecast this year 4(% "ANGKO 3ENTRAL NG 0ILIPINAS (BSP) sees a positive balance of payments (BoP) this year as sustained investment inflows are likely to offset the expected CURRENT ACCOUNT DEkCIT )N A BRIEkNG ON &RIDAY MONTERARY OFkCIALS ANNOUNCED THAT OVERall BoP could revert to a surplus OF BILLION THIS YEAR REVERSING S BILLION DEkCIT 4HE NEW OVERALL "O0 FORECAST was also a reversal of the previOUSLY PROJECTED BILLION DEkCIT AND EQUIVALENT TO PERCENT OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT '$0 4HE CURRENT ACCOUNT ‡ A MAJOR COMPONENT OF "O0 ‡ IS EXPECTED TO HIT A BILLION DEkCIT THIS YEAR EQUIVALENT TO PERCENT OF GDP and higher than the previous ESTIMATE OF BILLION g4HAT S MAINLY ON ACCOUNT OF WEAKER EXPORT GROWTH ‡ THE PROJECTION NOW IS PERCENT OVERALL GROWTH FOR VERSUS PERCENT BACK IN .OVEMBER 4HAT S LARGEY tied to expectations of weaker exTERNAL DEMAND FOR OUR PRODUCTS u BSP Department of Economic Research Director Dennis Lapid EXPLAINED )MPORTS GROWTH ON THE OTHER HAND WAS EXPECTED TO MODERATE TO 7 percent from the earlier forecast OF PERCENT g4HE SOURCES OF kNANCING FOR the current account are still largely INTACT BUT WE ARE TAKING INTO ACcount the weaker overall prospects FOR GLOBAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITY u ,APID SAID Offsetting the wider current account shortfall is the increased INlOWS IN THE kNANCIAL ACCOUNT WHICH WAS PROJECTED TO REACH BILLION THIS YEAR
MONEY TALKS
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CURRENCY RATE
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SEE SPARKS FLY
This Feb. 28, 2019 file picture shows a worker polishing an oil pipe at a factory in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province. China’s economy showed further signs of weakness last month, with industrial output posting its slowest growth in 17 years, placing further pressure on the government as it tries to steady the ship while battling a trade war with the United States. AFP PHOTO
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REGIONAL INEQUALITY IN THE COUNTRY AS MEASURED BY THE COEFkCIENT of variation of gross regional domestic product (GRDP) per CAPITA DIMINISHED SLIGHTLY LAST YEAR ACCORDING TO THE $EPARTMENT OF &INANCE $O& In its latest economic bulletin ON &RIDAY THE &INANCE DEPARTMENT SAID THIS INEQUALITY gWORSENED FROM TO BUT IMPROVED IN u 4HE COEFkCIENT OF VARIATION OF '2$0 PER CAPITA IT ADDED ROSE FROM IN TO IN BUT REVERSED THAT LAST YEAR SLIDING TO 4HIS COEFFICIENT THE $O& EXPLAINED MEASURES HOW LEVELS OF GRDP per capita vary with respect TO THE NATIONAL AVERAGE /VER A LONGER PERIOD HOWEVER THE COEFkCIENT ROSE FROM IN
Geopolitical risks push PSEi down GEOPOLITICAL concerns sparked selloffs among investors on Friday, dragging the stock market back to the 7,900 level. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exhange index (PSEi) dropped by 0.76 percent or 61.56 points to close at 7,990.20, while the broader All Shares declined by 0.59 percent or 29.21 points to finish at 4,884.91. Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said market players disposed of positions after hearing news that Iran allegedly attacked two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The news sent West Texas Intermediate surging by 4 percent during the day. Brokerage firm Phil-
stocks Financial Inc. echoed the view, saying the PSEi closed without any strong catalyst. In the United States, Wall Street’s main indices all finished up overnight, while most regional markets bucked the rally, still reeling from this week’s violent protests in Hong Kong over government plans for a law allowing extraditions to China that observers warn could erode its attractiveness to businesses. Also, trading floors have been uneasy for weeks since US President Donald Trump’s shock decision to hit China with higher tariffs despite expectations the two sides were close to a deal to end their long-running
standoff. Shanghai fell 0.99 percent, Hong Kong dropped 0.80 percent, Seoul slipped 0.37 percent, Jakarta declined by 0.43 percent, Singapore dipped 0.19 percent and Bangkok lost 0.28 percent. Only Tokyo rose 0.40 percent. Back in Manila, most sectoral results finished lower, except for financials and mining and oil which grew by 0.44 percent and 0.74 percent, respectively. More than 920 million issues valued at P7.7 billion changed hands. Losers led winners, 112 to 74, while 54 issues remained unchanged. ANGELICA BALLESTEROS WITH A REPORT FROM AFP
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TO IN AND FURTHER TO IN g4HESE SHOW THAT BEFORE THE $UTERTE ADMINISTRATION '2$0 PER capita of the poor regions lagged BEHIND THOSE OF RICH REGIONS u THE DEPARTMENT SAID It also pointed out that the COEFkCIENT DECLINED FROM TO FROM TO g4HE REVERSAL IN OF THE trend toward worsening regional INEQUALITY IS DUE TO THE CONVERGENCE OF REGIONAL GROWTH RATES u THE $O& EXPLAINED )N FOR INSTANCE LOWER INCOME REGIONS LIKE "ICOL 2EGION -IMAROPA 2EGION " and the Autonomous Region for -USLIM -INDANAO GREW FASTER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE AT PERCENT PERCENT AND PERCENT
³Lessened B2
Business loan tips for first-time borrowers
USINESS owners can get easily overwhelmed when taking OUT A LOAN FOR THE kRST TIME 7ELL WE CAN T BLAME THEM 4AKING OUT A LOAN IS A BIG kNANCIAL DECISION THAT CAN AFFECT FUTURE CASH lOWS !ND IN MANY CASES IT CAN BRING EMOTIONAL IMPLICATIONS TO THEM 7ELL IF YOU RE A BUSINESSMAN YOURSELF WE HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU 4HERE ARE BEST PRACTICES TO guide you throughout the proCESS 4O MAKE THE RIGHT BUSINESS decisions and minimise the emotional impact when taking a LOAN IT IS BEST TO RECONSTRUCT YOUR BUSINESS PLAN DO THE NECESSARY RESEARCH AND MAKE AN OBJECTIVE decision based on your business’ CURRENT kNANCIAL SITUATION (ERE are some things you should consider before deciding to apply for additional business funding:
SME FIRST CIRCLE
CHRISTIAN NACORDA Should you get a loan? Getting a loan should never be AN IMPULSIVE DECISION 4HERE ARE smart and strategic reasons why BUSINESS OWNERS SEEK OUT LOANS !SIDE FROM COVERING CAPITAL GAPS getting funding for business EXPANSIONS EQUIPMENT ACQUISITION INCREASE IN INVENTORY AND client orders are some of the best OF THEM )F YOUR MOTIVE DOES NOT FALL UNDER THESE CATEGORIES YOU should rethink your decision
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