OFW remittances hit $10.8B in Jan-April
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TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2019
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Govt echoes China line Boat sinking a ‘maritime incident, plain and simple’ – PiĂąol BY ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES
Filipinos’ last stand in Philippine-American War: Authentic, national, valiant
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This is my own, my native land! ‌ Unwept, unhonored, and unsung. Sir Walter Scott First word OBSERVER NOUGH of the fuss YEN over fake MAKABENTA news. Let us turn our attention also to the fake memorials and fake heroes that fence our history and public life because a witless National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHC) has been bowing for
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel PiĂąol, who has been designated by MalacaĂąang as the point person in the case, said the matter was a “maritime incident, plain and simpleâ€? that was being blown “out of proportion.â€? 4HE 0HILIPPINES WHICH kLED A DIPLOMATIC protest last Wednesday following the June 9 sinking of the & " 'EM 6ER EARLIER IDENTIkED as the Gemvir 1) off Reed Bank in the West Philippine (South China) Sea, was warned by
CHINESE vessel caused the sinking of a Filipino kSHING BOAT IN DISPUTED WATERS BUT IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN WHETHER THE gRAMMINGu WAS INTENTIONAL THE GOVERNMENT SAID ON -ONDAY
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Beijing last week from politicizing what it called AN gORDINARY MARITIME TRAFkC ACCIDENT u “It was a ramming incident. Was it intentional? That is something that will have to be established by investigation,â€? Pinol told reporters. 4HE gGIST OF THE kSHERMEN S COMPLAINT u HE ADDED WAS THAT THE #HINESE kSHING VESSEL HAD failed to render assistance. PiĂąol’s appointment as point person came after
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Years from now both sides might laugh at the spat
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ET’s IN MY LINE hanOF SIGHT dle with equanimity the ramming OF A 0HILIPPINE kSHING BOAT BY A STEEL hulled Chinese vessel at the Recto (Reed) Bank in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea to us). ³TulfoA5
RAMON T. TULFO
AID FOR FISHERS
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel ‘Manny’ PiĂąol on Monday shows to media a photo of the sunken Filipino fishing vessel after it was rammed by a Chinese vessel while the vessel’s cook, Richard Balza, looks on. PiĂąol heads a group tasked to help the fishers. PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ
AEGIS FRATMAN FOUND GUILTY
ONE of the suspects in the 2017 hazing death of Univeristy of Santo Tomas (UST) law student Horacio “Atio� Castillo 3rd has been found guilty of obstruction of justice. Judge Carolina Esguerra of the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 14 found Aegis Juris fratman John Paul Solano guilty of interfering with the legal process, but also acquitted him of perjury. He was sentenced to serve up to four years, two months and one day.
INTRAMUROS ART
Artists participate in The Manila Times’ ‘Intramuros on Canvas: On the Spot Painting Event,’ which will run until June 30, 2019. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN
What’s inside YOUTH LEADERS FILE PETITION VS CARDEMA NewsA2 THE PRESIDENT’S ACHILLES HEEL
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COYLE RULES LE TOUR STAGE 4 BUT MEIJERS KEEPS OVERALL LEAD
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Brace for supply disruptions, Manila Water, Maynilad warn METRO Manila residents need to brace for water supply disruptions as Angat Dam nears a critical mark, utilities Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. said on Monday. “There will be service interruptions, but it does not mean naman na walang tubig (there will be no water),� Manila Water President AND #HIEF %XECUTIVE /FkCER &ERDINAND DE LA Cruz told reporters.
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Castillo was a first year law student when he died on Sep. 20, 2017 following initiation rites. Solano had claimed to have found Castillo’s body in Tondo, Manila and that he had brought him to the Chinese General Hospital.
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Suspected terrorists nabbed in QC – PNP TWO alleged members of the Dawla Islamiya (DI) terrorist group were arrested during the weekend in Quezon City after having been found to possess explosives, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde announced on Monday. 4HE SUSPECTED TERRORISTS WERE IDENTIkED AS !RNEL #ABINTOY ALIAS g!BU -USAB u AND &ELICIANO 3ULAYAO ALIAS g!BU -USLIM u Albayalde said the two were included in arrest orders issued by
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MEGAWORLD MARKS 25TH YEAR OF PSE LISTING Property giant Megaworld celebrated its 25th anniversary as a publicly-listed company at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) with a ceremonial bell-ringing at the PSE Tower in Taguig City. The event also coincided with the company’s 30th year in the Philippine real estate industry. Present during the ceremonies were Megaworld executives (from left) Roland Tiongson, head of Megaworld Premier Offices; Graham Coates, head of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls; Carla Uykim, head of legal and corporate compliance; Giovanni Ng, senior vice president and finance director; Lourdes Gutierrez Alfonso, chief operating officer; Kevin Tan, chief strategy officer; as well as PSE officials led by Jose Pardo, director; Ramon Monzon, director; Ma. Vivian Yuchengco, director; Wilson Sy, director; Roberto Cecilio Lim, director; Alejandro Yu, director; and Roel Refran, chief operating officer.
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P52.14 TO $1
PSEi 7,908.99 DOWN 1.02%
TUESDAY JUNE 18, 2019 ASIAN STOCKS: V S h a n g h a i 0 . 2 0 %
What’s inside RESEARCH, HIGHER EDUCATION AND NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS – MANAGING FOR SOCIETY
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NEW PLAYER ENTERS PH DIGITAL MONEY MARKET
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WILCON TO SPEND P10.9B THRU 2025
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GLOBE INKS DEAL WITH 2 TOWERCOS
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HUAWEI PHONE SALES DIP, CUTBACKS PLANNED
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BEYOND BUZZWORDS
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BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
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ONEY sent home by overseas Filipino workers /&7S REACHED BILLION IN THE kRST FOUR MONTHS OF A PERCENT INCREASE FROM BILLION IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR THE "ANGKO 3ENTRAL NG 0ILIPINAS "30 REPORTED ON -ONDAY For April alone, personal remittances totaled $2.713 billion, up 3.7 percent from $2.616 billion in the same month in 2018, but down 2.9 percent from $2.796 billion in March this year. Such remittances sum up the net compensation of OFWs; personal transfers, cash or otherwise, and capital transfers between households.
we expect the BSP to let its recent policy loosening filter through the economy before engaging in additional rate cuts,â€? the HSBC economists said. Also on May 9, the Monetary "OARD TRIMMED ITS INlATION FOREcast to 2.9 percent from 3 percent for this year, but raised it to 3.1 percent from 3 percent for 2020. The board said then “risks to the INlATION OUTLOOK REMAIN BROADLY balanced for 2019 amid risks of a prolonged El NiĂąo episode and higher-than-expected increases in global oil prices.â€? For 2020, the risks were said to have “continue to lean toward the downside as weaker global economic activity could temper commodity price pressures,â€? it added.
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“The continued growth in perSONAL REMITTANCES DURING THE kRST FOUR months of 2019 was driven by steady REMITTANCE INlOWS FROM LAND BASED OF workers with work contracts of one year or more, which aggregated to $8.2 billion from $8.1 billion in the same period last year,� BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said in a statement.
Cash remittances, which only count money coursed through banks, rose by 4 percent to $2.441 billion in April from $2.347 billion a year earlier. It fell by 2.9 percent, however, from $2.514 billion in March. “This growth was supported by remittances from both land-based ($1.8 billion) and sea-based ($0.6 billion) workers, which rose by 2.2 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively,� Diokno explained. In a comment, ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa said the cash remittances’ year-on-year growth was achieved despite another month of contraction in remittances from the Middle East, with the streak of negative growth hitting its 16th month.
“Flows from Kuwait, Qatar and [the] UAE (United Arab Emirates) reported negative growth, although the remittances from Saudia Arabia managed to increase by 4.3 percent,� he noted. Offsetting the weakness in flows from the Middle East, Mapa said, were increased funds from the United States and Asia, up 16.1 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively. “We expect remittances to sustain its current 3-4 percent pace of growth, which will eventually lead to current account surpluses in the medium term as the investment cycle turns and the TRADE DEkCIT REVERTS TO MORE NORMAL levels,� he added. The economist also said “bouts of
ROUGH TRADE BEN KRITZ nent debate over loosening foreign ownership and investment rules is no closer to a resolution than it was 15 years ago, and why it is unlikely to ever be resolved. It could be, however, if everyone concerned – and in particular, inDIVIDUAL EXPATS AND THOSE OFkCIALS from their home countries who have some responsibility for their behavior and well-being – understood that stereotypes are cultivated at a very micro level. People form
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PSEi down on net foreign selling
EMBATTLED
Huawei founder and Chief Executive Officer Ren Zhengfei (right) hosts a panel discussion on technology, markets and enterprise in Shenzhen on Monday, during which he said his company’s overseas smartphone sales have tumbled since the United States last month threatened to blacklist the Chinese See story on B4 telecommunications giant. AFP PHOTO
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AUTO SALES RISE 20.2% IN MAY
Foreign devils
HE most discouraging thing about living and working in this country is battling stereotypes. Despite what they may think of themselves, Filipinos seem neither particularly worldly nor openminded towards other cultures; no matter how immersed in the local environment one may become, once an outsider, always an outsider, and that means being tarred by a rather broad brush: Chinese are rude and dirty. Africans are con artists. Indians are all 5-6 loan sharks. Every American is a low-rank military retiree and possibly a pedophile. It is extremely off-putting and discourages greater investment interest in the Philippines on the one hand, and on the other, is probably the reason why the seemingly perma-
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OFW remittances hit $10.8B in Jan-April
HSBC: Policy rate cuts unlikely at BSP meeting THE country’s monetary authorities are likely to pause on reducing interest rates at their upcoming meeting on Thursday, according to HSBC. In a recent report, the banking giant’s Global Economic Team said it expected “the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to keep its policy rate steady at 4.50 percent on June 20.� The central bank started easing its policy rates on May 9 after the policy-making Monetary Board decided to reduce the overnight borrowing, lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points to 4.50 percent, 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively, following a series of rate hikes last year. g7ITH INlATIONARY RISKS STILL TILTed to the upside in the near term,
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AUTOMOBILE sales grew by double digits month-on-month IN -AY BUT REMAINED lAT YEAR ON year, according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA). In a joint report on Monday, Campi and TMA said 30,988 units were sold in May, a 20-percent increase from the 25,799 sold in April, and a 1.2-percent improvement from 30,620 in the same month last year. Sales in the commercial vehicle segment, which made up the bulk — 70.79 percent — of last month’s total, climbed by 21 percent to 21,945 units from 18,138 in April and 3.4 percent from 21,219 a year ago.
Meanwhile, sales in the passenger car segment grew by 18.17 percent to 9,053 units in May from 7,661 the previous month, but dipped by 3.7 percent from 9,401 the year before. Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. captured a 44.81-percent share of the market with 13,880 units sold in the month. Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. sold 5,141 units and Nissan Philippines Inc., 3,840. In a statement, Campi President Rommel Gutierrez credited the double-digit growth to “the long holidays in April, strong promotional campaigns and new model launches that auto companies announced in time for the summer season and the national elections.� “More than a slight positive
uptick, May 2019 saw double-digit growth reminiscent of the auto industry’s impressive performance from two years ago. If this trend continues, we can say that the market has already adjusted or even recovered from certain factors that have been affecting car sales since 2018,� he added. As of end-May, car sales decreased by 0.04 percent to 142,185 units from 142,240 in the same period last year. Despite this dip, Gutierrez is UPBEAT THAT SALES IN THE kRST kVE months of 2019 have reached the same level posted last year. “Our May year-to-date sales is ALREADY AT PAR WITH LAST YEAR S kGures. With stable economic trends, we are optimistic to end the year
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DUE TO THE HEAVY OUTlOW OF FOREIGN funds, the local stock market fell for the second day on Monday. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped by 1.02 percent or 81.21 points to close at 7,908.99. The broader All Shares declined by 0.86 percent or 42.19 points to end at 4,842.72. P2P Trade Online sales associate Gabriel Jose Perez blamed the continued net foreign selling as having weighed on PSEi. Net foreign selling persisted on the second day, growing to P587 million as foreigners sold worth P3.15 billion issues and bought P2.56 billion. In a separate comment, Summit Securities Inc. President Harry Liu said the market was only consolidating as it tried to build momentum to reach a new resistance level. The local market traded in line with most global counterparts. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones dipped by 0.07 percent, the S&P 500 slipped by 0.16 percent, and the Nasdaq declined by 0.52 percent on Friday. In Asia, Tokyo inched up by 0.03 percent, Shanghai grew by 0.20 percent, Hong Kong increased by 0.54 percent. Seoul decreased 0.22 percent, Jakarta declined 0.32 percent, Singapore slipped 0.18 percent, and Bangkok dipped 0.09 percent. )N -ANILA ALL SECTORAL RESULTS kNished in the red with the services index down the most by 1.42 percent. More than 663 million issues were traded valued at P5.02 billion. Losers led winners, 136 to 70, while 43 issues were unchanged. ANGELICA BALLESTEROS
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