DBCC cuts 2019 inflation projection to 2.7-3.5% »Story on B1 HH
Php20.00
•• 5 SECTIONS PAGES • VOL. 120 NO. 276 32
FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2019
VP motion to dismiss Marcos poll case junked THE Supreme Court on Thursday junked an urgent motion filed by Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo seeking the dismissal of an electoral protest filed by former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
äJunkedA8
Fake SWS poll stokes anti-China sentiments
T
H E Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) recent poll, one of whose results an anti-Duterte media outfit headlined as “93 percent of Filipinos want PH to regain China-occupied islands” is a patently fake survey. äTiglaoA5
RIGOBERTO D. TIGLAO
Trusted since 1898
R w w w.manilatimes.net
I F T E R R O R AT TA C K S R E A C H M E T R O M A N I L A
Duterte may expand martial law – Palace BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE
P
RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte might be forced to declare martial law if extremists carry out terror attacks in Metro Manila, Malacañang said on Thursday.
Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said the President was “very concerned” over potential security threats in the region arising from the suicide bombings in Mindanao. “He can declare martial law, he can declare a revolutionary government, he can use other emergency
äExpandA2
FOR SHOW
Manny Pacquiao (left) and Keith Thurman strike a pose during the final news conference on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) ahead of their fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 22.
Breaking down Pacquiao-Thurman
T
HOUGH BOXER he is SHORTS figuring in ED C. only his TOLENTINO second bout after a 23-month layoff, American Keith “One Time” Thurman is promising to show up in his best form when he defends his World Boxing Association (WBA) super welterweight title against “regular” title holder Manny Pacquiao on Sunday (Manila time) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pacquiao teaches Thurman humility LAS VEGAS: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom, or the strong boast of their strength, or the rich boast of their riches.” “But let the one who boasts boast about
äTolentinoA8
What’s inside LP TO ‘BOW DOWN’ TO HOUSE MAJORITY NewsA2 DBCC PROPOSES DOTR ALLOWS USE OF P4.1-T 2020 BUDGET NewsA3 HATCHBACKS
this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on
äHumilityA2
Bring back Dengvaxia – health expert A MEDICAL doctor and vaccine expert on Thursday urged the government to return the Dengvaxia program, saying it is the only way to stop dengue. Dr. Lulu Bravo, founding president of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination and a University of the
Philippines professor, said she had just arrived from the 4th Dengue Summit held recently in Jakarta, Indonesia and that the Dengvaxia case in the Philippines was discussed extensively. Dengvaxia vaccination was approved by then-President Benigno
Aquino 3rd in 2016. The program, however, was put on hold after the Nov. 29, 2017 admission of French drug manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur that a vaccine recipient’s situation might worsen if he had no prior dengue exposure. äBackA2
NewsA8
REACH US AT:
WHY MAYOR ‘ISKO’ CRIED ON RADIO EntertainmentD4
PACQUIAO DENIES HE AGREED TO FIGHT KHAN
SportsC1
E-mail: newsdesk@ manilatimes.net Tel. Nos.: 524-5664 to 67 Address: 2/F Sitio Grande, 409 A. Soriano Avenue, Intramuros, Manila 1002
NOT FIT FOR DRINKING?
One of the demonstrators who marched to the Maynilad office in Manila holds a glass of discolored water. PHOTO BY ENRIQUE AGCAOILI
Please visit our website for more news www.manilatimes.net
ASIAN STOCKS: t
t
PSEi
8,258.05 UP 0.30%
P51.10 TO $1
www.manilatimes.net
Shanghai 1.04%
What’s inside PLDT: NO LAUNCHING OF 5G SERVICE IN 2019
»BusinessB2
KEEP EXISTING PEZA INCENTIVES – GROUPS
»
BusinessB2
TRIKES TO PLY TOURIST AREAS
»BusinessB2
7-ELEVEN OPERATOR EYES SETTING UP 300 ATMS
»Corporate NewsB3
MEGAWORLD TO OPEN NEW HOTEL IN BORACAY
»Corporate NewsB3
US FED SEES ‘MODEST’ GROWTH AMID TRADE FEARS Foreign BusinessB4
»
S i n g a p o re 0 . 1 1 %
t
Seoul 0.31%
To k yo 1 . 9 7 %
t
s
Jakarta 0.14%
t
FINEX FILES
H o n g Ko n g 0 . 4 6 %
B a n g ko k 0 . 2 7 %
BY ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES
H E i n t e r - a g e n c y D e ve l o p m e n t B u d g e t Coordination Committee (DBCC) on Thursday trimmed its inflation forecast for 2019 to between 2.7 percent and 3.5 percent from the earlier 3.0-to-4.0 percent range, but maintained its economic growth projections.
In a briefing after the committee’s 176th meeting in Manila, Janet Abuel, officer-in-charge of the Department of Budget and Management, said the lowered inflation projection was “due to the government’s decisive steps to stabilize the general price level.” “These include the full implementation of presidential directives issued last year to increase the food supply and the passage of the Rice Liberalization
by 8.6 percent, while growth in government consumption eased from 12.6 percent year-on-year in Q4 of 2018 to 7.4 percent in Q1 of 2019. Growth in exports of goods and services also slowed as a result of lackluster global trade and economic activity and the downturn in the electronics cycle,” it added. According to the report, public investment is expected to rebound in the second half after the budget was approved in mid-April. Public investment, ADB said, will also pick up next year as more infrastructure projects come onstream. “Slowing inflation, low unemployment and steady remittances will continue to support household consumption,” it added. Lower rice prices would pull down the inflation rate this year,
äGrowth B2
PCD nominee is Discovery World’s top stockholder
D
ISCOVERY World Corp. (DWC) authorized capital stock (ACS) of 1.2 billion common shares with par value of P1 per each. As of June 5, 2019, it reported in a general information sheet (GIS) having only seven stockholders. It has nine subsidiaries. Of DWC’s seven stockholders, Discovery World said five were Filipinos, who held 564,525,998 common shares. The two foreigners, who were classified under “others”, held 61,474,002 DWC common shares. When placed under “others”, this means the nationalities of said aliens were unknown at the time of posting on the website of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). Discovery World hid under PCD Nominee Corp. the identities of its stockholders for both Filipinos and non-Filipinos. As reported, PCD Nominee held 564,521,798 DWC common shares for Filipinos and 61,469,001 DWC common shares for non-Filipinos. The rest of DWC’s stockholders are as follows: Alfred Reiterer, Austrian, 5,001 common shares; Ma. Christina R. Nolasco, 3,000 DWC common shares, Dondi Ron R. Limgenco, 1,000 DWC common shares, Owen Nathaniel S. Au, 100 DWC common shares, and Joselito T. Bautista, 100 DWC
B2
DBCC cuts 2019 inflation projection to 2.7-3.5% T Act, which opened up the rice sector and helped bring rice prices down,” she explained. Outlook for the rate of the increase in the prices of goods and services for 2020 to 2022 was retained at 2.0 to 4.0 percent. The DBCC kept its economic growth forecast at 6.0 to 7.0 percent for 2019; 6.5 to 7.5 percent for 2020; and 7.0 to
äInflation B4
n National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon (left) and Budget Officer-in-Charge Janet Abuel speak at the 176th Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing at the Department of Finance in Manila on Thursday. PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE
ADB trims PH growth forecast to 6.2% in 2019 THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday revised downward its 2019 Philippine economic growth forecast to 6.2 from 6.4 percent, even as it sees inflation easing this year. In its Asian Development Outlook Supplement report, the Manila-based multilateral bank said it lowered the projection on account of the delayed approval of this year’s national budget. Economic growth forecast for 2020, however, was retained at 6.4 percent. “Growth moderated in the Philippines from 6.3 percent year-on-year in [the] Q4 (fourth quarter) of 2018 to 5.6 percent in [the] Q1 (first quarter) of this year, as the delayed passage of the national budget held back government spending,” the ADB said. “Public construction contracted
s
t
FRIDAY JULY 19, 2019
Business Times
CURRENCY RATE
B1
common shares, for total ownership of 9,201 DWC common shares. Except for Reiterer, who is an Austrian, Nolasco, Limgenco, Au and Bautista are Filipinos. Other postings. Of Discovery World’s 1.2 billion ACS, 626 million DWC common shares are paid up, according to the company’s GIS. While the list of the company’s top stockholders showed only seven of them, PCD Nominee is record stockholder for Discovery World’s Filipino and alien stockholders. In the same list, Owen held 100 DWC common shares in-trust-for Li Marcus Au. In a statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities posted June 30, 2019 on PSE website, DWC reported Kristine Jane R. Liu, who the company said “ceased to be assistant corporate secretary”. She did not own a DWC common share. Morielle Isobel S. Carino took over as assistant corporate secretary, who held no DWC
äPerez B4
Net ‘hot money’ outflows dip in June
SPICK AND SPAN
Autonomous cleaning robots are seen moving on a platform during their launch in Singapore. Hundreds of multilingual robots that rap and sing are set to be rolled out across the city-state to clean its hotels, shopping malls and government buildings. AFP PHOTO
Rice liberalization law review needless FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said on Thursday there was no need to review Republic Act 11203, or the Rice Liberalization Act, calling it one of the current administration’s most significant accomplishments. In a message to reporters, Dominguez called the law — which President Rodrigo Duterte signed in February — as “one of the most important legislative achievements of the 17th Congress and the Duterte administration.” His remarks come amid the call of rice industry players to review the law, as retail prices remain high despite falling farmate prices. The Finance chief, however, noted that prices have been reduced to between P5 and P10 per kilo in some areas since peaking last September.
“On average, [the] contribution of rice to inflation was negative in June 2019. Poor families spend around 20 percent of their family budget on rice, and millions of Filipinos move above the poverty line when rice is cheaper,” Dominguez said. According to him, his department, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the National Economic and Development Authority continue to monitor import and retail prices to check whether traders are earning fair, and not excessive, profits. “We expect the effects of enhanced competition among importers would be felt even more through additional retail price reductions. In the meantime, a few coordinated actions are being considered in case the data show
evidence of abuse over the short term,” Dominguez said. He also said agencies would also continue to proactively monitor the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund’s (RCEF) farmer-support programs, as well as the level of the collected import tariffs, and are considering adding more of these programs in advance in case collections go above P10 billion. “We should let the rice liberalization law, which is three decades late, do its work and give the economy time to adjust for the further easing of rice prices for more than 100 million Filipinos,” Dominguez said. “We should also implement the rice fund efficiently and effectively for our 2 to 3 million rice farmers,”
äReview B4
Bargain-hunting ends PSEi losses THE stock market snapped a twoday losing streak on Thursday as investors went bargain-hunting. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index grew by 0.30 percent or 24.57 points to close at 8,258.05, while the broader All Shares rose by 0.15 percent or 7.44 points to finish at 5,008.98. In a market note, Philstocks Financial Inc. said market players picked up bargain issues following a series of selloffs. In a comment, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said investors were cautiously buying amid the lack of positive developments in the
US-China trade talks. Foreigners remained net buyers on Thursday, loading P3.2 billion issues and disposing of P2.6 billion for a net foreign buying position of P540.7 million. If the market sees a strong volume on Friday, it would likely to claw back to the 8,300 level anew, AAA Southeast Equities Inc. research head Christopher Mangun said. The local market bucked a global decline. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones dropped by 0.42 percent, the S&P 500 declined by 0.65 percent, and the Nasdaq was down by 0.46 percent.
In Asia, Tokyo fell 1.97 percent, Shanghai declined 1.04 percent, Hong Kong dropped 0.46 percent, Seoul slipped 0.31 percent, and Singapore shed 0.33 percent. Meanwhile, Jakarta inched up 0.06 percent and Bangkok grew 0.27 percent. In Manila, sectoral results were mixed with the industrial and property the only losers by 0.43 percent and 0.11 percent, respectively. More than 975 million issues were traded valued at P5.6 billion. Winners led losers, 116 to 79, while 52 issues were unchanged. ANGELICA BALLESTEROS
NET outflows of foreign portfolio investments reached $35.72 million last month, significantly lower than the figures posted in May and a year ago, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Data from the central bank showed on Thursday that the June net “hot money” outflows — so named because of how easily these enter and leave the economy — dropped from $749.84 million the month before and $516.12 million in June 2018. The Bangko Sentral attributed the month-on-month improvement to the May inflation data, the resumption of trade talks between the United States and China, and an anticipated interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve. The rate of the increase in the prices of goods and services accelerated to 3.2 percent in May from 3 percent in April. It later eased to 2.7 percent in June. All are within the government’s target of 2 to 4 percent. US President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to resume trade negotiations during the Group of 20 meeting in Osaka, Japan on June 28 and 29 after these stalled in May. Trade tensions between the world’s top two economies — which started last year after Washington accused Beijing of engaging in unfair trade practices — saw them imposing tit-for-tat tariffs worth billions of dollars on each other’s goods, among others. Year-to-date, the country registered outflows of $720.98 million, reversing the $322.87-million inflows in the same period last year. BSP-registered investments totaled $1.4 billion in June, up 14.1 percent from May’s $1.2 billion. Securities listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange — mainly property firms; holding companies; banks; food, beverage and tobacco firms; and telecommunications companies — accounted for about 73.6 percent of these investments; and peso government securities (GS), 26.4 percent. Transactions from peso GS yielded inflows of $104 million. Those in PSE-listed securities recorded net outlows of $139 million and in other peso debt instruments and portfolio instruments registered less than $1 million each. The United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States and Hong Kong were the country’s top five investors in June, with a combined share of 82.2 percent. ANGELICA BALLESTEROS
Please visit our website for more news www.manilatimes.net