Debt payments nearly double to P54B in April ÂťStory on B1 TTrusted since 1898
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TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2019
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MUD FESTIVAL
Enrile, others cleared in PNB behest loan case
Devotees of St. John the Baptist cover themselves in mud and banana leaves as they prepare to attend the Holy Mass at the St. John the Baptist Parish in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija. PHOTO BY
THE Supreme Court on Monday absolved former senator Juan Ponce Enrile and several others of criminal liabilities covering alleged behest loans granted to a sugar miller in 1968 by the Philippine National Bank (PNB). In a 15-page decision written by Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr., the high court’s Second Division junked a petiTION FOR CERTIORARI kLED BY THE 0RESIDENtial Commission on Good Government (PCGG), which had sought a reversal of THE /FkCE OF THE /MBUDSMAN S RULING dismissing the case. Associate Justices Mariano del Castillo, Estela Perlas Bernabe, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa and Amy Lazaro Javier concurred.
DJ DIOSINAÂ
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Arbitral ruling on SCS dispute vindicated in Reed Bank row First word HINK of the neglected arbitral ruling on the South China Sea as like a smoking gun in a crime situation ‡ I E THE EVIDENCE THAT CONkRMS THE crime and snares the culprit.
T
OBSERVER YEN MAKABENTA
ÂłMakabentaA4
Sports and religion: Worlds apart
T
WO IN MY LINE groups OF SIGHT are vying for control of the hosting of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in November this year.
CoA: Govt printing jobs illegally subcontracted T
BY REINA C. TOLENTINO
HE National Printing Office (NPO) violated procurement laws by subcontracting jobs to PRIVATE kRMS IN THE GUISE OF EQUIPMENT RENTALS THE #OMMISSION ON !UDIT #O! SAID
The deals, which did not undergo public bidding and were thus “without any valid contract,� totaled a little over P121 million last year. “Review and examination of the printing operations of the NPO for CY (calendar year) 2018 disclosed that the equipment lease agreements of the agency with private partners had expired as of Sept. 30,
2017,� the CoA noted in a report. “Despite the expiration, NPO continued its alleged lease of EQUIPMENT WITHOUT THE BENEkT OF competitive bidding prescribed under Rule 14, Section 46 of the IRR (implementing rules and regulations) of RA (Republic Act) 9184 to the disadvantage of the government,� it added. The agency was said to have
“accepted from procuring entities and accomplished 249 work orders for the printing of accountable forms under ‘Leasing’ amounting to P121,691,215.37.� “However, based on records, NPO did not have any valid lease or rental agreement for CY 2018, nor did it conduct public bidding for the lease of printing
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RAMON T. TULFO
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QUEENS OF BEAUTY
What’s inside DUTERTE PUSHES BARTER BETWEEN PH, MALAYSIA
Forty candidates of Miss Earth Philippines 2019 were presented at the Diamond Hotel in Manila on Monday. The coronation night for one of the biggest pageants in the country will be held on July 10 at Okada Manila. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN
NewsA2
WE ARE NEW WATER SORRY, CUTS RULED NewsA8 VIETNAM OUT
Antonio ContrerasA4
RAPS FILED VS DUQUE
PLUNDER, graft and administrative COMPLAINTS HAVE BEEN kLED BY THE parents of alleged dengvaxia victims against Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd over a supposedly anomalous building lease deal. In a 90-page joint complaintAFkDAVIT !RIEL (EDIA 2UBY (EDIA Darwin Bataan, Merlyn Bataan, Sonia
Guerra, Liberty Garcia Ganzore, Raul Espallardo Galoso, Elloly Hisugan Galoso, Raymond Ancheta, Ma. Cecilia Torres, Danilo Bautista, Sheryl Bautista, Nelson Santos and Edna Santos, charged Duque with violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the “Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices
ÂłDuqueA2
Locsin calls Robredo ‘boba’ over passport cancellations NBA SUPERSTAR CURRY TARGETS TOKYO OLYMPIC CHALLENCE
SportsE1
IAN VENERACION: ‘MUSIC COLORS MY WORLD’ EntertainmentF1
FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday called Vice President Leonor Robredo “boba� (dumb) after she criticized the cancellation of diplomatic passports issued TO FORMER GOVERNMENT OFkCIALS He later apologized after some netizens called him out. Robredo had criticized the govern-
ment for its apparent “knee-jerk� reaction after Hong Kong stopped former Foreign Affairs chief Albert del Rosario from entering the Chinese territory last week. Del Rosario, who was instrumental in the Philippines’ winning of a territorial dispute against China, cried
³’Boba’A8
Imagine the Big One striking now BY MAURO GIA SAMONTE Columnist Last of 2 parts PROFIT is the culprit. 4HAT WAS THE kNDING OF THE STUDY made by the engineer Emilio Morales, AS CITED IN THE kRST PART OF THIS ARTICLE on the predicament the country now faces in regard to the use of rebar. The study revealed that given the imminent occurrence of the giant tremblor, the Big One, there is urgent need to shift back to the use of microalloyed rebar. But steel manufacturers are not about ready to do that. Why? Because here we are talking about P400-billion yearly income from the manufacture of quench-tempered
ÂłSamonteA6
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ASIAN STOCKS: V S h a n g h a i 0 . 2 1 %
W S i n g a p o re 0 . 3 0 %
P51.39 TO $1
PSEi 8,060.58 UP 0.06%
www.manilatimes.net
What’s inside P10-B PASS-ON CHARGE LOOMS FOR POWER USERS
ÂťBusinessB2
ADB RENEWS PUSH FOR 2 INITIATIVES
ÂťBusinessB2
PETRON RAISES P20B FROM SHARES OFFER
ÂťCorporate NewsB3
DOUBLEDRAGON SEES P59B FROM REIT LISTING
ÂťCorporate NewsB3
V Seoul 0.03%
V To k yo 0 . 1 3 %
W Jakarta 0.43%
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BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
EBTS paid by the government to its creditors reached P53.840 billion in April on the back of higher amortization and interest payments, according to the Bureau of the Treasury.
Bureau data released on Monday showed that the April amount was a 93.3-percent increase from P27.846 bil-
W B a n g ko k 0 . 0 7 %
lion in the same month last year. Amortization expenses, which accounted for 56.2 percent of the total,
increased by more than six times to P30.304 billion from P4.674 billion a year ago. Domestic amortization rose to P25.952 billion, while foreign amortization decreased by 4.5 percent to P4.352 billion. Interest payments climbed by 1.5 percent to P23.536 billion from P23.172 billion a year ago. Domestic interest payments accelerated to P16.528 bil-
lion, while foreign ones decelerated to P7.008 billion. “Despite higher debt servicing, [the] government is still able to meet its obligations on the back of higher GIR (gross international reserves), among others,� Security Bank Corp. Assistant Vice President and chief economist Robert Dan Roces told The Manila Times in a comment. Domestic interest payments were
ÂłPayments B2
Inflation for low-income households rises in May
GOING GREEN
A man holding an umbrella walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo on Monday. AP PHOTO
BOURSE STILL ABOVE 8,000 deal in Osaka, but there is some hope that we will have a positive development that marks a shift in the rhetoric and a reenergizing of talks following the breakdown in recent discussions,� said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com. The local market bucked a US decline, as the Dow Jones and S&P 500 slipped 0.13 percent each, while Nasdaq declined by 0.24 percent. In the region, Tokyo rose 0.13 percent, Shanghai grew 0.21 percent, Hong Kong inched up 0.08 percent, Seoul added 0.03 percent, and Bangkok climbed 0.04 percent. Jakarta dropped 0.34 percent and Singapore slipped 0.27 percent. In Manila, sectoral results were mixed, with THE kNANCIALS HOLDING kRMS AND THE INDUSTRIAL indexes the only losers, down 0.60 percent, 0.31 percent and 0.07 percent, respectively. More than 3.39 billion issues valued at P9.05 billion changed hands. Losers led winners, 98 to 88, while 50 issues were kept unchanged. ANGELICA BALLESTEROS WITH A REPORT FROM AFP
THE stock market closed slightly stronger on Monday as investors resumed buying ahead of the Group of 20 (G20) meeting later this week. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) climbed by 0.06 percent or 5.11 points to close at 8,060.58, while the broader All Shares dipped by 0.11 percent or 5.27 POINTS TO kNISH AT Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said market players continued to load up on issues on hopes of a fruitful G20 meeting in Osaka, Japan on Thursday and Friday. US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to meet on the sidelines of the event, which will gather the world’s top 20 economies. The possibility of such a meeting — and of the two leaders moving toward ending their months-long trade war, in which they have imposed tariffs worth billions of dollars on each other’s goods — have buoyed overseas markets lately. “No one thinks the US and China will do a
Enrolling your bosses and colleagues in humanistic management
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V H o n g Ko n g 0 . 1 4 %
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Debt payments nearly double to P54B in April D
BSP chief to co-lead regional group BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno has been named as one of the new leaders of an international institution that recommends risk and prudential standards for the kNANCIAL MARKETS In a statement on Monday, the central bank said Diokno would serve a two-year term as co-chairman of the Regional Consultative Group for Asia of the Financial Stability Board (FSB-RCGA). His term would start on July 1, together with Deputy Governor N.S. Vishwanathan of the Reserve Bank of India. Besides the Philippine and
BEYOND BUZZWORDS
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TUESDAY JUNE 25, 2019
Business Times
CURRENCY RATE
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HAT is it that drives people to care for the well-being of others? What motivates them to invest in their communities and to be good stewards for future generations? How do we ensure that business leaders safeguard dignity and promote well-being? Rising social demands are forcing businesses into an expanded role. The United Nations Global Goals, for example, provide guidance for how companies can contribute to environmental health, better education and personal well-being. Corporate social responsibility (CSR), once focused on doing less harm, is now increasingly oriented to providing solutions of public interest by creating disruptive inNOVATIONS NOT ONLY PROkTABLE BUT ALSO BENEkCIAL TO society and environment. Think Patagonia’s business
strategy to give back to nature more than it takes, Greystone Bakery’s Open-Hiring model, or Natura’s mission of “Well-Being and Being-Well.� But is it realistic to expect a wide adoption of humanistic management? Outside of a few specialty compaNIES CAN A FOR PROkT ENTERPRISE EVER REALLY BECOME a force-for-good? Some may believe that business, as an institution, can never act as a responsible custodian for future generations, given its singleMINDED PURSUIT OF kNANCIAL GAIN
MANAGING FOR SOCIETY
CHRIS LASZLO
How to amplify business as a force-for-good The question facing sustainable business is
ÂłManaging B2
INFLATION for low-income households jumped to a threemonth high of 4.6 percent in May on the back of higher food prices, the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) announced on Monday. 4HE kGURE REPRESENTED AN INcrease from the 16-month low of 4.3 percent posted in April, and is the highest since February’s 5.0 percent. Year to date, inflation for this income group averaged 4.9 percent. “Contributing to the uptrend were the higher annual rates observed in the indices of food, beverages and tobacco at 4.8 percent; clothing, 3.2 percent; and miscellaneous, 2.5 percent,� the PSA said. It noted, however, that the indices of housing and repairs;
and fuel, light and water recorded slower annual increases of 4.1 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. The services index retained its previous month’s annual rate of 3.7 percent. In the National Capital Region, INlATION FOR THESE HOUSEHOLDS HIT 2.6 percent in May — the same rate recorded in the previous month — and dropped from 6.3 percent a year earlier. /UTSIDE -ETRO -ANILA INlAtion for such households was said to have also hit 4.6 percent last month. Previously, it hit 4.3 percent in April and 6.5 percent in May 2018. Earlier, the agency reported THAT THE COUNTRY S HEADLINE INlAtion rose to 3.2 percent in May from April’s 3 percent. MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO
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