MARKETING DURING APAGERECESSION 7
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Henry Sy
KING OF RETAIL KEEPS CROWN 8 We politicize economic issues & give an economic perspective to political issues DECEMBER 23-29, 2013 • VOL.4 NO.18
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TRYING TIMES By Al Labita
As in past years, 2013 was more of the same— pervasive corruption, inept leadership and widening gap between the rich and the poor. Page 4
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OPINION
“Redi Kill-O-Watt”
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Christmas in the Philippines WHERE in the world would you find the most Christmas spirit? It’s hard to say for certain, but if a global competition were to be held—the Philippines has an excellent shot at winning top honors. In these parts, our island nation has the longest Christmas season. And we have no qualms showing our festive zeal with lavish light displays, gigantic Christmas trees, carnivals, masses and festivals held from September to January. And it is easy to understand why we celebrate Christmas with much gusto. We are an overwhelmingly Christian nation and much of this influence is due to our being a Spanish colony from the 16th until the end of the 19th century. The Christmas lantern—or parol—is equivalent to the Christmas tree of Western culture. Christmas is not complete without a lantern hanging by the window. These lanterns were used to light the way of people attending the traditional Misa de Gallo (midnight mass) or Simbang Gabi. Replaced today by electronic lighted lanterns, the parol still serves to light our way in the dark of night. Christmas is also celebrated with food. We always look forward to Noche Buena, the grand family dinner after the midnight mass. Christmas morning, meanwhile, is time to visit relatives. A time for kids to wear their best and kiss the hands of their ninong and ninang and receive their aginaldo. While most countries regard the commercial side of Christmas, Filipinos attend masses because faith is an intrinsic part of this celebration. It is believed that if you make a wish after completing the nine midnight masses your wish will come true. In the wake of Typhoon Yolanda and other disasters both natural and man-made that have come our way this year—Christmas gives us a brand new sense of hope and renewal. Christmas may not be as merry and gay in the Visayas, but it will certainly lift the spirits of the weary and heartbroken. It will give us something to look forward to—that tomorrow will be a better day. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all!
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DAVE DIWA Opinion Editor FREDERICK FABIAN Social Media Director CARLOS RAJAMIRA Creative Director
AST December 16, at the Kapihan sa Aristocrat of Radio Veritas broadcaster Melo Acuña, an incident erupted that I need to tell about. The guests were former Senator Kit Tatad, Bishop Oscar Cruz, former LTO chief Suansing, a special person from the LaRouche Movement Michael Billington, and former Gloria Arroyo spokesperson and so-called economist Ricardo Saludo. I rarely attend Kapihans the past years, for various reasons I will someday write about, but as I told the other guests this was my chance to meet up with Billington as I promised myself never to travel to the U.S. again until his movement wins the presidency in the U.S. (they tried but were persecuted, and that’s another story). Throughout the discussions the electricity price spike issue boiled, and I have to admit I kept the fi re burning. Bishop Cruz really pounded on the inequity of the price hike and cited the social message of Pope Francis against the excesses of capitalism. Then Saludo was asked and he went through the spiel of defense of Epira’s (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) “free market” for the electricity sector and then he uttered the “mantra” of the electricity privatization cabal: “No electricity cost more than high cost of electricity.” We recently heard that again from ERC chair “Ma’am D. Ducut” at the Senate hearings on the Meralco hikes, and I’ve heard that before from Sen. Serge Osmeña and from others of the same ilk.
Billions Earned, No Investment
A look at the bottom lines of all the privatized power companies since Cory Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos’ signed IPPs (Independent Power Producers) contracts from 1992 down shows these corporations earned hundreds of billions. Add hundreds of billions more earned since the Epira was passed in June 2001. Ric Saludo and company should be asked, “So why did the privatized power companies not invest in new power plants and capacities? In the face of the Epira law’s ban on government to engage in the power industry, prohibiting it from operating its idle plants waiting for privatization even in cases of emergency such as the Mindanao power crisis of recent years?” Epira was designed to emaciate the Philippine’s power supply and plunder it at the same time, consistent with the de-industrialization framework that began with the U.S. sponsored Cory Aquino and “Yellow” counterrevolution against the economic modernization and democratization through State-sponsored
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PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE Mentong Laurel strategic enterprises that was instituted during Marcos’ time. During my youth electricity in the Philippine came to be symbolized by Mr. Redi Killowatt, the mascot of Meralco. After the Yellow’s coutner-revolution that mascot has taken to mean “Mr. Redi Kill-O-Watt”, killing industries, our National Economy, employment and, hence expanding poverty and social collapse.
Incentives for Profit, Not Service
In the horrendous power price spike of P 4.15/kWh this December, Meralco justifies the hike by citing the Malampaya gas facilities (owned by Shell and Chevron) maintenance shut down for several months. WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market) another harebrained of the Epira to obfuscate the public, is supposed to raise the shortfall in energy supply to fi ll in for the lack by “auctioning” the supply contract; but the WESM consists of the power generating companies themselves and run by a Board, (PEMC) many in it involved in the energy sector too (although salaries paid by consumers to the tune of P 1-Billlion annually). The whole system is an invitation to market collusion and makes it inevitable. Part of WESM’s mandate is to ensure profitability of private sector players-investors in the power industry despite Epira’s obligatory public genuflection directing private power utilities to “provide efficient and reliable electricity…. at the least cost” to “captive consumers”. Average generation costs vary from P 2.50-P5.00/kWh based on the lowest (Iligan City) to the National Power Corporation’s, WESM has gone as high as P 19/kWh (as reported by some in connection with the recent increase) to 65/kWh in past years. WESM and the DUs (Distribution Utilities like Meralco) are not penalized for not preparing for shortages, hence no incentive to ensure that “reliable…least cost” electricity.
Trillanes versus Osmeña
In the course of the on-going Senate investigation of the Meralco December price spike Senator Antonio Trillanes insisted that the confl ict of interest was obvious: “Magpapatay ako rito, tapos magbebenta ako rito para mas malaki ang kita. Hindi ba maliwanag na confl ict of interest iyon?” Trillanes said. Trillanes asked the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC), which administers the WESM, to provide the Senate with records on who profited from the spot market at the time of the shutdown. For Serg Osmeña it is “market failure,”: “If you read history, they’ve had this problem in US, New Zealand, and the UK. That’s why you always have to change the rules and improve it,” he said. Osmeña does not know history as he pretends to. The State of California learned bitterly from the Enron electricity ma-
nipulation which cost the state a $ 50-Billion bankruptcy in 2001. The collusion crosses boundaries of individual corporations to interlocking and cross directorates of foreign and local fi nance companies behind them. The Lopezes (his in-laws), Pangilinan’s companies, the Aboitizes, Ayalas, Alcantaras et al have interests spanning power fi nancing, generation, distribution and/or power equipment supplies. Example: Pangilinan and Lopezes both in Meralco and in generation, and in Philec that supplies Meralco with 500% overpriced power transformers, poles etc.
Non-existent Government
Inquirer’s Christian Esguerra confi rmed his report of Aquino spokesman Sonny Coloma’s words “…the rate adjustment of P2 to P3 per kilowatt-hour was neither ‘arbitrary’ nor ‘unreasonable’.” In using the straightjacket argument they violate the duties enshrined in the government’s Constitution which states “We, the sovereign Filipino people,…. to build a just and humane society and establish a Government that shall …. promote the common good…” and Epira that mandates “….providing efficient and reliable electricity at the least cost to... captive consumers”. Under the present regime, government for the people does not exist, what is there exist only for Profit and Big Business. Thomas Jefferson wrote: “The purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness. Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors.” In the Philippines since the Edsa People Power government in 1986, Thomas Jefferson’s defi nition which the entire World and the 126 members of the United Nations organization understands as a tenet, does not apply anymore. Government’s spokesman Sonny Coloma claimed that since Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) these sectors are “market driven” already, but nowhere in the constitution does the term “market” or “market driven” appear.
Kill Epira, Kill Privatization
Instead of the Filipino people, the Meralco “captive consumers” and the National Economy being the victims of “Redi KillO-Watt” the People must kill the Epira and the privatization program of the Yellows. Twenty-five years is enough for Cory Aquino and the myth of the Yellow revolution to prove its worth –but it has proven itself to be utterly inimical to the welfare of the Filipino people, consumers and the National Economy. We must restore the pre-eminent role of public ownership and enterprise in national governance: keep the greed of Big Business, the Oligarchy and Ruling Class and their connivances in check by the shackles of democratic laws and socially-responsive regulations and regulators. (Watch “Life in 2014” with HTL and guests on TNT, GNN Destiny Cable Channel 8, Skycable Channel 213, www.gnntv-asia. com Sat., 8 p.m. and replay Sun., 8 a.m.; tune to 1098AM, Tues. to Fri. 5pm; ; visithttp://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0923-4095739)
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Opinion
The Viewpoints and outlook of the well-informed
Merry Christmas!
H
ELLO, dear Readers! Allow me fi rst to state that, to abate some confusion among some of you, I am “not media” of whatever variety. I am not a journalist, and have never been a reporter or a bona fide member of the National Press Club. I am a lawyer and a non-practicing economist with a college degree in business administration. Over the past few years, ill health has rendered me virtually retired from professional work; albeit heaven-sent hobbies have come in handy to keep my juices on high gear, and writing happens to be one of them. True, I could have chosen to spend my remaining years in the serene and luxuriant world of those hobbies, away from the tension-wracked environment where unjust conditions and practices remain stupefyingly rampant among the exploited underprivileged. But I did not, because my conscience would not allow me to have to justify my refusal to help those who need me most. As an incurably visceral romantic, I could die on the spot listening to the breathtaking works of classicists like Mozart, Beethoven, Korsakov, Chopin and Rachmaninov, or those of pop greats like Porter, Jobim,
Brubeck, Ocampo and Cayabyab. Again, as an incurably visceral romantic revved up by fervid political activism, I could keel over from a rifleman’s aim -- a risk I have taken over the past ten years or so as a pro bono militant columnist and street parliamentarian, dedicated to the ouster of errorprone misfits from government. As such, I confess to being an almost unforgiving political critic. And to all those I have badly bruised with my pen, like Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Mr. Fidel Ramos and Pres. B.S. Aquino lll, I say: “I should have bruised you up a little more; yes, you, to whom ‘much (authority) has been given’, (and) from whom ‘much is therefore expected’. Assuredly, I can sleep much better as a scrupulous analyst who punishes at the offender’s slightest error. “But please understand that by my articles I have never meant to be personal. Rather, I have always been motivated by the very same love of country that presumably pulsated in your hearts when you took your respective presidential oaths of office. Although I did not vote for any of you for president, I was impressed with your initial executive performances, only to be increasingly disappointed as you moved towards the ends of your terms.” In your specific case, President Noy, I laud you for your
MUSINGS Ronald Roy “apparent” honesty and “ostensible” competence which, riding on the crest of your dazzling “daang matuwid” slogan that initially blew me away, started to lose luster when you showed your repressive character fi rst, with your despotic ouster of a Chief Justice, then by your killing of the RH Bill and the Freedom of Information Bill, followed by those incriminating pork-related scandals, and lately by your highly publicized administrative booboos connected with the “Yolanda” disaster and the almost forgotten Zamboanga City siege by Muslim rebels. Well, I guess this is all I can credit you with: a performance luster that is fast vanishing. There are two impossibilities here, Mr. President. One is that, having lost control of the proper use of your executive powers, you will “bounce back” with better performance for the remainder of your term, just like
you recently bragged in Tokyo that the territories and compatriots ravaged by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” would rise again under your watch. The other is that you will resign...if only to save face...an event as impossible as Ricky Carandang quitting his post because of a reported lovers’ quarrel with Manolo Quezon. Hmmm... I wonder. What obviously escapes your mind is that you have succeeded in making us feel that we have become your servants, and you our master, in an insidious trashing or reversal of the democratic dogma “kayo ang boss ko”. What obviously escapes your mind is that we, now your servants, have practically lost hope of fi nally experiencing the sovereign power that is ours by birthright as a people, a power that has long been withheld ironically by our own creation called “government”. We thought we saw a silver lining breaking through the eastern clouds on June 30, 2010, from which descended a
knight in shining armor, a warrior who would slay the dragons that perennially cause a nation to pretend it has been a nation for countless previous decades -- the dragons of popular ignorance, and of unbridled power and greed by those who proclaim themselves to be our trustworthy sentinels. Mr. President, we are tired of waiting for a miracle that will most likely never come from the high office we entrusted to you. But nothing prevents us from hoping that today, at least this Christmas Day, you have found it in your heart to bring Yuletide’s cheer to our devastated brothers and sisters in Zamboanga City, East Samar, Leyte, and other calamity-stricken areas in Central Luzon. Mga kababayan, Merry Christmas sa inyong lahat! Kalimutan na muna ninyo si P-Noy! (http://musingsbyroy.wordpress. com| 09186449517 | @ronald8roy | #musingsbyroy)
Mr. President, we are tired of waiting for a miracle that will most likely never come from the high office we entrusted to you.
Is PNoy Still Redeemable?
P
EOPLE are wondering what the last three years of PNoy’s term are going to be like. Many people, even some of his most ardent supporters, are indeed wondering what to expect in the next three years. Most of those wondering have been shaking their heads for three years now because what they have seen is a vindictive, narrow minded, shallow President with rather little capacity for governance. One texter in my TV program Heartbeat suggested that all members of the cabinet should resign, including Sec. Mar Roxas for one disappointment after another. I suggested that if people in the Cabinet are not performing well, there are probably two reasons. First is that most people will not deliberately appoint someone that they might perceive as being better if not more competent than the appointing power. So, the line departments will probably function with lackluster for fear of upstaging an ego centered boss. Second is that there is no vision that has been articulated that these departments can rally to. Based on the pronouncements of PNoy, his reactive character, meaning acting without deliberation or much thinking, his cynicism, his lack of compassion for people, his unwillingness to listen to advice or reason, means that his subalterns are generally fear driven, with very few exceptions. So they err from too much caution.
One of the valid observations of the fi rst three years is how little has been accomplished, while too much time and energy has been spent pontificating about matuwid na daan without any real commitment to the equal application of that political slogan except to demonize those that are seen as enemies. People also see that PNoy does not seem to have any real appreciation for the limitations of power or the nuances of democratic principles. Add to that the lack of any true vision for the nation or at least the articulation of goals and visions for the nation has disappointed so many people. His one claim to fame is that he does not steal, but heavens to Betsy, if that is all the virtue or skill that he can claim, that is a sad day for this nation. We need someone who can be a real statesman; a person competent in the administration of the affairs of this nation. One who has wisdom and discernment and the capacity to lead positively and not negatively. Hopefully, also one who can competently handle the foreign affairs of this nation and not one prone to be a loose cannon by making ill thought out and obviously reactive statements. One with real compassion for the poor because we have so many of them in our nation. There are many reforms that are needed. Our political life is exclusive. So is our economic life with, as one study showed, 75% of the nation owned by 40 families. There are also very
RAY OF HOPE Ramon Orosa serious questions about corruption in our judiciary which makes the pursuit of justice in our land a matter of how deep one’s pockets might be. Our lack of legislation to reign in excessive economic power and influence through ownership of parts of media, television and print or near monopolistic hold on certain aspects of our economy specially in the ownership of malls and real estate projects, not to speak of power distribution and generation tells us there is no easy road ahead, for me, even beyond PNoy. My regret is that he could have made an excellent beginning but it seems he just did not have the capacity to do so, except by blathering through his matuwid na daan political slogan. His actions in the fi rst three years exposed that he is not reform oriented, that his politics is not only vindictive but pretentious and traditional because his political mantra is applied capriciously at best and his own outlook on the people can perhaps best be described as born of a “cacique” mentality probably as a result of his own genetic
and familial background. So, many consider that he will be a frothing but lame duck president in the remaining years of his term. To paraphrase Scriptures, he has been weighed and has been found wanting. So much effort and likely, resources have been expended to control the unfavorable media exposure of his administration’s performance and the obvious resulting disenchantment of the people, especially those that are in the ABC class. The DE section of society have traditionally been aloof to whoever might be president except for what they think they might be able to obtain from him through street pressure or some other sort of political action. They have been radicalized for the most part by a vociferous left, conditioned to make demands from all the political elite through concerted action and so the results are dole out politics, the encouragement of a spirit of mendicancy and the payola during periodic elections. Of course, many of these problems have existed for a long time, over half a century to be sure, with not much progress in the process. The tragedy is that life at the bottom 70% continues to be tragic, poverty remains stuck in the 70% range and the quality of life has seriously deteriorated. As though human depredation has not been enough, our people must still contend with natural disasters which grow worse year by year; from typhoons, earthquakes, pollution, flooding and rampant diseases and just plain
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income deficiency. But hey, life has been just fi ne for the 5-10 % at the AB levels and it is getting better for them. We do not have any new economic models that can hopefully redress some of the excesses of free enterprise which by defi nition in our country is free only at the top and room for the middle portion to grow or for the DE levels to be able to move up seems rather unlikely. Agriculture remains lame and bumbling along and industry rather pathetic. Remove from our GDP the contribution of OFWs and other foreign investments and what is left is a rather pathetic figure. In fact, one might be able to say that the new middle class is largely composed of the dependents of the OFWs, no thanks to the administration. Why we are boasting of a GNP growth rate of 7or so % is to fail to look at the distribution of the fruits of that growth. It is to gloss over the real inadequacy of the trickledown effect of our economic system, the continuing exploitation of labor as the big boys still deny their employees permanence through labor contracting, already ruled as illegal by the Supreme Court and continues unabated. So as I see it, the agenda is rather distressing and cries for foresight, visionary thinking, creative leadership, competence and integrity that goes beyond not being a thief, and not the inherited but not necessarily merited cache of a political name. Oh, when will our people wise up and not keep shooting themselves by unfortunate choices.
OpinYon
DECEMBER 23-29, 2013
3 12/20/13 7:11 PM
OPINION
2014 TRYING TIMES
By Al Labita As in past years, 2013 was more of the same—pervasive corruption, inept leadership, and a widening rich-poor gap. With the dawning of 2014, the same age-old old issues are likely to rear their ugly heads again, but more intense and complex this time in the face of uncertainties, domestically and globally. In the local front, the prognosis is that politics will be bannered by a new wave of money-tainted scandals, given how rapacious politicians have become as exemplified by President Aquino’s moniker–the country’s “pork barrel king.” Despite its gains as one Asia’s fastest growing economy, the country’s economy will lose steam as it succumbs to the onslaught of calamity-driven inflationary pressures. One key concern is the estimated P360.8 billion cost to rebuild the typhoonravaged Central Visayas region. By any count, that’s roughly equivalent to almost 40 percent of the P2.3 trillion government budget for 2014 and this begs the question of where to source the funds. Most likely, the scandal-rocked government will be hard put raising the money in that its coffers had been raided without letup, ironically by Aquino himself and his allies in what has shaped up as the biggest robbery in decades. With President Aquino’s grip on power loosened by the “pork” scam, a realignment of alliances is seen to make a dent on his much-vaunted high popularity rating. Some dyed-in-the-wool loyalists in the ruling Liberal Party are expected to break ranks in the run-up to the 2016 presidential race and as the opposition gains momentum as an emerging alternative in the post-Aquino era. Fresh destabilization threats are likely to emerge, particularly from the military on the premise that under the Constitution, it is the “protector of the people.”
A Coup?
Frustrations over Aquino’s perceived weak and graft-laden leadership sparked not a few Army generals to ask for his resignation, a clear sign of waning support from among the men in uniform. That call, which has fueled talks that a power grab is in the offing, is expected to reverberate anew this year as Aquino grapples with a spate of crisis undermining his “matuwid na daan” platform of governance. Aquino’s yielding to the separatist demand of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for a territory in predominantly Christian-populated Mindanao also raised tensions among soldiers who had shed blood fighting to keep the republic intact. Though still subject to a referendum, the newly signed deal has nonetheless fanned fears of a resurgence of a bloody ethnic conflict in the resource-rich island region. Derisively branded by critics as a sellout of national patrimony, Aquino’s capitulation was literally under the barrel of gun by a group classified by the US state department as terrorist.
Misuari’s Gripe
This early, some Christian communities in Mindanao have opposed giving away a piece of their land to the MILF, a stance seen to derail Aquino’s Malaysianbrokered peace process with the secessionists. Aquino’s skewed policy in Mindanao
may be viewed by last October’s bloody siege in Zamboanga city mounted by the mainstream Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) led by Nur Misuari. Misuari, formerly a political science professor at state-run University of the Philippines, had reason to gripe —he was sidetracked by the Aquino government’s biased and selective peace process. Like the MNLF, the communist-led New People’s Army is also in the same predicament, slamming Aquino for breaching a promise he made in 2010 presidential elections that he would forge peace with the rebel group. With less than three years left of Aquino’s tumultuous six-year mandate, time is practically running out for any peace pact to materialize even as a reign of terror prevails in the countryside.
bogged down by Manila’s insistence to have access to the military installations the US will put up to house an expected surge in the number of American troops and armaments. But the US has thumbed down the Aquino government’s request, giving rise to speculations that the Americans are resurrecting their military bases in Subic and Clark, once their biggest in Asia. Talk of the return of the US bases, closed down in 1991 after Manila rejected renewal of the lease agreements, has stoked nationalist sentiments, especially among leftist groups. How the Aquino government will balance its need for American military presence vis-a-vis China’s threat with domestic concerns is a strategic dilemma seen to dominate Aquino’s foreign policy this year.
The running tiff with China over conflicting territorial claims to the potentially resource-rich west Philippine Sea has put to a litmus test the Aquino government’s maturity in foreign diplomacy. While the Philippines has raised the ticklish issue before the United Nations (UN) for mediation, China has refused to yield in a display of arrogance being the world’s second largest economy. Beijing’s intransigence has raised questions whether any UN decision to resolve the maritime row can be enforced or not amid China’s flexing its military muscle in the disputed maritime domain. Despite Washington’s warnings, China has continued to assert its sovereign claims to the west Philippine Sea, fueling risks of an armed confrontation with the Philippines. The Manila-Beijing impasse comes at a time the United States plans to firm up its military presence in the Philippines as part of its “pivot policy” to curb China’s growing military and political clout. Bilateral talks had been going on, but
As the Aquino government tackles pressing local issues, it can’t turn a blind eye to what’s happening in the global area which certainly has an immense impact on the Philippines. The US economy, the world’s largest, has showed signs of bouncing back from its crippling budgetary woes that led to the Obama government’s shutdown in October. Amid cheers from US-dependent developing economies, including the Philippines, the US recovery may be short-lived in what could be a repeat of its typical boom-and-bust cycle. Such pessimism is anchored on the unstable supply and price of oil in the world market sparked by renewed signs of the pro-democracy Arab Spring threatening to topple unpopular governments in the Middle East, the world’s biggest supplier of oil. As Filipinos plod on in ushering in the New Year, their much-vaunted resilience may yet spell the difference between hope and despair amid trying times.
Foreign Policy
Global Outlook
MSU Faculty: Extend Term of MSU President MEMBERS of the faculty, university officials and students of Mindanao State University (MSU) called on President Benigno Aquino III for the re-appointment of MSU president Macapado A. Muslim. In a letter to President Aquino, the officers and members of the MSU-UTC Parents Teachers Community Assembly appealed for the extension of Muslim’s term “at least up to January 4, 2016”. Muslim was appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as acting MSU president in 2008 and later as president in March 2010. His term ends in January 2014. The petitioners, led by professor Sahria Mauhom, president of the MSU-UTC Faculty and Staff, said extending the term of Muslim would “allow him to continue the various infrastructure projects and other programs he has started”. The petitioners cited various accomplishments made by Muslim during his tenure as university president including a PhP29-million upgrade on MSU library facilities and increased academic excellence and performance of students from the technical and engineering colleges.
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OpinYon
Employee welfare has also been a hallmark of the Muslim presidency at MSU, the petitioners added with contractual and casual employees receiving pay upgrades. Under Muslim, the faculty force posted 59 publications in both international and national journals’ services and have been so invigorated by the provision of financial incentives to ISI publication of faculty members, sending faculty members to international conference to present their papers, establishing tie-ups with CHED for research funding assistance, and conducting community services, like relief and rehabilitation assistance to calamity victims. Talib Abdulhamid Benito, member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, said Muslim “is the best, most qualified and competent President. Extension of his term of office is not only expedient, but also necessary in order not to disrupt his plans and on-going projects to further improve MSU, both academically and physically, as a center of academic excellence and as a catalyst of change not only in the ARMM, but in the entire country.”
PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III is assisted by ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman during groundbreaking ceremonies of the College of Information Technology Building of the Mindanao State University in Marawi City in April. Also in photo are Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. and MSU President Macapado Muslim.
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DECEMBER 23-29, 2013 • VOL.4 NO.18
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Millionaires Club
SECTIONS EDITORIAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 ENTERTAINMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
HENRY SY
King of Retail Keeps Crown
F
OR 2013, Retail King Henry Sy remains the richest man in the Philippines. Sy saw his fortune swell by $2.9 billion, boosted by the surge in shares of his SM Investments, the country’s most valuable company, which reported record profits of over $570 million in 2012,” said Forbes magazine. Top dog for the last six years in the magazine’s list of “50 Richest Filipinos”, Sy’s SM Malls are still the Philippines’s leading retail store and his banking institution, Banco de Oro, is still the largest bank here in the country. Sy also has other businesses that he runs or owns like the China Banking Corporation, Belle Corporation and the Highlands Prime, Inc. With so many sources of income, it’s no wonder why Sy remains on top with a more than US$8 billion dollar-lead over the second man on Forbes list Lucio Tan. Tan, at second with an estimated $7.5billion, “is this year’s biggest gainer in dollar terms after his net worth jumped to $7.5 billion, up by $3 billion from $4.5 billion in 2012,” Forbes said. His conglomerate, LT Group Inc., handles Asia Brewery Inc., maker of popular Beer na Beer, and has a stake in Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. Inc., which has an estimated 80 percent market share of the country’s cigarette market. Andrew Tan has moved up to third place from sixth in the previous year with $4.6 billion, which was double his wealth in 2012. Enrique Razon Jr. came it at fourth with $4.5 billion and John Gokongwei Jr. at fi fth with $3.4 billion.
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DECEMBER 23-29, 2013
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OpinYon
Buoyant Stock Market
“The Philippines’ richest also benefited from a buoyant stock market, which is up 28% in the past year,” Forbes said. The Philippines has two new billionaires, former senator Manuel Villar, who is at number 16, with an estimated wealth of $1.05 billion and the Aboitiz Family which ranks seventh with $3 billion after the entire clan consolidated their wealth. “The combined net worth of the Philippines’ 50 richest totaled $65.8 billion, more than a quarter of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product,” Forbes said. “This list was compiled using shareholding and fi nancial information obtained from the families and individuals, stock exchanges, analysts and other sources,” it said. Jaime Zobel de Ayala and his family— who run the Philippines oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corp.— are at sixth place with a net worth of $3.1 billion, while the Aboitzes of Cebu are at seventh with fortunes amounting to $3 billion.
Puregold and Jollibee
In 8th place are Lucio and Susan Co, with a net worth of $2 billion mainly due to the operations of their Puregold Price Club chain of retail stores—the second largest retailer in the country. In 9th place is Robert Coyiuto. Jr., chair of the Coyiuto Group of Companies that has stakes in real estate, travel, publication, oil exploration, securities and insurance. In 10th place is Tony Tan Caktiong, founder and chairman of Jollibee, the nation’s largest fastfood chain. The Jollibee stores include Greenwich, Chowking, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Manong Pepe’s and Tita Frita’s Uling Uling. Here’s the complete list of the “50 Richest Filipinos”: Turn to page 7
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12/20/13 7:11 PM