BusinessMirror June 27, 2015

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A broader look at today’s businessBusinessMirrorBusinessMirrorBusinessMirrorTHREETIME

ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDEE2006, 2010, 2012U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008

ROTARY CLUB

JOURNALISM

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 45.1430 n JAPAN 0.3653 n UK 71.0777 n HK 5.8238 n CHINA 7.2701 n SINGAPORE 33.6261 n AUSTRALIA 34.9892 n EU 50.5827 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.0385 Source: BSP (26 June 2015)

Inflation seen easing to 1.1% in JuneLOWER ELECTRICITY RATES, OIL PRICES TO PULL DOWN CONSUMER PRICES

Frustrated Modi leaves India loan bankers idle as plans on holdSYNDICATED lending fell 8

percent in the second quar-ter from the previous three

months to $1.1 billion, set for the lowest volume since the period end-ed September 2013. Borrowers have put expansion plans on hold, wait-ing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliver on growth-boosting legal changes. “Capacity utilization for many manufacturing companies remains at modest levels and unless demand improves, fresh capital expenditure for expansion appears unlikely,” said Sidharth Rath, president for treasury in Mumbai at Axis Bank Ltd., the second-biggest arranger

of overseas loans. “Many companies haven’t gone ahead with their bor-rowing plans.”

One year in and Modi is grappling with stalled projects and souring bank loans, while a bill to ease land- ownership rules is stuck in the upper house of Parliament. Stressed assets at Indian banks rose to almost 11 percent of total lending as of March 31, and the infrastructure backlog of delayed projects has climbed to 13.5 trillion rupees ($212 billion), official data show. Hindustan Petroleum Corp., Re-liance Utilities & Power Pvt. and Rural Electrification Corp. were the only borrowers in the syndicated

loan market this quarter, accord-ing to data compiled by Bloom-berg. That’s half the number of last quarter, while total loans the first six months of $2.3 billion compare with $7.7 billion the second half of 2014, the data show.

Bharat Petroleum Corp. decided to postpone a $500-million, five-year facility in April after seeking proposals from lenders earlier that month. Steel Authority of India Ltd. still hasn’t proceeded with a $200- million loan after getting feedback from banks in December. In April Reliance Power Ltd. ter-minated a 3,960-megawatt project

INSIDE

Life Saturday, June 27, 2015 D1

Life BusinessMirror

Life Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • [email protected]

DEAR Lord, make us aware always on the innumerable blessings You bestow on us: The innumerable blessings You bestow on us: The life we live each day; the presence of our loved life we live each day; the presence of our loved

ones, near and far; the support and caring of friends; the ones, near and far; the support and caring of friends; the abundance of needs we enjoy daily and the simple and clean abundance of needs we enjoy daily and the simple and clean condition of our families. Help us manifest our gratitude in condition of our families. Help us manifest our gratitude in many ways and inspire us to express it concretely through many ways and inspire us to express it concretely through actions, words and deeds. Amen.

The innumerable blessings

EXPLORING GOD’S WORDS, FR. SAL PUTZU, SDB AND LOUIE M. LACSONEXPLORING GOD’S WORDS, FR. SAL PUTZU, SDB AND LOUIE M. LACSONWord&Life Publications • [email protected]@yahoo.com

HELPING A CHILD WITH A DEPRESSED

PARENT »D3

WITH a total 10,000 square meters of function space, Marriott Hotel Manila is securing its position as the premier meeting destination in the country.

B JT N

ALONG with the gasps, the “wows” and other monosyllabic expressions of wonderment, stepping foot on the Marriott Grand Ballroom (MGB) can unleash a flood of gushing adjectives.

It’s huge. It’s spacious. It’s a work of art. It’s state-of-the-art. It’s wonderful. But perhaps the term that encapsulates the whole facility is the very one attached to its name. In every sense of the word, the four-story MGB is G-R-A-N-D.

Described by Resorts World Manila (RWM) Chief Operating Officer Stephen Reilly as their “latest, greatest, biggest project,” this marvel of an events venue has 8,000 square meters of function space with 28 versatile meeting spaces plus six VIP sky boxes that can accommodate any social gathering—from weddings, debuts, exhibitions, large conferences, corporate meetings and concerts, among others. This newest facility, which will formally open on July 1, stretches the Marriott Hotel Manila’s total function space to 10,000 sq m, the largest in Philippine hotel industry.

Grand in every sense of the word

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DAD, Papa, Ama, Itay...last Sunday, many families expressed their gratitude and celebrated the virtues of the most important man in their lives: their father.

Our family, however, was never big on Father’s Day, because to Papa, it was not a religious holiday. And Papa was all about religion and Catholic traditions. We would often joke that if only priests were allowed to marry, Papa would have probably become a man of the cloth.

Every morning we would find him praying the Holy Rosary and expressing his devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, this before even having had breakfast or read the newspaper. In the evening, he would also pray before sleeping. He would go to Mass every first Friday, or lead all of us to church for Visita Iglesia on Holy Thursday, or Misa de Gallo on Christmas Eve. And he never missed the 16-day Misa de Aguinaldo before Christmas. Sometimes this made me think that he did so much praying because all of us, including Mama, were either maldita or probably smart-alecky brats. Someone had to pray for our salvation and he made it his job to do just that!

When some people ask me why I went into journalism, I think it could have been because of Papa’s habit of reading the newspaper each morning. I remember emulating him as a child, and trying to “read” the Daily Express (this was the 1970s, hello!), even if I Daily Express (this was the 1970s, hello!), even if I Daily Expressonly understood half of what was on it. And to think Papa wanted me to become an economist! Or a lawyer like him—probably because he recognized my excellent, ahm, debate skills.

Papa was kind and generous to fault. He just gave so much of himself even though it may have hurt sometimes. But anyone who knew him would always say, “Mabait angsay, “Mabait angsay, “ Papa Mabait ang Papa Mabait ang mo.” I miss him very much.

Friends and colleagues also share memories of their late fathers:

MARIVIC SEGISMUNDO-LEMETTEDirector for SalesChannels and Marketing, NEC Philipines

MONEY runs out sooner for Communication Arts Y runs out sooner for Communication Arts Ymajors like me—there is always that extra film to buy or editing machine rental fees to pay. So one time my father dash backed into the house to get something he had left behind after handing me my baon in the car, and I looked through his wallet to see how much more money I could ask for. It was empty.

It was the mid-1980s and our family printing business wasn’t doing too well. My father had just given me his last money. But that was him all throughout the 40 short years that I had him: selfless, hardworking, giving his family everything that he had, leaving none for himself.

NINA POSADASManager and HeadMarketing Corporate Business Group, Meralco

PAPAPAPAP frowned on just about any holiday commercialism APA frowned on just about any holiday commercialism APAand even the most sacred of family traditions that didn’t

make sense to him. “Pag-namatay ako, bawal mag-make sense to him. “Pag-namatay ako, bawal mag-make sense to him. “luksa. Have a one-day wake, bury what’s left of me, and then eat lunch at my favorite Chinese restaurant right after the burial. Death is just about the next journey.”

That sort of characterized him and the way he raised with Mama their two headstrong daughters. Papa left behind many foods-for-thought but here are the ones that I keep very close to my heart: 1) Be your own person and you don’t have to keep up with the Joneses; 2) Doing the right thing is never easy and most of the time it’s not popular, but you must always try; and 3) Think of others, but most of all, you should always give special care and attention to your Mama as I do. You and your sister are You and your sister are Ymy princesses, but she will always be my queen.

JOSEN PEREZ DE TAGLEAssistant Vice PresidentPhilippine Airlines External Affairs

MY Dad was everybody’s rock-solid friend. I called him Y Dad was everybody’s rock-solid friend. I called him Y“ambassador” because he couldn’t walk a block without meeting someone he knew and liked and wanted to talk to and kid around with.

Dad could connect with anyone, from the highest-born to the humblest, and he never stopped connecting—zestfully, relentlessly, joyfully. Even now, 27 years after he passed on, I still meet people who remember him with great fondness: “Ah, Freddie, he was FUN!”

For a quiet guy like me, Dad was my window to a world of happy wonders. He really cared, and that made all the difference.

ANA PEREZVice President, Head of Creative ServicesTV5

MY Dad was the most generous of men. Y Dad was the most generous of men. Y No one around him ever went hungry; no one who visited our home or his office ever left empty-handed; and when you happened to be in the same restaurant with him, he would automatically pick up your table’s tab. He was also the over-orderer extraordinaire when dining out.

My Mom, my sister and I never even had to ask for anything as his largesse was of epic proportions. When I first started baking, I came home to a Kitchen Aid stand mixer; when I took a Photography class in college, he gave me the top-of-the-line Nikon, far beyond my fledgling abilities; and, on one of his trips, he bought me the first ever Sony Walkman and I felt gypped because it was so much smaller than the boom box my sister got and only one person could listen at a time!

It wasn’t just food and gifts with my Dad, though: he was also generous with his advice, time, attention and

DONDI LIMGENCOEditor in ChargeCustom Publications, Summit Media

WHENEVER I drill a hole into the wall, I think of my EVER I drill a hole into the wall, I think of my EVERDad. Whenever I flatten my thumb with a hammer, or struggle with a rusty screw threatening to disintegrate at any moment, I imagine him breathing down my neck.

Fathers are supposed to imbue their sons with a passion for all manner of manly pursuits: sports, cars, alcoholic beverages, women, and, in my case, DIY. Y. YAs an avowed nerd, I confess to being a spectacular disappointment when it comes to cars or sports, or even drinking. But while I make no claims to Technical Education and Skill Developement Authority-certified proficiency, I like to think I’m handy with home repairs—thanks to my Dad. He taught me that DIY can Y can Ybe a creative activity, not just physical or sweaty. He showed how DIY teaches other virtues, like patience and Y teaches other virtues, like patience and Yperseverance. And while the ostensible motive for DIY is Y is Yfrugality, the real lesson he passed on is that no one can care for your home the way you do.

JOY FLAVIER ALAMPAYHealth Communications ConsultantWorld Health Organization-Western Pacific Regional Office

MY Dad was very thoughtful. He would always have Y Dad was very thoughtful. He would always have Ypasalubong for us, if even just the smallest tokens: a pasalubong for us, if even just the smallest tokens: a pasalubonghalf-eaten bag of chicharon, a piece of polvoron, freebie pens from whatever meeting he attended, or the small bottle of shampoo from his hotel room. Kuripot, we would tease him, but I always loved the gesture which simply said, “I thought of you...kaya lang wala akong pera.” I see him in the little things I do now: scribbling little notes of reminders to myself, everyday the whole day; religiously sending postcards to my kids and family wherever I’m privileged to go; and writing personal notes to anybody who spends any small amount of time or effort with or for me.

I miss him, especially this time of year. We usually celebrate his birthday on Fathers’ Day. I see him at the end of our dining table, wearing his polo barong over barong over barongpuruntong shorts. He understands the joint celebration. puruntong shorts. He understands the joint celebration. puruntongKuripot din kami.

RelationshipsBusinessMirror www.businessmirror.com.phD4 Saturday, June 27, 2015

SOMETHINGLIKE LIFEMA. STELLA F. ARNALDO

http://stella-arnaldo.blogspot.com@Pulitika2010

Ode to fathers

STELLA with her Papa, lawyer/civil servant TELLA with her Papa, lawyer/civil servant TELLA Ramon Arnaldo Jr.

CELSO DIZON SEGISMUNDO, entrepreneur

NINA with her Papa, businessman Victorio INA with her Papa, businessman Victorio INA Fabie Posadas

ALFREDO PEREZ DE TAGLE, airline purser/restaurant manager

LORENZO R. PEREZ, banker

JOY with her Dad, Health Secretary Juan Flavier

ROBERTO LIMGENCO, Certified Public Accountant

TOWNSAT NO. 1

SAN FRANCISCO—Baseball history was made on a field of wistful dreams in California’s

wine country with the appearance of the sport’s first openly gay active professional.

Pitcher Sean Conroy, 23, took the mound in his first start for the Sonoma Stompers, a 22-man team that is part of the independent Pacific Association of Baseball Clubs.

The Stompers recruited the upstate New York native out of college in May. General Manager Theo Fightmaster says Conroy privately shared his sexual orientation with teammates and management before agreeing to come out publicly in time for the team’s home field gay-pride night.

“The first conversation I had with Sean was, ‘I want you to know this organization supports you, we respect who you are. We respect who you are as a pitcher and a person and to whatever degree you want your story told, we’ll help facilitate that,” Fightmaster said. “His goal has always been to be the first openly gay baseball player, so he was very much in favor of telling the story, of carrying that torch.”

Major League Baseball (MLB) historian John Thorn confirmed that Conroy is the first active professional to come out as gay. Glenn Burke, an outfielder for the A’s and Dodgers, and Billy Bean, a utility player with the Tigers, Dodgers and Padres, came out after they retired.

“Of course, that over the years there have been rumors of this Major League player or that one being gay, but that’s just idle chatter and counts for nothing,” Thorn said. “In terms of an openly gay player as [the] pitcher

Bean, who serves as MLB’s ambassador of inclusion, called Conroy a pioneer and said he planned to keep tabs on the young pitcher’s career.

“It will be a great day for the LGBT community. I hope he pitches well and gets another opportunity to start another game,” Bean said. “It doesn’t matter if he pitches in the big leagues or not, he’s going to become a leader [tonight] in many ways, an influential leader for a lot of young kids not only in that community but those who will read the story and who may be pondering that same decision in their teenage years, and they want to be baseball players or they want to be football players”

Conroy’s history-making start comes at a watershed moment for gay rights, with the US Supreme Court scheduled to rule any day now on whether to make same-sex marriage legal across the nation.

The Stompers are not planning to make a special announcement or call attention to the milestone so Conroy can focus on his pitching, although some players will be wearing rainbow socks or other gay-pride symbols in support of their teammate, Fightmaster said.

The life of a Stomper is certainly a far cry from the majors. Players live with host families during the June-to-August season, earn $650 a month on average and supply their own cleats, batting gloves and elbow guards. Arnold Field, their home turf, seats 370.

Conroy hopes to catch the eye of a big-league scout, but hasn’t focused on much beyond this season.

“I’m just looking to play well and do, as well as I can wherever they put me,” he said. AP

in your neck of the woods, we haven’t had one yet.”

Conroy, a right-hander who has earned four saves and allowed only two hits in the seven innings he has pitched so far as a closer for the 15-3 Stompers, said he had been open with his high-school, summer league and college teams, and told his family he was gay at age 16. It would have been strange not to do the same with

once he moved across the country and started making friends on the team in Sonoma, he said.

“People would talk about their girlfriends and who they were going out to see that night. Instead of getting the different looks or questions when I didn’t join them, I’d rather tell you the truth and let you know who I am and have real conversations instead of the fake ones,”

Conroy said.As far as coming out publicly, Conroy

said he regards it as a way to both help his team and to set an example for other players.

“It’s not that I wanted it to go public, but I didn’t care if it was open information. It’s who I am,” he said. “I am definitely surprised that no one else has been openly gay in baseball yet.”

FIRST OPENLY GAY PRO PITCHER

A MAJOR League Baseball historian confirms that Sean Conroy is the first active professional to come out as gay. AP

B B M�e Associated Press

NEW YORK—The Minnesota Timberwolves got their man in the middle by selecting Karl-Anthony Towns with the first selection in Thursday’s National Basketball Association (NBA) draft, while the Los Angeles Lakers

got a playmaking partner for Kobe Bryant, and New York Knicks fans just got mad—though not for long.

Minnesota selected Kentucky center Towns as the first of three straight college freshmen who went with the first three picks before New York chose Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis, triggering loud, long boos from skeptical fans inside Barclays Center.

They were cheering later in the first round when the Knicks acquired the rights to Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant from Atlanta for Tim Hardaway Jr.

Before that, the Timberwolves went for a center in their first time having the No. 1 pick. The selection wasn’t a surprise—though he said he didn’t know until it was announced.

“When Mr. Adam Silver came out, I saw him, and he said, ‘With the No. 1 pick,’ I was racing,” said Towns, who

was sitting with Kentucky Coach John Calipari.“I told Coach Cal before when he first came

out that I was trying to drink the water and I was shaking uncontrollably, and I told him, ‘Coach, don’t give me the ball right now for the last-second shot. I wouldn’t make it.’”

The Lakers then took guard D’Angelo Russell of Ohio State. He drew huge cheers when he was announced, but his entourage was dwarfed by that of Towns. The New Jersey native said he had above 50 family and friends in attendance.

“This is home to me,” he said. “Been able to come here and have all my closest friends and love ones come out here. It’s the most special moments in my life.”

Towns averaged 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in just 21 minutes per game for Kentucky, which reached the Final Four of the college playoffs.

It was Kentucky’s third No. 1 pick in six years, joining Anthony Davis in 2012 and John Wall in 2010. The Wildcats were hoping to have a record seven players picked and were well on their way when Sacramento took center Willie Cauley-Stein with the sixth pick, Utah grabbed Trey Lyles at No. 12 and guard Devin Booker followed one spot later to Phoenix.

“Just shows our team was special. Unlike any other,” Lyles said.

But they had to settle for tying the record with six selections, as Dakari Johnson and Andrew Harrison went in the second round, but Aaron Harrison was not picked.

For weeks, Towns and Duke’s Jahlil Okafor had been considered the top 2 selections. But the Lakers skipped Okafor and instead went for Russell, choosing a player who can step right in and play alongside Bryant in what could be the superstar’s final season.

“Kobe’s a great dude,” Russell said. “Not knowing how much he has left in the tank is the scary thing. I’m really looking forward to him taking me under his wing, if possible, and feed me the most knowledge he can and use that as fire against my opponents.”

Okafor fell to the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 3, becoming the 19th lottery selection and a record 29th first-round pick for players schooled at Duke by Coach Mike Krzyzewski. Those numbers increased when Miami drafted Justise Winslow 10th and Cleveland took Tyus Jones at No. 24—though his rights were later dealt to Minnesota.

The Knicks changed the pattern of freshmen when they took Porzingis with the No. 4 pick. The 19-year-

old forward had been surging in draft previews, but Knicks fans booed lustily, with memories of the acquisition of previous European players Frederic Weis and Andrea Bargnani.

“Lot of fans weren’t happy they drafted me,” Porzingis said. “I have to do everything in my hands to turn those booing fans into clapping fans. The fans are harsh sometimes, that’s how it is in New York and I’m ready for it.”

Another international player followed, as Orlando took Croatian Mario Hezonja at No. 5, and Emmanuel Mudiay, born in Congo, raised in Texas and a professional last season in China, went seventh to Denver. Detroit took Arizona’s Stanley Johnson eighth before National Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky went to Charlotte at No. 9.

The Lakers later added Wyoming’s Larry Nance Jr. with the No. 27 pick, while Boston used its two first-round selections on Terry Rozier of Louisville (16th) and R.J. Hunter of Georgia State (28th).

The NBA champion Golden State Warriors used the 30th and final pick of the first round on UCLA forward Kevon Looney, who thought he would go higher and instead lasted so long he left the green room before returning shortly before he was selected.

Minnesota selected Kentucky center Karl-

Anthony Towns as the first of three straight college

freshmen who went with the first three picks before

New York chose Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis, triggering loud, long boos from skeptical fans inside

Barclays Center.

TOWNSTOWNSAT NO. 1AT NO. 1

SportsSportsSportsSportsBusinessMirrorSportsSportsC1

SportsSports |

SportsSportsS

SportsSportsATURDAY

SportsSports, J

SportsSportsUNE

SportsSports 27, 2015

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]@businessmirror.com.phEditor: Jun Lomibao

KARLANTHONY TOWNS’S selection at No. 1 isn’t a surprise. AP

SPORTS C1

MARRIOTT GRAND

ODE TO FATHERS

TOWNS AT NO. 1

LIFE D1

RELATIONSHIPS D4

PHL DOLLAR BONDS RATED MOST RESILIENT TO FED RATE RISES PHILIPPINE dollar bonds,

Southeast Asia’s biggest gain-ers this year, look set to keep

their lead as the peso’s stability shows the economy’s resilience to rising US borrowing costs. The notes have returned 2 per-cent, compared with a 1-percent advance for Indonesian debt and a 1.5-percent drop in Malaysian secu-rities, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. indexes. The peso weakened the least in the region, falling 0.8 percent, compared with declines of 6.9 percent for Malaysia’s ringgit and 7.1 percent for Indonesia’s rupiah. While economic growth slowed to a three-year low last quarter as government spending faltered, the Philippines saw its current-account surplus double from a year earlier

on strong remittances from Filipinos working overseas and call-center growth. A less-volatile currency decreases the risk of higher foreign-debt servicing costs for the Philip-pines, which mostly benefits from falling global commodity prices that are harming Malaysia and Indonesia. “The Philippines has been ex-tremely stable from a macroeco-nomic perspective,” said Rajeev de Mello, who oversees about $10 bil-lion as head of Asian fixed income at Schroder Investment Manage-ment Ltd. in Singapore. “Malaysia and Indonesia are suffering from the deterioration of their terms of trade,” he said, adding that the Phil-ippines isn’t as sensitive to higher US interest rates.

MVP ON INNOVATION Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan delivers his message during the opening of the Meralco Technology and Innovation Summit at the Meralco Multipurpose Hall in Ortigas, Pasig City. NONOY LACZA

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AFTER inflation hit a 20-year low in May, consumer-price acceleration across the Philippines could slow

down further in June, as energy and oil prices—aided by favorable base effects—continue to push inflation lower.

In particular, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said inflation could prove as low as 1.1 percent in June, or even lower than record-low infla-tion in May of only 1.6 percent. Tetangco’s forecast inflation for the month was within the 1.1-per-cent to 2-percent range, he an-nounced to reporters on Friday. “Lower diesel, kerosene, LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] prices and decline in Meralco [Manila Electric Co.] electricity rates pro-vide downside inflation pressures

for the month,” Tetangco said in a text message. “These may be offset by slightly higher rice prices, gasoline prices and tuition in June,” he added.

Whether inflation hits the low end or the upper range of Tetangco’s forecast for the month should not be an issue for the central bank, how-ever, as both are within target infla-tion numbers.

Should inflation hit 1.1 percent in June, for instance, the average inflation in the first half would

BusinessMirror [email protected] Saturday, June 27, 2015 A2

NewsIndia loan. . . Continued from A1

Monetary officials. . . Continued from A8Dollar bonds. . . Continued from A1

in Jharkhand state after failing to secure land after six years. The de-cision will reduce its capital expen-diture requirements by 360 billion rupees, it said. Fund-raising slowed even as the average margin on loans denomi-nated in either US dollars, euros or yen fell to 126 basis points over benchmark rates, the least since mid-2007. “The investment cycle of India Inc. is yet to pick up,” said Prabal Banerjee, Mumbai-based president for finance and strategy at the Bajaj Group conglomerate. “This has led companies to hold back their ma-jor borrowing plans. No company wants to add leverage unless there’s a corresponding return visible in medium term.” India will spend 1 trillion ru-pees on ports, power stations and roads this year, Junior Finance

Minister Jayant Sinha said earlier this month. According to World Economic Fo-rum estimates, Asia’s third-biggest economy needs to find some $640 billion by 2031 to develop its urban infrastructure, and the funding gap is about $80 billion to $110 billion. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has reduced the benchmark repurchase rate by 75 basis points to 7.25 percent in three moves this year and economists forecast it isn’t done yet. Deutsche Bank AG said on June 19 it expects another 25 basis-point reduction because “monetary transmission is proving to be insufficient.” Even though interest rates have moderated, they still “need to come down further to improve corporates margins and viability of new proj-ects,” Axis Bank’s Rath said.

Bloomberg News

LEGAZPI CITY—Henry Sy’s SM Prime Holdings said it has earmarked P1 billion to construct another mall in

Legazpi City’s central business district.

SM earmarks ₧1B for Legazpi mall

The peso’s three-month implied volatility is 5.54 percent, compared with 9.86 percent for the ringgit and 10.38 percent for the rupiah. The yield premium investors demand to hold Philippine dollar debt over US Treasur-ies narrowed 29 basis points this year to 104. The spread for Indonesia fell 12 basis points to 254, while that for Malaysia rose 19 to 190. Philippine debt is resilient because, credit-wise, the country is on an “im-proving path” with good tax collection, strong growth and better political governance, said Sergey Dergachev, a senior portfolio manager who helps oversee $13 billion of emerging-market debt at Union Investment

Privatfonds GmbH in Frankfurt. “Philippine dollar debt is mostly held by local retail clients and local banks,” he said. “This is a key differentiation with Indonesia where local involvement is relatively thin.” The current-account surplus in the Philippines was $3.3 billion in the first quarter, compared with $1.5 billion in the year-earlier period, central bank data show. BSP Governor for Monetary Stabil-ity Sector Diwa C. Guinigundo forecast last month the excess would swell to $14.2 billion this year. Remittances rose 5.4 percent to $7.8 billion in the first four months of 2015 from a year earlier. Revenue from business-process outsourcing, which in-

cludes call centers, will increase 18 per-cent to $21.3 billion this year, according to the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines. Falling oil prices have benefited the Philippines, a net importer, while weigh-ing on crude exporter Malaysia. Indo-nesia has been harmed by continued weakness in the prices of commodities like coal, palm oil and tin. Filipinos will go to the polls in May 2016 to choose a new leader as President Aquino can’t run for a second six-year term. State spending rose last quarter at about half the pace it did in the previ-ous three months, contributing to GDP growth of 5.2 percent. “The recent bottlenecks in spending

and election-related noise should limit” the rally in Philippine dollar bonds, said Pedro Florescio, executive vice president and treasurer at BDO Unibank Inc., the nation’s largest lender. The country’s global debt will be supported by a lack of supply, said Robert Ramos, the Manila-based chief investment officer at Union Bank of the Philippines. The Bureau of the Treasury is look-ing at a borrowing mix of 86 percent local-currency notes in 2016, compared with 84 percent this year, according to National Treasurer Roberto Tan. The Philippines last tapped the international market in January, when it sold $2 billion of 25-year dollar bonds. Bloomberg News

Mayor Noel Rosal said the SM City management is currently negotiat-ing with LKY Corp., the operator of Legazpi City Terminal, for a possible team up to build a new mall within the heart of this city. Rosal said the Henry Sy Group allotted P1 billion for this city which has proven to be resilient in the face of natural calamities due to climate change. The announcement was made af-ter the city government of Legazpi lifted the five-year moratorium on

the construction of big business es-tablishments to protect small entre-preneurs here. Currently, three malls are being constructed in Legazpi—the LCC-Ayala Mall, Yashano Mall and Gre-gorian Mall. The SM City in Legazpi, accord-ing to Rosal, would be built within the Legazpi City Grand Termi-nal, near the Ibalong Centrum for Recreation and a few meters away from Metro Gaisano-Pacific Mall and Yashano Mall and a half kilo-

meter from LCC-Ayala Mall. SM Prime Holdings currently has 58 malls, six of which are in China. Aside from expanding malls in this city, Gaisano will also be put-ting up a condotel to cater to the growing number of tourists who visit Legazpi. “With these investments and new malls, Legazpi City will be ex-panding as a trading hub in South Luzon as people from Leyte and Sa-mar will only cross Ticao Island in Masbate. We’re expecting 5 million people in Legazpi once all business establishments are operational,” Rosal said. Being a trading and services hub in South Luzon, as well as education and convention center, Rosal expects a booming economic

growth and more hotel invest-ments in the city. “Five years from now, Legazpi will be one of the country’s boom-ing cities in South Luzon, with bigger taxes. We started from P200-million taxes from business permits to P700 million today. A few years from now, I expect about P1.1-billion income from local taxes with our new investments,” he said. New investments are expected to pour into Legazpi two years be-fore the completion of the Bicol In-ternational Airport (BIA) in Alobo, Daraga, Albay. Rosal said the 69-hectare-old airport in Legazpi City will be converted into an economic zone as soon as the BIA becomes opera-tional in 2017. PNA

■ Downside risk to the inflation outlook June: Slower global economic activity. May: Global growth, even as pros-pects have become evenly balanced. ■Domestic demand June: Remain firm despite the lower-than-expected first quarter. May: Remain robust. ■Drivers for domestic demand June: Solid private household and capital spending, as well as buoyantbusiness confidence. May: Solid private demand and buoyant business sentiment. ■ Sustaining the economy ’s momentum June: Ample domestic liquidity and

planned higher public spending. May: Ample domestic liquidity and higher public spending. Mapa said these changes point to a hawkish sounding BSP, or a cen-tral bank favoring a tighter interest rate regime. “I’d still say that the statement was still rather hawkish given the focus on upside inflation due to El Niño. Also, BSP clearly knows that the slowdown in growth was due to the government’s inability to spend planned spending. Thus, they expect this to correct and thus there would be no need to ac-commodate the slowdown with cuts,” Mapa said. The next meeting of the central bank Monetary Board will be on August 13.

[email protected] Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Saturday, June 27, 2015 A3BusinessMirrorThe Nation

Legal experts confirm ‘selective justice’ under AquinoBy Joel R. San Juan

SEVERAL legal experts have echoed Vice President Jejomar C. Binay’s accusation of “selective justice”

under the Aquino administration.

Integrated Bar of the Philip-pines National President Vicente M. Joyas; Levito Baligod, an an-ticorruption crusader and lawyer; Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, dean of the San Beda College of Law Gradu-ate School and University of the Philippines law Prof. Harry Roque Jr. agreed with Binay’s position that the Department of Justice (DOJ) appears to have employed double standard in its investiga-tion and prosecution of corruption anomalies, particularly the Prior-ity Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.

Baligod, an anticorruption cru-sader, said Binay was correct in criticizing the manner by which the Aquino administration is han-dling the investigation on corrup-tion in the government.

“[What Vice President Binay] said is true. This administration is timid to prosecute decadent allies, and brave to use the entire government apparatus to ram its political opponents,” Baligod said.

Baligod was a former lawyer of whistle-blowers in the PDAF scam led by Benhur Luy.

“It is selective justice, it is im-moral, and it is graft and corrup-

tion in itself,” the lawyer added.For his part, Joyas, who heads

of the 55,000-strong mandatory organization of lawyers in the country, said the delay in the fil-ing of the third batch of PDAF cases where several administra-tion allies—Technical Education and Skills Development Author-ity (Tesda) Director General Joel Villanueva, Centrist Party Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro and former Lakas Rep. Rachel Arenas of Pangsinan—have been implicated proves selective justice under the present administration.

“I do not agree with her [Justice Secretary Leila de Lima]. There is selective justice and that holds true up to this day,” he said.

“We are still surprised why is there such a delay. There appears to be a selective justice. We are all aware there are many people in-volved and, yet only three senators were charged,” the lawyer added.

Aquino agreed, saying that the double standard on investi-gations against opposition law-makers and officials vis-à-vis administration allies has been very glaring.

“The ‘selection’ is clear. Why

were some hurriedly prosecuted and why does it take so long to conclude investigations against the President’s allies? Has any high-profi le al ly l ike [Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad been prosecuted?” Aquino pointed out.

Abad was included on the so-called Napolist submitted by al-leged PDAF scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles to de Lima early last year along with her sup-posedly tell-all testimony on the multibillion-peso racket.

Me a nw h i l e , R o q u e c r i t i -cized de Lima for denying the selective justice statement of Bi-nay, who resigned from the Cabi-net earlier this week.

“She’s playing blind and deaf to the fact that no one in the ad-ministration has been indicted despite COA [Commission on Au-dit] reports against administra-tion allies on PDAF and despite the Supreme Court ruling on DAP [Disbursement Acceleration Pro-gram],” stressed Roque, who was a petitioner in SC cases on PDAF

and DAP.“There’s just no reason for the

delay when you have common [pieces of] evidence, COA reports and whistle-blowers. It ’s foot dragging since they don’t want to file, he claimed.

Marcos on jailing of political foesTHE next president should not make it a government policy to jail political opponents, Sen. Fer-dinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday.

Marcos said such policy, adopt-ed in the past and present admin-istrations, is counterproductive and divides the people.

“We should do away with what we have been seeing in the past few years when recent adminis-trations adopted a deliberate cam-paign of vengeance against their political foes, practically making it a national policy,” Marcos said.

Former President Gloria Maca-pagal-Arroyo sent her predeces-sor President Joseph Estrada to jail on plunder charges. Arroyo, in turn, met the same fate under

the Aquino administration.The Aquino administration

had also actively sought the im-peachment of former Chief Jus-tice Renato Corona, who is an ap-pointee of Arroyo and pressured Ombudsman Merceditas Gutier-rez to resign owing to threats of impeachment.

Recently, opposition Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Es-trada and Ramon Revilla Jr. were jailed on allegations of corruption.

The three voted for the convic-tion of Corona during his impeach-ment trial.

Many political observers be-lieve President Aquino may suf-fer the same fate, as Arroyo and Estrada owing to the SC ruling that declared unconstitutional the administration’s DAP, which funneled billions of public funds into various projects.

If Aquino had, indeed, violat-ed the laws, then he should face charges that may be filed against him after his term, Marcos said.

However, Marcos said the next administration should not have a direct hand in the filing of such charges and should treat them as any ordinary criminal case.

“We should leave that culture of vengeance behind us. What the next president should strive is to unite the country so that every Filipino could work together for the good of our country—not for personal gain, not for the benefit of a party, but for the benefit of the entire nation,” Marcos added.

“The top priority of the next president should not be to go af-

ter political opponents and play politics. His priority should be how to push the development of our country, how to improve the lives of our people, how to grow the economy,” he added.

Two bu s i ness g roups de -nounced the ongoing word war between the Aquino administra-tion and Binay, saying that the focus should shift to filling the vacancy at the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Coun-cil (HUDCC) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers Affairs.

The Makati Business Club (MBC) and the Management As-sociation of the Philippines (MAP) said that the word war that ensued following Binay’s resignation from the Cabinet is ill-advised.

“More than the word war, what is important is ensuring that com-petent and credible persons are appointed to the positions left by the VP.

The work must continue on the concerns of housing and the overseas workers,” MBC Executive Director Peter V. Perfecto said.

MAP, on the other hand, had stronger words against the em-battled Binay.

“The reaction of Binay, a presi-dential aspirant, is bad for the investment climate and confi-dence. His relat ionship w ith President Aquino dates a long way back; what he could have done is keep quiet when he re-signed,” MAP President Fran-cisco F. del Rosario said. With Recto Mercene and Cathy Pillas

By Rene Acosta

THE country is in discussions with its neighbors, including two claimants to the Spratly

Islands, as it moves for a regional defense and security cooperation and training, that is seen as directed against China’s aggressiveness in the disputed territory.

Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin said that the country is talking with Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), par-ticularly Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam for the possi-bility of forging a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (Sovfa).

Gazmin, however, said the Phil-ippines eyes a Sovfa with each of its three neighbors “for defense tech-nology enrichment.”

The Sovfa will allow the coun-try’s forces to train together with forces from the three countries in joint maneuvers and military drills, and as such, permits the temporary basing of Asean troops in the country.

“There are ongoing talks... discussions on Status of Visiting Forces Agreements with Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. They are part of the Asean,” Gazmin said during a forum on the proposed Visiting Forces Agreement with Japan where he was the guest speaker.

Threatened by neighborDURING the forum, he said both the Philippines and Japan are threatened by a “common neigh-bor,” which he did not identify, al-though he was obviously referring to China. He later admitted to jour-nalists after the forum that China is a threat from the “perspective of defense” because of its activities on the West Philippine Sea (WPS, South China Sea), where it was un-dertaking reclamation projects for military purposes.

Gazmin said there is a necessity for a Sovfa with the three countries because the country is lagging be-hind in military modernization, and it is only through the joint training that the Armed Forces can catch up with the foreign militaries by enriching the knowledge of its

members on new equipment and technology.

However Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia are also against China’s expansive claims on the South China Sea and are supporting the Philippines’s push for the Asean to adopt a Code of Conduct governing South China Sea claimants.

The country only has a Sovfa with Australia, which was seven years in the making, and has an existing Visiting Forces Agreement with the US.

More military assetsTHE Air Force commander, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado, said that plans are afoot for the construction of ad-ditional hangars in the area of the Armed Forces Central Command (Centcom) so that they could ac-commodate more assets that would support the military’s mission in the WPS.

Delgado said that because of the Centcom’s strategic location, it could support both Luzon and Mindanao, thus, additional han-gars should be constructed in the area. “We intend to put up more han-gars for our fighter aircraft in the future and our transport aircraft and helicopters,” he said.

Delgado said that the Second Air Division alone, which is based in Cebu could house more aircraft.

“We intend to put some more air-craft there once the aircraft arrive… modernization aircraft,” he said.

The Air Force is expecting for the arrival of multipurpose attack helicopters and a squadron of South Korean-made FA-50 lead in fighter jets, while the acquisition of a long range patrol aircraft, combat helicopters, maritime and medium-lift aircraft are being worked out.

Not stoking tensionMALACAÑANG on Friday pressed China to heed an international clamor to stop its nearly finished ar-tificial island-reclamation projects on the WPS that are seen to justify its extended territorial claims that encroach on its neighbors borders. Pa lace Spokesman Edwin Lacierd a virtually dismissed as baseless China’s complaint that the

Philippine government, in allowing its troops to conduct joint naval exercises with the US and Japan in the vicinity of the disputed area, was “deliberately exaggerating the tense atmosphere” in the region.

“The Chinese has heard the con-cern of the international commu-nity regarding their reclamation activities,” Lacierda said on Friday, referring to calls for China to halt its massive reclamation projects.

Lacierda suggested, in turn, that it is the Chinese officialdom that holds the key to preserving peace and stability in the resource-rich region.

“If the Chinese [government] is concerned about the ‘tense atmo-sphere,’ the simple solution is to listen to the clamor of the interna-tional community that is to stop the reclamation activities,” he said.

Lacierda, however, voiced linger-ing doubts among Philippine offi-cials saying, “the question is: Will China, as a responsible member of the family of nations, listen to the reasonable voice of the interna-tional community?”

At a Palace briefing on Friday, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Abigail Valte explained it is not Ma-nila’s fault that many other parties, even nonclaimants, have expressed concerns on what is happening in the disputed area.

“It can’t be denied that a sig-nificant part of global trade that passes through this area” Valte said, noting that it, therefore, has an impact on those outside the dis-pute. She also assured that the Philippine government, “as a matter of policy, does not resort to exaggeration.”

“We have always engaged in ra-tional discussions,” she added.

According to Valte, the Pal-ace does not find it productive to “engage in exaggeration in discus-sions regarding the disputes we are involved in.”

“Given the fact that the Phil-ippines has chosen a peaceful and rules-based approach to resolving the dispute, it is in our interest to keep discussions as objective as possible,” she added. With Butch Fernandez

BINAY AQUINO

Philippines seeks neighbors’ help vs China

Mindanao has been miss-ing the boat of foreign direct investments (Fdi) in the

country attributed to the high inci-dence of poverty in the region.

BBL seen as Mindanao’s ticket to board FDI boat

The Philippine government, through the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), aims to lift the local econ-omy of Mindanao, particularly in the Bangsamoro area, by promot-ing peace and stability in the region.

Philippine Institute for Develop-ment Studies senior research fellow and University of the Philippines School of Economics Prof. Erlinda Medalla said many investors had second thoughts of locating in Min-danao mainly due to the peace situ-ation in the area.

In fact, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that in the first quarter of 2015, Mindanao only attracted 2.0 percent of the country’s total FDI in the period, or some P417.2 million.

FDI inflows in Mindanao slumped by 77 percent from P1.8 billion in the first quarter of 2014.

“They need clear and stable

policies,” Medalla said, noting that the BBL will be Mindanao’s ticket to ride the boat of FDI coming in waves in the country.

“Even without the BBL, FDI are still coming, but they’re coming in trickles. We have missed the boat in many cases. They come in waves. This is an opportunity to have now,” she pointed out.

She mentioned that it is now time for the government to hasten eco-nomic development in Mindanao by passing the BBL in order to at-tract more foreign investments as the Philippines is in its “sweet spot.”

“We have seen a bright spot in the region. This should not be another lost opportunity for Mindanao,” Medalla stressed.

“We are already pouring so many resources for the BBL. We need to decide; that is the most important,” she said. PNA

‘Spice girl’ An elderly garlic vendor fiddles with her cell phone as she waits for customers to buy her spicy merchandise. The price of garlic in Metro Manila has remained steady, with the imported variety selling at p80 per kilo while its native counterpart is being sold at a pricier p250, according to the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics. NONIE REYES

By Lenie Lectura

LUzon was placed on yellow alert on Friday after reserves fell to 445 megawatts (MW).

According to the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which services the power distribution franchise for 22 cities and 89 municipalities, includ-ing the whole of the national Capital Region, the yellow alert lasted from 10 to 11 am and 12 noon to 3 pm.

“Reserve at 11 am was 526 MW and at 2 pm it was 445 MW,” said Meralco Spokesman Joe zaldarriaga.

He said this was due to the emer-gency shutdown of Calaca unit 1 (240 MW). Moreover, there are other pow-er plants that are on scheduled shut-down. These are the Malaya 1 (300 MW), Malaya 2 (350 MW), Limay 1 (100 MW), Limay 2 (70 MW), Tiwi A-2 (27 MW), Pagnilao1 (382 MW) and Santa Rita module 40 (264 MW).

zaldarriaga said Quezon Power is also operating on limited capacity, from 460 MW to 190 MW.

Early this month, Luzon was twice placed on yellow alert because of gas- flow restriction from the

Malampaya platform. When power reserves dwindle and fall below 647 MW, a yellow alert is issued by the national Grid Corp. of the Philip-pines (nGCP).

The Malampaya facility supplies natural gas to Kepco Philippines’s 1,200-MW Ilijan combined cycle plant and to the 1,000-MW Santa Rita and 500-MW San Lorenzo natu-ral gas plants of First Gas, a subsid-iary of the Lopezes’ First Gen Corp.

These gas plants, in turn, supply about 45 percent Meralco’s power requirement.

Drop in power reserve prompts NGCP to place Luzon on yellow alert status

THE netherlands’s Queen Máxima will be in the country for a three-day visit, from June 29 to July 1, to promote greater public access to fi-

nancial services.The Queen is visiting the country in her capacity as

United nations (Un) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special advocate for finance and development, and upon the invitation of the Philippine government and central bank, a Un news statement in Manila said on Friday.

on the morning of Tuesday, June 30, she will discuss inclusive finance with representatives of international organizations and the private sector.

She will then visit in the afternoon the province of Cavite, where she will speak with local businesses about how financial services, like how a bank or savings ac-count, loan or insurance, could improve their economic development.

The Queen will give a speech in Manila on July 1, at the launch of the national Strategy for Financial Inclusion, a government action plan coordinated by the central bank that aims to enhance cooperation between ministries, government agencies and the private sector to improve the population’s access to financial services.

Prior to the launch, the Queen will meet with the gov-ernor of the central bank.

She will also take part in a discussion with parties in-volved in the national strategy. These include the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the departments of Finance, Social Welfare and Development, Education, and of Trade and Industry, and government agencies like the national Eco-nomic and Development Authority, the Insurance Com-mission and the Philippine Statistics Authority.

There will also be a meeting with the secretary of finance, as well as with the Speaker of the House of Rep-resentatives and the Senate President.

Queen Máxima was designated as Un Secretary-Gen-

eral Ban Ki-moon’s special advocate for inclusive finance for development in September 2009.

In this capacity, she advises the secretary-general and works worldwide to make financial services accessible to all, including low-income groups and the small and medium enterprise sector.

In June 2011, Queen Máxima became honorary patron of the G-20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion. PNA

Dutch Queen sets manila visit briefsmeRcOsuR cOuntRies eYe

tRaDe OPPORtunities in Phl

Saturday, June 27, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

EconomyBusinessMirrorA4 [email protected]

THE Mercosur free-trade bloc com-posed of South American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, is eyeing busi-ness opportunities in the Philippines.

The Philippine Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (PCCI) said the organization will be hosting a trade and investment forum as there will be business delegations from Mercosur-Asean Chamber of Commerce (MACC) coming here on Monday.

PCCI President Alfredo M. Yao said MACC business delegates are seeking opportunities in sectors of meat, chick-en and fish, soya and soybean meal, motorcycles, textiles, wines and ciders, pharmaceutical products, telecom-munications, milk and cheese, leather products and olive oil.

Mercosur delegations are also eyeing to do business with Filipino companies, particularly in supplying prefab houses manufactured with syn-thetic materials, iron and aluminum; sandwich panels for housing exter-nal and internal walls; intelligent LED lighting systems; antennas for Internet coverage; treatment plants for sew-age water, manufactured in modular structures with capacity for 10,000 to 60,000 inhabitants; solar energy and renewable-energy systems; sustain-able architecture; LED traffic-light sys-tems for cities, highways and routes; potential investors in manufacturing in Pilar, Argentina; products, systems and equipment for street and route pave-ment; sewage control systems; public transport.

PCCI invites local firms to explore business opportunities with Mercosur countries through a business forum.

Interested parties may call PCCI through 846-81-96 local 128. PNA

THE country is open to acquire other military equipment, which may be de-clared surplus by Japan.

This was stressed by Department of National Defense (DND) Spokesman Dr. Peter Paul Galvez on Thursday.

“If they [Japanese] will have excess defense articles [in the form] of Hueys [UH-H helicopters] and C-130 cargo planes, we will be very much inter-ested in acquiring them,” he said in Filipino.

Galvez said that it is easy for the Philippines to “absorb” these equip-ment as the country has the mainte-nance facilities, spare parts and know-how to operate these machines as the Filipino military has the same type of planes in its inventory. He earlier con-firmed the DND’s interest in acquiring P-3C “Orion” maritime patrol and sur-veillance aircraft from Japan.

“We are interested in acquiring them [P-3Cs], especially if they be-come excess defense articles, as we can acquire these at a very reasonable price that is advantageous to the gov-ernment,” he added.

Sources said that Japan and the Philippines are talking about the pos-sible transfer of two to four P-3C to the Filipino military. PNA

A TOTAL of 1,183 Philippine-educated nurses took the US National Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for the first time from January to March this year in the hope of practicing their profession in America, House Assistant Majority Leader and Cebu Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. said on Friday.

“The number is up 37.5 percent when compared to the 860 Filipino nurses who took the NCLEX for the first time, excluding repeaters, in the first quarter of 2014,” said Gullas, vice chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education.

The NCLEX refers to the National Council Licensure Examination admin-istered by the US (National Council of) State Boards of Nursing Inc.

The number of Filipino nurses tak-ing the NCLEX for the first time is con-sidered a reliable indicator as to how many of them are trying to seek gain-ful employment in America. PNA

By Butch D. EnerioCorrespondent

CAGAYAn DE oRo CITY—The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) in northern Mind-

anao sees better years ahead in the implementation of its mandate, par-ticularly in the regulation aspect of seafarers and schools offering mari-time courses, owing to its increased funding and logistics.

Engr. Emmanuel Carpio, Marina regional director for Regions 10 and 13, said that with the government support to further develop the mari-time industry in the country, there will be more quality graduates in the future, which would ensure and meet the demand worldwide for Filipino seafarers.

“As a single administration and regulating agency with regard to maritime-related endeavors, Marina will now be able to push further and institute quality education and train-ings for deck officers and ratings, es-sential in maintaining the country’s reputation as the seafaring capital in the world,” Carpio said.

Lawyer Casimero Juarez Jr., Capitol University president who was the guest speaker during the celebration of the Day of the Filipi-no Seafarers with the theme: “Ma-rinong Pilipino. Isulong ang Edu-kasyon at Pagsasanay,” on Thursday underscored the existence of thou-sands of graduates from maritime schools who are not onboard or not employed because they did not pass the standards of the International Maritime organization.

He said the experience of the past where schools were accredited to

offer maritime courses by the Com-mission on Higher Education with-out regard of setting standards, has rendered graduates without jobs in their related field.

Juarez, who is running Capitol University, and who has been in the maritime education for 40 years, said seafarers should be given ac-colade and be in a higher standing in society as modern heroes who have largely contributed to the Philippine economy.

“our seafarers should be on a ped-estal and given the highest respect for their contribution. They are our modern heroes, unknown to many, who sacrificed being away from their loved ones just so to contribute with their earnings for our economy.” Juarez said.

Marina said there are about 300,000 Filipino seafarers onboard international vessels occupying one-fourth of the total seafarers in the world, who are contributing $5 billion to $7 billion part of overseas Filipino workers remittances to the economy annually.

Juarez said that with Marina at helm in the development of the maritime industry, the country’s downturn by producing nonquality graduates would be corrected, where institutions without the capacity to meet the standards would not be allowed to offer maritime courses.

“What happened in the past was that the country was producing mari-time graduates in quantity rather than of quality. And we do hope that only competent institutions would be given the responsibility to educate and train would-be seafarers worthy to be on board,” Juarez said.

PHL aims to produce world-class seafarers with firm govt support

QUeeN MÁXiMA

pAg-iBig workers and seafarers join the one-week celebration of the international Day of Seafarers on Thursday on TM Kalaw Street, ermita, Manila. PNA

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is proposing the inclusion of small and

medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Super Green Lane Facility (SGL) Program of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) to facilitate SMEs’ compliance with Customs procedures.

In a news statement, the DTI said it is pushing for the expansion of the coverage of Executive order 230-2000, or the SGL Program, to involve SMEs. This proposal can be part of the package of reforms being carried out under the Customs Mod-ernization and Tariffs Act.

“What is important is that we give due recognition to our SMEs, par-ticularly to those who strive to keep a high level of compliance in doing business with Customs policies and requirements, providing them access to the same SGL, which were already made available to top 1,000 corpora-tions,” Supervising DTI Undersecre-tary of Liaison office for Legislative Affairs Prudencio Reyes said.

The SGL facility of the BoC is enforced through the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC), which the Phil-ippines is a signatory to. Under the RKC, countries are required to come up with special facilitation proce-dures for “authorized persons,” pro-vided they meet the criteria specified by the BoC. Catherine N. Pillas

Dti proposes inclusion of smes in sGl

Phl WillinG tO acQuiRe OtheR eXcess JaPanese DeFense eQuiPment

mORe than a thOusanD eXaminees tOOK ncleX in Q1

United nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) warned on thursday that the global com-

munity will fail millions of children if it does not focus on the most disad-vantaged in its new 15-year develop-ment road map.

Millions of world’s poorest children left behind despite progress–Unicef

Uncef’s final report on the child-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Progress for Children: Beyond Averages, says that despite significant achievements, unequal opportunities have left millions of children living in poverty, dying before they turn 5, unschooled and suffering chronic malnutrition.

“The MDGs helped the world realize tremendous progress for children—but they also showed us how many children we have left behind,” Unicef Executive Director Anthony Lake said at a news brief-ing on Thursday in New York. “The lives and futures of the most disad-

vantaged children matter—not only for their own sake, but for the sake of their families, their communities and their societies.”

Disparities within countries have left nearly 6 million children from the poorest households twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday; and far less likely to achieve minimum reading standards than children from the richest households. In effect, 58 million children globally don’t go to primary school. The report also high-lights the 289,000 women who die every year while giving birth.

Continued failure to reach these children can have dramatic conse-

quences. At current rates of progress, given the projected global popula-tion growth by 2030, the report es-timates that:

n 68 million more children under 5 will die from mostly preventable causes;

n An estimated 119 million children will still be chronically malnourished;

n 500 million people will still be defecating in the open, posing seri-ous risks to children’s health;

n It will take almost 100 years for all girls from sub-Saharan Af-rica’s poorest families to complete their lower secondary education.

“Especially in typhoon-prone countries like the Philippines, the effects of disasters can offset gains from years of development efforts. In emergencies and in conflict zones, it is the most marginalized children and families that bear the dispropor-tionate burden of natural hazards, damages to life, livelihood and prop-erties. Aggravated economic burden can exacerbate poverty, impede sur-vival, development and protection of children,” Unicef Philippines Repre-sentative Lotta Sylwander said. “It is

imperative that we built in disaster risk reduction, preparedness and appropriate response as an essen-tial part for development planning.”

Meanwhile, the report also high-lights notable successes since 1990:

n Under-5 mortality dropped by more than half; from 90 to 43 per 1,000 live births;

n Underweight and chronic mal-nutrition among children under 5 decreased by 42 percent and 41 per-cent, respectively;

n Maternal mortality has de-creased by 45 percent;

n Some 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water sources.

The gaps between the poorest and the wealthiest are also narrowing in more than half of the indicators Unicef analyzed:

n In many countries, greater gains in child survival and school attendance are seen in the poorest households.

n The gap in maternal mortality rates between low- and high-income countries halved between 1990 and 2013, from 38 times higher to 19 times higher.

“Unicef will continue to work with the Philippine government to help strengthen local health, education and social protection systems to help more children to survive and thrive. Smarter investments tailored to pov-erty reduction and meeting the needs of the most vulnerable children can yield short- and long-term divi-dends, and this is a global objective of Unicef’s work with governments across the world,” Sylwander added.

As world leaders prepare to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the most disadvantaged chil-dren should be at the heart of the new goals and targets, Unicef said. Better data collection and disag-gregation—going beyond averages such as those used to measure the MDGs—can help identify the most vulnerable and excluded children and where they live. “The SDGs present an opportunity to apply the lessons we have learned and reach the children in greatest need—and shame on us if we don’t,” Lake said, adding that greater equity in opportunity for today’s children means less inequality and more global progress tomorrow.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

BusinessMirror Saturday, June 27, [email protected] A5

Economybriefs

PCCI HOLDS PHILIPPINE BUSINESS CONFERENCE IN OCT

The Malampaya Phase 3 project has elevated the technical know-how and competitiveness of Filipino engineering talent to world-class standards.

WhENEvER someone turns on the lights, an island of steel and concrete lo-

cated 80 kilometers northwest of Palawan is constantly at work, pro-viding clean, reliable and naturally abundant fuel that is converted to electricity. This powerhouse is the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Pow-er Project, more commonly known as “Malampaya.”

A first of its kind in the Phil-ippines, Malampaya heralded the birth of the natural-gas industry in the country, saving the govern-ment billions of pesos from im-portation of expensive oil abroad to fuel power plants and generate electricity. Since its inception in 2001, the project has actually been providing a stable supply of energy, meeting 35 percent to 40 percent of Luzon’s power needs.

Malampaya derives natural gas from the Camago-Malampaya reser-voir, a gigantic reserve of natural gas discovered in 1992 by Shell Philip-pines Exploration B.v. The natural gas flows through wells before ar-riving at the production platform, where it is separated from water and condensate, which is a high-quality byproduct. The dry natural gas then traverses a 504-kilometer subsea pipeline to fuel three power stations in Batangas.

As part of the original field de-velopment plan of 1998, additional two phases of the Malampaya proj-ect had already been put in place. Execution of Malampaya Phase 2 (MP2) was completed in 2013 with the drilling of two new produc-tion wells. Meanwhile, the current

Malampaya Phase 3 (MP3) project entails the design, fabrication and installation, and commissioning of a second Malampaya offshore plat-form. This Depletion Compression Platform (DCP), in combination with the two new wells, will sustain the gas output of the site for many more years to come.

February 2015 finally saw the completion of the fabrication and tow-out, as well as installation of the Malampaya DCP, marking an-other historical milestone for the country being the first oil and gas platform designed and constructed in the Philippines. It was designed by Fluor Philippines and was built at the Keppel Shipyard in Subic, Zambales. The construction of DCP was done over a period of two years with a team of more than a thou-sand workers.

Workers tapped for the con-struction underwent mandatory training to build their competen-cies up to world-class oil and gas industry health, safety, and envi-ronment (hSE) standards. These were carried out at the dedicated Malampaya hSE Training Cen-ter, which has so far upgraded the skills and technical know-how of more than 9,000 Filipino workers to Opito (Offshore Petroleum In-dustry Training Organization) in-ternational standards.

As such, the MP3 project has placed the Philippines in the world map of oil and gas platform fabri-cation, demonstrating the excellent technical capability of Filipinos. This competitive edge is important in opening up possibilities for future

oil and gas projects globally and in the region.

To further contribute to economic development, Shell companies in the Philippines has adhered to a Local Content Development Policy, which requires the utilization of local mate-rials, equipment, and manpower in the exploration, development, man-ufacturing, distribution, and sale of Philippine crude oil, gas, and its products. Shell Philippines ensures that it conducts all of its endeavors for the sustainable growth of the local oil and gas industry without compromising business principles, quality, health, safety and environ-mental standards.

Malampaya: The future of energy, today

By Catherine N. Pillas

ThE state-owned Bases Con-version and Development Authority (BCDA) said on

Friday that three firms have secured bid documents for the selection of BCDA’s joint venture partner in the development of 288 hectares of Clark Green City (CGC).

BCDA President and CEO Arnel Paciano D. Casanova said in a news statement that the three firms that secured the bid documents were Ayala Land Inc., Filinvest Land Inc. and Megaworld Corp.

Casanova also announced that, upon the request of an interested proponent, BCDA has extended the deadline for the issuance of the Terms of Reference (TOR), as well as the submission of Eligibility Docu-ments and Final Proposals.

he added there are other propo-nents who have expressed interest to purchase the TOR but are still undertaking their due diligence in preparation of their bids.

Casanova said the extension of the deadline “will also provide an equal opportunity to other inter-ested proponents to be able to pur-chase the TOR and participate in the bidding.” The new deadline for the issuance or purchase of the TOR is on September 3 from the original date of July 1.

Similarly, the new deadline for the submission of eligibility docu-ments and final proposal is on

September 8 at 12 noon from the original date of July 3.

The BCDA is looking to part-ner with a well-established cor-poration with proven track record in the development, marketing, management and leasing of large property mixed-use development. It would be recalled that 16 firms attended the pre-bid conference held on June 9.

The partnership shall be in the form of a joint-venture corporation (JvC) to be owned 45 percent by the BCDA and 55 percent by the winning bidder. The joint-venture agreement (JvA) will have a period of 50 years renewable for another 50 years.

The JvC shall have the full de-velopment and usufructuary rights over the 288-hectare property.

Earlier, Casanova said the usu-fructuary right may be converted to full land ownership if and when the law allows it in the future, sub-ject to mutual agreement of the two parties.

Casanova noted the development of CGC will definitely boost the economy of Central Luzon.

“It will serve as an economic driver that is expected to generate jobs and attract investments in the region.”

The minimum acceptable bid is set at P160 million or approximately $3,600,000 million. The winning bidder shall be responsible for form-ing the JvC pursuant to the JvA to be signed with the BCDA.

Three firms secure bid documents for CGC lot

ConsTruCTion aCrobaTs in aCTion Workers climb iron scaffoldings as they rush the construction of a pillar for the elevated skyway 3 near the ninoy aquino international airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City before seasonal downpour. NoNie Reyes

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) will be holding the 41st Philippine Business Confer-ence (PBC) this October, and will be giving focus on a stronger partner-ship between government and the private sector. A PCCI news statement the theme for this year’s PBC will be “Synergies in Partnerships with Global Competitiveness.”

Conference Chairman and past President of the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry Benedicto V. Yujuico said that both the private sector and the government are beset by their own set of problems and a key solution is by solidifying their relationship.

“The main challenge facing busi-ness is how to take advantage of new resources and markets while dealing with intense and growing competi-tion, while for governments, it is how to design and implement supportive policies and strategies,” Yujuico said in a statement.

A prestigious annual dialogue be-tween the government and private sector leaders, the 41st PBC will touch on a number of issues, including in-vestment opportunities in the local, regional and global settings, and advancing international trade part-nerships. “An intense focus of every Filipino businessman is to maximize the benefits offered by a market of 650 million consumers whose purchasing power is among the fastest growing in the world,” PCCI President Alfredo M. Yao said. Catherine N. Pillas

The Department of Public Works and highways (DPWh) will employ 1,396 young civil engineers to augment its work force in the regional and district offices nationwide.

In a news statemen, Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson said that the Department of Budget and Man-agement (DBM) has authorized the DPWh to hire additional civil engi-neers to augment technical capabili-ties to implement much bigger infra budget. “To meet the department’s target to increase infrastructure spending, we are hiring more than a thousand of dedicated civil engineers nationwide to be part of our team of field engineers,” Singson said.

The 1,396 civil engineers will be hired as engineer II in the DPWh, with a monthly salary of P26,878.

An applicant must be a Bachelor of Science in Civil engineering graduate; has passed the Civil engineering Licen-sure examination given by the Profes-sional Regulation Commission (PRC); has a one year of relevant working experience with at least four hours of training. Preference is given to those who are not more than 30 years old, Singson said.

Those who meet the require-ments must submit to the DPWh the following: (1) completed Personal Data Sheet (CSC Form 212); (2) cov-ering letter; (3) original or authenti-cated Transcript of Records; and (4) authenticated copies PRC license and Certificates of Training. As an ad-ditional requirement, qualified appli-cants will have to pass the Computer Literacy exam being administered by the DPWh Information Management Service free of charge.

AS more aircraft become available for the Philippine Air Force (PAF), plans are now under way to further develop its air facilities in Cebu, according to PAF chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado.

he said this is possible as the Benito ebuen Air Base, which is in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, is very strategic as aircraft base, a facility can access and support operations in the western, southern and northern parts of the country. Inci-dentally, the PAF will celebrate its 68th founding anniversary at the former Clark Air Base in Pampanga this com-ing July 1 with President Aquino as the keynote speaker.

“We intend to put up more hangars for our fighter aircraft in the future and our transport aircraft, and helicopter hangars [in our Cebu air facilities] due to its strategic location,” the PAF chief said. PNA

DPwH ON THE LOOkOUT FOR 1,396 yOUNg CIvIL ENgINEERS

P.A.F. PLANS TO DEvELOP FURTHER CEBU AIR FACILITIES

Saturday, June 27, 2015

OpinionBusinessMirrorA6

How US may changethe PHL Constitution

editorial

THE United States-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the most contentious international treaty in memory.

It starts from the fact that the US government has not re-leased a full copy of the agreement. In fact, the most detailed

information comes from the group WikiLeaks. The controversy has been going on for 18 months, and negotiations started five years ago.

For an agreement that will cover about 40 percent of the global economy, shrouded in secrecy and confusion even from supporters, no one seems that enthusiastic about TPP, except government officials and multinational corporations.

US labor unions say that the TPP will allow a massive inflow of foreign workers pushing Americans out of their jobs. South Koreans are opposed, because the potential to disrupt their beef and rice industries is very real, as they must open up to foreign imports. Because the TPP requires signatories to adhere to US copyright regulations, Japanese artists are furious that the Japanese tradition of “self-publishing” will be curtailed.

All countries must also follow a drug-patent extension provision, which, according to the US publication the New England Journal of Medicine, will “cause an increase in medical drug prices in less-developed countries, as generic drugs might not be available until the US Food and Drug Administration gives its approval.”

As recently as April 3, Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo, said there is not enough time for the Philippines to join the TPP.

The song has now changed. From the BusinessMirror on June 25: “The Philippines is defi-nitely joining the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership bloc once presented the opportunity, Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said on Thursday.”

But here is the kicker: “The DTI noted that the TPP will require liberalizing restrictions on foreign-equity ownership and government procurement and adopting zero tariffs for all products with sensitivities to agriculture and industrial products. The DTI conceded that ‘se-lected sections of the Constitution may be amended at a certain point when the Philippines takes a solid step toward joining the TPP.’”

While we will give Domingo the benefit of the doubt for thinking out loud about possible future discussions, the irony of all this is unmistakable.

The Philippines is “definitely joining” a trade agreement of which no one in the pub-lic has seen the details. We have not been enlightened on any of the specific benefits or disadvantages to the Philippines. The TPP requires changes to the economic provi-sions of the Philippine Constitution that has strong opposition and that Congress has already tacitly rejected.

Why the sudden urgency for joining the TPP? Is there any chance at all that the Philippines must be a part of the TPP and change the Constitution because of US pres-sure in light of the current situation in the West Philippine Sea? Things are never what they appear to be.

THE last earthquake on the faults running through Metro Manila occurred several hundred years ago. We know that only through geologic record, as no one kept any

sort of historical record of that event. Yet, we are interested in understanding the risk and preparing for it, even if it might be another hundred years before anything happens.

What if the US dollar dies?

Yes, a major earthquake could happen tomorrow, but there is no particular reason to assume that will come to pass.

The foreign-currency exchange market (FX) and why a currency has a particular rate of exchange is a mystery to most people, although the reason is simplicity itself: the market decides. The foreign-currency mar-ket is the largest in the world, trading the equivalent of trillions of dollars around the clock and realistically never stopping, as the Middle East trades on the weekends.

Nations and their central banks can “peg” or fix the exchange rate of their currency to a specific “price” or keep it trading in a specific band of movement. Examples of countries with fixed rate to the US dollar are Hong Kong, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Nations that peg to the euro are Bulgaria, Denmark and the countries using the Central African

CFA franc. But, even these nations have different rates when compared to countries which do not use their pegged currency. But even nations that peg or “band” their exchange rate do so, because the market allows them to do that. Thailand pegged its baht to the US dollar until the market would no longer exchange dollars at the pegged rate.

Of the nearly $6 trillion transacted daily in the FX market, the vast ma-jority of currency-trading volume is based on speculation—traders buy-ing and selling for short-term gains based on price fluctuations. However, that is a somewhat distorted figure, since virtually all of these transac-tions are effectively “bets” between two individual people or institutions.

The actual transactions in cur-rency pairs, other than those created for betting, are made to take physi-cal delivery. If a Japanese import company wants to buy American

lumber, it must first “buy” US dollars to settle the transaction in the same way an American must buy euros to then buy a German Mercedes-Benz. More than 80 percent of all global trade is settled in US dollars.

This creates a rather strange situ-ation. If a Philippine importer wants to buy something from China, it, in effect, must buy dollars to pay the Chi-nese exporter. The Chinese exporter then uses the dollars to buy US goods or exchanges the dollars for Chinese renminbi. But what if all nations started settling their payments not in US dollars but in home currencies, with the Philippine importer paying in Philippine pesos?

The “value” of the dollar is not based on any intrinsic value but be-cause it is used as a medium of ex-change. Currently, China has signed a currency-swap agreement with 28 countries, including Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea. These nations will no longer buy dol-lars when doing business with China. Needless to say, the Philippines and China do not have a currency-swap agreement but we do have one with Japan.

What would happen if the major-ity of nations started settling trade without US dollars?

In just the past 100 years, the in-ternational monetary system has col-lapsed three times: in 1914, in 1939 and in 1971, when the US severed the dollar’s last ties to gold. In 1914 the UK was the banking and financial

center of the world, and the system fell because of bank runs in England and as World War I started, preventing England from financing world trade.

The same happened in 1939, as World War II began, again as global trade financing was disrupted. The third time in 1971 was when the US stopped the dollar’s convertibility to gold and the value of the dollar was no longer fixed. Up to 1971, gold had been the global settlement “currency.”

If and when the US dollar is no longer the trade currency, the effects would be monumental. If nations no longer had to buy dollars to settle trade, the value of the dollar would plummet, as there would be minimal demand, except for when buying US goods and services.

The control of the US government would crash also, as no longer would it have the power to decide to pick and choose who it wants to cut off from the US-dollar-based financial system, as it has recently done with Russia.

Like the earthquake, this will probably not happen tomorrow. But the Philippines must prepare for the time to come—which is al-most inevitable as things are going now—when the US dollar is not king of the currencies.

E-mail me at [email protected]. Visit my web site at www.mangunon-markets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-mar-ket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

OUTSIDE THE BOXJohn Mangun

WHEN the Chinese government proposed this week to end its decades-long policy of capped bank lending, there was good reason to be skeptical about its motives. China

had just had its biggest weekly stock plunge since 2008. The new policy—which would scrap a rule limiting bank lending to 75 percen t of deposits—seemed like the government’s latest attempt to artificially sustain economic growth at 7 percent.

China’s latest reform shouldn’t be its last

That suspicion may be entirely justi-fied. But it’s too soon to know for sure. Removing restrictions on bank lending could also turn out to be a big step by President Xi Jinping toward internation-alizing China’s financial system and put-ting it on more solid long-term footing.

But that will hinge on whether Xi has the courage to go one step farther, by ditching the government-imposed ceiling on deposit interest. Such a shift, which China’s central bank calls one of the “riskiest” the country must consider, would prove Xi is willing to put market forces in control of the country’s finan-cial system.

Removing the cap on interest rates that lenders pay on deposits would show

that the Communist Party is prepared to tolerate the uncertain effects of an open competition for cash. While it would mark a vital step toward internationaliz-ing the yuan, it would also be a financial Pandora’s box. The increase in volatility in the banking system could mean higher borrowing costs for companies, includ-ing the state enterprises that dominate China and enrich the Communist Party bigwigs looking over Xi’s shoulder.

That’s why Xi’s party would prob-ably prefer to put off reforming inter-est rates for a few more years. But in the absence of such a shift, Tuesday’s lending-cap proposal will only serve to gin up stock prices—at least until the stock bubble bursts.

Wednesday’s (June 24) 3.5-percent plunge in the Shanghai Composite sug-gests investors are beginning to sense China’s rally is mostly driven by momen-tum, not corporate earnings. Xi’s team hasn’t backed up the 124-percent surge in Shanghai shares over the past 12 months with structural changes to the Chinese economy. Moves to rein in state-owned enterprises have been vague and mod-est. The shadow-banking system Beijing pledged to curtail still churns out untold trillions of dollars of credit. Economic policy still favors smokestack industries that blacken China’s skies over services.

China’s worsening debt profile makes the stock boom look even more ephemeral. For a sense of the scale of China’s debt problem, consider Bloom-berg’s recent reporting on the north-ern port city of Tianjin. The city had planned to build its own Manhattan skyline dotted with ultra-modern sky-scrapers, riverside parks and six-lane highways. Today it looks more like the set of a post-apocalyptic zombie movie. Local-government debt alone now ex-ceeds the $3.7 trillion of currency re-serves Beijing has spent the last 15 years amassing. The Communist Party under-wrote this mania by cutting the cost of opening trading accounts and creating new avenues for margin lending. It also mounted a huge PR offensive to cloak share ownership in patriotic terms.

The good news is that Xi still has a window to get serious about putting China’s financial house in order. Two pri-vate-sector gauges of economic activity —HSBC’s purchasing managers’ index and a survey from advisory firm China Beige Book—suggest that the govern-ment’s stimulus efforts are gaining trac-tion. Recent moves to ease monetary policy and bolster provincial finances have increased the odds economic growth will approach Beijing’s target for the year. Even property “has started to show signs of improvement after 11 con-secutive months of price decline,” says Liu Li-Gang of Australia & New Zealand Bank. All this should give Xi breathing space to pursue more ambitious reforms, including on deposit interest.

Still, as long as China’s stock gains are outpacing its fundamentals, there’s reason to fear a massive fallout. At the moment, there are two ways for finan-cial turbulence in China—whose $10- trillion economic output is now roughly double Japan’s and nearly eight times South Korea’s—to reverberate around the globe: a debt crisis or plunging equities. Policy-makers from Seoul to Brasilia can only hope both don’t crash at once. With his shift on bank-lending policy, Xi may be signaling that he’s ready to create a more rational economic system. All the rest of us can do is hope the skeptics are wrong.

BLOOMBERG VIEWWilliam Pesek

HOM

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Caritas Manila strengthens social entrepreneurship programs

THE Caritas Manila believes that meaningful assistance must be an empowering process and are geared toward integral human development, and spiritual and socioeconomic

development of the poor.

As part of strengthening its so-cial entrepreneurship programs, the Caritas Manila recently opened new outlets for its Caritas Margins and Segunda Mana.

On June 22 an exhibit was opened at the Globe Telecom Inc. Tower Art Gallery in the Bonifacio Global City, featuring artworks made by inmates of the National Bilibid Prison using pyrography or wood burning.

Also made available are prod-ucts of Caritas Margins made by marginalized families, such as bags from Samar; buri fans from Quezon; banig mats from Albay; food items from Iloilo; and organic fruits and vegetables produced by farmers from Quezon, Sorsogon, Tarlac and other provinces.

The opening of the exhibit was graced by yours truly, together with Globe officials, namely, Rey-mond Aguilar, workplace manage-ment head; and Quimby Rodriguez, executive staff.

Last month Caritas Margins also opened an outlet at Level 1, Green-field District Pavilion, United Street, Mandaluyong City. The blessing and ribbon-cutting ceremony was also attended by Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino, Mandaluyong Mayor Ben-jamin Abalos, Renena Prieto and Emilie Cruz.

Caritas Margins works hand-in-hand with the Caritas Manila’s livelihood program, providing skills training, like tailoring, food process-ing and production of herbal soaps, perfumes and home-care product. It helps the livelihood of poor com-munities by encouraging their en-trepreneurial spirit. To date, Caritas Margins supports over 500 families in Metro Manila and the provinces by providing them livelihood op-portunities and in marketing their products.

Caritas Margins has a wide array of products, from food, home care and personal-hygiene products,

SERVANT LEADERRev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual

DATAbASECecilio T. Arillo

Our Lady of Piat: Strong testament of the Filipino faith

THERE is no doubt that, for centuries now, our society lives within the structures of the Catholic Church. All the 81 provinces, 144 cities and 1,490 towns in the country

have churches right at the middle of our social, economic and political life.

Even our historical past had its early beginnings with the church as the starting point when the country was created into a cohesive nation.

A recent publication of Calidad Humana, the project of former Am-bassador of Chile Roberto Mayorga, depicted the truth that the Filipino identity is parallel to the Calidad Humana of early Chilean society.

Calidad Humana referred to this Filipino identity as the kabutihang loob of the Filipino society. Kabu-tihang loob is an authentic Filipino expression of relationships with his fellowmen and country. At present, nevertheless, there are reasons to fear that Filipino society is expe-riencing the gradual extinction of these old authentic values of the Filipino society, said Ernesto R. Gonzales, a noted historian and economist.

A perfect example today of our historical past is the quiet town of Piat in Cagayan Valley, where, for centuries now, thousands of devo-tees, tourists and pilgrims flock to venerate and celebrate every July 2 the Feast of Our Lady of Piat, one of the world’s most worshipped and miraculous Marian images of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Known as the Black Virgin Mary, the Our Lady of Piat was sculptured in Macau, then a colony of Portu-gal, upon the request of Dominican missionaries and was eventually brought to the Philippines in 1604 and placed in Lal-lo, Cagayan, then the Episcopal See of Nueva Segovia.

From Lal-lo, the image was brought to Piat in 1622 and en-shrined in one of the two altars of the Church of Santo Domingo. As a testament to the love and devo-tion to the Our Lady of Piat, Fr. Juan de Santa Ana sent the image to Tuguegarao in the same year and ordered a “more beautiful” version from Manila to replace the image.

The move was met with public protest, and the people demanded that the original image be returned to them. Father Santa Ana relented and returned the image.

However, a d ispute arose between the people of Piat and Tuao as to where the sanctuary should be constructed. A solomonic solution was found when it was agreed to have the sanctuary built between Piat and Tuao.

Construction was completed in 1623 and on December 26, the image of Our Lady of Piat was brought in solemn procession from the parish of Santo Domingo to its new sanctuary.

“History tells us,” Gonzales said, “that the church was also in the hub of our struggles for freedom and self-determination as a free people of God. This church became the source of our spiritual strength; the beacon of revolutions and change in our country’s past and present; and is still the source of our values and identity as one nation who loves her God and people.”

One member of the local aris-tocracies of Piat, Doña Ines Ma-guilabbun, took upon herself the responsibility of camarera (care-taker) to the Our Lady of Piat. It was she who introduced the pious custom of keeping a votive light burning day and night before the image, a practice kept up to this date.

In the 1700s the people built a more spacious church of more

durable materials on a hill about a mile from the parish church of Santo Domingo. The present sanc-tuary was built by Rev. Fr. Diego Pinero and later restored by Fr. Jose Gurumeta in 1875.

On June 22, 1999, the sanctu-ary was elevated as a basílica mi-nore (minor basilica) by the Vati-can through rites officiated by the Vatican’s representative, Antonio María Cardinal Javierre Ortas. It was the first basílica minore in the region and the fourth in the Philippines.

The Our Lady of Piat is known for its many miracles spanning since its arrival.

One such popular miracle de-scribed in Wikipedia was in 1624 in the Itawes agricultural region, an area often experiencing severe droughts, when not a single drop of water had fallen for months as farmers tirelessly planted their seeds in vain. Fathers Juan de Santa Ana and Andres de Haro, vicars of Piat and Tuao, respectively, orga-nized a procession and rogation, imploring from heaven the much- needed rain

“But they were afraid,” said the Wikipedia, “that the new Chris-tians might falter in their faith or lose their trust in the power of prayer if the much-wanted result were not achieved.” As the two fathers insisted that the people repent from their sins during the procession, rains began to pour, first over Piat and then over Tuao, lasting for three days. That year the region saw an abudant harvest of crops.

Among other miracles attrib-uted to the Miraculous Lady were the boy who recovered from insan-ity; the devastating flood when the Itawes riverbank overflowed but did not damage the shrine; the man freed from the grip of an attacking crocodile; and the child cured from leprosy after praying for help.

The feast of the 411-year-old miraculous icon starts every last week of June with the Sambali Fes-tival, a religious and cultural rite which includes a novena, sports tournament, beauty contest, cul-tural dances and other indigenous presentations.

On July 1 Archbishop Sergio L. Utleg of the Archdiocese of Tugueg-arao will celebrate a Mass at 5 p.m., followed by a procession, and it will be ended on July 2 by a succession of Masses from 2 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

To reach the writer, e-mail [email protected].

By James A. Paul | Inter Press Services

Part 1

NEW YORK—It is hard to imagine today the public enthusiasm that greeted the founding of the United Nations in 1945. After massive suffering and social

collapse resulting from the Second World War, the UN seemed almost miraculous—a means at last to build peace, democracy and a just society on a global scale.

The UN at 70: United Nations disappoints on its 70th anniversary

Everywhere, hopes and aspirations were high. Seven decades later, results have fallen far short. On this anniver-sary, we can ask: What might have been possible and what is still possible from this institution that has inspired such passion, positive and negative, over the years?

The organization, of course, was not set up by the United States and its allies to fulfill the wishes of utopian thinkers. Though the Charter of 1945 invokes “We the Peoples,” the war vic-tors structured the UN as a conclave of nation-states that would express the will of its members—particularly themselves, the richest and most influ-ential countries.

Despite statesmen’s pronounce-ments about noble intentions, the UN’s most mighty members have never se-riously considered laying down their arms or sharing their wealth in an unequal world. They have been busy, instead, with the “Great Games” of the day—like securing oil and other resources, dominating client states and bringing down unfriendly gov-ernments.

Nevertheless, through the years, the UN has regularly attracted the hopes of reforming intellectuals, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), humanitarians and occasionally even some governments—with ideas about improvement to the global system and well-being on the planet. In the run-up to the 50th anniversary in 1995, many reports, conferences and books pro-

posed UN institutional reform, some of which advocated a direct citizen role in the organization.

Among the ideas were a chamber of directly elected representatives, a vital-ized General Assembly and a more rep-resentative Security Council, shorn of vetoes. Some thinkers wanted an insti-tution “independent” from—or, at least, buffered against—the sordid arena of great power politics. But most reform-ing ideas, including relatively moderate changes, have come to naught.

Governments of all stripes have had a very short-term perspective and a narrow, outmoded conception of their “national interest” in the international arena. They have shown remarkably little creativity and farsightedness, and they have taken care not to threaten powerful status quo interests.

The UN’s 70th anniversary has come at a moment of exhaustion and frustration among reformers that has sapped belief in creative change. We are at a low point in UN institutional prestige and public support. Not sur-prisingly, the organization has at-tracted few proposals and initiatives this time around.

As we know, the planet is facing un-precedented problems that the UN is in business to address: poverty, gross inequality, civil wars, mass migration, economic instability and worsening climate change. Secretaries-general have regularly appointed panels of distinguished persons to consider these “threats,” but member-states

have not been ready to produce ef-fective solutions.

Most of the money and energy at the UN in recent years has poured into “peacekeeping,” which is typically a kind of military intervention out-sourced by Washington and its allies. The organization, dedicated in theory to ending war, is ironically now a big ac-tor on the world’s battlefields. It has a giant logistics base in southern Italy, a military communications system, con-tracts with mercenaries, an intelligence operation, drones, armored vehicles and other accouterments of armed might. Meanwhile, the Department of Disarmament Affairs has seen its fund-ing and status decline considerably.

The richest and most powerful states like to blame the smaller and poorer countries for the UN reform impasse (fury at the “G-77”—the group of “developing” countries—can often be heard among well-fed Northern dip-lomats at posh New York restaurants). But, in fact, the big powers (with Wash-ington first among them) have been the most ardent “blockers”—strenuously opposed to a strong UN in nearly every respect, except military operations.

The big power blocking has been es-pecially strong when it comes to global economic policy, including proposals to strengthen the Social and Economic Council. The same powers have also kept the UN Environment Programme weak, while opposing progress in UN-sponsored climate negotiations.

Poor countries have complained, but they are not paragons of reform either: Their leaders are inclined to speak in empty populist rhetoric, demanding “aid,” while pursuing personal enrich-ment. We are far from a game-changing “new Marshall Plan” or a global mobili-zation for social justice that reformers rightly call for. Well-meaning NGOs re-peat regularly such ideas, with little ef-fect, in comfortable conference venues.

The UN has weakened as its member-states have grown weaker.

The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and global financial interests have pushed neoliberal re-forms for three decades, undermining national tax systems and downsizing the role of public institutions in eco-nomic and social affairs. Governments have privatized banks, airlines and industries, of course, and they have also privatized schools, roads, postal services, prisons and health care.

The vast new inequalities have led to more political corruption, a plague of lobbying, and frequent electoral mal-feasance, even in the oldest democra-cies. As a result, nation-states command less loyalty, respect and hope than they did in the past. Traditional centrist parties are losing their voters and the public is skeptical about governing in-stitutions at all levels, including the UN.

When nations cut their budgets, they cut the budget of the UN, too, small as it is. Bold steps to improve the UN would require money, self-confidence and a long-term view, but member-states are too weak, politically unstable, timid and financially insecure to take on such a task. As states slouch into socially, economically and politically conservative policies, the UN inexora-bly follows, losing its public constitu-ency in the process.

Tightening UN budgets have tilted the balance of power in the UN even more sharply toward the richest na-tions and the wealthiest outside players. Increasingly, faced with urgent needs and few resources, the UN holds out its beggar’s bowl for what amounts to charitable contributions, now totaling nearly half of the organization’s overall expenditures.

This “extrabudgetary” funding, enables the donors to define the projects and set the priorities. The purpose of common policy-making among all member-states has been all but forgotten.

To be continued

bags and more, made by urban-poor partners trained under the Caritas Manila skills training program and accessories, as well as handicrafts and artworks by resident-inmates under the Caritas Restorative Justice program.

Margins, coined from “margin-alized,” aims to empower the so-cially excluded individuals or groups through social entrepreneurship.

Through the generosity of Jeffrey Campos, chairman of Greenfield De-velopment Corp., Caritas Margins was able to get a pro bono space at Greenfield District Pavilion.

Other stores are at Caritas Ma-nila Head Office, 2002 Jesus Street, Pandacan, Manila; Mary Mart Mall, Valeria Street, Iloilo City; kiosks in Glorietta 3 and Greenbelt 1, Ayala Center, Makati City; and at Asian Hospital in Muntinlupa City.

Also last month the Caritas Ma-nila Segunda Mana opened its 20th charity outlet at Ang Palengke Natin service cooperative on Hito Street, Barangay Longos, Malabon City.

The blessing and opening was at-tended by Malabon City Vice Mayor Jeannie Sandoval, and other former Malabon City officials Ben Galauran and Enzo Oreta.

Segunda mano are preloved items, such as clothes, shoes, bags, toys, home and fashion accessories, at af-fordable prices. The Caritas Manila’s Segunda Mana advocates the 3Rs: reuse, reduce and recycle. These 20 charity outlets, likewise, provide

employment to almost 6.7-percent unemployed from the urban-poor sector and livelihood to families who make trading as their source of income.

You can support Segunda Mana by donating items which you no longer need, have excess of, or your com-pany’s old but reusable items, slow-moving and old inventories. You may visit any of our 20 charity outlets in our main office at 2002 Jesus Street, Pandacan, Manila, or in our partner malls in Starmall Edsa, Alabang and Las Piñas branches; Victory Mall Caloocan, Alabang, Pasay, Las Piñas and Lacson-Quiapo branches; Sta. Lu-cia East; Greenfield District; Isetann Recto; Riverbanks Marikina; Farmer’s Plaza Cubao; Makati Square; Harrison Plaza, Comoda Ville Antipolo; San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan; and Sanctif Josef Commercial Malabon.

Proceeds of both Caritas Margins and Segunda Mana help sustain the Caritas Manila flagship Youth Ser-vant Leadership and Education Pro-gram, which focuses on education for the underprivileged youth, sup-porting 5,000 scholars nationwide.

To know more about the programs of Caritas Manila, visit www.caritas.org.ph. For donations, call 563-9311. For inquiries, call 563-9308 or 563-9298. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph. For comments, e-mail [email protected].

Known as the Black Virgin Mary, the Our Lady of Piat was sculptured in Macau, then a colony of Portugal, upon the request of Dominican missionaries and was eventually brought to the Philippines in 1604 and placed in Lal-lo, Cagayan, then the Episcopal See of Nueva Segovia From Lal-lo, the image was brought to Piat in 1622 and enshrined in one of the two altars of the Church of Santo Domingo.

GENERAL Gregorio Pio P. Cata-pang Jr. is now less than a month from the mandatory

retirement age. When he came into office as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, he projected a lot of things, including the very bold promise to declare the whole country as “peaceful and ready for further development,” before he steps down. Regardless of how that “declara-tion” translates on the ground, we

know that he’s not going to reach his target. But we already know that, don’t we? With the latest additions of Negros Occidental, Albay and Cama-rines Sur, he’s still short by around 20 more provinces.

We need to understand, though, with the persistent insurgency prob-lem rooted at socioeconomic, politi-cal and even ideological stagnation in both rural and urban areas of the country, this isn’t something the

military could, or should, solve on its own. Ignoring possible statistical meanderings that serve as basis for the declarations, P-Noy’s adminis-tration still have plenty of time to render insurgency irrelevant. But a lot of things could happen and mo-mentum could sway both ways with the 2016 elections getting closer. We need everyone’s cooperation.

Jessie R. MartinezTernate, Cavite

Politics may overshadow fight vs insurgency

Please e-mail your letters to the editor to [email protected]. Letters chosen for publication in this sec-tion are edited for brevity and clarity.

MAIL

By Recto Mercene

The Philippines achieved a historic milestone of sorts when the euro-pean Union (eU) announced on

Thursday that all aircraft registered with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) can now fly to the 28-member bloc.

A8

2ndFront PageBusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.phSaturday, June 27, 2015

EU lifts ban on PHL carriers

Tubbataha Reef gets certificateof excellence from TripAdvisorPUERTO PRINCESA CITY—American

travel web-site company TripAdvi-sor.com has awarded the Tubbataha

Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) the prestigious certificate of excellence for consistent great travel reviews posted by travelers all over the world. According to the Tubbataha Manage-ment Office (TMO), headed by Angelique Songco, the certificate of excellence makes the world-known marine park as winner this year of the travel superiority award due to a number of reviews posted by tourists who have gone to the site off Cagayancillo town in Palawan. The certificate was signed by Stephen Kaufer, president and CEO of TripAdvisor. The TMO thanks all its visitors for the positive reviews they posted about their

experience in Tubbataha. Many of the reviews actually mentioned Tubbataha as one of their favorites and one of the best sites they have visited. The TMO shares the award to the dive operators, who are in the frontline of tourism activities in Tubbataha, for keeping the standard of live-aboard and diving ser-vices above par. T he TR NP is an under water na-ture reserve that “is considered both a mecca for scuba divers and model for coral- reef conservation.” It is a 97,030-hectare marine-protected area (MPA) in Palawan, the westernmost Philippine province. It is located 150 kilome-ters southeast of Puerto Princesa City, at the heart of the Coral Triangle, the global center of marine biodiversity. PNA

‘Monetary officials show signs of subtle shift in policy stance’

By Bianca Cuaresma

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) may be showing the first signs of a subtle shift in language in the formulation of mon-

etary policy, an economist from a local bank-ing giant said. In a special commentary following on Thursday’s monetary-policy meeting, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Research Officer Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said a careful analysis would show hints of a subtle shift in tone of the monetary authorities in June this year. Mapa compared the central bank ’s concluding policy statements in June this year with the policy statements in the May 2015 policy meeting of the BSP and found differences in the language of the BSP in terms of the appropriateness of monetary-policy settings, risks to infla-tion outlook, domestic demand conditions

and economic momentum. Changes in the way the central bank’s language toward the monetary-policy set-ting is often watched closely by markets, as these dictate forward guidance to their future movements without central banks giving too much away. In particular, Mapa found the following changes: ■ Appropriateness of monetary-policy settings June: Within-target inflation forecasts and underlying strength of domestic demand conditions. May: Manageable inflation environment.

■Upside risk to the inflation June: Impact of stronger-than-expected el Niño on food prices and utility. May: Pending petitions for adjustments in electricity rates and possible power.

HOTCHKISS: “The Caap [Civil Aviation

Authority of the Philippines] achieved

the EU [European Union] aviation safety standards due to good corporate governance,

and the road to sustainability is still in

progress until 2020.”

See “Monetary officials,” A2

T he a nnouncements were made simultaneously in Manila at 6:30 p.m., and in Brussels, Bel-gium, at 10 a.m., lifting the ban that the EU air-safety committee imposed in 2010. “That gives me the great plea-sure of sharing with you that all airlines certified in the Philip-pines have been removed on Fri-day from the European Air Safety List, and are, therefore, allowed to operate in European airspace,”

EU Chargé d ’Affaires Lubomir Frebort said. Frebort made the announce-ment at the Caap headquarters in Pasay City, in the presence of ranking officials of the agency, in-cluding representatives of various commercial airlines and members of the media. Prior to the lifting of the ban, only Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific were allowed to access EU airspace. The EU lifted the ban on PAL in 2013, while Cebu Pacific started flying to European coun-tries last year. Philippine carriers could not fly to the EU after the Federal Avia-tion Administration downgraded the country’s aviation status to Category 2. Frebort said a formal letter an-nouncing the lifting of the ban will follow and will be sent to various stakeholders. Caap chief William Hotchkiss III (Ret.) AFP said they were able to regain the “world safety standard

after five years of hard labor,” and promised that the road to sustain it is “a work in progress.” “The Caap achieved the EU avi-ation-safety standards due to good corporate governance, and the road to sustainability is still in progress until 2020,” Hotchkiss said. Frebort said the EU l ifted the ban based on two criteria— the oversight capacity of the Caap when it comes to the airlines reg-istered in the Philippines, and the capacity of management of those airlines to comply with all those safety requirements. “The EU assessed those criteria and once there was guarantee [from the Caap], the EU air-safety com-mittee decided that this capacity is sustainable,” he said. He added that the Philippines is an important partner of the EU with a sizable and growing aviation sector. “Today’s breaking news can serve as a bright example for other countries which still encounter

difficulties in matching their safety oversight capabilities with the growth of their industries,” Frebort added. He said the Philippines’s achieve-ment is “very significant because, for the first time, not just some, but all airlines registered in the country were removed from the ban.” “In case of other countries, a couple of airlines are removed, but the majority of others are still on the blacklist,” Frebort added. He said there are still 20 coun-tries covered by the EU ban, affect-ing more than 223 airlines which are on the blacklist. “From time to time, some airlines of some coun-tries are removed from the list to comply with air-safety standards, but this is the first time that the entire sector, all airlines registered in one country, in this case the Philippines ,were removed from the blacklist.” Frebort said opening the coun-try to Europe would probably en-courage other European airlines

to come back, since only KLM f lies to Manila through a third-country connection. “I believe some big European airlines are now in the process of assessing what might be the best time for resumption of flights in the Philippines, and maybe the fact that Philippine carriers want to fly to Europe will encourage them also for practical reasons to resume their direct flights to the Philippines,” he said. He added that aside from the lifting of the ban, European airlines could also be encouraged to come, since the issue of double taxation has been resolved a few years back. AirAsia Philippines CEO Jose-phine Cañeba hailed the lifting of the ban. “This will encourage more Euro-peans to travel to the Philippines and increase our tourists to be able to reach the DOT [Department of Tourism] target of 10 million and improve the economy which is doing pretty well at the moment,” she said.

only be 2 percent.Should inflation hit 2 per-cent, which is the ceiling of Tetangco’s forecast for the month, the average inflation for the period would be more or less 2.2 percent. In either case, the numbers are a decel-eration from the previous year’s inflation averaging 4.4 percent. Inflation trended up in the mid months last year and peaked in the July/August pe-riod, a development that further boosts price pressures in the remaining months as statis-tical base effects come into play. The central bank, nevertheless, remained confident that inflation this year will fall within the government’s target as it did the past six years.

“We may continue to see low rates of inflation in the very near term. We see inflation moving back up to within target range toward the latter part of this year,” BSP Managing Director Fran-cisco G. Dakila Jr. said after the rate-meeting of the Monetary Board on Thursday. The BSP lowered its inflation forecast for the year to only 2.1 percent from 2.3 percent announced earlier. For next year, the BSP said inflation was seen hitting 2.5 percent, slightly lower than the 2.6 percent earlier announced. “Moving forward, the BSP will remain watchful of developments in price pressures and stands ready to undertake policy action to help ensure price and financial stability,” the central bank governor said.

Inflation. . . Continued from A1

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