BusinessMirror April 1, 2015

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THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is backing the proposal of

the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) to limit the declaration of non-working holidays.

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PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 44.7960 ■ JAPAN 0.3729 ■ UK 66.2981 ■ HK 5.7766 ■ CHINA 7.2162 ■ SINGAPORE 32.5742 ■ AUSTRALIA 34.2372 ■ EU 48.4961 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 11.9427 Source: BSP (31 March 2015)

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VERTIS NORTH CHANGES

THE BUSINESS AND LIFESTYLE LANDSCAPE IN QUEZON CITY

INSIDE

NATIONAL ARTISTS

SISTERSON WAR

PATH

D4 Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Artwww.businessmirror.com.phBusinessMirror

B S J

THE Order of the National Artists Award (Orden ng Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining) is the most noteworthy national distinction given to Filipino individuals who have made huge contributions to

the advancement of Philippine expression and the arts—to be specific, in music, dance, theater, visual arts, literature, film and broadcast arts, and architecture and allied arts.

Mutually controlled and administered by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CPP), and bestowed by the president of the Philippines upon the suggestion by both institutions, the order aims to recognize Filipino artists who have made significant contributions to the cultural heritage of the country, and to give due honor to Filipino artistic accomplishment at its highest level and creative expression as significant to the development of a national cultural identity, and also to individuals who have dedicated their lives to their works to forge new paths and directions for future generations of Filipino artists.

National Artists are given a Grand Collar symbolizing their status, usually during a conferment ceremony at Malacañan Palace. Likened to the US National Medal for the Arts, and the Order of Culture of Japan, the honor is given to recipients who exemplify the highest ideals of humanities and aesthetics and ideal expression of Filipinos as exemplified by their outstanding works and contributions. Thus, the award is one of the highest distinctions presented by the Republic of the Philippines that encapsulates the country’s goals in the humanities.

These accomplishments are measured according to their artistic vision, understanding, imagination, creative ability and technical mastery.

The award was established under Proclamation 1001, dated April 27, 1972, to give suitable distinction to Filipinos who have made extraordinary commitments to Philippine arts and letters. The first award was given to Fernando Amorsolo. Proclamation 1144, dated May 15, 1973, named the CCP Board of Trustees as the National Artist Awards Committee, and Presidential Decree 208 issued on June 7, 1973, repeated the mandate of the CCP to give the award, as well as outline the benefits and honors of National Artists.

However, Republic Act 356, dated April 2, 1992, gave the NCCA wide responsibility over the advancement of Filipino culture and the arts, including the giving of awards. Executive Order 236, dated September 19, 2003, generally known the Honors Code of the Philippines, raised the award to the level of a cultural order, fourth in precedence among the orders and distinctions that comprise the honors of the Philippines, and equivalent in rank to the Order of National Scientists, renaming the National Artist Award to the

Order of National Artists. Here are the privileges provided to those conferred

with the Order of National Artists: First, the rank and title of National Artist, as proclaimed by the President of the Philippines; the National Artist gold-plated medallion minted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and citation; lifetime material and physical benefits comparable in value to those received by the highest officers of the land, such as a minimum cash award of P200,000, net of taxes for living awardees, and a minimum cash award of P150,000, net of taxes for posthumous awardees, payable to legal heirs; a minimum lifetime personal monthly stipend of P30,000; life-insurance coverage for those who are still insurable; a state-funeral benefit not exceeding P500,000; and a place of honor, in line with protocol, in state functions, national commemoration ceremonies and all other cultural presentations.

Anyone who meets the criteria for the order may be nominated by the government and non-governmental cultural organizations and educational institutions, as

well as private foundations and councils, except agencies attached to the NCCA and CCP. Likewise, NCCA and CCP board members and consultants and NCCA and CCP officers and staff, and NCCA committee members are automatically disqualified from being nominated.

However, the criteria is broad and includes living artists who have been Filipino citizens for the last 10 years prior to nomination, as well as those who have died after the establishment of the award in 1972 but were Filipino citizens at the time of their death; artists who have helped build a Filipino sense of nationhood through the content and form of their works; artists who have distinguished themselves by pioneering in a mode of creative expression or style, making an impact on succeeding generations of artists; artists who have created a significant body of work or have consistently displayed excellence in the practice of their art form, enriching artistic expression or style; and artists who enjoy broad acceptance through prestigious national or international recognition, awards in prestigious

national or international events, critical acclaim or reviews of their works, and respect and esteem from peers within an artistic discipline.

Such nominations are made in writing and are submitted to the National Artist Secretariat that is created by the National Artist Award Committee. A First Deliberation composed experts from different art fields prepares a short list of nominees. A Second Deliberation of a joint meeting of the commissioners of the NCCA and the board of trustees of the CCP decides on the final list. This is then forwarded to the president of the Philippines, who confers the honors.

For our purposes, we shall only list the National Artists for visual arts, sculpture and painting. They are Napoleon V. Abueva, Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz, Francisco Coching, Ang Kiukok, Victorio C. Edades, Cesar Legaspi, Vicente S. Manansala, Hernando R. Ocampo, Benedicto R. Cabrera, Abdulmari A. Imao, Amorsolo, Carlos “Botong” V. Francisco, Arturo R. Luz, J. Elizalde Navarro, Guillermo E. Tolentino and Jose T. Joya. ■

The National Artists

FERNANDO C. AMORSOLO was the first National Artist. GUILLERMO E. TOLENTINO was the second awardee and the first recipient for sculpture.

SILVERLENS (www.silverlensgalleries.com (www.silverlensgalleries.com ( ) presents www.silverlensgalleries.com) presents www.silverlensgalleries.com A Short History of Decay, the first solo exhibition of History of Decay, the first solo exhibition of History of Decay London-based Filipino artist Pio Abad in Silverlens Singapore. On view until April 12, the exhibition is comprised of new drawings and sculptures that further explores the artist’s ongoing interest in inventories and the social and political implications of objects.

Taking the title of the show from Emil Cioran’s book A Short History of Decay, Abad adapts both the nihilistic stance and History of Decay, Abad adapts both the nihilistic stance and History of Decayaphoristic construction of its pages, creating a series of large-scale drawings that echo the Romanian philosopher’s argument that “consciousness changes only its forms and modalities, but never progresses.” While examining how one’s individual identity may play out over a multitude of objects, Abad extends the inquiry further by asking how the same objects may intersect with the progression (or nonprogression) of a nation’s or a civilization’s

collective memory?Portrayed objectively in black and white and in an unaffected

manner, these items turn into unassailable, concrete evidences. These objects, which seem disparate in nature with their own unique historical contexts (museum acquisitions, ethnic utensils, historical relics, electronic devices, common household tools, natural artifacts, accidental rubbish), have been organized by way in which not to signify the singularity of their object-hood, but rather to represent the peculiarity of one’s personal encounters with them. Their placement next to each other leads to the construction of a universal reading; one which connects each item as if forming a pattern or a unique picture-message to communicate the idea that knowledge and history, while conceived in different forms, refer to the same world and ultimately subscribe to the same decadent end.

Pio Abad at Silverlens Singapore

‘Ronald Ventura: Big and Small’ at Ayala Ayala A MuseumAYAAYAAY LA Museum welcomes the summer season with a new exhibition, entitled A Museum welcomes the summer season with a new exhibition, entitled A Ronald Ventura: Big and Small, Joel Mendez, MD, Collection, featuring early works by the region’s entura: Big and Small, Joel Mendez, MD, Collection, featuring early works by the region’s entura: Big and Small, Joel Mendez, MD, Collectionmost sought-after contemporary artist today.

Considered by many to be the most exciting artist to emerge from the Philippines in the beginning of the 21st century— a view intensified after his stately painting Grayground fetched a record-breaking $1.1 million at the 2011 Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong—Ventura is first and foremost admired for his technical mastery of the classical human figure. The works featured in the ongoing exhibit include over a hundred male and female nude paintings and anatomical studies dating as early as 1998 until the mid-2000s from the collection of physician and gallery owner Joel Mendez, MD. Ventura’s dramatization of the human form is apparent regardless of the size of his canvas, hence the title of exhibition. Marking a very early period in Ventura’s career, the collection, in the truest sense, strips his art off its characteristic potpourri of imagery and reveals what lies at its very foundation: the human body and its language. Art critic Alice Guillermo makes note of this in the book Realities: Ronald Ventura when she said, “The basis of his art is his entura when she said, “The basis of his art is his enturamastery of anatomy, so that having gone through the entire gamut of male and female nudes in all postures, stances and attitudes, he has assumed the capability of distorting the human body, clothed or unclothed, or of morphing it in the most unexpected ways.”

Ronald Ventura: Big and Small, Joel Mendez, MD Collection is presented under Ayala entura: Big and Small, Joel Mendez, MD Collection is presented under Ayala entura: Big and Small, Joel Mendez, MD CollectionMuseum’s Collector Series exhibition program, which aims to expand the understanding and appreciation of local and international art by providing the opportunity to view artworks that are usually not seen in public, especially a body of work of a single artist whom a collector admires.

The show is ongoing until April 26 at the Ayala Museum Ground Floor Gallery (www.ayalamuseum.org).ayalamuseum.org).ayalamuseum.org

SportsSportsBusinessMirrorSports C1 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2015

SISTERSON WAR PATH

B M KMiami Herald

IT is March 20, 1997, and Venus Williams, a 16-year-old newcomer to the professional tennis tour, is playing at the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne for the first time. Her beaded braids fly with every serve and powerful groundstroke as she

takes a 6-1 lead over an older American player named Ginger Helgeson-Nielsen.

That’s when the shrieking began from the stands. A rat was running loose, creating a commotion. The match was suspended 15 minutes while the rodent was caught and removed. Williams, who was ranked No. 110 at the time, went on to win, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, and then beat 23rd-ranked Jennifer Capriati before losing to No. 1 Martina Hingis in straight sets.

She took home a paycheck of $6,750.Eighteen years and $30 million later, there Williams

was again, a few months shy of her 35th birthday, winning her 57th match on these now oh-so-familiar Key Biscayne tournament grounds.

She beat Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), on Monday afternoon to advance to the Miami Open quarterfinals, where she will face 12th-seeded Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain, who rallied to beat Agnieszka Radwanska, 5-7, 6-0, 6-4.

Williams is two wins away from a potential final against her kid sister, 33-year-old top-ranked Serena, who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2, 6-3, on Monday.

As the younger Williams wrapped up her match on Stadium Court, the elder Venus was in an interview room, reminiscing about that rat-infested day of 1997.

“At that age I was so young and didn’t know much,” Williams said, smiling. “I think I was playing Ginger Helgeson-Nieslen. I played Capriati in the second round. It was a long match. Hingis, at that time, was so much better than I was. I had a lot of potential, but I needed some more experience.

“She definitely, definitely dominated that match, but it was a good experience I learned from.”

Over the past 18 years, Venus has reached No. 1 and won 46 titles, including five Wimbledons and two US Opens.

Venus’s ranking took a major dive from No. 5 to No. 103 in 2011 when she was off seven months after being diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, an auto-immune disease.

She began 2014 ranked No. 47, and many fans and experts figured she would not return to the Top 10. Now, she is within striking distance at No. 16. She has won seven of her past eight matches against Top 10 players.

In men’s third-round play, four-time champion Novak Djokovic defeated qualifier Steve Darcis, 6-0, 7-5, and will next face Alexandr Dolgopolov. No. 4 Kei Nishikori and No. 5 Milos Raonic also won.

No. 22 John Isner, the lone remaining American in the men’s draw, defeated No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov, 7-6 (2), 6-2.

While Serena Williams, 33, has been ranked No. 1 for the past two years, Venus’s fortunes are only lately on the upswing after health issues caused a long slump that stirred retirement speculation.

In January at the Australian Open, she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in five years before losing, and with the victory over Wozniacki, she’s 4-0 in 2015 against Top 10 players.

Venus skipped Indian Wells, where Serena recently ended a 14-year family boycott after being booed there as a teenager. Venus said it was wonderful to see the warm reception her sister received there this month, but was noncommittal regarding whether she’ll return.

Given the way she’s playing lately, she might have several chances. Williams credits her persistence and optimistic nature for her recent resurgence, which comes more than three years after she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that can cause joint pain and sap energy.

“I don’t give up, and I believe in myself no matter what the odds are and what you may experience,” she said. “I have always seen it as something to overcome, and not something that could stop me.”

Unlike her sister, she has never tired of tennis, a problem for some top players even before their skills decline.

“I never get bored, actually,” Venus said. “Tennis is definitely not pushing paper. I mean, when you get out there you have no idea what’s going to happen in the point. You can try to plan it the best you can, but it’s all up in the air. You have to improvise every single time. That never gets boring.”

Williams won Monday with her familiar high-wire approach, swinging aggressively from the baseline. Sometimes she missed badly, but she hit 40 winners to nine for Wozniacki.

“Today I played similar to how young V would have played, either knocking a winner or knocking an error,” she said, with a grin. “It’s fun to just hit

out, though. It feels good.”She moved forward more often than in the past,

winning 14 points at the net, and used her long strides to chase down balls in the corners and extend rallies.

The stadium crowd applauded Williams’s staying power. So did the 21-year-old Stephens, who could face her in the final.

“She is a superhuman,” Stephens said. “ I don’t know how she does it.”

“She just has so much belief in herself and her ability,” said US Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez, an analyst

for ESPN. “It is a great story for sure.”Key Biscayne has always ranked among Williams’s

favorite tournaments, because she lives 90 minutes up I-95 in Palm Beach Gardens. She’s playing in the event for the 16th time, which leaves lots of room for reminiscing.

“My first match here, there was a rat in the stands,” she said, with a laugh. “They had to stop the match. That was intense.”

She enjoys looking back, and also looking ahead. She’ll face Carla Suarez Navarro on Tuesday night for a berth in the semifinals.

Eighteen years and $30 million later, there

Venus Williams was again, a few months shy

of her 35th birthday, winning her 57th match

on these now oh-so-familiar Key Biscayne tournament grounds.

FALCONS FINED FORFALCONS FINED FOR‘FAKING IT’‘FAKING IT’NN EW YORK—The National Football League (NFL) said

on Monday it has fined the Atlanta Falcons, stripped the organization of a draft pick and suspended

Team President Rich McKay from the league’s Competition Team President Rich McKay from the league’s Competition Committee for at least three months, following the team’s use Committee for at least three months, following the team’s use of artificial crowd noise at home games.of artificial crowd noise at home games.

The league said that, throughout the 2013 season and into the 2014 season, the Falcons violated league rules that state “at the 2014 season, the Falcons violated league rules that state “at no point during the game can artificial crowd noise or amplified crowd noise be played in the stadium.”

The league also said Roddy White, the team’s former director of event marketing, was directly responsible for the violation and would have been suspended without pay for the first eight weeks of the 2015 regular season had he still been with the club.

White was fired by the Falcons after the issue came to light.Atlanta must also forfeit its fifth-round pick in the 2016

draft. If the team has multiple picks in that round, the highest selection will be taken away.

“Our review also determined that Falcons ownership and senior executives, including Team President Rich McKay, were unaware of Mr. White’s use of an audio file with artificial crowd noise,” said Troy Vincent, the NFL’s vice president of football operations. “However, Mr. McKay, as the senior club executive overseeing game operations, bears some responsibility for ensuring that team employees comply with league rules.”

For owner Arthur Blank, the incident has been a huge embarrassment on top of firing longtime Coach Mike Smith after last season and dealing with criticism over a pricey seat-licensing plan to help fund the team’s new stadium.

“What took place was wrong and nowhere near the standards by which we run our business,” Blank said in a statement. “Anytime there are actions that compromise the integrity of the NFL or threaten the culture of our franchise, as this issue did, they will be dealt with swiftly and strongly.”

Beginning April 1, McKay will be suspended from his position as chairman of the Competition Committee, an influential group that considers NFL rule changes. He can petition Commissioner Roger Goodell for reinstatement no sooner than June 30.

The Falcons accepted the penalties handed down by the NFL.“We understand the penalties imposed and their impact on

our team, and we will not appeal the league’s decisions,” Blank said. “Further, we have addressed the matter internally and taken actions to ensure that something like this does not happen again.”

Blank told the Associated Press in early February that he had seen enough of the NFL’s investigation to acknowledge wrongdoing by his club in 2013, when the Falcons were touted as a Super Bowl contender but struggled to a 4-12 record. Last seaso Atlanta went into the season finale with a chance to make the playoffs in the weak NFC South, but lost to Carolina at home and finished 6-10.

The Falcons say 101 of 103 games have been sellouts since Blank bought the team in 2002. Last season Atlanta ranked 10th among the 32 NFL teams with its average home attendance of 72,130, though there were clearly more empty seats as the team struggled.

Construction is under way for a new $1.4-billion stadium that will replace the Georgia Dome in 2017. AP

Sports C1 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, [email protected]@businessmirror.com.phEditor: Jun Lomibao

SISTERSON WAR PATH

overseeing game operations, bears some responsibility for ensuring that team employees comply with league rules.”

For owner Arthur Blank, the incident has been a huge embarrassment on top of firing longtime Coach Mike Smith after last season and dealing with criticism over a pricey seat-licensing plan to help fund the team’s new stadium.

“What took place was wrong and nowhere near the standards by which we run our business,” Blank said in a statement. “Anytime there are actions that compromise the integrity of the NFL or threaten the culture of our franchise, as this issue did, they will be dealt with swiftly and strongly.”

Beginning April 1, McKay will be suspended from his position as chairman of the Competition Committee, an influential group that considers NFL rule changes. He can petition Commissioner Roger Goodell for reinstatement no sooner than June 30.

The Falcons accepted the penalties handed down by the NFL.“We understand the penalties imposed and their impact on

our team, and we will not appeal the league’s decisions,” Blank said. “Further, we have addressed the matter internally and taken actions to ensure that something like this does not happen again.”

Blank told the Associated Press in early February that he had seen enough of the NFL’s investigation to acknowledge wrongdoing by his club in 2013, when the Falcons were touted as a Super Bowl contender but struggled to a 4-12 record. Last seaso Atlanta went into the season finale with a chance to make the playoffs in the weak NFC South, but lost to Carolina at home and finished 6-10.

The Falcons say 101 of 103 games have been sellouts since Blank bought the team in 2002. Last season Atlanta ranked 10th among the 32 NFL teams with its average home attendance of 72,130, though there were clearly more empty seats as the team struggled.

Construction is under way for a new $1.4-billion stadium that will replace the Georgia Dome in 2017.

ON WAR PATHIn men’s third-round play, four-time champion

Novak Djokovic defeated qualifier Steve Darcis, 6-0, 7-5, and will next face Alexandr Dolgopolov. No. 4 Kei Nishikori and No. 5 Milos Raonic also won.

No. 22 John Isner, the lone remaining American in the men’s draw, defeated No. 9

While Serena Williams, 33, has been ranked No. 1 for the past two

lately on the upswing after health issues caused a long slump that stirred

In January at the Australian Open, she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in five years before losing, and with the victory over Wozniacki, she’s 4-0

Venus skipped Indian Wells, where Serena recently ended a 14-year family boycott after being booed there as a teenager. Venus said it was wonderful to see the warm reception her sister received there this month, but was noncommittal

Given the way she’s playing lately, she might have several chances. Williams credits her persistence and optimistic nature for her recent resurgence, which comes more than three years after she was

disease that can cause joint pain and

“I don’t give up, and I believe in myself no matter what the odds are and what you may experience,” she said. “I have always seen it as something to overcome, and not something that could stop me.”

Unlike her sister, she has never tired of tennis, a problem for some top players even before their

“I never get bored, actually,” Venus said. “Tennis is definitely not pushing paper. I mean, when you get out

VENUS WILLIAMS beats Caroline Wozniacki (below) and is potentially on track to facing sister Serena (inset) at Key Biscayne. AP

THAI PM TO LIFT MARTIAL LAW 10 MOS AFTER COUPTHAILAND’S military-

installed prime minister said on Tuesday he plans

to lift martial law 10 months after staging a coup, but will invoke a special security mea-sure that critics say is more draconian. The development has sparked concern from human-rights groups, lawyers, politi-cal parties and scholars who say the measure, Article 44 of a junta-imposed interim con-stitution, gives Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha unchecked authority over all three branch-es of government. Prayuth, the former army commander who led the May

22, 2014, coup that overthrew an elected government, told reporters on Tuesday that he is seeking King Bhumibol Aduly-adej’s approval to revoke mar-tial law. The monarch’s approval is considered a formality. Prayuth has faced growing pressure to scrap martial law, which places the military in charge of public security na-tionwide and has been criti-cized as a deterrent to tourists and foreign investors. Thai media have referred to Article 44 as “the dictator law.” Under a similar law in the 1960s, a Thai dictator carried out sum-mary executions.

DOLE backs plea to limit holidaysJFC WANTS FLEXIBILITY IF NUMBER OF HOLIDAYS EXCEEDS 15 PER YEAR

ART D4

SPORTS C1

Maybank: Firms need to ‘rethink’ Asean strategies

SMARTPHONE DOMINATION

PC SECURITY UPGRADES A WELCOME ANTIDOTE TO BREACHES »D2Life

Wednesday, April 1, 2015 D1

Life BusinessMirror

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

OO H Lord, hear our prayer, listen to our cry for H Lord, hear our prayer, listen to our cry for H Lord, hear our prayer, listen to our cry for mercy, answer us, You who are righteous mercy, answer us, You who are righteous and faithful. Do not bring Your servant to and faithful. Do not bring Your servant to

judgment, for no mortal is just in Your sight. We wish to stand with clean mind, heart and soul before wish to stand with clean mind, heart and soul before You, oh God, to please You ever. We wish to be certain that You are pleased with what we do all the certain that You are pleased with what we do all the days of our lives. Amen.

Righteous and faithful

VIRGIE SALAZAR AND LOUIE M. LACSONVIRGIE SALAZAR AND LOUIE M. LACSONWord&Life Publications • [email protected]@yahoo.com

LG G3 HOLDS GRANDCELEBRATION SALEANDROID users have one great reason to celebrate this summer, as no less than “Best Smartphone” LG G3 is on a grand sale until April 5 in honor of its recent victory at this year’s Mobile World Congress. The 32GB variant of the LG G3 is currently retailing for P29,990 from its P35,990 SRP, allowing purchasers a substantial P6,000 worth of savings for the coveted handset.

“We are truly excited about all the acclaim that our current flagship smartphone is garnering both internationally and locally,” LG Mobile Philippines Vice President Jay Won said. “This celebration sale is to thank our consumers for all their great support, and for being our inspiration to innovate products that make life simpler and smarter.”

The renowned LG G3 sports a vibrant 5.5-inch quad HD display with razor-sharp image quality and a powerful 2.5-GHz quad-core processor, while its 13-megapixel camera that boasts of Optical Image Stabilization Plus and Laser Auto Focus. Simple and intuitive features, such as the KnockCode, Smart Keyboard and Gesture for Selfie, are packed into the G3’s slim, sleek and modern body. The LG G3 celebration sale (bit.ly/LGG3CelebSale) bit.ly/LGG3CelebSale) bit.ly/LGG3CelebSaleis available in all LG concept stores nationwide.

B P SPittsburgh Post-Gazette

IN case you haven’t raised your head long enough to notice the throngsof people gazing hypnotically attheir smartphones, the nation has passed a milestone.

Smartphones now make up 75 percentof the mobile-phone market, up from 65 percent a year ago and just 2 percent adecade ago, according to the Internet analytics firm comScore.

Put another way, three-quarters of Americans age 13 and older now have smartphones. Most other people have some other type of cell phone, such as a flip phone or TracFone, used mostly for old-fashioned talking. The percentage of people who don’t own any kind of mobile phone is so low it’s not worth mentioning, said Andrew Lipsman, vice president of marketing and insights at comScore, based in Reston, Virginia.

“If you take a look at the big picture, it’s how mobile has taken over and become the dominant platform through which people engage in digital media,” he said.

Desktop-computer usage has flattened out, but people are spending more time in front of a digital screen—whether it be on the way to work, throughout the day, sitting in front of the TV or in bed at night—because of the availability of smartphones and tablets, he said.

On the plus side, as a nation of smartphone users connected to the Internet 24/7, people are better informed and may be learning more quickly, Lipsman said. Still, there are negative implications to consider, as well. “Obviously, the drawback is what that [greater reliance on smartphones] means for how people engage

with each other,” he said.Research released last month by the

digital technology firm Apigee in San Jose, California, along with Stanford University’s Mobile Innovation Group, found a deepening dependence on smartphones for social interaction. Dependency was strongest among the one-quarter of smartphone users who reported using their devices the most.

Among these top users, the majority said they used their phones “nearly all the time,” including while at dinner with others.

Twenty-one percent of top users said they could not maintain a relationship with a significant other without the apps on their phones, while 19 percent said they couldn’t find new friends without their smartphones.

Among all smartphone owners surveyed, 11 percent said they would be unable to be happy without their electronic companions.

It’s probably no surprise that younger Americans tend to use smartphones the most. Among every age group between 13 and 44, at least 85 percent have smartphones, according to the comScore survey.

Then the numbers drop off. Among people ages 45 to 54, it’s 76 percent; ages 55 to 64, 63 percent; and for those 65 and older, it’s 48 percent. Apple devices are the most popular, making up 41 percent of the market, followed by Samsung at 29 percent, LG at 8 percent, Motorola with 5 percent and HTC with 4 percent, comScore said.

As for the most popular smartphone apps, Facebook reigned supreme, reaching 70 percent of the app audience; followed by YouTube at 55 percent; and Google Play at 52 percent.

Google Search, also at 52 percent, and Facebook Messenger, 47 percent, rounded out the top 5. ■

Smartphone domination Smartphone domination Smartphone

pretty close to completepretty close to completepretty close

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LIFE D1

TO JOIN OR NOT TO JOIN In this October 24, 2014, file photo, Chinese President Xi Jinping (center) shows the way to the guests who attended the signing ceremony of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Malacañang said it has no plan as of now to join the China-led AIIB. See related story on A5. AP/TAKAKI YAJIMA

B B C

SINGAPORE—Companies and indus-try leaders from different sectors are urged to “rethink” their strategies go-

ing forward, as the integration within the Asean happens to allow them to keep up with the changing and diversifying markets in the region. At the annual Invest Asean conference hosted by Maybank in Singapore on Tues-day, corporates in the region were told to reshape their integration plans and strat-egies and update them to present day trends—such as the use of technological advances in the delivery of payments of goods and services, the rising role of the so-called millennials, the rapidly growing Asean consumer base and the increasing

role of women in economic growth. “Today to be Asean is no longer simply a matter of being part of cooperative re-gional grouping. It is an urgent necessity and whether you like it or not, Asean is going to change us in more ways than we can imagine…. Common sense dictates that we need to rethink,” Datuk Abdul Farid, Maybank CEO, said in his address. The conference—which included about a thousand attendees mostly from 67 cor-porates in 11 countries in the region—high-lighted the expanding role of technology in banking and its proposed integration. In one of the plenary sessions on Tues-day morning, panelist Ratan Malli, strategic planning director of J. Walter Thomson Asia Pacific, cited the mobile cash-remittance transfer system in the Philippines as a model

for other companies involved in the move-ment of cash and capital. Malli said the innovations are good examples of technology “leapfrogging for opportunities.” “That kind you don’t see in other mar-kets,” he added. Malli further said that innovations rep-resent the “future” of the region, as more and more people migrate and travel within Asean and companies must set up the in-frastructure or pathways to make this more convenient for individuals in the region. Likewise, the Maybank CEO said the use of technology to transfer funds is important for demographic purposes given that 60 percent of the people in Asean are the so-called millennials.

The JFC is hoping that the number of holidays per year be limited to 15 days. Beyond that, the JFC wants companies to be given the flexibility in paying their employees the extra pay. “We’d like to have the flex-ibility; if it’s in their bargaining agreement, then they should pay [the additional rate], but we’d just like to have the flex-ibility if it goes over the 15,” said David “Ebb” Hincheliffe, execu-tive director of the American

Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham). He said the management and employees of companies should be allowed to discuss among themselves the com-pensation or the need to fol-low the nonworking holiday declaration without violating the Labor Code. Members of the JFC in-formed the DOLE at a meeting last week that the group is now

S “M ,” A

conducting a study to determine the ef-fects of too many nonworking holidays on companies operating in the country. At the meeting, the DOLE ac-knowledged the need for prudence in declaring nonworking holidays through presidential proclamation, noting that any additional nonwork-ing holiday aside from the regular holidays covered by law should be subject to the agreement between the management and the labor union. The JFC views the number of

holidays in the Philippines as a con-straint to businesses, as they are to pay working employees an additional 30 percent on top of his daily rate during special nonworking holidays. For regular holidays, the employee’s pay is doubled if he reports for work, but still receives his regular pay on a regular holiday even if he does not go to work. “There are holidays declared through laws, those declared by local authorities and those proclaimed by the President. If we can’t change the law, maybe limit those declared by

LGUs [local government units] and the national government to the public sector,” said John Forbes, AmCham senior adviser. There are 18 holidays this year, both regular and special nonworking, excluding the three declared as a spe-cial nonworking holidays in January on the occasion of the pope’s visit. AmCham is conducting in study to assess the impact of the excessive holi-days on select large businesses, citing the cases of Chevron and Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. They expect the study to be con-

cluded in May. “We want to know how these holidays, especially the sudden holidays, impact the distribution and logistics operations of the companies,” Hincheliffe added. The chamber intends to present the findings of the study to its members and the Cabinet. The Philippine Economic Zone Au-thority, likewise, echoed the concern of JFC, saying it’s an additional bur-den to enterprises such as electron-ics companies and business-process outsourcing firms whose operations should run 24/7.

SUNRISE SUNSET

HALF MOON5:52 AM 6:08 PM

MOONRISEMOONSET

3:41 AM 3:35 PM

TODAY’S WEATHERMETROMANILA

LAOAG

BAGUIO

SBMA/CLARK

TAGAYTAY

LEGAZPI

PUERTOPRINCESA

ILOILO/BACOLOD

TUGUEGARAO

METROCEBU

CAGAYANDE ORO

METRODAVAO

ZAMBOANGA

TACLOBAN

3-DAYEXTENDEDFORECAST

3-DAYEXTENDEDFORECAST

CELEBES SEA

LEGAZPI CITY24 – 31°C

TACLOBAN CITY25 – 32°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY

METRO DAVAO24 – 34°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY24 – 35°C

PHILI

PPIN

E ARE

A OF R

ESPO

NSIB

ILITY

(PAR

)

SABAH

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 25 – 32°C METRO CEBU

25 – 32°C

ILOILO/BACOLOD

23 – 32°C

23 – 32°C

25 – 33°C 25 – 32°C 24 – 32°C

25 – 33°C 24 – 32°C 23 – 31°C

23 – 33°C 24 – 32°C 24 – 32°C

25 – 34°C 24 – 33°C 24 – 34°C

25 – 34°C 24 – 35°C 24 – 34°C

Watch PANAHON.TV everyday at 5:00 AM on PTV (Channel 4).

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APRIL 1, 2015 | WEDNESDAY

HIGH TIDEMANILA

SOUTH HARBOR

LOW TIDE

3:18 AM0.05 METER

TUGUEGARAO CITY23 – 35°C

LAOAG CITY 23 – 32°C

TAGAYTAY CITY 21 – 31°C

SBMA/CLARK 23 – 34°C

24 – 33°C 24 – 33°C 23 – 32°C

24 – 34°C 23 – 32°C 24 – 34°C

23 – 33°C 23 – 33°C 23 – 32°C

14 – 25°C 15 – 25°C 15 – 25°C

22 – 31°C 21 – 31°C 20 – 30°C

24 – 31°C24 – 32°C 22 – 30°C

26 – 32°C 25 – 33°C

24 – 34°C 23 – 33°C

25 – 32°C25 – 32°C 24 – 32°C

FULL MOON

8:06 PMAPR 4

3:43 PMMAR 27

BAGUIO CITY15 – 24°C

25 – 33°C

8:26 PM0.73 METER

23 – 34°C

APR 2THURSDAY

APR 3FRIDAY

APR 4SATURDAY

APR 2THURSDAY

APR 3FRIDAY

APR 4SATURDAY

Rains wiht Gusty Winds

RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE AREAEXTENDING OVER NORTHERN LUZON

(AS OF MARCH 31, 5:00 PM)

METRO MANILA23 – 34°C

Ridge of High Pressure Area (HPA)will bring fair weather to the country except for isolated

rainshowers and thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening.

Partly cloudy to at times cloudywith rainshowers and/or thunderstorms

Cloudy to at times cloudy withrainshowers and/or thunderstorms

Partly cloudy skies

BusinessMirror [email protected] Wednesday, April 1, 2015A2

News

Borrowings. . . Continued from A8 Maybank. . . Continued from A1

Exporters. . . Continued from A8

BIR. . . Continued from A8Oil. . . Continued from A8Martial law. . . Continued from A1

Continued from A1

Continued from A1DOLE backs plea to limit holidays

in an interview.  A source earlier said the Palace has endorsed the P1.8 billion earmarked for gen-eral export-development fund to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in January. However, the plan has not pro-gressed. Ortiz-Luis said they have not heard from the DBM on the status of the fund. Exporters have been calling for an increase in funding for export development in a bid to make lo-cal exports competitive. Currently, Ortiz-Luis said the unit of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) that is respon-sible for export promotion only has around P100 million annu-ally, as mandated by the previous PEDP covering 2011 to 2013. A prime example of DTI’s lack of funding support for exports is the absence of Philippine representa-tion in the renowned Milan Furni-ture show last October, depriving local furniture makers of potential sales from big spenders in Europe. A more pressing concern than the grant of funds, however, is the ap-proval of the entire export plan for 2014-2016, which was submitted by the private-public Export De-

velopment Council (EDC) to the President last December. Ortiz-Luis said they have yet to receive word from Malacañang on the status of the plan. The plan is crucial for the growth of local exporters, as it lays down the projections and strategies of the export sector to catch up with neighboring countries. He said even with the export growth of the Philippines reach-ing 9 percent in 2014 to out-perform other Asian countries last November, the numbers are skewed, as competitors have larger economies, thus, trigger-ing a base effect on growth. “Four years ago we were over-taken by Vietnam, and their export growth now is 2.5 times faster than ours. We need that budget if we are to catch up with Vietnam,” Ortiz-Luis added. In 2013 merchandise exports totaled $54 billion, translating to $543 per capita. Singapore is at $76,448; Brunei Darussalam, $28,190; Malaysia, $7,662; Thai-land, $3,351; Vietnam, $1,479; Indonesia, $734; and Cambodia, $611. Philippines’s export per cap-ita is superior only to those of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic ($390) and Myanmar ($185).

expenditures for the year. The gov-ernment incurred net external bor-rowings of P12.57 billion in 2014, in sharp contrast to negative net external borrowings of P83.82 bil-lion in 2013, when the government endeavored to pay back some of its maturing obligations on net basis. The net external borrowings was brought about by higher proj-ect loans, program loan and the so-called global bonds exchange undertaken in January 2014,

which amounted to P28.67 billion in foreign debt. The government also made less amortization on its principal foreign debts in 2014, with such amounting only to P90.37 billion, as opposed to amortization in 2013 that amount-ed to P117.59 billion. Net domestic borrowings in 2014 amounted to P162.67 billion, which was P240.27 billion, or 59 percent, lower than the net domestic borrowings in 2013.

David Cagahastian

The measure gives Prayuth power over all aspects of the government, law and order, and absolves him of any legal responsibility for his actions. “Article 44 essentially means Prayuth is the law. He can order the detention of anyone without charge, without having to put the person on trial and for as long as he desires,”

Pravit Rojanaphruk, an outspoken columnist for The Nation newspaper, wrote on Tuesday. Prayuth sought to downplay the concerns, telling reporters he would use Article 44 “constructively” to solve security issues. “Don’t worry,” he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. “If you’re not doing anything wrong, there’s no need to be afraid.” AP

“If there’s an agreement, that could release a fair bit of oil into the market,” David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone. “The price has been reasonably resilient given all the downside potential.” West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May delivery fell as much as 82 cents to $47.86 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $47.90 at 1:53 p.m. Singapore time. The contract lost 19 cents to $48.68 on Monday.

The volume of all futures traded was about 44 percent below the 100-day average. Prices have decreased 3.7 percent in March and are down 9.9 percent in the past three months. Brent for May settlement slid as much as 63 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $55.66 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It lost 12 cents to $56.29 a barrel on Monday. Prices are down 11 percent for the month and 2.7 percent lower this quarter. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $7.83 to WTI. Bloomberg News

25 percent of the tax due for failure of the covered taxpayers to comply in full with the e-filing mandate. The TMAP also said that some tax-payers have encountered delays or technical issues in enrolling into the eBIR Form facility, which should first be addressed by the BIR be-

fore the full implementation of the e-filing requirement. The TMAP proposed that the mandatory e-filing requirement be deferred until after April 15, 2015, or to make such requirement as merely optional to give way for a gradual full implementation.

  Millennials are those people born be-ginning early 1980s to early 2000s.  “In Asean, we have a very young pop-ulation, with a median age of 28 years old. They are tech savvy, ambitious and also very sensitive to social events with a strong sense of fairness and justice. They are our largest, best educated new work force—ready to spend in our mar-ket places,” the Maybank CEO said.  Among the Philippine companies present at the event were Cebu Air, Con-

cepcion Industrial Corp., Century Pacific Food, RFM, Robinsons Retail Holdings, Security Bank, Universal Robina and Vista Land and Lifescapes. The confer-ence is a two-day event, with sessions centering on technological advances for companies, such as mobile media and cloud technology. Other sessions also in-clude the role of the millenitals and Asean women. Discussions on aviation, oil and gas and gaming were also conducted in afternoon sessions. 

[email protected] Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Wednesday, April 1, 2015 A3BusinessMirrorThe Nation

Asked at a Palace briefing if President Aquino would attend the House inquiry into the Ma-masapano carnage or just submit written answers to the 20 ques-tions posed by congressmen, Pal-ace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda reaff irmed Aquino’s commit-ment to ferret out the truth but

suggested that the House should first lay down the process for do-ing so. “I think the processes, the delib-erations on the request to [answer] the 20 questions should first be ad-dressed to the House leadership,” Lacierda told reporters, adding that, “Again, we’d like to emphasize the

Palace: Congressmen’s 20 questionson Mamasapano will be answered if…

By Butch Fernandez

MALACAÑANG on Tuesday said the leadership of the House of Representatives

should first set the “processes” that would apply in dealing with the 20 follow-up questions posed by Congress investigators seeking clarification on the role of President Aquino and his trusted aide, resigned National Police Chief Alan Purisima, in the botched Mamasapano operation that killed 44 police commandos, 18 Moro rebels and five noncombatants.

commitment of the President to un-covering the truth.” He explained that part of the reason the Palace took the position “is to ensure that the statements of the President will also be enshrined in official documents. And for that reason, there is the commitment to seeking out the truth.” “However, this is a House inves-tigation and, therefore, it should be in keeping with the House leader-ship as to the procedure, the man-ner of eliciting the truth, mindful again—and let me emphasize—mindful of the separation of pow-ers and the respect for coequal branches of government,” Lacierda reminded lawmakers posing the questions to Aquino. He noted that most of the ques-tions submitted by the congress-men have already been answered

by Aquino himself in previous speeches, giving the President’s versions of what happened in the planning and execution of Oplan Exodus, which resulted in the kill-ing of 44 Special Action Force com-mandos by rebels belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and its breakaway group, the Bangsam-oro Islamic Freedom Fighters. “In fact, the questions themselves [that were] posed by the Makabayan Bloc…most of them have been re-sponded [to] one way or the other by the President,” Lacierda said. He asked reporters why the ques-tions are being repeated and sug-gested his own answer: “Siguro you don’t want the answers the President gave, one reason; or you are not satis-fied with the President’s statement; or there is a line that you want the President to state, to say.” As to the 20 questions posed by congressmen for the President to answer to clarify the unresolved issues in the Mamasapano inci-dent, Lacierda countered: “You are members of the House of Represen-tatives, it’s up to you to go through and the House leadership to go through the procedure and—en-suring, however, that the separa-tion of powers and the respect to the coequal branch is maintained.”

LACIERDA: “In fact, the questions

themselves [that were] posed by the

Makabayan Bloc… most of them have

been responded [to] one way or the other

by the President.”

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

AMEMBER of the House Committee on Foreign Relations on Tuesday as-

sailed the reported offer of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to downgrade the Phil-ippines’s claim on Sabah in ex-change for Malaysia’s support to the country’s case against China over disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea. Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian warned that such move will hurt the coun-try’s sovereignty. The Philippine has filed sev-eral cases and protests against China before a United Nations court following Beijing’s incur-sions in the West Philippine Sea. “ T he DFA’s move to use Sabah as a bargaining chip to gain the support of Malaysia for our case against China lodged before the UN is a huge diplo-matic faux pas bordering on a sellout,” Gatchalian said. Earlier, Party-list Rep. Fran-cisco Ashley Acedillo of Magdalo said China’s ongoing reclamation in disputed islets and shoals on the West Philippine Sea pose an impending danger to the Philip-pines’s national security.

“ I urge the National Security Council—President Aquino—please convene it and tackle this impending existential threat to our country’s territory, sover-eignty and economic well-being,” Acedillo said.  The National Security Coun-cil (NSC) is the principal advi-sory body on the proper coordi-nation and integration of plans and policies affecting national security. The council proper is a colle-gial body chaired by the Presi-dent. It includes concerned of-ficials of the Cabinet and Con-gress, as members, as well as other government officials and private citizens who may be in-vited by the President. Gatchalian said: “The very idea of giving up our strong claim of ownership over Sabah, even if it is just a ‘note verbale,’ smacks of a sellout.” He also criticized the DFA for even toying with the idea of hav-ing a quid pro quo deal with Ma-laysia since there is no assurance that Malaysia will help the Philip-pines with its dispute with China, saying, “Malaysia itself has over-lapping territorial interests and is China’s top trading partner in Southeast Asia.”

Legislator hits DFA for ‘Sabah sellout’

BusinessMirror [email protected] A4

Economy

Sources at the Comelec said the joint venture of French firm Safran Morpho and Comfac Corp. is allegedly fronting for a former official of the poll body and an-other technology provider to en-sure that the tandem corners all contracts related to preparations for the 2016 elections.

The Comelec’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) found Morpho to have submitted the lowest calculated bid of close to P500 million.

“Despite being a first-time participant in the local election automation, Morpho apparently has an inside track at the Come-lec and the BAC which explains why it easily breezed through the bidding process,” one Comelec source said.

The source also observed the BAC’s undue preference for the French company based on its ruling.

For instance, the source said, a bidder filed a motion seeking the

Wednesday, April 1, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

EQUALLY SWEET Sisters Cherry (left) and Christy Base entice motorists with a creative showcase of sliced yellow watermelons at the farm gate of Centeno Farms in Alicia, Isabela. The sisters help their father sell his harvest of sweet watermelons during the summer break. LEONARDO PERANTE II

BENGUET residents celebrate the opening of the La Trinidad Main Health Center with dances and other cultural presentations.

THE La Trinidad Main Health Center in Benguet, which caters to 16 barangays, has been renovated and accredited with Philippine Health Insurance

Corp. for its outpatient benefit package.This means that the 21,425 households com-

prising these barangays can now avail themselves of treatment in the health center. Thanks to SM Foundation and BDO Foundation who undertook the complete renovation, quality health service is brought to these communities.

In the past, the Rural Health Unit of La Trinidad (RHU-La Trinidad), the principal workplace of the present-day Municipal Health Services Office, was called the La Trinidad Dispensary in Poblacion, La Trinidad, Benguet, Mountain Province. Benguet was formerly a subprovince of Mountain Province until June 18, 1966, with the enactment of Republic Act

4695, creating the provinces of Benguet, Mountain Province, Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao.

On July 16, 1990, the RHU was devastated by an earthquake that rocked the whole of Luzon. RHU services continued at temporary tents installed at the Provincial Capitol grounds. Reconstruction was promptly undertaken in 1991. Due to the need to fur-ther renovate the building, the clinic was temporarily transferred to the La Trinidad Central School (Home-Economics Building). The RHU had been enlarged and refurbished several times from 1997 to 1998.

Today, the renovated center which serves 100 pa-tients a day has a laboratory, dental room, treatment area, consultation area, family-planning room, pre-natal and postnatal room, immunization area, cold-chain storage area, and an FTS Wellness Center for children and the elderly.

Sy Group foundations renovate health center in Benguet

disqualification of the Morpho joint venture for submitting in-complete requirements on March 11, particularly the soft copies of

both the technical documentation and the source code, in accordance to the BAC’s bid bulletin released on February 16.

Another source noted how the Safran-Comfac JV also failed to bring its VVS equipment dur-ing the preliminary bid submis-sion as required by the Comelec through Bid Bulletin No. 3.

However, the source said, BAC Chairman Helen Aguila-Flores apparently dismissed the apparent violation by Mor-pho and Comfac despite the protest registered by counsels of other bidders.

“Legal counsel for Safran-Comfac said the VVS unit was not included in their copy of the requirement checklist to which Chairperson Flores apologized for the confusion the commit-tee has caused for the conflicting

requirement checklist,” a portion of the BAC ruling read.

Another questionable move by the BAC, according to the same sources, was to disallow other bidders and observers from participating in post-qualification proceedings.

The BAC granted the Morpho-Comfac JV’s request to prohibit other bidders from observing the testing and demonstration of the VVS, that was to be held a week after the submission of bids on grounds of confidentiality.

Previously, the sources said, all bidders were allowed to observe and participate in the initial dem-onstration for the Optical Mark Reader (OMR).

They noted that Smartmatic and its competitor in the OMR bidding Indra Sistemas SA were required to do a demonstration of its OMR technology in front of the BAC, the

media, and observers to show the capabilities of the machines and how they worked.

It was provided for in the Man-ual of Procedures for the Procure-ment of Goods and Services, Come-lec insiders said.

Early this week the Supreme Court stopped the P268.8-million deal between the Comelec and Smartmatic for the repair of the 80,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines for violating the government procurement law.

Along with other watchdog groups, C3E assailed Smartmatic’s violations of the automated elec-tion laws, and demanded that the company be blacklisted from doing election-related activities for having misrepresented itself and claiming it owned the automated-election technology and that it was the man-ufacturer of the PCOS machines.

Comelec under scrutiny for apparent inside track of voter-verification bidder

By Joel R. San Juan

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is facing another controversy for allowing French

firm Safran Morpho and Comfac Corp. to continue participating in the bidding process for the supply of the P727-million Voter Verification System (VVS) of the poll body, despite its failure to perform a demonstration of its machine at the close of the submission of bids last week.

[email protected] Wednesday, April 1, 2015 A5BusinessMirrorEconomy

The country’s export-earnings growth already started 2015 with a contraction of 0.5 percent in January. However, this was an improvement from the contrac-tion of 3.2 percent in December 2014 and contraction of 3 percent in January 2014.

FMIC and UA&P Capital Markets Research said this was due to a de-crease in the outbound shipments of

five of 10 major commodities, such as other manufactures, woodcrafts and furniture, chemicals, metal com-ponents and coconut oil.

“Exports may temper in Q1 [first quarter] to a single-digit pace as consumer confidence in the US has been very volatile. China’s growth has also eased, while sluggishness in the euro zone persisted with the unresolved Greece debt problem,”

Single-digit export growth likely in first quarter 2015By Noel T. Provido

Contributor

THE Department of Agricul-ture in the Davao region (DA 11) has allocated 5.1 percent

of its total budget for the promotion of gender and development (GAD).

DA 11 Regional Director Reme-lyn Recoter said out of this year’s P2.6-billion budget of the regional office, 5.1 percent, or P65 million, will fund projects involving wom-an beneficiaries. These include provision of farm inputs, farm mechanization, postharvest fa-cilities, food processing and other value-adding activities.

“The fund will also support the conduct of training and extension services to rural-based woman or-ganizations, including incentives for our local government agricultural extension workers who are mostly woman technicians,” she said.

In her message during the culmi-nation of DA women’s month cel-ebration in Davao City, Recoter said various development in the region can be attributed to rural women be-ing able partners of their husbands in farm production.

The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) in a message deliv-ered by DA 11 GAD focal person Ev-

elyn Basa said that women should occupy 50 percent of the leadership whether in civil-society organiza-tions, academe, bureaucracy or electoral politics.

“Men and women have different life experiences, they think differ-ently and have different perspectives and priorities. Hence, both of them should be in all the different levels of leadership,” the PCW said.

Recoter said the DA is one of the gender-sensitive agencies and have put emphasis on the capability of women to govern and lead.

“At the helm of 16 DA regional field offices, 50 percent are woman regional directors. In the livestock sector, three out of the four DA at-tached agencies are also being led by women,” she said.

Compared to other countries in Asia and other parts of the world, Recoter said “the women in our country are now given equal oppor-tunities and actively participate in decision-making.” This year’s DA monthlong women celebration in the region was hosted by the Philippine Rural Develop-ment Project-Mindanao support office. The celebration focused on the theme: “Juana, Desisyon Mo ay Mahalaga sa Kinabukasan ng Bawat Isa, Ikaw Na!”

DA 11 allocates P65 millionfor women empowerment

By Butch Fernandez

THE Aquino administration is in no hurry to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Invest-

ment Bank (AIIB) as its finance offi-cials said they are still seeking assur-ance the AIIB, among others, would be “truly multilateral in nature.” President Aquino’s chief spokes-man, Edwin Lacierda, however, did not rule the possibility that the Philippines may eventually join the AIIB despite its

brewing territorial conflicts with China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). Lacierda said Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima had indicated there is no rush to join it right now. “The Philippines’ joining AIIB has not been discussed of late,” Lacierda told Palace reporters at a briefing on Tuesday. The AIIB, according to Puri-sima, “is nonbinding until June when we have to make a commitment.” Lacierda quoted Purisima as say-ing Department of Finance officials

are still looking at its governance structure to make sure “it is an in-clusive business plan.” Purisima added this is in order to “make sure it complements rather than competes with the Asian Development Bank [ADB] and the World Bank [WB].” “Finally, we want to make sure it is truly multilateral in nature,” Purisima said. Envisioned by the government of China as an international financial in-stitution, the AIIB was billed to become a multilateral development bank that

would also provide funding for infra-structure projects in the region, comple-menting the work of ADB, the WB and the International Monetary Fund. Early this month, it was reported that the United Kingdom indicated willingness to extend an unspeci-fied amount as a loan to help start the AIIB, but the move came un-der criticism from the US with the Obama administration admitting it was “wary about a trend toward constant accomodation of China.”

PHL ‘in no rush’ to join China-led Asian infra investment bank

PARTY-LIST Rep. Neri J. Col-menares of Bayan Muna has urged airlines that canceled

three flights and delayed 26 others to compensate their harried passengers. Colmenares, principal author of the Magna Carta of Airline Passengers Rights, said this early, commercial air-lines have responded to the Holy Week holiday rush by showing their ineffi-ciency and incompetence in handling the capability of their fleets. “This is becoming a perennial and fes-tering problem, and to prevent this from happening again, we, in the Makabayan bloc, already filed House Bill (HB) 5361, or the Magna Carta of Airline Passengers Rights, which lays down the basic rights of airline passengers and to prevent the continued abuse of passengers by un-scrupulous airline carriers,” he said. “One of the main contents of HB 5361 is to prohibit overbooking. It also

creates the Office of Aviation Arbiters to do away with unduly long and costly court litigations so that passengers can have fast resolution of their com-plaints,” Colmenares said. “Also, the bill’s Section 12 enumer-ates the eight rights of airline passen-gers, to wit: a) right to full information; b) right to fair and reasonable airfare; c) right to receive the full value of the service purchased; d) right against discrimination; e) right against un-just vexation; f) right to be respected; g) right to compensation; and h) right to redress of grievances. “The Magna Carta also clearly specified compensation for death, which is P3 million, and depending on the physical injuries ranging from P75,000 to P1 million, these amounts were set with consideration of inter-national practice,” said the solon. Marvyn N. Benaning

Bayan Muna: Passengers of delayed, canceled flights deserve compensation

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)-Nagkaisa is asking President

Aquino to implement a govern-ment-initiated discount card for minimum-wage workers and un-employment insurance for laid-off employees to cope with the day-to-day cost of living. According to TUCP-Nagkaisa, the P15 wage increase approved by the Department of Labor and Em-ployment (DOLE) for Metro Manila workers is not enough for workers to cope with the food-price increase, transport fares, electricity and wa-ter-rate hikes. The group is also proposing to Mr. Aquino to approve a majority coconut-farmer administered trust fund to ensure the proceeds of the P77-billion coco levy are used to pro-mote jobs in the coconut industry; ensure the completion of Compre-hensive Agrarian Reform Program with respect to lands under current Notice of Coverage; and assist the peasant farmers through appropri-ate support measures and financ-ing including trainings, appropriate technology and easy-term credit. These demands, TUCP-Nagkaisa said, are “doables” which President Aquino can think about for the benefit of minimum-wage earners during the Holy Week. “Among the measures which will assist and empower the basic sectors include an unemployment- insurance policy for the 3.4 mil-lion minimum-wage earners pro-viding three months of minimum wage-salary coverage in cases of retrenchment and a minimum dis-count card that serves as a voucher or CCT-like program for minimum-wage employees to give them dis-count on tuition, purchase of rice, basic food commodities, medicines

By Cai U. Ordinario

WEAK consumer demand in the United States will likely keep the country’s export-

earnings growth in single digit in the first quarter of 2015, according to First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) and University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) Capital Markets Research.

FMIC and UA&P Capital Markets Research said.

However, the think tank said they expect that the recovery of the US economy, stabilization of China’s economic growth, and the quantitative easing in Europe and Japan will be able to spur demand for Philippine exports.

Overall, the group remains con-fident that the Philippine economy will attain the low-end of the gov-ernment’s 7 percent to 8 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth target this year.

In January FMIC and UA&P Capi-tal Markets Research said the Phil-ippine economy will likely register a GDP growth of between 7 percent and 7.5 percent this year.

The optimism of the think tank stems from the strong consump-tion spending by Filipinos on ac-count of low inflation. In the first quarter, FMIC and UA&P Capital Markets Research expect inflation to average 2.5 percent.

The group’s inflation estimate for the January to March 2015 period is below its full-year average expecta-

tion of 2.7 percent on account of low crude prices.

Apart from low inflation, other factors that could contribute to higher GDP growth this year include higher government spending and higher export growth in the com-ing months.

“Two other factors will deter-mine if the Philippine economy hits a 7-percent GDP growth rate in Q1: [a] Stronger infrastructure and gov-ernment spending, for which there is little obstacle lurking, and [b] More robust expansion in exports than that exhibited in December 2014 and January 2015,” the think tank said.

The growth projections of the think tank are contained in the latest edition of Market Call, the group’s monthly publication on eco-nomic trends.

The publication is a result of an in-depth analysis on the emerging and leading trends in the global and local markets that have shaped the direction of the Philippine capital markets in the last four weeks.

worth P2,000,” said Gerard Seño, TUCP-Nagkaisa vice president. The group cited that from March 1 to 7, the Pulse Asia Survey on urgent national concerns surfaced that four of the top 5 concerns relate to the daily survival needs of ordinary Filipinos. It showed 46 percent are crying out at inflation, 44 percent have said salaries are too small to cover daily expenses, and another 34 percent said there are no decent jobs. On March 18 the wage board approved only a measly P15 daily-wage increase for the minimum wage in Metro Manila amid the TUCP-Nagkaisa petition of P136.

They said the government value of the current minimum wage is only P356.64, or P7,846.08 a month sal-ary, or P931.92 short of the P8,778 national poverty threshold set by the National Economic and Devel-opment Authority and Philippine Statistics Authority for 2014. TUCP-Nagkaisa Executive Direc-tor Louie Corral said labor groups are encouraged by the President, re-minding the leaders of the Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Industry last week that by giving a greater share to their workers, they are encouraging increased consumer spending which itself expands the economy.

However, Corral said the govern-ment must also do the greater part of aiding workers who are not benefiting from a growing national economy. “TUCP-Nagkaisa interprets this as a clear signal from the President to the business sector to share the gains that have brought many of them to the Forbes list of the wealthiest with the workers who have been in the forefront of the struggle to create our nation’s wealth. But to stably uplift the lives of workers who are not benefit-ing from high gross domestic product growth, Mr. Aquino must step right in and make the government make the impact long lasting,” Corral said.

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

EXPECT richer trade and a healthier relation-ship between the Philippines and Turkey, high-ranking officials from both the govern-

ment and the private sector said, as the flag carrier of the transcontinental country started mounting direct flights from Istanbul to Manila on Monday.

Turkish Airlines landed on Manila’s soil at around 6:40 p.m. on Monday, and was welcomed by a water-cannon salute at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 1, which is currently at the last stages of being upgraded.

The carrier’s maiden flight had a 90-percent passenger load factor, meaning almost all of its seats were occupied, Turkish Airlines Chief of Marketing and Sales Ahmet Olmustur said. It is a sign the aviation company, hailed as the Europe’s best international carrier in 2014, was right in expanding its already-extensive route network to the Philippines.

“The reason we started our flights to Manila is because of the more than 500,000 Filipinos living in Europe. The maiden flight had a 90-percent load factor, and most of them are transit passengers from Europe,” he said late Monday.

He said the airline’s target market include businessmen, tourists and transit passengers seeking a gateway to Europe, noting that transit passengers prefer to use Turkey as a jump-off point to Europe for its seamless transfer procedures.

Turkey is strategically located in the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa.

He said Turkey’s flag carrier decided to enter the Philippine market due to the country’s robust economic growth in recent years.

“Turkish Airlies sees opportunities in expand-

ing air-travel services in the country, which not only has a booming economy and a large popula-tion, but excellent tourist destinations as well,” Olmustur said. “Turkish Airlines is also committed toward strengthening ties between Turkey and the Philippines.”

The Istanbul-Manila service is currently avail-able thrice weekly, and was made possible thanks to the expansion of the air-services agreement between the two nations in November 2014.

Manila is the latest addition to Turkish Airlines’s more than 200 destinations, making the Philippines the 109th country that the carrier flies to.

Manila International Airport Authority Gen-eral Manager Jose Angel A. Honrado said the direct flights fromIstanbul to Manila “marks another milestone to the Philippines’s aviation industry.”

“This is a welcome addition to the growing list of international airlines in the Philippines, thereby diversifying the choices for passengers,” he said.

Tourism Undersecretary Benito C. Beng-zon Jr. added the new flights would effectively double the current tourism numbers between the two nations.

“This offers new opportunities for tourists to come to the Philippines. With the launch of these direct flights to Manila, we are confident that we can double tourist arrivals to the Philippines in the next couple of years,” he said.

Data from the Department of Tourism showed that a total of 3,731 tourists from Turkey visited the Philippines in 2013.

Turkey’s Ambassador to the Philippines Esra Cankorur also expressed her confidence that tour-ism exchanges would increase over time. This, she added, would also introduce the Philippines to a well of opportunities outside Asia.

Workers want discount card, unemployment insurance for laid-off workers Turkey, PHL trade to rise with entry of Turkish Air

LENTEN SACRIFICE The price of fish has increased this Lenten season from its regular price for P90 per kilo to P120 at the Paco market in Manila. ROY DOMINGO

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

OpinionBusinessMirrorA6

Redeveloping slums through PPP

editorial

A MONG the deathless legacies that the great Lee Kuan Yew left to his people is the housing program for the poor people of Singapore.

In 1960, when Lee was inaugurated as prime minister, Singa-pore was a backwater colony of slums and its people a vast community of slum dwellers. Lee established the Housing and Development Board to replace slums and squatter settlements with apartments. Before long, he produced the desired results. Today more than 80 percent of the population lives in government housing, with 95 percent of them owning their own homes. There are no slums in Singapore.

Now comes the news from India that the country is engaged in a massive slums-redevelopment pro-gram to get rid of a shameful feature of the country’s urban centers. In Mumbai, the country’s leading banking and financial metropolis, the private sector and the city government, in a public-private part-nership (PPP) program, are collaborating to redevelop their slums into first-class residential-commercial areas with full accommodation of all previous residents with proof of lawful connection to their residences at no cost to them.

And the partners are succeeding. One developer alone has rebuilt 12 slum projects, giving housing to 40,000 residents. Selling elegant units at middle-class-rich prices to compensate for the poor people’s housing cost, the developer is turning in a decent return on investment. The city government is enjoying enormous new revenues, as well as taking pride in the breathtaking skyline.

It seems that, in India, the city government gives freedom to private builders to develop slum areas of their own choice into residential-commercial areas, so long as they obtain the free consent of slum families to the transformation, and guarantee and deliver to those who have lawful connection to their residences housing units of approved dimensions at the proper time. The city sets up an administrative office to enforce requirements, as well as encourages the banks to provide liberal financing to developers.

We can do the same thing in the Philippines. It might be too much to expect the national govern-ment to do the job, floundering as it has been on its own PPP projects, but we have the right to expect city governments to take the initiative to convert their slum areas into first-class residential-commercial communities. Right now we have in mind two cities, Manila and Cebu, which can proceed along the new lines to redevelop their slums.

In Manila, think of what will be the result if the vast Tondo area encompassing everything west of Juan Luna and South of Caloocan, including the gang-ruled thickly congested port areas, is redeveloped into brand-new residential-commercial districts. We will have mixed communities of housing for professional and working people, wide roads, moderate-rise and high-rise towers, commercial establishments, banks, amusement parks and other amenities. If the communities are designed by our urban-planning professional groups, even better. The Manila City government will enjoy revenues that will boggle its imagination.

Cebu City, likewise, if it pursues its own slums-redevelopment program, at no cost to itself, will have a new look that will be pleasing to all who wish it well.

We support the redevelopment of slums through PPP and similar programs. We hope our city govern-ments, with encouragement and support from the national government, will take up this worthy cause.

What’s in a name?

Debt could derail China’s ambitions

THAT is a question made famous by the great William Shakespeare in his play Romeo and Juliet. In the stage play’s celebrated balcony scene, Juliet worries over Romeo being

a Montague, the sworn enemy of her family, the Capulets. Hence, in her monologue, she says: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

CHINA’S Xi Jinping made a lot of grand promises over the weekend, pledging a new order where China and Chinese-led institutions, such as the new Asian Infrastructure Investment

Bank (AIIB), would promote prosperity across the region. But he was on shaky ground—literally. The Boao Forum where Xi spoke took place in Haikou, capital of China’s island-province of Hainan, whose local government, it seems, may not be able to pay its debt this year.

All About Social SecuritySusie G. Bugante

Much has been written about the $50-billion AIIB, which has won support from staunch United States allies Australia, South Korea and the United Kingdom, among others. Xi is clearly relishing what looks like a soft-power victory over the US, gleefully touting China as a one-stop shop for “markets, growth, investment and cooperation opportunities.” Before he starts writing checks, though, Xi should take a closer look at China’s own books. Haikou’s is just one of many local governments grappling with a $4-trillion-plus debt pile. If Chinese leaders are going to achieve their growing international aspira-tions, they’re going to have to be far more ambitious about getting their financial house in order first.

At 282 percent of gross domes-tic product (GDP), according to the McKinsey Global Institute, China’s total debt now exceeds America’s

269 percent and Germany’s 258 percent. Even more worrying: If the credit buildup continues at its cur-rent pace, that ratio will explode to 400 percent by 2018. At those levels, China would be dangerously suscep-tible to a surge in long-term interest rates that triggers an accelerating series of defaults in economically vital sectors, like real estate. Even if China can avoid a South Korea-like crash, the resulting slowdown could precipitate a second wave of default risks and financial chaos from which Beijing would take years to recover. China would suddenly be an exporter of deflation, not development aid.

Yes, China is still growing 7.3 per-cent, its potential seems boundless and it’s run by smart policy-makers who are aware of where the cracks in the system lie. But then, the conven-tional wisdom said the same of Japan 25 years ago. To gain some semblance

is important to correct the name on record with the SSS and make it consistent with that in the birth certificate or vice versa.

If the error is in the birth certificate, it is crucial to make the correction with the civil registrar be-fore presenting the document to the SSS as a supporting document for a pension claim. Based on RA 9048, the following corrections may be made:

1. Correction of clerical or ty-pographical errors in any entry in civil registry documents, except corrections involving the change in sex, age, nationality and status of a person. A clerical or typographical error refers to an obvious mistake committed in clerical work, either in writing, copying, transcribing, or typing an entry in the civil register, that is harmless and innocuous, such as a misspelled name or mis-spelled place of birth and the like, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records.

2. Change of a person’s first name in his or her civil-registry document under certain grounds specified un-der the law through administrative process.

As soon as the birth-certificate

entry is corrected, the member can then initiate the correction of his or her record with the SSS, if needed, by accomplishing form E-4 (Mem-ber’s Data Change Request) and attaching the corrected birth certifi-cate as authenticated by the National Statistics Office.

Changing one’s name in an in-stant for the sake of love may sound romantic, but may not be legal and could lead a person into trouble later on. A name is important not only to the person bearing it but also to agencies, like the SSS, whose job is to ensure that social-security benefits are given to the rightful persons. It is a vital means of identifying people. Thus, members should make sure that their records carry their correct names to avoid delays in claiming their benefits in the future.

For more information about the SSS and its programs, call our 24-hour call center at (632) 920-6446 to 55, Monday to Friday, or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Susie G. Bugante is the vice president for public affairs and special events of the Social Security System. Send com-ments about this column to [email protected].

of control, Xi’s government needs to do three things immediately: cap China’s credit bubble; rein in state-owned enterprises; and create a mechanism to begin disposing of bad debts. Trouble is, Xi’s government isn’t doing enough to address any of them.

Take credit growth. For all the rhetoric about tightening the money spigot, aggregate financing contin-ued to accelerate in February to about $216 billion. New yuan loans totaled $164 billion, while M2 money supply rose 12.5 percent. That hardly looks like evidence of a serious crackdown. On Tuesday the government even lowered the down payment require-ment for some second-home buyers, hoping to revive a slumping property sector. Meanwhile, state companies continue to receive copious financing through a shadow-banking appara-tus that the People’s Bank of China and government regulators pledged to curtail back in 2013.

As for bad loans, no credible es-timate exists, thanks to the opacity inherent to China’s political system. According to the well-regarded Chi-nese journal Caixin, commercial-bank nonperforming loans have swelled for 12 quarters now. As of the beginning of December, Caixin estimated that about $136 billion worth of loans had gone sour. That’s not a huge problem for a $9.2-trillion economy, but then the number is ris-ing even before the sharp economic slowdown many observers expect is coming. China’s recent move to let local governments convert maturing

high-cost debt into lower-yielding municipal notes to be repaid at a fu-ture date is a step in the right direc-tion. But it’s too small and unfocused to defuse China’s debt time bomb.

In order to steer China off its current trajectory, leaders are going to have to tolerate a bigger hit to GDP. They must also quickly build a transfer mechanism to allow banks, state-run enterprises and entire mu-nicipalities to dispose of bad loans. One way would be to emulate Amer-ica’s deleveraging strategy following the 1980s savings-and-loan crisis, establishing a series of Resolution Trust Corp.-like entities. “Given that local governments and state-owned enterprises are responsible for the majority of China’s bad debts, write-offs, funded by central-government bonds, will probably be necessary, and soon,” writes Zhang Jun of Fu-dan University in Shanghai in a Proj-ect Syndicate op-ed.

If Japan taught the world anything these last two decades, it’s that trying to delay the pain only courts defla-tion—which already poses a threat to China—and falling living standards. Last week Standard & Poor’s down-graded Shenzhen developer Kaisa to default, after it failed to make coupon payments on two of its dollar-de-nominated bonds. Once the defaults begin—and places like Haikou run out of money—there’s no telling how wobbly China may become. If he really wants to challenge America abroad, Xi would be smart to emulate some of its boldness at home first.

BLOOMBERG VIEWWilliam Pesek

The eavesdropping swain hid-ing in the courtyard beneath the balcony comes out and readily de-clares his willingness to give up his name if that was what it would take to win her love, saying: “Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized; Henceforth, I never will be Romeo.”

Alas, if it were only that simple in the real world, where changing one’s name requires a bunch of support-ing documents. However, thanks to Republic Act 9048 (An Act Autho-rizing the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or the Consul General to Correct a Clerical or Typographical Error in an Entry and/or Change the

First Name or Nickname in the Civil Register Without Need of a Judicial Order), it is now possible to change or correct one’s name without hav-ing to go to court to do so.

Among the common problems of Social Security System (SSS) members are concerns about their names. Oftentimes, members who are about to file their retirement or other pension claims find out that their names in their birth cer-tificates are not the same as those registered with the SSS, or that their first names, middle names or last names have been misspelled. When these mistakes happen, it

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

[email protected]

Is he, in fact, Petrus Romanus?

As sinners, it’s time for us to show a little mercy

IN this season of Lent, we shall deviate from our regular production of insurance-related articles to tackle a more spiritual discourse, but not exactly spiritual. We give way to

other human needs and to feed, as well, the necessities of our faith. I am referring to the papal predictions by Saint Malachy.

By Orlando R. BaroneThe Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

I WaS walking alone along Sansom Street in Philly when a man ap-proached me and asked for a dollar

because he “needed something to eat.” My response in these situations is wildly inconsistent. I often wave the person off, and we go about our business. This time I opened my wallet, fished around, found a ten spot, and handed it to the man who called me a “blessing.”

My faith tells me that this act of mercy should have been done in secret, so I just blew that out of the water. I be-gin to realize as well that such acts, the giving of alms, donations to the poor, a tenner to a beggar, are acts available

mainly to the more powerful. I had money; he, presumably, didn’t.

Mercy is what the powerful get to show the powerless. as is cruelty. Some time ago, a person familiar with the history of our country’s once-thriving slave trade explained a crucial aspect of that institution: “The planter might be kind to his slaves. He might also be unrelentingly cruel. The problem is, he has the option.”

The evil of slavery, in other words, is the evil of one human’s power over others, the power to capture them, move them to the forced labor camps known as “plantations,” and treat these per-sons any way you wish, with or without mercy—with or without cruelty. The only justice is God’s own.

Pope Francis has just announced a one-year jubilee, “The Holy Year of Mer-cy.” Certainly, he is calling on all of us to extend the hand of mercy. I also sense that, in keeping with his papacy’s theme, he is calling out the powerful, those with an extra ten spot in their pockets, and issuing a special challenge to us.

The year starts December 8, the much misunderstood feast of the Im-maculate Conception. This is Francis at his most ironic. His call is for us to un-derstand mercy as the act of sinners. We show mercy precisely because we need mercy. We forgive precisely because we require forgiveness. We are sinners.

The Immaculate Conception refers to the Virgin Mary, the one human be-ing, apart from Jesus Himself, who was

conceived without sin. In other words, folks, if you are worthy to bear the son of God in your womb, you are exempt from showing mercy. any takers?

We can’t help recalling gospel ex-hortations like, “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful,” or Jesus’ required prayer, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” We are called upon to use our privileged position, our power, to emulate the most powerful. We are told to let our mercy and forgive-ness bottom out as soon as God’s does.

Much has been written about just what the pope is changing in the Catho-lic Church. Well, here it is. We Catho-lics tend to be kind, pretty friendly, and reasonably generous. We do have a habit, however, of shaking our fingers

at wrongdoers. We have a lot to say to sinners about their sordid little sins.

We listen to the Prodigal Son story and relate better to the son who never dissed his dad and got upset that the fatted calf went to the reprobate. We listen to the story of the woman caught in adultery and focus on the fact that Jesus said, “Go and sin no more,” rather than the story’s point: Only the sinless get to throw stones, and, since the Virgin Mary isn’t one for stone-throwing, then none of us is qualified. Drop the rocks!

Francis has redefined “evangeliz-ing.” We spread the gospel, not so much by converting unbelievers but by show-ing them divine mercy and love, using our talents, our power and our money to

heal, to feed, to clothe, to lift up. What they believe after that is in God’s hands.

In other words, we talk a lot to sin-ners. Francis is recommending, instead, that during the Holy Year of Mercy, we stop talking to sinners and start talk-ing as sinners. Then maybe we will start using the power we have to forgive and to show mercy. We will realize that no matter how often we do forgive, no matter how often we show mercy, we need it more.

Try this. The next time you are tempted to render judgment on the sin of another, whisper this prayer: “Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Then see what comes out of your mouth.

Full disclosure: That little recom-mendation came from Jesus, not me.

as a high-school student in the 1980s, I purchased an innocuous book, titled Book of Predictions, which compiled hundreds of predictions by dozens of soothsayers, from Nos-tradamus to forgettable quacks. Toward the end of the book was a section on “Saint Malachy’s Papal Predictions.” This was in the 1980s and the incumbent pope at that time was, of course, Pope John Paul II. In reading the book, the natural query was, who would be the next pope after John Paul II?

The book credits Malachy for “ac-curately” forecasting the identity of every single Roman Catholic pope from 1143 a.D. He predicts the popes by using descriptive terms which can be associated with the pope. and he gave these terms in the sequence by which the popes would succeed. In the case of Pope Paul VI, for example, Malachy predicted using the words: “flower of flowers.” Paul VI was even-tually represented by Flos Florum and his coat of arms showed three fleurs-de-lis. John Paul II’s successor was predicted with the phrase Gloria Olivae or “glory of the olive.” Prior to the assumption of Pope Benedict, almost all interpreted that the next

pope would be from the Benedictine Order for the order is also known by another name: Olivetans. In-stead, Cardinal Ratzinger chose to be known as Pope Benedict.

Succeeding Gloria Olivae is Petrus Romanus. What is earth-shaking of Malachy’s predictions is that Petrus Romanus is the last on the list, trig-gering the speculation that Petrus Romanus is the last pope. The nam-ing for Petrus Romanus comes with a prediction that “the 7-hilled city will be destroyed.”

In 1909 it was reported that Pope Pius X had a vision, after which he allegedly uttered, “What I see is ter-rifying. Will it be myself? Will it be my successor? What is certain is that the pope will quit Rome, and in leav-ing the Vatican, he will have to walk over the dead bodies of his priests.”

among the other books I have read is the book on the Fatima ap-paritions in Portugal. any devotee would, of course, know about the three secrets of the Fatima. The Third Secret remained a secret until it was finally revealed on June 26, 2000. That third secret, of a 1917 vision, was written in a letter made in 1944. The letter stated:

“We saw an angel with a flam-ing sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the Earth with his right hand, the angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’

“and we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something simi-lar to how people appear in a mir-ror when they pass in front of it’ a Bishop dressed in White ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father.’ Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; be-fore reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ru-ins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sor-row, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions.”

The apparition at Fatima has re-ceived full recognition of the Catho-lic Church.

In March Pope Francis spoke about the possibility of being assas-sinated. Pope Francis has said: “Life is in God’s hands. I have said to the Lord, ‘You take care of me. But if it is Your will that I die or something hap-pens to me, I ask You only one favor: that it doesn’t hurt. Because I am a

real wimp when it comes to physi-cal pain’” and quiet oddly, just a few weeks ago, he spoke about serving as pontiff for “another two or three years,” adding: “I feel that the Lord has placed me here for a short time” and that he had “a vague sensation he would not reign as pope for long.”

In the same month he made a surprise announcement declar-ing a massive holy festival on the month of December to mark the Extraordinary Jubilee Year begin-ning December 8. The last jubilee was in 1983 called by John Paul II to celebrate the 1,950 years since Jesus Christ’s redemption. The theme of the festival is mercy. It is expected to draw millions of Catholics to Rome and the Vatican. almost simultaneously, the Islamic State militants “singled out” the Vatican for possible attack, show-ing online the group’s black flag flying over Saint Peter’s Basilica. This was released together with images of the beheaded 21 Coptic Christians in Egypt. The Islamic State’s propaganda magazine Dabiq ran a cover photo of the militant group’s flag flying above the Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican with the headline: “The failed crusade.” In the February 22 issue of the USA Today, it was reported that the ter-rorist group called Italy “the na-tion signed with the blood of the cross.” The Italian Interior Minis-try is reported to be making plans to deploy 5,000 police officers to Rome after their deployment for the Milan Expo, which will end in October this year.

The Vatican has officially re-mained silent about these threats.

We resume our discourse on insur-ance matters after the Holy Week.

By Joni Seager, Deepa Joshi & Rebecca Pearl-MartinezInter Press Service

NEW YORK/NaIROBI—Experts from around the world gathered in New York recently to launch work on the Global Gender Environment Outlook (GGEO), the first

comprehensive, integrated and global assessment of gender issues in relation to the environment and sustainability.

A major push forward for gender and environment

Never before has there been an analysis at the scale of the GGEO or with the global visibility and audience. It will provide governments and other stake-holders with the evidence-based global and regional information, data and tools they need for transformational, gender-responsive environmental poli-cy-making—if they’re willing to do so.

The writing workshop happened in the context of the recent 59th session of the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) 20 years after 189 countries met in Bei-jing to adopt a global platform of ac-tion for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Beijing+20 offers a critical moment to assess how far we’ve come and put gender at the center of global sustain-ability, environment and development agendas. Twenty years later, what have we accomplished?

In 2015 governments will be setting the development agenda for the next 15 years through the Sustainable Develop-ment Goals, as well as negotiating a new global climate agreement.

The UN Environment Programme (Unep) will be making a bold contribu-tion to these global efforts by putting gender at the heart of environment and development analysis and action in the GGEO. The GGEO will be presented at the UN Environment assembly in May 2016.

a recent flagship publication by UN Women, The World Survey on the Role of Women in Development: Gender Equality and Sustainable Development (2014), re-veals that 748 million people globally (10 percent of the world’s population) are without access to improved water sources.

Women and girls are the primary water carriers for these families, fetch-ing water for over 70 percent of these households. In many rural areas, they may walk up to two hours; in urban ar-eas, it is common to have to wait for over an hour at a shared standpipe.

This unpaid “women’s work” signifi-cantly limits their potential to generate income and their opportunities to attend school. Women and girls suffer high lev-els of mental stress where water rights are insecure and, physically, the years of carrying water from an early stage takes its toll, resulting in cumulative wear and tear to the neck, spine, back and knees.

The bodies of women, the survey concludes, in effect become part of the water-delivery infrastructure, doing the work of the pipes. Not only in wa-ter, but also in all environmental sec-tors—land, energy, natural resources—women are burdened by time poverty and lack of access to natural and pro-ductive assets.

Their work and capabilities system-atically unrecognized and undervalued. This is a long call away from the Beijing commitment to “the full implementa-tion of the human rights of women and the girl child as an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

On the one hand, our thinking about the inter-linkages between gender, sustainability and develop-ment has progressed significantly since 1995. Innovative research and analysis have transformed our under-standing so that gender is now seen as a major driver—and prerequisite—for sustainability.

Gender approaches in UN climate negotiations are a good case in point. Thanks to persistent efforts on advocacy, activism, research and strategic capac-ity building by many, it is more widely accepted that gender roles and norms influence climate-change drivers such as energy use and consumption patterns, as well as policy positions and public perceptions of the problem.

These were acknowledged—albeit late—in negotiations, policies and strategies on the topic. One small in-dication is that references to “gender” in the draft climate change negotiating texts increased dramatically from zero in 2007 to more than 60 by 2010.

according to data by the Women’s Environment and Development Or-ganization as of November 2014, 32 decisions under the climate-change convention now include gender.

On the other hand, not much seems to have changed. In 1995 inequalities, foremost gender inequality, under-mined economic prosperity and sus-tainable development. This is even more the case today.

Perpetuating gender inequality and disregarding the potential contribution of both men and women is shortsighted, has high opportunity cost and impacts negatively on all three the pillars of sustainable development—environ-mental, social and economic.

The course to achieving gender equality also remains plagued by a sim-plistic translation of gender as women and empowerment as ‘gender main-streaming’ in projects and interven-tions that are not necessarily planned with an objective of longer-term, trans-formational equality.

Numerous studies point out the ob-vious links between social and political dimensions of gender inequality and the economic trade-offs, and that narrow-ing the gender gap benefits us all and on many fronts.

The World Bank, World Economic Forum and the OECD, for example, have all concluded that women who have ac-cess to education also have access to opportunities for decent employment and sustainable entrepreneurship—key components of an inclusive green econ-omy. The education of girls is linked to its direct and noticeable positive impact on sustainability.

The facts are conclusive: addressing gender equality is both the right and the smart thing to do. and yet, despite the obvious benefits, around the world, gender inequality remains pervasive and entrenched.

and most global policies on environ-ment and development remain danger-ously uninformed by gendered analysis.

Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

By Hans C. Shrader

THE Philippines’s trade competitiveness can get a major boost once the country addresses stumbling blocks—unclear regulations and overly complex or inefficient trading

processes—that can be fixed quite easily.

the contraction. This is why I applaud the Phil-

ippine government for seeking to ratify the Trade Facilitation agree-ment (TFa). (Please see “PHL Set to Ok Trade Facilitation Pact” by Catherine Pillas, BusinessMirror, March 5) The TFa seeks to reduce transaction costs, lower red tape, and improve transparency of trade regulations and policies. Contrary to some speculation, the agreement does not change tariffs or quotas as these will continue for industries receiving these protections.

The TFa urges countries to pub-lish relevant trade-policy require-ments and fees in a nondiscrimina-tory and accessible manner, provide the right of appeal to border agen-cies’ administrative decisions, limit trade-related fees and charges to the approximate cost of the services ren-dered and minimize complexities of import, export and transit formali-ties. The more efficient processes and the resulting lower cost to trade will benefit Philippine consumers of imports, Philippine businesses using imported inputs for production and Philippine goods exporters.

actually, much of this work is not new to the Philippines, with the Department of agriculture and the Bureau of Customs among the agen-cies already working to streamline processes and improve transparency

of border-related systems.Properly implemented reforms

should significantly reduce time and cost to trade. The World Bank Group sees that the longer it takes to get import and export permits, the more likely corruption is introduced to the system. Conversely, cutting time for procedures, and potentially reducing opportunities for corruption, can result in over 10-percent increase in regional trade.

With the gradual implementation of the economic integration of the association of Southeast asian Na-tions, countries with more efficient trade procedures will increase their import and export volumes. Phil-ippine competitiveness is already under pressure to improve its own border-related systems—it ranked 63 in the latest Doing Business sur-vey’s trading across borders indica-tor, with neighbors Indonesia at 62 and Vietnam at 74.

By ratifying the agreement and drumming up support for it, the Philippines is demonstrating its commitment for increased world trade and an improved regulatory environment, which will benefit Filipino entrepreneurs and Philip-pine competitiveness.

Hans C. Shrader is a Senior Program Manager, Trade and Competitiveness, The World Bank Group.

Facilitation agreement will raise PHL trade competitiveness

“Outdated and inefficient bor-der procedures, inadequate infra-structure and unreliable logistics services are all likely to increase the time it takes to trade—driving up costs like storage fees and inspec-tion charges,” says the “World Bank Group’s Doing Business 2013” report about any economy. In the Philip-pines, for instance, every container coming into the ports is supposed to be inspected regardless of relative risk for pest, disease or smuggled goods. This contributes to unneces-sary delays in trade and inefficient use of stretched border resources. In turn, the volume of trade is lessened and potential international competi-tiveness for businesses diminished. The World Bank Group finds that by simply speeding up the rate of mov-ing cargo from production line to the ship by 10 percent can increase exports by 4 percent in the East asia Pacific region.

Losses from the import-export contraction and manufacturing slowdown caused by the city of Manila’s truck ban that led to

congestion at the Port of Manila from February to November 2014 cost the Philippine economy some P70 billion ($1.6 billion), as esti-mated by the National Economic and Development authority. as many as 37,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) bound for Manila ac-cumulated in Hong Kong, Singapore and Kaohsiung, while 17,000 TEUs of empty containers from an aver-age of 8,000 clogged Manila’s port. Import container traffic in Manila and Luzon fell by 17 percent and the contraction in export containers hovered at 18 percent in the third quarter. Manufacturing growth dropped to 7 percent also in the third quarter, from 12 percent in the previous quarter, due to delays in the shipment of raw materials.

While there is little doubt that Philippine gross domestic prod-uct (GDP) took a hit as a result of the truck ban, GDP does not give a human face to the story. The real impact is on the livelihoods and pockets of thousands of workers and small businesses affected by

The government’s net borrowings in 2014 amounted only to P175.24 billion, a drastic cut from net borrowings the

previous year, and attributed to higher rev-enue collection and underspending by the government for the period. The total P175.24 billion in net bor-rowings for 2014 was P143.88 billion less, or 45 percent lower, than the P319.12 billion in net borrowings made by the government in 2013. The lower net borrowings was traced to higher revenue collection by the government, which amounted to P1.908 trillion, or an 11-percent growth from the previous year’s revenue collection, and an indication that the government needed less from an array of creditors to help fund the various public-sector operations. Underspending by the government in 2014 also contributed to the lower net borrowings for the year, with total expen-ditures amounting only to P1.981 trillion, or 13 percent lower than the programmed

By Catherine N. Pillas

exPorTers are now starting to lose hope that the P1.8-billion support fund that was promised to them in

January would be given during President Aquino’s term. The support fund is a vital component of the Philippine export Development Plan (PeDP) 2014-2016, which remains in limbo four months after its submission to the Palace. “I’m beginning to see that it’s not go-ing to come out on a timely basis, because the plan is going to end in 2014-2016, we’re now halfway, so we don’t even know which budget it will be put in. The earliest budget it can be placed in is 2016, and some might reason that it’s not necessary anymore because the PeDP only covers 2014-2016,” said Philippine exporters Confederation Inc. President sergio r. ortiz-Luis Jr.

A8

2ndFront PageBusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.phWednesday, April 1, 2015

See “Exporters,” A2 See “Borrowings,” A2

See “Oil,” A2

Cash in circulation grew 8.5% to ₧7.5T in February

Govt’s netborrowingsfell 45%in 2014

B.I.R. ASKED TO DEFERE-FILING OF RETURNS

By David Cagahastian

The Tax Management Association of the Philippines (TMAP) has appealed to the Bureau of Internal Revenue

(BIR) to defer the implementation of the mandatory electronic filing, or e-filing, of tax returns by certain kinds of taxpayers. In its letter to Internal Revenue Com-missioner Kim Jacinto-henares, the TMAP claimed there was not enough time for taxpayers to comply with the new require-ment to file their tax returns using the eBIR Form given that the regulations requiring the same was issued less than a month be-fore the deadline for the filing of tax returns on April 15. Under Revenue Regulations 5-2015, henares added certain kinds of taxpayers to the list of those required to file their tax returns electronically.

The additional taxpayers required to use the eBIR Form facility include ac-credited importers and customs brokers and prospective importers and customs brokers; accredited printers of principal and supplementary receipts/invoices; one-time transaction taxpayers; those who shall file a “No Payment” return; government-owned and -controlled corporations; and cooperatives regis-tered with the National electrification Administration and the Local Water Utilities Administration. The TMAP said that, while it supports the BIR’s efforts to fully automate the filing of tax returns, the lack of time for taxpayers to learn and prepare their electronic submis-sions could expose them to hefty fines. The new regulations impose a penalty of P1,000 per return and a surcharge of

Exporterssee hopesfor ₧1.8-Bfund fade

BEAT THE SUMMER HEAT Boys swim beside a fishing boat in suburban Parañaque, south of Manila, on Tuesday. AP/AAron FAvilA

By Bianca Cuaresma

ToTal cash in circulation, or money readily avail-able to businesses and

households, picked up speed and grew by 8.5 percent to P7.5 trillion in February this year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). 

The central bank said this was based on preliminary data and an acceleration from do-mestic liquidity growth averag-ing 7.7 percent in January that represented a two-year low. 

A growing cash supply is ben-eficial for a growing economy like the Philippines, providing it fuel for the productive sec-tors that increase the nation’s capacity to grow.

however, an excessively slow-growing cash supply may be bad for the nation, particularly if this proved in-sufficient to keep productive activities going. Nevertheless, excessively high money-supply growth in an economy for an extended period could heighten risks of developing instability pockets, such as asset bubbles and up-side inflation pressures.  In January 2014 the money-supply growth peaked at 38 percent—prompting the cen-tral bank to dampen liquidity growth by putting in place sev-eral measures last year, such as the hike in the banks’ deposit- reserve ratio and adjustments in the special deposits account (sDA) interest rate. Money-supply growth, al-ternately known as M3 growth, was attributed to the sustained demand for credit and the

increase in placements of trust entities in the BsP’s sDAs. This also reflected the so-called statistical base effects associated with the accel-eration in domestic liquidity growth a year ago averaging 36.6 percent. Domestic claims during the period grew by 10 percent in February, from 10.8 percent in Januar y. Publ ic-sector credit, meanwhile, contracted by 4.5 percent compared to the 2.2-percent dec l ine a month earlier. “Going forward, the BsP will continue to monitor mon-etary conditions and remain prepared to take appropriate measures necessary to ensure that domestic liquidity stays adequate to support a nonin-flationary growth trajectory,” the BsP said. The BsP’s next policy meet-ing is on May 14 this year. 

oIL headed for a third quarterly loss as Iranian and Western diplomats worked toward a nuclear deal that

may lead to the organization of the Petro-leum exporting Countries (opec) member increasing crude exports and worsening a global supply glut. Futures dropped as much as 1.7 percent in New York, falling for a third day. russian Foreign Minister sergei Lavrov left the talks in switzerland and will only return if an agreement is in sight, signaling negotiations may continue into the final hours leading to Tuesday’s deadline.

Us crude stockpiles probably expanded further from a record last week, a Bloomberg survey showed before government data on Wednesday. oil is sliding toward the longest run of quarterly declines since 2003 amid speculation the global surplus that cut prices by almost 50 percent last year will persist. Iran may be hoarding 7 million to as much as 35 million barrels, shipbrokers and government officials estimated, which Bar-clays Plc. and société Générale sA predict would be the first to be sold abroad should a nuclear pact be reached.

Oil set for third quarterly dropSee “BIR,” A2