Businessmirror December 3, 2015

Almost three-quarters of Asias adult population dont have a clear grasp of key monetary ideas, including inflation and risk diversification, according to a study conducted by standard & Poors (s&P). In China 63 percent of adults with a credit card are financially illiterate and only 28 percent of Chinese respondents were iden-tified as financially competent, it showed. singapore had the high-est percentage of people in the region with a good understanding of the key concepts, at 59 percent, while Cambodia and Nepal had the

lowest at 18 percent. there are correlations be-tween financial literacy, financial access and the strength of mar-kets, Courtney Geduldig, execu-tive vice president of public affairs at mcGraw Hill Financial, parent of s&P Ratings, said in a state-ment on Wednesday. Addressing financial literacy is a key strategy in building stronger, more acces-sible and sustainable markets around the globe. Financial inclusion is a challenge and an opportunity in Asia, with about 47 percent of adults in India

NPC proposed to increase its rate by P2.0627 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in luzon, P2.3236 per kWh in the Visayas and P1.4534 per kWh in mindanao. the proposed rates, it said, reflect additional operating costs incurred by the NPC-sPUG (small Power Utilities Group) as a result of the fluctuation of fuel prices used in power generation. NPC is allowed

to recover this deferred fuel costs through the Generation Rate Adjust-ment mechanism (GRAm). NPC-sPUG is responsible for providing power generation and the associated power-delivery systems in areas that are not connected to the grid. NPCs ap-plication covers the billing period from January to June 2014.

See Power-rate hike, A2

See Financially illiterate, A2

PESO ExchangE ratES n US 47.1530 n jaPan 0.3837 n UK 71.0926 n hK 6.0827 n chIna 7.3693 n SIngaPOrE 33.5513 n aUStralIa 34.4963 n EU 50.0906 n SaUDI arabIa 12.5675 Source: BSP (2 December 2015)

www.businessmirror.com.ph n Thursday 18, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 40 P25.00 nationwide | 5 sections 30 pages | 7 days a weekn Thursday, december 3, 2015 Vol. 11 No. 56A broader look at todays business

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Power-rate hike in areasserved by NPC imminent

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facEbOOK c.E.O. PlEDgES tO gIvE away 99 PErcEnt Of SharES tO charIty

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75% of Asian adults financially illiteratehealTh&fiTness

Max Chan ZuCkerberg is held by her parents, Mark Zuckerberg and priscilla Chan Zuckerberg. The facebook Ceo and his wife announced the birth of their daughter, Max, as well as plans to donate most of their wealth to a new organization that will tackle a broad range of the worlds ills. Mark Zuckerberg Via aP

FACebook Inc. cofounder and Ceo mark Zuck-erberg said on tuesday he and his wife would give 99 percent of their Facebook shares to charitable purposes. Proceeds of the holdings by the couple, Zucker-berg and Priscilla Chan, of the publicly listed Us social network currently worth $45 billion, will be managed by a new organization known as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg posted A let-ter to our daughter, who was born last week. the couple promised that they would give away

their money during our lives through wealth chari-table donations, private investment and promotion of government-policy reform. About the new organization, formed as a limited liability company to be controlled by the couple, the 31-year-old silicon Valley entrepreneur wrote, our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities. meanwhile, Facebook said in a securities filing Zuckerberg has planned to give away no more than $1 billion of Facebook stock each year for the next three years. PNA

By Lenie Lectura

Customers of the National Power Corp. (NPC) will experience an increase in their power bills once the energy regulatory Commission (erC) approves the state-run power firms application for recovery-cost adjustments.

We should remember that countries around us are concluding agreements all the time. We cannot afford to stand still. For ex-ample, the Philippines dropped in the ease of doing business index. Has it become harder to do business here? No, not necessarily. Its just that other countries are always modernizing rules to make it easy for companies to come in, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) Vice President Erik Moller Nielsen said. This, Moller noted, should prompt the Phil-ippines to intensify talks with the European

Union (EU) for the quick conclusion of the Philippines-EU free trade agreement (FTA). The Philippines recently slipped by six notches in the World Banks Doing Business index, dragging down its competitiveness in starting a business among Asean countries by one step, or from sixth among 10 nations, to fifth. The proposed Philippines-EU FTA, specifically, is critical for the country, as it will allow the Philippines to gain access to the 500-million-strong EU consumer market, added Florian Gottein, ECCP vice president for Membership and Business Services.

Progress on the FTA, however, has been slow due to inaction on the domestic front on particular economic policies that are at odds with the standards of the EU. The Philippines and EU have yet to launch formal negotiations and have been at the pre-scoping stage for nearly two years now. For the moment, the clear advantage of the Philippines as a trading and investment partner over other Asean nations isits EU-Generalized System of Preference (EU-GSP+) privilege. The EU-GSP+ gives the Philippines preferential trade treatment, specifically the entry of 6,274 product lines to the EU at zero tariffs for a maximum of 10 years. The Philippines is the only country in Asean that enjoys this EU-GSP+ status. This privilege should be maximized to boost the Philippiness exports to the EU, Gottein added. Newly installed ECCP President Guenter Taus said looking forward, the next admin-istration should pursue competitiveness-en-hancing initiatives such as the consistency of policies, honoring of contractual obligations by the government and more liberalized con-struction and engineering sectors.

BusinessMirror [email protected] Thursday, December 3, 2015 A2 News

Power-rate hike. . . Continued from A1 Financially illiterate. . . Continued from A1

If approved, the proposed rates will be implemented over two years to fully recover P1,892,748,606 worth of deferred fuel costs to mitigate the impact to NPC customers in the missionary areas. The state firm said its proposed 13th GRAM application was approved for filing by the NPC Board on October 7. It added that the proposed adjustment is fair and reasonable as it is computed in line with the GRAM rules. In a separate application, the NPC is also seeking to recover P8,774,702 in deferred foreign exchange (forex) costs for the billing period of January to June 2014 through the imposition of a P0.0178-per-kWh incremental currency exchange rate adjustment (Icera) over a period of 12 months. Again, the NPC said the proposed Icera, which was

approved by the NPC Board on October 7, is fair and reasonable. The proposed Icera is based on foreign-exchange-related adjustments attributable only to NPC-SPUG operations, the NPC said. The GRAM and Icera are two ERC-approved adjustment mechanisms designed to allow the NPC to recover actual and incremental fuel, Independent Power Producers and forex fluctuation costs that it incurs in the course of producing electricity. The NPC is required by the ERC to file the GRAM and Icera adjustments on a quarterly basis under an order issued in February 2003. NPCs GRAM is included in the computation of the Manila Electric Co.s generation charge, the biggest component of its electricity bill.

or 415 million peoplelacking a bank ac-count, S&P said. While the array of financial products available in Asia is growing rapidly, citing China where credit-card ownership has almost doubled since 2011, people still struggle with simple concepts like interest, it said. The survey also showed: 61 percent of Chinese adults dont save for old age; Six out of 10 Chinese adults dont have formal savings, and about 20 percent of the adult population is unbanked. Bloomberg News

By Catherine N. Pillas

EuropEan businessmen expressed con-cern over the diminishing competitive-ness of the country vis--vis its neighbors, which is exacerbated by the failure of the phil-ippines to forge bilateral deals with its major trading partners.

ECCP wants PHL to pursue bilateral trade deal with EU

[email protected] Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo Thursday, December 3, 2015 A3BusinessMirrorThe Nation

Next in line to be chopped by the LP, Palace sources intimated, is Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, who is re-portedly set to be slapped with a plun-der suit and detained next month.

Malacaang has denied having any hand in the cancellation of Poes COC by the Comelecs Second Division, but the senators camp said the Palace has been managing the Roxas campaign and using everything at its disposal to get back at Poe, who rejected Presi-

dent Aquinos offer for her to be the LP vice presidential candidate.

The Palace also rejected claims that it was behind the two-year campaign to prevent Binay from running through the 14-month Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommit-tee hearings on alleged anomalies involving the Vice President and members of his family.

Colmenares faulted the Comelec for disqualifying Poe based on her

Comelec told to nix plotto eliminate Roxas foes

lack of residency, which was held to be a material misrepresentation and, thus, a falsehood on the COC.

Colmenares argued this techni-cal basis for the verdict is violative of the right of the sovereign people to choose their president.

Sen. Poe has decided to return, and already resided and worked in the Philippines since May 2005, she even enrolled her children in our countrys schools during that time. This was after Fernando Poe Jr. died in December 2004. She has already proven that she has indeed an intention to return, to stay and actually resided in the Philippines since May 2005, thus, surpassing the residency requirement for running for the presidency, Colmenares said.

This is really sad because the LP and its cohorts are using every issue they can hit Sen. Poe with even the foundling issue. They are essentially discriminating against abandoned children and depriving them of their rights, he added.

Colmenares charged that the Comelec Second Division only confirms the belief of many that President Aquino appointed mem-bers of the poll body might yield or succumb to the LPs grand scheme

and antidemocratic maneuverings to eliminate a rival popular candi-date so that Mar Roxas would have a chance of winning the presidency.

We just hope that the Comelec commissioners would not allow themselves to be used by the LP for their political machinations to remain in power. Huwag sana silang magpagamit sa mga kapit tuko sa poder na gustong ipagpatuloy ang pagpapa-hirap nila sa mamamayang Pilipino, Colmenares said. Meanwhile, Poes vice presiden-tial candidate, Sen. Francis G. Es-cudero remains confident that his running mate will be allowed to run for president, having met all the constitutional requirements to seek the highest post in the land. Escudero said the resolution of the Comelec Second Division is just a temporary setback as he expects Poe to get relief, either from the Comelec en banc or the Supreme Court. We still have faith in our justice system. We believe that in the end, Sen. Grace will be allowed to run not only based on international and domestic laws, but also based on the factual situation of the case, Escu-dero said. With Recto Mercene

By Marvyn N. Benaning | Correspondent

PARTY-LIST Rep. Neri J. Colmenares of Bayan Muna said on Wednesday that the junking of the certificate of candidacy (COC) for president filed by Sen. Grace Poe by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) confirms the big plot of the Liberal Party (LP) to eliminate all the rivals of its standard bearer, former Interior Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II.

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

ASENATE leader on Wednes-day said that it may still be possible for Congress to pass the proposed basic law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBar), if the House of Represen-tatives can muster a quorum to tackle its own version of the bill.

Sen. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., chairman of the Senate Com-mittee on Local Government, said in a statement that he is ready to answer the questions of his colleagues on the BLBar, as the Senate resumes its de-liberation of the bill this week.

Deliberations of the BLBar in the House had been stalled be-cause of a lack of quorum. Now, if they can muster a quorum to pro-ceed with their discussions, it may be possible to pass the bill before our session ends, Marcos said.

We [Senate] are still in the pe-riod of interpellation. After that we will take up amendments that the other senators will propose. Then, we will vote on it and pass it. I think the substitute bill that I wrote, once it has been properly amended by the senators...I think it should pass, he added.

While he admitted that he has no control over the length of the interpellations, Marcos remains confident the Senate can find a

consensus to speed up its delib-eration on the measure meant to bring peace to Muslim Mindanao.

The peace process cannot end. We cannot allow it to end. We must continue to find a way to bring peace to Muslim Min-danao, the senator said.

Earlier, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. admitted that the problem on lack of quorum is killing the peace measure.

He said the long line of law-makers who want to interpellate has stretched the legislative pro-cess for the BLBar.

House Bill 5811, or the BL-Bar, is currently under the pe-riod of interpellation in the House of Representatives.

The real problem here is that time is running out, because sev-eral lawmakers want to interpel-late, he said. Currently, there are at least 17 lawmakers who want to interpellate the peace measure.

Also, Centrist Democratic Party Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, the chairman of the House ad hoc committee on the Bangsamoro basic law, hinted at the death of the peace measure owing to lack of material time, as the Lower House is facing a seri-ous absenteeism problem.

Rodr ig uez sa id the quo -rum problem has hounded the House since July.

Bongbong: BLBar passage depends on House quorum

BusinessMirrorursday, December 3, 2015A4eBroaderLook

Climate accord: Negotiators take heart at Obama comments

Obama said on the sidelines ofclimate negotiations in Paris thatparts of the accord should be bind-ing to hold countries accountable. But Obamas remarks werea boost to many negotiators, in-cluding host France, who want astrong accord. Environment Minister SegoleneRoyal told the Associated Press inParis that With Barack Obamascomments we have crossed a newthreshold.... We really feel a collec-tive dynamic that has now been setin motion. She said there was doubt be-fore about the US position. It isreally extraordinary news thatcomes at a good time, at the begin-ning of the conference. e latest news from the UNclimate conference in Paris, whichruns through December 11. Alltimes local:

6:05 p.m.AMID the talks in Paris, the Re-publican-led US House of Repre-sentatives was directly challengingPresident Barack Obamas environ-mental policies, scheduling voteson Tuesday afternoon that wouldstrike down rules on reducing car-bon emissions from power plants,both current and future. Republicans argue that the ad-ministrations climate-change poli-cies cost American jobs in a strug-gling economy. At a news conference Tues-day morning, Speaker Paul Ryan,R-Wisconsin, was asked about themajority support in the UnitedStates for action on climate changeand whether Congress was out ofstep with public opinion. I dont think were out of stepwith public opinion wanting jobs,wanting economic growth, weigh-ing the costs and the benets,Ryan told reporters. I think whenyou weigh the costs and the ben-ets against these so-called legallybinding obligations they dont addup. I think its very clear peoplewant jobs.

5:50 p.m.INDONESIAS environment min-ister says the country is crackingdown on those responsible for il-legally set res that have left thou-sands of square miles of pristineforest a smoldering ruin. Siti Nurbaya Bakar, whos attend-ing the global climate-change talksnear Paris, says We put law enforce-ment on the ground. Anybody who isat fault regarding this, they have to [beheld] responsible for this. President Joko Widodo saidhe was ashamed that authoritiesfailed to prevent the res, whichare set in order to make the landavailable for farming. He orderedlaw-enforcement agencies to pun-ish perpetrators, including revok-ing forest concessions and black-listing those responsible. e ecological disaster has in-icted a staggering toll on the re-gions environment, economy andhuman health: 2.1 million hectares(8,000 square miles) of forests andother land burned, 21 deaths, morethan half a million people sickenedwith respiratory problems and $9billion in economic losses. e government is draftingnew regulations to stien penalties,reduce haze pollution and avoid for-est res. But the president has alsoasked for patience in tackling theproblem, saying Indonesia needsthree years to solve it. Malaysia hassaid that is not fast enough.

4:35 p.m.LONG lines for snacks and drinks

have plagued visitors to the COP21climate talks, with 40,000 del-egates, reporters and activists alllooking for a place to refuel. But there was no line at #Ener-gyJuiceBar, a fun stand inside theso-called Generations Climate tentwhere environmental associationsand other NGOs have set up stands. e catch: to get a glass of juiceat this stand, visitors have to workfor it. A pink bicycle and a black oneare hooked up via a power genera-tor to the stands two juicers. Hopup on the bike and start pedaling,and a power meter shows the wattsbeing generated while an atten-dant shoves carrots, apple slicesand beets into the machine. It takes 130 watts to run thejuicer, and about a minute of hardpedaling to get one small glass ofjuice. Breathless customers stepo the bike as a smiling attendanthands them the glass. Here yougo, you earned it, he tells each one.

4:10 p.m.ONE climate expert says its com-mon for international agreementsto have parts that are binding andparts that arent, and whats beingdiscussed in Paris will likely notneed approval by a reluctant Re-publican Congress. Nigel Purvis, a former US cli-mate negotiator who is now presi-dent of the non-governmental orga-nization Climate Advisers, says thebinding parts would be requirementsto have a plan to ght global warm-ing, but not the plan itself, and toreport and monitor emissions. Buthe says individual US emission cutswould not be binding. Purvis told the AssociatedPress at the Paris climate summiton Tuesday theres no interna-tional climate police thats going tocome and tell a country to do some-thing more. He says Obama has all theauthority he needs to enter intothis type of binding agreement,thanks in part to a 1992 directiveapproved by the US Senate. He alsosays treaties that require approvalby the US Senate are only 6 per-cent of the international deals thatcome across a presidents desk.

3:25 p.m.PRESIDENT Barack Obama sayshe believes his successor will up-hold US commitments in a climate-change dealeven if that person isa Republican. Obama says Republicans whonow say they oppose an interna-tional agreement to reduce carbonemissions are playing to a narrowconstituency but would feel dif-ferently if they won the presidencyand felt the pressure of leading aglobal community. He says Americas status as aworld power and its ability to in-uence events depends on takingseriously what other countries careabout. He says other countries aretaking climate change very seriously. Obama spoke to reporters be-fore leaving a global climate con-ference in Paris. He added that hedoesnt actually think his successorwill be a Republicanhe thinksAmericans will elect a Democrat in2016. He didnt name names.

2:35 p.m.OBAMA says hes condent the worldwill forge a major climate changeagreement in the coming weeks. Obama told reporters hesconvinced that were going to getbig things done here. Obama spoke on Tuesday ashe ended a two-day trip to Paris

LE BOURGET, FranceFrances environment minister is welcoming US President Barack Obamas pledge to push for a climate accord that includes legally binding promises.

for a United Nations conference onclimate. He was among dozens ofleaders who descended on the cityto kick o the nal weeks of talkson an international agreement toreduce global carbon emissions Obama says he wants to see adeal that allows countries to con-tinue to update their carbon-reduc-tion targets regularly and one thatallows developing nations to usenew technology to skip the dirtyphase of development. He says adeal is critical to the global econo-my and to US national security.

2:30 p.m.PARIS police have extended a banon public demonstrations aroundLe Bourget until the end of the con-ference on climate change. e general prohibition put inplace in the wake of the Novem-ber 13 attacks in Paris came to anend on Tuesday but the ban hasbeen extended until December 13around the Champs-Elyses in cen-tral Paris and in Le Bourget, wherethe COP21 meeting is taking place.

On Sunday, police took 317protesters into custody after ac-tivists seeking to call attention toclimate change deed the ban onmarches and clashed with policeat the Place de la Republique, acentral point for commemorationsafter the November 13 attacks thatkilled 130 people. All but nine havebeen released.

2:15 p.m.AFRICAN leaders at internationalclimate talks are stressing the needto address shrinking resources in thetroubled Lake Chad region, wherethe Islamic extremist group BokoHaram carries out regular attacks. e lake, surrounded by Chad,Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, hasshrunk as much as 90 percent com-pared to 1960, changing the livesof nearby farmers, shermen andherders. Some also say the increas-ing desperation is driving peopleinto the extremists ranks. Niger President Mahamadou Is-soufou, meeting at the Paris climatetalks on Tuesday with other Lake

Chad leaders and France,says theres a close linkbetween the drying-up ofthe lake and the terrorismof Boko Haram.

He says we must actquickly, before its toolate to help people in theregion.

e Nigeria-based BokoHaram has expanded at-tacks this year into Cam-eroon, Chad and Niger.e group wants to cre-ate an Islamic caliphate.Its six-year-old uprisinghas killed thousands anddriven as many as 2.3million people from theirhomes.

1:30 p.m.OBAMA says withoutambitious action on cli-mate change, people maybe forced to ee islandnations and will becomerefugees. Obama is meetingon the sidelines of globalclimate talks in Pariswith leaders from islandnations hit hard by ris-ing seas and increasinglyviolent storms. Presidentsand prime ministers fromKiribati, the Marshall Is-lands, St. Lucia, Barbadosand Papua New Guineaare attending the meetingwith Obama.

Obama says those countriesarent the most populous or inuen-tial. But he says their populations areamong the most vulnerable to theravages of climate change. e Hawaiian-born Obama isreferring to himself as an islandboy. He says he understands thebeauty and fragility of island life.Obama is calling for global nanc-ing tailored to the unique needs ofisland nations as they adapt to cli-mate change.

1:20 p.m.OBAMA says the emerging glob-al climate agreement must havetransparency provisions and peri-odic reviews of carbon-cutting tar-gets that are legally binding. Obama is commenting on thelegal framework for the agree-ment during a meeting with lead-ers of island nations hit hard byclimate change. Obama says the specic tar-gets each country is setting to re-duce greenhouse-gas emissionsmay not have the force of treaties.

But he says to hold each other ac-countable, its critical that period-ic reviews be legally binding. Hesreferring to a mechanism soughtby negotiators under which coun-tries would ratchet up their com-mitments every ve years. Whether the climate dealshould be legally binding has beena major sticking point in the talks,in large part due to the US. Obamawould face dim odds at getting theRepublican-run Congress to vote toapprove a new climate treaty. atset o a search for a compromisewhere parts of the deal are bind-ing and others are not, sparing theneed for a new vote in Congress.

12:50 p.m.CHANTING Keep this fair, doyour share, protesters at the Parisclimate conference are warningthat developing countries risk los-ing out on a global accord under ne-gotiation to ght global warming. A dozen activists unfurledbanners and performed a skit onTuesday outside the exhibitionhalls hosting high-stakes climatetalks through December 11. COP is rigged for rich coun-tries, read one banner, referringto the conferences formal nameCOP21. A key sticking point in thetalks is who should shoulder moreeconomic responsibility for reduc-ing emissions and helping coun-tries cope with eects of globalwarming already underway. Peruvian activist Maria Ale-jandra Rodriquez Acha said hercountry is facing climate threatson many frontsfrom coastal ero-sion by the Pacic Ocean to shrink-ing forests in the Amazon.

12:30 p.m.FRANCE is promising 8 billionover the next ve years for invest-ment in renewable energy in Africaand to increase Africans access toelectricity. President Franois Hollandespledge on Tuesday came in a meet-ing with 12 African leaders aboutthe threats from climate change,including coastal erosion, advanc-ing deserts and rivers that are dry-ing up. e meeting is part of largertalks outside Paris this week andnext aimed at an international ac-cord to ght global warming. When a young student isforced to go study under a streetlamp at night, it clearly demon-strates the electricity issue, Ma-lian President Ibrahim BoubacarKeita said.

In a few weeks, world leaders will gather in Paris to negotiate a climate change agreement that will frame the global agenda on this issue for the next decade and beyond. There is a global consensus that climate change is a significant challenge. Majorities in all 40 nations polled say it is a serious problem, and a global median of 54% consider it a very serious problem.

Climate change is a very serious problem

Climate change is harming people now

Very concerned that climate change will harm me personally

Latin America

Africa

EuropeAsia/PacificMiddle East

United StatesChina

Source: Pew Research CenterGraphic: Staff, TNS

Global views on climate change

Very concerned that global climate change will harm me personally

Global concern about climate change

Source: Pew Research CenterGraphic: Staff, TNS

Very concerned that global climate change will harm me personally

54%Global median

51%Global median

40%Global median

74%61% 52% 61%

54% 60% 27%45% 48% 37%

38%

45% 41% 30%18% 49% 15%

26% 27%

77% 63%

80%20 30 40 50 60 70

PRESIDENT Barack Obama speaks during a news conference at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Center in Paris on Tuesday. Obama discussed the COP21 climate-change summit, and the threat of terrorism from the Islamic State. AP/EVAN VUCCI

BusinessMirror www.businessmirror.com.ph | ursday, December 3, 2015 eBroaderLook

A5

Climate accord: Negotiators take heart at Obama comments Hollande said, eworld, and in particular thedeveloped world, owes theAfrican continent an environ-mental debt. e meeting also focusedon nancing for an AfricanUnion initiative known as theGreat Green Wall, launched in2007 to gather 11 countries toplant trees to combat the en-croaching Sahara Desert andhelp people adapt to climatechange.

9:45 a.m.HOLLANDE is holding talkswith African leaders aboutwhat their countries need tocope with and reduce globalwarming. e meeting on Tuesdayis part of broader internation-al diplomatic eorts toward apossible long-term accord forall countries to cut man-madecarbon emissions. ose emis-sions produce heat-trappinggases and scientists say arecausing glaciers to melt andsea levels to rise and leadingto more and more droughtsand other extreme weather. Hollande hosted Presi-dent Obama and 149 otherworld dignitaries on Mon-day to kick o two weeks ofUN-led climate talks outsideParis. e leaders agreed thatsomething must be done toprotect the planet for future

generations, but now mustovercome disagreements overwho should shoulder the eco-nomic responsibility for cut-ting emissions and protectingcountries already hit by cli-mate change.

9:15 a.m.ENVOYS at the Paris climateconference say governmentsand companies need to domore to protect forests, whichcan help slow global warming. Prince Charles, SouthAmerican indigenous lead-ers and other dignitaries areholding a special meeting onTuesday to call attention toshrinking global forests fromSouth America to Russia andAfrica. Perus Environment Min-ister Manuel Pulgar-Vidaltold reporters ahead of themeeting that companies, too,need to do their part to limitdeforestation. Envoys are urg-ing greater eorts against il-legal logging. e worlds forests playan important role in absorb-ing carbon dioxide releasedby man-made emissions fromburning oil, gas and coal. e meeting is part oftwo weeks of UN-led talksaimed at a worldwide, long-term accord to cut human-made emissions blamed forclimate change.

FRENCH President Franois Hollande poses with participants in the Climate Generations area during the COP21, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on Tuesday. PHILIPPE WOJAZER, POOL VIA AP

Thursday, December 3, 2015 Editor: Angel R. Calso

OpinionBusinessMirrorA6

Is China ready to reform its financial system?

editorial

Chinas five years of lobbying with the international Monetary Fund (iMF) for the inclusion of its legal tender in the club of elite currencies paid a good dividend on Monday, when the international organization announced it will add the Chinese renminbi (yuan) to the basket of curren-cies that make up its so-called special drawing rights (sDR).

The sDR is a global reserve asset created by the iMF 44 years ago to supplement its member-countries official reserves. its value is currently based on a basket of four major currenciesthe Us dollar, the Japanese yen, the euro and the British pound. The basket will be expanded to include the yuan as the fifth currency, effective October 1, 2016. sDRs can be exchanged for freely usable currencies.

iMF Managing Director Christine Lagardedescribed the iMF Executive Boards decision as an im-portant milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global financial system. she explained that China got the iMF seal of approval in recognition of the progress that the Chinese lead-ership has achieved in reforming the countrys monetary and financial systems. The continuation and deepening of these efforts, she added, will bring about a more robust international monetary and financial system, which, in turn, will support the growth and stability of China and the global economy.

The iMF decision conferred prestige to the Chinese currency, and is expected to help stimulate modest demand for the yuan. But more important is the new credibility that the worlds second-largest economy bagged with the iMFs stamp of approval. The yuans new status should help expand Chinas influence in global trade and finance, a development that augurs well with its campaign to be recognized as a global economic power.

however, not all quarters are happy with the iMF decision. a Us senator quipped: With this decision, the iMF is choosing to reward Chinas currency manipulation, instead of combatting it.

a former assistant Us Treasury secretary for international affairs described the iMF decision as foreordained by politics, adding that the yuan doesnt rank with the other four currencies in the sDR and is behind several others in terms of the extent of its global use.

amid these criticisms, the Us Treasury Department issued a short statement, saying that it sup-ported the iMF decision. The implicit message is clear: henceforth, China is expected to open up its insulated financial markets. This means allowing the Peoples Bank of China to set interest rates without interference from the government.

The acceptance of the yuan as a reserve currency introducesnew uncertaintyinto Chinas economy and financial system, because it will be forced to relax currency controls to meet iMF requirements. This could inject volatility into the Chinese economy, when foreign capital starts flowing into and out of the country cued on business prospects. as The New York Times reported: This could make it difficult for China to maintain its record of strong, steady growth, especially at a time when its economy is already slowing.

if the iMF, the international lender of last resort, gave the yuan greater weight than other wor-thy currencies, we hope that this will strengthen the hand of economic reformers in China who are working toward a market-driven Chinese economy.

A wise guy is either a highly ranked and successful member of an organized crime family or a person who thinks he knows more than everyone else. i usually use the terms expert and expert to mark the difference when it comes to the stock market.

The planned merger of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer with competitor Allergan, aimed in large part at cutting the combined companys tax bill, illustrates a troubling trend in the industry: Firms are focused more on pursuing near-term profits than on the difficult, longer-term research needed to develop truly groundbreaking new drugs. This is unfortunate, because disease may be making a comeback.

Stock investing like a wise guy

How big pharma could lose the war on disease

some people think that there is little difference between the stock market and organized crime. But i guess, you could say the same thing about politics, corporate board-rooms, even religion, and you might be accurate. in each of these worlds, it takes fairly much the same skill sets, attitudes and learning curves to be successful both as an organization and as a member.

Making your way to the top to be the Godfather, the Chairman of the Board, or the Pope depends on dedi-cation and determination to be the best at whatever particular vocation you have chosen. in the Star Wars movies, The Force was the special power that was developed and used by both the good guys of the Jedi and the bad guys of the sith.

Moving up the chain to become the Godfatheror a genuine expert stock-market investorrequires

passing through different stages of development. while you may be able to speed the process up a little, it is like climbing a ladder. if you try to skip any rungs, you will eventually find yourself falling back and start-ing over again.

in the first stage, you are young (in experience if not years), dumb (lack-ing knowledge) and full of impulses. in this stage, you think with your heart. You take risks because of your desires, and do not fully think out the consequences of your actions with regard to risk. You think you know everything about the stock market, when, in fact, you know nothing. The idea of actually listening to a mentor is something your ego can-not handle. Your biggest strength is that you are fearless and ambitious. Your biggest weakness is that you dont know that you know nothing.

eventuallyand, hopefully,

Consider the accelerating spread of multidrug-resistant bacterial in-fections. There are now more than 2 million cases each year in the Us alone. Last month scientists an-nounced that they had found evi-dence, in farm animals in China, that genes for antibiotic resistance are being transferred directly among different bacteriaa trick (known as horizontal gene transfer) that will allow the resistance to spread more quickly than ever before.

The pharmaceutical industrys reshaping doesnt bode well for hu-manitys ability to respond. Almost all antibiotics in use today were dis-covered between 1940 and 1960. Re-search progress since then has been

almost nil. A few synthetic drugs, such as the fluoroquinolones, were discovered in the 1960s, but these havent led to many other break-throughs. To drawa parallel from the field of electronics, its as if progress had more or less stopped following the 1947 invention of the transistor.

Biologist Kim Lewis of North-eastern University, who hasstudied antibiotic development, sees the primary problem as the lack of any method for finding promising com-pounds. All the amazing progress a half century ago came when Us biochemist selman waksman devel-oped a technique to systematically screen soil bacteria. This is how he discovered streptomycin, the first

without losing the family fortuneyou actually start thinking with both your heart and your brain. You may even find a mentor who has accom-plished the investment goals that you want. in this stage, you begin to gain a bit of wisdom, because, unlike before, you are actually listening to other people and the market itself. You begin to realize that you are a student of the stock market, and it is your teacher. Further, you have also learned that the road to investment success can be a long one. in short, the journey to success takes time.

The third stage is when the re-sults of your journey are starting to pay off. Now, you think with your brain. Your heart and its emotions and desires have been left behind. The profits start coming on a regular basis. But if, by this stage, the prof-its are not rolling in, get out of the market and stay out. Resign yourself to the fact you are not ever going to be the Godfather, the Chairman or the Pope. invest for the enjoyment and challenge if you must, but do not rely on the stock market to provide you with steady income.

if you are successful enough to be able to treat stock-market investing as a stream of income, then your big-gest strength is that you are finally made. You are a wise guy. At this point also, you are probably taking only a few and limited risks. Occa-sionally, you might jump on the high flyers. however, if you have built

your experience and knowledge on learning how those types of stocks trade, then you are probably good at it. They do not seem like high-flyers anymore like they did a few years ago, but are just second-line, higher risk issues that you can handle. You now might even be the mentor.

This third stage is when you prob-ably have the right to say, Partner, i know it all. But you are way too smart and experienced to believe that. Further, you are still learning, not because you necessarily need to, but because it is enjoyable. eventu-ally, you are no longer a wise guy in the stock market; you are not just smart but you are actually wise. here is the best part; the stock mar-ket makes sense to you. You can see your mistakes often before you even make them. People might even listen to what you say.

here is what you should be do-ing to be successful. if you are in the first stage, shut up and listen. in the second stage, listen and learn but act on what you are leaning. when you make it to the third stage, use your wisdom for more profits and to help others gain theirs.

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

treatment for tuberculosis. After turning up other valuable drugs, such as tetracycline, erythromy-cin and vancomycin, the technique eventually petered out. we still have nothing to replace it.

Another problem is that bacte-ria are just hard to attack. it has taken them millennia of evolution to figure out ways to exploit one anothers weaknesses. Compounds we invent ourselves typically fail even to get inside bacteria, which use multiple barrier membranes to keep most chemicals out. The cell interior has sophisticated pumps to get rid of whatever does get through. effective attacks can require doses a thousand times larger than for drugs acting against non-bacterial cellsdoses that often have toxic effects on people. when we stumble upon something that does work, bacteria quickly develop resistance.

That said, the situation isnt hope-less. A concerted scientific effort would almost certainly yield some breakthroughs, if the pharmaceuti-cal industry played a major role.

There are new leads. earlier this year, Lewis and his colleagues discov-eredan antibiotic called teixobactin that, in mice at least, killed a host of pathogens, including the deadly bac-terium MRsA (methicillin-resistant

Staphylococcus aureus). even better, the bacteria didnt show any signs of developing resistance. The research-ers used a novel devicean iChip to support the development of bacterial strains that do not take well to Petri dishes. The technique expands by about 50 times the num-ber of bacterial species that biologists can grow and study in the lab. Given that most of our great ideas about antibiotics have come from bacte-ria, the method may promise other important discoveries.

To keep pace with deadly bacte-ria, we must explore these and other leads vigorously and with a genuine commitment. Last year Us President Barack Obama issuedan executive order establishing a strategic pro-gram to develop new antibiotics, and recognizing the challenge as a national security priority. Follow-ing through will require long-term vision and cooperation from govern-ment, academia and industrythat is, movement in a direction very dif-ferent than what the Pfizer-Allergan merger indicates.

The worlds bacteria are sharing their best weapons, spreading new genes for antibiotic resistance, effec-tively cooperating against humans on a massive scale. were not yet mounting a sufficiently symmetri-cal response.

OUTSIDE THE BOXJohn Mangun

HOM

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Thursday, December 3, 2015

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I attended the first official digital wedding

Longing for transformation

Gods people are filled with joy, because the Lord has done great things for them and will again surely help them (Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6). With repentance and conversion, all shall see the salvation of God (Luke 3:1-6).

Restore our fortunes, O LordThe memory of Gods past interven-tions on behalf of his people give them hope and confidence that God will again come to their assistance. he cared for them before, as seen in the great blessing of the exiles return to Zion, when those vanished unbe-lievably found themselves on the way back to their land of origin. They were then in total amazement, filled with laughter and overflowing with joy at their incredible good fortune. And other nations could not but take note of Gods saving power, awestruck at the wonderful things he has done for his people. The people themselves knew that their God has preferential love for the poor and the oppressed, the homeless and the refugees.

so, now in their present predica-ment the people of God pray for de-liverance. They know their situation to be impossible and only God can help them. It would be like having flood in the southern desert, a very arid place where having torrents of

water is unthinkable. The contradic-tion and the implausibility of what is asked for is tantamount to a reversal of fortune, like sowing in tears and reaping in joy, and setting forth with only a hope of harvest and returning home with abundant fruits, replac-ing their tragedy with good fortune. It is their prayer, it is what they hope for. They are confident because God has always been gracious to them.

Prepare the way of the LordThe gospel narratives opening sentence not only historically dates the event, but it also assesses the Roman and Jewish political and religious leaderships. They were all bypassed by the Word of God, which has searched out for a prophet and spokesman, not in palaces or in the temple, but in the desert the place of purification and inner scrutiny. In the desert the people of God wandered as they moved from the slavery in egypt into the land prom-ised them, crossing the river Jordan

before their entry into the land. John at the Jordan symbolized the trans-formation called for by a new life.

Johns baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins proclaims this transformation necessary. As a symbolic ritual, washing with water stands for the desire to be cleansed of dirt, of sin. It is grounded on the repentance of the person asking to be washed, on the sinners conversion or change of heart and mind.This turn-ing away from sin marks the entrance into a new form of life of union with God. It is the honest way of preparing the way of the Lord who is coming; to welcome him one must be ready to give him the space of ones heart. It is making straight what is crooked and winding, filling up valleys and gullies, making low mountains and hills that obstruct the way. With determination, one must do what needs to be done to ease the coming of the Lord.

All shall see the salvation of GodThe preparation is for the purpose of being able to receive the salvation the Lord brings to all humankind. John is the voice, the herald of the coming of the Lord. The people have been in exile from their covenant with God; they need to undergo a desert crossing, a river washing, to see God and share in his salvation, to be liberated from the power of sin. Letting go of sin only takes place in the forgiveness of sins that divine mercy makes possible. That is why John focused the people on the ne-

cessity of making a path in ones life so that God can come close with his gift of reconciliation.

It is really the coming to us of God and his unconditional forgive-ness of our sins that clears the way for us to that fullness of life we long for. The human mind in its wounded state tends to enthrone the evil we have experienced: we remember the injustices, mockeries, hurts. And we become quick learners of evil we have received; our lives become a nar-rative of blows received and blows given, of being maltreated and of maltreating others, giving as good as one gets.soon we are defined by the evil of the world, chained down by the helplessness of some proposed karma equation. In faith we know God is our salvation.

Allaong bag, our conversion

called for by the coming of the Lord into our lives and into our world means our transformation from being seduced by sin into those who have recovered from sin by the grace of God. Gods transcendent graciousness and love have always brought deliverance to his people; his advent anytime and anywhere brings into bold relief his saving power. In sin we know we sow in tears, but in Gods mercy we hope to reap rejoicing.

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, 5 to 6 a.m. on dWIZ 882, or by audio-streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

AllAong BAgMsgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Terrorism: A paramount national security concern

IN the wake of the violent terrorist attacks in Paris by the state of Iraq and syria (IsIs) on November 13, there is a growing recognition that there must be a swift, firm and united global action to stop this group and other variants from spreading more fear and brutality worldwide.

ByLeonid Bershidsky Bloomberg View

I JusT attended the strangest wed-ding: The whole world was invited, and it went almost without a hitch.starting Tuesday, the government of

estonia, in apartnershipwith an organi-zation called Bitnation, is offering public notary services to estonian e-residents. Its first official act was to register the marriage of two spanish-born residents of London, edurne Lolnaz and Mayel de Borniol. The marriage wont be re-corded anywhere; instead, itll be part of a blockchaina distributed database accessible to anyone with a private key, much like the process that registers bit-coin transactions.

This is not the first blockchain wed-dingdavid Mondrusand Joyce Bayo got hitched last yearbut its the first with any kind of government sanction. The estonian e-residency program is

available to people who dont live in the small Baltic state but would like to use its jurisdiction for business. You can sign up online, but a trip to estonia is required to open a bank account. Then, a company can be set up and administered online (estonia has no corporate tax on reinvested profits). An e-residents card isnt a residence permit, and an estonian citizen would need to register a marriage in the time-tested way.The e-residency is intended for those who dont want to put down roots anywhere except the Internet, so it makes sense that it now comes with the opportunity to get of-ficially married in the virtual realm.

The blockchain notarization may be untested and not recognized by courts and other authorities, but its advocates hope it will gain currency once more peo-ple adopt it, in the same way as bitcoin.

on a site they made to announce their wedding, Lolnaz and de Borniol, who had met online, wrote:

We are glomadsour lives both started out in the Basque Country (not officially a country) but weve been moving from place to place since then. We have no specific home because home is everywhere on this little blue planet of ours. Just like our life, we do not want our marriage to be linked to any particular nation state, nor any states definitions of what our relationship (mar-riage) and celebration (wedding) should look likehence, we are writing our own rules.

The wedding was broadcast on the site for anyone who cared to attend.

The couple wrote their own marriage contract under the lax family law of on-tario, Canada. It has a42-month term, but it can be amended and extended if necessary. The blockchain will store the contract and any eventual changes. sorry everybody, this is a bit technical, de Borniol muttered as the bride and groom entered their digital Id numbers. The notarization didnt work the first time. on the secondattempt, a digital

signature certificate was finally gener-ated, everybody whooped and the bride and groom kissed.

The actual service provider wasnot estonia but Bitnationan entity known as adecentralized autonomous organization, set up by susanne Tar-kowski Tempelhof. Born in sweden, her resum includes work as a public relations contractor for the us gov-ernment in Afghanistan and Libyaassisting with building and overthrow-ing government, as she put it. That is whatturned her offthe idea of tradi-tional government:

I believed less and less in what the gov-ernment did, and I started sympathizing more and more with the ungoverned societies.The civil war in Libya was quite a wake up call. When I first came to the rebel-controlled territories there was de-facto no government at all (the rebel council were about 10 guys hiding out in a basement, and their sole job was to speak

with foreign media to gain recognition for the territories), but yeteverything worked amazingly well. Volunteers were doing everything from trash collection to traffic policing, neighborhood watch and cell tower engineering.

Tarkowski Tempelhof hopes Bitna-tion will become a platform for gov-ernment services that arent provided by any specific government. Coun-triesaresupposed torecognize it or-ganically over time, in tandem with mainstream adoption. When Bitcoin was first invented it wasnt recognized as a currency, until a significant amount of people started using it as a currency. estonia has been the first country to extend semi-recognition to the seem-ingly quixotic project.

This may sound crazy, buthere were these two young people wearing every-day clothes, talking about how they didnt want to spend thousands of dol-lars on dresses, rings and a reception,

saying the Internet felt more like home than any country in the world. Who decides whats a country or whats of-ficial? de Borniol asked at one point. Tarkowski Tempelhof was there, too, smoking cigarettesanddrinking Cham-pagne. Its the most romantic wedding Ive ever seen, she said.

The tech behind the digital servic-esmay be a little bit raw, but the block-chain is a great innovation. Its being tested by big banks and stock exchanges as a way to process and store financial transactions. Its extremely hard to alter without authorization, which makes it as safe as any government computer.

Im not sure the rootless idealism of Lolnaz and de Borniol will ever become the norm: even digitally savvy estonia is fiercely independent and concerned that a big predator, Russia, may be after its territory. Id like to think, though, that the future holds more events like Tuesdays wedding.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recently issued Revenue Memorandum Circular 72-2015, circularizing the agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of the state of Qatar for the Avoidance of double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital Gains, which has entered into force on May 19, 2015.

Recently, the shooting down of a Russian warplane by Turkey added another dimension to the discus-sions. The Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation (Apec) touched on this very important topic on the sidelines as the latter was really focused on its principal thrust of economic integra-tion and further trade liberalization, but during the Association of south-east Asian Countries (Asean) summit a few days after, global and national security issues got the spotlight. ob-viously, and realistically speaking, no amount of economic gain can be felt by the citizenry so long as lives are offered in the altar of terror, or when a nation cowers in fright when a nearby neighbor flaunts its military might to protect its alleged territory and appurtenant resources.

Early beginnings and expansionThe IsIs, having its early roots from al-Qaeda, has enlarged its role from a minor faction to that of broad coalition of fighters with superior military mastery and zealous ideo-logical convictions. It now petrifies big areas in syria and Iraq, and has used social media and technology to display cold-blooded tortures and executions of prisoners. hugging the headlines appears to be a source of tremendous pride for this group and it will do anything to prove its point to its intended audience. In 2014 intelligence reports from the us show that IsIs has about 30,000 to 40,000 fighters and the number is multiplying. More recruits are com-ing from europe and the other dis-enfranchised sectors in some Middle east countries. even the us and the Asia Pacific have contributed to this growing number. The shocking and painful truth posed by the show of strength of IsIs is that militant movements and extrem-ists may not be limiting themselves to just the powerful or rich nations. They have the capability, financial means and the political will to make it happen in any part of the world. one concrete example is the beheading of Bernard Ted Fen, who has been kid-napped in sabah but allegedly killed in sulu early this week by the Abu sayyaf Group (AsG), known to be a supporter of IsIs. There are reliable reports that Malaysian militants are proliferating in Mindanao and are organizing a faction of IsIs in south-east Asia by integrating the AsG and Jemaah Islamiah groups. Clearly, the Asia-Pacific region is a very attractive area to wage terrorist attacks of this

sort, and the Philippines is one of those jurisdictions that is getting so much attention, aside from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Deeper causesTeRRoRIsM does not exist in a vacuum, independent from other circumstances that enabled it to flourish. Terrorism is not a sole by-product of political ideology or religious belief. It is also caused by other factors, foremost of which is povertypoverty, which tran-sitions to social dislocation, then alienation from the rest of society and subsequently, the taking of arms against structures of power and governance. some security or social analysts opine that there is no significant connection between poverty and the rise of terrorism. They posit that terrorism is a result of years of political persecution, or isolation of dissonant voices in a world so slow in grappling with issues of diversity in ideas, beliefs and way of life. others believe that terrorism is a manifestation of the great divide between the rich west-ern bloc and the poor, powerless and marginalized east.

Local responseWhATeveR differences there are in the evolution of this societal menace, one thing is clear. There must be a clear strategy and forceful tactical direction on how to address this concern. President Aquino has spoken on the urgent need to defeat terrorism when he recently gave orders to vigorously step up the na-tions police and military anti-terror operations against IsIs, the AsG and all similar groups in Mindanao and other environs. he communicated total solidarity with those countries that were mercilessly targeted by IsIs and other criminal elements. These bold statements should be backed by a coherent security and enforcement plan, well coordinated with efforts of other antiterrorist government agencies in other na-tions of the world, and aligned with international organizations that have taken this issue to task. George W. Bush said that We do not create terrorism by fighting the terrorists. We invite terrorism by ignoring them. This time, I have to agree.

For comments and suggestions, send to: [email protected].

Philippines-Qatar double taxation agreement

Although the said tax treaty was signed between the governments of the two countries way back in decem-ber 2008, it was only ratified by the President in 2011 and concurred in by the senate in 2013. Based on the treaty, it shall have effect in respect of taxes covered by it, for any taxable period beginning on or after the first day of January next following that year in which the treaty enters into force. Thus, the benefits under the treaty will apply on taxes covered by the treaty beginning in January 2016 and thereafter.

similar to the already existing tax treaties that the Philippines has with other countries, the new treaty contains provisions on the tax treat-ments of dividends, interest, royal-ties and capital gains, among others.

Insofar as dividend is concerned,

the general rule under our domes-tic law is that dividends due to a non-resident foreign corporation shall be subject to the 30-percent final tax, or in case the tax spar-ing provision applies, the final tax rate is 15 percent. With respect to individuals, the final tax rate is 20 percent if the recipient is an alien individual engaged in trade or busi-ness in the Philippines, or 25 per-cent if the recipient of the dividend is not engaged in trade or business in the Philippines. With the entry into force of the treaty with Qatar, these tax rates are reduced, or shall not exceed 10 percent, if the beneficial owner who is a resident of Qatar is a company (excluding partnerships), which holds directly at least 10 percent of the capital of domestic company paying the

dividends. The rate is 15 percent in all other cases.

With respect to interests, the tax treaty limits the tax to be charged to 10 percent of the gross amount of the interest. This is definitely lower than the 20-percent tax applicable to non-resident foreign corpora-tions, the 20-percent tax applicable to alien individuals engaged in trade or business in the Philippines, and the 25-percent tax applicable to alien individuals not engaged in trade or business in the Philippines, as pro-vided in our local tax laws.

As to royalties, the tax so charged shall not exceed 15 percent of the gross amount of the royalties based on the new treaty. unlike some of the already existing tax treaties, the article on royalties of the Phil-ippines-Qatar tax treaty does not contain a most-favored nation clause. This clause simply means that the tax to be imposed may fol-low the lowest rate of Philippine tax that may be imposed on royalties of the same kind paid under similar cir-cumstances to a resident of a third state. Nonetheless, the 15-percent tax is still noticeably lower than the usual tax rates provided under the domestic laws, which require the imposition of tax at the rate of 30 percent on royalties payable to non-resident foreign corporations.

These are just some of the prefer-ential tax rates that can be availed of under the Philippines-Qatar tax

treaty. Like in the case of other tax treaties though, these preferential tax rates may not apply if the ben-eficial owner of the income, being a resident of Qatar, carries on business in the Philippines through a perma-nent establishment, or performs in the country independent personal services from a fixed base situated here, and the income payment is ef-fectively connected with such perma-nent establishment or fixed base. In such case, a different rule may apply.

Last, the circular provides that a Qatari resident income earner, who invokes the Philippines-Qatar double-taxation agreement, or an au-thorized representative, should file with the International Tax Affairs division of the BIR an application for tax-treaty relief pursuant to Rev-enue Memorandum order 72-2010.

The author is a senior associate of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a member-firm of World Tax Services (WTS) Alliance.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, le-gal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal is-sue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at [email protected] or call 403-2001 local 312.

DECISIon TIMEAriel nepomuceno

TAx lAw for BuSInESSAtty. Julie Ann l. Aranda