BusinessMirror February 16, 2015

In a two-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Franchito Dia-mante, the CA’s Former Special Thir-teenth Division denied the motion filed by government  subcontrac-tors  Takenaka Corp. and Asahiko-san Corp. seeking the reversal of its decision issued on October 20, 2014.  T he appel late cour t r u led last  October 20  that Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 117 Presiding Judge Eugenio de la Cruz  “gravely abused its discre-

tion” in allowing the government to deposit in an escrow account $371.43 million, or P16 billion, and imposing conditions for its release to Piatco. The said omnibus order was is-sued pursuant to the decision dated May 23, 2011, of the RTC in Pasay City, ordering the government to pay Piatco just compensation in the amount of $175,787,245, less the proferred value (P3,002,125,000).

By Joel R. San Juan

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has insisted that Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) still has the

right to exercise ownership over the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3, until the government has released the P16-billion just compensation earlier awarded to the firm by a lower court. 

By Lorenz S. Marasigan 

ThE Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) is planning to further extend the North Lu-

zon Expressway (Nlex) all the way to Tondo, Manila, a move that would require it to invest P5 billion more into the thoroughfare.  Specifically, the toll-road arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is seeking to extend Segment 10 of its multibillion-peso harbor Link ini-tiative. The said alignment is still at the early stage of construction, and

is expected to be completed in 2016.  “Right now, Segment 10 will end in C-3, and we need to further extend it to R-10. It was part of the original Segment 10. But when we designed the alignment, we thought that por-tion from C-3 to R-10 could accom-modate the traffic along the exist-ing road,” MNTC President Rodrigo E. Franco said in an interview. “But, with the traffic now, the road will not accommodate the congestion, so we need to build an additional 2 or 3 kilo-meters worth about P5 billion.” he said his company aims to

start the construction of the ex-tension within the year, which would prompt his group to tap the debt market for capital. “If that project starts within the year, then we need to borrow. But we haven’t decided yet as to the instrument. Still, we are looking at the same options: bank loans and capital markets,” Franco said.  Segment 10 is a 5.65-kilometer elevated alignment that will link the expressway and MacArthur highway to Manila’s Port Area district.

www.businessmirror.com.ph n TfridayNovember 18, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 40 P25.00 nationwide | 7 sections 36 pages | 7 days a weekn Monday, February 16, 2015 Vol. 10 No. 130

A broader look at today’s businessBusinessMirrorthree-time

rotary club of manila journalism awardee2006, 2010, 2012u.n. media award 2008

Peso exchange rates n us 44.3960 n jaPan 0.3732 n uK 68.3343 n hK 5.7261 n china 7.1086 n singaPore 32.7380 n australia 34.3888 n eu 50.6336 n saudi arabia 11.8342 Source: BSP (13 February 2015)

Continued on A9

Continued on A2

MNTC may spend another ₧5B to extend Nlex to Tondo

u.s. economy seen to taKeminimal hit from Port messOn any given day, up to a

dozen ships handle more than $1 billion worth of

goods in the mammoth ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest seaport of the US. Thousands of trucks carry off 40 percent of the nation’s incoming container cargo each year, feeding into an extensive highway and rail network that brings electronics, cars and toys to consumers and businesses throughout the nation. But, despite the enormous volume of goods flowing through the ports in San Pedro Bay, and a long-simmering labor dispute that threatens a shutdown of 29 West Coast ports, economists and trade experts said closings would have very little effect on the broader US economy. That’s because the trade of goods through US ports

represents only a relatively small fraction of the nation’s total eco-nomic output. Although a shutdown would create interruptions and higher costs for businesses relying on trade with Asia, experts said those losses would be offset by greater demand at other ports or for air-lines moving freight. “There are winners and losers, and that’s where the rub is,” said Christopher Thornberg, a found-ing partner of Beacon Economics in Los Angeles, who has studied previous local port shutdowns. “The ports of LA and Long Beach are a convenient source of moving stuff in and out of our economy. now people are inconvenienced. But inconvenience has never brought down an economy.”

CA: Govt still can’t take over Naia 3

MedICINe BUddHa a temple worker cleans the statue of the Bodhisattva. Commonly called by Filipino-Chinese as the Medicine Buddha, Bodhisattva is believed to cure illness of suffering using his teachings. Located near Chinatown in Manila, the sen Guan Temple (Chinese Temple) is expected to draw tourists as the Chinese New year approaches. NONIE REYES

FRaNCO: “Right now, segment 10 will end

in C-3, and we need to further extend it to R-10.

It was part of the original segment 10. But when we

designed the alignment, we thought that portion

from C-3 to R-10 could accommodate the traffic

along the existing road.”

See “U.S. economy,” A2

aPPellate court sustains ruling that Piatco owns terminal 3 until full comPensation is Paid

SUNRISE SUNSET

FULL MOON6:20 AM 6:00 PM

MOONRISEMOONSET

3:15 PM 3:26 AM

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 CITY24 – 31°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY

METRO DAVAO24 – 32°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY24 – 33°C

PHILI

PPIN

E ARE

A OF R

ESPO

NSIB

ILITY

(PAR

)

SABAH

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 23 – 31°C METRO CEBU

24 – 31°C

ILOILO/BACOLOD

24 – 31°C

22– 31°C

24 – 31°C 23 – 31°C 24 – 31°C

24 – 31°C 24 – 31°C 23 – 30°C

23 – 32°C 23 – 32°C 22 – 32°C

23 – 32°C 23 – 31°C 23 – 32°C

23 – 33°C 24 – 32°C 24 – 32°C

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

Weekday hourly updates: 6:00 AM on Balitaan, 7:00 AM & 8:00 AM on Good Morning Boss!, 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM

on News@1, 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM, and 6:00 PM on News@6

www.panahon.tv

@PanahonTV

FEBRUARY 16, 2015 | MONDAY

HIGH TIDEMANILA

SOUTH HARBOR

LOW TIDE

3:39 AM0.11 METER

TUGUEGARAO CITY 19 – 29°C

LAOAG CITY 20 – 30°C

TAGAYTAY CITY 20 – 29°C

SBMA/CLARK 22 – 32°C

23 – 32°C 22 – 31°C 22 – 30°C

19 – 29°C 18 – 28°C 20 – 29°C

21 – 30°C 21 – 31°C 20 – 30°C

13 – 22°C 12 – 21°C 13 – 22°C

21 – 30°C 21 – 30°C 21 – 29°C

24 – 32°C24 – 32°C 23 – 31°C

24 – 32°C 24 – 32°C

23 – 32°C 22 – 31°C

23 – 31°C23 – 31°C 24 – 30°C

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy withrain showers and/or thunderstorms

Cloudy to at times cloudy with rain showersand/or thunderstorms

NEW MOON

7:47 AMFEB 19

11:50 AMFEB 12

BAGUIO CITY13 – 21°C

24 – 31°C

7:41 PM1.05 METER

FEB 17TUESDAY

FEB 18WEDNESDAY

FEB 19THURSDAY

FEB 17TUESDAY

FEB 18WEDNESDAY

FEB 19THURSDAY

23 – 32°C

Partly cloudy skies

Easterlies are winds coming from the East passing overthe Paci�c Ocean. These are warm and moist in nature;

causing hot weather and generating thunderstorms.

Partly cloudy to at times cloudywith rainshowers

WEAK NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING THE EASTERNSECTION OF NORTHERN LUZON.

EASTERLIES AFFECTING THE EASTERN SECTION OFSOUTHERN LUZON AND VISAYAS.

(AS OF FEBRUARY 15, 5:00 AM)

METRO MANILA23 – 31°C

Northeast Monsoon locally known as “Amihan”. It affectsthe eastern portions of the country. It is cold and dry;

characterized by widespread cloudiness with rain showers.

US economy. . . Continued from A1

BusinessMirror [email protected] Monday, February 16, 2015A2

News

Continued from A12

“But this is a medium-term trend and it is still necessary to ensure that sources, whether domestic or exter-nal, are available to make infrastruc-ture investments sustainable for the longer term,” it added. The study also said that, while the creation of China’s Asian Infrastruc-ture Investment Bank (AIIB), which has a start-up capital of $50 billion, was a welcome development, not much was known about its financ-ing options.  Navarro said that, a year into its creation, details, such as currency risk bearing by borrowing countries,

governance standards, and environ-mental assessments, have not been made known.  In this regard, Navar-ro said Apec talks on infrastructure development must also push for the disclosure of these important details about the AIIB.  Apart from these, Navarro said the Philippines must also raise con-cerns on regional cooperation for the improvement of the transport, telecommunication and informa-tion, and energy sectors.   In terms of transportation, Apec talks must focus on maritime safe-ty and air-transport networks. The country is one of those with a dire need to expand and improve its air-

transport sector through night land-ing capabilities and communications, navigation and surveillance/air- traffic management systems.  On telecommunications, the discussions must focus on improve-ments, such as creating broadband netwtorks, in light of the ongoing Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area submarine fiber-optic cable project. Energy discussions, on the other hand, must focus on transforming the Apec into an energy-efficient region. These discussions must focus on energy supply and addi-tional energy sources.

Manila urged to push use of PPPs during Apec meet

The P10-billion alignment will pri-marily cater to port traffic and is envi-sioned to significantly speed up and reduce the cost of the transport of goods from Central and Northern Luzon to the country’s premier harbors. The alignment is part of the com-pany’s Harbor Link project, which also involves Segment 9, a 2.42-km road that will link Nlex to MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela City. The P1.59-billion align-ment is expected to be launched com-mercially by March.

Aside from these initiatives, the company is also pursuing the integra-tion of the Nlex and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). Franco said his company will start linking the two expressways in March. Currently, the firm is looking for a contractor that will undertake the civil works of the integration. Coupling the two expressways would require the firm to invest P650 million, which would translate to a seamless connection between the

two thoroughfares, both of which are owned and managed by the tollroad business of tycoon Manuel V. Pang-ilinan. “The toll-collection technology that is available to Nlex motorists will now be used along the SCTEx, mak-ing travel faster and more efficient,” Franco said. For his part, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. President Ramoncito S. Fer-nandez said the integration is only the beginning of his company’s plan to link the countryside and Metro

Manila and boost socioeconomic development in the regions. “Soon, motorists will enjoy even greater convenience with the Nlex Harbor Link segments and Connector Road already being started in different phases,” he added. The integration will bring to SC-TEx the modern features of Nlex’s toll collection system. These include the use of dedicated short-range commu-nication tags, contactless and mag-netic cards, and, in the future, radio

frequency identification sticker tags as means of paying toll. MNTC said some toll barriers and toll plazas will be removed or transferred to pave the way for the integrated sys-tem. Among the barriers that will be removed are the Nlex Dau Barrier and the SCTEx Mabalacat Toll Barrier. New toll plazas will be constructed at the existing entry and exit ramps at Nlex Dau and Santa Ines. A new SCTEx Tar-lac Toll Plaza will also be built. The toll collection system integra-

tion will feature a common transit ticket system for both thoroughfares. MNTC has earmarked P10 billion in capital expenditures this year to bankroll its expansion plans for all the thoroughfares it operates. The amount may still spike up should it bag sometime this year the P18-bil-lion deal that aims to link the North and South Luzon expressways. The contract is currently at the mercy of the National Economic and Develop-ment Authority Board.

MNTC may spend another ₧5 billion to extend Nlex to Tondo. . . Continued from A1

Certainly, many businesses would feel the pain, and have already felt it, after months of slowdowns at West Coast ports. Agricultural exporters, who ship produce to Japan, China and Australia, face canceled orders and spoiled food. Manufacturers, who rely on parts from China, are contending with work stoppages and delays. The effects of port closings would be more acute for the Southern California economy, where local jobs in trucking, rail yards and warehousing are at stake. “The port is an economic engine of Southern California,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economist and professor at California State University, Channel Islands, who is a former commissioner at the Port of Los Angeles. “If one of the cylinders doesn’t operate properly, clearly we’ll all be hurt.” Many workers in Southern Califor-nia’s logistics and warehousing indus-tries are temporary employees, who

could be easily sidelined if the flow of goods comes to a halt. Charlie Woo, chief executive of Megatoys, a toy manufacturer and dis-tributor headquartered in Commerce, said the slowdown forced him to let go of more than 600 seasonal workers, in recent weeks who normally would have been assembling gift baskets for Valentine’s Day. He said he has about 80 containers worth of dolls and other toys stuck at the ports. Normally, he’d be receiving about 20 to 30 truckloads a day, but, lately, it’s been fewer than three. “My Valentine’s business was completely destroyed, and my Easter season is on the verge of being destroyed,” he said. The labor dispute between the Pacific Maritime Association and the In-ternational Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents dockworkers, dates to last fall, when the shipping association accused union members

of deliberately slowing down ope- rations to gain an upper hand in nego-tiations. The local union denies using the slowdown tactic. The two sides have been operating without a contract since July, when the previous six-year agreement ended. They met on Friday, but no agree-ment was reached. It was unclear when talks would resume. Even before the slowdown accusa-tions, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach had faced some of the worst con-gestion in a decade, as workers have contended with much larger ships and a shortage of available trailers to haul goods from the ports. Joe LoBue, a vice president for LoBue Brothers, a citrus shipping and pack-ing house in the Central Valley, said he started to feel the slowdown in Decem-ber. The company’s peak season is from January through April, and he expects to miss most of it. TNS

By Claudeth Mocon-CiriacoCorrespondent

ACTING Health Secretary Janette Garin said on Sunday one of 11 persons who have had contacts with a female nurse who tested positive for the

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona virus (MERS-CoV) may have contracted the dreaded disease.

Garin said the female health worker is still being ob-served at Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City and will still undergo further tests.

Garin said the results of the x-ray of the health worker of the Evangelista Medical Specialty Hospital in San Pedro, Laguna, showed “probable case.”

The health worker had a close contact with the Filipina nurse who was admitted at the said hospital a day after she arrived on February 1 from Saudi, after experiencing symptoms of the disease—fever, body pain, cough and difficulty of breathing.

Garin said the other 10 who had “close” contact with the 32-year-old Filipino female nurse deemed MERS-CoV posi-tive were a mix of family contacts and hospital contacts.

They earlier reported showing symptoms but were already sent home, according to Garin. Those allowed to go home included the nurse’s husband as they all showed negative results in the second round of laboratory tests, she added. However, “they shall remain under home quar-antine until February 24 in order for us to make sure that they are all safe,” Garin said.

On Friday she said that a total of 56 “close contacts” were located and were subsequently admitted at RITM. Eleven of them showed symptoms of the disease, accord-ing to Garin.

Meanwhile, she said two co-passengers of the

[email protected] Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Monday, February 16, 2015 A3BusinessMirrorThe Nation

“Talk within military circles say that a number of them have served in previous administrations and have pushed various reform agen-das previously as cover for their efforts,” military Spokesman Col. Resituto Padilla said. Padilla, however, admitted he was not in possession of the re-ports detailing the plot against the Aquino administration and those who were behind it.

The reported plan to overthrow

the administration cropped up in the aftermath of the killing of 44 Special Action Force commandos on January 25 by the Bangsamoro Islamic Free-dom Fighters and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the latter being involved in peace talks with the government.

The coup was reportedly being fu-eled by the Aquino administration’s slow action in dealing with the issue, and in its hesitance to take legal or even punitive actions against the in-

Military says ex-govt execs fanning coup plot rumors

By Rene Acosta

THE military identified on Sunday some of the personalities behind the reported coup plot

as former officials who had served in previous administrations, as it assured any plan to overthrow the Aquino administration will never materialize.

volved members of the MILF.The killing, National Police Of-

ficer in Charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina earlier admitted, was causing demoraliza-tion within the police ranks.

Some officials said it was also causing unrest and discontent within the uniformed services, par-ticularly the police, which they said were recipes for a coup.

However, Padilla said the coup plot will not work against the administra-tion, partly because of the dedication and professionalism of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“We firmly believe all these ef-forts will fail. First, because of the high degree of dedication and profes-sionalism of our AFP today. Second, majority of our citizens no longer buy these kinds of efforts and easily see through it's real intent which is, that all these are political in nature with an end view for 2016,” he said.

“Third, the administration still enjoys a high degree of support,” he added. Padilla said the sol-diers have already learned their

lessons from the past efforts to overthrow past administrations, and this is the main reason any recruitment against their ranks will never succeed.

“There are a lot of issues then, but which we don’t have now. There is an absence of overwhelming issue that were present during the 80s,” the military spokesman also said.

But he said whether it would suc-ceed or not, a coup is a serious and very dangerous matter.

“A coup is always supported by a force, it is different from a politi-cal coup. We are talking here of the military,” he said.

Padilla said the killing of com-mandos cannot be a reason to over-throw President Aquino, even to destabilize the government.

“It’s an operational matter, and what the President did is not ille-gal, it was a legal operation. It’s the manner by which it was carried out and the President does not go into details. You have the whole country’s problems at the back of your mind, occupying you day to day,” he said.

ACOMMANDER of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was killed on Satur-

day in a firefight between the Moro group and its breakaway Bangsam-oro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Maguindanao, the military said on Sunday.

The Philippine National Police tagged fighters from both groups as the ones responsible behind the killing of 44 Special Action Force commandos during the counter terrorism operations in the prov-ince on January 25.

Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, public af-fairs officer of the Army’s 6th Infan-try Division, said the MILF and the BIFF clashed for three hours, begin-ning at 5 p.m. on Sunday at Barangay Kalbugan, Pagalungan.

The MILF group was report-edly headed by Cmdr. Jack Ab-bas, while the BIFF was led by Commander Gani Saligan, who is under Shiek Muhiddin Animbang alias Cmdr. Karialan.

During the firefight, a com-mander from the 108th Base Com-mand identified as Datukong Am-puan alias Cmdr. Falcon was killed, according to Petinglay.

Last week reports claimed that Abbas, leading at least 1, 000 fight-ers from the three base commands

of the MILF, including the 108th fought with the BIFF headed by Karialan in Pikit, North Cotabato.

The MILF reportedly attacked the BIFF to show that it is still a partner of the government in the aftermath of the killing of the com-mandos by a joint group of the MILF and the BIFF.

The military, however, later said that the reports of a clash between the two groups in Pikit was prompted by the burst of gunfire from an un-identified group, although it said no firefight ever occurred.

The military confirmed that prior to the reports of a firefight, civilians in Pikit have been evacuating for two days, fearing that a clash between the two groups might occur.

Meanwhi le, three sold iers were wounded on Sunday in a firefight between government troops and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Albarka, Basilan.

First Lt. Sally Christine Magno, civil-military operations officer of the 104th Brigade, said soldiers fought with the ASG under Basir Kasaran alias Cmdr. Kasaran at Ba-rangay Kuhon at around 5 a.m.

She said three soldiers were wounded during the clash, while a number from the terrorists were believed wounded. Rene Acosta

Top MILF killed in 3-hour clash with BIFF-Armed Forces

Tests for health worker in contact with Mers-CoV-positive patient

GARIN: “With regards to Saudia Flight 860, we have contacted 115

passengers and they will be subjected to MeRS-CoV testing. Considering the

14-day incubation period [February 14] will be the last day for contact tracing

of the remaining passengers since February 1.”

Filipina nurse onboard Saudia Airlines Flight 860 have also shown symptoms of the disease. Both are now confined in a separate hospital.

“With regards to Saudia Flight 860, we have contact-ed 115 passengers and they will be subjected to MERS-CoV testing. Considering the 14-day incubation period, [February 14] will be the last day for contact tracing of the remaining passengers since February 1,” Garin said.

“We have, however, put in isolation two of the passen-gers currently being closely observed. One is considered a ‘patient under investigation’ and another one is consid-ered a ‘MERS-CoV suspect,’” she added.

Garin also appealed to the public to pray for the Fili-pina nurse who is currently pregnant.

“As to our index case, let us all include her in our prayers for a speedy recovery. She and her baby deserve utmost respect and understanding. The hospital she is working in Saudi turned out to have had a MERS patient recently. Her plight has opened our eyes to initiate moves on further protecting our health workers abroad,” she said.

MATTERS A man arranges assorted colorful banig (mat) from eastern Samar that he sells for P300 ($6.78) each in this store in Manila. A banig is handwoven from sun-dried palm, pandan or sea grass leaves, usually used for sleeping and sitting and a part of the daily life for many in this tropical country. Roy Domingo

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

Happy and content. This was how businessman Robert

John L. Sobrepeña felt when he learned that the arbitral committee of the philippine Dis-pute Resolution Center ruled in his favor over a dis-pute with the Bases Conversion and Development authority (BCDa) on the Camp John Hay dispute.

“I’m in favor of finishing it and getting on with it. I agree and I am happy with the decision of the arbitration court. We feel vindicated by the arbitration tribunal in upholding our posi-tion that Camp John Hay Development Corp. does not owe any p3.3-billion back rentals to the BCDa,” he said in an interview on Saturday. “In fact, according to the court, the BCDa owes us p1.42 billion as reimbursement for all our rental payments since 1996.” The court ordered the company to vacate the leased premises and deliver the leased property, including new constructions and permanent im-provements introduced during the period of the lease, to the state-run disposition agency. In a nutshell, the arbitral committee de-cided to terminate the original lease agree-ment between the government and the Sobrepeña-led firm. The chairman of the company, which operates and manages the recreation center up north, said the government must abide by what the arbitra-tion court has ordered, and pay the sum indicated before taking over the property. “If they will abide by the arbitration order, it could be over by 90 days,” Sobrepeña added. However, the government is not bent on back-ing out without fighting further.

“There is a strong, separate opinion and this gives the BCDa the opportunity to ask the court to look into this,” BCDa Legal Services De-partment Officer in Charge peter paul andrew T. Flores said, referring to the split decision of the arbitral committee. The state-run agency, he said, will seek a ju-dicial confirmation from the Regional Trial Court in Baguio City to uphold the first part of the de-cision, which orders the company to vacate the property and turn over all improvements on the site promptly. “If they will pursue with their appeal, the whole process of returning Camp John Hay to the government will take a little longer. But the deci-sion of the arbitration court cannot be appealed,” Sobrepeña replied, when sought for comment. “Until the court order is released to us, we will remain as the owner of the property.” The BCDa estimates there are 118 enter-prises—including restaurants, retail and other services and business-process outsourcing of-fices—in the property, with 384 hotel rooms in the Forest Lodge. There are also 85 residential structures in the Camp John Hay area. “We assure our buyers, locators and sub-lessees that their rights to the properties they acquired and are now using in John Hay will continue to be protected and respected,” So-brepeña said. BCDa president arnel D. Casanova, however, noted that the tenants’ sublease agreements have been terminated with the principal lease, hence, renters should now negotiate with the state-run agency, instead of the private company. “It has no authority anymore to do business or transact with locators in the area,” he said.

BusinessMirror [email protected] A4

Economy

By VG Cabuag

T he Securities and exchange Commission (SeC) has warned the

public against dealing with emgoldex Philippines, a company that promises huge returns on an investment of just P1,000.

The SeC released an advisory saying emgoldex is not a registered corporation or partnership in the agency.

“Likewise, such entity is not authorized to solicit investments from the public, as it did not secure prior registration and/or license or permit to solicit investments from the commission,” it said.

According to the SeC, emgoldex has a program called “Pinoy-style Patak Patak,” in which an investment of P1,000 will yield P5,000 to P10,000, while a placement of P35,000 will yield between P180,000 and P360,000 in payout.

“The public is hereby advised to exercise self-restraint from investing their money into such high-yield risk-investment scheme and to take the necessary precautions in dealing with [emgoldex],” the SeC said.

The said scheme is being promoted in social-media sites like Facebook.

A similar web site on emgoldex showed that the company specializes in “buying and selling of investment gold bars of different value. Our investment gold is procured and provided only by the top producers internationally.”

“The company not only sells investment gold bars, but also provides a guarantee of buyback of gold from its customers with the most profitable prices. The customers of the company can use the service of certified depositories for gold and diamonds,” it said.enjoying the ride Local tourists enjoy horseback riding at the Picnic Grove in Tagaytay City, one of the top tourism spots in the country. KEVIN DE La CRUZ

The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) fears that the Mamasapano inci-dent could affect the country’s competi-

tiveness and lead to a downgrade in the Fragile States Index. Guillermo Luz, private sector cochairman of the NCC, in a recent interview with the BusinessMirror, said the deadly incident in Maguindanao that led to the deaths of 44 mem-bers of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force team will affect the country’s im-age of stability. “For any country to be competitive, there must be peace and rule of law. In this case, this tragic event is a reflection of a deep misunderstanding on many levels..the biggest impact on this would be the Fund for Peace’s Fragile States Index [FPF-SI], and we may receive a downgrade,” Luz said in a phone interview. The FPFSI ranks 178 sovereign states on four social indicators, two economic indicators, and six political indicators. Included in the political category indicators are “human rights and rule of law,” as well as “security apparatus,” which include factors related to internal conflict, rebel activity, militancy, riots and protests, military coups and fatalities from conflict. Luz, however, said minimal impact is seen on the other reports being tracked by the NCC. These include the World economic Fo-rum’s (WeF) Global Competitiveness Report and the World Bank—International Finance Corp.’s (WB-IFC) ease of Doing Business Report. The NCC tracks 12 reports/indices that rank the competitiveness of countries based on dif-

ferent aspects. The 10 other reports are: Trans-parency International’s Corruption Index, her-itage Foundation’s economic Freedom Index, WeF’s Global Information Technology Report, WeF’s Travel and Tourism Report, the WeF’s Global enabling Trade Index,International In-stitute for Management Development’s World Competitiveness Report, World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index, World Bank’s Logistics Performance In-dex, FP’s Fragile States Index and WeF’s Global Gender Gap Report. The Philippines, in FP’s 2014 FSI, was the 52nd most fragile state, declining by seven spots from the 59th spot in 2013. The index designates a zero score as a perfect score, indicating a stable government. The Philippines garnered a score of 85.1. Luz said to counter this possible scenario of a downgrade, both the private and the public sec-tors should cooperate on three problems that may dampen the international community’s view of the country’s peace and order situation. First,the existence of a notorious inter-national terrorist in the country, Zulkif li bin hir, alias Marwan in the country, is in itself a problem, he said. Second, the public should be enlightened of the different forces in Mindanao and clarify the relation, if any, between them and the fugitive in question. Last, for the public’s knowledge, the issue of the chain of command between the country’s armed forces and the national police should also be clarified as the confusing bureaucracy may be a negative to the international community. Catherine N. Pillas

The BOI is now putting flesh to the accreditation procedures for particular sectors that may qualify for it. The IB program promises incentives and priority access to

government services to businesses that will adopt the IB model. The agency said it is now consider-ing Unilever’s P 9.5-billion expansion project as among the first ventures

THE much-awaited results of the 18th Outstanding Filipino Retailers and Shopping Centers of the year (OFR- SCy) search will

finally be unveiled on February 25 during the annual awards’ gala night at the Crowne plaza Manila Galleria in Ortigas Center. The (OFR-SCy), organized annually by the philippine Retailers association (pRa)—the recognized national organization of retailers and suppliers in the country—in partnership with the Department of Trade Industry, is considered as the “Oscars of the philippine Retail Industry.” The OFR-SCy awards categories include the Full-Line Department Store/Hypermart, Food Retailer, Fashion, Services, Home Improvement Center, Most promising Retailer, Regional Retailer, Specialty Retailer, Global Retailer of the year, Shopping Center of the year, and Regional Shopping Center of the year. The retail industry’s search of the crop were chosen by a board of judges, composed of key players in the business industry, that include Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo, pRa Chairman Frederick Go, president of Robinsons Recreation Corp.; and pRa president Lorenzo “Enchong” C. Formoso, COO of Duty Free philippines. around 51 finalists will vie for the top honors of the OFR-SCy. They include Robinsons Department Store, SM Hypermart, SM Supermarket, Savemore, National Book Store, R.O.X, Mandaue Foam, Wilcon Depot, Bench, Folded & Hung, Human, Regatta, Onesimus, Karimadon, Mint, artwork, Sanuk, Bratpack, Fino Leatherware, Bambu, Mesa, Bench Fix Salon, Great Image, Handyman, pet Express, The Travel Club, Halo Mobile Clothing, Silverworks, Saver’s appliance Depot, Laguna Garden Café,

Lemon Grass, Lighthouse Cooperative, Cagayan appliance Center, Forever 21, Topman, Fitflops, Lacoste Footwear, Nike Women, True Value, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Krispy Kreme for OFR. SM Megamall, SM Clark, Newport Mall, Robinsons Magnolia, Eastwood Mall, Lucky Chinatown, Robinsons palawan, SM Muntinlupa and pacific Mall Legaspi for the SCy. One of the highlights of the 18th edition of the OFR and SCy awards is the presentation of the pRa president’s award to property, retail and liquor magnate Dr. andrew Tan. Tan, chairman of conglomerate alliance Global Group Inc., will be recognized as the “pillar of Mixed- Use Developments.” Formoso stressed that the pRa Board unanimously picked Tan as this year’s recipient of the president’s award for expanding the realm of retail industry with his signature “live-work-play” concept in the development of fully integrated havens, like Eastwood City, in Libis, Quezon City,

and the McKinley Hill in Taguig City. “Dr. Tan gave retailers premium sites for expansion with ready markets coming from the residential and office components of his integrated developments. His invaluable contribution to the philippine retail industry truly deserves pRa’s highest recognition,” Formoso emphasized. previous recipients of the president’s award include Samie Lim (pioneering pillar of Franchising); Henry Sy (Father of philippine Retailing); Fernando Zobel de ayala (pillar of philippine Retail Development); Jorge araneta (pioneer of philippine Retail Entertainment); Socorro Ramos (Matriarch of philippine Retailing); John Gokongwei Jr. (Champion of Retail Entrepreneurship); amb. Bienvenido Tantoco Sr. (Father of Luxury Retailing); Mariano Que (Father of Health and Wellness Retailing); and Teresita Sy-Coson (philippine Retailing’s Woman Visionary Leader). another highlight of the gala night is the conferment of the “Global Retailer of the year” award to Golden aBC Inc., owner of apparel brand penshoppe, besting other homegrown retailers for the honor. Golden aBC CEO Bernie H. Liu will receive the award. Golden aBC Inc. was cited for successfully expanding its business internationally and established its brand on a global scale. pRa Secretary-General Evelyn Balmeo-Salire sees the awards as a yardstick and a benchmark for competitiveness vis-à-vis their peers in the retailing industry. “aside from enhancing the value of their brands, the awards also seeks to establish the winning retailers as best in their class because we have a very rigorous set of criteria and selection process,” Salire stressed.

Monday, February 16, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

‘Oscars’ for Philippine retailing industry set on Feb. 25

formoso

that could qualify for the program. According to BOI information, Unilever’s expansion of manufactur-ing operations and acquisition of new technology, approved by the BOI in the latter part of 2014, will entail a 30-per-cent to 35-percent local production of its manufactured goods. The firm is ramping up its production capacity by 30 percent from the current 100,000 tons from now until 2020. Notably, according to documents, the perceived employment gain from the expansion project, which will take place over a six-year period, is seen at 900 direct employees and 8,450 indirect employees. The BOI noted that Unilever is undertaking a similar project, the Sustainable Living Plan (SLP) project, on its own, which entailed Unilever to implement agribusiness projects in Mindanao in 2013.

For that year, Unilever sourced $20 million worth of agriculture products, mostly meat, sugar and eggs, from local suppliers under the SLP. The BOI, in September, formally announced the accreditation of en-terprises for the IB initiative to com-plement the government’s broader inclusive growth agenda. Three sec-tors are being targeted by the BOI in the IB initiative, namely, agribusi-ness, housing and tourism. The initiative aims to involve the low-income segment of society in the supply and value chain of the enter-prises’ business operations, leading to improvement of their living stand-ards and work opportunity. The said program is being imple-mented jointly with the Asian De-velopment Bank (ADB). The govern-ment has requested a $250-million

from the ADB to support the IB pro-gram, which will be used in designing a framework to create employment among the rural poor. The investment-promotion agency is moving on to the second phase of the the IB program, which includes developing specific accredi-tation criteria for the three sectors. Consultants for the project are ex-pected to engage industry associa-tions of the sectors to benchmark on specific requirements. Notably, documents show that there is a move from the BOI and its consultants to undertake pilot accred-itation of at least 20 IB projects per sector, after the accreditation scheme is finalized and institutionalized. The BOI is also mulling over the potential incentives for IB projects, as it is already included in the 2014 Investment Priority Plan.

Boi to start accrediting firms for inclusive Business schemeBy Catherine N. Pillas

THE Board of Investments (BOI) is now finalizing the mechanisms for the

implementation of the Inclusive Business (IB) program, an initiative spearheaded by the agency to encourage businesses to integrate low-income groups into their supply or value chain.

SEC warns public against dealing with Emgoldex

Mamasapano clash seen affecting country’s image as a ‘fragile state’

Sobrepeña: Camp John Hay dispute could end in 90 days

Monday, February 16, 2015 • Editor: Gerard RamosA6

Tourism& Entertainment1

Casino moguls Lawrence Ho and James Packer, along with Henry Sy Jr., chairman of SM Prime Hold-ings, led the event on February 2, and were joined by Cristino Naguiat, chairman of the Philippine Amuse-ment and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and Ho’s wife, Sharen.

A grand � reworks display imme-diately ensued to celebrate the coun-try’s newest tourism destination anchored on an integrated casino resort, as well as a gala dinner at-tended by Metro Manila’s business leaders, government o� cials and society movers.

Earlier, a musical event topbilled by international artists Ne-Yo and Kelly Rowland, along with favor-ite local artists like Zsa Zsa Pa-dilla and Gary Valenciano, wowed the crowd in an open-air concert,

billed as “Concert of Dreams.”In a news brie� ng, Ho, cochair-

man of Macau gaming and resort developer Melco Crown Entertain-ment Ltd. (MCE), said, “We choose the greatest locations in Asia to build integrated resorts. We’ve been very selective and other than Macau, Manila is the � rst place that we have decided to go into. Our philosophy is very simple—we want to build things we’re proud of.”

COD Manila was developed by MCE’s local unit, listed Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp. (MCP), in partnership with the SM Group’s Belle Corp.

� e casino complex has approxi-mately 380 gaming tables, 1,700 slot machines and 1,700 electronic table games spread out over an ag-gregated gaming space, which in-

cludes VIP and mass-market gam-ing facilities.

During its soft opening last De-cember, two hotels—the 321-room Nobu and 365-room Hyatt—like-wise, began welcoming guests.

Unfazed by beijing crackdownMELCO o� cials appeared unfazed with the crackdown on corruption in China, as well as the current ban on travel to the Philippines, which many analysts said could impact on the country’s visitor arrivals from mainland China and gaming rev-enues. (See “Chinese travel ban im-pacts visitor arrivals to the Philip-pines”, BusinessMirror, January 14, 2015.)

In a separate news conference, MCP Chairman Clarence Chung said visitor arrivals in the Philip-pines are now “multinational,” with tourists coming from South Korea, the Middle East, Japan, Sin-gapore and the US.

He cited the Department of Tour-ism (DOT), which is working to at-tract 10 million visitors this year, “so we believe we will attract more and more [tourists].”

DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. hailed the opening of COD Ma-nila, describing it “in a scale quite at par with the best of such facilities in the world,” adding that it would help improve visitor arrivals in the country. He told BusinessMirror: “As with other developments in the [Pagcor] Entertainment City, the

CASINO MOGULS DREAM BIG FOR MANILA

B S A | Special to the BM

WITH a turn of the keys, a golden “Fortune Egg” unleashed a cloud of

smoke while mechanical butterfl ies cascaded, signaling the grand opening of the $1.3-billion (P58 billion) City of Dreams Manila (COD Manila).

LILIA DE LIMA, Director-General, Philippine Economic Zone Authority

MELCO Crown Entertainment (MCE) � nally launches City of Dreams (COD), an integrated casino resort that is made for entertainment, gaming, accomodations, dining and shopping. ALYSA SALEN

COD became a reality, during the news conference held to mark the o� cial grand launch of the integrated gaming and entertainment resort, set to become the “must experience” destination in Manila. Left is Lawrence Ho, cochairman and CEO, MCE Ltd; and James Packer, cochairman, MCE Limited. During the media presentation, Ho commented, “Today it is my great pleasure to deliver on our promise to bring the highly successful COD brand experience to the Philippines. Strategically at the gateway to Manila’s Entertainment City, the over $1-billion COD Manila is now ready to deliver on its stated aim to become the premier leisure and entertaiment destination in the Philippines and within the region.” NONIE REYES

PARAÑAQUE City Mayor Edwin Olivarez and wife Janet

BusinessMirror [email protected] • Monday, February 16, 2015 A7

Tourism& Entertainment2

In a separate news conference, MCP Chairman Clarence Chung said visitor arrivals in the Philip-pines are now “multinational,” with tourists coming from South Korea, the Middle East, Japan, Sin-gapore and the US.

He cited the Department of Tour-ism (DOT), which is working to at-tract 10 million visitors this year, “so we believe we will attract more and more [tourists].”

DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. hailed the opening of COD Ma-nila, describing it “in a scale quite at par with the best of such facilities in the world,” adding that it would help improve visitor arrivals in the country. He told BusinessMirror: “As with other developments in the [Pagcor] Entertainment City, the

City of Dreams brings the quality and variety of entertainment to a new high…. We expect that City of Dreams and other similar develop-ments will help boost tourist arriv-als from source markets in Asia and the West.”

During its soft opening last Decem-ber, the casino resort recorded some 60,000 in foot tra� c, Chung said. At present, there are about 15,000 daily visitors to the complex, which now includes the newly opened 260-room Crown Towers, and premier night-clubs Pangea and Chaos. � e much-awaited DreamPlay, dubbed the world’s � rst DreamWorks-inspired education-based interactive play zone that is expected to drive more

families to the resort, is scheduled to open by the end of March.

Chung noted that COD Manila visitors are still primarily local play-ers, “already a good gaming market,” but it also intends to use its vast marketing network to attract gam-ers from overseas.

Macau gaming revenues fell sharply last year as high rollers from mainland China stayed home due to the crackdown by their government on corruption. Mainland Chinese ac-count for the largest bulk of gamers in Macau, where Melco Crown has its � agship COD.

Pagcor has forecast gaming rev-enues in the Philippines to reach about $6 billion (P270 billion) by

CASINO MOGULS DREAM BIG FOR MANILA

2017, overtaking even Sin-gapore, with the opening of more gaming casinos. But the agency recently reported revenues of some P20 bil-lion in the � rst half of 2014, down 5.2 percent for the same period in 2013.

Marty, Bob And Leo Want inON a personal note, MCE Co-chairman James Packer said that, after he had spent a weekend in the upscale Amanpulo resort in Palawan, “I think it’s true: it’s more fun in the Philippines.” He intimated that DOT’s “more fun” ads playing all over the

world would help drive the tourists to come to the coun-try, and bene� t COD Manila. “� e Philippines is a dynamic and fast-growing market and City of Dreams Manila has been speci� cally developed to cater both to domestic de-mand and destination visitors across Asia and internation-ally.”

Packer is also co-founder of RatPac Entertainment with � lm director Brett Ratner, which produced the 30-sec-ond TV ad showing director Martin Scorsese welcom-ing Hollywood actors Rob-ert De Niro and Leonardo

DiCaprio to Manila (http://bit.ly/1DVJ28x). Vanity Fair reported the total cost of the series of COD Manila ads at $70 million, with both ac-tors snagging a cool $13 million each for their work. Also rumored to be making an appearance in the ads is ac-tor Brad Pitt. De Niro is a co-investor of the Nobu chain of hotels and restaurants.

COD Manila sits on a 6.2-hectare property, the second casino complex to rise in the 100-ha Entertain-ment City. It was preceded by Solaire Resort, owned by ports king Enrique Razon,

which opened in March 2013. Ho is the son of Macau's ac-

claimed casino kingpin Stan-ley Ho, who in 2000 tried to open a � oating casino in Ma-nila but failed to get the nec-essary licenses and permits, owing to loud opposition from the Catholic Church and a congressional investi-gation into his alleged links with organized crime.

“It’s a long road ahead,” the younger Ho said, despite noting COD Manila’s ini-tial success during its soft opening. “We plan to be in this market for a very, very long time.”

KEVIN SIM, COD Manila’s COO, and his wife Dwina

JERRY TIU, president of Tagaytay Highlands and wife LianneIÑIGO ZOBEL, chairman of Top Frontier

AMBASSADOR Felipe Mabilangan and wife Ada

WILLY OCIER, vice chairman of Belle Corp. and wife Geraldine

FELIX ANG, president of CATS Motors and wife Grace

LILIA DE LIMA, Director-General, Philippine Economic Zone Authority

WASHINGTON Sycip, SGV founder and Belle Corp. independent director

INTERNATIONAL artist Ne-Yo performs and celebrates with the Filipinos as Melco Crown Entertainment launches the COD Manila on Monday. PHOTO BY ALYSA SALEN

FORMER Makati Rep. Teddyboy Locsin and wife Louie

MCE CEO Lawrence Ho (fourth from left), with (from left) Melco Crown Philippines Chairman Clarence Chung Yuk Man, SM Prime Holdings Chairman Henry Sy Jr., Melco Crown CEO Wife Sharen Ho, Melco Crown Co-Chairman James Parker and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat, Jr. lead the turning of ceremonial keys to open the 'Fortune Egg' of City of Dreams Manila and cascade a ‘Dream Cloud” of mechanical butter� ies, o� cially marking the launch of the integrated resort. ALYSA SALEN

CHARISSE CHUIDIAN, vice president for communications of COD Manila, and Arthur Lopez, hospitality consultant

AMBASSADOR Jose E. B. Antonio, chairman and CEO of Century Properties with wife Hilda

JAMES PACKER, chairman of Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. is � anked by Armin Raquel Santos, executive vice president of Belle Corp., and his wife Ana.

[email protected]

Harnessing magnesium’s natural and safe curative power, the Kan-lungan ni Maria pain-healing mis-sion team provided 150 seniors with therapy, Victoria Baterina-Solis, Kanlungan ni Maria special project director, told the BusinessMirror.

The recipients, who came from the different communities in Bohol, have complained of arthritis, painful shoulders, stiff fingers, back pain, muscle cramps, psoriasis, gout, and other health conditions, she said.

Candida Turalba, 69, who could not fold her fingers in the last five months because they were painful, experienced relief.

“My fingers have felt better after the therapy,” she said in Filipino. “I will continue the therapy at home to completely heal.”

Another recipient, whose feet

were painful in the last three years, has reported relief.

“I felt better in my feet,” Hospicio Almenye, 70, said in Filipino.

He was amazed saying, “There is nothing like this [magnesium liquid] in drug stores.”

Most of the pains in seniors are related to magnesium deficiency in their diet, said Mary Jean Netario Cruz, Kanlungan ni Maria well-ness director.

“The deficiency due to poor diet,” she continued, “is exacerbated by an unhealthy lifestyle, like excessive caffeine, alcohol, chronic stress, fa-tigue, and by some pharmaceutical drugs. They deplete the stored mag-nesium in the body.”

When the pain sets in, Netario Cruz said, magnesium relieves it by relaxing the muscles and preventing

Kanlungan ni Maria conducts pain-healing mission in Bohol

APAIN-heAlINg mission by a home for the aged in Antipolo conducted free therapy for

senior citizens in Bohol on February 11, coinciding with the 23rd World Day for the Sick.

ElderlyBusinessMirror

The

By Oliver Samson | Correspondent

spasm and nerve twitching.Conventional pain killers only

further deplete the body’s magne-sium, said Netario Cruz, a member of the American Association of Drug-less Practitioners.

Headache, fatigue, insomnia and body pains are the main indi-cators of the mineral’s deficiency and excess calcium deposits in the

body, she added.Magnesium can be restored in the

body in its liquid state transdermally or orally, said Netario Cruz, a certi-fied wellbeing coach.

In the United States, Dr. Caro-lyn Dean, a medical and naturo-path doctor, even treats executives and athletes of anxiety and panic attack with magnesium, instead

PALM Beach County’s re-vamped bus service for the elderly and disabled got off

to a bumpy start early this month in Florida, USA.

Late pickups, longer than nor-mal rides and drivers getting lost were among the steady stream of complaints from riders in the first seven days after the coun-ty rolled out its new operating model of Palm Tran Connection on February 1.

County officials said they have resolved most issues, many of which they said were to be expected in the first week of a major transition to a new model—and pledged continu-ing improvement.

But that didn’t relieve the anxiety of 22-year-old Robert Yadoff, an autistic Lake Worth man who complained it took him five hours for a new Palm Tran Connection van to take him to his part-time job in Boca Raton on February 5.

“He came home crying,” said his mother, Laurie Yadoff. “I would be crying. That’s a long time to sit and be driven around on the bus. He could have gone to Disney World and back.”

Like others who rely on Palm Tran Connection, Yadoff said she had high hopes for the new service after chronic customer complaints about the system under Metro Mobility Manage-ment Group.

After the county reached a settlement with Metro to end its contract early, the county signed contracts with three companies totaling $189.9 million and it spent $17.2 million on 232 new vehicles. The county also took over dispatch services for the first time.

County officials and repre-sentatives from the new compa-nies—MV Transportation, First Transit and Maruti Fleet and Management—had reached out to longtime Palm Tran Connec-tion users in recent months to offer their assurances about the new operating model.

“They told me, ‘You’re going to love it! We’re going to have new

companies, with great buses and new cameras,’” Laurie Yadoff said. “Sure enough, he calls me crying because he was on the bus five hours. Five hours? Can you pic-ture yourself riding around for five hours? What could possibly be going on?”

Officials blamed the problems on a combination of new employ-ees unfamiliar with the county and technology issues—drivers were not properly trained on how to use a new radio system. “It was a little bit of everything,” said Assistant County Administra-tor Shannon LaRocque said. “We expected we were going to have a lot of bumps. It could have been a lot worse.”

Palm Tran Connection made more than 16,000 trips last week, with daily on-time performance rates ranging from 63 percent on February 2 to 75 percent on Febru-ary 6. The county’s goal is 95 per-cent. That on-time rate improved on February 9—the eighth day of the new system—to more than 93 percent. The contracts allow the county to fine the companies $2,500 a month for failing to meet performance measures.

LaRocque said the county will waive the poor numbers from last week because it was the new sys-tem’s first week. County Mayor Shelley Vana, who led the charge for the new service after being a vocal critic of the old model, spent time at Palm Tran Connection head-quarters on February 9 with County Administrator Bob Weisman.

Vana said she believes the ser-vice will continue to improve.

“I’m usually not the nicest per-son when it comes to Palm Tran Connection. But when people were calling to complain, I said, ‘This is the first week. When something starts up like that with so many moving parts, you’re going to en-counter problems,’” she said. “This week they seem like they are do-ing better, a lot better. But I’m not taking my eye off it yet. I want to make sure we are doing it right. [Connection riders] are people who are really old and vulnerable. You don’t really want a long learn-ing curve.” Tribune Content Agency Llc.

Loida Nicolas Lewis: An advocate of all things correct and Filipino

KANLUNGAN ni Maria Foundation Wellness Director Mary Jean Netario Cruz leads the medical mission featuring magnesium therapy at a beach in Panglao, Bohol, on February 11, while Fr. Fernando “Dodong” Po, mission host, gestures from his wheelchair. OLIVER SAMSON

of sedatives, with success.The Kanlungan ni Maria pain-

healing mission team also gave 150 free 100 mL bottles of magnesium to the seniors in Bohol, Baterina-Solis said.

It was the first time the team crossed the sea to conduct a pain-healing mission.

Fr. Dari Dioquino, who is Kanlun-gan ni Maria priest-in-charge, Ne-tario Cruz, Baterina-Solis, Marilyn I. Domingo, Shirley U. Griba, Maria Kristen D. Concepcion, Karima Dim-zon, Grace P. Vergara, Mercy Bat-erina, lawyer Pope Solis, and Philip Nicholas Cruz composed the team that visited Bohol.

Kanlungan ni Maria has also conducted pain-healing missions in the towns of Jalajala, Pililia, Cainta, Malaya and Tanay, in Rizal province, benefiting no less than 500 indigent people, Baterina-Solis said.

Fr. Fernando “Dodong” Po, a re-tired priest, hosted Kanlungan ni Maria’s seventh pain-healing mis-sion at a beach in Panglao, a town in Bohol visited by local and foreign tourists for its white sand and clear blue beach water.

Po, who built over 100 core houses for the quake survivors in the prov-ince, also hosted the team’s four-day stay in Bohol.

Monday, February 16, 2015 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

ILOILO CITY—More than 250 senior citizens of Iloilo will be treated this month through a

newly crafted program of the Pro-vincial Social Welfare and Develop-ment Office (PSWDO) dubbed as ART, or Asikaso, Respeto sa mga Tigulang (Care and Respect for the Elderly).

Dr. Neneth Pador, PSWDO chief, said the program, tentatively scheduled on February 27 at the Provincial Capitol lobby, is spon-sored by the Office of the Gov. un-der Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr.

The whole-day activity will treat senior citizens with free haircut, massage, lecture on illnesses com-monly suffered by the elderly like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, heart dis-eases and diabetes, among others.

Aside from this, there are also medical and dental examinations in coordination with the Provincial Capitol Clinic.

Pador said the governor has committed to fund the meals of the senior citizens.

“Each town will be bringing six senior citizens including the Of-fice of the Senior Citizen head of each municipality,” Pador said. PNA

Iloilo to pamper senior citizens this love month

By Rizal Raoul ReyesCorrespondent

BUSINESS leader and philan-thropist Loida Nicolas-Lewis is among the most respected

Filipina-Americans in the US and has been in the forefront of promoting Fili-pino interests in her second homeland and the Philippines, as well.

“My passion is always for the Fi l ipino,” said the 72-year-old Lewis in an interview at her Makati City residence.

Lewis is glad that the Philippines is now making raves in the global community such as getting good credit ratings from Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s.

A native of Sorsogon, she felt sad when the country was branded as the sick man of Asia by foreign-ers. Although there have been a lot of challenges, she said the current administration is doing a good job in managing the economy.

“The Filipino always got the bad rap until President P-Noy got elect-ed,” Lewis said.

Last year Lewis was in the fore-front of staging the opera version of Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, which she admitted was a challenge to stage. “This is the last time I will promote a play. It’s very difficult,” she jested.

“The reason I helped in promot-ing Noli Me Tangere was to prove the Filipinos are world-class artists. I also wanted Filipinos to enhance their love for the art, literature and country,” she said.

Lewis was once one of the top stu-dents in the College of Law at the Uni-versity of the Philippines in Diliman.

Aside from boosting the coun-try’s image, Lewis is also active in promoting the Philippines as a good investment site. But for the country to be on the radar screen of investors, Lewis said the economic provisions of the Constitution must be changed

to attract and motivate investors to come to the Philippines.

“If you’re thinking of real invest-ments, an investor will come in but will not get a minority share in the business,” she said.

She relates this situation to her ex-perience when she opened The Lewis College named after her late husband Reginald Lewis in early 2000. Being an American citizen because of her marriage, she was not allowed to run the school. Instead, her relatives were tasked to manage the school.

“I want to show my appreciation to Sen. Franklin Drilon who was then the Senate president and for-mer Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. for their help in my acquiring a dual

citizenship,” she said. Establishing a federal system of

government is also on top of Lewis’s agenda for good governance in the country so the regions will get equal representation.

“Let’s face it. Bicolanos will vote a Bicolano for senator and Ilocanos will vote of one of their own in the Senate. The Philippines should adopt a federal system just like the US . This will al-low us to vote the best of the best in the region because we know who’s not deserving to be voted,” she said.

“It’s also high time we stop vot-ing for actors in the national level,” she said.

Lewis is also active in advocating for granting a Temporary Protected

Status (TPS) to Filipinos in the US. TPS would allow Filipinos without permanent resident status to con-tinue to stay in the US and provide working authorization temporarily until the person’s TPS status ends.

Lewis is also an active supporter of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Asian Pacif-ic Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Asian Pacific American Film, Asian American Arts Alliance, Asian Ameri-can Federation of New York, Asian American Foundation, Diversity The-ater and Ma-Yi Theater.

Just like her, Lewis’s daughters also excelled in their studies, both graduating cum laude in their AB studies in Harvard University. Leslie is an actor and Christina is a freelance writer after working for five years as a columnist for the Wall Street Journal. She has three grandchildren, Chris-tian, Savilla, Calvin and two sons-in-law, Gavin Sword and Dan Halpern.

An avowed supporter of the Democrats, Lewis is gung ho on the prospect of former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s running for presi-dency in 2016.

“I am all out for the candidacy of Mrs. Clinton,” she said. “It’s time for the US to make history again by elect-ing a woman as president. Mrs. Clinton is very capable,” she said.

She is also passionate on the Phil-ippines versus the China issue. She said China is a rogue state and does not follow the rule of law.

“Every time we talk to them, they never answer us,” she said.

Despite being named as one of the richest women in the US, Lewis remains grounded and says the label does not faze her.

“It is not important. We are all equal in the eyes of God. What is im-portant is what we do as stewards and manage what we have to do. I think that’s the most important,” she said.

LoiDA NiCoLAs-LeWis wants Filipinos to vote wisely in choosing their leaders. RObERt dE LA cRuz

Revamped bus service for old, disabled in Florida, USA has rough start

ILOILO CITY—The Social Securi-ty System (SSS) will hold another express mobile service program

for the first quarter of 2015.SSS Iloilo Central Branch Office

Manager Emilia B. Solinap said they have already coordinated with the lo-cal government of Passi City for the proposed mobile service program slated second week of March.

On February 20 they will also meet with local officials of the mu-nicipality of Sara to discuss the con-

duct of the same activity initially slated after Passi City.

Solinap said the e-mobile service usually runs up to three days. It is an initiative of the agency where they bring their services in areas that are far from the city.

She said given priority is the An-nual Confirmation of Pensioners for senior citizens. They also cater to members who would like to secure their identification card, process their membership and claims. PNA

SSS Iloilo gears for another e-mobile service program

Lunch with grandMa a grandmother in Baguio city eats lunch with two grandchildren at the Baguio city People’s Park. after the break, she escorts the two children back to school. MAu VIctA

[email protected] Monday, February 16, 2015

The RegionsA9

Continued from A1

The omnibus order mandated that the said amount be placed in escrow, as well as imposed several conditions before the money could be released to the petitioner. The CA said the lower court’s ruling allowing the government to exercise full rights of ownership over the Terminal 3 facilities upon payment of just compensation in an escrow account  is void for lack of basis under the law and is not supported by any jurisprudence. In denying the motion for re-consideration, the CA said the government and the two Japa-nese firms failed to raise new ar-guments that would warrant the reversal of its decision. “A considered scrutiny of the arguments set forth in the respec-tive motions for reconsideration filed by respondent Republic of the Philippines and intervenors-respondents Takenaka Corp. and Asahikosan Corp. directed against our October 20, 2014, decision, as well as the separate comments thereto by petitioner Piatco, elic-its the finding that there are no new grounds or bases sufficient to compel modification or reversal of the said challenged decision,” the CA ruled.  Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Danto Bueser and Melchor Sadang. The CA earlier pointed out that the amount of just compen-sation is still the subject of appeal before the Supreme Court (SC), thus, it was wrong for the RTC in Pasay City to allow the government to exercise full ownership of the

airport facilities by mere deposit of just compensation to an escrow account. Among the conditions imposed by the RTC in Pasay are   Piatco must submit a warranty that the structures and facilities of the Naia 3 are free from all liens and encumbrances; Piatco must sub-mit an undertaking that it is as-suming sole responsibility for any claims from third persons arising from or relating to the design or construction of any structure or facility of the Naia 3 structures, if any; and Piatco must submit a duly executed deed transferring the title of the Naia 3 structures and facilities to the government, without prejudice to the amount which will finally be awarded to  it by the appellate court. But the CA said these  violate the law and SC rulings on expropri-ation proceedings. It pointed out that the SC has previously ruled that  any delay in the payment of just compensation is tantamount to a deprivation of one’s property. In the case of the Naia 3, the CA pointed out  the issue of own-ership over the Terminal 3 facili-ties has long been established by the SC in several cases, where  it ruled that Piatco is the owner of the Terminal 3 facilities.  The CA added that the RTC in Pasay, itself, recognized such fact in its omnibus order when it direct-ed the govenrment to pay only Pi-atco in its May 23, 2011, decision. “Besides, we agree with Piatco that deposit of just compensation in an escrow account does not constitute ‘payment’ that would extinguish an obligation as contemplated in

the Civil Code and other relevant laws,” the CA ruled. Furthermore, the CA said the conditions imposed by the RTC in Pasay makes it legally impossible for Piatco to get the just compen-sation. It cited, for instance, the thrid condition requiring Piatco to sub-mit a deed transferring title of the Terminal 3 facilities to the gov-ernment without prejudice to the final amounts which will finally be awarded to it by the CA. But the CA said the ownership may only transfer to the govern-ment and subsequent registration of the property may be made when the decision in the expropriation becomes final and executory pur-suant to the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 8974, the law that governs  right-of-way acquisition for nationa gov-ernment projects. “Thus, requiring Piatco to ex-ecute a deed when the case is actu-ally an expropriation proceeding where there is forced taking of property for public use, is alto-gether inconsitent with the nature thereof,” the CA said. The CA also held that the claim for compensation of Takenaka and Asahikosan, in the amount of $85.7 million pursuant to the orders of a London court, does  not warrant the deposit to an escrow account  of the compensation in-tended for Piatco. The CA said the claim of Tak-enaka and Asahikosan is still premature and the London court decision is not yet binding as the same is currently pending before the SC.

CA: Govt still can’t take over Naia 3

Hataman recently defended the ARMM position supporting the peace negotiation as some senators began expressing their disgust on continuing talks with the Moro Is-lamic Liberation Front (MILF) fol-lowing deadly encounter in Mamasa-pano, Maguindanao, on January 25.

“The incident should not discour-age lawmakers from supporting the passage of the Bangsamoro basic law [BBL] and the eventual establish-ment of the Bangsamoro govern-ment,” he said in an ARMM state-ment released on Sunday.

The peace process, he said,

“provides the most viable option to end decades of conflict, dis-placement and underdevelopment in parts of Mindanao.”

He cited the confidence given by local businessmen due to the peace process that has reached the level of the creation of a transition body toward the establishment of a new Bangsamoro political body, and the commitment of the MILF to begin its phased decommissioning of troops and turnover of their respective weapons. Hataman said more than P3 billion worth of investments were poured into ARMM last year “as one of the dividends of peace.”

“ARMM’s board of investment is also set to approve close to a billion worth of additional investments by end of the month,” he added.

He said, “The promise of a long-term peace has encouraged investors to put their money in a region, which

they have long disregarded due to its volatile socioeconomic climate”.

Hataman said the clash in Mama-sapano “came at a time when peo-ple in the ARMM have high hopes for the passage of the BBL and the enforcement of a political solution that would address the legitimate grievances of the Moro people and usher in needed development.” He said, “Lawmakers must not allow the incident to undermine the years of rigorous peace negotiations that both the government and MILF worked hard on.”

Hataman said the bungled police operation in Barangay Tukanalipao in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on January 25 came as a surprise and was “shocking and painful.” 

“But it is also equally shocking and painful to hear some sectors call for an all-out war in Mindanao in response,” he said.

LeADINg advocates of Asean economic integration are slated to address the second

Aklan Forum on Asean Integra-tion on February 17 at the Aklan Training Center in Kalibo, Aklan.

This was announced by lawyer

Allen Salas Quimpo, president of the Northwestern Visayan Colleg-es and head convener of the Aklan Forum on Asean Integration.

Quimpo, a three-term congress-man of the lone district of Aklan, said the event will be attended by prominent resource persons and speakers. With “Building the Aklan Road Map to Asean Inte-gration” as its main theme, the whole-day meet will be participat-ed in by leading representatives of great institutions from Aklan and neighboring areas of Panay.

Among the speakers and re-source persons are former Ambas-sador to Asean Dr. Wilfredo V. Vil-lacorta, who was also a permanent representative of the Philippines until his retirement in 2012.

Villacorta is expected to speak on Asean economic Integration 2015: Its Opportunities and Chal-lenges. Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Bill Tweddell will speak on Asean and Australia.

Other speakers, which include Quimpo, are governor Florencio T. Miraf lores, chairman, Akan Council for Asean economic In-

tegration, while Aklan Rep. Te-odorico T. Haresco Jr., will focus on the Impact of Asean economic Integration in relation to the 2015 National Budget, as keynote speakers.

Asean economic Community (AeC) update will be given by engr. Diosdado P. Cadena Jr., provin-cial director of the Department of Trade and Industry.

engr. Roger esto, professorial lecturer, graduate school of NVC, will serve as moderator.

The Philippines is one of the founding members of the Asean. In 2017 the country will be the chair of the Asean and will host the his-toric celebration of the 50th an-niversary of the Asean. According to study conducted by the Interna-tional Labor Organization and the Asian Development Bank, the trade integration could expand Philippine gross domestic product by 7.5 per-cent by 2025, compared to a baseline scenario without the integration.

The study also projected a net gain of 3.1 million more jobs from 2015 to 2025.

DAVAO CITY—The Compos-tela Valley provincial gov-ernment began screening

applications for its scholarship, with 4,724 applications filed at its office for the next school year.

Of this number, the provincial government selected 440 hopefuls to pursue tertiary education under the Compostela Valley Scholarship Program (CVSP) for 2015.

Applicants came from  graduat-ing high-school students and out-of-school youths from the different municipalities of the province.

The first screening was done via a panel interview conducted at the Provincial Capitol on February 10 to 13 last year. Of the 440 applicants, only 402 students would be selected in a final round of interview, with qualified graduating students to be informed on their graduation day.

Selected scholars taking up bac-calaureate courses would receive P10,000 per semester, while students taking up technical and vocational education trainings would receive P5,000 to P10,000 per semester, depending on the length of training hours. Students who would enroll in center-based trainings would receive a P500 monthly stipend, including free dormitory accommodation, tu-ition and miscellaneous fees.

The CVSP aims to provide ter-tiary education to poor and deserv-ing students and to increase the available labor needed by industries in the province. As of the current school year, the CVSP has a total of 542 baccalaureate and technical and vocational scholars studying in different schools and colleges in Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte. Manuel T. Cayon

‘Don’t give up on Moros’ dream of peace’By Manuel T. Cayon | Mindanao Bureau Chief        

DAVAO CITY—Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

(ARMM) appealed anew to lawmak-ers not to give up on the dream of the Moro population to achieve peace.

Compostela Valley screens applications for scholarship

2nd Aklan Forum on Asean Integration set on Feb. 17

HeALTH authorities have al-lowed a person under inves-tigation (PUI) for possible

Middle east Respiratory Syndrome- Corona Virus (MeRS-CoV) infec-tion to stay at home after she tested negative for the deadly viral disease.

But the regional office of the De-partment of Health (DOH) said au-thorities have yet to locate an Italian tourist who is also considered a PUI.

MeRS-CoV, a viral disease discov-ered in 2012, has entered the country this year via a Filipina nurse from Saudi Arabia.

The PUI from Cebu City was among those in the plane with the nurse who tested positive for MeRS-CoV upon arriving home.

DOH 7 Director Jaime Bernadas said the results on the Cebuana came out on Friday after samples were obtained from her the night before.

Dr. Dino Caing, Regional epi-demiology and Surveillance Unit (Resu) chief, said the woman did not display primary symptoms of MeRS-CoV such as fever, cough and pneumonia, but they would continue observing her.

“She will still be monitored and will be subject for follow up even if asymptomatic,” Caing said.

As this developed, health authori-ties have sought the help of the Bu-reau of Immigration in checking if the Italian tourist, a fellow airplane passenger of the Filipino nurse, has left the country. PNA

MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTION Taal Volcano is clearly visible from Picnic Grove in Tagaytay City. The active volcano is one of the area’s major tourist attractions. KEVIN DE LA CRUZ

Cebu resident tested negative for MERS-CoV

COMBINeD operatives of law-enforcement groups arrested several persons,

including a female provincial board member and a village chief, in separate raids at sus-pected shabu laboratories in two villages in this city on Sat-urday morning.

Arrested in the raid at the residential compound of former Mayor Bernardito “Bing” Abapo of Milagros, Masbate, in Sitio Cagba, Barangay Tugbo, were his son Bong and daughter Lovely, Second District board member, Masbate.

Other members of the raid-ing team also simultaneously swooped down at the Secret garden Resort in Barangay Nurs-ery, this city, which is owned by Cherryboy Abapo, son of former Mayor Cherry Abapo of San Fer-nando, Masbate.

The raiding team was com-posed of members of the Philip-pine National Police Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operation Task Force (AIDSOTF), Philippine Drug enforcement Agency-Bicol, Regional Intelligence Division-Police Regional Office 5, 5th Regional Public Safety Battal-ion, Masbate Provincial Public Safety Company and Masbate City Police Office.

PNP-AIDSOTF Spokesman

Senior Supt. Roque Merdegia Jr. said the government operatives made two separate raids in the two target places where there were suspected materials used in making shabu.

Seized during the raid were substantial volume of Controlled Precursors and essential Chemi-cal (CPeC) used in the manufac-ture of dangerous drugs, caliber .40, caliber .45 and one caliber 22 Magnum with 10 live ammuni-tion, the report said.

The suspects are now facing charges for violation the Com-prehensive Anti-Drug law or Republic Act 9165.

Bong Abapo claimed the seized firearms are licensed and there are no other evidence but waste materials that smell like chemicals. Masbateños who know Lovely cannot believe the young provincial board member could be involved in illegal drug.

At 30, she is a second-term provincial board member of the province’s Second District and second among the four winners in the district.

Lovely has no record of any il-legal activity, they claimed.

“She is dumb if she would have the alleged laboratory right in their residence, so it’s hard to believe the accusation against her,” a supporter said. PNA

2 alleged shabu labs raided in Masbate City

Tweddell

Monday, February 16, 2015

OpinionBusinessMirrorA10

‘It’s not business; only personal’

editorial

FOR a nation with a population of 100 million, the Philippines often seems like a small village or maybe a thousand small villages but all inter-connected.

We almost all self-identify from a particular province and then by clan and family. We are never actually surprised to learn that a person that we have done business with for years turns out to be the first-cousin of our best friend from high school.

We criticize the fact that the economic and social structure is considered oligarchic–a structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of people. Yet the oligarchy is deep-rooted because so many Filipinos are related by blood, marriage, or by the affinity of factors like schools attended. And we like the fact that we are all associated.

Taking advantage of the fact that a relative, even a distant relative, works in a government office that we must interact with is commonplace. A fresh graduate often looks first for employment at the company where he or she has ‘contacts’ or a potential ‘backer.’ These relationships are not only cultural but an integral part of our businesses.

While there are personal advantages to this system of personal relation-ships, there are also some greater downsides.

In order to preserve the oligarchic structure, either personal or business, competing groups must be careful not to take too much power away from the others. It may be somewhat unfair to legitimate businesses, but crime fami-lies do carve up territories to make sure all can survive and thrive as long as there is cooperation.

Even as it is nearly indisputable that in the past there have been types of “gentlemen’s agreements” to limit competition, this has usually happened on a case-to-case basis. True monopolies were more or less ended some 30 years ago. Even with the current state of competition in the telecommunications business, companies must still compete for a limited number of customers.

Further, as a succeeding generation of business leaders take control of long established, primarily family corporations, combined with a more global busi-ness model, competition becomes more ‘business’ than ‘personal’. Family corpo-rations can be economically beneficial to a country because there is continuity and these businesses tend to be more financially conservative.

However, in our political arena, it often appears that it is mostly personal and not business.

Political ‘corporations’ may provide continuity but also may not be as ad-vantageous as corporate continuity. Business corporations must succeed and turn a profit or die. Political corporations can live forever even if run badly with inefficiency and infectiveness.

Perhaps if our Filipino politics was run as well as our Filipino business com-munity, we might see more positive changes for the nation. Perhaps we need more “It’s only business; not personal” in our political scene.

IN line with their missions to provide “universal health care for all Filipinos,” a key policy of President Benigno Aquino III, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and Phil-

ippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) inked an agreement that will greatly benefit people in need of financial assistance for medical concerns.

PCSO, PhilHealth ink landmark pact

The signing, which took place dur-ing Philhealth’s 20th anniversary program on February 12, is part of government agencies’ efforts to-wards synergy by cooperating with each other in appropriate and sig-nificant ways to help the public gain easier, faster, and more convenient access to government services.

The signatories were Philhealth President and Chief Executive Of-ficer Alexander A. Padilla and my-self as acting chairman and general manager of PCSO.

The agreement between the two agencies is for PCSO to provide a space for an off-site Philhealth office, a “Philhealth Help Desk,” as it were.

Philhealth will give trained PCSO personnel limited (read-only) access to its Institutional Health Care Provider electronic portal. This will allow the autho-rized PCSO employees to check if

the person applying for financial assistance for medical- and health-related concerns is a Philhealth member or a member’s qualified dependent.

This will greatly facilitate the processing of requests for financial assistance under the PCSO’s flag-ship Individual Medical Assistance Program, which provides around P16 million a day to qualified ben-eficiaries nationwide.

The service will soon be avail-able at PCSO’s extension office at the Lung Center of the Philippines, Quezon City, where the agency’s Charity Assistance and Medical Services departments are located.

We trust that the public will make good use of the service, as it will cut time and effort spent in transacting with both our agencies.

We also extend our warmest congratulations to Philhealth on their 20th anniversary.

n n n

THE PCSO Lotto shares of Metro Manila local government units for the period July to December 2014, as well as various endowment funds, are available for release to the concerned LGUs, hospitals, and institutional partners.

Over P75.69 million is ready for claiming by 17 cities. These include: Kalookan (P4.63 mil-lion); Las Piñas (P3.44 million); Manila (P14.57 million); Makati (P2.58 million); Malabon (P1.45 million); Mandaluyong (P3.62 million); Marikina (P2.79 mil-lion); Muntinlupa (P2.33 million); Navotas (P1 million); Parañaque (P4.84 million); Pasig (P4.47 mil-lion); Pasay (P3.92 million); Pa-teros (P463,494); Quezon City (P18.17 million); San Juan (P1.33 million); Taguig (P3.31 million); and, Valenzuela (P2.71 million).

The payees may claim their checks from the PCSO head office in Mandaluyong City.

Under its charter, Republic Act 1169, PCSO allocates 30 percent from its net receipts from Lotto operations to a Charity Fund, from which funds for the agency’s medical and healthcare-related programs are drawn.

Under Executive Order 357, s. 1996, five percent of the PCSO Char-ity Fund is granted to local govern-ment units (LGU) where Lotto out-lets are located. The more outlets there are in an area, the higher the corresponding LGU shares.

We encourage LGUs around the

country to host PCSO’s outlets so that they can avail of the LGU shares that they may use for their area’s social programs.

Also available for release are endowment fund checks for 11 hospitals and three institutional partners nationwide: Buluan Dis-trict Hospital (P500,000); Cuyo District Hospital (P300,000); Datu Halun Sakilan Memorial Hospital (P500,000); Naguilian District Hospital (P300,000); Balaoan District Hospital (P300,000); Mar ihatag Distr ict Hospita l (P300,000); JR Borja General Hos-pital (P1 million); South Cotabato Provincial Hospital (P1 million); Davao Regional Hospital (P2.5 million); Tondo Medical Center (P2.5 million); Misamis Occiden-tal Provincial Hospital (P1 mil-lion); Bacolod Boys Home Founda-tion (P406,125); Philippine Band of Mercy (P1 million); and, Por Cristo Foundation Inc. (P270,570), for a total of P11.87 million.

The funds for all these endeav-ors are raised from Lotto and other games, and we appeal to the public for their support of PCSO games, in particular the new Ul-tra Lotto 6/58.

For every ticket you buy, you not only have the chance to become a millionaire, but you are also helping fellow Filipinos around the country.

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II is vice-chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

RISING SUNAtty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

HOM

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Since 2005

By Guenter Taus

ONE of the projects under the Aquino administration’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program which has at-tracted much local and international attention is the La-

guna Lakeshore Expressway-Dike Project (LLEDP).

Laguna Lakeshore Expressway-Dike Project: Two birds with one stone!

With an estimated value of P122 Billion, the LLEDP is the largest PPP project to date and the National Eco-nomic and Development Authority has already given the go ahead for its implementation.

While the project value is obvi-ously the main reason for spawning interest among private investors both local and international, the residents of Metro Manila and of the cities and municipalities surround-ing the lake should understand how this project would impact us.

The LLEDP is part of the master plan to increase flood resilience in Metro Manila as well the master plan for high standard highway in Metro Manila and its 200km sphere. The project is aimed to address two major problems that beset Metro Manila–flooding and traffic con-gestion.

The flooding in Metro Manila and in surrounding municipalities is attributed to a large part by the overflow from Laguna Lake dur-ing extreme weather conditions. The feasibility study claims that creation of a dike along the west-ern portion of the lake, 500 meters away from the shoreline, would prevent the backflow of water from the lake and thus reduce the im-pact of flooding in Metro Manila and coastal communities along the western portion of the lake. The floodgates will also control the inflow of flood water coming from large rivers such as Marikina River into the lake.

The dike is also designed to func-tion dually as a six-lane expressway spanning 47 kilometres from C6 in Taguig City all the way to Los Ba-ños, with eight interchanges. This

expressway will facilitate traffic flow from Metro Manila to La-guna, providing an alternative to EDSA, thereby decongesting traffic in Metro Manila. The expressway-dike is also envisioned to promote the efficient movement of cargo as well as individuals, thus reducing travel time and cost from Metro Manila to Laguna.

Another major component of the LLEDP is the proposed recla-mation of around 700 hectares of land, about 150 meters from the shoreline along Bicutan, Sucat and Muntinlupa for property develop-ment which should enhance rev-enues for project financing. Apart from creating prime land asset and increased economic activity from the property development, this rec-lamation component is also aimed at easing the overcrowding of Metro Manila by providing an alternative area both for residential and com-mercial use.

While these plans seem fascinat-ing and desirable, the development and increased economic activities along the perimeter of the lake also pose environmental concerns such

as its impact on the water qual-ity of the lake for obviously, waste generated from these developed areas could possibly find their way back into the lake if not properly monitored and if regulations are not strictly enforced. There is also con-cern whether the current proposed design of the expressway-dike will actually work. However, we leave such discussion to the technical experts.

With barely 16 months left, there is doubt that the present administration will still be able to jumpstart this project and ob-viously it will no longer be there to see it to completion. It is hoped that the successor to the Aquino administration will continue to see the value in this project, carefully evaluate and plug the loopholes, if any in order to address the prob-lems of flooding and traffic con-gestion and achieve a reasonable balance between ecology and eco-nomic development.

Guenter Taus is vice president of the Board of Directors of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines

Monday, February 16, 2015

[email protected]

Which central banks matter?

THE start of 2015 has brought with it a flurry of central bank activity. The Swiss National Bank abandoned its policy of limiting the value of the Swiss franc against the Euro. The

European Central Bank (ECB) undertook to purchase sovereign government bonds (albeit using a slightly peculiar structure). The Canadians cut their interest rate. The Danes took their official deposit rate back into negative territory. Singapore unexpectedly eased its policy (via the currency markets). It is all dramatic stuff.

Does any of this matter beyond the boundaries of the monetary area governed by the relevant central bank? Does the ECB matter to Asia? Does the negative interest rate of the Danmarks National bank have a bearing on events in the United States?

In most cases the international implications of central bank policy are limited. This is largely because the whole world of money, liquid-ity and thus central bank policy is a very parochial affair. The fact that the ECB plans to print more than a trillion Euros means that has increased the potential claims on Euro area goods and services, not on goods and services produced in Asia or the Americas. The idea that Euro liquidity, or indeed Japanese liquidity, could “replace” American liquidity is entirely erroneous. Try paying for a round of drinks in a bar in Dallas, Texas using Euro notes and coins, and you will soon discover the geographical limits of the ECB’s liquidity. (It should be pointed out that if you do try and pay for drinks in Dallas using Euros, you do so en-tirely at your own risk.)

The main mechanism whereby these various national monetary policies have an international im-pact is via the currency markets. This is perhaps inevitable–the for-eign exchange rate of a currency is the international manifestation of its domestic worth. However, for-eign exchange markets are complex. There is no clear universal model for foreign exchange forecasting. Currency movements are not just a function of domestic monetary poli-cies. At the very least the monetary policy of the other currency must be considered–if the Euro’s value against the dollar is affected by the policies of the ECB, then logically it must also be affected by the policies of the US Federal Reserve, indepen-dent of whatever the ECB is doing.

The exception to the localized nature of central bank policy is the action taken by the Swiss Nation-al Bank, and potentially also the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This may seem odd at first: compared to the neighboring Euro area the Swiss economy is relatively small. Switzerland’s policy decision saw an appreciation of its currency and a move to more negative inter-est rates. Singapore as a city state is also a comparatively small economy in the global scheme of things, and MAS simply slowed the rate of cur-rency appreciation. Why are these decisions so important?

The global relevance of the Swiss and potentially the Singaporean

policy changes lies in the uncer-tainty that the moves have created. Swiss National Bank officials were declaring that the limits on franc appreciation were firmly in place only days before the peg was aban-doned. There was no anticipation of the move in financial markets. The abrupt move in the currency (40 per-cent against the Euro at one point) testifies to the complete surprise of the decision. For Singapore the idea of an easing of policy at some point was expected, but the timing of the decision was a surprise to financial markets because it was outside of the normal policy cycle (the last time that happened was 2001).

Since the onset of the global fi-nancial crisis, central banks have generally been engaged in a policy of trying to minimize most forms of risk and uncertainty in the fi-nancial system. The quantitative policies of the US, the UK and Japan were all aimed at reducing liquidity risk in the markets (li-quidity risk is a powerful form of risk that will raise interest rates in the real world). What the Swiss and perhaps the Singaporean poli-cies have done is once again inject an element of uncertainty, and with that risk, into global financial markets. Monetary policy may be a local concept but, with globalized financial markets, risk and risk aversion are global concepts. If the idea that “you cannot rely on what a central banker says” becomes com-mon currency in the world’s mar-kets, then the global risk premium may increase.

This is why the ECB policy de-cision is not terribly important; it was generally anticipated, it does not change very much economically, and could be classified as a com-mitment as much as anything. The SNB and MAS have acted in a way to raise uncertainty, and uncertainty and risk have repercussions outside their borders. If financial markets are not ready for uncertainty, the consequences of these actions could be both long-lived and potentially disruptive.

Fire him

IN the senate’s first hearing last Monday, a general in forest green said that if the army came in full force to give effective relief to the beleaguered SAF, it could have ignited fighting

throughout Mindanao. Then he made a facial expression of be-wilderment and panic. First, that’s bullshit. The enemy is not that many.

Free FireTeddy Locsin Jr.

But clearly the peace talks have compromised the military mission to an extent the even to the extent President Aquino never contem-plated. After all he ordered the

operation to take out high value targets wherever they happen to be so he wasn’t afraid of the conflict spreading. He was led to believe by the peace panel that this was an ex-

ception to the truce. And no part of the republic can be designated as enemy territory, certainly not legally, except for tactical purposes.

But that regardless, a general cannot entertain political thoughts even if he shares those of the presi-dent. Generals must not think out-side the parameters of fighting, regardless of the consequences outside an expanding theater of operation. Absent a presidential order to abandon our men after their successful mission–which the US Marines would never do even if the US President ordered it–the standing order or rather the understand is to save as many of them by killing as many of the enemy to achieve that aim.

The moment we have generals whose duty to fight is tempered

by political considerations we have given him the discretion to join the enemy. That happened to France in the German invasion.

That general should be fired for having an opinion and the wrong one at that. No general should ever confess his, and worse yet the armed forces’ comprehensive weakness to preserve and pro-tect everywhere their writ runs which is to say everywhere in our Republic.

His words will be used by peace negotiators to argue before a cow-ardly Congress for the adoption of the BBL as a treaty of surrender to an enemy which, to be sure, has killed many of our soldiers–mostly by treachery–but never defeated the Republic for which they stand and fight.

PauL Donovan

Saving the planet the easy wayBy Mark Buchanan

BARACK Obama’s administration wants to spend more than $10 billion to spur renewable energy development–a move that has been cast as an important step toward sharing the burden of

combating global climate change. But what if it isn’t really a burden at all? What if the thing being shared is actually an opportunity?

In the typical economic analysis, greenhouse-gas emissions create long-term risks, which can be reduced only through measures that will stunt eco-nomic growth today. Hence, the ques-tion is how much of a burden we are willing to take on now to avoid prob-lems later. The most economically ef-ficient solution is to find the point at

which the cost of eliminating a unit of current emissions matches the value of future destruction averted.

This framing of the matter, though, might not be as well-founded as it seems. Chinese economists Yongsheng Zhang and He-ling Shi, for example, argue that some mitigation strategies may actually promote local economic

growth. Recent research suggests, for example, that a better natural envi-ronment can improve the quality of resources and human capital, enabling technology to advance more quickly. In this sense, taking steps to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions can actu-ally boost growth in the near term.

Other research points in the same direction. Environmental economists at the University of Cambridge note that the typical pessimistic conclu-sions about the costs of mitigation largely reflect the use of standard economic modeling techniques. Using more general, nonequilibrium models, they find a wide range of conditions under which emissions reductions

in electricity generation could, if the right kinds of finance were available, produce benefits by spurring invest-ment and creating jobs.

It’s hard to imagine that a hundred years from now, our descendants in an ecologically integrated society based on solar energy will despair that their ancestors took steps too early, and didn’t benefit by burning some more fossil fuel. The positives could include a range of social and economic transfor-mations–new technologies, new ways of employing people and resources, new kinds of economic organization. Today these possibilities do not even enter into the cost-benefit studies on what to do about climate change.

This thinking runs more along the lines of creative destruction en-visioned by the economist Joseph Schumpeter in the early 20th century. There’s also an interesting historical analogy: A couple of centuries ago, many nations thought that free trade was a bad idea, and no one wanted to go first. Great Britain took the lead, ended up gaining early skills and expe-rience in trade, and got ahead because of it. Soon other nations did the same.

The current unimaginative mind-set may be the single biggest obstacle to achieving global action on climate. The only benefits we imagine are those that come directly from avoided dam-age, and the cost estimates are driven

by severely limited economic models. If current economic theories didn’t even allow for a financial meltdown like that of 2007 to 2008, why should we trust them as a guide to the com-ing decades?

If we perceive climate policy as a problem in opportunity sharing, ev-erything changes. Rather than drag-ging our heels to lose the least, we ought to be trying to gain the most. In this way of thinking, the Obama administration’s plans–which include redirecting tax subsidies from oil and gas toward companies developing solar and other alternative energy sources–may well be pro-growth and pro-business all the way.

Paul Donovan is the managing direc-tor and deputy head of global economics of Zurich-headquartered UBS. He is re-sponsible for formulating and present-ing the UBS Investment Research global economic view, drawing on the bank’s worldwide resources. Donovan took up philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University. He holds an MSc in financial economics from the Univer-sity of London. In the Philippines, his column will appear exclusively once a month in the BusinessMirror.

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www.businessmirror.com.phMonday, February 16, 2015

Manila urged to push use of PPPs during Apec meet

BIR cuts revenue goalon new tax exemptions

By David Cagahastian

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has scaled back its collection target for this year by P16.9 billion as a re-

sult of additional tax exemptions, which diminishes its tax take, granted by law to taxpayers recently. Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-henares issued Revenue Memo-randum Order 4-2015 setting the collection target of only P1.704 trillion, down from an earlier collection target of P1.721 trillion. henares said the lowering of the collec-tion target was due to the increase in so-called allowable de minimis benefits, which are exempt from tax, that may be granted by employers to their employees. De minimis benefits are privileges given by an employer to employees to promote the workers’ health, company goodwill and efficiency of employees. Current allowable de minimis benefits in-clude, among others, P750 medical cash al-lowance to dependents; P1,500 for a 50-kilo-gram rice subsidy; P4,000 uniform and cloth-ing allowance per year; P10,000 for annual medical allowance; P300 laundry allowance; P10,000 for employees achievement award; P5,000 Christmas gifts and/or anniversary

certificate; and 25-percent meal allowance for overtime work and night shift in all regions. Although the increase in de minimis ben-efits will result in foregone revenues for the government, Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima has welcomed such increase in allowable benefits to workers as a “fairer and more equitable” tax relief than other measures that benefit only a small percent-age of the working population, such as tax incentives to certain businesses that the Department of Finance wants to rationalize. The lowering of the collection target by the BIR was also brought about by the newly enacted law raising to P82,000 the maxi-mum allowable year-end bonuses that will be exempt from tax. The previous maximum amount of non-taxable year-end bonuses was only P30,000.Of the total P1.704-trillion collection tar-get, P1.023 trillion was targeted to be col-lected as tax on net income and profits, value-added tax target of another P373.83 billion and excise taxes of P1.40.44 bil-lion. The targets for percentage and other taxes were set at P79.14 billion and P86.96 billion, respectively. The P1.704-trillion collection target for this year was 17 percent higher than the P1.456-trillion collection target in 2014.

MAMASAPANO CLASH COULD BE END OF THE ROAD FOR BBL

By Jovee Marie dela Cruz

The “massacre” of the 44 members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) allegedly by the Moro Is-

lamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter could prove to be the “end of the road” for the proposed Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), as several lawmakers have already withdrawn their support for the measure, a legis-lator said on Sunday. Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela said Congress has been under intense pressure to immediately approve the BBL following the Mamasapano encounter between SAF and MILF on January 25. “I believe that the BBL, at this point, has reached a political deadend. It is like the BBL has been de-clared dead on arrival and has no chance of being resuscitated due to the slaughter of SAF personnel by MILF elements,” Gatchalian said. he said the January 25 bloody clash be-tween police forces and MILF rebels can be a major stumbling block to the peace process and could permanently derail the passage of the BBL, as he observed that several congress-men have already withdrawn their support for the proposed law, which is a prerequisite for the establishment of the Bangsamoro entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). In Senate, Senators Joseph Victor ejercito and Alan Peter Cayetano have also withdrawn their support for the measure following the incident. even Liberal Party Rep. Karlo Nograles of Davao, who is a member of the special ad hoc panel on the BBL, has said that the deadly at-tack against the members of the PNP-SAF in Ma-masapano, Maguindanao, is now endangering

the passage of the BBL. Moreover, Gatchalian said the “only thing that can salvage the BBL at this point is for the MILF to issue a firm state-ment that the perpetrators from their ranks will be immediately turned over to the govern-ment once they are found liable by the proper investigating bodies.” earlier, the house Ad hoc Committee on Bangsamoro Basic Law chaired by Pwersa ng Ma-sang Pilipino Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro has indefinitely suspended its deliberations on the proposed BBL pending the lower chamber investigation on the incident. The BBL aims to create the new Bangsamoro juridical entity replacing the ARMM. Rodriguez also admitted that the lawmakers’ support for the BBL has been eroded following the Mamasapano encounter between SAF and Moro rebels. The lower chamber is set to resume its probe on Mamasapano incident on Tues-day and Wednesday. Malacañang on Sunday said it will not stand in the way of ongoing efforts to correct “legal infirmities” in the original version of the BBL that the Palace endorsed for early approval by Congress. Communications Secretary herminio B. Co-loma Jr. said lawmakers are free to amend the perceived constitutional defects cited by legal experts to prevent the BBL from being thrown out if challenged in the Supreme Court. Coloma conceded Congress is empowered to amend what lawmakers deem to be fatal flaws of the BBL, which President Aquino is expected to promptly sign into law as soon as it is passed on final reading by the Senate and the house of Rep-resentatives. “That is what they have been doing since the draft BBL was submitted to them,” Co-loma told the BusinessMirror. With Butch Fernandez

HIGH-END ‘KATOL’ The lowly katol, traditional antimosquito coils, gets a makeover at a bazaar selling for-export ceramics made from Pampanga. ROY DOMINGO

By Cai U. Ordinario

The Philippines should conduct further discussions on public- private partnerships (PPPs) to

address infrastructure gaps in Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation (Apec) member-countries, according to a study released by the Philippine Insti-tute for Development Studies (PIDS).  This was one of the key find-ings of the discussion paper titled “Philippine Priorities in expanding Apec-Wide Con-nectivity through Infrastruc-ture Development” authored by PIDS senior research fellow Adoracion M. Navarro.  The study stated the country can help drive the PPP discus-sions by focusing on the need

to share knowledge and best practices, particularly on risk allocation, contract design, and management and monitoring. “The Philippines can ask for regional cooperation on sus-tained, dynamic and productive capacity-building assistance for PPP units in less advanced Apec members so that they can generate a pipeline of bankable

infrastructure PPPs. Since knowledge on PPPs is not static, capacity-building should be dynamic,” Navarro said.  The PPP route, Navarro said, will help Apec economies, in-cluding the Philippines, address financing options for infrastruc-ture development. Navarro said the Philippines’s public infrastructure spending only equaled 1.4 percent of lo-cal putput or the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008 and 2.09 percent of GDP in 2012. The gov-ernment intended to increase public infrastructure spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2016.  While the government’s so-called fiscal space has grown in recent years, Navarro said gov-ernment revenues remain inad-equate to support much-needed public spending for infrastruc-ture. Philippine government revenue collections amounting to only P1.72 trillion or $39

billion in 2013 equaled only 14.8 percent of GDP. This was below the average  revenue-to-GDP ra-tio of 18.6 in the Asean region.  Navarro added that other funding sources, such as Official Development Assistance (ODA), has declined in recent years.  Data from the National eco-nomic and Development Author-ity (Neda) show net commitment levels declining to only $9.09 bil-lion in 2013 from $10.58 billion in 2004.  “A decreasing trend in Phil-ippine ODA loans for infra-structure has been observed in 2008 to 2012. This is likely related to the fact that the government’s fiscal space is improving and some of the infrastructure projects in the public investment program were restudied and became part of the PPP program,” the study stated.  

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