BusinessMirror July 1, 2015

www.businessmirror.com.ph n�Saturday 18, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 40 P. | | 7 DAYS A WEEKn�Wednesday, July 1, 2015 Vol. 10 No. 265

A broader look at today’s businessBusinessMirrorBusinessMirrorTHREETIME

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

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PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 45.2000 n JAPAN 0.3689 n UK 71.1267 n HK 5.8302 n CHINA 7.2801 n SINGAPORE 33.5885 n AUSTRALIA 34.6919 n EU 50.8003 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.0540 Source: BSP (30 June 2015)

First Gentalking topotentialpartners

Palace: PHL won’tfeel impact of ‘Grexit’

INSIDE

D1

Life Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Life BusinessMirror

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

DDEAR Lord, knowing that we are created in the image and likeness of God, man is the most noble image and likeness of God, man is the most noble image and likeness of God, man is the most noble of all of creatures. Without baptism, however,

we are only the privileged recipients of God’s creative love. we are only the privileged recipients of God’s creative love. Through baptism, instead, we also receive God’s redeeming Through baptism, instead, we also receive God’s redeeming and elevating love by becoming personally related to each and elevating love by becoming personally related to each of the three Divine Persons. In fact, through the sacraments, of the three Divine Persons. In fact, through the sacraments, we become children of the Eternal Father, brothers/sisters we become children of the Eternal Father, brothers/sisters of God’s Son Jesus Christ, and sacred abodes of the Holy of God’s Son Jesus Christ, and sacred abodes of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

� e most noble of all

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

THE ROTHSCHILD BRONZES: THE

LATEST BY MICHELANGELO »D4

B O L. GAustin American-Statesman

AS this sentence was being written, about a dozen notifications just happened.

It used to take some effort to get machines to tell us stuff. A digital alarm clock wouldn’t wake you until you told it

what time, down to the minute. If a phone automatically started telling you what appointments to expect that day and how the weather would be, you called an exorcist (from another phone).

But we’ve come to take for granted that our ever-smarter tools (phones, computers, e-mail) and even those with modern brain transplants (TVs, refrigerators, cars) are telling us stuff all the time. Honestly, you can’t shut them up. They feel you must know how many e-mails have arrived since the last time you checked, whether it’s time to change the water filter, who’s replied to a Facebook post you commented on last week.

If you wanted to lump all these messages together, you could just call them “notifications,” which is a catch-all term if you own an Apple or Android phone. In recent years, the way phones and tablets organize all of the alerts and updates from different apps into one neat, front-and-center, at-a-glance display has become a major mobile feature. A well-organized set of notifications can make you feel like you’re on top of what’s going on and plugged into the now. A messy notifications list is a pirate ship plank’s walk into deadly, chaotic seas.

Notifications, though, are part of a larger problem: interruptions. Perhaps you have found a way to shield yourself from the increasing number of pings and prods, the dings and distractions.

For the rest of us, it’s a struggle; what if you miss an important text message? Or a flood warning? What about an e-mail from the boss or news of a sale from your favorite store’s mobile app? How do you balance all that with the need to reclaim your time, attention and physical space from external intrusions?

How you approach the problem of notifications in an era when people are attaching devices like the Apple Watch to their wrist to be more up to date depends on whether you feel you’re having a problem at all. Are you content, happy, related and caught up? Or do you feel anxious and overwhelmed, running behind and reminded of it all the time? I try to be the former, but I often catch myself stuck in the latter with need for improvement. Let’s explore some approaches you can take to taming notifications if you feel that way, too.

n Going cold turkey: This won’t stop your car from making you aware of a needed oil change or your cable company’s DVR from alerting you to a lack of hard-drive space, but on your more personal digital devices (phones, computers, tablets) you could consider turning off notifications entirely and seeing whether it brings you peace of mind.

On Windows PCs, Macs, iOS, Android and other mobile devices and on social networks, your settings or control panels will have an option for turning off notifications. On most recent smartphones, you can go in and control notifications for individual apps and how they appear on your main screen.

You may decide as you go to re-enable notifications to bring back only the ones you need, but wiping the slate clean and living that way for a few days may be a good place to start.

n Hitting the worst offenders first: Maybe

you’re fine with some notifications, but you’ve noticed others dominate your day, such as reminders of new e-mails or a calendar app that blasts a ringtone when an appointment arrives. Get rid of the most frequent, annoying offenders and see if that improves your life.

Some apps won’t let you off so easily. Facebook’s Messenger app, for instance, will tersely remind you every time you open the chat program that you should have notifications enabled. It’s pushy like that.

n Cutting devices from the loop: You may need constant alerts and reminders if you lead a fast-charging, busy life, but you may not need to see the same notifications on all your devices all the time. If you’re a heavy Mac/iPhone user, for instance, you may find yourself seeing the same notifications on your computer, phone, tablet and, if you have one, Apple Watch. You could cut the iPad out of that cycle if it’s not a device you frequently use all day.

One other advantage to this—if you ever get sensitive private messages or anything not safe for work as an alert, do you really want that stuff flashing on the home screens of multiple gadgets at the same time, including devices that are out of reach?

n To amber or not to amber: This is a little controversial. Smartphones include a feature that pushes an Amber Alert to mobile-phone users. But they also include a way to disable that, and it’s tempting to do so if you’ve ever been in an office full of people when an Amber Alert goes off en masse. (In short, it’s terrifying.) These kinds of alerts are also useful in severe weather. If you’re asleep in the middle of the night, that severe weather alert may be the only thing that wakes you up before a tornado hits.

Disabling Wireless Emergency Alerts is absolutely your prerogative as a gadget owner, but it may also be a moral question. If everyone decided to disable Amber Alerts, how much less effective would Amber Alerts be? You may need to search your conscience and simply be prepared to be scared out of your wits once in a while.

n Seasonal adjustments: It may take a little more effort, but handling notifications in a situational way has its advantages. For instance, you could only shut off notifications when you’re on vacation or on weekends. You could add notifications that are reliant on location (these are called “geolocation” or “geofenced” alerts) when you’re traveling to tell you when you’re near a popular attraction or historical landmark.

It may be that you want shopping-related notifications before the holidays but won’t be able to stand them after New Year’s Day. Riding the wave of life events, holidays and shifting needs is a way to stay ahead of notification overload.

n Keep them on: We may be overconnected and mega-notified, but maybe that’s just the new norm. Keeping all notifications on could potentially enrich your life, making it more likely that you’ll answer errant e-mail messages and that you won’t miss an impromptu Periscope broadcast from a close friend before it disappears. A person who is good at tuning out information, or at least with enough impulse control to glance at a list of alerts and only act on the important ones, may be perfectly Zen in notification hell. n

Apple pulls some Civil War games

How to control the madness of notifications

B D B SLos Angeles Times

CIVIL War historians were flummoxed by Apple’s removal of Civil War games from its App Store that included images of the Confederate flag. The controversial symbol is key to depicting history, they said. “It seems to me that pulling Civil War games might be an extreme response to the flag controversy, as if the Civil War didn’t exist,” said Bob Brinkmeyer, a professor of Southern studies at the University of South Carolina. “As these games remind us, the South lost.”

Apple’s decision this week came soon after major retailers and e-commerce sites, from Wal-Mart to Amazon to eBay, banned sales of Confederate flags and products with Confederate images on them.

The commercial actions came in response to the shooting of nine African-Americans at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. The young man arrested for the crime had an apparent fondness for the Confederate flag and the flags of Apartheid-era South Africa and Rhodesia, judging by photographs of him flaunting those symbols.

The historians had no beef with the product recalls but took issue with removing the flag in historic representations, even games played on smartphones.

Joan Waugh, a history professor at University of California, Los Angeles, noted that the Confederate flag is an essential symbol in Civil War history.

“I cannot support the ill-considered action by Apple or any other company to remove the flag from a Civil War game,” she said. Carolyn Marvin, a communications professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said she wasn’t surprised to see Apple responding to a Zeitgeist moment surrounding contempt for the flag. She made a distinction between scholarly records and games which are “representations of popular history.”

Still, it’s hard to imagine a Civil War game that blocks out the Confederate flag.

Why did Apple do that? The company won’t say. According to one game developer, Apple sent him a note citing guidelines prohibiting “mean-spirited” references while informing him that it would remove his games.

“It seems disappointing that they would remove it as they weren’t being used in an offensive way,” said Andrew Mulholland of HexWar Games, adding that he would remove the flags in an attempt to get his games back in the Apple store.

An Apple spokesman told Mashable that several apps using the Confederate flag had been removed. “We have removed apps from the App Store that use the Confederate flag in offensive or mean-spirited ways, which is in violation of our guidelines,” the spokesperman said. “We are not removing apps that display the Confederate flag for educational or historical uses.” The spokesman said the company is working with some game developers whose apps had been removed to try to get the games back in the App Store.

The Los Angeles Times wondered how Apple defines Los Angeles Times wondered how Apple defines Los Angeles Times“offensive or mean-spirited” in a game that takes place in an environment that is intrinsically offensive and mean spirited, and whether Apple might take the same action against World War II games that carry Nazi imagery. Calls were not returned.

One of the creators of “Ultimate General: Gettysburg,” Maxim Zasov, said he did not plan to alter his depiction of one of the Civil War’s most important battles. The game is still available for download on PC.

“We wanted our game to be the most accurate, historical, playable reference of the Battle of Gettysburg,” Zasov wrote on his web site. “All historical commanders, unit composition and weaponry, key geographical locations to the smallest streams or farms are recreated in our game’s battlefield.”

In a tweet on Sunday, Apple CEO Tim Cook called for removing the “symbols and words” that feed racism.

TOP mobile brand and purveyor of the Filipino digital lifestyle Globe Telecom continues to enrich the customer experience as it now offers its GoSURF consumable data plan with free access to Facebook, allowing its mobile customers to access the social-networking site without data charges.

Globe is the only telco in the country to offer free access to Facebook with a complete browsing experience by registering to any GoSURF data plan. The full experience includes viewing of photos, streaming of videos uploaded on Facebook, as well as posting, liking, sharing and making comments on the social-networking site. Access to the Messenger app, excluding calls, is also free.

Available to Globe Prepaid and TM customers with a GoSURF subscription, and to Globe Postpaid customers who will opt-in to the free Facebook promo, free access to Facebook works on any mobile platform, including the Facebook Android and iOS app and browsers (via m.facebook.com), without any maintaining balance. m.facebook.com), without any maintaining balance. m.facebook.com

Postpaid customers can access Facebook for free without any purchase requirement, while Prepaid and TM customers will automatically get access upon purchase of any GoSURF promo. The validity of the free access to Facebook offer is the same as the subscribed GoSURF promo.

Customers who have successfully registered on GoSURF will receive a text message notifying the availability of the free access to Facebook service, and will also see the “No Data Charges” banner at the top of the mobile site or app once the free access to Facebook promo is activated.

“We continue to move toward cementing our authority in the digital space with the return of our free access to Facebook promo. We have been working very closely with Facebook to bring the best and the fullest Facebook experience for free to Filipinos, photos and video streaming included. With this full experience, our customers can definitely enjoy Facebook the best way possible without additional data charges for as long as they are registered to a GoSURF data plan. Our customers can look forward to more exciting and wonderful Facebook innovations from Globe soon,” says Jil Go, vice president for content at Globe Telecom.

Globe was first to launch a partnership with Facebook in November 2013, allowing its customers to have free access to the social-networking site using the Globe data network. The company shared its technological capabilities and modernized network infrastructure to drive the ambitious commercial offer, which was aimed at increasing mobile browsing adoption in the country. To know more, text FREE FB to 8888.

Globe offers free access to Facebook with full photo and video browsing experience

aARIES (March 21-April 19): Make changes to your looks, where you live or the activities or events you pursue.

Don’t let minor incidents at home lead to an argument you’ll regret. Don’t put demands on others or put up with people meddling in your affairs.

b TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Interact with people who you can learn from. Participate in events

that enlighten you or bring you in touch with new possibilities. Ask questions and offer your thoughts, but don’t make donations or promises that are costly.

cGEMINI (May 21-June 20): Build momentum and accomplish the projects that will add to your comfort and your

confidence. Put extra effort into finishing what you start and following through with any promises you make. Expand, explore and live in the moment.

d CANCER (June 21-July 22):Don’t get involved with people or organizations that demonstrate

indiscretion or unpredictability. Gravitate toward the people and the projects you know you can count on. Getting upset will not help you move forward or solve problems with co-workers.

e LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Aim to improve your health, emotional well-being and your appearance. Don’t

limit what you can do because you haven’t updated your skills or are living in the past. Being current in every aspect of life will help you get ahead.

f VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Flex your muscles if it will help you get your way. Putting in extra time and

effort at work will not be wasted. Your efforts will lead to a position that will allow you to use your skills fully.

g LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Unsettling changes at home will lead to an altercation with someone who is

meddling in your affairs. Don’t let anyone come between you and the people you want to spend more time with. Put the ones you love first.

hSCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Spend a quiet day working on something that will bring you

pleasure. Your accomplishments will come from your dedication and passionate way of attacking a project that stimulates and motivates you. Don’t hesitate to take on a new or unusual approach.

i SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):Initiate the changes at home or to your resumé that will help you get ahead

mentally, physically and financially. Offer an alternate proposal to someone you want to work with. Expect emotions to escalate if you make unreasonable demands.

jCAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Share your concerns, but don’t make rash decisions or impulsive moves. Keep

the anger level down and search for a creative jthe anger level down and search for a creative jsolution to any problem you face. Strive to achieve peace of mind.

kAQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t feel obligated to take care of everyone else’s responsibilities.

Do your share, but leave time for yourself or for romance with someone special. Discussing personal plans will bring about favorable changes to your domestic situation and your love life.

lPISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Take action and make the physical changes to your residence that will

make your life easier or help you reach personal and professional goals. Don’t hesitate to call in a favor that could result in a closer alliance.

Today’sHoroscopeBy Eugenia LastzHoroscopezHoroscope

By Eugenia Lastz

By Eugenia Last

BIRTHDAY BABY: You are unique and in control. You are proactive and popular.

ACROSS 1 “...and make it fast!” 5 Wedge placed under a wheel 10 The point of a tooth 14 Seaweed one can eat 15 Boxing ring site 16 Start to freeze? 17 Reviewed 19 Cut and paste 20 Blue jeans 21 Humdingers 23 Theatrical hit 26 Forgo the letter opener 27 Roadblock 30 Foot bone 33 Pro ___ (in proportion) 34 Yarn ball chaser 36 Explosive letters 37 Monopoly token, once 38 Always, to a poet 39 Effervescent beverage 40 Psychoanalysis subject 41 Cowboy’s parking lot? 44 “What’s ___ problem?”

45 Accounts book 47 Ornamental shrub 49 Arm part 50 Kept for a rainy day 51 Kitchen set 54 Literary slips 58 Icelandic epic 59 Slighted 62 “___ here long?” 63 Musical show 64 Terrible thing for one to waste 65 Paving products 66 Contemptuous look 67 Partner of “odds”

DOWN 1 “___ Lang Syne” 2 ___ gin fizz 3 Big cosmetics company 4 India neighbor 5 Pathetically inept person 6 Paid player 7 Gun, as an engine 8 Again

9 Inquisition collar 10 Kind of salad 11 “I get it” 12 Ado 13 Cherry parts 18 Peel of The Avengers 22 Withdraw from gradually 24 More cunning 25 They’re straight 27 Architectural projection 28 Mississippi sight 29 Used, as an umbrella 31 Excessive, as influence 32 Brenda of the comics 35 Start of a refrain 39 Group of symptoms 41 Penny 42 Figures of speech? 43 Tool for evening? 46 Extracts 48 Prefix with “dynamic” 51 Balance sheet item 52 Think tank nugget 53 Not odd

55 All in the family 56 Run the bar 57 Tries to find the bottom line 60 Adam’s mate 61 Regret

‘going back and forth’ BY JUDITH W. WALKERThe Universal Crossword/Edited by Timothy E. Parker

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

D2

Personal TechBusinessMirror www.businessmirror.com.phWednesday, July 1, 2015

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Liv Tyler, 38; Missy Elliott, 44; Pamela Anderson, 48; Dan Aykroyd, 63.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Play the game of life with honesty and integrity. You will rise to the top and be honored for your efforts if you play fairly with others. Sitting back and doing nothing to make a difference will be your biggest regret, so stand tall and be the one to make the first move. Your numbers are 4, 9, 15, 24, 26, 38, 41.

B G G. M

BACK in the day, people would rush ACK in the day, people would rush ACKhome to catch the latest episode of their favorite TV show. Whether it was Marimar or Marimar or Marimar Pangako Sa ’Yo (the original version) or some other prime-time

drama, people would drop what they were doing and hurry home to their TV sets to watch.

Not anymore. With the Internet becoming increasingly embedded in everyday life, the entertainment habits of Filipino audiences have changed. Nowadays, they don’t have to rush home to their TV sets to enjoy the latest episode of their favorite shows. They can just stream it on their mobile device anytime they want, wherever they may be—this, through the magic of iflix.

Thanks to a partnership between telecommuni-cations giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) Home and Smart, and Malaysia-based Catcha Group, iflix is now available to Filipino consumers to complete their entertainment experience.

CONTENT IS THE NEXT FRONTIERiFLIX is an Internet video-on-demand (VOD) content FLIX is an Internet video-on-demand (VOD) content FLIX

provider that gives subscribers access to thousands of hours of film and TV shows from around the world.

Similar to the US-based NetFlix (a subscription-based company that offers Internet streaming of films and TV shows), iflix boasts a library of over 11,000 hours of Hollywood, European and Asian movie and TV titles. With just a couple of clicks, subscribers can enjoy films like Batman Begins, How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days and While You Were Sleeping, as well as TV shows like Sherlock, Doctor Who, Arrow and The Big Bang Theoryon their mobile devices, laptops and TV screens for as low as P99 a month.

“You already have the device that has the capability to showcase your guilty viewing pleasures—whether it’s a smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer and even TV screen. All you need is that one movie, that particular episode or even an entire season that you’ve had on your must-watch list. This is literally entertainment everywhere,” PLDT EVP and Consumer Business Group Head Ariel P. Fermin explains.

Continuing, he says that content is “organic” to what consumers want in entertainment.

“We felt consumers wanted to be in control and this is part of enabling them.... It’s a commitment from PLDT to its consumers [to provide] access to great

content, whether you are at home or outside your home,” he says.  PERFECT PARTNERS“WE are extremely proud to have come together with the largest telecommunications company in the Philippines and, indeed, one of the region’s leading companies, to offer iflix to PLDT’s enormous customer companies, to offer iflix to PLDT’s enormous customer companies, to offer iflixbase,” says iflix Chairman Patrick Grove, noting the network’s 75 million-strong subscribers.  

“In PLDT we have found a like-minded partner who is committed to changing the way entertainment content is consumed in the region.”

For his part, iflix CEO Mark Britt says that the partnership with PLDT has given them the perfect opportunity to offer their services because the media giant has the biggest audience in the Philippines, as well as the best infrastructure. More important, it has the vision to undertake such a project.

“We are a group of people who are very, very passionate about one thing and that is making the world’s best content available to everyone on their terms.” Last week’s Philippine launch of iflix comes terms.” Last week’s Philippine launch of iflix comes terms.” Last week’s Philippine launch of iflix at the heels of new content deals with giant Hollywood studios The Walt Disney Company, Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution (Fox), BBC Worldwide (BBC) and Warner Bros. International Television Distribution (Warner Bros.). 

TAILORED TO FILIPINO AUDIENCESWHAT gives iflix the edge in the country is the addition of Asian dramas to its lineup. The service has some of the favorite South Korean novelas like Winter Sonata and Full House, as well as some classic telenovelas from Shanghai, Thailand, Taiwan and Japan, guaranteed to keep Filipino audiences glued to their smart phones and mobile devices.

“We have a huge investment on [South] Korean dramas...and Chinese movies, etc.” Britt says. The company even has plans to beef up its lineup with more shows from Asia, including the Philippines.

HOW IT WORKSWHAT does it take to access “entertainment everywhere”?

Just sign up and create an account at www.iflix.com. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

Once you sign up, you can immediately avail yourself of the 14-day trial of the service. When this expires, PLDT Home and Smart users will be able to subscribe to the P99 per month package through the iflix web site.the P99 per month package through the iflix web site.the P99 per month package through the iflix

For PLDT HOME subscribers, iflix is available For PLDT HOME subscribers, iflix is available For PLDT HOME subscribers, iflixvia TVolution Trio Plan 1599 inclusive of TVolution Trio Plan 1599 inclusive of TVolution

a TVolution kit, unlimited DSL and unlimited access TVolution kit, unlimited DSL and unlimited access TVolutionto iflix. Existing users of PLDT Home DSL and PLDT Home Ultera can get Home Ultera can get Home Ultera iflixas an add-on option on top of their monthly fees for only P99 per month, while it comes free with PLDT Home Fibr and PLDT Home Telpad plans.Home Telpad plans.Home Telpad

Smart subscribers also have the option of charging the P99 a month against their their prepaid loads or on top of their postpaid accounts. No credit card required!

iflix will soon be available in other countries iflix will soon be available in other countries iflixincluding the United States, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Thailand and Tokyo.

The iflix app is also downloadable via Google Play The iflix app is also downloadable via Google Play The iflixStore or the Apple App Store.

To know more on how to subscribe to iflix with your iflix with your iflixPLDT Home or Smart account, visit www.pldthome.com or www.smart.com.ph. n

No TV? No problem

CLASSIC REDEFINEDFOR A NEW GENERATIONWITH the release of Plattan in 2009, Urbanears, based in Stockholm, Sweden, changed the way world saw headphones. Elevating headphones from the realm of chromed plastics to colorful fashion accessories, the Urbanears Plattan paved the way for new wave of electronics—where form is just as important as function.

The audio specialist is changing the game once again with the release of the new Plattan ADV. Taking the iconic design and reinventing it for a new generation, the Urbanears Plattan ADV sports a classy design packed with the following new features: 3D Hinge technology, which automatically adjusts the headphones to a user’s ears and head for a soft and comfortable fit; interchangeable cable to allow users to wear it on either the left or right side; washable headband, to keep it looking new.

Since Plattan ADV is part of the Urbanears family, it also comes with handy features, such as the ZoundPlug, collapsible structure, 3.5 mm stereo plug, microphone and remote. To know more about Urbanears Plattan ADV, visit tinyurl.com/9rm9m75.

jCAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Share your concerns, but don’t make rash decisions or impulsive moves. Keep

the anger level down and search for a creative jthe anger level down and search for a creative j

URBANEARSURBANEARS Plattan ADV black

D4 Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Artwww.businessmirror.com.phBusinessMirror

PHOTOS of the Rothshild Bronzes released by the University of Cambridge in a preliminary Web page.

B S J

THE inside secret that many know yet are afraid or coy to discuss in the wide open, has been the tantalizing “innuendo” going around since pre-modern times that Michelangelo Buonarroti, the Italian

Renaissance sculptor of hard, virile marbles, was gay. But then again, so what?

The evidence was and is overwhelming. One cursory glance at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican in Rome is all one needs to shy away like Adam and Eve as they were expelled from the Garden by the glory of God. Yes, a few old masters had a thing or two for the sexiest male nudes. Hearsay went rumbling in all directions that the famous artist was in love with a

certain handsome Italian knight, a bello cavalier, yet dear old classic was betrothed fundamentally to the platonic, and perhaps, the unrequited. He was also rumored to have fallen in love with a daughter of the Medici in his teens.

But whether this or that was true or not has no eternal bearing on the majesty of the oeuvre, or on the artist’s worth as a human being. If he was a homosexual, perhaps this preference made him more sensitive and more artistic than most, following common gender-based generalizations.

But as big as these statements come, Michelangelo is etched in the cognitive as artist par excellence, a perennial favorite not merely for the radar’s voyeuristic speculation, but for resounding creative brilliance that echoes through the centuries.

And this, through the work of a man who saw beauty in most yet hated his own face.

It was quite the resumption into Michelangelo studies earlier this year in northwestern Europe and the United Kingdom when a pair of 16th-century sculptures, known as the Rothschild Bronzes, which had been earlier attributed to the master, were finally saved from further speculation and brought forward as the latest additions to his body of work.

Each of the two statues depicting a naked man riding a panther was presented by two highly respected institutions, the University of Cambridge and the Fitzwilliam Museum (also in Cambridge), as unimpeachable specimens. The basis was a tiny portion of a drawing by an apprentice and other details. It was a certain Dr. Paul Joannides, emeritus professor of art history at the University of Cambridge, who connected the bronzes to a drawing by one of Michelangelo’s students now in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France.

A Sheet of Studies with Virgin Embracing Infant Jesus, c.1508, is a student’s copy of various lost sketches by Michelangelo. On one corner is a composition of a muscular youth riding a panther, akin to the pose of the bronzes, and sketched in the abrupt, forceful manner that Michelangelo developed when making designs for sculpture, suggesting the correctness of the attribution.

This evidence is now being studied by a team of international experts that has gathered a thesis that these two pieces are actually early works made just after David and before the artist set up scaffolds for the Sistine Chapel.

More findings are set to be published after the presentation at an international conference on July 6.

It is generally regarded that no bronzes by Michelangelo had survived the centuries. In an early communique in Cam.ac.uk, the University of Cambridge could not deny that if its attribution is

correct, the Rothschild Bronzes would be “the only surviving Michelangelo bronzes in the world.”

This is great news for fans of the artist. The Rothschild Bronzes are a nonmatching pair, one figure older and the other young and athletic. Admired for their deft handling of anatomy and expression, their first recorded attribution was to Michelangelo when they were exhibited in 1878 as the property of Baron Adolphe de Rothschild, although the attribution was disputed and dismissed for lack of documentation and artist signatures on the works. When the heir of Rothschild died, the bronzes changed ownership to a French private collector.

In 2002 they were again sold to a British collector, and in 2012, they were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. Through the years, the pair has been variously attributed to Tiziano Aspetti, Jacopo Sansovino and Benvenuto Cellini, or their respective circles.

Noted the Prospero Blog of The Economist: “If the attribution is endorsed by scholars round the world, the 500-year-old, 1-meter-high bronzes would become this century’s second-most spectacular Renaissance discovery after Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi.” Da Vinci’s representation of Christ, with one hand held up in blessing and the other grasping a translucent globe, made headlines when it was exhibited at the National Gallery in London three years ago. The world awaits with bated breath.

Meanwhile, the bronzes have been put on display in advance of the Fitzwilliam Museum’s bicentenary in 2016 and before its next major exhibition, Treasured Possessions, the result of an interdisciplinary university research project revealing hidden items in the museum’s reserves. The bronzes and a selection of the evidence can be found in the Italian galleries of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge until August 9. Admission to the Fitzwilliam is free. n

The Rothschild Bronzes:The latest by Michelangelo

IN the exhibition titled Vantage Point, on view at Hiraya Gallery Point, on view at Hiraya Gallery Pointuntil July 8, traveling artist Julio “Jojo” Austria does, as it were, a disappearing act, for he is indeed, as of this writing, in New York, on the other side of the globe. While at this, it is worth recalling that in a show a couple of years ago, the artist very likely had portrayed himself in a painting which he titled Into the Unknown.

In that work, a traveler is turned away from the audience, his backpack saddled onto his shoulders, and, in pictorial terms, is about ready to walk into the distant horizon till cinematically he is nothing but a speck of unrecognizable pigment. Still, one recalls his cityscape of Vermont, USA, signified by the iconic stop sign and fire hydrant, always painted a fire engine-red.

Austria’s works straddle the nether zone between figuration

and abstraction, where the figure is caught on the edge of dissolution, and where abstract forms and shapes huddle together in intimations of imagined human figures. Indeed, two works assert the presence of a human character, bearing the titles Sitting Shadow and The Wandering Soul. Each tantalizingly refers to the other; one is a resolution of the other. The title painting Vantage Point is suggestive of terrains, mountain ranges, ridges of land, though they may merely be irregular geometric patterns and patches, in loose or tight arrangements, which, more and more, characterize the look of a Jojo Austria painting.

His patchworks have a tough but lyrical sentiment. The characteristic trademark dripping wet pigments so beloved by Abstract Expressionists flatten the abstract shapes even more,

effacing any suggestion of depth that may have been achieved, bleeding into their interstices and crevasses.

Vantage Point is on view until Vantage Point is on view until Vantage PointJuly 8. Hiraya Gallery (www.hiraya.com) is at 530 United Nations com) is at 530 United Nations comAvenue, Ermita, Manila. Gallery hours are from 9 am to 5 pm, Mondays through Saturdays, and Sundays by appointment.

Hiraya’s ‘Vantage Point’

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Ayala Land, SM Prime to codevelop Cebu property

BANKING SECTOR STILL BEYOND THE REACH OF FILIPINO MASSES“While this may sound ambitious, we have a positive outlook that our financial system will continue to become more inclusive.”—BSP GOVERNOR AMANDO M. TETANGCO JR.

M.A.P., ORO CHAMBER FORGE PARTNERSHIP Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) President Francisco F. del Rosario Jr. (left) and Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Oro Chamber) President Engr. Cerael C. Donggay (right) lead the memorandum of cooperation-signing between MAP and Oro Chamber, covering projects that will promote inclusive growth, during the MAP General Membership Meeting in Makati CIty. Others in the photo are MAP Assistant Treasurer Benedicta Du-Baladad (second from left) and Oro Chamber Agriculture Fishery and Mining Sector Vice President Roberto Ansald. ALYSA SALEN

FIRST Gen Corp., the largest Philippine operator of gas-fired power plants, is look-

ing for partners for three plants and a liquefied natural-gas (LNG) terminal it plans to build in the next five years at a cost of $2.7 billion.

By the end of the year, Manila-based First Gen wants to line up partners to help finance and oper-ate the projects, President Francis Giles B. Puno said in an interview. The company plans to keep the ma-jority control of the assets, he said. First Gen is in talks with poten-tial partners from Japan, Europe and the Philippines, Puno added. He de-clined to name any of the companies, citing confidentiality agreements. For the $1.2-billion LNG terminal, First Gen wants a partner that can operate and maintain the facility, he said. The plan is to have the terminal up and running by 2021, before the nation’s Malampaya gas field runs dry in 2024. The company, which owns two of the three plants now running on Malampaya gas, plans to add three more worth $1.5 bil-lion by 2021.

“By making sure that we have good, supportive partners, we can accelerate the development of ad-ditional facilities,” Puno said. “The demand is there. We have the ability to supply, but the supply is dependent on capital expenditures.” The Southeast Asian nation’s de-mand for electricity surged, as its economy expanded. Consumption rose 50 percent to 72,922 gigawatt-hours in the 10 years to 2012, three

PROPERTY giants SM Prime Hold-ings Inc. and Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) on Tuesday said they won the

bidding for the right to develop a por-tion of the South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu City. “The SM-ALI Group will codevelop the property pursuant to a joint master plan,” the companies said in their joint statement. The SM-ALI consortium ben-efits from the combined financial muscle, technical expertise and the real-estate

experience of SM and ALI Group, the companies said. The two property developers are still dis-puting big-ticket projects in Metro Manila, including a multibillion-peso reclamation project in Parañaque and the Metro Rail Transit common station in Quezon City. SM Prime and Ayala Land unit Cebu Holdings Inc (CHI). formed a consortium that won the bidding for the 26-hectare Lot No. 8-B-1 at SRP. “With the resources and expertise of

these real-estate companies, this newest development at the SRP is planned as another showcase of integrated, master-planned and sustainable developments that will bring in more investments and jobs for the local economy,” the company said. CHI brings in its local expertise in the consortium, having developed two of Cebu’s prime business and lifestyle dis-trict—the Cebu Business Park and the Cebu IT Park. Its master-planned estates are the

preferred locations for traditional office, business-process outsourcing office and shopping-center leasing. The various residential condominiums it has launched bring in over 4,500 units upon completion, making it the biggest real-estate group of-fering the most number of units across a wide range of market segments in Cebu. The SRP, a 330-hectare of reclaimed lot, is local government’s answer to Cebu City’s rapid expansion, as it runs out of land for development. V.G. Cabuag C A

B B C

Conclusion

AS a significant part of the country was proven to remain lacking access to banks, the government adopted

measures to improve financial access in the country. These measures were designed to ad-dress the issue of the ordinary Filipino’s reluctance to go to any of the formal lender and open an account. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) also deliberately crafted a financial-edu-cation program for rural and urban Fili-pinos to address the top 3 reasons cited

by the National Baseline Survey for Fi-nancial Inclusion (NBSFI) as to why most are reluctant to open a bank account, i.e., the lack of money; lack of need for a bank account; and the limited knowledge in opening an account. Other regulatory measures were in place to widen the banking reach, including the establishment of so-called microbanking offices (MBOs); the promotion of the use of electronic money as a platform for fund trans-fers, as well as the easing of the documentary requirement for financial consumers carrying low antimoney-laundering risks. “Recently, we issued Circular 868 [dated January 26, 2015], which expands the range

of services that can be delivered in MBOs and waives the collection of processing fee for banking offices that will be established in unbanked municipalities. As we wait for the industry to react in the light of the re-cent regulation, the BSP will continue to monitor and identify areas for further en-hancement, if any,” the central bank said. The BSP vowed to continue working on crafting regulations to improve the current statistics on banking penetration in the Phil-ippines, which comes dead last in the region. The Global Findex Database 2014 of the World Bank, which was published in April this year, also ranked the Philippines last

B B F G F

MALACAÑANG, citing the country’s “stable macroeconomic

fundamentals,” on Tuesday voiced confidence the Philippines can ride out the European Union (EU) imbroglio ensuing from a financial crisis that may compel Greece to drop out from the bloc.

At a Palace briefing on Tuesday, Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. assured that the instability gripping Europe is not likely to have seri-ous adverse effects on the Philippine economy.

“According to Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, the Philippines is in a much stronger position now to face the volatility that may result from ‘Grexit,’” Co-loma told Palace reporters, referring to the possible exit of Greece from the EU.

S “G,” A

C A

in banking penetration relative to five of the original members of the Asean. In the Philippines, some 31 percent of all adults own a bank account. This pales in comparison with the 36-percent pen-etration rate in Indonesia, 78 percent in Thailand, 81 percent in Malaysia and 96 percent in Singapore. On whether the central bank has a timeline for achieving greater bank penetration, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said: “There is no spe-cific timeline on how fast the share of unbanked population should decline, but we have a commitment in the Maya Declaration    that we will nurture an enabling policy environment that will make it possible for all Filipino adults to have an account in a formal financial institution.” “While this may sound ambitious, we have a positive outlook that our financial system will continue to be-come more inclusive,” Tetangco told the BusinessMirror. The Maya Declaration is the first global and measurable set of commitments on financial inclusion by developing and emerging countries. The governor further said the out-look on greater financial access by Fili-pinos drew optimism from “sustained initiatives to increase access to finan-cial services in terms of widening the

range of affordable financial products, expanding physical reach through mi-crobanking offices, extending virtual reach through e-money and mobile banking, among others.” “Our ongoing work on the National Retail Payment System and Nation-al Strategy for Financial Inclusion [NSFI]  are also potential game chang-ers which can bring financial inclu-sion in our country to new heights,” Tetangco said. International Monetary Fund Resi-dent Representative to the Philippines Shanaka Jayanath Peiris corroborated this view, saying that while there is no ideal level of banking penetration, each country has its own constraints and the BSP is doing well in managing these limitations. “Each country faces different con-straints and has a different set of initial conditions. What the experience of other countries has made clear, however, is that the sequencing and pace of financial de-velopment is extremely important,” Peiris told the BusinessMirror. “The key is to increase the provision of banking services, and financial services more generally, at a measured pace—that is, at a pace that does not threaten financial stability,” he added. Peiris further explained that the ca-pacity of supervisors and regulators in the country has to rise in step with the level of financial depth.

“The BSP has the management of this tradeoff at the forefront of its thinking as it continues to pursue financial-inclusion initiatives,” Peiris said. International credit watcher Fitch rat-ings is also positive that the BSP’s efforts should lead to a higher level of bank access in the country. Fitch Ratings Director for Finan-cia l Institutions Elaine Koh told the BusinessMirror that aside from active efforts in pursuing financial in-clusion, the Philippines is also bound to get more banking penetration due to the improving conditions of the economy. “We expect banking penetration to in-crease over time as rising incomes drive growth in the bankable population. This should help to diversify the credit expo-sures and funding profiles of the banks, which are currently relatively heavily weighted toward the business segment,” Koh said. Likewise, the president of the Bankers Association of the Philip-pines, Lorenzo Tan, holds the same optimistic view on bank penetration going forward. Tan told the  BusinessMirror the banks support 100 percent the BSP’s vision of greater banking access down the line. Just last month, stakeholders con-vened at the BSP complex to help craft an overall NSFI.

The final NSFI, according to the BSP chief, is seen as a platform for stake-holder coordination in the pursuit of a more effective process of delivering financial services to Filipinos and pre-vent the duplication of initiatives in the country. Tetangco also said this will serve as a “blueprint” for policy regulation, data and advocacies relating to financial inclusion. The NSFI draft was prepared by an interagency committee comprised of 13 agencies, namely the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, Cooperative De-velopments Authority, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Education, Department of Finance, Department of Social Welfare and De-velopment, Department of Trade and Industry, Insurance Commission, Na-tional Economic and Development Au-thority, Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., Philippine Statistics Authority and Securities and Exchange Commis-sion. The formulation of the NSFI was initiated by the BSP. The central bank announced on Tues-day that the government is set to launch the NSFI on July 1. The launching will be honored by the presence of the United Nations Secretary- General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. The program will be held at the Phil-ippine International Convention Center. 

Continued from A1

[email protected] BusinessMirrorWednesday, July 1, 2015 A2

BMReportsBanking sector still beyond the reach of Filipino masses

By Bianca Cuaresma

Domestic liquidity—or m3—is rising, mostly because businesses and households asked and were awarded loans totalling P7.6 trillion in may.

But the Bangko sentral ng Pilipinas quickly brushed aside any notion of danger down the road, saying the 9.3-percent expansion in money available to Filipinos in general remain adequate for the country’s sustained growth goal this year and next. the continued liquidity expansion was faster than the 9-percent acceleration reported in April, but slower than the double-digit growth posted the previous year. At this level, the BsP said m3 growth is just about right, the monetary authorities having earlier projected the aggregate to continue to grow by 7 percent to 8 percent. “the continued expansion in domestic liquidity during the month indicates that liquidity remains sufficient to sustain the economy’s growth trajectory,” the BsP said in a statement. the acceleration was attributed to sustained demand for credit. in a separate statement, the BsP said the outstanding loans of commercial banks, net of so-called reverse repurchase placements with the BsP, grew at a slower pace of 14.5 percent in may from 15.4 percent in April. this was attributed to the expansion of loans for produc-tion activities, which took up four-fifths of the total loans of the banking system during the period. Loans for production activities grew by 14.1 percent in may from 15.1 percent in April. the expansion in production loans was driven primarily by increased lending to the real estate, renting and business ser-vices at 12.9 percent; manufacturing sector also 12.9 percent; wholesale and retail trade, likewise, at 12.9 percent ; electricity, gas and water also at 12.9 percent; and financial intermedia-tion at 15.1 percent.

Domesticliquidityup 9.3%

By Ashley ManabatCorrespondent

ANGELES CITY—The son of former Pampanga Provincial Administrator Fidel Arce-

nas, who is now being sought as the prime suspect in the killing of his former wife, was earlier convicted of attempted homicide but was al-lowed to go on probation. The prime suspect, in the killing of RCBC-Binondo bank teller Tania Camille Dee, 33, whose body was exhumed from a shallow grave in the backyard of a house in a plush subdivision in Barangay Balibago here at around 1 a.m. on Sunday, was identified as Fidel Sheldon Arcenas. Court records show that on April 30, 1997, Arcenas was charged with attempted homicide by a certain Anne Manaloto under Criminal Case 97-814. Arcenas was reportedly the boyfriend of the younger sister of Manaloto, identified as Malou. Ar-cenas reportedly volunteered to bring home Anne from a party and allegedly started to molest her while inside his vehicle. A rcenas, however, mau led Malou when she rejected his sexual advances. On July 5, 2011, after 14 years of trial, Arcenas was finally convicted of the offense by Judge Gemma The-resa B. Logronio of Municipal Trial Court (MTC) 3. After his conviction, Arcenas applied and was granted probation on November 15, 2011, since “his case falls under the Probation Law,” Chief Parole and Probation Officer Isagani Villena said. “We are still waiting if new charges will be filed against him, which will automatically mean a violation [of the conditions] and [result in the] cancellation of his probation,” Villena said.

“We were also surprised of the news because he was very active in the therapeutic community pro-gram,” he said. Arcenas’s four-year probation is set to expire in November had he not figured in the murder of his wife, ac-cording to Villena. He also said Arcenas reports to him regularly and was even present in the TC activity on June 8. But Arcenas already failed to report to the office on June 24 for a seminar, Villena said. Dee went missing on June 21 after reportedly agreeing to meet Arcenas in this city a day earlier. Reports said Dee went to see Arcenas, who alleg-edly told her he will give her a car. Dee’s pictures were posted on so-cial media after she went missing, which immediately went viral. On the night of June 20, at around 6 p.m., a CCTV footage showed Dee entering Niji Japanese Restaurant on Don Juico Avenue just outside the Clark free port’s south perimeter fence. Two minutes later, Arcenas ar-rived at the restaurant. Dee and Arcenas were caught several times by the CCTV until they finally left together at around 7 p.m. It was the last time that Dee was seen alive. Relatives and friends of Dee post-ed her picture on Facebook after she failed to come home. Meanwhile, a spot report from the Pampanga Criminal Investi-gation and Detection Team said that at about 9 p.m. on June 27, Regina Tinio Dychioco, mother of Arcenas’s girlfriend and live-in partner Angela, told the police that her daughter and her boyfriend borrowed the keys to the house she owned at Block 10 Lot 4, Lilian Street, Santa Maria Subdivision in Barangay Balibago here. Dychioco said Arcenas returned the keys of the said house on June

26 and revealed that she knows a certain Tania Dee, who was reported missing since June 20, as the ex-wife of Arcenas. Dychioco also disclosed that Dee might already be dead and buried at the backyard of the said house. CIDT provincial head, Chief Insp. Ferdinand DG Aguilar, said he imme-diately formed a team and, together with the Scene of the Crime Opera-tives (Soco) team, went to the house. At about 1 a.m. on June 28, Agui-lar said they found the lifeless body of a woman buried about 3 feet below the ground. Aguilar said the corpse was “in a semi fetal position, clad in denim pants and striped shirt.” The head of the corpse was “wrapped in a plastic trash bag with tape and bath towel,” he added. The Soco team, led by Chief Insp. Bernalen R. Agpalasin, discovered a gunshot wound that entered the back of the head and exited in her face. The cadaver was brought to the Pangilinan Funeral Parlor in Ba-rangay Santo Entierro here, where it was later identified by relatives as the missing bank teller. Dee had filed complaints of vio-lation of Republic Act 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act, against Arcenas while they were still living together. Dee was the second wife of Ar-cenas, who earlier sired a daugh-ter from his union with Maria Elena Vitug. Arcenas’s father Fidel, his name-sake, was provincial administrator when Mark Lapid was governor of Pampanga from 2004 to 2007. He is also a key political adviser and strat-egist of Sen. Lito Lapid. The Arcenases were originally from Maasin, Southern Leyte, who migrated to this city after the elder Arcenas worked for Mayor Ed Pa-mintuan in 1995.

ANEW constitution can change the way the country’s politi-

cal and economic “game” is being played and make Filipinos of all classes the winners, retired Chief Jus-tice Reynato S. Puno said on Monday, even as he

warned that the concentration of political and eco-nomic power in the hands of the few will cause the “slow death of Philippine democracy.” Speaking in two separate forums on consti-

tutional reforms as part of the “Bagong Sistema, Bagong Pag-asa” nationwide advocacy tour, Puno once again called for a radical examination of the 1987 Constitution “to end the monopoly of political power by the political dynasties and break the concentration of economic power in the hands of a few.” “For too long have our elite rulers played the game of heads they win, tails the people lose.... Our job will be over only if we can tell the political dynasties, only if we can tell the economic elites, that ‘Your game is over.’ And the game changer is by amending and revising our Constitution,” Puno

told a gathering at the Bradford-United Church of Christ in Cebu City. Puno said that for democracy to work, “our circle of rulers should be more inclusive of the other classes of society. Political inequality between the few and the many will breed economic injustice. And economic injustice will trump democracy.” He said this is why the 1987 Constitution banned political dynasties, prohibited economic monopolies and provided greater social protec-tion for the unprotected. “Indeed, the Constitution should bridge the divide between the rich and the restless. If we

cannot bridge that divide between the rich and the restless, that is the sure recipe for a revolution.” Puno enumerated a host of national prob-lems that need to be addressed immediately, including the Bangsamoro issue, but he said the megaworries of democracy in the Philippines are “the need to level the political playing field and end the economic injustice to the poor.” “And we can only do that by implementing the ban on political dynasties and economic monopo-lies in a new constitution,” he said, stressing that the ban on political dynasties must be rewritten in a self-executing provision in the Constitution.

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

Suspect in killing of bank telleran attempted homicide convict

New constitution is game changer–Puno

In a 50-page decision, Ombuds-man Conchita Carpio-Morales said her office found substantial evi-dence to hold Purisima, the former chief of the National Police’s Civil Security Group Chief Supt. Raul Petrasanta, Chief Supt. Napoleon Estilles, Senior Supt. Allan Parreno, Senior Supt. Eduardo Acierto, Senior Supt. Melchor Reyes, Supt. Lenbell Fabia, Chief Insp. Sonia Calixto, Chief Insp. Nelson Bautista, Chief Insp. Ricardo Zapata and Senior Insp. Ford Tuazon, for grave miscon-

duct, serious dishonesty and grave abuse of authority. Petrasanta was a former aide of the late President Corazon Aquino, and was touted to be a top contender for the National Police chief position after Purisima’s resignation. Purisi-ma resigned as National Police chief in February following the Mamasa-pano clash, which killed 44 members of the Special Action Force. The administrative case against Director Gil Meneses was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, because Men-eses has retired from government service before the case was filed. “Aside from dismissal from the service, the accessory penalties of forfeiture of retirement benefits, cancellation of eligibility, bar from taking civil-service examinations and perpetual disqualification from reemployment in govern-ment service were also imposed,” Morales said.  The case stemmed from two sepa-rate complaints filed in 2014 by pri-vate citizen Glen Gerard Ricafranca, and the Fact-Finding Investigation Bureau of the Office of Deputy Om-

budsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement, regarding the engage-ment and accreditation of Werfast Documentary Agency (Werfast) as the provider of courier services for renewed firearms licenses. The Ombudsman found that Wer-fast was a not a registered corpora-tion at the time of the signing of the memorandum of agreement in May 2011, as it was incorporated only in August 2011 with a capitalization of only P65,000. “Evidence shows not only that Purisima knew what he was doing in signing the Meneses memorandum, but that he himself exerted pressure and coercion over his subordinates on behalf of Werfast,” Morales said. Meanwhile, the separate criminal charge of violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against Puri-sima, Meneses, Estilles, Petrasanta, Parreno, Acierto, Reyes, Fabia, Calix-to, Bautista and Tuazon, and Werfast representatives Mario Juan, Salud Bautista, Enrique Valerio, Ireno Ba-colod, Lorna Perena, Juliana Pasia and Marilyn Chua are pending pre-liminary investigation.

Ombudsman dismisses Purisima, 10 othersBy Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

THE Ombudsman on Tues-day dismissed Director General Alan Purisima and

10 other senior police officers in connection with the anomalous P100-million contract they entered into with a courier service in 2011.

By Joel R. San Juan

EMBATTLED Makati  City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Jun-jun” Binay on Tuesday sought

refuge anew at the Court of Appeals (CA) to stop the Ombudsman and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) from implementing another six-month suspension order issued against him for his involvement in the al-leged overpriced  construction of the Makati Science High School Building (MSHSB). In a 34-page petition for certio-rari and prohibition with prayer for the issuance of a temporary re-straining order and or a writ of pre-liminary injunction, the son of Vice President Jejomar C. Binay insisted that he cannot be held accountable for the alleged anomaly, since three of the seven construction phases of the MSHSB were done when he was not yet the city mayor. The mayor argued that his liabil-ity in the subsequent construction phases, if there was, has been ex-punged by his reelection in 2013, under the “Aguinaldo Doctrine,” or the condonation doctrine. The construction of Phases I, II and III of the MSHSB were under-taken before the younger Binay was elected mayor in 2010, replacing his father, Vice President Binay. Binay added that there is no allegation in the complaint that he supposedly rigged the bidding, and that any claim of bid-rigging is based solely on hearsay evidence. The complaint also failed to produce evidence to support its claim of conspiracy among the respondents, he said. It appears, according to the younger Binay, that the Ombuds-man relied heavily on the state-ment of  former Makati City Engi-neer Mario Hechanova’s statement that Vice President Binay (when he was still the city mayor) supposedly gave instructions that the bidding for the design and construction of the MSHSB project be rigged to fa-vor certain parties. But he explained that the Om-budsman failed to present evidence to show acts against him. He added that Hechanova’s al-legations against the former mayor of Makati are considered hearsay, thus, should not have been given weight by the Ombudsman. “Clearly, in finding that there is supposedly strong evidence against petitioner, the Ombuds-man gave great weight to the sworn statements of Mario Hechanova, attached to the  complaint. How-ever, it must be emphasized that there is absolutely nothing in the joint order or the said sworn statements that mentions peti-tioner, much less attributes any act against him,” the petition added. “Undeniably, petitioner cannot be held accountable for any alleged anomaly involving Phases I, II and III of the project, as he was not yet the elected mayor. With respect to the subsequent phases of the same project, he is being held adminis-tratively accountable by the Office of the Ombudsman, despite the clear fact that his reelection ren-dered the case against him moot and academic pursuant to the es-tablished ruling in Aguinaldo v. Santos. Such ruling involving sus-pensions in the nature of a ‘pen-alty’ equally applies to ‘preventive suspensions,’ as well,” Binay said. Binay also  argued that the Ombudsman violated its own charter, which requires  “strong evidence” to justify the issuance of preventive suspension. Binay specifically cited Section 24 of Republic Act 6770 and Admin-istrative Order 07, or the Rules of Procedure of the Office of the Om-budsman, which requires strong evidence to justify the issuance of a preventive suspension order. “Clearly, the Ombudsman whimsically and capriciously dis-regarded and violated the forego-ing established laws and jurispru-

dence. Grave abuse of dis-cretion aris-es when a lower court of a tribu-nal violates the Consti-t ut ion or grossly dis-regards the law or exist-ing jurisprudence,” he added. What is worse aside from Hech-anova’s statement being hearsay, according to the mayor, is that the Ombudsman also relied on his claim that Engr. Nelson Morales purportedly received the order from the elder Binay to rig the bidding, which the latter could no longer confirm or deny the same since he is already dead. “Considering that the statement in this regard is clearly hearsay and inadmissible in court, the Ombuds-man should have realized that the evidence against petitioner is not strong and without any basis what-soever,” he added. Binay clarified that his only participation in the bidding pro-cess was to sign documents, such as the disbursement vouchers, as well as other documents relating to the bidding. Such act, he insisted, was not enough to sustain a finding that he is part of the alleged conspiracy. He noted that the Supreme Court in the case of Sabiniano v. Court of Appeals held that one’s sig-nature appearing on a document is insufficient to warrant a finding of involvement in a conspiracy. “To use the words of the Su-preme Court, apart from peti-tioner’s signature, nothing else of real substance was submitted to show his alleged complicity in the alleged crime,” he added. In his complaint, lawyer  Renato Bondal  alleged that the construc-tion of the MSHSB was overpriced by as much as P862 million. Bondal, who lost against the younger Binay in the 2013 mayoral race, claimed that the MSHSB, which cost the city gov-ernment P1.35 billion, should have been completed at no more than P470 million. But the younger Binay said the Ombudsman’s Field Investiga-tion Office perjured itself when it claimed, while the invitation and application for eligibility to bid (IAEB) for Phase 1 of the project was published, the same allegedly con-tained incomplete as to date, time and place of the pre-bid conference and opening of bids, such that pro-spective bidders were not properly informed in order to prepare and submit their bid documents on time, resulting to Hilmarc’s win-ning the contract. But he said that, contrary to the complaint, the IAEB was duly pub-lished in Liberato, Daily Tribune and PhilGEPS showing the date, time and place of the prebid conference and opening of bids. “In the same manner, the IAEB was, likewise, posted in conspicu-ous places of Makati City show-ing the date, time and place of the prebid and bidding conference,” he added. It is the second attempt of the Ombudsman to remove the younger Binay from office. The first preventive suspen-sion order was issued in March in connection with the construc-tion of the Makati City Parking Building II, which Bondal said was built with a tag price of P1.314 billion, but should have only cost P245 million. The CA, however, issued an injunction stopping the Ombuds-man, the DILG and other respon-dents from implementing the sus-pension order. The Ombudsman has elevated the issue before the SC, which ear-lier conducted an oral argument on whether the CA has the authority to enjoin a preventive suspension order of the Ombudsman.

Makati mayor seeks refuge at CA again

MORALES: “Evi-dence shows not only

that Purisima knew what he was doing in signing the Men-

eses memorandum, but that he himself

exerted pressure and coercion over

his subordinates on behalf of Werfast.”

RATHER than whining over the documentaries that the Phil-ippines released proving its

claims over the West Philippine Sea (WPS), China should just accept the fact that its claims on the territory were based on distorted facts. Department of National Defense Spokesman Peter Paul Galvez made this statement on Tuesday, as he dis-missed China’s statement that the Philippines was creating an “illusion of a victim” in the territorial dispute through the documentaries. “Truth hurts and, sometimes, it is really hard to accept the truth,” Galvez said. He added that China must learn to accept that the WPS belong to the country and it should. The government has released a two-part documentary on the terri-tory that is being aggressively pursued by China in order to shore up support from the Filipinos. The documentary was released just as the United Nations International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea was hearing the country’s peti-tion against China’s expansive claims. However, China reacted negatively to the documentary by saying that the country was attempting to de-ceive and gain sympathy by creating the illusion that it was a victim in the territorial contest. China has come up earlier with its own documentary, asserting its rights over the territory that it was disputing. But Galvez said China must learn to accept and face the truth. “It’s the truth, everyone needs to know the truth,” he said. Still, he said the country is not abandoning its position of peacefully resolving the territorial dispute. China is fortifying structures on the islets that it occupies in the South Sea and was even building artificial islands out of reefs in the WPS for military use. Rene Acosta

China told: Accept fact your claimto WPS based on distorted facts

PUNO

biNAy

BusinessMirror [email protected] A4

EconomyBy Catherine N. Pillas

Ten companies from the Mercosur trading bloc are actively exploring opportu-

nities in the Philippines, according to the head of the Mercosur-Asean Chamber of Commerce (MACC).  In an interview on Monday af-ternoon, MACC President Rodolfo Caffaro Kramer said that the time is ripe for Mercosur countries, which are composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, to establish stronger ties with Asean and the Philip-pines, in particular.  “We are convinced that Merco-sur and the Philippines have a great potential to work together because we’re complementary,” said Kramer, adding that food and medicine are two areas of interest.  Kramer said that four Argen-tinian firms in the sectors of food, beverage, medicine and bio-technology are keen on coming to the Philippines, together with one large Brazilian company that manufactures medicines.  MACC is also talking to 5 Uru- guayan companies to come to the Philippines.  The MACC president declined to give specifics but says it is a signal of the Philippines’s potential to become the primary trading partner of Mercosur to tap the rest of Asean.  “Asean is for us an extraordi-nary example because diversity is big but you’re trying to inte-grate. The future is regional. We are saying that the best door to go to the Asean is the Philippines,” Kramer said.

Cultural and historical similari-ties make the Philippines attractive, Kramer said, but air connectivity is a roadblock.  “We have to improve in terms of connectivity,” the MACC presi-dent said.  The MACC is in talks with the United Arab emirates and other air-lines for a direct flight from Brazil to Singapore to cut down on travel time and to promote trade.  The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, likewise, sees bright prospects on further Mercosur-Philippines business relations, and advises joint-ven-ture partnerships.  “An important strategic prior-ity of the Philippines is the expan-sion of our markets and potential joint- venture partners in nontra-ditional countries, which include Latin- American countries.  In-tensifying interaction with Mer-cusor countries will definitely contribute toward achieving our goal of broadening trade and in-vestment engagement with the region,” PCCI President Alfredo M. Yao said in a speech delivered on Monday.  The local business chamber hosted the v isiting Mercosur business delegation on Monday, whose interests include  meat, chicken and fish, soya and soy-bean meal, motorcycles, textiles, wines and ciders, pharmaceutical products, telecommunications, milk and cheese, leather products and olive oil. At present, trade volume be-tween Asean and Mercosur is stil l negligible. 

UnSTABLe oil prices in the world market and an ongoing territorial dispute between

the Philippines and China have led to a low turnout of investors in the Fifth Philippine energy Contracting Round (PeCR 5).  During Tuesday’s opening of bids, there were only three inves-tors that participated in the auc-tion, which was meant to showcase the exploration of potential coal and petroleum areas in the country.  The Department of energy (DOe) earlier said there were six interested firms.   “We cant’ deny that there are problems being encountered in the areas of oil and gas exploration sites. They are also looking at their budget. Like any company, the bidders are monitoring oil prices. They are doing some adjustments in their budget,” said Director Rico Abad of the energy Resources De-velopment Bureau.  The areas for petroleum explo-ration include Area 1 in Southeast Luzon; 2 and 3 in Masbate-Iloilo; 4 and 5 in northeast Palawan; 6 in Southeast Palawan; 7 in West Pala-wan; and 8 to 11 in West Luzon.  Two of the blocks are close to the Spratly Islands, of which a portion is claimed by the Philippine govern-ment, which are areas under territo-rial dispute with China.   Out of the three that submitted bid proposals, only two were quali-fied. These are Ratio Oil exploration Ltd. and Colossal Petroleum. Both submitted complete legal, financial and technical documents.  Ratio Oil bid for Area 4, while Colossal Petroleum applied to ex-plore Areas 5 and 7, or the Recto Bank Block.   Yulaga Oil exploration enter-prises, which bid for Area 1, was dis-qualified because it failed to submit complete documents.  The bid documents of Ratio Oil and Colossal will be evaluated for two months. “Originally, the evaluation was supposed to be until September 5, but since there are only a few bid-

DeSPITe the higher excise taxes on ciga-rettes, Republic Act (RA) 10351, or the excise Tax Reform Law of 2012, has failed

to considerably reduce smoking incidence, par-ticularly among the youth, Rep. eleandro Jesus F. Madrona of the Lone District of Romblon said.

“There are no less than 20 million smokers to-day in the Philippines, the same number of smok-ers in 2011, prior to the tax increase,” Madrona, chairman of the House Committee on Accounts and author of House Bill 5013 entitled “An Act to Prevent Youth Access to Tobacco by Mandating a Minimum Cigarette Price,” or the minimum ciga-rette price law, now under consideration by the House Committee on Trade and Industry.

The author noted that in a survey commissioned by the Department of Health, the Social Weather Sta-

tions reported that while there was a reduction in cigarette consumption in some socioeconomic classes and age groups, the overall smoking incidence had not significantly decreased since RA 10351 came into effect. Based on the same survey, Madrona said, 45 percent of smokers merely switched to cheaper brands when taxes were increased.

“Undoubtedly, this is due to the proliferation of super cheap or discount brands in the market,” he said, adding that when a cigarette pack or stick is sold very cheap, smokers, including the youth, have easy access to affordable cigarettes, resulting in the lack of change in overall smoking incidence.

Madrona added that under the new tax struc-ture, any cigarette manufacturer that sells prod-ucts below the tax it pays to the government is not operating in the spirit of achieving the intents of

RA 10351, which is to reduce the overall smoking incidence especially among the youth.

The author insisted that while the newly enact-ed graphic health warning law, or RA 10643, aims to further discourage youth smoking by attaching scary pictures on cigarette packs, it needs to be complemented with some form of price discipline.

“This is because a young smoker needs to buy or have a face-to-face encounter with a graphic-laden cigarette pack before the desired impact of the law is achieved,” Madrona added.

With his proposed minimum-price scheme, Madrona surmised that the mere recitation of the minimum cigarette price would be enough for a young smoker to reconsider and real-ize that buying cheap is no longer a pocket-friendly option. PNA, Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

“ethanol-blend requirement…may be waived for premium plus-grade gasoline products [minimum 97 ROn] temporarily during the period of deficiency in the locally produced bioethanol products opposite the de-mand,” Department Circular   (DC) 2015-06-005, which amends  DC 2011-02-0001, entitled “Mandatory Use of Biofuels Blend,” stated.

  As such, oil companies that will sell non-e10 gasoline must first formally notify the Oil Industry Management Bureau. The notice should include specific locations wherein such non-e10 products are sold.  Further, oil firms are required to “clearly indicate, through proper labeling” of their dispenser units,

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

ders, it may take only a month to evaluate their bids,” Abad said.  The bids will be reviewed based on their financial, legal and techni-cal aspects.   “All your applications will be evaluated fairly. Our goal is to have production. I believe this is also your goal,” Abad told the bidders.  The DOe launched last year PeCR 5, in which 11 blocks covering a total area of 47,840 square kilometers are being offered to potential investors.  Most of the oil-and-gas explo-ration blocks are located near the Philippines’s main island of Luzon.  The blocks are mainly in frontier regions and cover an average size of 4,350 sq km per block, with the larg-est covering 5,760 sq km in the east Palawan region.  PeCR 5 could increase the coun-try’s oil production to 39,000 bar-rels per day (bbl/d) by 2019, the US

energy Information Administration (eIA) said  in its latest report.  “In 2013 total oil production was 26,000 bbl/d, while the country con-sumed 299,000 bbl/d. In May 2014 the government invited tenders for 11 oil and gas blocks in the Palawan Basin and nearby areas, including one in the  South China Sea. This exploration bid round could push oil production up to 39,000 bbl/d by 2019,” eIA said.   Area 7, according to the DOe, holds an estimated resource poten-tial of 165 million barrels of oil and about 3.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas.  “As we live within international laws, we seek all diplomatic re-course to assert our claims to the areas in the West Philippine Sea,” outgoing energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said.  T he Phi l ippines impor ted

roughly 270,000 bbl/d of crude oil and petroleum products in 2013, with 35 percent of their crude oil imports coming from Saudi Arabia and Russia. Further, the country possesses the capacity to refine 290,000 bbl/d.  Shell Philippines and Otto en-ergy play significant roles in the upstream sector, while Petron Corp. operates the largest refinery in the country, supplying nearly 40 percent of the country’s oil needs. The Phil-ippines exports nearly all the crude oil it produces.   “The Philippines is a net energy importer, in spite of low consumption levels relative to its Southeast Asian neighbors. The country produces small volumes of oil, natural gas, and coal. Geothermal, hydropower, and other renewable sources consti-tute a significant share of electricity generation,” eIA said. Lenie Lectura

DOE freezes 10-percent ethanol-blend requirement for premium gasoline

“that the said gasoline is non-e10” to distinguish it from other premium plus-grade e10 products as a guide to motorists.  The Biofuels Act of 2006 re-quires the use of clean alterna-tive fuels—such as ethanol mixed with gasoline—which is expected to save the country P35 billion in annual oil imports. This means that oil companies are mandated to sell unleaded, premium and spe-cial gasoline products with at least 10-percent ethanol blend.  However, the DOe noted that the local production of ethanol is no longer enough to keep up with demand.  “nine years after the implemen-tation of the Biofuels Act of 2006, locally produced bioethanol, as of end-2014, accounts for only 27

percent of the total domestic bio-ethanol requirement, or only 115 million liters,” the circular stated.  As such, oil firms resort to im-portation. The catch, however, is ethanol-blended gasoline is more expensive than imported ethanol. Therefore, oil firms have no choice but to source overseas to comply with the government’s e10 requirement for gasoline.  “To address this shortage and enable gasoline companies to comply with the 10-percent mini-mum biofuels-blend requirement, importation of this product was allowed to continue until now, notwithstanding the fact that im-portation of bioethanol products is allowed only within four years from effectivity of the Biofuels Act,” or up to 2013 only.

Mercosur eyes PHLas Asean gateway

By Lenie Lectura

InsuffIcIent ethanol production in the country has prompted the Department of energy (DOe) to

temporarily relax the 10-percent bioethanol-blend requirement in gasoline fuel.

Only 3 out of 6 expected bidders turn up for PECR 5 auction

‘Higher excise taxes failed to curb smoking’

By Recto Mercene 

THE chairman of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on Monday said that if only the Small Town Lottery (STL)

operators would remit their actual revenues faithfully, the income of the agency would be large enough to meet the demands of the many indigent patients. “Batay sa pag-aaral ng gaming department ng PCSO, napakalaki ng potential na makolekta, pero ha-los kakarampot lamang ang pumapasok. [According to a study by the gaming department of the PCSO, there is much to be collected but only a pittance is remitted],” PCSO Chairman Erineo S. Maliksi said. Maliksi said he would institute corrective measures to improve financial health, as well as expand the services of the state-owned charity institution. Maliksi said a study is being made to ask the STL operators to cooperate, since his appeal is for the benefits of the many poor patients who are given financial help by the PCSO. He added that a STL was introduced to defeat jueteng, but the plan did not materialize. “Many of our kababayan have told me that in many places, the STL operators are the same persons who operate jueteng.” Maliksi added that the STL earnings are low because the income earned from them are not re-mitted and were often absconded by the operators. The PCSO chief said that, based on the PCSO’s

performance in 2014, the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and -Controlled Corpora-tions (GCG) paid special attention to the state enter-prise’s P32.324-billion revenue for the year, which is substantially short of its target of P34.5 billion. Maliksi said he has ordered a thorough study so they could take the necessary steps to stop the income “hemorrhage” and allow the agency to deliver its mandate to the needy. The results of the in-house study would hopefully guide the PCSO team to expand the number of beneficiaries and improve the quality of charity services. In addition to the revenue setback, the GCG reported the PCSO’s failure to deliver on time or process within the required five-day processing period requests for financial assistance involving P100,000 or below. The same slow process was noted for financial assistance worth more than P100,000. The GCG noted that the PCSO failed to de-liver its commitment under its program, called Capacity-building Packages for Rural Health Units and Barangay Health Centers nationwide, which was finalized in 2013. The PCSO also failed to achieve its target of raising military and Na-tional Police hospitals to Department of Health standard on equipment as programmed. Asked about the failure of the agency to deliver the promised 150 ambulances, where only three were actually delivered, Maliksi said the negative reports happened during the previous administration.

New PCSO chief doubts STL operators’ honesty

AntipilfErAgE mEAsurE Manila Electric Co. linemen install electric meters atop a post along M. De la Cruz in Pasay City over the weekend as a measure to curb pilferage. The electric power distribution system is the final stage in the delivery of electric power. It carries electricity from the transmission system to individual consumers. PNA

THe Development Budget Coor-dination Committee (DBCC) has maintained its growth target at 7

percent to 8 percent for the rest of 2015, except for the lower growth targets in export services which is down to 13.6 percent from 15 percent due to threats of Middle east Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MeRS-CoV) in the tour-ism sector.

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad, also the DBCC head, on Tuesday said the DBCC has approved the recommenda-tion of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Department of Finance with respect to growth targets except for export services.

“export services are on a downward trend at 13.6 percent from 15 percent.

We need to take into account what’s going on in the global market place,” Abad at a news briefing on Tuesday following the DBCC meeting at the Department of Budget and Manage-ment in Manila.

Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan of the national economic and Develop-ment Authority explained that the lower growth projection of exports services was due to the impact to tourism sector of the dreaded MeRS-CoV virus.

earlier, three South Korean tour-ists were admitted at the Manila Doc-tors’ Hospital due to suspected cases of MeRS-CoV. But the Department of Health on Tuesday said the three South Koreans were tested negative of MeRS-CoV. Estrella Torres

DBCC maintains 7% to 8% growth target

pcci delegation readies trip to russia in septThe Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is sending a business delegation in September to Russia to take advantage of the country’s dearth in resources, brought about by the sanctions imposed by the United States and the european Union. “They want now to deal with Asia because of the sanctions. They’ve been writing to us for a long time so we can supply to them and possible circumvention of the sanctions. Pwede tayo mag-export to them. On their part, they’re strong in oil and gas, of course,” said Alfredo M. Yao, president of PCCI, in an interview with the media on Monday afternoon. Catherine N. Pillas

Wednesday, July 1, 2015 A5BusinessMirror

Economy

In a news statement, the transportation department said the P131.28-million con-tract—which covers rolling stocks, depot equipment and signaling—was bagged by the Schunk Bahn- und Industrietechnik GmbH-Comm Builders and Technology Phils. Corp. Joint Venture last week. The joint venture will start taking over the components’ maintenance on July 5. Schunk is an original equipment man-ufacturer (OEM) of high-quality power- transmission railway equipment. Comm Builders, on the other hand, is part of the joint venture that currently maintains the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1. The agency is procuring maintenance subcontractors directly under a multidis-ciplinary approach in order to enhance the efficiency of maintenance works per com-ponent while it is preparing the three-year maintenance contract for procurement. The government has also awarded the following MRT 3 maintenance contracts: Rail and permanent ways to Jorgman-Korail-Erin Marty Joint Venture; Building and facilities to Global Epcom Services Inc.; Communications systems to Trilink Technologies Inc.; and Ticketing to Future Logic Corp. The four contracts have a combined ticket price of P61.48 million. This leaves only two out of the seven com-ponents still for procurement and award, namely, the power supply and overhead cat-enary system, and the conveyance systems. The government will also launch the auc-tion for the P4.2-billion, three-year MRT maintenance deal soon, after all require-ments for the procurement have been met. The transportation department de-cided to double the contract price from the original P2.2 billion, to increase the interest of maintenance providers. The contract now includes the lot, the general overhaul of the trains and the replacement of the signaling system of the MRT. The terms of the sweetened contract will have to go through the approval of the Government Procurement Policy Board and the National Economic and

Development Authority. Currently, a shadowing team from the transportation department is assisting APT Global Inc. in maintaining the line. The maintenance provider’s contract expired in the second half of last year. It was, however, extended due to the failed auctions. The government has also procured 48 new train cars for the MRT 3. But the delivery of the new coaches, according to Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya, will be de-layed by about three months. The deferment, he said, was caused by the prototype’s need to undergo dynamic and static testing and debugging to ensure that the new coaches will function at their optimal level. Commuters from the north and south of Manila patronize the MRT 3 as it is a cheaper and faster option to riding buses and taxis. But some are now adamant to ride the once-mighty train system because of safety reasons. The train system saw itself bogging mul-tiple times this year already, once even forc-ing passengers to walk beside the rails along the station in Guadalupe in Makati City. There are also fewer trains running due to the lack of spare parts, and a reputable maintenance provider. But once the 48 new trains come in, the MRT 3’s trips per hour will increase from 20 to 24, which will translate to a 60-per-cent rise in the number of passengers per hour, per direction. This means that there will be 37,824 passengers who can avail themselves of the rail service every hour heading toward one direction. Currently, only about 23,640 people ride an MRT 3 service per way every hour. But that number still depends on how many trains are running that day. Today the rail line’s average daily rider-ship is already over 560,000, and its highest single-day passenger count is 620,000. The project is aimed at easing the gridlock on Edsa, and “make the MRT 3 experience much more bearable for its riders.” The government also plans to to modify the structure of its trains from three coaches to four in the third quarter this year. But this also seems to be affected by the delay.

Filipino-german firm bags Mrt 3 rolling-stock maintenance contract

briefsbidders shun auction oF p2.07-b pcos reFurbishMent deal

The Commission on elections-Special Bids and Awards Committee 2 (Comelec-SBAC 2) declared a failure of bidding on Tuesday for the P2.07-billion contract for the repair and refurbishment of more than 80,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines that are being eyed for use in next year’s elections Comelec-SBAC 2 Chairman Jubil Surmieda announced the failure of bidding after no companies submitted their offer for the project. It can be recalled that three companies—Total Information Management (TIM) Corp., Indra Sistemas S.A. and Vertex Business Applications Inc.—initially expressed their interest for the project by purchasing bid documents. “Wala kasi nag-submit ng bid. Tatlo ang bumili ng bid documents, walang nag-submit. So, under the rules, that’s equivalent to a failure of bidding,” Surmieda told reporters. Joel R. San Juan

lawMaker to File bill legalizing saMe-sex Marriage in phlA PARTY-lIST lawmaker on Tuesday said that he will spearhead the filing of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the country. Party-list Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez of Akbayan at a news conference said that he will push for the legislation in the 17th Congress. Gutierrez made a statement following the United States Supreme Court’s decision, saying that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states. “I am inclined to file a bill to start the ball rolling,” Gutierrez said, adding that, “we have to start the discussion on same-sex marriage. We should have healthy discussion.” Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz, Pia Quinto

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

AFILIPINO-GERMAN joint venture won the contract to maintain the largest component of the Metro

Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) announced on Tuesday.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

OpinionBusinessMirrorA6

GDP per capita: The most powerful indicator

editorial

OUR banking people are lamenting the fact that the Philippines, among many countries, has one of the lowest percentages of people making use of the services of the banking sector. Earlier,

in the Southeast Asian Games, we were saddened by the fact we won less gold medals than six comembers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In the Human Development Index (HDI), we are steady in our place at about the middle of some 170 rated countries.

There are reasons for these phenomena. In banking, the people either had no money to deposit in the banks or were too illiterate to understand the bank-ing sector’s requirements. In sports, our athletes did not have enough mate-rial support from the government or their communities. Our HDI ranking is what it is simply because our gross enrollment ratios and life spans are lower or higher than those of some of our neighbors.

As clear as these explanations are, they are not the best explanation of why things are as they are. The single best indicator of our rank relative to those of our neighbors is gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, that is, the value of economic output per person. In 2013 it was $2,765.50 for the Philippines, $3,475.3 for Indonesia, $5,779.0 for Thailand, $10,538.1 for Malaysia and $55,182.5 for Singapore. For latecomer Vietnam, it was $1,910.5.

Why is GDP per person the best indicator of achievement in the various fields of human endeavor? Because it has a positive relationship with just about everything else in life that is “good” or desirable.

For example, the higher the income of a person, the more he or she is likely to be better nourished, better educated and healthier. On the other hand, the lower the income, the more likely is he or she to be suffering from hunger, poor health, illiteracy, etc. Sometimes a poor man’s son or daughter will top the graduating class, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Have you seen a zombie winning the 100-meter dash or a scavenger depositing money in a bank?

What is the significance of this? It is that, to improve our standing in any field of human endeavor, we must concentrate our attention and energy on two “variables,” the economy and the population. Let us raise the growth rate of our GDP to, say, 8 percent to 10 percent per year, from the current 5 per-cent to 6 percent per year, by increasing our investment rate and raising the productivity of our workers. Let us moderate the growth rate of our popula-tion from the current 2 percent per annum, one of the highest in the world, to, say, 1 percent to 1.5 percent per annum. This will mean doubling our GDP per capita every eight years to nine years, rather than 12 years to 14 years.

These changes will improve our chances, not just of beating the competi-tion in sports, raising the percentage of our population making use of banking services, and improving our HDI ranking, but of achieving many other things of importance to our status as human beings.

LAST week members of the news media asked for the Social Security System’s (SSS) reaction to the possible P2,000 across-the-board increase in pensions being proposed in

Congress. SSS President Emilio S. de Quiros Jr. said that, while the SSS wants its members and pensioners to have better benefits, it, too, has the responsibility to ensure the long-term viability of the pension fund.

CHINESE policy-makers seem to have exhausted whatever magical powers they had been using to keep their economy aloft. Chinese stocks have been plunging even as Beijing has

used every trick it knows to support the market.

No immediate increase in SSS monthly contributions

China’s magic tricks can’t save its stock market

The SSS chief said managing the SSS is a balancing act. “We always balance things. If you were to look at the operations of the SSS, there are only four moving parts. You have two inflows, which are your contribution and investment in-come, and the outflow side, which are the benefits disbursed and our operating expenses. So, if you in-crease your benefits, something

has to give way somewhere or else you have to dip into your reserve funds. And, so far, we are able to increase the reserve fund signifi-cantly. If you will recall, when we came in [in 2010], the total assets of the SSS was about P290 billion. But now our assets are at P444 billion already. So we have added roughly P150 billion into the reserve funds,” he told reporters.

The truth is that the plunge in Chinese stocks was long overdue. China’s longest-ever bull market was government-driven, fueled by central bank liquidity and a public-relations bonanza. The question now is whether Beijing’s policy apparatus has lost its ability to impose its will on stock prices. And there’s good reason to think it has.

Stocks slid 3.3 percent on Mon-day even after an aggressive three-pronged easing effort over the week-end. People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Zhou Xiaochuan cut the benchmark lending rate by 25 ba-sis points to a record low of 4.85 percent, slashed the deposit rate to 2 percent and reduced required reserve ratios for some lenders. As stocks plunged anyway, China’s securities regulators tried to cheer

traders by announcing they would consider suspending initial public offerings (IPOs) in order to increase demand for existing shares. The sell orders still accelerated. Next, government officials assured the record numbers of individual inves-tors entering the market that the risks from margin trading are con-trollable. Selling ensued regardless.

Only time will tell if Beijing’s bag of tricks is empty. But if it is, the fall-out on global markets could dwarf the impact of Greece’s flirtation with default. The world, after all, has had a few years to contemplate a Greek exit from the euro. But if the world’s biggest trading nation suddenly hit a wall, it would be a catastrophe of a different order, wreaking havoc on economies near and far.

At the very least, it would kill Ja-

However, with the proposed P2,000 across-the-board increase, the SSS management said that based on a study of its actuary, the life of the pension fund will be shortened by 13 years, from 2042 to 2029, and its reserve funds wiped out unless something is done to prevent this. One effective way is to raise the rate of contribution. If this cannot be done, the SSS, as a last resort, could call on the RP guarantee for the gov-ernment to subsidize the benefits of its members and pensioners. These were the options mentioned during the news briefing.

Unfortunately, some of the headlines after the briefing gave the wrong impression that the SSS is planning to increase the rate of contributions soon, which had some sectors in a huff. This prompted the SSS to issue a statement that it has no plan to increase contribution rates in the immediate future. De Quiros said that, although a con-tribution hike is much needed to improve the actuarial soundness

of the SSS funds, the agency is not seeking for another rate increase at this time.

Some might say that the SSS is being a wet blanket for going public with the result of its study on the impact of the proposed pension in-crease on the fund’s long-term vi-ability. It has no choice. It is duty- bound to inform all its stakeholders of the possible risks and threats on the sustainability of their pension fund. It is duty-bound to ensure that today’s members, their children and their children’s children can look forward to receiving social-security benefits in the future.

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

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

pan’s nascent recovery, push Austra-lia into its first recession in a quarter century, send shockwaves through South Korea, Indonesia and India, and devastate commodity-export-ing nations everywhere. Officials in Beijing get this, of course. That’s why they’re conjuring up every policy they can think of to stabilize stocks. But Beijing is suddenly realizing that it can’t pull its usual levers with the same results.

More monetary easing is inevita-ble with Chinese producer prices now in negative territory for 39 months straight months, says former PBOC official Yu Yongding. “At a time of slowing economic growth and mas-sive corporate debts, a deflationary spiral would be China’s worst night-mare,” Yu writes in a new Project Syn-dicate op-ed. “And the risk is mount-ing.” What’s more, says economist Chen Long of Gavekal Dragonomics, “the challenges of slowing growth and a high level of debt will push China ever closer to the zero interest-rate policy that already prevails in other major economies.”

But sharply lower borrowing costs might just encourage more irrespon-sible lending at a time when local government debt already exceeds Germany’s $3.7 trillion worth of an-nual output. Conventional stimulus measures have lost traction amid

factory overcapacity and a fast-increasing number of ghost cities. The solution, of course, would be for President Xi Jinping to accelerate structural reforms to wean China off excessive investment and exports. It’s only by reining in state-owned enterprises that China can create a vibrant private sector driven by small-to-midsize services compa-nies that generate high-paying jobs.

Instead, Xi’s team has spent the last 10 months ginning up stocks with government sorcery. The plan was straightforward enough: Com-panies would harness rising shares to pull off IPOs to pay down debt, while households would feel richer and spend more. If stocks got wob-bly, the government could just step in and keep the party going. That lasted until June 12, when Shanghai shares topped out. Since Friday’s 7.4- percent plunge, Beijing has used all its usual policy tools with no success.

It’s possible the turmoil in Greece has played a role in China’s latest downturn. Emerging-market stocks, after all, fell 2 percent on Monday, the most since December 1. But China’s sell off is also a sign that the magic wand Beijing has lorded over its economy in recent years is losing its power. And when investors wake up from the government’s spell, they’re unlikely to be very happy.

BLOOMBERG VIEWWilliam Pesek

All About Social SecuritySusie G. Bugante

HOM

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CONTACT NOs.: (075) 522-8209/ 515-4663/ 0922-811-4001

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Ortiz Street, Iloilo City CONTACT NOs.: (033) 337-2698/ 508-8102/ 0922-811-3995

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Wednesday, July 1, 2015

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The rising threat from GreeceBy Philip I. Levy | Chicago Tribune/TNS

WHEN Greece closes its banks, blocks money from leaving the country and puts its future up to a public vote one week hence, you know things aren’t good. The key

question is: How bad will this get?

To answer, let’s first assume that we are on the path to Greece’s de-parture from the euro zone. That’s not obvious; the Greek public could vote “yes” in Sunday’s referendum, for example. But Greece’s status in the euro zone is dire. If Greek de-parture looms, what threats does this pose?

Start with the Greeks. This will not be a fun time for them. When fi-nance ceases to flow in an economy, businesses and individuals suffer. A modern economy runs on credit. People store their money in banks, not under mattresses. When the fi-nancial system ceases to function, so does much of daily commerce. This will make life notably worse for the Greeks, and life was very bad to start with. Going into this stage of the crisis, Greece already had more than 25-percent unemployment.

A Greek departure from the euro zone would most likely be coupled

with at least a partial renunciation of its debt. One of the core issues in Greece’s failed negotiations with Europe was what to do with Greece’s unpayable pile of debt, which has grown to roughly 175 percent of its national output. The hope for Greece is that a reset on debt, cou-pled with a depreciated currency and a raft of reforms, could set it on a sustainable path. Given Greece’s governance foibles, this is just a hope rather a certainty.

Turning our sights beyond Greece, the direct impact of an exit would appear minimal. Greece’s economy is small—roughly $240 billion per year in gross domestic product. That accounts for less than one-half of a percent of the global economy. Debt renunciation would be a blow to Greece’s creditors, but these are predominantly official lenders, such as the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

European taxpayers will be none too pleased to find that billions of euros of “off-the-books” lending to Greece are suddenly holes in their balance books, but this alone would not be enough to knock down the Euro-pean economy. After the experience of 2008 with Lehman Brothers, one should always be wary of “counter-party” risk, but this is the challenge policy-makers have been preparing for since Greece started looking se-riously shaky.

The indirect effects of a Greek de-parture are more serious. One of the great benefits peripheral countries of the euro zone have enjoyed has been the credibility those countries gained with financial markets. Those markets behaved as though euro zone membership precluded not only exchange risk but also default risk. In practical terms, this meant that countries with otherwise worrisome economic pedigrees were able to bor-row at low rates. Greece’s departure would show that both exchange and default risks remain. Unless inves-tors can be persuaded that Greece was unique, countries such as Italy and Spain would likely see rates rise. That can be costly for countries with substantial debt.

Perhaps, the bigger problem could be the reaction of the people in Milan or Barcelona. They will watch people in Athens lining up at banks in a fu-tile effort to get euros. They will see lifetimes worth of savings in euros replaced with devalued drachmas. They may learn a lesson: Moving money out of a teetering country’s banks is a very inexpensive form of insurance against financial ruin, and better done sooner rather than later. If they do learn that lesson, we could see bank runs. Unlike Greece’s, Italy’s and Spain’s economies are big enough to matter, and such runs would be hard to survive.

Even in the absence of financial contagion, Greece’s crisis poses se-rious political problems. It is not obvious whether Greece could stay in the European Union while de-parting the euro. If it stays in, it would hold a great deal of leverage over EU actions that require consen-sus—such as maintaining sanctions on Russia. If it leaves, then Europe has a potentially failed state on its southern flank.

Greece has suffered a great deal in recent years, but more is on the way. For Greece’s neighbors in Europe, the problems may be just beginning.

By George Ball | The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

POPE Francis has proclaimed climate change a fact, stressing our moral duty to correct it. The pontiff titled his encyclical Laudato Si, or “Be Praised,” a phrase taken from “Canticle of

the Sun,” composed by the wandering naturalist and pioneering ecologist, Saint Francis of Assisi.

TO Ms. Catherine Pillas and Jovee Marie dela Cruz,

Congratulations on your well-writ-ten special report on the latest failed attempt on economic Cha-Cha (Char-ter change).

For your possible interest, and in connection with related topics on “economic necessities,” attached here-with is a copy of a position paper on the steel-industry road map covering the period 2014 to 2028. This paper was officially submitted by the Men of Steel (explained in Section I there-in) to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)—particularly to the Technical Working Group in charge of the steel sector—to help the DTI staff with their multisectoral road-mapping exercises.

With the upcoming Association of Asean market integration, Section IV (Philippines vs. Selected Asean Coun-tries) might be of particular interest, i.e., how can the Philippines differ drastically from other comparable economies in the region?

Do we know something that they don’t, or is it the other way around? Perhaps, the significant disparity in

their FDI levels is a major factor as to why the Philippine steel industry has fallen behind its Asean counterparts.

Your readers might be unaware of the current steel-industry situa-tion, which signals another possible future problem.

Rojando S. Narciso [email protected].

THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has a big role to play in securing our territorial waters and our country could use it more than the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as (the country undertakes) legal and moral maneuvers to counter China’s preposterous claims in the West Philippine Sea. The acquisition of more modern and bigger vessels for the PCG will remove some of the pressure from the AFP, especially in dealing with marine environmental protection, sea search and rescue, and patrols. It will also save our face diplomati-cally as should have been the case in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in 2012, when a Philippine Navy frigate was dispatched to respond to illegal Chi-nese fishing activity in the area. This militarized what’s supposed to be a civilian law-enforcement activity. Hopefully, President Aquino’s promise to modernize the PCG comes true and House Bill 5112 now in Congress will materialize and give the coast guard a holistic plan for the future.

Presly R. VinoyaLanot, Roxas City, Capiz

I agree we are experiencing man-made climate change. But much of the change might arise from factors until now unconsidered. To make my case, I humbly invoke the 14th-century Eng-lish Franciscan friar William of Occam and his principle of lex Parsimoniae (“law of parsimony”), the theory we know as “Occam’s Razor.”

The principle holds that, between competing hypotheses, the one based on the fewest assumptions is apt to be the correct one.

My hypothesis regarding global warming, called Personal Climate Change, requires no experts, volumi-nous studies, “hockey stick charts” or intergovernmental panels. In its parsi-monious way, it locates the heart of cli-mate change, not in the ozone level or longtime weather patterns but with us humans, our bodies and daily behavior. The problem is not global, but as local as the body you inhabit.

Over the last half century, Americans’ “personal climates” have undergone a transformation. Two crucial develop-ments factor in the rise of Personal Cli-mate Change: air-conditioning (AC) and changes in clothing styles.

Consider how cold it is, come July, in homes, office buildings, malls and restaurants. Notice how the ubiquitous T-shirt, and its many and various descen-dants, leaves the skin exposed, offering no insulation from the sudden heat blast as one steps outdoors.

The T-shirt’s popularity dates from post-World War II. Originally an under-garment for warmth, the T-shirt on its own became standard-issue military wear that allowed millions of personnel to keep cool in the sweltering tropics.

Postwar T-shirts became an essen-tial ingredient in young America’s year-round informal uniform. The skimpy garment has a triple effect on its wear-ers—making them feel colder in air-con-ditioned buildings, hotter once outdoors, and hypersensitive to the acute tempera-ture contrast between indoors and out.

In the 1950s air-conditioning’s chill became pervasive in America’s great in-doors, notably in the South and South-west. Soon AC was ever present across the land. In the air-conditioned 1950s, the word cool became the new hot.

Over the last 30 years, Americans have gravitated to the Sun Belt’s sprawl of treeless, shadeless suburban conurba-tions. In this Deserta suburbanica, the American Dream morphs into Henry Miller’s Air-Conditioned Nightmare. Ari-zonians live half the year in air-condi-tioned lockdown—waking in 70 degrees, driving in the 70-degree climate of their cars and working in 70-degree offices. In this artificial paradise, the real, natural climate becomes notional, abstract, terra incognita.

To one unnaturally cooled, nature feels unnaturally hot. The perception of global warming partly stems from the lack of air-conditioning we find out-doors. Literally, we lose our cool.

Just as Americans started dress-ing down in the 1960s, on went their T-shirts, and off went their hats. The dramatic decrease in the wearing of hats—which keep you warm in winter and cool in summer—was accompanied by an equal and opposite increase in head colds and a skyrocketing demand for cold remedies. Cool begot colds.

Then there is the “wind chill” fac-tor, a 1960s innovation, now standard in winter weather reports. Cold will no longer suffice—too vague. “Minus 10 with the wind chill,” we mutter, ventur-ing hatlessly into frigid weather, body heat escaping from our bare domes. Wind-chill statistics let us suffer the cold more knowledgeably, just as with global warming we feel knowledgeably warmer. Ours is, after all, a suggest-ible species.

Personal Climate Change—effected by refrigerated environments, inten-sified by thin, weightless, sleeveless clothing and hatless heads—predisposes Americans to warm to the concern about global warming. It feels true.

Climate change and ourair-conditioned lives

Special report gets kudosfrom industry analyst

Support the Philippine Coast Guard

By Alan D. MutterLos Angeles Times/TNS

AFTER staff cuts at regional newspapers reduced report-ing in Davidson County,

North Carolina, veteran journalist David Boraks in 2009 started an on-line site to fill the void. Last month Boraks shut it down, telling his read-ers, “Alas, we haven’t turned it into a sustainable business.”

The demise of DavidsonNews.net is far from unique. One of every four news start-ups has failed, according to a survey I conducted.

My methodology was simple. I looked up all 141 ventures listed in the Columbia Journalism Review’s (CJR) Guide to Online News Start-ups, which dates back to 2010. Then I counted the number that either were defunct or had not published any new content since 2014.

Because CJR depends on entre-preneurs to list their efforts, not all start-ups—or eventual crackups—are included. But the CJR sample is big and diverse enough to alarm anyone who cares about the future of news, and especially those who hope that grassroots digital efforts

eventually can replace traditional lo-cal news-gathering operations.

There is nothing less than a cri-sis in local reporting. Newspapers still employ more than half of the 70,000 journalists covering local affairs in the United States, accord-ing to the Pew Research Center. Yet, since 2000, the nation’s newspapers have eliminated one-third of news-room jobs, according to a survey by the American Society of News Editors. The cutbacks result from a dramatic and traumatic drop in newspaper-advertising revenues, which have plunged by more than half since hitting an all-time high of $49 billion in 2005.

The absence of local coverage is evi-dent in places like Davidson County. “At many town meetings, I am the only reporter [and sometimes the only citi-zen] in the room,” Boraks said, when he launched his site six years ago. Now it’s unlikely he will regularly attend those meetings. Who will keep tabs on public officials?

DavidsonNews.net joins such idled efforts as A2 Politico in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which has not been updated since 2013, and Yadkin Val-ley Sports in North Carolina, whose

Web address leads to a place-holder site with no content whatsoever.

The toll of the departed also includes such high-profile, well-funded and ill-managed ventures as the Chicago News Cooperative and the Bay Citizen in Northern California. A late-breaking addition is the Bold Italic, a recently discon-tinued effort in San Francisco that had been funded by Gannett as a digital-innovation laboratory.

Although my survey did not delve into the circumstances contributing to the demise of each of the various news ventures, the cause of death in most cases likely was the one cited by Boraks in his farewell message:

“We’ve been unable to sell enough advertising to local businesses to sus-tain the sites, to pay me and, lately, to pay our staff. At the same time, voluntary support from readers—which has always been limited—has dropped off.”

Of course, far more new busi-nesses fail than succeed, including start-ups in such cash-rich fields as technology. But many news ven-tures are handicapped because they focus less on developing viable busi-ness models than on the cherished

journalistic mission of afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted. The Pew Center found that nearly a third of news start-ups spend less than 10 percent of their staff time on business devel-opment, while more than half say such activities occupy between 10 percent and 24 percent of their time. By contrast, 85 percent of the ventures say editorial tasks consume at least half of their time.

Unless and until people running news sites take the business of their businesses as seriously as they take their journalism, the failures will continue. Of course, the failures could continue anyway, because the most intractable problem for news ventures may be a hopeless reluc-tance in the marketplace to pay for what journalists do.

Although Boraks, for one, clearly was intent on building a sustain-able business, he could not generate enough support among readers and advertisers. Even dedicated journal-ists can’t afford to work for nothing. As rewarding as his start-up experi-ence was, Borak signed off his news site by saying: “We’re in debt, we’re exhausted and it’s time to go.”

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

MAIL

Why news sites keep failing

A8

2ndFront PageBusinessMirror

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

Canada wants to speed up FTA talks with PHL

By Catherine N. Pillas

Ottawa is hoping to begin exploratory talks with Manila on the proposed free-

trade agreement (Fta) between the Philippines and Canada this year, Canadian ambassador to the Philippines Neil Reeder said on tuesday. “Both countries are now looking at dates for exploratory discussions for a possible FTA; and we’re go-ing to determine the scope of the agreement, the degree of ambition on both sides and the sectors of in-terest. We’d like to advance discus-sions in this administration,” said Reeder during a lunch with mem-

bers of the media.  The ambassador said the Philip-pines-Canada FTA would be benefi-cial for the business communities of both nations, as the Philippines can serve as the “gateway” to the rest of Asean for Canadian firms. “We do not have any FTA with any Asean nation as of the moment. We

have 11 FTAs with other countries, but in Asean, we’re only in explora-to-ry talks [aside from the Philip-pines] with Thailand. We see great opportu-nity with the Philippines, and we’re glad that the Department of Trade and Industry decided to open this up for discussion,” Reeder added.  Considering the market access and substantial export boost that an FTA will provide, Reeder said he hopes that the first session of explor-atory talks can take place this year.  Reeder added that Canada is ready to help the Philippines in boosting the capacity of its trade-negotiating panel. He said the Philippines may encounter “capacity issues” in un-dertaking FTA negotiations, as the Philippines is now also eager to con-clude several bilateral FTAs. If the Philippines moves forward with an FTA, the North American country will give the country access

to its Canadian Trade and Develop-ment Facility (CTDF).  The CTDF is extended by Canada to countries it is negotiating an FTA with to help them in training trade negotiators and other manpower needs. The facility comes with an undisclosed financial support.  As a step toward concluding an FTA, the Philippines and Canada are also going to upgrade their Foreign Investment Promotion and Protec-tion Agreement (Fipa).  The Philippines-Canada Fipa has not been updated since 1996. In-creased investments will ensue after an FTA is concluded, thus, entailing the need for better schemes to pro-tect investments, Reeder explained. The Fipa between the Philippines and Canada is aimed at protecting one country’s trade and investment from domestic policies. Bilateral trade with Canada stood at C$1.8 billion in 2014.

times as much as the 16-percent growth in gen-erating capacity over the same period, according to latest government data. The 414-megawatt (MW) San Gabriel plant—the first of three gas-fired generators First Gen wants to add—is already funded and will be operational next year. This will be followed by two plants with total capacity of 800 MW, which will be completed

in 2018 and 2021, respectively, Puno said. First Gen’s existing two gas-fired power plants have 1,500 MW in combined capacity. Avion, a 97-MW plant that will run on Malam-paya gas, will start operating in August. With the additional natural gas-fired plants, the planned liquefied natural-gas (LNG) termi-nal may eventually be expanded, Puno said. First

Gen is in talks with suppliers who source LNG from Australia, the Middle East and North America, he said. Again, he declined to name any of the party as the talks are private. First Gen plans to also double its generating capacity in the southern island of Mindanao in the next five years by adding 100 MW of hydroelectric capacity, Puno said. Bloomberg News

First Gen talking to potential partners. . . Continued from A1

‘Grexit’. . . Continued from A1

Coloma noted that “reserves are at historic highs; our external debt are long-dated and now down to 15 percent of GDP [gross domestic product].” He added: “Our current account has been in a surplus for 13 straight years. Our banks are better capitalized, and the economy is more diversified than ever.” Given its stable macroeconomic fun-damentals, Coloma assured the Philippine economy is now much stronger and could withstand potential shocks. The Palace’s view was echoed by Asia United Bank Vice President for Fixed Income Desk/ Treasury Group Aldwin Christian Ang. Ang said that, given the country’s relatively limited exposure in Greece, they don’t think the Greek crisis will be an issue for the Philippines. “As a trade partner, definitely no. If you look at Greece and its relationship to Europe and its relationship to the rest of world, Greece is a small country. It does not export that much. Much of its economy is driven by tourism. We don’t think that there’s going to be an issue,” he told the BusinessMirror. “The only issue that we are actually wary of, and that’s why we don’t have a lot of exposure to Greece and we don’t have a lot of exposure in the euro zone, is the secondary-derivative impacts of those,” he said. If one bank that may have an exposure there will have a problem, basically the financial system freezes up. Because of regulations, the global investment banks are limited in terms of taking on risk. “From the treasury perspective, from the buying and selling of investment securities—the liquidity isn’t there anymore. It’s not as liquid as before; that’s the problem. There’s abrupt shock and impact on asset prices, but, in terms of fundamental impact of Greece [on the Philippines], we don’t think so,” he said. Bank of the Philippine Islands CFO and Head of Enterprise Services Group Joseph Gotuaco said in an earlier interview that the Greece default could affect the sentiment of foreign investor toward the Philippines. He said they worry a bit because Greece’s impending default may impact on the appetite of foreign investors to invest in emerging markets.

“If Greece has an ugly default, it will tar countries like us. Investors might say I don’t want to go to emerging markets anymore. But the Philippines will do well, even if worse happens in Greece. I think the Philippine growth story is very strong; the remittance will not stop; and business- process outsourcing is doing well,” he added. Economic analyst and Political Science professor at De La Salle University Richard Heydarian said any impact of the Greece crisis on the Philippines will be secondary, since the country has relatively limited economic linkages with the European nation. “An impending Greek default or total euro exit, a prospect that is seen as increasingly likely, will send shock waves throughout capital markets and may significantly impact larger economies in Europe, particularly Italy, as well as have other derivative deleterious effect on major economies in North America and Asia, which have robust linkages with the Philippines,” he told the BusinessMirror. “It remains to be seen how far Brussels and Germany will go to avoid a ‘Grexit,’ but global stock markets are already showing reversals, while desperate measures, such as capital controls, are being imposed on Greece to avoid a rundown on its financial markets. The situation is dire, and could get even more dramatic if the ongoing brinkmanship between Athens and euro-zone countries and Troika continues,” he added. US stocks dropped sharply on Monday and global markets plummeted even more as the crisis between Greece and its euro-zone creditors edged toward a financial cliff for the nation. Major US indexes lost more than 2 percent, and European markets fell more than 3 percent, as investors shifted into safer assets, mainly US and German bonds, until the Greek debt drama resolves itself with a default, a deal or an extension. Without an extension, the Greek govern-ment is expected to default on a $1.8-billion payment on Tuesday on its bailout from European creditors and the International Monetary Fund. With MCT