BusinessMirror November 12, 2015

By Bianca Cuaresma 

The country’s growth is set for a smooth sailing until the end of the year, as no sudden upticks

in inflation or economic shocks are expected in the last run of the econ-omy for the remainder of 2015. With this, regulators continue to adopt a wait-and-see stance taking into con-sideration global developments, an international economist said. In particular, the country’s GDP growth is still likely to hit circa 5 percent in the last two quarters of the year; inflation will still remain muted; the local currency is set to

end the year broadly at a level where it is now; and the central bank is like-ly to hold all policy rates at current levels for the year, hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (hSBC) economist Joseph Incalcaterra told reporters on Wednesday. GDPInCalCaTerra said that, while its forecast for the country is at circa 5- percent growth at the end of the year, it is still a “good outcome” relative to the slowing growth of the global economy, particularly in the region.  In his latest research note on the

By Catherine N. Pillas

The Philippines and australia should consider forging a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTa) to enable them to max-

imize the benefits of the forthcoming asean economic integration, businessmen belonging to the australian-new Zealand Chamber of Commerce (anzcham) said. Tom Grealy, president of anzcham, said australian companies can use the Philippines as their staging point or regional hub for

their Southeast asian expansion in growth sectors, as well as in harnessing asean value chains. “By gaining greater access to the Philippine market as a regional base, australian firms can access regional value chains while creating jobs in the Philippines,” Grealy said. The need to forge a Manila-Canberra FTa was validated by a study conducted by the anzcham, titled “Winning the asean Market: Impact of the asean economic Community (aeC) on austra-lian and Philippine Business relations.”

The report concluded that a bilateral economic-partnership agreement between the two countries would further the growth of two-way trade and investment between australia and the Philippines. It said the aeC, set to begin in January, highlighted the advantages of creating a deeper and broader economic partnership between the two countries. The study specified that there are ripe opportunities in goods, such as agricul-tural, processed food, spirits and beverage

products; pharmaceuticals, generics and supplements, manufacturing and electrical components and machinery; metals, copper, precious stones and coins, minerals, oils, ani-mal and vegetables fats, fuels and distillation products; and optical, photo, technical and medical apparatus. It also identified opportunities in the ser-vices sector, such as transnational education, travel, transport and logistics; engineering and architectural design services; financial

Continued on A2

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PESO ExchanGE ratES n US 47.2100 n jaPan 0.3833 n UK 71.3862 n hK 6.0909 n chIna 7.4208 n SInGaPOrE 33.1951 n aUStralIa 33.1974 n EU 50.6233 n SaUDI arabIa 12.5890 Source: BSP (11 November 2015)

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House works overtime to OK salary hike for state workers

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Australian firms want Canberra to forge bilateral trade deal with Manila

The Organi-zation of the Petroleum ex-

porting Countries (Opec) is consider-ing raising its official production target at its next meeting on December 4 to take into account new member Indone-sia, according to two Opec delegates. The production ceiling may be raised by 1 million barrels a day to 31 million bar-rels, the delegates said, asking not to be iden-tified because the dis-cussions are private. a change doesn’t imply higher production, be-cause the Opec, itself, said it pumped 31.57 million barrels a day in September. The Southeast asian nation’s reen-try after a break of almost seven years comes at a time when the Opec has abandoned its traditional role in support-ing prices, as it seeks to defend market share against supplies from US shale drillers and other rivals. The Opec will now have 13 members, led by Saudi arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter. Indonesia suspended its membership in 2009, after becoming a net oil importer. It pumped 852,000 barrels a day in 2014 and consumed al-most twice as much, according to BP Plc. Indonesian energy Minister Sudirman Said confirmed in an interview in Doha on Monday that the Opec has accepted his country’s return to the group. Opec Secretary-General abdalla el-Badri said in Doha on

Monday the decision will be formally announced at the December 4 meeting. Indonesia will become a net importer of crude by 2020 as the country plans to add new refinery capac-ity, according to a BMI research report in October. The country’s energy minister went to riyadh on Monday, as Saudi arabia and Indonesia neared an agreement to build their first jointly owned refinery in the Pacific country. The refinery is tentatively planned to have ca-pacity of 300,000 barrels a day, with the contract signing expected by the end of this year, Said said on Monday. Bloomberg News

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz & David Cagahastian

MeMbers of the House of representatives—without questioning the evident lack

of quorum—on Wednesday opened for second-reading deliberations the proposed salary standardization Law (ssL) of 2015, with the intention of passing the Malacañang-certified measure—from the committee level to third reading—in just one day. The bill was passed on second read-ing at about 7:40 p.m. The lawmakers, however, decided not to proceed to the third and final reading because the certification from Malacañang that it should be passed in a day of deliberations did not arrive. The 1987 Constitution allows

Congress to dispense with the consti-tutional requirement of three read-ings on separate days for any bill to be passed. But with the Palace’s urgent certification, Congress can approve a bill on second and third reading during the same day.  

services, including insurance, ac-counting and actuarial services; information-technology consulting and management services; health and medical services; advertising and marketing, business-process management, creative services, and infrastructure. The three recommendations highlighted by the Anzcham presi-dent are support to Australian firms through access to Asean value chains; a bilateral economic partnership to cement market access; and to push the removal of barriers that hin-der entry and growth of foreign businesses and investments. With over 300 members, Anz-cham is the premier business or-ganization supporting the devel-opment and growth of Australian and New Zealand businesses in the Philippines. The AEC study was undertaken with funding support from the Aus-tralian Trade Commission’s Asian Business Engagement Plan. The study assessed the poten-tial impacts of AEC on Australia-Philippines trade and investment relations, focusing on opportuni-ties for Australian business un-der an AEC regime, and provides guidance to Australian industries by identifying possible business opportunities arising from the Asean integration. 

BusinessMirror [email protected] Thursday, November 12, 2015 A2

NewsHouse works overtime to OK salary hike for state workers. . . Continued from A1

Philippines, Incalcaterra said the country is likely to grow by 5.7 per-cent for the entire year. This is below the government’s target of 7 percent to 8 percent for the year.  Several economists and research institutions have earlier scaled down their forecast for the country fol-lowing the slower-than-expected growth in the first half of the year. T he Ph i l ippine St at ist ics Authority will be announcing the third-quarter GDP expansion of the country at the end of the month. Currently, the country’s GDP growth sits at 5.3 percent in the first half of the year, down from the 6.2 percent in the first semester of last year. InflationINCAlCATErrA also said inflation in the country may have bottomed out for the year, after seeing several months of below 1-percent average rise in prices in the previous months. But the economist said the Philip-pines may see another month of low inflation before seeing significant pick-up due to upside risks entering 2016, particularly El Niño’s effect on the country’s agricultural production. He expressed confidence, mean-while, that inflation will get back to the 2-percent to 4-percent target range next year, as it is set to miss the same target band this year. At present, the inflation average for the first 10 months of the year is at 1.45 percent. This means that for inflation to hit the bottom-end of the target, it must push to 4.75 percent in the last two months of the year. PesoMEANWHIlE, for the local currency, the economist said the peso will no longer fall further, as any bout of vola-tility toward the year end will be mod-erated by the strong dollar inflows from remittances in the country. On Wednesday, the peso hit 46.95 to a dollar, appreciating strongly from the previous day’s 47.26 to a dollar. The total traded volume dur-ing the day was at $753.7 million. Incalcaterra said the peso would likely end the year at 47.10 to a dollar. Monetary policyIN terms of monetary policy, the economist reiterated its forecast that the BSP will retain its current stance up the end of the year. Incalcaterra also lauded the BSP’s ability to provide forward guidance to the market. The BSP will be hav-ing its seventh and second-to-the-last monetary-policy setting meet-ing  for the year on Thursday. 

The measure will modify the com-pensation and position-classification system of civilian government person-nel and the base-pay schedule of mili-tary and uniformed personnel. Majority Leader and Liberal Par-ty Rep. Neptali M. Gonzales II and Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations Rep. Isidro T. Ungab of Davao City said the lower chamber in-tended to approve House Bill 6268 at least on second reading on Wednesday. As of press time, the bill, princi-pally authored by Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte Jr. and Gonzales of Manda-luyong, was under the period of inter-pellation. Ungab said they have been waiting for the SSL since last week, as the Department of Budget and Manage-ment (DBM) had promised during the budget hearings to provide the salary-adjustment details. On Wednesday morning Ungab’s committee approved the SSL in just one hearing. “I believe this is good news to all employees of the government, from the highest official to those lowest ranked. I think there will only be one hearing on it because I’m sure everyone supports the proposal. I don’t see any objection to it,” he said. According to Ungab, the first round of the salary-standardization scheme will be implemented next year and will require a total funding of P57.9 billion.

Funding requirementsOF this amount, the lawmaker said P50.4 billion has already been earmarked in the 2016 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which the House approved on third and final reading in October before adjournment. The balance of P7.5 billion will come from adjustments they will make in the bicameral conference committee, or from the Pension and Gratuity Fund. “Most likely, the GAA and the SSL will be passed altogether after the bi-cameral committee approval, or when both houses have ratified the budget [measure],” Ungab said. Ungab added that the funding re-quirements for the succeeding com-pensation adjustments shall have the following budgetary requirements: sec-

ond tranche, P54.3 billion; third tranche, P65.9 billion; and fourth tranche, P47.5 billion. The bill provides that the Com-pensation and Position Classification System shall apply to all civilian gov-ernment personnel in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, con-stitutional commissions and other con-stitutional offices, government-owned or -controlled corporations not covered by Republic Act (RA) 10149, and local government units. It shall cover gov-ernment personnel, whether regular, contractual or casual, appointive or elec-tive; and on full-time or part-time basis. Under the new SSL, those under Sal-ary Grade (SG) 1 who are now receiving P9,000 per month, will get P9,478 per month under Step 1 of the first tranche, P9,981 under the second tranche, P10,510 under the third tranche, and P11,068 under the final tranche. Those in the highest level of SG 33, who are presently receiving P120,000/month will get P160,000/month, in the first tranche, P215,804 in the second tranche, P289,4010 in the third tranche and P388,096 in the final tranche. The bill said it is the declared policy of the state to provide all government personnel a just and equitable compen-sation in accordance with the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. Belmonte said the measure aims primarily to raise the pay of the govern-ment personnel to be competitive with the market, and thereby attract and re-tain capable and committed personnel. “It also aims to strengthen the link between pay and performance through an enhanced performance-based bonus system, temper the cost of benefit while maximizing the benefits of employ-ees, and allow higher take-home pay, especially for government personnel belonging to the lower salary grades,” the Speaker said.

Word warBUDGET Secretary Florencio B. Abad on Tuesday figured in a debate with Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio of Alliance of Concerned Teachers, after the law-maker opposed the 2015 SSL. According to Tinio, the proposed salary hike would only result in a P551 increase per year in the salaries of

teachers under SG 11. Tinio added the increase of teachers’, as well as nurses’, salary to P20,754 from the current pay of P18,549 amounted to a raise of only 11.9 percent, and not 45 percent, as claimed by the government. On the other hand, Abad said Tinio’s claim was “biased,” saying: “I don’t think the presentation is complete. The 11.89 percent is only the salary increase…huwag natin sabihing 11.89 percent be-cause you’re also going to get mid-year [bonus] and performance-based bonus [PBB]. Let’s be factual about it.” Take-home payMEANWHILE, during the hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abad said for every 10 government em-ployees, five will get a higher take-home pay under the proposed SSL 2015 due to the new tax-free bonuses. “Under the SSL 2015, five in every 10 civilian personnel will receive their full midyear bonus and their full PBB be-cause these additional benefits will be tax-free. And eight in every 10 civilian personnel will receive their full midyear bonus tax-free. This is because under RA 10653, gross benefits, such as the 13th-month pay and other benefits not exceeding P82,000, shall be tax-exempt. This means the majority of employees will enjoy a higher take-home pay as a result of adjustments under SSL 2015,” Abad said. According to Abad, the majority pertains to 52 percent of all authorized civilian positions, or 606,454 employees in SG 1-11. “These employees will receive not only their existing tax-exempt 13th-month pay, personnel economic relief allowance, cash gift and performance-enhanced incentive, they will also get their full mid-year bonus and PBB tax-free,” he said. Moreover, he said employees with SG 12 to 16 numbering 364,489, or 31 per-cent of all authorized civilian positions, who receive their existing tax-exempt 13th-month pay, cash gift and other perks, will get their full midyear bonus tax-free. Abad said the proposed SSL 2015, which the DBM submitted to Con-gress on Monday, will raise the com-pensation of the 1.53 million govern-

ment personnel by up to 45 percent.

Inflation-neutral“IT will be implemented in four tranches over four years starting January 2016. Upon full implementation, SSL 2015 will bring the compensation of all govern-ment workers to at least 70 percent of market rate,” he said. “SSL 2015 is almost inflation-neutral. We also estimate that the impact of GDP growth is positive, adding 0.022 percent to growth in 2016, 0.05 percent in 2017 and 0.09 percent in 2018,” Abad said. The budget chief also pointed out that, though the proposed SSL 2015 will be effective on January 1, 2016, current high officials will not enjoy its benefits as the compensation adjustment for the salaries of the President, the Vice Presi-dent, and the members of Congress and the Cabinet will take effect only on July 1, 2016. According to Section 10 of Article VI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, “No increase in said compensation shall take effect until after the expiration of the full term of all the members of the Senate and the House of Representa-tives approving such increase.” On the other hand, Section 6 of Article VII states: “No increase in said compensation shall take effect until after the expiration of the term of the incumbent during which such increase was approved.”

Boost to consumptionFINANCE Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said the increase in the purchasing power of the huge number of govern-ment employees will result in higher consumption levels that can stimulate an economy that is mostly driven by consumption. The government is the single-big-gest employer in the country, with total state employees ballooning from only about 1 million in 2008 to the current 1.53 million workers who stand to ben-efit from a bill endorsed by President Aquino to Congress and is expected to take effect by January 2016. This does not include the 191,988 unfilled positions in the government, many of which require highly technical skills that are valued at a premium by the private sector, both here and abroad.

According to Abad, the salaries of government workers will be gradually increased during the next four years, resulting in an overall hike of 45 percent from this year’s level by the end of the fourth year.

No fiscal problem THE government is targeting to keep the middle-level government workers in its employ by increasing their salaries to put them on a par with the salary levels in the private sector, although even those employees with lower salary grades will benefit from the bill. Beltran, the Department of Finance chief economist, said the P226-billion proposed salary increase, which will be released in four tranches, is not ex-pected to strain the government’s bud-get, nor the revenue-collection efforts. “Since the deficit of the national govern-ment is very low at 0.2 percent of GDP as of September--and automatic with- holding system will even boost revenue col-lection—there is no expected fiscal problem arising from this measure,” he said. The government’s fiscal deficit target for the year remains at 2 percent of GDP, which translates to around P210 billion.

Drilon files counterpart billSENATE President Franklin Drilon, mean-while, filed Senate Bill 3009, which man-dates a weighted average increase of 45 percent in the total compensation of all government personnel over a four-year period. “The economy is in the right course and we will take advantage of the favor-able condition to raise the pay scheme in the government and align it with the compensation received by employees from the private sector,” Drilon said. “It is about time that we adjust the salaries of the hardworking men and women who have helped the government to fulfill its mandates to the people,” he added. The bill is co-authored by Finance Committee Chairman Loren Legarda. Drilon said the Senate targets to pass the measure before the year is over. He is confident that with the support of both houses of Congress, employees, except for incumbent elected national officials, will be able to enjoy the new salary pack-age starting on January 1. With PNA

Economy. . . Continued from A1

Australian. . . Continued from A1

BusinessMirrorThursday, November 12, 2015A4

TheBroaderLookGovt sets strict security measures for Apec summit

Indeed, in a country that isplagued by terrorism, other high-profile crimes and even too muchactivism,securityisforemostdur-ingthegathering.Infact,onecaneven declare that the success ofthe meeting rests upon the effec-tiveness of the security blanketthrownaroundthedignitaries. Theimportanceofsecuritycan-notbeoveremphasized,withnolessthantheNationalPolicechief,Direc-torGeneralRicardoMarquez,actingasthenationaltaskforcecommand-eronsecurity,toensurethatheisontop of every detail despite oversee-ing the country’s overall peace andordersituation. FortheNationalPolicespokes-man, Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor,nextweek’sactivitieswouldbetheculminationof12monthsofstrat-egizing, readjustments and evencontinued practice in the securitymeasures to be implemented us-ingat least30,000people, includ-ingpolicemenandsoldiers,fromatleast20agencies. “DirectorGeneralMarquezwantszeroincident,”Mayordeclared. Hesaidthesuccessivemeetingsof the Apec threw the governmentinto its biggest security work in 20years when it hosted similar meet-ingsin1996,theyearthattheApecsummitwasheldinthePhilippines. The final gathering, which isthe Economic Leaders’ Meeting,will be held on  November 18 and19, whilethepenultimateactivity,which is the Ministerial Meetingthatwillbeheldfortwodaysaheadof the last meeting, will close thecountry’s yearlong hosting of theApecmeetings. Twenty-one heads of econo-mies, including US PresidentBarack Obama and Russian Presi-dentVladimirPutin,areexpectedto attend the Economic Leaders’Meeting.

Task groupsMAYORsaidthat,inordertograp-plewiththehugetaskofensuringthe security of the delegates, thegovernmenthasorganizedseveraltaskgroupsthatwillcovereveryaspect of security—emergencypreparedness, peace and order,security, diplomatic, delegates,hotel billet—and measures incase of calamities and disasters,amongothers. “Itevenincludedfire,”hesaid. Mayor said that when PopeFrancis visited the country, theysecuredonlyonedignitary,but intheApecsummit,theyhavetose-cure21headsofeconomiesandanadditional200dignitaries. In all of the hotels where thedelegates would be billeted, thegovernment has drawn a securitypackagewheresecurityteamswereorganized tomantraffic,dohotelsecurity, provide dignitary securi-ty,performquickresponse,crowdcontrol, emergency response,search and rescue, parking andeventacticaloperations. “Everything is covered,” May-orsaid. “Wedodryruns,tabletopex-ercise and simulations. We havecritiquesineveryevent,sothatwecanadjustorimproveifitisneed-ed.TheNationalPolice chiefhim-selfsupervisesallofthesethings,”headded.

Traffic, enclosuresINordertoensurefoolproofsecu-

rityforthedelegatesandevenforthe twin meetings, the govern-ment has decided to close bothnorthboundandsouthboundlanesofRoxasBoulevardtotrafficfromNovember16 to20. Also,allroadsaroundtheMallofAsiawillbeclosedtotrafficdur-ingthesameperiod. Thegovernmentsaidin“areaswhereroadsarenotclosed,trafficwillbestoppedwheneverdelegateswillpassandresumedoncethedel-egateshavegonethrough.” Likewise, only Apec vehiclesare allowed to use the innermostlanesofEpifaniodelosSantosAv-enueduringthefive-dayperiod. “Truckbanwillbeimplement-ed along Roxas Boulevard duringthe said period,” the governmentalsosaid. A no-fly zone will also beobserved in all terminals of theNinoy Aquino International Air-porton November17,19and20. Ontheotherhand,watersneartheApecvenues,suchastheCultur-alCenterofthePhilippinesandthePhilippineInternationalConventionCenter,willbe“off-limits”tovessels,affectingManilaBay. Mayor said that even cellulartelephonesignalsmaybeoccasion-allyinterrupted. “We are advising that in case[it happens], we should be ready,”hesaid. “In this particular event,please expect inconvenience,” headded, noting it irregularly hap-pens,anditisevenforthegoodofthecountry.

Rallies and protestsALTHOUGHtheDepartmentoftheInteriorandLocalGovernmenthasalready issued reminders about thelawonthe“nopermit,norally,”thepolice are still expecting that somegroupswillstageralliesinexerciseofthefreedomofexpression. But Mayor said mass actionsshould be conducted within theboundsoflaw. “We recognize freedom of ex-pression,provideditshouldnotprej-udicetherightsofothers,”hesaid. “We appeal to the public, totherallyists,tocooperatewiththegovernmentbecausethisonlyhap-pensin20years,”Mayoradded. Still,thepolicewouldexercisemaximum tolerance in dealingwithgroups. “Thereshouldbenoviolence,”Mayorsaid. “With the cooperation of thepublic, the burden of the govern-mentwillbelessened,”headded.

MMDA preparationsCHAIRMAN Emerson Carlos ofthe Metropolitan Manila Devel-opment Authority (MMDA) saidthat, since last week, the agencyhasbeenconductingsimulationson traffic scenarios and condi-

tionsof routestobeusedbytheheadsofstateattendingtheApec. Carlos said all is set for thetraffic,communicationsandemer-gency preparedness for the Apecleaders’ meeting, and that around2,500MMDApersonnelwillbeas-signedmainlyalongEdsaandRox-asBoulevard,aswellasaroundtheairportterminals. Aspartofsecurityandtrafficpreparations, the construction ofmajor infrastructure projects willbe stopped two days before the

summit. These are Ninoy AquinoInternational Airport Expresswayproject,SkywayextensionandAy-alaBridge. To make sure that Apec del-egateswillnotgetstuck inMetroManila’s traffic, he said,  someroadswillbepartlyorfullyclosedfornon-Apecvehicles. He added  that a stop-and-go scheme will be implementedalong portions of Edsa, RoxasBoulevard,SkywayandSouthLu-zonExpressway.

Under this scheme, all trafficwillbestoppedwheneverApecve-hiclesarepassingthrough. Carlos said the agency’s per-sonnelhavealreadyplacedthou-sands of plastic barriers andcones along the stretch of EdsaandRoxasBoulevard inprepara-tionfortheevent. “Now, with the help of theApec National Organizing Com-mittee and Committee on Peaceand Order and Emergency Pre-paredness, of which the MMDA

andtheHighwayPatrolGrouparemembers,wearereadyfortheApec[summit],”Carlosdeclared. Carlos said he is constantlycommunicating with Cabinet Sec-retary Jose Rene Almendras andthe HPG commander, Chief Supt.Arnold Gunnacao, regarding Apecpreparations.

Nonworking daysALTHOUGH Malacañang has de-clared the Apec duration as non-workingdays,Carlossaidthereare

By Rene Acosta & Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco 

WHEN the 21 leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) group

gather in Manila next week, the government’s security measures will be tested.

A policemAn passes by a huge hashtag sign installed at the Quirino Grandstand on Roxas Boulevard in manila. Thousands of policemen are set to be deployed to keep peace and order for the upcoming Apec summit. ALYSA SALEN

A police officer gives orders to his men as they practice security deployment on Sunday for the upcoming Apec summit in manila. AP/AAroN FAviLA

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TheBroaderLookA5

Govt sets strict security measures for Apec summit

stillsomeemployeesofcompanies,especially business-process out-sourcing firms, who continue toreportforwork. “Trafficwillstillbeaproblem…becauseprivatesectorisstillthere[theyhavenotdeclaredholidays],”hesaid. During the Apec summit, thetwoinnerlanesofEdsa,stretchingfrom Shaw Boulevard in Manda-luyong City all the way to Mall ofAsiainPasayCity,willbeexclusivefortheuseofApecdelegates. For his part, Almendras re-newedhisappeal tothepublic forunderstanding for some inconve-nienceduringtheApecsummit. “They [Apec delegates] havetheirownprotocols…theyareusedtoacertainamountofsecurityandleniency and flexibility. Thereby,thatprotocolissomethingwehaveto give to them when they comehere….Ihavebeensayingtomediain all of my interviews, our ApeclaneistobeusedbydelegatesalongEdsa but when a very importantperson is passing through, therewillbeabsoluteclosures,”hesaid. “I am appealing to all themotorists, all the people. We arehostingaverybigevent.Somanyimportant people that we need tomakesurearegoingtobesafeandcan move around normally in awaytheyareabletomove.Sowereally like to appeal, if you don’treally have to do anything abso-lutelyurgentintheseareas,thenbetter not to…although somestreetswillbeopened,butifthere’samovementthenwewillcloseit,”Almendrassaid. Such total road closures willlastatleast30minutes,headded.

Road closureTHE Manila District Traffic En-forcement Unit-Manila TrafficParking Bureau said road closurewill be implemented from 12:01a.m. on November 16 to 12 mid-night  of November 20 in the fol-lowingareas: n Stretch of Roxas Boulevardnorth and southbound lane from

Katigbak Drive to Pablo OcampoStreet; n Stretch of Roxas Boulevardservice road from Santa MonicaStreettoP.Ocampo; n Stretch of Quirino Avenue,fromRoxasBoulevardtoAdriaticoStreet; n Stretch of Century ParkStreet from Adriatico to MabiniStreet;nStretchofMabinifromP.Ocam-potoQuirino; nSouthboundlaneofAdriati-cofromQuirinotoCenturyPark; n Stretch of P. Ocampo fromAdriatico to Roxas Boulevard; n Stretch of Marcelo H. delPilarStreet fromSantaMonica toMalvarStreet; n Stretch of Pedro Gil Street,from Roxas Boulevard to Mabini.

ReroutingALL vehicles coming from thenorthernpartofManilaPierzoneintending to utilize the south-bound lane of Roxas Boulevardshall turn left toP.BurgosStreet,righttoMariaOrosaStreetorTaftAvenuetopointofdestination. nAllvehiclescomingfromthesouthernpartofManilaintendingto utilize the northbound lane ofRoxasBoulevardshallturnrighttoBuendia Avenue, turn left to TaftAvenuetopointofdestination. n All vehicles utilizing P.Ocampo coming from Taft shallturnright toAdriatico, turnrightto Leveriza Street to Quirino Av-enuetopointofdestination. n All vehicles traveling west-bound lane of Quirino Avenuecoming from Osmeña Highway(Plaza Dilao) area going to RoxasBoulevardshallturnrightorlefttoTaftAvenuetopointofdestination; n All vehicles coming fromdelPilarStreetintendingtoutilizeRoxasBoulevardshall turn left toQuirino Avenue going to Taft Av-enuetotheirpointofdestination. Totally no parking on RoxasBoulevard service road from Te-odoroM.KalawtoPresidentQuiri-nowillbeimplemented.

MMDA app and bikes for ApecTHE MMDA will use new high-performance motorcycles for thesecurity and traffic managementpersonnel who will be deployedduringthesummit. Therecentlypurchased10newSuzuki Bandit 750 motorcycleswillbeusedbyhigh-rankingoffi-cialswhowillparticipateinApec,aswellaspartofcomplyingwithinternationalconventionsontheprotection of visiting heads ofstate. The new 10-bike fleet will bejoined by two previously acquiredDucati Monster 795s, which theMMDA first used during the visitofPopeFrancisinJanuary. The Ducati bikes cost aroundP500,000 each, while the Suzukiswere procured by the MMDA at aslightlylowerprice. From the airport, the Apecconvoys would be using Skywaywhereonlymotorbikeswith400ccengines or higher are allowed,hencetheMMDA’soldfleetofmo-torcycles and scooters would sim-plynotdo. Meanwhile,Carlossaidsome60 traffic constables have al-ready undergone training inusing an app for emergency re-sponse and roadside assistancetoensurethesmoothflowoftraf-ficduringtheevent. He said that the tablets, do-nated by  Pure Force—a privatecompany providing emergency re-sponse and rescue solutions whodevelopedthePureForceCitizensApp—will also be used by emer-gency and traffic personnel of theagencyfordirectreportingintheirCommandCenter. “It would be easy for us torespond immediately, and allthe information sent to us willbe more accurate because it isaccompanied with pictures aswell,”Carlossaid. Hesaid200moretabletsareex-pectedtobegiventotheagency.Thetablets were turned over earlier byJomeritoSoliman,PureForcepresi-dentandchiefexecutiveofficer.

Number coding not liftedALTHOUGH Malacañang de-clared November 18 and 19 asspecialnonworkingholidays,thenumber-coding scheme will stillbe implementedduringthefour-daysummit. Carlossaidthatthe“number-coding”schemewillstilltakeeffectfromNovember16to20todecon-gestthemetropolis. Because of this, Carlos ap-pealed to motorists to cooperatefor the successful holding of theApecsummit. The MMDA, Carlos said, isexpecting heavy traffic near busterminalsinthemetropolisonNo-vember13,aspeopleareexpectedto go to provinces ahead of theApecsummit. Carlos said many people willstartgoingtoprovincesasearlyasNovember13foralongvacation. Malacañang declared Novem-ber18and19asspecialnonwork-ingholidays. It also announced that therewillbenoworkingovernmentof-fices from November 17 to 20, asthecountryhoststheApec meet. Exempted from the suspen-sionaregovernmentagenciesin-volved in basic services, securityandsafety,healthandemergencypreparedness and Apec-relatedactivities. TherewillalsobenoclassesinalllevelsinMetroManilafromNo-vember17to20. He said more people are ex-pectedto take the longApecholi-daysasanopportunitytogototheprovinces. Becauseofthis,Carloswarnedthattrafficmightbeheavyinareasnearbusterminalsandairports. He also said there might betrafficjamsinsomemallsinMet-ro Manila since November 13 isalsoapayday.

indiGenouS peoples, collectively known as lumad, display placards during a news conference on Friday to protest alleged moves by the government to evict them from their encampment during the 2015 Apec summit in manila. The lumad, who arrived from southern philippines two weeks ago, are protesting the alleged killings of three of their leaders by paramilitary forces, as well as increased military presence in their ancestral lands.AP/BuLLit MArquEz

Thursday, November 12, 2015 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

OpinionBusinessMirrorA6

In defense of bacon, hot dog, ham, tocino, salami and longganisa

editorial

The Western media dubbed October 26, 2015, as the “bacon freak-out day.” On this Monday, the World health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced that “there is convincing evidence” that eating bacon, salami, hot

dog, ham and other processed meats can increase the risk of cancer in humans. For Americans who eat far more bacon than what’s good for planet earth, the warning jars the pillars holding up the immortal words of homer (Simpson, not the other one): “Mmmmm. Bacon.”

As expected, the IARC report created a tsunami of panic among bacon, ham and hot-dog lovers. Who wouldn’t be alarmed when one sees newspaper headlines like this one in the Guardian: “Processed meats rank alongside smoking as cancer causes—WhO.”

The newspaper headline is accurate, because the IARC has, indeed, included processed meat in Group 1 of its cancer list, the highest tier reserved for established carcinogens—including sunlight, cigarettes, alcohol and asbestos. however, it does not mean that processed meat is as bad for you as smoking. Specifically, the IARC researchers found evidence that eating a 50-gram portion of processed meat daily (about one hot dog or two bacon strips) can increase a person’s relative risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent. Since a person’s lifetime risk of colorectal cancer is about 5 percent, daily meat consumption seems to boost that absolute risk by one percentage point to 6 percent (or 18 percent of the 5-percent lifetime risk).

Brad Plumer, who writes for Vox, tweeted a more precise figure: “If you ate a hot dog every single day, your lifetime risk of colorectal cancer would rise from ~4.5 percent to... ~5.3 percent.” 

In the same report, the IARC concluded that unprocessed red meat was “probably carcino-genic.” The evidence here is less definitive, but the IARC said that eating about 100 grams of unprocessed red meat a day (about one hamburger) seemed to increase the risk of colorectal cancer by about the same small amount.

ed Yong, writing for The Atlantic, scored the IARC report, saying that the classifications are based on strength of evidence, not degree of risk. “So, these classifications are not meant to con-vey how dangerous something is; just how certain we are that something is dangerous. It’s one thing to establish causality. It’s another thing entirely to tell us what the risks actually entail. Until then, what we have is a classic ivory-tower mentality: a group of academics who hole up in a room, make proclamations to the world, and ignore the chaos that consistently ensues. Perhaps, we need a separate classification scheme for scientific organizations that are ‘confusogenic to humans.’”

As Yong pointed out, the trouble is that the IARC uses a confusing scale for classifying car-cinogens. It tells us what can cause cancer, but not how big the risk is. In this case, “bacon causes cancer” does not mean that eating bacon will definitely give you cancer. It just means that eating bacon increases your risk of cancer by some small amount.

Given these facts, we ask: Does bacon cause cancer? Sure. Will bacon cause cancer in you? Probably not.

PhiliPPine stock-market investors have a bad attitude. By that, i mean they are like UFC champion fighter Ronda Rousey, who will not take nonsense from anyone, including

Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the case of local Philippine Stock exchange (PSe) investors, it is the government, stockbrokers, and economic and stock-market “experts” that are offering all the nonsense.

The fourth debate of Republican candidates started badly for the front-runner Donald Trump. he was booed when he put down John Kasich with his oft-repeated line that the

Ohio governor’s turnaround of his state’s economy was due to a windfall from fracking. That only gave Kasich an opening to give a granular enumeration of his achievements.

PSE investors have ‘bad’ attitude

Trump’s bad night

in 2015 the PSe was, in part, given back to local investors from the foreigners. Although it may be true that foreigners still do a significant, if not majority, amount of the daily trading on the exchange, this is what has happened.

We have been told that foreign-ers have been selling out of the PSe in the last months. That is true, based on what the net transactions of daily foreign buying and selling tell us. however, a closer look at for-eign ownership reveals something different. if you compare the total percentage of foreign ownership of many widely held issues between the end of 2014 and now, you see a small change. One particular is-sue has seen its foreign ownership drop by 1.5 percent. Another blue- chip stock has actually had foreign ownership increase this year by 1.5 percent.

So, how can we say foreigners are net sellers of the PSe, when the

percentage of foreign ownership has not changed?

let’s say, a foreign fund owned a billion pesos of shares at a price of P100 and sold those shares. if later, they bought back an equal number of shares when the stock price was P50, they would be “net sellers” of P500 million. however, the percent-age ownership of the company might not have changed at all, based on the number of shares outstanding and foreign owned.

For example, a company had 21- percent foreign ownership when the price was P4.50 and 21-percent ownership when the price recently went down to P3.40. Yet, net foreign selling in that six-month period was several billion pesos.

Unlike local stock-market “gurus and experts,” fund managers rarely average the purchase price down over the long term. While the “gurus” may have an unlimited amount of capital to do that, funds allocate a

he had another bad moment when he went off on a rant against the Trans-Pacific Partnership and its supposed benefits for China, only to be corrected by Sen. Rand Paul, who pointed out that China had no part in the deal.

The real-estate mogul tried to rally by answering a question about Syria, Ukraine and Russia with a boast that he could deal with President Vladimir Putin because they “were stablemates on  60 Minutes  and that went pretty well.” This time, he was put in his place by Carly Fiorina: “i’ve met him, as well, but it wasn’t in a green room before a show. it was a private meeting.”

Fiorina has become Trump’s nem-esis, putting him down at the second debate with the observation that ev-eryone everywhere heard his remarks about her face.    

in  Milwaukee  on Tuesday night, his irritation with her showed:  After Fiorina tried to talk over Paul, Trump jumped in to ask, “Why does she keep interrupting everybody.” That, too, elicited a hostile response from the crowd, which took her side against him.

Trump was all bombast, but in this debate it was those with substance who shined brightest—Kasich, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz (though he had a

certain percentage and amount of money from their total portfolio to a particular stock. They buy and, if the price goes down, they sell. They may buy again at a lower price and sell again if the price continues go-ing down, looking to get in at the price bottom.

investment funds are not going to put “fresh” money into a declin-ing market. But that does not mean that they are going to walk away, as we have been told, just because prices are going down.

however, it’s always new mon-ey coming into the market that increases prices higher or money shifted out of the “losers” into the “winners.” But based on the total performance of the PSe indexes since April, new money has not been coming in, and it has primar-ily been the locals that have been pulling money out of the PSe.

At this point, the only way the local stock market is going to go up is if locals bring new funds back in, and that has not been happening. Filipino investors have not been buy-ing the hype from the government, stock brokers, or the “experts” about economic fundamentals, corporate value, and how well the Philippines can handle “global headwinds.”

So, why aren’t Filipino investors excited about the prospects of stock prices going higher?

in my opinion, the government, in order to advance its May 2016 election agenda, is pushing too hard. if you elect a certain candi-date, the Philippines will become a

“First World nation” may be a good campaign slogan. But do you really want to “bet” your money in the stock market for that “First World” promise to happen?

Reading the newspapers, you might think that all of the Philip-pines’s problems, like a major drop in exports and potentially lower economic growth, are caused by “ex-ternal factors” like the lack of rain or problems in China. That may be true or not, but the “causes” of the potential problems are not impor-tant. You can ignore the causes of the problem but you cannot ignore the problem itself.

A slowdown in remittances, lower agricultural production and a pid-dling increase in government spend-ing may result in lower economic and corporate profit growth. That does not give investors the confidence to run out and buy shares in a stock market that is in a declining trend. The government and the experts may tell me that Santa Claus is coming to town, but i want to see the big bag full of toys before i put my money on the table.

it may be a “bad” attitude not to trust Old Saint nicholas, but that is what keeps you from losing money in the stock market.

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

Rick Perry-esque flub when he tried to list the government agencies he would kill off).  Paul even sounded in-formed when he explained his case for a weak military.

And Trump’s signature issue, im-migration, did not serve him well. he gave his usual tough-guy speech on deporting all immigrants and forc-ing Mexico to pay for a wall. Kasich and former Gov. Jeb Bush both took him on, pointing out how ridiculous his proposal was. They got applause from a Republican audience. The act could be wearing thin.

The magnate’s closing statement was all-Trump and no cattle. he was supposed to be telling people how he would fix the economy, but he en-gaged in more chest-thumping about the “tens of thousands of   jobs,” he’s created with “the most iconic assets anywhere in the world,” and promised to make America “even more special.”

The repetition, the self-regard, the bragging have worked for him until now. But next to candidates who know something, he seemed shallow and un-prepared. Go to a transcript and look for a sustained answer on policy. You won’t find one.

Panicked Republicans were won-dering what they could do to bring Trump down to earth. it turns out the debates, for all their failings, may do the trick.

Sure, the candidates embarrassed themselves by whining about the tone of the last one. They demanded less snark and more respect from Repub-lican-friendly moderators. They got that, so much so that Fox Business news host neil Cavuto said, “My goal is to make myself invisible.”

Mission accomplished. Midway through the debate, five candidates spoke one after another without any-one stopping them.  The bell signal-ing time’s up was ignored most of the time. Music played at one point to indicate a commercial break but even then the moderators were unable to cut in. The net result was to allow the candidates to take each other on, giving viewers a few memorable moments that no moderator could have orchestrated.

We’ve been told that at some point, Republican voters would get past their anger and begin to look for a candidate who might be able to lead the country. That process finally may have begun Tuesday night.

OUTSIDE THE BOXJohn Mangun

HOM

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Thursday, November 12, 2015

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Assurance of victory and deliverance 

IN the presence of God, one is assured of joy and confidence that one will not be abandoned but rather shown the path to life (Psalm 16:5, 8-11). When the last day comes, the Son of

Man will come in the clouds in full glory and all the elect will be gathered (Mark 13:24-32).

The Lord is my inheritanceIN a lyrical expression of trust in God, Psalm 16 proclaims God as one’s refuge and protection in life, one’s Lord in covenant communion. This specific relationship is cap-tured by two images used: God is the allotted portion of land origi-nally distributed among the tribes of Israel, the inheritance that gives one identity and sustenance; God is also the cup passed around in the assembly from which all drank to indicate unity, the cup of intimacy with God. And the psalmist is assured of his inheritance and fu-ture because it is the Lord no less who holds it fast and secure.

It is the Lord who guides and counsels the psalmist. The entire being of the psalmist is filled with confidence and gladness in the Lord: in his heart, in his inner depths, he is instructed by God even at night when irrational feelings well up

inside him, and also in his body, his fragile and corruptible flesh, he rests secure in God and feels pro-found joy. He is sure that God will not abandon him to death and cor-ruption, to sheol and the pit where the body is buried. The psalmist’s trust is unshakeable; God is stead-fast. God is the one to teach him the path to life. And in the presence of God is fullness of joy; at His right hand under His powerful protection there is forever delight.

He will come with great power and gloryTHe gospel allusions to the tribula-tions preceding the coming of the new age and the advent of the Son of Man in the clouds are apocalyptic traditions Jesus used to teach His disciples. The portrayed distress tak-ing hold of the world accompanied by cosmic occurrences indicate that all creation will be in disarray.

It is a final replay of the primordial conflict between order and chaos. As God’s creative power in the begin-ning brought chaos under control, so now its return in reversal of the order of creation presages the birth of the new age of fulfillment.

The advent of the Son of Man in the clouds (Daniel 7:13) heralds the coming of the new age; He comes with great power and glory, not in fury and destruction, not to scatter the elect but to gather them. Angels of the Lord will gather the elect from the four winds, from every corner of the earth and boundary of the sky. It is the “Day of the Lord,” the time of harvest, a joyful occasion when God’s victory over the enemies of Israel will be celebrated. For many it will be a time of rejoicing; for some it will be a time of terror, one of wrath and judgment (Amos 5:18-20).

 His words will not pass awayJeSuS uses the parable of the fig tree, a staple fruit in the Middle east that grows in abundance and often presented as a symbol of the messianic age. The tree’s blossom-ing in the spring is a reliable sign of the approach of summer. So also, the happening of the things He has described points to the advent of the Son of Man. He is near at the gates. But unlike the ripening of the figs expected at a particular time of the year, the precise time of the coming of the new age, its exact day or hour, is shrouded in mystery.

No one knows the exact time, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son of Man, only the Father. But all these things will certainly take place. Boldly Jesus states that heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will not pass away or be proven empty. And He does not contradict Himself in saying that all these events will happen before “this generation” passes away. The generation referred to is the period of time of the present age. His words stand as we rely on Him that the world as known will pass away and all its chaos, even as the new age of joy and order comes in.

Alálaong bagá, all things are in God’s hands. If in the beginning of time God’s supreme authority pre-vailed over chaos and placed order in creation, so at the end of time the new creation will usher in cosmic order, fulfillment of joy and the victory of love. Good will ultimately and com-pletely triumph over evil. It is all the exclusive work of God, and we trust Him. But we need to be ready for the coming tribulation and prepared for the advent of the Son of Man. As we come close to the end of our yearly telling of the story of salvation, we are confident of God’s loving and merciful power.

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

AlálAong BAgáMsgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Tax guidelines for Uber, GrabTaxi and other TNCs

GIveN the increasing popularity of the transportation business called transport network companies (TNCs), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recently issued guidelines

for the taxability of TNCs, such us uber, GrabTaxi, their partners/suppliers and similar arrangements.

By Marc Champion | Bloomberg View

WHAT will British Prime Minister David Cameron do if he fails to get all or some of the reforms he is demanding from the european union (eu)? On Tuesday he

threatened to lead the united Kingdom out of the union, but let’s hope he’s bluffing.

under Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 70-2015 dated October 29, the BIR defined a TNC as a pool of land-transportation vehi-cles whose accessibility to the riding public is facilitated through the use of a common point of contact, which may be in the form of text, telephone and/or cellular calls, e-mail, mobile applications or by other means. The payment of fares by the passengers may be made through the same plat-form or may be made to the driver of the vehicle directly and maybe paid for in cash, debit card, credit card, mobile payment or any other mode of payment.

The BIR has identified at least five types of taxpayers that are engaged in the TNCs, each of which has taxability different from the others. They are 1) a TNC classi-fied as common carrier; 2) a TNC classified as a service contractor; 3) a Partner classified as a common carrier; 4) a Partner classified as a transportation service contractor; and 5) employees.

The BIR referred to as “Partner” is the person and/or entity that owns the vehicles used in transporting passenger and/or goods other than the TNC itself. Payments between and among TNCs and their Partners may take the form of either (1) The TNC paying its Partners a portion of the proceeds it receives from its customers; or (2) The Partners pay-ing the TNC an amount out of each contract of carriage received from its customers. The vehicles in the pool may either be driven by the owner or partner, or driven by the driver-employees of the owner or partner. In other words, if the owner or partner does not drive the vehicle himself but engages the services of a driver, the latter is considered as an employee, subject to the applicable taxes on employer-employee relationship.

In cases where the TNC itself owns the vehicle, TNC shall issue an of-ficial receipt (OR) to the passenger or customer for the total amount of money received from the passenger or customer. If the TNC is a holder of a valid and current certificate of public convenience (CPC) duly is-sued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), the TNC is classified as a common carrier and should issue a nonvalue-added tax (vAT) OR and is liable for the 3-percent common carriers tax under Section 117 of the Tax Code on its gross receipts. If the TNC is not a holder of a valid and current CPC, it is classified as a land-transportation service contractor

and should issue a vAT OR and is subject to the 12-percent vAT.

In cases where the Partner owns the vehicle, the Partner shall issue to the passenger or customer for the total amount of money received from the passenger or customer. If the Partner is a holder of a valid and cur-rent CPC, it is classified as a common carrier and should issue a non-vAT OR and is subject to the 3-percent common carriers tax. However, if the Partner is not a holder of a valid and current CPC, said Partner is classi-fied as a land transportation service contractor, and should issue either a vAT OR when it is a vAT-registered taxpayer or a non-vAT OR if it has not exceeded the threshold amount of P1,919,500 and has not opted for vAT registration.

upon receipt of payment by the partner from the TNC, or receipt of payment by the TNC from the partner, an OR shall be issued, which may again either be a vAT or non-vAT OR, depending upon the classification of the income recipi-ent, that is, whether the recipient is classified as a common carrier or a land-transportation service contac-tor. In addition, the BIR, likewise, emphasized proper compliance with the applicable creditable/ex-panded withholding tax, final tax, tax on compensation of employees and other withholding taxes made by TNCs to partners, or payments made by partners to TNCs, as the case may be, are subject to credit-able/expanded withholding tax.

The BIR emphasized the need for the registration of business, issuance of ORs and proper with-holding of taxes as noncompliance therefrom, and are subject to both civil and criminal liabilities under the Tax Code. With the issuance of RMC 70-2015, business entrants in the TNC as defined in the circular are expected to observe proper tax com-pliance and contribute a fair share to the government coffers.

The author is a senior associate of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Of-fices, a member-firm of World Tax Ser-vices Alliance. The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this ar-ticle to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported there-fore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at [email protected] or call 403-2001 local 140.

Wish Cameron luck with his EU blackmail

Cameron has finally put his demands for european reform into writing and the four points he laid out contain no surprises. The speech he gave  to present them, however, was revealing.

He set himself a difficult task: to convince British voters that his four points would represent fundamen-tal change in the union, while at the same time persuading the rest of eu-rope that he’s asking only for “reason-able” achievable modifications. It’s a tribute to Cameron’s skill as a com-municator that he managed to paper over the contradiction.

And yet, it is there. For the first time, Cameron began in his speech to lay out the case for staying in the eu, which will please his european partners. He also, however, insisted that he won’t make up his mind as to whether staying is the right thing to do until europe has responded to his demands. That will appease the home team. Trouble is, his case for staying is too convincing.

He starts with “economic security.” Those who think the uK should leave need to explain why Britain would be better off like Norway, he said: “Bound to apply eu rules to gain access to the single market, but unable to influ-ence the shaping of those rules. So

the irony is that if we followed the model of Norway, europe’s political interference in our country could actually grow, rather than shrink. Or take trade. How would the uK be able to renegotiate better trade deals with other major economic powers, without having the heft of a 500 million-person market as leverage?”

Then he moved onto national security. The world, Cameron noted, has only become more dangerous since he laid out his reform-followed-by-a-referendum strategy at Bloomberg’s London office three years ago, what with the rise of Islamic State and Rus-sia’s invasion of ukraine. So it would be an odd time to abandon the eu, an important “tool” for achieving Brit-ain’s security goals.

“Our membership in the eu does matter for our national security and for the security of our allies. Which is one reason why our friends in the world strongly urge us to remain in the eu.”

These are big considerations, the kind that led him to say that decision Britons make at the referendum, which could come as early as next June, will be, perhaps, “the biggest we will be making in our lifetimes.” It would also be irreversible, he said, and would af-fect the lives and fortunes of their

children and grandchildren.So what’s in these make-or-break

reforms that could outweigh his case?The most substantive is Cameron’s

demand to restructure the eu so that the uK and other countries not in the euro zone won’t be disadvantaged by those inside, or forced into deeper in-tegration that they neither need nor want. This matters but it’s debatable whether it can be best achieved by Brit-ain threatening to leave the bloc. Or to put it another way: it’s too important to be achievable on the timetable Cam-eron has set for his referendum, so at best he’s likely to get an unenforceable promise to change treaties later.

His second request is to make the eu more economically competitive. As Cameron’s speech indicates, this is something for which the uK has always pressed and won’t be achieved in a big-bang reform.

His third category concerns national sovereignty. He wants greater powers for the eu’s national parliaments and an opt-out from the eu’s symbolically important principle of ever-closer union.

And finally, there’s immigration. Cameron’s most problematic request is for a four-year delay before migrants from the eu can claim welfare benefits in the uK. By saying he’s open to other suggestions, Cameron acknowledged as much.

Cr it ics who say Cameron’s demands are meaningless are simply wrong. If he could succeed in getting europe to quickly implement mean-ingful reforms on all four points, he would have achieved a great deal. eu

populists  might try  to follow in his footsteps—one reason Cameron’s tac-tics are so resented on the continent. (The  headline on the front cover of Wednesday’s edition of French news-paper Liberation is: “Le Chantage de Cameron,” or Cameron’s Blackmail.)

But what if he doesn’t succeed? What if he gets patently unenforceable pledges of future treaty changes that fool no one, coupled with a refusal to let Britain discriminate in giving wel-fare payments to immigrants? None of this would make Britain worse off than it is today, but it could force him to make good on his threats.

Would Cameron really be willing to urge Britain out of the eu because he failed to reform welfare rules that would in any case have little impact on immigrant numbers? economic migrants don’t come to the uK in the hopes of being unemployed.

Cameron’s speech was a reminder that his decision three years ago to make Britain’s referendum contin-gent on first reforming the eu was not driven by a strategic analysis of the uK’s best long-term interests; it was a tactic to keep anti-european rebels in his own party under control ahead of this year’s elections.

He succeeded in that, but now he and europe are stuck with the con-sequences of his tactic. everyone, on both sides of the english Channel, should now wish Cameron success in his attempt at blackmailing other eu leaders into taking actions they should take anyhow. Then the real arguments for and against member-ship can begin.

By Steven Strauss | TNS

IN 1898, just before the dawn of the automo-bile age, delegates from around the world came to New York for the world’s first inter-

national urban planning conference. One topic dominated the discussion. It wasn’t the effects of the coming car revolution on urban land use, the need for gasoline stations or the implica-tions for economic development. It was horse manure. At that time, Americans used roughly 20 million horses for transport, and cities were drowning in their muck.

But we shouldn’t mock our forebears be-cause our current planning debates are just as rooted in the present, just as ignorant of the oncoming avalanche of changes. As the del-egates in New York obsessed over horses when they should have been thinking about cars, our policy wonks obsess over cars when they should be thinking about autonomous vehicles.

Consider that the first semi-autonomous vehicles are already on the roads. Fully au-tonomous cars could be available for purchase as soon as 2020.

It’s widely expected that AVs will be cheaper to operate and travel faster than cars; be fleet-owned (individual ownership won’t be worth-while if AVs are both affordable and guaranteed to arrive promptly); and mostly use electric and/or hybrid power. Given these assumptions, let me sketch out a few high-level implications.

Fleet ownership of AVs could reduce the number of cars on the road by 60 percent to 90 percent due to more efficient usage and, consequently, reduce car sales by an equivalent percentage. Many of the 1 million jobs in US auto manufacturing will probably disappear.

More than 2.5 million driving jobs (there are 1.7 million truck drivers, 650,000 bus driv-ers and 230,000 taxi drivers—about 2 percent of the US work force) will also be eliminated or

transformed. In terms of the resulting human disruption, remember that all of these workers are part of families and communities; the loss of their jobs will produce a ripple effect.

On a positive note, AVs will make our roads safer and bring major savings in health care and auto repair. About 33,000 people die each year in auto accidents. In 80 percent of the cases, the cause is alcohol consumption, driving in excess of the speed limit or a distracted driver. Com-puters should have none of these problems. Highway accidents have direct costs of about $240 billion a year and more than $800 billion a year if quality-of-life issues are included. AVs have the potential to eliminate most of these deaths and costs.

Relatedly, the automobile insurance industry (which now has revenue of about $200 billion) will shrink dramatically. Fewer accidents will mean fewer claims and lower premiums. The benefit to the economy from

these savings could be $400 billion to $1 tril-lion a year, and should be reflected in lower transportation costs.

More good news is that land currently tied up for parking can be repurposed for other uses. Again, assuming expanded fleet ownership and less individual ownership, AVs won’t need to park in city centers. Of course, changes in land use won’t benefit everyone equally. AVs could facilitate a significant shift to housing away from city centers, thereby reducing central urban property values and increasing values in out-lying areas. For example, New York has several neighborhoods not accessible to mass transit, but AVs may open these areas to development.

In 1898, the US population was about 74 million, and there were only 800 registered cars. By 1927—less than 30 years—the US had more than 19 million cars on the road, and more than 55 percent of American families owned one. The 20th century shift to

automobiles, within the span of a normal human life, destroyed many existing sectors (anything to do with maintaining 20 million horses, for example). Entirely new laws, regu-lations and infrastructure (roads, tunnels and bridges suitable for motor vehicles, gasoline distribution and much else) had to be created.

The delegates to the 1898 urban planning conference failed to recognize the develop-ments that would transform their world. Today’s transportation infrastructure discussions—about building a $10-billion bus terminal in New York, or a $70-billion high-speed rail system in California—may prove similarly shortsighted. These transportation mega-projects don’t seem to take AVs into account. Yet by the time these initiatives are completed, AVs will be a major part of the transportation landscape. AV mini-buses, providing home to office direct service, may completely replace traditional buses. And there’s little doubt that AVs will radically

change the economic calculations and as-sumptions that make high-speed rail projects seem worthwhile (i.e., the speed and cost of travel by conventional car).

Policy leaders need to seriously consider winding down vocational schools that teach bus and truck driving as a career. Cities need to start rethinking their housing policies. And that’s not all. As AVs facilitate a shift to electric and hybrid vehicles, highway trust fund revenue, which comes from the gasoline sales tax and pays for most federal road work, will collapse. How will road repair be funded going forward?

All sorts of technological, legal and regu-latory barriers must be addressed for AVs to deliver their full potential. But these barriers aren’t higher than those encountered in the shift from horses to conventional cars. Autonomous vehicles are coming. We need to stop thinking within the limitations of the past and focus instead on the tectonic shifts of the future.

What cars and horses have in common

TAx lAw for BuSineSSAtty. rodel C. unciano

THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) on Wednesday reported another

bombing incident involving one of its transmission-line towers in Marawi City. Just eight days after three NGCP towers in Patani, Marawi City, were bombed, the grid operator reported that another tower in the same area was targeted. Tower No. 13 along Agus 2-Kibawe 138-kilovolt (kV) line 2 in Guimba, Marawi City was bombed by yet to be identified perpetrators, making it the 10th tower bombed this year. While the explosion did not topple the tower, the damaged it sustained caused it to lean, putting the transmission facility in a more critical condition. On October 29 three towers along the same transmission line were bombed. Of the three, two structures, towers No. 19 and No. 20, were toppled. The third tower, No. 21, sustained damage, but was fortunately not toppled. At 1:50 p.m. of November 9 the NGCP was able to fully restore the Agus 2-Kibawe 138-kV line 2 after implementing temporary measures to transmit electricity produced by

Agus 1 and 2 hydropower plants to the rest of the Mindanao grid. The Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines are leading in the investigation and exert-ing all efforts at catching the perpetra-tors. “This is the 10th tower bombed by lawless elements in 2015 alone, with five towers bombed within the month of October. “We are very concerned that this situation seems to be escalating, with each incident happening progressively closely to each other,” the company stressed. “With the help of the local authorities, several other bombs were found on our facilities, but these did not detonate and were safely disposed of,” the NGCP said. The NGCP is appealing to the pub-lic to help monitor the safety of the towers so that transmission services remain uninterrupted. “If anyone sees anything suspicious at or around our towers and facilities, please inform us immediately. You may text us your tips and other information at 0917-8791077,” it said. The NGCP is fully cooperating with law enforcement agencies as they in-vestigate the incident. Restoration efforts began as soon as the area was declared safe. Lenie Lectura

SPC, which had been awarded by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) the contract to own and operate the 153.1-MW Naga Power Plant Complex (NPPC) in Cebu, has yet to receive a copy of the court decision. Nonetheless, SPC said it intends to file a mo-tion for reconsideration. “The decision, if not reconsid-ered, will surely set back the con-struction and introduction of addi-tional new 300-MW capacity in the Visayas grid, which has already thin reserves,” SPC Senior Vice President Alfredo Ballesteros said. Kepco Philippines President and CEO Hyang-Reol Lyu earlier said that the power project is cur-

rently in the feasibility stage. In 2011 Kepco and SPC part-nered for a 200-MW clean-coal power plant in Barangay Colon, Naga, Cebu. The power facility was meant to augment the power supply in the Visayas grid. In the coming months ahead, the Department of Energy an-ticipates that the Visayas would register 1,800 MW of available generating capacity, as against an anticipated demand of 1,600 MW. SPC on Wednesday expressed disappointment over the SC deci-sion, which declared null and void the right of first refusal or the right to top granted to SPC under the 2009 Naga LBGT-LLA (land-based gas turbine-land lease agreement).

Consequently, the SC annulled the NPPC asset purchase agree-ment (NPPC-APA) and land lease agreement (NPPC-LLA) executed by PSALM and SPC. “Considering the investments that we already poured in after the award and turnover of the asset, if at all, a change in rules should only be prospective and not retroactive. Business cannot develop properly if the rules change in the middle of the game,” Ballesteros said. It can be recalled that PSALM de-clared Therma Power Visayas Inc., a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp., as the highest bidder for the NPPC, with a bid of P1.088 billion, higher than SPC’s bid of only P858,999,888.88. But SPC exercised its “right to top” the bid, offering PSALM 5 per-cent more, at P1.143 billion, and 33 percent more than SPC’s original bid during the previous failed auction. Commenting on the bidding process for the NPPC, Ballesteros said that “the bidding rules were very clear and transparent, and it specifically mentioned the right to top of SPC that emanated from its land lease agreement with PSALM on the sale of the LBGT in 2009. Not one of the bidders objected, and all the interested bidders accepted the right to top of SPC.” PSALM, for its part, also defended its decision when it awarded the con-tract to SPC in 2014.

It said SPC was granted the right to top the highest bid on the sale or lease of the property within the vicinity of the Naga LBGT power facility to give the winning bidder the opportunity to expand, subject to the payment of a premium of 5 percent over the highest bid on these adjacent properties. NPPC is in the vicinity of the Naga LBGT power plant. PSALM said it also sought the legal opinion of the Department of Justice (DOJ) prior to any decision made by the state firm. “For the record, the DOJ af-firmed the legality of the ‘right to top’ the adjoining properties within NPPC accorded to the owner of the Naga LBGT power plant in con-nection with the privatization of NPPC,” PSALM said. The DOJ’s confirmation was made prior to the commencement of NPPC sale process. “We understand that PSALM con-sidered the right to top a necessary condition in the sale of LBGT and its surrounding assets, because these are all interrelated and located in the same Naga Power Plant Complex,” the SPC official said. “What’s even more frustrating is that prior to the release of the bidding documents for NPPC, the provision on the right to top was vetted by the DOJ, which found it to be legal and enforceable,” he added.

SPC sets appeal of ₧1.143-billion Naga power-plant deal before SC

The SPC Power Corp. on Wed-nesday warned of a possible delay in the construction of a 300-

megawatt (MW) coal power plant that it plans to build together with Korea electric Power Corp. (Kepco) in Naga, Cebu, after the Supreme Court (SC) recently nullified a contract awarded to it by the government.

A8

2ndFront PageBusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.phThursday, November 12, 2015

By Lenie Lectura

THE government will seek funding for massive refores-tation and waste-to-energy

projects from developed countries in line with its “conditional commit-ment” to reduce carbon emission by 70 percent under its Intended Na-tionally Determined Contribution (INDC) through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This as the country’s top environ-ment officials welcome the approval by the United Nations of Green Cli-mate Fund’s (GCF) eight projects worth $168 million to help vulner-able countries cope with climate- change impacts. The announcement came ahead of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the UNFCCC in Paris, France, in December. Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the approval of the initial projects under the GCF financing mechanism is a welcome news to all developing nations, including the Philippines, considering that the country is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. “The Green Climate Fund, which to date has earned $10.2 billion in pledges, is a very vital mechanism within the UN climate accord to as-sist developing countries pursue their adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change,” he said. “For the Philippines, while we are making significant strides to contribute to the global climate ac-tion, the full implementation of our Intended INDCs depends on financ-ing resources, including technol-ogy development and transfer, and capacity-building,” Paje said. Paje also said the government looks at the GCF “as a vital source of support for the country to achieve its commitment of reducing emissions by 70 percent or more by 2030, from the sectors of energy, transport, waste, forestry and industry.” DENR Undersecretary for En-vironment and International En-vironmental Affairs Jonas Leones said proposals for the reforesta-tion projects, as well as waste-to-

Another NGCP transmission tower bombed in Marawi City

energy projects to be funded by the UN GCF will be initiated during the Paris climate talks. Reforestation projects, he said, looks beyond the successful imple-mentation of the National Green-ing Program (NGP), which aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares from 2010 up to 2016. So far, the government claimed to have expanded the country’s forest by over 1.2 million hectares and is seeking a P10.19-billion budget for its implementation next year. “After NGP, we still have 7 million hectares of land to reforest. We also have a lot of landfills we can convert into methane plants,” Leones said. The GCF, a UN special fund, was put up prior to COP21, to help developing countries cope with climate change. Developed countries are ex-pected to commit funding support under the fund for the implemen-tation of various climate-change mitigation and adaptation projects.

“Under the INDC we submit-ted, we said that we cannot re-duce our carbon emissions unless developed countries help us fund climate-change mitigation and adaptation projects,” Leones said. The massive reforestation, he added, is one way the Philippines can achieve its INDC through car-bon sequestration. The same way, he said waste-to-energy projects that will convert methane from landfills into energy will reduce the country’s carbon emission. Waste-to-energy projects, accord-ing to Leones, is in line with the coun-try’s thrust of efficiently managing solid wastes and shifting to renew-able energy at the same time. “Imagine, our waste generation is 40,000 metric tons per day. That is the estimated volume of garbage we produce when our population is 94 million. Now, our population is now over 100 million,” Leones said. There are hundreds of open

dump in the Philippines and local governments are unable to com-ply the provisions of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, such as segregation at source, recycling and composting, to reduce wastes. The law also calls for the closure of open dumps or its conversion into sanitary landfill. Leones said the Philippines, be-ing one of those severely affected by climate change-triggered events such as typhoons, landslides and storm surges, will push for financ-ing of various projects that will strengthen its resiliency while re-ducing its carbon footprint. He said for transportation, which falls under the province of the De-partment of Transportation and Communications, energy-efficient transport system, use of e-bus and e-jeepneys and use of fuel-efficient engines that is Euro 4-compliant are being eyed. Jonathan L. Mayuga

Reforestation, waste-to-energy projects eyed for GCF financing

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

The chairman of house Committee on Ways and Means on Wednesday said the lower chamber will approve a mea-

sure imposing an excise tax of P10 on sugar sweetened beverages before the year-end. Liberal Party Rep. Romero S. Quimbo of Marikina, the panel chairman, said the ex-cise tax of P10 on sugar-sweetened bever-ages (SSBs) per liter of volume capacity aims primarily to develop a healthier population and provide an additional revenue of about P34.5 billion for the government. “We will approve it before our [Christ-mas] break [on December 19]. It’s an im-portant health measure where many of the poor become victims of this cycle of malnutrition and obesity. We need funds to develop sources of potable water for our public school and ordinary communities,” Quimbo said in a text message. On Tuesday the committee approved the substitute bill to house Bill 3365 authored by Unang Sigaw Rep. estrellita B. Suansing of Nueva ecija after more than a year of hear-ings and meetings on the measure. Quimbo stressed that the bill is a health measure more than anything else. “We’ve come to determine that many of the diseases or noncommunicable diseases emanate from the consumption of this read-ily acceptable commodity [sugar sweetened beverages] especially by our children so the proceeds will serve not only as additional revenue for the government but, more im-portant, to develop really a healthier popu-lation,” Quimbo said. According to Quimbo, this can be done by first creating sources of potable water in school and in communities and secondly, by raising the educational awareness of the population in terms of healthier lifestyle, as well as consuming healthy food and drinks. The bill imposes an excise tax on SSBs by inserting a new Section 150-A in the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended. Section 150-A titled Sugar Sweetened Bever-ages provides there shall be levied, assessed and collected on sugar-sweetened beverages per liter of volume capacity, an excise tax of P10. The rate of tax imposed under this sec-tion shall be increased by 4 percent every year thereafter effective on January 1, 2017, through revenue regulations issued by the secretary of finance. The bill defines SSB as “a nonalcoholic beverage that contains caloric sweeteners/added sugar or artificial/noncaloric sweet-ener. It may be in liquid or solid mixture, syrup or concentrates that are added to water or other liquids to make a drink.” The SSB shall include: soft drinks, soda, pop and soda pop; fruit drinks, punches or ades; sweetened beverages of diluted

fruit juice; sports drinks; sweetenwwed tea and coffee drinks; energy drinks; all nonalcoholic beverages that are ready-to-drink and in powder form with added natural or artif icial sugar. It excludes the following: 100-percent natural fruit juices; 100-percent natural vegetable juices; yogurt and fruit-flavored yogurt beverages with pure fruit and veg-etable juice or concentrate; meal-replace-ment beverages (medical food) and weight- loss products; and all milk products, infant formula and milk alternatives, such as soy milk or almond milk, including flavored milk, such as chocolate milk. In terms of allocation of the revenue col-lection from the excise tax on SSBs, the bill provides that 50 percent shall go to the General Fund; 20 percent to the Department of health for the provision of medicine and medical as-sistance to indigent patients with diabetes and or other related diseases through the provin-cial or district hospitals, and for health and wellness information campaign; 20 percent to the Department of education to provide access to potable water in public schools (wa-ter fountain) and sports facilities and for the community-based obesity, diabetes, dental caries prevention campaigns and other diet-related health-awareness programs using educational, environmental, policy and other public health approaches. earlier, Visayan Bloc Leader and Rep. Alfredo Benitez of Negros Occidental said that additional tax on sweetened bever-ages would adversely affect the livelihood of sugar industry workers. “Sugar is not the culprit in the rising obesity and diabetes problems of rice-eating Filipinos,” said Benitez, chairman of the house Committee on housing and Urban Development. In their letter to Quimbo, sugar industry leaders said that while there remains no lo-cal findings pointing to sugar as the cause of diabetes and obesity among Filipinos, proponents of the measure should instead determine the link between rice to the health issues they raised against sugar. The letter was signed by Rafael Coscol-luela, president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations Inc.; enrique Rojas, president of the National Federation of Sugar-cane Planters Inc.; Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines; Danilo Abelita, president of the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers Inc.; and Francisco D. Varua of the Phlippine Sugar Miller Association. The industry leaders also aired fears that the new tax will trigger an increase in prices of softdrinks and carbonated drinks and will result in the “contraction of the market of refined sugar” and could result reduction of purchases of refined sugar.

hOUSe AIMS FINAL Ok OF exCISe TAx ON SWeeTeNeD DRINkS By DeC

Woman’s job The men may have completed the planting and harvesting of rice in the fields, and it’s now the women’s turn to sort and dry grains under the noontime heat at a basketball court in San Luis, Pugo, La Union. MAU VICTA