-
The United States economy grew even faster in the third quarter
than initially thought, posting the strongest six months of growth
in more than a decade and pulling further ahead of other big
economies of the world. The gross domestic product (GDP), the
countrys total out-put of goods and services, expanded at a healthy
3.9-percent annual rate in the July-to-September period, the
Commerce Department reported on Tuesday. Thats a notable jump from
its first estimate of 3.5 percent. The revision was propelled
higher by more robust consumer and business spending. Together with
a 4.6-percent surge in the spring, the country has recorded its
biggest back-to-back quarterly performance since 2003.
CarraSCal Nickel Corp. (CNC) once again bagged the coveted Best
Min-ing Forest Program award for Metallic Category for the year
2014. The award was given during the 61st annual National Mine
Safety and environment Conference testi-monial dinner on November
14 at Cap-John hay Trade and Cultural Center at Camp John hay in
Baguio City. The company garnered a sky-high 95.70-percent rating,
topping other veteran mines, such as Taganito Mining Corp., Carmen
Copper Corp. and Philsaga Mining Corp. which were also in the top
tier of the competition. CNC won the award for two consecutive
years now, since it first entered the competition in 2013. CNCs
mine site is at the municipality of Carrascal, Surigao del Sur
province. Since the start of its commercial operations in 2009, CNC
experienced rapid growth through the commendable vision, teamwork
and collaboration of its manage-ment and technical teams.
See Fuel costs, A2
See OFws, A8
www.businessmirror.com.ph n Tuesday, November 18, 2014 Vol. 10
No. 40 P25.00 nationwide | 6 sections 30 pages | 7 days a week n
Thursday, November 27, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 49A broader look at todays
business
BusinessMirrorthree-time rotary club of manila journalism
awardee2006, 2010, 2012u.n. media award 2008
Peso exchange rates n us 44.9600 n jaPan 0.3812 n uK 70.6232 n
hK 5.7974 n china 7.3266 n singaPore 34.5793 n australia 38.3422 n
eu 56.0831 n saudi arabia 11.9833 Source: BSP (26 November
2014)
See Calax, A2See U.S. economy, A8
health&fitness celebrates third anniversary
record goals!
bohol reinvents itself
inside
SportsBusinessMirrorC1 | Thursday, November 27,
[email protected]@businessmirror.com.phEditor:
Jun Lomibao
RECORDGOALS!
The previous record of 71 had been set by former Real Madrid and
Schalke striker Raul over the course of 142 matches. Rauls record
fell whenMessistruck his first in the 38th minute to give Barcelona
a 2-0 lead after Luis Suarez had opened the scoring. It
wasMessis91st match in Europes top club competition.
BELFAST, Northern IrelandInternational Football
FederationSecretary-General Jerome Valcke acknowledged on Tuesday
that it will take years to rebuild our reputation following the
World Cup bidding-corruption investigation. But Valcke insisted
that Sony and Emirates airline are not ending theirFifa
sponsorships to protest against allegations of bribery and
favor-seeking that have engulfed world football in the four years
since Russia was awarded the 2018 World Cup and Qatar was voted the
2022 hosts. Emirates has already announced it is not renewing its
sponsorship and Valcke said he would be surprised if Sony extended
its deal, which expires
at the end of this year. Both Sony and
Emirates have nothing to do with the situation we are facing
these last days, Valcke
said, referring to the fallout from the bidding corruption
report compiled by prosecutor Michael Garcia. I know that football
is still a very strong product and I am not really concerned
withFifasfinances for the future.
But, speaking in Belfast after a meeting of the International
Football Association Board, Valcke acknowledged the immediate
future is not bright forFifasglobal standing while insisting we are
doing a great job. The image ofFifais something I agree, over the
last two weeks I would not say reached the bottom, but has reached
a level which is definitely a level which we will not go lower
than, Valcke said. Things are happening, things have happened, but
we are still doing a lot of good things. We have to rebuild this
image day after day. Its easy to destroy the reputation. It takes
one second. It takes years to rebuild our reputation, but
thats what we will do. Sepp Blatter, the magnet for much of the
criticism directed atFifa, is seeking a fifth four-year term as
president in May. Much of that criticismparticularly fromFifasown
executive membershas centered on Blatter keeping Garcias full
430-page report into impropriety during World Cup bidding
confidential. Blatter received a further demand for Garcias
investigation to be released from the British government on
Tuesday. Sajid Javidthe culture, media and sport secretarywrote to
Blatter, saying Fifashould be operating with the highest ethical
standards and be able to find a way of publishing the report
without contravening confidentiality assurances. Without the
disclosure of the full report,Fifarisks not just further damage to
its own credibility, but now significant damage to the reputation
of football as a whole, Javid wrote. Valcke,Fifastop administrator,
said the report must stay secret to mainly to protect 75 persons
who
have made a deposition and were given confidentiality including
himself. The sense of disarray atFifaheightened when Garcia
objected to ethics judge Joachim Eckerts interpretation of his
investigative work, appealing toFifaciting numerous materially
incomplete and erroneous representations of his work. Its said its
a bit Fifa versus Fifa, Valcke said. Its sad for Fifadefinitely,
and its sad for our reputation and for the image. Its sad for
commercial partners, its sad for all the people who are supporting
football. The Garcia-Eckert clash has led to Domenico Scala, the
head ofFifasauditing committee, being allowed to review the full
investigation findings. I hope deeply the decision would be that
this bidding process on 18 and 22 is closed, Valcke said, hopeful
Russia and Qatar will retain their hosting rights. But Switzerlands
attorney general is looking into possible law-breaking by unnamed
individuals highlighted in Garcias investigation. AP
FIFA FAces yeArs to rebuIld reputAtIon
WorldcHess
cHAMpnorways Magnus
carlsen lifts his trophy after beating Indias
Vishwanathan Anand in the Fide World chess
championship in sochi, russia, on tuesday.
carlsen retained the title after defeating Anand, a former world
champion,
6.5-4.5.AP
N ICOSIA, CyprusBarcelonas LionelMessiscored a hat trick to
shatter the Champions League goal scoring record by taking his
tally in the competition to 74 in a 4-0 win over APOEL on Tuesday.
The previous record of 71 had been set by former Real Madrid and
Schalke striker Raul over the course of 142 matches. Rauls record
fell whenMessistruck his first in the 38th minute to give Barcelona
a 2-0 lead after Luis Suarez had opened the scoring. It
wasMessis91st match in Europes top club competition. Barcelonas
Brazilian midfielder Rafihna unleashed a powerful shot from some 20
yards out. Despite being closely marked,Messiwas able to get a foot
to the ball and redirect it past the helpless APOEL goalkeeper Urko
Pardo. Messisteammates swarmed around him to congratulate the
Argentina star on his achievement. He struck again in the 58th when
a defense-splitting pass from Dani Alves put him through
andMessischip past Pardo bounced into the net off the post.
Messirounded off the scoring in the 87th minute of the Group F
match, completing his 28th Barcelona hat trick and his fifth in the
Champions League. Real Madrids Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 70
goals in the Champions League from its group stages onward, gets
his chance to catch up withMessis record when the defending
champions face Basel away on Wednesday. Messislatest feat came
three days after he became the Spanish leagues all-time scorer by
netting a hat trick to give him 253 goals in the domestic
competition, two more than former Athletic Bilbao great Telmo Zarra
scored from 1940-55. Messiwas also the unanimous choice as leading
player in the Associated Press Global Football 10 poll on Tuesday
after his record-breaking weekend. Messireceived the maximum 180
points from the media voters for becoming the Spanish leagues
all-time leading scorer with a hat trick as Barcelona thrashed
Sevilla, 5-1. His treble took him to 253 career league goals,
surpassing Telmo Zarras record of 251 set from 1940-1955.
Messiscored a hat trick against a very respectable side and broke a
historic record, voter Ubiratan Leal of trivela.com in Brazil said.
The Argentine is so good that this kind of achievement is losing
its impact. All this seems so natural and predictable. But it is
not, and I have to remind myself of that every Barcelona match.
Barcelona was also the top team and Neymar, who scored Barcelonas
second goal, is seventh in the player poll.
Paul Pogba was second toMessiafter the midfielder scored twice
as Serie A leader Juventus
won 3-0 at Lazio, withMessisfellow Argentina international
Carlos Tevez scoring the third.
Juventus made a statement in beating Lazio in the Italian
capital this weekend, demonstrating the gap still existent between
the Old Lady and the leagues emerging, better sides, Sam Tighe of
the Bleacher Report said. Paul Pogba grabbed a brace as he
continues his development into the best central midfielder in the
world. Cristiano Ronaldo was third after his two goals in Real
Madrids 4-0 thrashing of Eibar took his league goal tally to 20 in
only 11 games. Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich polled second in the
team list with one more point than Juventus after thrashing
Hoffenheim 4-0 to move seven points clear at the top. Arjen Robben
and Mario Goetze both scored and were the pick of the players for
the German side in fourth and 10th places respectively. Chelsea has
extended its advantage to six points at the top of the Premier
League and striker Diego Costa, who opened the scoring in its 2-0
win over West Brom, is fifth in the player poll. Wayne Rooney is a
position further back after scoring the winner in Manchester
Uniteds 2-1 victory at Arsenal on Saturday. Panelist Julian
Bennetts believes the result could be the catalyst for Louis van
Gaals side to produce the regular winning form that United is
renowned for. This could be a weekend that kickstarts the Louis van
Gaal reign at Manchester United, Bennetts said. [It was] a vital
win at Arsenal and a game that vindicated the Dutchmans change in
tactics ahead of the weekend. Van Gaal and United had goalkeeper
David de Gea to thank for the game being scoreless at halftime, and
the Spain goalkeeper denied Arsenal further with his side leading
1-0. He enters the poll in eighth place this week. Elsewhere,
Marseille ranks seventh after two late goals secured a 3-1 victory
over Bordeaux to maintain its position at the of the French league
with a point more than defending champion Paris Saint-Germain.
Crystal Palace enters the top 10 teams in ninth this week after
coming from behind to record an emphatic 3-1 win against Liverpool
on Sunday. Cruzeiro is 10th after winning a second consecutive
Brazilian league title. AP
lIonel MessI sets european record with 74 goals.
D1
Life ursday, November 27, 2014BusinessMirrorEditor: Gerard S.
Ramos [email protected]
MARTIN AMIS TAKES ON NAZI LOVE IN ZONE OF INTEREST. REALLY.
D4
DEAR Lord, we thank You for Your special presence as we were
reading Your Word and pondering on it in our heart. We thank
You
for the opportunity to know Your Word, do service to You and
learn Your ways better. Strengthen our will that we may put into
practice what You have revealed to us through the Sacred
Scriptures. Amen.
Your special presence
POCKET PLANNER PRAYER BOOK,FR. SAL PUTZU, SDB AND LOUIE M.
LACSON
Word&Life Publications [email protected]
B B L
ITS been a little over a year since the devastating
7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Bohol on October 15, 2013,
destroying or damaging many of its iconic Spanish-era churches, as
well as other infrastructure. However, slowly the province and its
people are picking up the pieces and getting on with their lives.
Joining a media familiarization tour with seven newsmen and
bloggers, we explored Bohols now revived tourism potential, which
includes alternative destinations such as the Chocolate Hills
Adventure Park and the Bee Farm. Boholanos have also turned the
tragic aftermath of the earthquake into tourist attractions (such
as the tectonic uplift along the coasts).
Upon landing at Tagbilaran Airport, we were soon on our way on
our Countryside Tour. Our first stop was the Philippine Tarsier and
Wildlife Sanctuary, where we saw, observed and photographed, up
close and personal, three Philippine tarsiers, Bohols mascot, in
their nature habitat. At the Visitors Center, we met up with the
celebrated Tarsier Man, Carlito Lito Pizarras, a
former tarsier hunter turned conservationist who is now the
field supervisor of the sanctuary.
From the sanctuary, we made our next stop at the newly restored
Church of Saint Monica in Alburquerque (nicknamed by the Boholanos
as Albur).
Here, we were awed by itspainted ceiling which was done by Ray
Francia from April 12 to August 3, 1932, and recently restored by
Manila-born but Spain-based artistGuy Custodio.The churchs massive
pillars are actually large tree trunks.
It was now past noontime, so we proceeded to the Loboc Tourism
Complex (across which is the seriously damaged Church of Saint
Peter the Apostle), where we were to have lunch on board a
double-hulled, flower-bedecked floating restaurantas we cruised
along the Loboc River.
While we dined, boodle-style, on Boholano cuisine, we were
serenaded by a bossa-nova singer. Our boat also made stopover at a
riverside pavilion where traditional folk dances, such as the
kuradang and tinikling were performed for our viewing pleasure.
The highlight of our Bohol Countryside Tour was the four-hectare
Chocolate Hills Adventure
Park,where a number of us tried the famous, excitingand very
unique bike zip line, dubbed asThe Rush.The park also features a
restaurant, hiking trails and tree-top adventures.Our home for the
three days and two nightswe stayed in Bohol was the extremely quiet
and refreshing Class AAA Panglao Bluewater Resort.
Here, we stayed in some of the 54 elegantly appointed, spacious,
very Zen and modern air-conditioned guestrooms. The resort also has
a restaurant (Aplaya), two swimming pools, a well-maintained Zen
garden, a cliff with a view of the sea, bar (Baroto Poolside Bar),
watersports center (Aquamania), boutique, facilities for disabled
guests, gift shop, meeting facilities and childrens playground.
The morning of the next day, we went on an island-hopping tour
to Pamilacan Island where we had a merienda of kamote (sweet
potatoes cooked three different ways) and corn coffee, went on a
snorkeling tour and visited its Spanish-era watchtower.
In the afternoon we visited the small Hinagdanan Cave in Dauis,
with its picturesque, underground spring-fed swimming pool, and
watched the sun set at
the Punta Cruz Watchtower in Maribojoc. At the latter, we saw
wherethe sea-bed was lifted more than a meter due to tectonic
uplift. As a result, the coastline receded some 50 meters to 100
meters.
In the evening, we shopped for seafood at the Manga Public
Market (which was prepared and cooked for us and partaken of at Lic
Lic Fastfood & Sutukil) in Tagbilaran City. Prior to dinner, we
observed fireflies lighting up the trees along theAbatanRiverin
Cortes.
On our third and last day, we had ahealthylunch at the Bee Farm
in Dauis. Here, we tasted malunggay ice cream, observed loom
weaving and organic farming techniques, and bought their signature
food products for pasalubong. This was followed by a visit to the
Church of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon whose facade was
seriously damaged during the earthquake. Here, we toured its museum
which displays an ivory statue of the crucified Christ, relics of
Saint Ignatius Loyola, a statue of the Blessed Virgin (said to have
been presented by Queen Catherine of Aragon), vestments, books, and
church music. Prior to being dropped off at the airport, we again
shopped forsouvenirsatAproniana Gift Shop, also in Baclayon.
SM City North Edsas Great Shopping Adventure treated shoppers to
the joys of traveling with an array of deals and adventure packages
from travel agencies.
More than that, they got a glimpse of the Art of Travel through
the latest collection of travel-mates and gadgets from the malls
tenants. From state-of-the-art luggages, to high-definition action
cameras, stylish cool document organizers, antitheft bags and
radio-frequency identification blocking wallets, and comfortable
flatties on flight, these are the perfect travel companions.
These are available at The SM Store and The Travel Club at SM
City North Edsa.
The Art of Travel
Bohol reinvents itself
PAMILACAN Island of Baclayon
PANGLAO Bluewater Resort
OBSERVING loom weaving at the Bee Farm.
HINAGDANAN Cave in Dauis
THE Church of Saint Monica in Alburquerque
EXPERIENCING The Rush at the Chocolate Hills Adventure Park.
SM City North Edsas Great Shopping Adventure treated shoppers to
the joys of traveling with an array of deals and adventure packages
from travel agencies.
Art of Travel through the latest collection of travel-mates and
gadgets from the malls tenants. From state-of-the-art luggages, to
high-definition action cameras, stylish cool document organizers,
antitheft bags and radio-frequency identification blocking wallets,
and comfortable flatties on flight, these are the perfect travel
companions.
The Travel Club at SM City North Edsa.
DELSEY Luggage Scale
TRENDY TRAVEL MATES Lime Samsonite Spin Trunk, dainty yellow
British Knight 4 Trolley Luggage and violet Samsonite Cosmolite
healTh&fiTNess
sporTs c1
life d1
Expect fuel costs to go up
Calax rebiddingto take place notlater than April
By Butch Fernandez & Lorenz S. Marasigan
The fresh tender for theP35.42-billion Cavite-La-guna expressway
(Calax) deal will be staged not later than the first half of 2015,
a Palace spokes-man said on Wednesday. Palace Spokesmanedwin S.
Lacierda said theDepart-ment of Public Works and highways (DPWh)
aims to put the contract on the auction block byApril 2015, almost
a year after the initial bidding was staged.
Petilla says s.c. order on transfer of oil dePot to cause
logistics nightmare
OFWs shielding real-estate sector from another bubbleu.s.
economy Posts eVen stronger growth in Q3
carrascal bagsaward for best mining Program
louie r. sarmieNTo (left), president of the
philippine mine safety and environment
association, hands over the trophy to antonio l.
co (center), president of the mining firm carrascal
Nickel corp. (cNc), with william a. kewan,
resident manager of cNc.
The BusinessMirror was awarded the asean champion of
Biodiversity 2014 in the media category by the asean centre for
Biodiversity (acB) and the acB-GiZ Biodiversity and climate change
project on wednesday at a hotel in mandaluyong city. receiving the
award are T. anthony c. cabangon (third from left), BusinessMirror
publisher; max de leon (second from left), BusinessMirror special
projects editor; and lyn resurreccion (fourth from left),
BusinessMirror Green section editor. with them are (from left) dr.
dicky simorangkir, deputy director of GiZ; lawyer roberto oliva,
executive director of acB; dr. Berthold siebert, program director
of acB-GiZ Biodiversitty and climate change; and meriden maranan,
officer in charge of Nature recreation and extension division,
Biodiversity management Bureau of the department of environment and
Natural resources. AlysA sAleN
The BusinessMirror was awarded the asean Champion of
Biodiversity for the Media Category in 2014 for being the only
newspaper in the Southeast asia region with an environment section
and a dedicated biodiversity page. The award was given by the asean
Centre for Biodiver-sity (aCB) and the aCB-GIZ Biodiversity and
Climate Change Project on Wednesday at a hotel in Mandaluyong City.
The BusinessMirror was recognized for being a news-paper that makes
biodiversity a priority topic. living up to its commitment of
providing a broader look at todays business, the BusinessMirror is
promoting biodiversity conservation through its day-to-day
reportage and special reports, as well as its evalua-tion and
presentation of stories across all sections, the certificate of
recognition said. The BusinessMirror comes out with an environment
section, the Green Section, that has the Green, Biodiver-
sity and Science pages every Sunday. It is the only newspaper in
the Southeast asia which gives importance to environment and
biodiversity, rolly Inciong, head of Communication and Public
affairs of aCB, said during the awarding ceremony. The other
awardees were two Youth Sector cham-pions. adeline Tiffanie Suwana
was awarded for having founded the Sahabat alam (Friends of
Nature), an envi-ronmental education and youth-empowerment program
with 25,000 members. She is from Indonesia. another Youth Sector
champions are Gabriella and Giovanna Thorir for the Bekantan Twins
Project that works to stop the loss of the endangered proboscis
mon-key. They are also from Indonesia. The first asean Champions of
Biodiversity award was held in 2011, where the BusinessMirror
bagged third place in the Media Category. Lyn Resurreccion
By Lenie Lectura
The Supreme Courts (SC) directive to the countrys big three oil
firms to vacate the Pandacan oil depot in Manila could cause fuel
prices to go up due to the ensuing logistics nightmare, the
Department of energy (DOe) said on Wednesday.
By Manuel T. Cayon Mindanao Bureau Chief
DAVAO CITYAround 3 per-cent, or P27 billion, of the estimated
P980 billion in remittances sent home by overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) to their families last year were spent in real-estate
purchases, a real-estate company operating a popular online search
portal for available Philip-pine real-estate properties said.
Arthur M. Gonzales, vice presi-dent for Mindanao of
Filipino-homes.com, a Web-linked real-
estate company, said that OFWs funneled this much money last
year to the renting and buying of houses and lots, commercial
properties and other real-estate investments in the Philippines. he
said the amount represented a sizable portion of the total $22.8
billion (P980 billion) in cash remit-tances sent home by more or
less 10 million OFWs last year. This year we expect OFWs to spend
as much as P40 billion on ac-quiring properties, he said. Overseas
Filipino spending has
energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla made this
pronounce-ment when asked about the possible repercussions of the
closure of the Pandacan oil depot. [Fuel] is going to be more
expensive. Distribution cost will go up. how expensive? I dont
know, Petilla said. But its also a free market. Its their
prerogative [if they will in-crease prices]. They may maintain
prices to be competitive, or they may increase it to survive, but
its an open competition, he added. Fuel prices have drastically
gone down over the past weeks. An increase in prices on account of
the high Tribunals order is not on the horizon, because it would
take effect six months after the oil firms submission of an updated
comprehensive plan and relocation schedule. Also, the oil firms
could still file for a motion for reconsideration, which could push
back their six-month timetable. Petilla said he is more
apprehensive about the need to deliver aviation fuel, considering a
truck ban is in place. The truck ban in Manila has caused monstrous
traffic and delays in the delivery of commodities.
-
Forbes also asked Congress to repeal Republic Act 3018 which
restricts foreign participation in the countrys rice and corn
trade. Local businessmen belonging to the Philippine Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (PCCI) pushed for the passage of the
Philippine Fair Competition Act which will prohibit
anti-competitive agreements, distortion and manipulation of the
local market. PCCI President Donald Dee said the enacting the
measure is needed to ful-fill the countrys commitment under the
Asean Economic Community blue-
print which calls for the implementa-tion of national
competition laws in all member-states of the Association of Asean.
The House Committee on Trade and Industry and the House Committee
on Appropriations have recently ap-proved a consolidated bill on
Philip-pine fair competition. To strengthen Philippine judicia-ry,
Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines President Julian
Payne called for the removal of the Department of Justice, Office
of the Ombudsman, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and Supreme
Court
from the coverage of the Govern-ment Salary Standardization.
Payne said this will make the salaries of prosecutors and members
of the ju-diciary more competitive. Payne also pushed for the
passage of a Whistleblowers Protection Act and a Witness
Protection, Security and Benefits Act, which will provide effective
legal protection and rewards system to whistle-blowers and state
witness to embolden them to come forward and support the
prosecution of corrupt public officials. Belmonte, for his part,
said the priority list of legislative measures
drawn up by the JFC, the local busi-ness groups and the lower
chamber are almost identical. I do not think that we are here to
argue or preach to one another, but to map out directions and
strengthen our collaboration for the passage of legisla-tions that
would uplift the lives of the people, he said. We want to encourage
them to invest more in our country. We have seen the major vehicle
of our growth was their big foreign direct investments. So we make
it a point to have a dialogue with them on an annual basis so we
know what they want, Belmonte added.
SUNRISE SUNSET
6:03 AM 5:24 PM
MOONRISEMOONSET
10:05 PM 10:09 AM
TODAYS WEATHERMETROMANILA
LAOAG
BAGUIO
SBMA/CLARK
TAGAYTAY
LEGAZPI
PUERTOPRINCESA
ILOILO/BACOLOD
TUGUEGARAO
METROCEBU
CAGAYANDE ORO
METRODAVAO
ZAMBOANGA
TACLOBAN
3-DAYEXTENDEDFORECAST
3-DAYEXTENDEDFORECAST
CELEBES SEA
LEGAZPI CITY23 30C
TACLOBAN CITY23 30C
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY
METRO DAVAO23 31C
ZAMBOANGA CITY24 32C
PHILI
PPIN
E ARE
A OF R
ESPO
NSIB
ILITY
(PAR
)
SABAH
(AS OF NOVEMBER 26, 5:00 PM)
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 24 31C METRO CEBU
24 31C
ILOILO/BACOLOD
25 31C
23 30C
25 32C 25 32C 26 32C
24 31C 23 30C 24 31C
23 30C 24 31C 24 32C
24 32C 25 32C 25 33C
24 32C 25 33C 25 34C
Watch PANAHON.TV everyday at 5:00 AM on PTV (Channel 4).
Weekday hourly updates: 6:00 AM on Balitaan, 7:00 AM & 8:00
AM on Good Morning Boss!, 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM,
1:00 PM
on News@1, 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM, and 6:00 PM on News@6
www.panahon.tv
@PanahonTV
NOVEMBER 27, 2014 | FRIDAY
HIGH TIDEMANILA
SOUTH HARBOR
LOW TIDE
8:35 PM -0.21 METER
12:02 AM1.13 METER
TUGUEGARAO CITY 23 32C
LAOAG CITY 23 31C
METRO MANILA23 32C
TAGAYTAY CITY 22 30C
SBMA/CLARK 24 32C
23 32C 22 32C 23 33C
23 33C 23 34C 23 32C
23 31C 22 31C 22 32C
16 24C 16 24C 15 24C
22 31C 22 31C 21 30C
23 30C24 31C 23 29C
24 32C 25 33C
FRIDAYNOV 28
SATURDAYNOV 29
SUNDAYNOV 30
FRIDAYNOV 28
SATURDAYNOV 29
SUNDAYNOV 30
24 33C24 32C 24 33C
25 32C24 31C 25 33C
TROPICAL DEPRESSION QUEENIE
Partly cloudy to cloudy skies withisolated rain showers and/or
thunderstorms
Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms.
Rains with gusty winds
NEW MOON
8:32 PMNOV 22
HALF MOON
6:06 PMNOV 29
BAGUIO CITY15 24C
24 32C
WAS LOCATED AT 60 KM EAST NORTHEAST OF HINATUAN,
SURIGAO DEL SUR
Tropical Depression is a cyclone categorywith winds of 30 - 60
kph.
RAINS WITHGUSTYWINDS
Calax. . . continued from a1
Fuel costs. . . continued from a1
BusinessMirror [email protected] Thursday, November 27,
2014A2News
Continued from A8
House urged to prioritize passage of economic bills The agency
is now finalizing thedeals new terms of reference (TOR). We are
just preparing the TOR for the rebidding and we are looking for a
period not longer than five months since it will be a new bidding,
Lacierda quoted Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson as
saying. He noted the Palace has instructed the agency to fast-track
the process for the rebidding. The four parties that previously
participated in the origi-nal tender were at loggerheads over their
participation in the fresh auction. San Miguel Corp. President and
COO Ramon S. Ang has said his firms subsidiary Optimal
Infrastructure Development Inc. will participate in the bidding.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp., meanwhile, is still weigh-ing the
economic and political implications of the original auc-tion. It,
however, renewed its bid bond, signifying its intention to join the
fresh tender. MTD Philippines Inc. President Isaac S. David has
ex-pressed his firms disinterest in the deal, saying the
gov-ernments thirst for higher premium would be a deterrent to the
riding public. Team Orion of AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and
Aboitiz Land Inc. have repeatedly said they will not join the
tender despite being the top bidder during the original auction
held in June. President Aquino effectively voided the initial
bidding con-ducted by the DPWHs Special Bids and Awards Committee
for the public-private partnership project when he decided on
November 19 to put the contract to a fresh auction,rueing the
P8-billion difference between the winning bid of Team Orion and
disqualified party Optimal. Team Orion emerged as the front-runner
during the auc-tion, submitting an P11.66-billion premium to win
the deal. Rival Optimal, whose bid was disqualified after failing
the evaluation of its technical proposal, allegedly offered a
higher P20.1-billion premium. Business groups, led by the Makati
Business Club, earlier warned President Aquino that his key
infrastructure programs good name may lose its credibility due to
inconsistencies in rules, not to mention an alleged violation of
the law. But the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the
largest business group in the Philippines, backed Mr. Aquinos
decision, as the rebidding would optimize the economic ben-efits
for the state. The project is a 47-kilometer thoroughfare that
would start from the Manila-Cavite Expressway in Kawit, Cavite, and
end at the South Luzon Expressway (Slex)-Mamplasan Interchange in
Bian, Laguna. It would consist of nine interchanges and a toll
barrier before the Slex.
What worries me is not so much the sup-ply because the supply is
there. What I have to ask them is have they prepared for aviation
fuel? If the depot will be relocated in Batangas or Bataan, we see
problems due to the truck ban, he said. If fuel will come from
Batangas, they have to be smart in deploying their trucks because
the area is already congested plus there is a truck ban in Manila.
Basically, it will simply be a challenge for them because there is
a problem of transporting the fuel, Petilla added. When asked if he
will push for the lifting of the truck ban, Petilla said he will
urge oil firms to do a simulation and coordinate with the Metro
Manila Development Authority. The SC gave respondents Chevron
Philip-pines Inc., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., and Petron
Corp. 45 days to submit an updated comprehensive plan and
relocation schedule. After which, they are given six months within
which to move out of Pandacan. The SC issued the order after it
declared unconstitutional and invalid Manila City Ordi-nance 8187,
which allows continuous operation of the Pandacan oil terminals by
the countrys major oil companies.
Petron and Shell, in separate statements, said they will comply
with the High Courts rul-ing. Petron respects and will abide with
the SCs decision to cease operation of Pandacan terminal, the
countrys largest oil refiner said on Tuesday upon release of the SC
order. When sought for comment, Petron Chair-man Ramon S. Ang said
in a text message that Petron will comply. In May Ang said Petron
is committed to leave Pandacan next year. By end of 2015, we are
totally out of Pandacan. We have started to transfer our depot, for
example in Limay, Bataan; Rosario in Cavite; and in Navotas. We are
law-abiding citizens. When we promised the city government of
Manila that within five years we will be moving out of Pandacan, we
will. I think we are the only oil firm in compliance to that
promise, he added. Ang assured that the relocation would not result
in any fuel-price increase. He said Petrons operational costs could
even go down upon relocation of its oil depot to new sites. The oil
firm is spending P15 billion for the transfer. Shell, for it part,
said it could not further comment until its lawyers have secured an
official copy of the decision. We have yet to receive the court
order to enable us to
comment further. Rest assured that Shell will observe the rule
of law and good governance. Petilla said he thinks the oil firms
can make do with the six-month period. Chevron, for one, has
started to move out of Pandacan in June. For Petron and Shell, they
already have interim plans. I just dont know how advanced their
plans are. Petron has since started to move out. For Shell, I dont
know if they are going to implement it now, he said. Some lawyers
said it would be difficult to convince the court to reverse its
November 25 decision. Out of the 12 justices, 10 voted to declare
the Manila City Ordinance uncon-stitutional. Its going to be tough.
They can file for a motion of reconsideration but a court that
voted 10-2, seems difficult to convince otherwise. It will take
seven of them to over-turn the decision, noted one lawyer who
re-quested for anonymity. Another industry lawyer said the oil
firms are already aware of this but filing for a motion for
reconsideration could give the oil firms more time, much longer
than six months. On the other hand, it will delay the
imple-mentation which could mean that it will delay everything, the
other lawyer said. None of the oil firms replied when
asked if they plan to file for a motion for reconsideration.
Petilla, however, said its their prerogative. It will be up to them
to appeal the decision but I think in the past, theyve seen this
com-ing already and they have contingency plans. Personally, I
think, even if you appeal it, if the LGU [local government unit] is
really against you then you will have a hard time. Its going to be
difficult to relocate in other areas where you are not welcome, he
said. The energy chief said he will ask the oil firms to submit
their respective contingency plans. We will now ask them what their
contin-gency plans are for our own internal consump-tion, Petilla
said while adding that new per-mits from the LGU would have to be
secured before relocation. Actually they have other depots now.
What will only happen is that they will close down their operations
in Pandacan. They will just continue operations in their other
depots or refineries. The thing is their distribution cost will be
more expensive, he added. For now, Petillas fearsa possible fuel
price hike, logistics difficulty and horrendous trafficwill have to
take a back seat until the oil firms have vacated the Pandacan oil
depot.
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By Joel R. San Juan
APETITION has been filed before the Supreme Court (SC) seeking
the issuance of a temporary restraining order to stop the
Commission on Elections (Comelec) from proceeding with the public
bidding for the supply, lease or purchase of Precinct Count Optical
Scan (PCOS) voting machines scheduled on December 4. In a 19-page
petition, former Assemblyman Homobono Adaza also asked the Court to
enjoin Smartmatic Inc. from participating in any public bidding for
new PCOS machines. Adaza argued that the appropriation of billions
of pesos to procure additional PCOS machines without undertaking an
inventory and technical and forensic tests of the more than 80,000
PCOS machines constitute grave abuse of discretion and a violation
of the provisions of the Constitution. Considering that many PCOS
machines remain unaccounted for and considering, further, that the
remaining PCOS machines are now stored in a warehouse without any
configuration facilities, there is no way to determine how many are
still usable or can still be repaired, the petitioner said. Without
making the inventory desired tests, it is absolutely a grave abuse
of power for respondent Comelec to disburse billions of pesos and
conduct public bidding for acquisition of voting machines, which
may not be necessary and will involve wastage of billions of pesos,
he added. Adaza added that the Comelec should exclude Smartmatic
from participating in the bidding process for its glaring
violations of election laws. The inclusion of respondent Smartmatic
in the December 4, 2014 bidding, should be enjoined as the same
constitutes grave abuse of discretion, Adaza said.
This developed as an election watchdog group formally asked the
Comelec to blacklist Smartmatic from participating in all
election-related projects for misrepresentation, having claimed
that it owned the automated election technology, and numerous
violations of the countrys election laws. The Citizens for Clean
and Credible Elections (C3E) said Smartmatic also failed to meet
several provisions in the 2010 Automated Election System Project
Contract, including its failure to deliver the required services in
a specified period. C3E Spokesman and National Labor Union
President Dave Diwa said that aside from these shortcomings,
Smartmatic is also guilty of misinformation when it declared that
Taiwan-based Jarltech International Corp. was its subsidiary in its
qualification statements. Smartmatic submitted Jarltechs ISO-9001
certification as part of the requirements for eligibility to bid,
claiming that they are a majority owner of Jarltech, while, in
fact, they are merely subcontracting Jarltech for the manufacture
of the PCOS machines. It was also uncovered that Smartmatic did not
own the automated election technology that it provided to the
Comelec when it (Smartmatic) sued Dominion Voting Systems of Canada
for failing to supply fully functional technology...[and] timely
technical support. It also held Dominion liable for its failure to
deposit in escrow the required source code for the software, and
its manufacturing design. Diwa said the lawsuit, which Smartmatic
filed in September 2012 in the Delaware chancery court, was a clear
evidence and Smarmatics admission it did not own the automated
voting technology that it provided to the Comelec, a clear
misrepresentation and violation of the terms of contract and
election laws.
BusinessMirror [email protected] A4Economy
briefslower chamber keen
on tapping solar energy for powerHouse speaker Feliciano
Belmonte Jr. on Wednesday said they are seriously considering the
installation of solar panels at the House of Representatives to
generate part of the chambers energy requirements as the use of
renewable-energy sources is the direction that the Philippines is
taking.
Green energy is a terrific thing and the logical thing to do,
Belmonte said in a chance encounter with reporters at the sidelines
of the meeting of House leaders with the Joint Foreign Chambers and
Philippine business groups.
The speaker made the statement after personally attending the
launching on Monday of the largest solar rooftop installation in
the Philippines at the sM City North edsas multilevel parking
building in Quezon City.
The system is composed of 5,760 solar panels occupying 11,511
square meters of the sM buildings roof deck.
It is expected to power 5 percent of the malls daily energy
consumption, saving the mall an estimated P2 million a month.
Belmonte also urged other business establishments as well as
government agencies to, likewise, seriously consider installing
similar systems in their buildings not just to reduce dependence on
fossil fuelsthe main fuel for our power generatorsbut also of its
positive impact to the environment. They should visit sM and see
for themselves the system. I was assured that people could view it
for free. I, myself, am considering of installing a solar-panel
system in my residence, Belmonte said. Besides being eco-friendly,
he was assured that the system is also easily installed, which is
about six to 10 months for the one like sMs. In the meantime,
Belmonte said he would meet with the House leadership on the matter
in order to properly discuss the various issues in installing a
similar system at the House of Representatives. PNA
mmda creates tf phantom to manage holiday traffic on edsaTHe
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Wednesday
formed Task Force Phantom to help in the effective management of
traffic within the vicinity of shopping malls in Metro Manila
during the holiday season. MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the
task force is composed of 15 motorcycle traffic enforcers and 15
members of the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group.
Tolentino said that members of the task force will join traffic
enforcers and security personnel in alleviating traffic congestion
in the vicinity of shopping malls along epifanio de los santos
Avenue (edsa). He added that the task force members and security
guards will be given a crash course on traffic management by the
MMDA. They will also seize violators of the drunk-driving law
[especially among holiday revelers], he said. Apart from securing
the holiday shopping season, the task force will assist in the
traffic-management operations, provide motorcycle- escort security
and crowd-control operations on the Feast of the Black Nazarene in
January, and the Philippiness hosting of the Asia-Pacific economic
Cooperation summit next year. The task force will be deployed to
both Manila and Tacloban, where Pope Francis will have engagements
during his visit from January 15 to 19. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., in an interview, said the
supple-mental budget will also fund infra-structure projects for
post-Yolanda rehabilitation and preparations for the 2015
Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit. We had a brief
meeting [with
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad about the supplemental budget].
We expect to file it by next week, Bel-monte said. Some of the DAP
projects were only completed but has not been paid yet. Thats among
those that are included. Some of them are
Thursday, November 27, 2014 Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max
V. de Leon
house eyes passage of p23.3-billion supplemental budget by
december
about to be completed when the Supreme Court prohibits the [use
of PDAF and DAP]. I think we should complete that, he said. Under
the Department of Bud-get and Management-proposed P23. 3 - bi l l
ion supplement a l budget, P5.08 billion will be al-located for
previously approved projects, but were stopped due to SC rulings
against the PDAF and DAP. The DBM said that P1.85 bil-lion will be
spent for infrastruc-ture projects being implemented by the
Department of Public Works and Highways. It said that other parts
of the supplemental budget will be used to fund Yolanda
reconstruction efforts and government preparations for the 2015
Apec summit. According to Abad, The funds will account for the
budgetary re-quirements of priority projects
that were partially implemented or previously approved for
imple-mentation this year. Most of these projects have al-ready
been completed, are ongoing, or are urgently needed to sustain our
socioeconomic development. The passage of the proposed
supple-mental budget will allow us to al-locate funds accordingly
so we can complete these projects right away, Abad added. Moreover,
Belmonte assured the public that the passage of the supplemental
budget will go under thorough scrutiny and deliberation of a House
committee. Earlier, House Senior Deputy Minority Leader and
Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna criticized the
supplemental budget proposal, fearing it may just be used for the
campaigns of administration politicians in the 2016 elections.
SC asked to stop bidding for PCOS machines
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
The house of Representatives is planning to pass a P23.3-billion
supplemental budget before the year ends to continue all the
projects halted by the abolition of the Priority Development
Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Disbursement Acceleration Program
(DAP).
consultation with stakeholders Bases Conversion and Development
Authority (BCDA) President and CEO Arnel Paciano D. Casanova
discusses with some 200 residents of Capas, Tarlac, the plan to
build a smart, green and disaster-resilient city called the Clark
Green City at the government-ownedClark Special Economic Zone in
Capas, Tarlac. During the consultation, Casanova saidtown residents
will be among the primary beneficiaries and stakeholders of the
Clark Green City project who will benefit the most in BCDAs most
ambitious project to date. Casanova called on the residents to work
with the BCDA in building the countrys most modern city. In May
President Aquino approved the master development plan of Clark
Green City and gave the green light to start the development of the
first phase. BCDA reels from the success of developing the
Bonifacio Global City, the countrys most beautifully planned and
developed city using the best practices around the world.
By Recto Mercene
EMPLoYEES from both the private and public sector can expect a
bigger take-home pay soon, but probably not this year, with the
Senates approval of a bill seeking to raise the tax-exemption
ceiling of 13th-month pay and other benefits from P30,000 to
P82,000. Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, co-author and sponsor of Senate
Bill (SB) 2437, said that once the bill is enacted into law,
employees receiving 13th-month pay and other benefits, including
Christmas and productiv-ity bonuses, not exceeding P82,000, will be
exempted from tax. The original bill pegged the ceiling for
tax-exempt bonuses at P75,000 but was raised to P82,000 as
pro-posed by Sen. Ralph Recto during plenary deliberations. Angara,
chair-man of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, said he
accepted Rectos amendments because his pro-posal was the same
figure given by Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacin-to-Hernares in one
of the previous hearings on SB 2437. She [Henares] said that
P30,000 in 1994 would be worth around P82,000 today, Angara
said.
Senate President Franklin M. Drilon concurred with the move,
saying that the bills passage is nec-essary to provide relief to
state and private workers whose purchasing power has been shrinking
for years due to inflation, but still have had to deal with the
consequences of an outdated law. When the P30,000 tax ceiling was
first legislated in 1994, Angara explained, the basic salary of a
gov-ernment employee in the lowest rung was P3,800, a month while
that of the President was P25,000. The ceiling, he noted, had not
been adjusted in 20 years although Congress had leg-islated other
measures to soften the impact of inflation on the workers. More
important, Angara said, SB 2437 had included a provision that the
adjustment be made mandato-rily every three years to coincide with
major surveys conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority such
as the Family and Income Expendi-ture Survey. Recto, principal
author of the bill, said the peso had lost two-thirds of its value
over the past 20 years. The equivalent of P1 in 1994, he said, was
worth 36 centavos today. Recto was the director general of the
National
Economic and Development Author-ity in 2008. When the
17-year-old Bam Aqui-no sipped his first beer in 1994, Pale Pilsen
cost P8.50 a bottle. of course, Sen. Sonny Angara, on vacation from
his London studies thenor I am told that he graduated in 1994and if
he were to borrow one of his dads cars, he would have paid P8.50
for a liter of gasoline, Recto said in his co-sponsorship speech.
While some experts estimated that the government would lose around
P42 billion in taxes with the enactment of SB 2437 into law, Recto
argued that there was no basis for the computation. A more
reasonable computation of tax loss, he said, was estimated by the
Philippine Institute for Develop-ment Studies at P2.6 billion and
Dr. Stella Quimbo of the University of the Philippines School of
Economics at P5.6 billion. But whatever is the revenue loss for the
government is actually in-come gained for the working man. And even
if his 13th-month pay is tax-exempt upon receipt, it will be
taxable when spent, Recto said, add-ing that taxes not withheld at
source will later be captured in the form of
sales tax at points of sales. In response to concerns about the
speedy implementation of the law, Drilon had also introduced an
amendment to the bill stating that the failure of the Secretary of
Fi-nance to promulgate the necessary rules and regulations shall
not pre-vent the effectivity of the law. This is because it is up
to the Department of Finance and the Bu-reau of Internal Revenue to
come up with the implementing rules and regulations when this law
is passed, and they may not have enough time to accomplish that in
time. But surely, the law will be fully implemented next year, the
Senate leader assured. For his part, Sen. Manuel Lito Lapid Jr.
then said that increasing the cap of exemption on the 13th month
pay and other benefits from income tax would increase the
dis-posable income of the working class. This in turn, Lapid said
in his co-sponsorship speech, would stimu-late consumption. All
reasons to increase the cap for the tax exemption on the 13th-month
and other benefits points to one thing: to enhance the welfare of
the working class, Lapid said.
Senate OKs higher tax cap for 13th-month pay, bonus
ALAWMAKER on Wed-nesday has called on his colleagues to stop the
hearings on the port- congestion issue, saying the problem has been
solved, and that government agencies are already working to address
the issue. Liberal Party Rep. Fern-ando Gonzales of Albay made this
remark after Raul Santos, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)
assistant general man-ager, reported to the House Committee on
Transporta-tion in a recent hearing that congestion at the ports in
Manila has started go down and that the utilization has eased up
despite the increas-ing volumes. Congestion is dwindling and
utilization has come to a manageable level, but we at the PPA
continue to co-ordinate with the Cabinet cluster on port
congestion, Santos said. Gonzalez, vice chairman of the
transportation com-mittee, said there is no con-gestion in the
ports in the first place. our ports have the capac-ity. It is
operated well. The problem is that road capac-ity has not coped up
with the capacity of the ports, he added. Gonzalez, who worked as a
young stevedore in Legazpi port, was former operations manager of a
local stevedor-ing firm. He also worked overseas in the ports of
Jed-dah and Dammam in Saudi Arabia for 10 years until his return to
the Philippines in 1987. He also likened the port to the human
heart and the road network to arteries. Even if you have an
extremely pow-erful and strong heart, but if the arteries are
clogged, what happens? Gonzalez said. The next step is for the
government to expand road infrastructure. The problem is not the
port but the limited roads that serve the port, he added. Jovee
Marie N. dela Cruz
Solon: Enough with legislative inquiries on port congestion
-
Editor: Alvin I. DacanayThursday, November 27, 2014
OpinionBusinessMirrorA6
A waste of timeeditorial
WHILE it may be entertaining for many people to indulge in a bit
of mudslinging as the 2016 elections loom, a crisis is about to
explode in our midst.You guessed it: Trash.Based on the
Metropolitan Manila Development Authoritys (MMDA)
solid-waste management data for the first half of the year, the
agency had disposed 26,776.93 cubic meters of solid waste daily, or
9,773,580.78 cubic meters per year.
A Philippines Graphic magazine report on the subject says this
was equiva-lent to 55 percent of the estimated waste [that]
generated 43,491.39 cubic meters per day.
For the period of January to June this year, the agency was able
to in-crease by 12 percent the actual volume disposed to 26,838.37
cubic meters per day, it adds.
The data were culled as part of the MMDAs compliance with the
environ-mental standards for the operation of dumpsites and
landfills provided for under Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological
Solid Waste Management Act.
As for the Navotas-Tanza landfill and the Rizal Provincial
Sanitary Land-fill, which serve 17 local government units in Metro
Manila, there are still six years worth of space left.
For the Quezon City sanitary landfill, however, a serious
problem looms. The MMDA data show that it has an initial space of 3
hectares that are capable of accommodating 6,570,000 cubic meters
of solid waste for three years. This is crucial, because Quezon
City has the largest land area in Metro Manila and, thus, has one
of the highest trash-generation rates in any city.
The report also says, Based on the data of the Solid Waste
Management Office of the MMDA, this landfill has only 89,107 cubic
meters of space left, or 1.4 percent of its initial capacity.
However, there is a plan to expand the Quezon City sanitary
landfills space by 4 hectares, which will give it an addi-tional
capacity to accommodate solid waste for an estimated four to five
years.
Additional data show that the 292,217-square-meter Quezon City
landfill has an estimated 31,422 sq m of space left. This means
that the citys landfill is computed to reach full capacity by March
2015.
March 2015thats a few months from now. If, by any chance, the
city acquires additional hectares for the dumping of the citys
garbage, then all will be well. However, it would do us well to
remember that four to five years of extended capacity for landfills
and dumpsites are a mere blink of an eye.
There must be a way to improve our waste-management strategy for
the long haul, outside of the commonplace strategies that local
governments are currently employing.
Waste management needs the cooperation of allprivate
individuals, corporations included. And the government should
refrain from making it difficult for private corporations to invest
in state-of-the-art engineered sanitary landfills.
The problem has reached such proportions that the government
must now seek the help of private corporations. The investment is,
no doubt, worthwhile.
CHILDREN are sometimes afraid that there is a monster hiding in
their closet. This comes from the mistaken belief that monsters
always hide in closets. It would be relatively simple for children
to banish their fear. All they need to do is open the closet and
look inside. But children will not open it, because theyre afraid
they might be right and actually find a monster hiding there.
THE New York Times recently lit up the Japanese Twittersphere
with a cartoon that was a little too accurate for comfort. In it, a
stretcher marked economy is loaded into an ambulance with Abenomics
painted on the side; the vehicle lacks tires and sits atop cinder
blocks. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks on nervously,
holding an IV bag.
The monster in the closet
Japan is running out of options
Experts on the Philippine econ-omy have their own beliefs about
monsters hiding in the closet. But they will not open it, because
theyre afraid theres no monster inside and that they might be
proven wrong.
If you believe that the Philippines is facing a property bubble,
then you probably are also afraid to look in-side your closet for
fear of monsters.
This is the way the real world works: If property prices are too
high, then people will stop buying. The developers have two
choices: They can do what the major devel-opers did during the 1997
Asian financial crisis and just sit on the units without lowering
prices. Once the economy improves and people are willing to pay the
high price, sales will increase.
Can the developers afford to sit
on unsold units? Can they contin-ue to service their debt
payments? Looking at the financial statements of the publically
listed property companies, the answer is yes, even if, in the worst
case, the banks need to cooperate. But we will get to that in a
moment.
Alternatively, the developers could lower prices to stimulate
sales. It is an amazing factor of the free market that you can
lower the price to attract more customers. The experts may not have
heard of this technique, but some say the Baby-lonian Code of
Hammurabi, which reputedly date back to about 1754 B.C., contains a
section on buy one, take one rules.
Business owners are very smart; experts, not so much. Almost
every evening, at virtually every mall in
the Philippines, there is a food bub-ble. That is why, at many
stalls in the food courts, there is a sign that says something like
25-percent dis-count after 8 p.m. Profits are made when business is
booming, and the cost of raw materials is recovered by selling at a
discount when busi-ness is slow.
The same market forces apply to the real-estate industry.
In the November 23 issue of the BusinessMirror, the headline
was: Banks property-sector exposure exceeds P1 trillion. For me,
that is good news, as it shows growth in an important part of our
economy. For some experts, though, that means there is a monster in
the closet.
But lets open it and look inside.Of that P1 trillion, 84
percent
was for loans, while the remaining 16 percent was for
real-estate se-curities or publically listed stocks. Considering
that the top five prop-erty developers share prices are up between
14 percent and 40 per-cent in 2014, I would say that the banks
P172.9-billion investment was pretty smart.
Land developers, construction companies and other corporate
entities obtained 60 percent of the real-estate loans, while
borrowers acquiring residential properties received the remaining
40 percent, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in the
BusinessMirror report.
Majority of the loans are going
to developers that intend to profit from using them, and not
loaned to property buyers, whom the experts tell us are dumb to buy
real estate during a bubble.
Because the experts have never looked inside a
Philippine-property closet, they do not know that Philip-pine
property developers spend very little of their borrowed money until
they start selling the units during the preconstruction phase.
In the United States a developer cannot sell until it reaches a
certain stage of construction. In the Phil-ippines units can be
sold once the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Boards Certificate of
Registra-tion and License to Sell has been approved. This allows
for less risk to the banks and helps ensure that borrowers can
service their debt from ongoing sales.
This system works very well, as evidenced by the fact that the
banks nonperforming loans are only 2.64 percent of their total
real-estate loan portfolioand its decreasing.
If you want to find monsters, go see a movie. Do not bother
looking at the Philippine property industry.
Send me an e-mail at mangun@
gmail.com. Visit my website at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow
me on Twitter at @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and
technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group
Inc.
The image aptly sums up Japans failure to gain traction in its
push to end deflation. The Bank of Japans (BOJ) unprecedented
stimulus and Abes pro-growth reforms have yet to spur a recovery in
inflation and gross domestic product growth; and the country is,
yet again, in reces-sion. Worse, BOJ Governor Har-uhiko Kuroda is
rapidly running out of weapons in his battle to eradicate Japans
deflationary mind-set.
Minutes from the central banks October 31 board meeting, in
which
officials surprised the world by ex-panding an already massive
quan-titative-easing program, show that Kuroda now has a budding
mutiny on his hands. Many of his staffers think that the central
bank has al-ready gone too far to weaken the yen and buy virtually
every bond in sight. Thats a problem for Kuroda and Abe in two
ways.
First, board members warned that the costs of additional
mone-tary stimulus outweigh the benefits. We already knew that
Kuroda had
only won approval for his shock-and-awe announcement by a
paper-thin 5 to 4 margin, and that Taka-hide Kiuchi dissented when
the BOJ boosted bond sales to about $700 billion annually. But the
minutes suggest that Kuroda came as close to any modern BOJ leader
ever has to defeat on a policy move. Caution-ary voices like
Kiuchis worry that the BOJ could be perceived as effec-tively
financing fiscal deficits. Id say its too late for that. Of course,
the BOJ is acting as the Ministry of Finances automated teller
ma-chine, just as Abe intended when he hired Kuroda. Still, the
fact is that Kurodas odds of getting away with yet another Friday
surprise are nil, at best.
Second, maintaining stability in the bond market just got
harder. The only way Kuroda can stop 10-year yieldscurrently at
0.44 per-centfrom spiking as he tries to generate 2-percent
inflation is by making even bigger bond purchases. But fellow BOJ
board members will be giving Kuroda less latitude to cap market
rates. Japan is lucky in one
way: Given that more than 90 per-cent of public debt is held
domesti-cally, Tokyo can avoid the wrath of the bond vigilantes.
Kuroda further neutralized these activist traders by saying theres
no limit to what he can do to make Abenom-ics work. The fact that
so many of his colleagues are skeptical of the policy, however,
undermines Ku-rodas credibility. If markets begin to doubt his
staying power, yields are sure to rise.
The answer, of course, is for Abe to get more serious about
de-regulating the economy; that was the thrust of Kiuchis
dissenting vote last month. Unfortunately, progress on Abes
so-called third-arrow reforms is set to slow as To-kyo stops all
business to contest a December 14 election. The vote could well
leave Abe with a smaller mandate for change than he won in 2012.
Whatever the margin, though, the prime minister needs to act faster
to increase competi-tiveness. Or the next thing being placed in an
ambulance could be his premiership.
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BLOOMBERG VIEWWilliam Pesek
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Thursday, November 27, 2014
[email protected]
Watchful waiting
BELIEVING that God is the shepherd and protector of His people,
the psalmist begs Him to come and save them (Psalm 80:23, 1516,
1819). The Lord is, indeed, coming, so we must stay awake and be
watchful (Mark 13:3337).
Come and save usIN the context of the military de-bacle suffered
at the hands of its en-emies, the psalmist prays to God to look at
Israel favorably, and to come and save His people. Confidence in
Gods power and concern is expressed in the titles used for Him. He
is re-ferred to as the shepherd of Israel, who knows His flock
intimately and hears their pleas; God is called upon to hearken
and, from His heavenly throne surrounded by the Cherubim, His royal
guards, to stir up His might and show it. The shepherd, who brings
his flock to verdant pastures and protects them from predators,
will surely come to save them, and let them see His face, His
favor.
God is also referred to as the Lord of hosts, the mighty leader
of legions of soldiers, majestically enthroned in heaven and
pleaded with to look down and see the condition of His own people.
God is next portrayed as a cultivator of vines. Vineyard-
keepers are dedicated and patient persons, just like shepherds,
solici-tous of their wards. That is why the psalmist pleads with
God to take care of this vine (Israel) and protect what His right
hand has planted. Gods help is expected to be with the favored one
on His right hand (the King), the Son of Man, whom God made strong
for His peoples sake. Speaking for the people, the psalmist says
that, if given new life and another chance, they will call upon
Gods name in adoration and promise not to turn their back on Him
ever again.
You do not know whenTHE short parable in the Gospel shows how
the servants of a man traveling abroad are placed in charge of his
household, each with his own assigned task. The gatekeeper, in
particular, is told to be on guard, to make sure that what or who
should not be let in his property does not
get in, and what or who should not get out does not leave. The
time of the return of the Lord of the house is not known. It can be
in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawnfour
periods of time for the night watches in the military. Like
soldiers, the servants are expected to stand guard and not be
caught sleeping. The enemies make their move especially at night;
diligence and vigilance are vital.
No one knows when the Lord of the house is coming. It is
unsched-uled, or clearly not according to our schedule. This is of
main signifi-cance: The servants are uncertain about the time of
their masters re-turn. They are not allowed to be idle while
waiting for him; they all have their respective responsibilities,
which are to be accounted for in due time. Until the owner of the
house returns, everyone must be diligent in his or her work. It
will be disastrous if the owner suddenly returns home to find his
servants asleep and not expecting him at all.
Be watchfulTHE parable is a metaphor. The whole point of it is
the imperative Watch! and the injunction to be watchful is given to
all. The period before the coming of the One, when-ever that may
be, should be spent in diligent faithfulness to the wishes of the
owner of the house. Therefore, the servants must be vigilant at all
times as they wait for the return of
their master. They must be ready and watchful always. Tragic
events can take place in a moment of inat-tention. This is
particularly so in the time of greatest vulnerability, in the hours
of darkness.
The command to watch out for the arrival of the master is
repeated three times; it is very clearly empha-sized as the most
important. Inter-estingly, the Greek word for time is kairosthe
propitious time, the spe-cial time above all others, the grace of a
time when the Lord comes and shares His saving presence with all.
This uncommon time is a gift of the one whose coming is long
awaited; it brings communion and salvation. The time referred to
here is not mere chronossequential and physical time, like any
other time. And all must be ready for this time of salva-tion,
watching and waiting.
Allaong bag, for the First Sun-day of Advent, we have
established the setting for the whole season. In our context of
suffering and failure, we, like the psalmist, turn our eyes to God
and plead with Him to look down upon us, and come and save us. God
will definitely come for our sake, but we need to be watchful all
the time so as not to miss His coming.
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.
By Dr. Aristotle Economou
Tribune News Service
ITS an unfortunate fact that many people dont realize that
pills, even those available over the counter (OTC), provide a lot
of medication to the bodyoften more than the amount needed to
simply dull pain. Excess medicine must be included, because the
liver acts as a filter for the body and knocks out about one-third
of the medicine one takes orally. The remaining medicine must then
spread throughout the entire body, because your body doesnt
know
you are only trying to treat your sore knee or strained
shoulder.
Every day across the United States, millions of people relieve
pain with the assistance of OTC pills without giving it a second
thought. For the vast majority, when the medications are used as
directed, pain relief is achieved safely. But pain medication can
be tricky to manage, due to the range of op-tions and varying doses
available, which is why the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is
revamping the approval path for OTC drugs. As reported by The Wall
Street Journal earlier this year, this move will change how tens of
thousands of
medicines and personal care items reach US store shelves.
Despite liver-toxicity issues con-cerning doses over 325
milligrams, the FDA still allows a 500-milligram OTC acetaminophen,
a pain reliever, to be sold. It is inexcusably poor judgment on the
part of the FDA to have failed to take action concerning this major
source of acetaminophen consumption, and, consequently,
acetaminophen toxicity, Dr. Sid-ney M. Wolfe, founder and senior
adviser of Public Citizen Health Re-search Group, a
Washington-based consumer advocacy group, told the Wall Street
Journal.
Acetaminophen has a narrow
therapeutic window, meaning the difference between a safe and
effec-tive dose and an overdose, which, in serious cases, can lead
to liver toxic-ity, is a relatively small increment in milligram
consumption.
Ibuprofen, naproxen and even as-pirin can cause upset stomach,
and even ulcers, in a worst case, when not administered at the
right dos-ages. Outside the US, more people use a balance of
topical and external medicines. Topical-pain relievers, such as
creams, gels, patches and sprays work locally and largely re-duce,
although they do not entirely eliminate, the systemic
riskac-cidental or otherwisethat OTC
pain pills can present.Many people enjoy a few glasses
of wine with dinner or going out for beers after work. Combining
alcohol consumption with virtually all OTC pain relievers delivered
in a pill, however, is against labeled use. According to the
National Institutes of Health publication on alcohol and
metabolism, liver damage can occur with as few as four to five
ex-tra strength acetaminophen pills consumed with varying amounts
of alcohol.
There are a variety of noninva-sive techniques, procedures,
spe-cific acu-points and philosophies surrounding pain relief
worldwide.
With a topical, you can deliver much less medicine to the body
because youre applying it directly at the site of pain.
I encourage all my patients to use medicine as directed. It is
important for pain sufferers to know their op-tions and consider
treating mild to moderate pain locally to improve their pain relief
outcomes.
Dr. Aristotle Economou is a mem-ber of the Institute for
Functional Medicine, a faculty member of The International Academy
of Medical Acupuncture and author of the book Change the Way You
Heal: 7 Steps to Highly Effective Healing.
Informed choices lead to healthier pain-relief outcomes
AllAong BAgMsgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.
MUCH has been said about nonstock, nonprofit entities, but
because of the apparent instability of the rules governing their
taxability, the time has come for us to revisit the subject. This
time, however, we do so with the optimism that the long-standing
issue of these entities taxability will now be put to rest, thanks
to the promulgation of Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Case 8377 on
November 4.
Certificate of tax exemption is not mandatory
In this case, the CTA ruled that the certificate of tax
exemption is not a condition precedent for the nonstock, nonprofit
educational institutions entitlement to income-tax exemption. The
tax court ruled that these institutions do not need to secure a
ruling from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to enjoy a tax
exemption on their tax-exempt activities.
In retrospect, Revenue Memo-randum Order (RMO) 34-2014, dated
September 18, has clarified that tax-exemption rulings neither
confer nor abrogate exemptions granted by law. However, reading
through the orders provisions, it appears that the BIR still
requires the filing of an application for a tax-exemption
ruling.
While RMO 34-2014 declares the BIRs position that the absence of
a valid, current and subsisting tax-exemption ruling does not
divest qualified entities of the tax exemp-tion provided under the
1987 Phil-ippine Constitution or Section 30 of the Tax Code of
1997, the same order, however, reiterates the provisions of RMO
08-2014, which states that the failure of the nonstock, nonprofit
entity to present its valid, current and subsisting tax-exemption
rul-ing to the appropriate withholding agents shall subject it to
the pay-ment of the withholding taxes due on their transactions,
and that the withholding agents failure to with-hold,
notwithstanding the lack of a tax-exemption ruling, shall cause the
imposition of penalties under Section 251 and other pertinent
sec-tions of the Tax Code. Hence, follow-ing the provisions of RMO
34-2014, there still appears a need to secure a ruling so that
income payments to nonstock, nonprofit educational in-stitutions
will not be imposed with withholding tax.
But with the promulgation of the courts decision in CTA Case
8377, nonstock, nonprofit schools can now feel confident in
entering into a transaction without having to worry about
presenting their tax-exemp-tion ruling from the BIR. Similarly, the
schools suppliers can now freely transact with these schools
without requiring the latter to present their tax-exemption
ruling.
In the CTA case, the tribunal ruled that the BIR cannot impose
additional requirements that are not provided by law. The CTA cited
the Supreme Courts (SC) decision in GR 158085, in which the
latter
held that, when the Tax Code does not provide a requirement to
avail a tax exemption granted under the law, the BIR cannot add an
addi-tional requirement to implement the law. The CTA said the
require-ment for certificate of exemption prescribed in RMO 20-2013
is not a requirement stated by the law. Therefore, this certificate
is not a condition precedent for the peti-tioner to be entitled to
income-tax exemption.
The only requirement is that the school must show that it is a
non-stock, nonprofit educational institu-tion, and that no part of
its income is derived from activities conducted for profit pursuant
to Section 4(3), Article XIV of the Constitution and Section 30(H)
of the Tax Code, as amended. Section 4(3), Article XIV of the
Constitution provides that all revenues and assets of nonstock,
nonprofit educational institutions that are used actually, directly
and exclusively for educational purposes shall be exempt from taxes
and du-ties. Upon the dissolution or cessa-tion of the corporate
existence of such institutions, their assets shall be disposed of
in the manner pro-vided by law.
While CTA Case 8377 limited the discussion to nonstock,
non-profit educational institutions, it is my humble view that the
same rule should also apply to all taxpayers whose tax exemptions
are clearly defined under our laws, invoking the well-enshrined
doctrine of stare de-cisis, which means that when a court has laid
down a principle of law as applicable to a certain state of facts,
it will adhere to that principle and apply it to all future cases
in which the facts are substantially the same, even though the
parties may be dif-ferent. This case, though, may yet find its way
up to the SC.
The author is a senior associate of the Du-Baladad and
Associates Law Offices, a member-firm of the World Tax Services
Alliance.
The article is for general informa-tion only, and is neither
intended nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or
financial advice on any spe-cific matter. Applicability of this
article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be
supported, therefore, by a professional study or advice. For
comments or questions about the ar-ticle, send them to the author
at [email protected] or call 403-2001, local 140.
AFTER almost a year of intense negotiations and economic
pressure, Iran still is not ready to yield on its nuclear program.
Instead, Tehran on Monday masterfully extracted seven more months
to develop its nuclear prowess: The United States and its allies
again extended the deadlineis that word still appropriate?to reach
agreement. Thats the second extension the US has granted to Iran
this year.
Squeeze a stalling Iran to make a nuclear deal
US Secretary of State John Kerry says that gaps between the
sides have narrowed, that a reasonable deal can be reached.
Dont hold your breath. These talks look like a triumph of hope
over experience. Theres little rea-son to believe that another
seven months of pleading and cajoling will force Iran to yield.
Remem-ber, Iran continues to stonewall international inspectors. It
wont answer questions about its past nuclear research, or accept
tight restrictions on the uranium-en-riching centrifuges that are
key to making a bomb.
Those arent signs of a good-faith effort to reach agreement.
The longer the talks drag on, the more leverage Iran gains. Its
program projects an aura of inevi-tability, even respectability.
Some countries, including Russia and China, may be tempted to break
ranks with Washington and in-crease trade with Iran.
Tehran remains on the brink of a nuclear breakoutlikely within
months of being able to build a nuclear weapon. It may also be
building its capability to sneak out, that is, to use secret
facilities to construct a weapon far from the gaze of
inspectors.
Remember, Iran came to the
bargaining table only because US and European Union economic
sanc-tions were devastating its economy. Tehrans negotiators stay
there now in hopes of getting those sanctions quickly lifted in
exchange for...con-ceding as little as possible.
To conclude a deal, the West
needs more leverage. When the talks were extended in July, this
page ar-gued that Iran should pay a steeper price for stalling, via
tougher eco-nomic sanctions. But the Obama administration views
tougher sanc-tions as counterproductive.
A firmer approach from Wash-ington would still be the best way
to ensure that the talks dont me-ander for another seven months. A
bill pushed by Republican Sen.
Mark Kirk of Illinois and Demo-cratic Sen. Robert Menendez of
New Jersey would significantly tighten the embargo on Irans oil
exports, the countrys economic lifeblood. It would blacklist
mining, engineering, shipbuilding and con-struction industries. Its
aim: Stifle Irans already-staggered economy with a near-complete
banking and trade embargo.
Kirk says Iran earns about $700 million a month, mainly from oil
sales permitted under todays sanc-tions. His bill is aimed at
largely drying up that and other sources of revenue. As long as the
Iranian
nuclear program exists, there should be an increasing cost to
encourage the Iranians not to build the bomb, he told us on
Monday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has bottled up the bill for
months because President Barack Obama asked lawmakers for time to
give negotiations a chance. Times more than up. Kirk tells us that
a vote should come soon after Repub-licans take control of the
Senate in
January. Good. The bill has 60 spon-sors, including 17
Democrats. The US House of Representatives has already passed a
similar bill.
Sending this legislation to Obama would be a strong signal to
Americas friends and foes, all ner-vously watching these
inconclusive negotiations.
The stakes are enormous: A nuclear Iran would create an even
more dangerous Middle East. Irans main regional rival, Saudi
Arabia, has threatened to ramp up a nuclear program in response,
possibly buy-ing nuclear weapons off the shelf from Pakistan. Egypt
and Jordan may also launch nuclear programs. Israel considers an
Iranian bomb to be an existential threat to the Jewish state. Will
the Israelis send bombers?
Whats more, Iran is a chief spon-sor of worldwide terror.
Imagine what happens when its fanatical mullahs wield the worlds
most dan-gerous weapon.
So the moment Iran declares it-self a nuclear power, others
scramble for nukes and terror organizations cheer.
Thus, the outcome of these nego-tiations promises to make the
world safer or infinitely more dangerous.
Kerry said on Monday that new ideas surfaced in recent days and
that we would be fools to walk away.
But were talking about an Irani-an nuclear program much stronger
than when we learned of it in 2002.
At some point, Kerry will have to admit that those who want more
talks, rather than more sanctions, are fools to stay. Chicago
Tribune/TNS
TAx lAw for BuSineSSAtty. rodel C. unciano
A firmer approach from Washington would still be the best way to
ensure that the talks dont meander for another
seven months. A bill pushed by Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of
Illinois and Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey would
significantly tighten the embargo on Irans
oil exports, the countrys economic lifeblood. It would blacklist
mining, engineering, shipbuilding and construction industries. Its
aim: Stifle Irans already-staggered economy
with a near-complete banking and trade embargo.
-
A8
2ndFront PageBusinessMirrorwww.businessmirror.com.phThursday,
November 27, 2014
Continued on A2
House urged to prioritizepassage of economic bills
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
Foreign and local businessmen on Wednesday urged leaders of the
House of representatives to prioritize the passage of several
measures aimed at boosting the countrys economy and combating
corruption.
ASIA NEEDS TO DEEPEN FINANCIAL MARKETSAsiAn and Middle Eastern
financial regulators and institutions have to remove roadblocks to
broaden the range of financial instruments amid the rise of the
Chinese currency yuan, experts said on Tuesday at the Boao Forum
for Asia financial-cooperation conference. The two-day
financial-cooperation confer-ence, which closed here on Tuesday,
was held for the first time in West Asia. it focused on how the Far
East, Central Asia and the Middle East can expand bilateral trade
and grow economi-cally together. Dr. nasser saidi, a leading
Dubai-based economist and president of nasser saidi and Associates,
said that Asia today produces 50 percent of the worlds output but
its global share in financial markets is far beneath that. The
region needs to deepen its financial markets by issuing more
financing and invest-ment instruments like bonds, equities,
invest-ment funds, he said. Zhang Hongli, executive vice president
of Chinas iCBC, said the Asian financial markets are still very
fragmented.
Ratings are often different and not compa-rable, we need to
develop a unified understand-ing, he said. But Zhang, on the other
hand, agreed with saidi that financing is too much bank-domi-nated.
Certainly, investment banking must be increased, we need bonds,
equities, more Asian capital markets, but this takes time and needs
qualified people, he said. in 2008 iCBC was the first Chinese
lender which opened a branch in the Dubai banking free zone DiFC in
order to expand its financing operations in the Gulf Arab region.
saidi and another panelist from Pakistan, Mumtaz Hussain syed, CEO
of Pakistani in-vestment firm Aequitas, pointed out that the
fast-rising islamic finance segment can be a catalyst to fill the
financing gap in Asia, which, saidi said, amounted to $800 billion
a year. Hussain syed said islamic finance was growing at least 15
percent per year in Paki-stan, meaning the industry doubles every
five years. With China being a key trade partner for islamabad,
Chinese banks should bank
on the religious financing style to increase bilateral trade.
saidi said the rise of islamic bonds, or sukuk, in the Middle East
and Far East was positive; but more has to be done. Arab sovereign
wealth funds are keen on investing in sukuk as they must be
asset-based and put faith into finance, he said, adding that if
more East Asian countries launch sukuk, they can attract sovereign
wealth funds. islamic bonds do not pay interest but periodi-cally
distribute a profit share to the bondhold-ers based on tangible
assets like commodities or real estate. Hong Kong issued its first
sukuk in mid-sep-tember, raising $1 billion from 120 institutional
investors and 36 percent of the funds came from the Middle East.
saidi said he expects the Chinese cur-rency to become a global
reserve currency in 2015 the earliest. Therefore, the fact that
more Arab banks in the Gulf offer renminbi financing options and
the growing presence of Chinese lenders in the region was a
devel-opment into the right direction. PNA/Xinhua
Inflationto ease o