B D C @ davecaga

PR ESIDEN T Aqu ino has reached out to the camp of in-coming President and Davao

City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte to commit to a smooth transition of power come June 30. Mr. Aquino talked to Duterte’s executive assistant Bong Go to tell him that Executive Secretary Pa-quito N. Ochoa Jr. shall head the Aquino administration’s transition team, which will coordinate with

Duterte’s camp on matters relating to the transfer of power.

“I talked to Mr. Bong Go yes-terday [Tuesday] to relay to Mayor Duterte that an administrative or-der is being drafted, designating the executive secretary as head of the transition team. I further of-fered that the Cabinet stands ready to brief his team on any and all of their concerns. Lastly, we are com-mitted to effecting the smooth-est transit ion possible,” Mr. Aquino said in a news statement

Emmanuel F. Esguerra said.Esguerra, who is also the coun-

try’s economic planning chief, said the government must focus on pro-moting industry and national com-petitiveness by crafting policies that move domestic industries into higher-value niches in the global value chains (GVCs).

He added that the government must also encourage multinational enterprises, which are lead firms in the GVCs, to locate in the country.

“It’s a necessary step in the midst of a challenging global economy. The country’s traditional trade partners continue to post subdued growth; global trade is not expected to pick up soon; and China’s slow-down is impinging upon overall growth in emerging economies,” Esguerra said.

“To be able to reach out to other potential export markets and sell our products, it is crucial to ease

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PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 46.9200 n JAPAN 0.4295 n UK 67.7619 n HK 6.0452 n CHINA 7.1980 n SINGAPORE 34.2982 n AUSTRALIA 34.5425 n EU 53.3762 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.5110 Source: BSP (11 May 2016 )

A broader look at today’s businessBusinessMirrorBusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph n Thursday, May 12, 2016 Vol. 11 No. 215 P. | | 7 DAYS A WEEK

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DOJ: Makati’s 25% bond for infra contractors illegal

INSIDE

BACK TO WORK

CAPARAS AGREES WITH SINGSON THAT MAKATI’S ORDINANCE IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Change with the same face

Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free Fire

the same face

Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free Fire

PHL needs to develop more export winners–NedaBACKWORK

It’s time to get back to work. A lot of

work. Danny Willett only has a two-week

break scheduled twice through October, and he

could play as many as 15 times over the next

23 weeks.

SportsBusinessMirror

AUSTRALIAN Marc Leishman says he is not competing in Rio. AP

‘It won’t hurt’PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida—Professional Golfers’

Association (PGA) Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem doesn’t believe that five players skipping the Olympics will hurt

golf’s chances for staying on the program beyond 2020. Golf returns to the Olympics this year in Rio for the first time since 1904. While it is set for 2020 in Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will vote in 2017 whether the sport stays on the program beyond that. Adam Scott and Marc Leishman of Australia, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Vijay Singh of Fiji have said they will not compete, mostly citing a busy summer schedule of major events. Leishman was concerned about the Zika virus because his wife, who nearly died last year from toxic shock syndrome, has a susceptible immune system. “If you look at the broader things that the IOC looks at from a sport...the reason they like golf is it’s growing around the globe, it’s bringing young people to the game,” Finchem said on Tuesday. “It’s one of the few sports that’s actively very popular on every continent—just to different levels, but reasonably popular on every continent. So it’s truly a global sport, and it’s a sport that works quite well with sponsorship, and they’re in that business. “I don’t think any of those variables are going to change after this year,” he said. “I think we’ll be in good shape.” Finchem said it would have helped golf’s chances had the IOC voted for this year’s games to be held in Chicago instead of Brazil, because “Rio is not a golf country.” Without a suitable golf course in Brazil, Arch. Gil Hanse designed one for the Olympics that was behind schedule because of legal fights over property ownership and environmental concerns. Finchem, who is on the International Golf Federation (IGF) board, said the tour has talked to all five players who have opted not to play and said it was a combination of issues, starting with a tight golf season. To clear room for the Olympics, the PGA Championship has moved to the end of July, meaning two majors will be held in the month before the men’s competition starts in Rio. He also said the Zika virus might have played a role, and some players haven’t made the Olympics a priority just yet. “The easy thing to do would be to say, ‘Well, let’s just pass this year. We’ll go to Tokyo.’ So I think it’s some combination of things, really,” Finchem said. “I don’t want to pain the players as making these decisions based on any one thing. I think they’re being legitimate when they have said what they have said. But I do think we have had a combination of things that have created some issues this year. “But we seem to be doing OK, and I think we’re going to have a superb Olympics once we get down there.” Ladies PGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan, also on the IGF board, said the women have embraced a return to the Olympics. He said five or six players have asked him about the Zika virus, though none has said she is not planning to play because of it. “I don’t know any player who’s even said, ‘I’m on the fence,”’ Whan said. “I’ve got plenty of players at the age where this could be concerning, but I haven’t heard any player say they’re interested in stepping out.” AP

B D F�e Associated Press

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida—Masters champion Danny Willett has been away from golf for a month and has been working harder than ever. Not with his golf clubs but with a pen.

The last box of some 200 yellow Masters flags arrived on Tuesday for Willett to sign for players and charities, bringing the total to what manager Chubby Chandler estimated at just short of 1,000 since the 28-year-old from England slipped on a green jacket. As for the golf? Not so much. He played 18 holes with his friends at home on Saturday. He played nine holes on Monday when he showed up at the TPC Sawgrass for The Players Championship. “Only time I’ve been on the golf course in the last month,” said Willett, who lives in a house he converted from an old mill behind Lindrick Golf Club, best known as hosting the 1957 Ryder Cup that produced a rare—at the time, anyway—victory for Great Britain and Ireland. “A little rusty,” Willett said. “Try and get some work

done this week...and hopefully, come Thursday, we’ll have shook off a little bit of that rust.” This was a nice problem to have. Even before he rallied from a five-shot deficit to beat Jordan Spieth on the back nine at Augusta National, Willett had planned a quiet month away from golf with his wife and newborn son to relax and do what he described as “normal things.” He wasn’t planning on chaos back home in a country celebrating its first Masters champion in 20 years. There were media appearances with his green jacket, a trip to the European Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Villareal, and an appearance at the World Snooker Championship in his hometown of Sheffield, where Willett took a lap of honor around two snooker tables. Asked what he had done differently because of winning his first major, Willett smiled and said, “Drunk more.” That’s not entirely true. Willett probably wouldn’t have spent the Tuesday night after the Masters watching a replay of his 5-under 67 that in time will get as much attention as the 41 that Spieth shot on the back nine. That began the process of realizing what he had done.

“It’s still not sunk in, to be honest,” Willett said. “I just kind of watched it...I don’t know if I felt like I had to. I just wanted to see it back over, I guess, and just see some of the things that we did. Four-and-a-half hours go pretty quick when you’re playing, and Sunday went exceptionally fast. So I think it was just to actually watch it back and slow it down, just take in what we achieved.” Willett plans to bring his green jacket with him wherever he plays, and with it comes expectations he hasn’t felt since he was the world’s No. 1 amateur in 2008. The next few years will decide whether he’s more of a curiosity than a celebrity. Slowed by nagging back problems, the Masters was only his fifth victory worldwide. Then again, he was hardly a surprise. Willett was No. 12 in the world when he won the Masters, after winning in Dubai earlier in the year and in Switzerland last year. “I thought at the beginning of the year he would win one of the next six majors,” Chandler said. “And I think he’ll win another in the next four. He has a proper short game. He has the head, the heart and the [guts]. That’s a good combination.” It’s time to get back to work. A lot of work. Willett only has a two-week break scheduled twice

through October, and he could play as many as 15 times over the next 23 weeks. That doesn’t include the FedEx Cup playoffs, even though he is eligible by taking Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour membership. There were other commitments he made in Europe, and Willett won’t cancel those. Not this year. He would play the FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship only if he can stay in the top 30 without competing in the opening three playoff events. That’s a tall order because Willett has only four events left—The Players and three majors—to earn points and he currently is at No. 34. He leaves Florida for Ireland and then England. He has a three-week stretch of the US Open, Germany and the French Open. Then he has three big events in five weeks—the British Open, PGA Championship and the Olympics. It starts at Sawgrass with a lot of rust and plenty of expectations—at least more than he had before he owned a green jacket. “I’m not really too fussed about what everybody else thinks,” Willett said. “I’m trying to do my bit. And what I’ve done over the last 18 months, two years, it’s proved to myself that I can do some pretty special things.”

ITALIAN rider Diego Ulissi wins the fourth stageof the Giro d’Italia. AP

A RUSTY Masters champion Danny Willett gets back to work—not with his golf clubs but with a pen. AP

ITALIAN rider Diego Ulissi wins the fourth stageof the Giro d’Italia. ITALIAN

ATTACKPRAIA A MARE, Italy—Italian rider Diego Ulissi

won the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday by attacking on a climb shortly before

the finish, while Tom Dumoulin crossed second to reclaim the overall lead. Returning to Italy after three stages in the Netherlands, Ulissi put an Italian stamp on the race after the Dutchman Dumoulin took the opening time trial and Marcel Kittel of Germany won the first two sprints. Riding for the Lampre team, Ulissi stood up out of his saddle and surged ahead on the steepest section—at a gradient of 18 percent—of the

short Fortino

climb with 10 kilometers to go. He then

maintained his lead on the descent to the finish along the Calabrian seaside.

Completing the hilly 200-km route from Catanzaro to Praia a Mare in nearly five hours,

Ulissi finished five seconds ahead of Dumoulin, who edged fellow Dutch rider Steven Kruijswijk

in a sprint. It’s the fifth Giro stage win of Ulissi’s career and his 20th victory overall. “My victory comes after enormous team

work,” Ulissi said. “Valerio Conti

managed to create the small group and

I rode away knowing that, on the final descent,

the peloton of chasers would go even faster than me. I gave it everything I had. It’s a huge emotion.”

Dumoulin, of Team Giant-Alpecin, holds a 20-second lead over Bob Jungels, with Ulissi third overall, also 20 seconds behind. “It’s great to get the Maglia Rosa back,” Dumoulin said of the race leader’s pink jersey. “That’s what we were working for today. We sent Georg Preidler into the last breakaway. It would have been perfect if he had taken the race lead but it wasn’t to be. At the last gasp, I tried for the stage win but Ulissi was just too strong.” Prerace favorite Vincenzo Nibali, the 2013 Giro champion and 2014 Tour de France winner, moved up to sixth, 26 seconds back. Alejandro Valverde, another favorite, is five seconds further behind in seventh. Previous leader Kittel struggled on several climbs and dropped more than eight minutes behind. Stage 5 on Wednesday is another hilly 233-km leg from Praia to Benevento. The 99th edition of the race ends on May 29 in Turin. AP

BACKWORK

It’s time to get back

SportsSportsBusinessMirrorSportsIt’s time to get back

to work. A lot of work. Danny Willett

only has a two-week break scheduled twice

through October, and he could play as many as

15 times over the next 23 weeks.

C1 | THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

sports@businessmirror.com.phEditor: Jun Lomibao

Asst. Editor: Joel Orellana

to

SPORTS C1

HEALTH&FITNESSHEALTH&FITNESS

BusinessMirror

VP HOPEFULS SQUARE OFF IN DEBATEVP HOPEFULS SQUARE OFF IN DEBATE

“IF we go forward pretending that we’re uni�ed, then we are going to be at half-strength this fall.”—House Speaker Paul Ryan to �e Journal Times newspaper, defending his stunning decision last week to refuse to endorse Donald Trump, his party’s presumptive presidential nominee. AP

“WHAT this law does is in�ict further indignity on a population that has already su�ered far more than its fair share. �is law provides no bene�t to society, and all it does is harm innocent Americans.”—US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, after the Justice Department sued North Carolina over the state’s bathroom law, impacting transgender people, after the governor refused to back down. AP

“I PARKED and went into the school which has a safe room. �ere were kids and elderly people, dogs and cats, babies. It was like the whole town was there.”—Dana Lance, who took shelter after a tornado emergency was declared in Ro�, Oklahoma. AP

AQUINO, DUTERTE FORM GROUP FOR SMOOTH TRANSFER OF POWER

DUTERTE FEVER Customers walk in a shop selling souvenir items, such as commemorative car plates, T-shirts, stickers of leading presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, as business resumes in his hometown of Davao City in southern Philippines on Wednesday. Duterte has widened his lead in unofficial tally, but still refuses to claim victory. AP/BULLIT MARQUEZ

I STRONGLY discourage advising any government-in-the-making, not least because advice is rarely taken, it is

consistently ignored and rightly passed over. “After all, it was I who was elected president,” he will say. “I want your advice, I won’t ask for it. What for? I ran on a platform of promises, none of them was qualified or conditioned upon advice that might be given after I got elected. As for consulting experts, I should have done that before I promised what I should not deliver on second thought. Besides, there are no experts; except those who became experts because of the problems they created and are trying to solve. I will never ask advice from those with the temerity to offer it. But I will listen to reason.”

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B C O @cuo_bm

THE country’s reliance on a few traditional export products is proving to be

disadvantageous to the Philippines, as receipts declined by 15.1 percent to $4.611 billion in March, accord-ing to data from the Philippine Sta-tistics Authority (PSA).

The decreasing appetite of for-eign buyers for Philippine-made

products, amid the challenging global economy, has made it dif-ficult for exporters to hike their earnings in the first quarter. Export revenues contracted 8.4 percent to $13.109 billion in the January-to-March period.

“Given the growth of merchan-dise exports in the first quarter, the Philippines needs to grow by at least 8.3 percent in the next three quarters to attain the low-end pro-jection of the Export Development

15.1%The rate of decline of the country’s export receipts in March

Council of 5.4 percent in 2016,” Na-tional Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Director General

B J R. S J @jrsanjuan1573

‘UNFAIR and oppressive” were the words used by the Department of Justice (DOJ), when it issued a

negative opinion on Makati City’s practice of requiring contractors to deposit 25 percent of an infrastructure project’s total cost as cash bond before they can secure the necessary local permits.

Ordinance 2005-018The local law that requires infra contractors in the city to post cash bond equal to 25% of the project cost In his legal opinion obtained by the BusinessMirror, Acting Justice Secretary Emmanuel L.

CHANGE IS COMING, BUT CAN THE NEW PRESIDENT HANDLE IT?

BROADER LOOK A6A7

HANDLE IT?

BROADER LOOK A6A7

released on Wednesday. Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said Duterte will have a free hand in appointing his trusted allies to government positions, as mandated by law, and by Mr. Aquino’s personal dis-like for midnight appointments. “In our appointment papers and in our oath of office, there is a stipulation there that we are coterminus with the appointing authority, and we all know that our ap-pointment shall only be until 12 noon of June 30, 2016,” Coloma said.

“Those employees which were ap-pointed by me, they are also coterminus with me and the appointments have the same expiry date, so the incoming ad-ministration will have a free hand in ap-pointing or choosing other persons who will join the administration,” he added.

Duterte team IN Davao City, meanwhile, the camp of Mayor Duterte has created its own transition committee on Wednesday to be headed by the presumptive presi-dent’s Campaign Manager Leoncio Jun Evasco, the Philippines News Agency (PNA) reported. The rest of the team, the PNA dis-patch said, are: Assistant Campaign Manager and Executive Assistant Chris-topher Bong Go; Carlos G. Dominguez, former Cabinet member and head of Campaign Finance Committee; lawyers Salvador Medialdea and Loreto Ata, Duterte’s personal attorneys; and Peter

Laviña, head of the Duterte-Cayetano Media Team.

Also around to provide support were members of the core group composed of defeated vice-presidential candidate Sen. Alan Peter S. Cayetano; former Transportation Secretary and elected Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte; former Press Secretary Jesus Dureza and Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles of First Distric of Davao City. Former presidential assistant for Mindanao Paul Dominguez was also seen at the Marco Polo in Davao City.

The meeting followed a call from Mr. Aquino to Duterte congratulating the latter for winning the presidential elec-

tions with an assurance of facilitating a smooth transition.

The transition team will only be one of the groups that will be formed to lay the grounds for Duterte’s assumption into office. Earlier, Laviña said there is also the search commit-tee and the team that will plan for Duterte’s inauguration. The transition committee, he added, will help the mayor identify members of the Cabinet and create a team to review Duterte and Cayetano’s policy statements during the campaign.

For the inaugurat ion, Lav iña said they would coordinate with Malacañang on protocols.

A team will also be identifying per-sonal envoy to communicate with head of embassies in the Philippines, church-es, civil society organizations, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, business chambers, the World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Asian De-velopment Bank, among others. Meanwhile, the members of the may-or’s core group vowed to work for the suc-cess of the Duterte administration. When asked if there are senators or congres-sional representatives who have jumped ship or expressed to support Duterte, Cayetano said it is up to the members of both Houses if they want to support the administration, but hastened to add that the Duterte administration will always welcome offers of support.

Alvarez said they are doing their best that Duterte’s administration will not be a failure. “Ayaw natin na failure ang bagong administration, kaya ginagawa natin ito para suportahan ’yung bagong nakaupo kung ano ang programa niya [We do not want the new administration to be a failure that is why we are doing this, so that the new one who sits there is supported…what is his program],” Alvarez said. Alvarez added that it should not be if “you are on the other side, you are already an enemy.”

On the other hand, Go assured that Duterte is not vindictive. “’Pag tapos na ang election talo na ang tao, bagsak na, tutulungan ka pa. Hindi vindictive si mayor [When the election is finished…he would still help the person who lost and is down. The mayor is not vindictive],” he assured. With PNA

Caparas said the cash bond is unreasonable, considering that a winning government contractor is only allowed a 15-percent advance payment of the total project cost un-der the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9184.

The DOJ issued the legal opinion as response to the letter-request of Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Sing-son. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) sought DOJ’s opinion on the validity and legality of  Makati City Ordinance 2005-018, which requires that all road constructions within their jurisdiction must post a cash bond deposit of 25 percent of the total project cost before the necessary permit for excavation be issued.

“The 15-percent advance payment is allowed to govern-ment contractors to cover mobilization costs and other expenses prior to the commencement of construction —including the cash-bond deposit. Clearly, a 15 percent of total project cost advance payment would not be suf-ficient to cover the 25 percent of total project cost cash-bond deposit,” the DOJ said.

In its letter to the DOJ, Singson said the imposition of the bond is unconscionable, particularly in situations involving large infrastructure projects.

Singson also said the bond is excessive if compared to the 15-percent advance down payment for DPWH contrac-tors. They are required to post warranty securities against damage to works, equipment or installations affected by the construction. The justice department also indicated that the imposition of the 25-percent cash-bond deposit is in violation of the equal-protection clause, as it discrimi-nates against contractors of large infrastructure projects as compared to smaller transactions.

“The equal protection clause of the Constitution requires that like things must be treated similarly, and that classifications must rest on substantial distinction…an across-the board application of the 25 percent may result in an unfair or oppressive treatment,” the DOJ explained. The DOJ chief said the DPWH may seek relief against the “excessive” cash bond by filing a case before the court.

“Accordingly, this opinion is subject to a final deter-mination by the appropriate Regional Trial Court of the validity and constitutionality of Makati City Ordinance 2005-018. Until and unless the ordinance is declared null and void, the presumption of validity stands,” the DOJ added. Furthermore, the DOJ noted that the issue of the excessiveness of the amount of cash-bond deposit is essentially a question of act, which is within the ju-risdiction of the trial court.

news@businessmirror.com.ph BusinessMirror�ursday, May 12, 2016A2

BMReportsAquino, Duterte form group for smooth transfer of power

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BusinessMirror �ursday, May 12, 2016 news@businessmirror.com.ph

BMReportsA3

₧15/kgThe price of corn today, up from P13.50/kg due to El Niño

El Niño causes spike in local corn pricesB M G P @ _enren

THE average farm-gate price of localcorn has gone up in recent weeks, as El Niño continues to

ravage major corn-producing areas in the country.

The dry spell has made it dif-ficult for farmers to increase yield, causing the buying price of yellow corn to increase to P15 per kilo-gram, from P13.50 per kg, accord-ing to data from the United Broiler Raisers Association.

Data from the National Food Au-thority (NFA) showed that as of April 29, the average farm-gate price of yel-low corn reached P12.67 per kg, 11.14 percent higher than the P11.40 per kg recorded in the same period last year.

The farm-gate price of white corn also rose by 16.11 percent to P14.27 per kg, from P12.29 per kg recorded in the last week of December 2015.

“The price is good, but farmers are now reaping low yields from their farms, as low as 6 metric tons [MT] per hectare from the nor-mal yield of 10 MT per hectare,” Philippine Maize Federation (Phil-Maize) Inc. President Roger Navarro

hectares or by 2.3 percent. Yield per hectare may drop to 3.1 metric tons (MT) from 3.23 MT,” the PSA said in a report.

PSA said corn output may decline in Bukidnon, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Ifugao, Iloilo, Sultan Kuda-rat, Sarangani, Negros Occidental, Quirino, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Capiz. Corn is the second most im-portant food crop in the Philippines after rice.

Navarro said corn output could drop further due to lack of irriga-tion water and the decision of farm-ers to forego planting. He said the three major corn-producing regions in the country—Regions 2, 10 and 12—have been badly affected by the drought.

“In Isabela, a number of farmers tried to plant late last year. The corn crops that were damaged were sup-posed to be harvested last January,” Navarro said.

PhilMaize noted that Mindan-ao—a major corn-producing region in the country—continues to bear the brunt of El Niño.

According to the latest data from the Department of Agriculture, corn farmers have already incurred losses amounting to P2.6 billion due to the dry spell.

What’s keeping the price of local corn from further going up, Navarro

said, is the low price of feed wheat—an alternative ingredient for manu-facturing animal feeds—in the inter-national market.

“The poultry and livestock subsec-tors import feed wheat, which serves as a replacement for corn,” Navarro said. Low international prices, an industry source said, have encour-aged feed millers to import more feed wheat.

Industry data showed traders import an average of 1.5 MMT of feed wheat annually. The Philip-pines also imported 500,000 MT of corn in 2015.

The Philippine feed milling indus-try is considered as one of the biggest and most organized support indus-tries in the country, providing feeds to practically all species of domesti-cated poultry, livestock and aquatic animals. Its biggest clients, however, are the swine and poultry industries.

The most common feed ingredi-ents used by local feed millers are yellow corn, soybean oil meal, rice bran, copra meal, fishmeal, and wheat and wheat byproducts. Cassava and sweet potato meals, brewer’s yeast and ipil-ipil leaf meal are also used as feed ingredients at a lesser extent.

Among the feed ingredients, corn is considered the most critical, as it represents about 50 percent of for-mulated animal-feed rations.

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g o v e r n m e nt r e g u l at io n a nd strengthen market intelligence gath-ering in partnership with the private sector,” he added.

The Neda chief said the Philippines must also find ways to maximize opportunities presented by trade agreements and economic groups, particularly within Asean.

According to the Philippine Ex-port Development 2015-2017, prod-ucts that have high growth potential include chemicals, activated carbon, metal components and fresh or preserved fish.

In March PSA data showed that to-tal receipts from the top 10 exports de-clined by 8.6 percent to $3.867 billion. The top 10 export winners accounted for 83.9 percent of total revenues.

Electronic products remained the country’s top export with total receipts of $2.356 billion, accounting for 51.1 percent of revenues. It increased by a mere 1 percent, from $2.332 billion registered in March 2015. The Semi-conductor and Electronics Industries

in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. said five major products boosted the electronics sector’s performance dur-ing the period.

The top performer was automotive electronics, which posted earnings of $40.85 million, or 329.69 percent higher than the $9.51 million recorded in March 2015.

Other best sellers were consumer electronics, which grew 152.8 percent; telecommunication, 118.61 percent; communication/radar, 55.23 percent; and medical/industrial instrumenta-tion, 24.02 percent.

Top foreign buyers of Philippine-made products during the period were Japan, the United States and Hong Kong, China.

Exports to Japan declined by 13.6 percent to $991.43 million, from $1.147 billion in March 2015. Ship-ments to the US also declined by 23.6 percent to $672.85 million, from $880.16 million. The country’s export performance fell short of the govern-ment’s target, as revenues contracted 5.6 percent $58.827 billion, from $62.102 billion in 2014.

PHL needs to develop more export winners–Neda

told the BusinessMirror.“The difference of 4 MT can make

a difference in their income,” Na-varro added.

El Niño slashed corn output in 2015 by 3.24 percent to 7.52 mil-lion metric tons (MMT), from 7.77 MMT in 2014.

The Philippine Statistics Author-ity has also projected that the 2016 first-quarter production of corn may only reach 2.1 MMT, 12.4 percent below the 2015 level of 2.37 MMT.

“Harvest area may contract to 669,200 hectares from 685,100

BusinessMirror news@businessmirror.com.ph A4

B C U. O

�ursday, May 12, 2016

BMReports

While the brash mayor has made it clear that domestic policy will center around showing no mercy to law breakers, he’s offered con-tradictory visions for dealing with both the nation’s closest ally and its biggest trading partner. In a cam-paign filled with off-the-cuff and off-color remarks, Duterte shifted between fanning a territorial dis-pute in the South China Sea and allaying concerns it will become the next global flash point.

That unpredictability was on dis-play on Monday: Speaking to report-ers in Davao City, Duterte alternated between saying he was open to co-operating with China on oil and gas exploration in the disputed waters, and questioning why the US didn’t send an aircraft carrier to challenge China to show sincerity about stand-ing with the Philippines.

“His rhetoric has been all over the map,” said Gregory Poling, a South-east Asia specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “He seems to be deeply skeptical of the value of the US alli-ance, largely because he doesn’t be-lieve the US will really back the Philip-pines against China if push comes to shove. That should seriously concern leaders in Washington.”

Duterte may yet temper—or at least clarify—his rhetoric now he’s off the campaign trail. But his com-

Duterte keeps changing mind on US, ChinaCRIMINALS and the corrupt

may know where they stand with incoming Philippine

President Rodrigo R. Duterte. Less so the United States and China.

ments so far reflect the dilemma for the Philippines, a country dwarfed economically and militarily by both the US and China, and caught in the middle of the tussle between the two big powers for influence in the region.

If he does pull the Philippines away from the US alliance, it could undermine one of President Barack Obama’s signature foreign-policy ini-tiatives: the economic and military rebalance to Asia. Any move toward China by Duterte could also bolster Beijing’s efforts to enforce claims to 80 percent of a waterway that hosts $5 trillion in annual shipping.

Asked if the US had concerns about Duterte, State Department Spokesman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters in Washington on Tuesday, “We look forward to working and congratulating the winner. Washing-ton respects the choice of the Philip-pine people. We gladly work with the leader they’ve selected.”

C h i n a’s Foreig n Mi n ist r y Spokesman Lu Kang said on Tues-day that ties with the Philippines had “run into severe difficulty in recent years,” and he hoped the new government would “push Sino-Phil-ippine relations back to the healthy development path.”

Outgoing President Aquino strengthened the Philippines’s long-standing alliance with US, as he sought support against China’s mili-

tary expansion and island building in the South China Sea. China seized the Scarborough Shoal from the Phil-ippines in 2012, and some analysts have cited concerns it could start reclaiming land there. In the Spratly island area it has created 3,000 acres of land that now feature airstrips, radars and ports.

Mr. Aquino has brought China

before an international arbitra-tion panel, a move opposed by the government in Beijing. He’s also backed the defense cooperation agreement that would let the US station troops and operate bases in the country for the first time in decades. The Hague-based tribunal is expected to rule on the case in the next few months.

US warshipA DAY after the Philippine vote the USS William P. Lawrence, a guided missile destroyer, sailed within the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone of a Chinese outpost in the Spratlys. China’s defense ministry said it sent several fighter jets and three war-ships to warn the US ship away.

Duterte said on Monday the Phil-ippines would take a multilateral approach for now to the territo-rial disputes, including potentially working with the US, Japan and Australia. Still, earlier this month he said he’d consider direct talks with China, an approach that contrasts with Mr. Aquino’s longtime stance.

At times he has indicated he’d tol-erate China’s presence in the area if Beijing were to build new railways in the Philippines. On other occasions he has sought to appeal to national-

UPPING the ante in the feud over who is responsible for rising tensions in the South

China Sea, China on Wednesday said repeated US Navy patrols in the area are forcing it to boost the defense ca-pabilities of the islands it controls, and may require it to launch more air and sea patrols.

In a strongly worded statement, the Defense Ministry said it de-ployed two navy fighter jets, one early warning aircraft and three ships to track and warn-off the de-stroyer USS William P. Lawrence as it passed nearby Fiery Cross Reef on Tuesday.

“The provocative actions by American military ships and planes lay bare the US designs to seek gain by creating chaos in the region and again testify to the total correctness

and utter necessity of China's con-struction of defensive facilities on relevant islands,” the ministry said.

“China will increase the scope of sea and air patrols based on need, boost all categories of military ca-pacity building, resolutely defend national sovereignty and security, and resolutely safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the statement said.

The US destroyer’s sail-by was the

latest action by the US Navy to rein-force its position that China’s new man-made features in the strategi-cally vital water body do not enjoy the legal rights of natural islands. Washington has said the Navy will sail and fly wherever permitted by inter-national law and maintains there can be no limits on freedom of navigation as according to established practice.

The William P. Lawrence’s sail-by took it within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of the Fiery Cross Reef, the limit of what international law regards as an island’s territorial sea. The reef is now an island with an air-strip, harbor and burgeoning above-ground infrastructure.

China has added more than 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of land to its South China Sea island hold-ings by expanding existing islands

or creating new ones by piling sand atop coral reefs.

The addition of airstrips and mili-tary infrastructure has Washington and others worried that China is at-tempting to assert total dominance over the region’s waters and airspace that are claimed in whole or in part by five other governments.

China rejects accusations that it is responsible for raising tensions, say-ing actions by the US Navy and the encouragement Washington offers to other claimants, such as Vietnam and the Philippines are increasing the chances of conflict.

An estimated $5 trillion in glob-al trade passes annually through the South China Sea, which is home to rich fishing grounds and a po-tential wealth of undersea oil and gas deposits. AP

China says US patrols justify defensive deployments

ist pride with threats to personally lay claims to disputed areas.

“I will take a jet ski, carrying the Philippine flag,” he said during one televised debate, “and I will go to China’s airport and then I will install it and say, ‘This is ours and do what you want with me. It’s up to you.’ I would stake that claim.”

Chinese mediaFOR all of his tough talk, Duterte appreciates that direct military confrontation would be disastrous. During a campaign stop earlier this month he said that while the Chinese have “squatted” on Philippine terri-tory, a war would lead to a “massacre of Filipinos.”

China’s state media sounded a positive note about Duterte after the election, describing him as having “a China-friendly” policy. They’ve said his willingness to put territorial dis-putes on the back shelf would lead to a improvement in relations.

Duterte has already clashed with the US ambassador, warning him last month to “shut his mouth” after the diplomat criticized the mayor’s comment he should have been the first in line to rape an Australian missionary who was murdered in the Philippines decades ago.

Now that he has won, Duterte will likely move to clarify his South China Sea policy and take a reason-able stance, said Benito Lim, an ana-lyst at Ateneo de Manila University.

“Although he made some com-ments about our relationship with China and with the United States, that doesn’t mean that the offhand com-ment would become the basis of his policy,” Lim said. “It would be better to wait and see when he comes out with a more formal declaration.” Bloomberg News

He seems to be deeply skeptical of the value of the US alliance,

largely because he doesn’t believe the US will really back the Philippines against China if push comes to shove. That should seriously concern leaders in Washington.”—P

IN this January 6 file photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a China Southern Airlines jetliner lands at the airfield on the Fiery Cross Reef, known as Yongshu Reef in Chinese, on the Spratly Islands, known as Nansha Islands in Chinese, of the South China Sea. AP

The size of land added by China to its South China Sea island holdings by piling sand atop coral reefs

1,200 ha

PHILIPPINE election officials challenged Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong”

Marcos Jr. on Wednesday to prove his allegation of irregularities in the counting of votes for vice president, where he has been overtaken by his closest rival.

They also rejected Marcos’s request for a stop to the unofficial tally by an accredited citizens’ watchdog, which uses the same election returns that are transmitted to the Commission on Elections.

The son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. had initially led the partial count by the watchdog known by its acronym PPCRV [Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting]. But as of Wednesday afternoon, the administration’s candidate, Rep. Leni Robredo, was leading by more than 230,000 votes, putting her 0.6 points ahead of Marcos.

The tally is based on 95.5 percent of votes nationwide. Ballots from overseas Filipinos are now considered crucial in the race for vice president.

Rodrigo R. Duterte, the bombastic mayor of southern Davao City, was elected the new president, based on the PPCRV results that gave him an unassailable lead.

The official count and proclamation of the president and vice president is done by Congress, which will convene on May 24.

If Marcos wins, that would put him a step away from the presidency 30 years after his late father was ousted by a public uprising amid allegations of plunder and widespread human-rights abuses.

“These accusations are

not true...we are committed to being impartial, to be neutral,” Commission on Elections Chairman Andres D. Bautista said.

He said any complaint will be acted upon based on evidence.

Election Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said there was no reason to stop the official count.

On Tuesday Marcos’s campaign adviser, Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz, said they sent an urgent request to the elections commission to halt the PPCRV count, because it showed “an alarming and suspicious trend” contrary to independent exit polls and the campaign’s estimates.

Bautista said the commission has not yet received the request as of Wednesday.

Marcos appealed to his supporters, who have been calling through social media for protest rallies to stay calm.

The Marcos family fled to Hawaii four days after the 1986 “people power” uprising, where rosary-clutching nuns and ordinary citizens knelt before tanks and protesters stuck yellow flowers into the muzzles of assault rifles of pro-government troops. His father died in exile three years later, denying any wrongdoing.

After the Marcos family returned to the Philippines in 1991, Marcos Jr. became governor, congressman and, in 2010, senator.

President Aquino, whose parents were democracy champions who helped topple the senior Marcos, campaigned against the junior, who has never clearly apologized for abuses of his father. AP

Philippine poll chief to Marcos: Prove vote-count anomaly

DUTERTE

A5

Hunting for new frontiers

THAILAND will shutter its larg-est gold mine by the end of the year, after the government said

concern the project was damaging the environment and sickening workers outweighed its economic benefit.

Thailand to shut largest gold mine on environment concerns

www.businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Max V. de Leon • �ursday, May 12, 2016

AseanAseanAseanAsean BusinessMirrorBusinessMirror

Asean-EU PerspectiveHENRY J. SCHUMACHER

PRESIDENT Joko Widodo (Jokowi) of Indonesia is set to visit South Korea and Russia

from May 16 to 20.Jokowi’s state visit to South Ko-

rea is at the invitation of President Park Geun-hye and a working visit to Russia to attend the Asean-Russian Summit, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said in a media brief-ing at the Presidential Office here on Tuesday.

“South Korea is one of Indonesia’s main partners in the fields of trade, investment and tourism. It will also serve as Indonesia’s partner to ac-celerate industrialization [in Indo-nesia],” she said.

While in South Korea, Jokowi will meet Park, and hold a one-on-one business luncheon and roundtable discussion with 20 top South Korean businessmen. He will also address the Asian Leadership Conference, a major discussion forum in South Ko-rea. The theme of the conference this time is leadership and innovation.

On May 18 the Indonesian leader will leave for Russia to at-tend the Asean-Russian Summit in Sochi and hold bilateral talks with several partners.

FOR a long time, the main task of company managers focused on always finding new markets and establishing new branch offices or subsidiaries. From a European perspective, managers moved to

Eastern Europe first, then China, later Vietnam, India, Mexico, Indonesia —there was always a new frontier that offered new opportunities. Sales were globalized; supply chains were created across borders; and networks were carefully expanded.

While we at European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines are still engaged in convincing the small and medium enterprises of 28 member-countries of the European Union to make Asean their new frontier, it ap-pears that more and more questions are coming up whether this business philosophy can be continued or whether we have to realize: What brought us here, won’t get us there! The phase of rapid globalization has become his-tory already. Economic growth appears to have reached a plateau. The world population has reached a plateau also. While we believe that Asean integra-tion offers new opportunities, we also have to be realistic that globalization is taking a pause, and that the world economy needs a new growth story.

So where are the new frontiers? The heroes of global industrialization were building their empires on size. Scaling was the name of the game: to produce more and more of the same, in more and more countries, at hope-fully sinking costs. Such a strategy only works as long as the demand growth fast in many markets. But that strategy ends in failure when top managers begin to influence share prices by using profits to buy back shares, rather than investing in the business. There are plenty of examples around: Sie-mens, GE, Pfizer and BP—to name a few only. The global capitalism, it ap-pears, lives at the moment at the expense of its own future.

The new frontiers, which can inspire the fantasy and productivity of people, are no longer in different places. They are in the minds of people who have started thinking in terms of disruptive innovation, social en-trepreneurship, braking up traditional supply chains, joining techlabs or incubators, betting on start-ups from Silicon Valley to Santiago Valley to Berlin Valley to, hopefully, Manila Valley.

But this redesign also requires new organizational structures. In future, leadership will be based on sharing. The interpretation of CEO will no longer be “chief executive officer” but “chief enabling officer.” It will be essential to move away from hierarchical silos and using profit margins as the sole management tool. Leading from the top is poison for innovation; more in-trapreneurship from below will lead companies and organizations to success.

In this context, “Industry 4.0” has to be taken seriously. The “4th Indus-trial Revolution” is upon us. No one is playing down the future impact of the digital economy, but there is a danger that many are underestimating its prevalence today. New research from Accenture Inc. reveals the digital economy represents one-third of the US economy, equivalent to $5.9 tril-lion. The difference between business as usual and smarter use of exist-ing digital investments (digital skills, technologies and other accelerator factors) will be higher rates of growth. There is no doubt that online gi-ants will continue to dominate the digital economy, but traditional analog companies can benefit from digital platforms, too, by generating data from their network of products and partners. The size of the digital economy is significant, and leaves no excuses to delay.

Indonesian President Jokowi to visit SoKor, Russia

Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd., the Australian producer which operates the Chatree mine through its Akara Resources Plc. unit, halted its shares on Wednesday in Sydney, and said it’s seeking clarification of the situ-ation. Kingsgate got 62 percent of full-year revenue from the opera-tion in fiscal 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Akara must close and rehabilitate the Chatree mine, about 280 kilo-meters (174 miles) north of Bang-kok, once its metallurgical plant ceases operations by the end of this year, Industry Minister Atchaka Sribunruang said on Tuesday. The

company had been seeking a five-year renewal of Chatree’s metallur-gical license, which was scheduled to expire on Friday. The government will allow the company to run the plant to the year-end, it said.

Contamination inquiriesA DECISION to shutter the facility comes after Thailand’s government ordered a review of Chatree last year following complaints from local resi-dents. The announcement came “as a complete surprise” to Akara, which said it has “proven conclusively that we cause no harm to the health of our community or to its environment.”

MYANMAR and the United States appeared to agree to disagree on Tuesday on what to call the

Southeast Asian nation’s beleaguered Muslim minority that Washington and most of the world know as Rohingya.

Many Buddhists inside Myanmar prefer to call them “Bengalis,” arguing that the 1 million or so members of the minority are mostly illegal immigrants and not a native ethnic group. In fact, the families of many Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations.

US Ambassador Scot Marciel said the US calls communities by the name they themselves prefer.

“The normal US practice and the nor-mal international practice is that com-munities anywhere have the right, or have the ability to decide what they are going to be called. And normally when that happens, we would call them what they asked to be called. It’s not a politi-cal decision, it’s just a normal practice.”

Because Myanmar does not officially recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group, it denies most of them citizen-ship and basic rights. Conflict over land and resources in the western state of Rakhine, where most of the estimated 1 million Rohingya live, caused deadly violence between Buddhists and Mus-lims which later spread to other parts of the country. More than 100,000 Ro-hingya were forced to flee their homes and now live in poor conditions in de-crepit camps.

Marciel declined to say whether, as reported, the country’s foreign minister and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi had personally asked him not to use

the term. “I prefer not to publicly talk about private diplomatic conversa-tions,” he said.

Suu Kyi, who won international ad-miration and a Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent struggle for democracy during Myanmar’s years of military rule, has in recent years disappointed many former fans by failing to speak on behalf of the Rohingya. Despite international expressions of concern, Myanmar’s previous military-backed government, which handed over power this year to Suu Kyi’s National League for Democ-racy party, did nothing to ease the Ro-hingya’s plight.

Myanmar foreign ministry official Aye Aye Soe acknowledged on Tues-day that her office had asked Marciel not to use the term “Rohingya.” She said Marciel has the right to call the minority whatever he likes, but calling them Rohingya could enflame com-munal tensions.

“Yes, it is true that we told Ambas-sador Scot Marciel when he came to [Myanmar’s capital] Naypyitaw not to use the term ‘Rohingya,’ because it is not supportive in solving the problem that is happening in Rakhine state,” said Aye Aye Soe, deputy director general of the ministry’s political department . “And it can even worsen the situation there.”

“This is his right to say or call what-ever he wants, but this is not leading to a solution of the problems,” she said. “People are just fighting over this term instead of solving the problem. This can make things difficult for the two communities in Rakhine to gain trust again.” AP

Kingsgate was ordered last year to temporarily suspend output and conduct inquiries into concerns about potential arsenic and man-ganese contamination in nearby villages. The producer doesn’t use either arsenic or manganese at the site, though it does use cyanide, it said at the time.

A government-commissioned report presented to Thai minis-ters last month offered a “scientific rebuttal of unsubstantiated and vexatious allegations of contami-nation,” the producer said in the April filing.

“Even though there is no clear con-clusion whether the environmental and health impact and problems of local residents comes from Akara’s

Myanmar minority still Rohingya for Washington

TRILATERAL MEET ON MARITIME SECURITY Indonesian Armed Forces Chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo (from left), his Malaysian counterpart Gen. Zulkifeli Mohd. Zin, Malaysian’s Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, her Filipino counterpart Foreign Minister Jose Rene Almendras, and the Philippines’s Navy Chief Rear Adm. Caesar C. Taccad confer as they prepare for a group photo before the start of their trilateral meeting on maritime-security issues at the presidential palace in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, last week. The gath-ering was held following the kidnappings of Indonesian and Malaysian crewmen by Abu Sayyaf militants in the waters o� Southern Philippines, where Indonesia shares borders with the two countries. AP

100

130,000 ounces

Number of countries expected to send their heads of state and del-egates to the Jakarta

12th World Islamic Economic Forum from August 2 to 4

The annual gold production of the Chatree mine

gold mining, we need to make the decision for the public’s benefit and to solve the conflicts,” Atchaka told reporters in Bangkok.

Chatree outputTHE Chatree mine produces about 130,000 ounces of gold annually and has operated for 15 years, accord-ing to a Kingsgate filing last month. The project generated 52 billion baht ($1.5 billion) in revenue in that time, and provided the government with about 7 billion baht in royalties, Atchaka said. Chatree is capable of at least 7 more years of production, according to Kingsgate.

“From the end of December, there will be no gold mine until the issues are clear,” Thai’s Prime Minister Pra-yuth Chan-Ocha said, in response to questions over the move. The govern-ment will need to assist more than 1,000 workers who will be affected by the decision, he said.

Chatree is Kingsgate’s only pro-ducing asset after it completed the sale of its Challenger gold mine in Australia in March. Bloomberg News

The conference will also mark the 20th anniversary of Asean-Russia partnership, the minister said.

“Of course, we will sign several MOUs [memorandum of under-standing] during the presidents visits to South Korea and Russia,” she said. Jokowi had earlier paid a working visit to Busan, South Korea at the end of 2014.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro has said his country is ready to host the 12th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) from August 2 to 4.

“This forum aims to enhance co-operation with various sides in the

Islamic world in the economic field,” he said here on Tuesday.

Bambang explained that the forum will provide a platform for young people, especially those en-gaged in micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, to exchange ideas and opinions with businesses from other countries.

“We can introduce young In-donesian businessmen to develop their business and tie up with businesspeople from the Middle East and African countries. This will help in diversifying the export markets,” he said.

In addition, the minister stated Indonesia will introduce its poten-tial in the field of tourism, culture, fashion and creative industries to the Middle East markets and other Muslim countries. Some key issues to be discussed in the 12th WIEF in-clude the issuance of bonds to finance infrastructure, integration of halal products and Islamic finance, the development of halal food industry and Islamic fashion industry globally.

In addition, the WIEF will also discuss access to finance for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises and their integration through digital

platforms into the global economy, the development of crowd, funding platform, encouraging innovation by connecting start-up businesses with large enterprises, and the de-velopment of a culture of business- design thinking.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the WIEF Foundation, Tun Musa Hitam, said the event has a theme of “Decen-tralization of Growth and Empower-ing the Future Business.”

According to him, Indonesia is a growing market with strong econom-ic fundamentals and has a number of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises that have a potential to expand globally.

Indonesia can also be a major play-er in the Sharia economy, which con-tinues to grow rapidly. This was be-cause the country is a strong market in the Asean region, has the largest Muslim population in the world, and is one of the important players in the global economic-growth scenario.

A number of heads of state and delegates from 100 countries are expected to participate in the WIEF forum and provide innovative and sustainable solutions to many busi-ness challenges. PNA

BusinessMirror�ursday, May 12, 2016A6

�eBroaderLookChange is coming, but can the new president handle it?

Running on the slogan “Change is Coming,” President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte should expect—as he is also expected—to get adapted to changes. He needs to, as Darwin said, if he seeks political survival.

And many—captains of indus-tries, in�uential market players, economists and trade o�cials—are already expecting the changes or reforms outgoing President Aquino initiated six years ago would contin-ue, alongside new ones that could be credited with the incoming Duterte leadership bloc.

�e latter could be the amend-ment of the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines that, according to Austria-born Guenter Taus, president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), could propel foreign direct investments to the Philippines. A resolution seeking to relax the restrictions in the Con-stitution failed to pass the 16th Congress, as observers said the Aquino administration was averse to changing the Constitution.

Under a Duterte administra-tion, that may come to fruition, as his spokesman Peter Lavina has been quoted in a �e Guardian ar-ticle as saying the profanity-speak-ing President-elect “will push to rewrite the Constitution.”

“He should focus on attracting more local and foreign private-sec-tor players to invest in many prior-ity government infra opportunities by actively, openly pursuing the PPP [public-private partnership] modality,” Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. First Vice President Roman Anthony V. Azanza told the BusinessMirror.

“Legislation-wise, he [Presi-dent-elect Duterte] should build on the solid PPP institutional founda-tions set up by his predecessors, as well as pass the critical PPP [bill] into law.”

For political analyst Ramon Casiple, Duterte should push for Charter change (Cha-cha) in his �rst year in o�ce.

“We’ve been telling all the new presidents about that [Cha-cha], because if you already reached half of your term and you open that up to the people, you will be accused that you want to stay in power,” Ca-siple, who is also the executive di-rector of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER), said in an interview.

“If he [Duterte] will do such ma-jor moves, like Cha-cha, on his �rst year, then the people will somehow be receptive of it,” he added.

However, he said, the federalism agendum being pushed by Duterte should be studied thoroughly.

“’Pag federalism kasi iba ’yun; ’yung government mismo hinati mo na. Hindi ganun kasimple. Bagong gobyerno, bagong rules,” Casiple said. “Cha-cha ka, then pag-aralan natin ang federalism.”

�is legal-path trajectory is just one of the many crossroads stakeholders are putting in front of Duterte, who, as a mayor, chose to drive a taxi at night to check on the Southern Philippine capital Davao City.

PPPTHE wish list of local and foreign businessmen, government o�-cials and groups is as long as the patience of Duterte’s naysayers with his supporters, called “Duter-tards,” on social media. On top of this list is the PPP.

Local and foreign business groups in the country underscored the need to roll out PPP projects quicker.

“I think Duterte should give focus to the PPP, make sure that the projects awarded will be �n-ished on time, and that those in the pipeline will continue,” Phil-ippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President George T. Barcelon said in an in-terview over the telephone.

�e Makati Business Club, (MBC) composed of the country’s largest businesses, also under-scored the need for accelerated in-frastructure development via the PPP Program.

“To continue the momen-tum, one key component may be to continue, sustain and speed up the PPP rollout, rather than review everything all over again, especially since our PPP has been recognized globally as best prac-tice,” MBC Executive Director Pe-ter Perfecto said.

For the foreign chambers, the passage of the PPP Act is, likewise, a “must” in order to jump-start more private investment in nation-al infrastructure projects.

DyingSADLY, the PPP Act is as good as dead. In an interview with the BusinessMirror in mid-April, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. admitted that the chance for Con-gress to pass the bill is “slim to none” due to lack of time.

Belmonte said there may be no more time for both chambers of Congress to pass the measure on third reading.

Based on the legislative calen-dar, Congress sessions adjourned on February 3 as part of its prepa-ration for the May national and lo-cal elections. Sessions will resume on May 23 and end on June 10.

�e two chambers will con-vene �rst as National Board of Canvassers before the approval of other pending priority bills.

When approved, the PPP Act will institutionalize the Project Development and Monitoring Fa-cility, the PPP Governing Board and the contingent liability fund. �e proposed amendments in-clude the separation of regulatory and commercial functions of gov-ernment-owned and -controlled corporations, and create a list of projects called “projects of national signi�cance.”

By virtue of being included on the list of projects of national sig-ni�cance, projects will be “insulat-ed” from local laws, among others, by local government units.

�e proposed amendments also include allowing time-bound tem-porary restraining order, and the extension of the period for Swiss Challenge to six months, from the current two-month period.

Also, the said piece of legisla-tion will give the executive director of the PPP Center a �xed tenure, and will, likewise, make the said body a voting member of the In-vestment Coordination Committee and the Cabinet Committee of the National Economic and Develop-ment Authority (Neda).

Infrastructure developmentTHE PPP, however, is just one of the many thorns in the shrub of ills plaguing the country’s infra-structure development.

B VG C, D C, B C, M G P, J C, L L,

J M, R M, C P J R. S J

NEITHER the strongest nor the most intelligent species would survive—according to Charles

Darwin: “It is the one that is the most adaptable to change” that will.

In a text message, Manage-ment Association of the Philip-pines President Perry Lim Pe cited transportation infrastructure re-forms as a go-to point for the in-coming Duterte administration.

Faster implementation of transportation infrastructure projects was also cited by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.

“Our new president should make investing in infrastructure a top priority on both his invest-ment and legislative agendas,” Azanza said.

He explained that these two fronts are crucial to solving the so-called infrastructure gap in the Philippines.

“Investment-wise, he should bring the many PPP deals that were already launched to bid in order to send a strong signal that the new government is committed to work-ing with the private sector in solv-ing our infra backlog.”

Ayala Corp. Managing Direc-tor Eric C. Francia said the compa-ny “hopes that the new President will accelerate the rollout of major infrastructure projects, especially the main international airport and mass transport.”

Liberal Party Rep. Winston Castelo of Quezon City said the Duterte administration should initiate a deliberate conscious ef-fort to fast-track �agship infra-structure projects “to meet the people’s great expectation on his administration wanting for im-

mediate change on his �rst 100 days in o�ce.”

Philippine Institute for Devel-opment Studies (PIDS) Senior Re-search Fellow Adoracion Navarro said it is also important to increase the country’s public infrastructure targets to 6 percent of GDP from the current target of 5 percent.

TrafficATENEO de Manila University Eco-nomics professor Alvin Ang said e�orts to improve infrastructure spending must also be addressed by improving the government’s ab-sorptive capacity. �is can be done by retraining employees, especially those in local governments, to speed up processing and other im-portant functions.

�ere must also be strong po-litical will in terms of using these infrastructure projects to reduce congestion in urban areas, not only in Metro Manila.

“’Yung sa Metro Manila, ur-ban centers, kailangan ma-solve ang tra�c [problem]. Kasi hindi lang infrastructure ang solution nun, administrative ’yung ibang kulang dun,” Ang said. “Kaya nga siya nanalo partly ’yung rule of law, ’yung order, so kailanganstrictly ma-enforce ang order.”

Isaac S. David, the president of MTD Philippines Inc., de-scribed the country as one of the slowest in terms of infrastruc-ture development.

“Considering that the Phil-ippines has been lagging behind

our Asean neighbors and the rest of the world in terms of infra-structure, I wish that Duterte will focus on the implementation of the much-needed infrastruc-ture, like toll roads and express-ways, mass-transport system and to decongest Metro Manila by transferring or creating a satel-lite national government center at Clark, which he promised dur-ing the debate,” he said.

Navarro said the Duterte ad-ministration can also implement potentially controversial reforms, such as a comprehensive urban bus-transport policy in Metro Manila.

She suggested that the govern-ment implement an arterial-feeder bus-transport route in Metro Manila and consolidate bus operations into fewer companies with enough buses.

“�e scheme might encoun-ter resistance from existing bus companies and result in commut-ers’ complaints about the inconve-nience of or confusion in transfers between arterial and feeder routes, so advance information campaign will be needed,” she added.

TaxesOTHER than the constitutional amendment, tax reform is on the priority list of foreign businessmen grouped under the ECCP. �e ECCP said reforms should address both the personal income and corporate income tax.

“We would like to see the new government to act on comprehen-sive tax reform in the following

months,” Taus said in his reply to questions sent via electronic mail. “Tax reform that lowers corporate income tax to a more internation-ally competitive level and lessens the burden on employers and em-ployees by reducing and aligning personal income-tax brackets to current salary ranges.”

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman and Liberal Party Rep. Romero Quimbo of Marikina City said lowering indi-vidual and corporate income-tax rates should be prioritized in the next government.

“Besides addressing criminal-ity, the next government should study tax reform,” Quimbo added.

Duterte earlier said he doesn’t favor lowering individual and cor-porate tax rates, adding he needs funds for the government infra-structure projects.

But mining industry’s big play-ers under the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines recommend the deferral of the proposal to increase taxes in mining pending the govern-ment’s comprehensive tax reform.

PIDS’s Navarro said there is a need to implement a compre-hensive tax and customs-reform program that can substantially in-crease revenues by around 20 per-cent of GDP.

REITTAX is also an issue with the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) law. �e country’s tax authorities are subjecting to a 12-percent value

BusinessMirror www.businessmirror.com.ph | �ursday, May 12, 2016

�eBroaderLookA7

Change is coming, but can the new president handle it?

added tax (VAT) a REIT company. �ere’s also a one-time tax to be able to set up a REIT company.

Philippine Stock Exchange Inc.’s Chief Operating O�cer Roel Refran said in other countries, they did not subject to sales tax the REIT, since there’s already the one-time tax.

“We’re not [re]inventing the wheel,” Refran told the Busi-nessMirror. “�is is used in Ja-pan, Australia, Singapore and in the US. And it’s not going to be a legislative amendment, because that’s hard to do. It’s just going to be the IRR [amendment to the implementing rules and regula-

tions], and also the appropriate SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] memo circular.”

�e Bureau of Internal Rev-enue earlier said the IRR for the REIT is fair, and tough measures were placed to ensure the private sector would not unduly bene�t from the REIT’s real purpose of re-cycling capital.

IRRREFRAN said he wants the incom-ing administration to revisit the IRR for the REIT products.

“When it [REIT] was imple-mented, there were additional re-

quirements [that], when you look at the law, it did not provide such a high bar.”

Refran said, for instance, the law states that the REIT shall be a public company with an owner-ship of just 33 percent. When the IRR was implemented, it placed an additional requirement that states over a three- to four-year period, the REIT should be owned by at least 66 percent, or two-thirds, of the public.

�e REIT law was enacted in 2009, with the main aim of pro-moting the development of the capital market, broadening the par-ticipation of the public in the owner-ship of real estate in the Philippines; and use the capital market as an instrument to help �nance and de-velop infrastructure projects.

�e IRR of the said law, how-ever, was crafted by the Aquino economic team.

�e law was designed to re-cycle real-estate assets by placing them in another REIT company in which the public can invest into by purchasing shares. �e shares of the company can also be traded at the PSE.

�ese property �rms may not be big �rms, such as Ayala Land Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc. A REIT can also be a simple park-ing-lot operator, expressways that exact toll on their users, prison fa-cilities and airports.

ConstructionTHE country’s construction indus-try, meanwhile, said it will introduce to the next administration the build-ing of “instant �yovers.” �ese are city bridges using modular systems or prefabricated materials that could be placed in congested areas of Metro Manila and parts of the country as part of a solution to the worsening tra�c situation.

Jorge Consunji, president and COO of DM Consunji Inc., said the members of the Philippine Construc-tors Association (PCA) may push to the next administration the use of new technology in building �yovers.

DM Consunji Inc. is the con-struction arm of conglomerate DMCI Holdings Inc. As a rule of thumb, using the new technology may cut construc-tion time by 30 percent, and the bridge can also last by at least 20 years. It costs about P1.2 billion per kilometer to build one.

During former President Glo-ria Macapagal-Arroyo’s adminis-

tration, the government purchased several modular system or prefab-ricated �yovers that were meant to be put up in heavy-tra�c areas in Metro Manila. One such area targeted was Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City, where two major col-leges are located.

�ese were, however, set aside and not utilized by the Aquino ad-ministration.

�e PCA may just ask the next administration to utilize these materials for the project, Consunji said in a news brie�ng.

“We [DM Consunji Inc.], along with all the other member-contrac-tors at PCA, are prepared to o�er this technology to the next admin-istration. It is high time that wors-ening tra�c condition in Metro Manila be addressed as promptly as possible,” Consunji, a former PCA president, said.

“Given a chance, our associa-tion would like to propose this new technology. Although it’s more ex-pensive versus the construction of conventional �yovers, this tech-nology promises to improve the tra�c condition in Metro Manila.” A conventional �yover takes about 18 months to complete.

Delays in construction, how-ever, are caused by the right-of-way issues and the transfer of util-ity wires, cables and pipes buried under the ground.

Consunji said these are some of the issues they hope could be ad-dressed by the incoming government.

EconomistsALL the tough talk from the Duterte camp in the months lead-ing to last Monday’s polls may be put to the test as local economists weigh in on the policies needed to push the economy forward. Economists interviewed by the BusinessMirror highlighted the need to promote regulatory reform, the importance of agriculture and research and development, and a fo-cus on urban planning.

“�ere is no dearth in good policy prescriptions. What is lack-ing is implementation of policies. [I] hope that the Duterte admin-istration can put a spark in the implementation phase,” University of Asia and the Paci�c School of Economics Vice Dean George Man-zano said.

Manzano’s economic wish list included investor-friendly policies, such as following the rule of law, honoring the sanctity of contracts,

promoting transparency of pro-cesses, and liberalizing the invest-ment regime.

He also urged the expansion of investments in energy by facilitat-ing investments in renewable energy and power, as well as the creation of clear regulations in the sector.

AgricultureMANZANO also urged the Duterte administration to shift to higher-value agriculture, as well as credit and technology transfer. He added that the government’s rice policy must be reviewed, and e�orts must be increased to clamp down on smuggling.

Supporting the agriculture sector, PIDS’s Navarro said, can be done by setting a macro target of 1 percent of GDP for research and development. Encouraging R&D, as well as innovations, can help the agribusi-nesses and small and medium en-terprises (SMEs) improve and di-versify their products. Eagle Watch senior fellow Al-vin Ang said the Duterte admin-istration needs to increase infra-structure spending because it has the potential to solve the country’s employment woes, particularly in agriculture.

Samahang Industriya ng Agri-kultura (Sinag) Executive Director Jayson Cainglet told the Business-Mirror farmers are expecting Duterte to achieve what President Aquino has failed to do in the past six years of his term.

“Because we feel like the in-cumbent administration has �opped in advancing Philip-pine agriculture, farmers will re-ally expect major changes during Duterte’s term,” he said in a phone interview. “We’re hoping this time the administration won’t fail us.”

Cainglet added that as some-one coming from Mindanao, Duterte should truly understand the challenges faced by the agricul-tural sector.

He said Sinag is counting on Duterte to address issues, such as smuggling, access to credit, and free irrigation services.

NeglectedPHILIPPINE Maize Federation Inc. (PhilMaize) President Roger Na-varro also called on the incoming administration to focus its e�orts on the agriculture sector.

“We hope that this time, the government will really focus on agri-

culture, because this sector has long been neglected in our country.”

PhilMaize’s Navarro added that there is a need to implement policy reforms—particularly those that involve production, trade and export—and rationalize the distri-bution of the Department of Agri-culture’s (DA) budget.

“We know for a fact that the bulk of the budget for agriculture is mostly given to Luzon, then about 35 percent is divided between the Visayas and Mindanao,” Navarro explained. “It should change, espe-cially that the new president will be from Mindanao.”

United Broilers Raisers Associ-ation President Elias Jose Inciong, for his part, said the next admin-istration’s thrust should be in pro-moting climate-change resiliency and sustainability.

“If [the Duterte administration] can address the challenges brought about by climate change, especially on water supply and distribution, that would be a major and long-term achievement,” he said.

Water, the industry leader said, is a basic necessity, especially for crops.

“It may not a�ect [poultry and livestock growers] directly and immediately, but if you do not address the issue on water, where will you get your feeds for your poultry and livestock? If you address that, you address sus-tainability already,” he ended.

Poverty reduction among �sh-ermen should also be a focal point of government e�orts, nongovernmen-tal organization Tambuyog Develop-ment Center Inc. (TDC) insisted. TDC Executive Director Ar-senio Tanchuling said stopping illegal �shing, implementing the Comprehensive National Fisheries Industry Development Plan 2016-2020, and providing settlement ar-eas for �shermen near their �shing grounds would be crucial in uplift-ing the lives of �shermen. According to Agriculture Un-dersecretary Emerson Palad, the DA has already prepared a tran-sition team that will present to the next agriculture secretary the agency’s programs and recommen-dations. “We will brief the new sec-retary and his or her team regard-ing what the agency has achieved, what programs became successful, which programs need adjustment, among others. We have to discuss it with them so that the transition will become smooth and seamless.”

SUPPORTERS cheer as presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte’s campaign motorcade makes its way through the streets of Malabon on April 27. AP/BULLIT MARQUEZ

A BOY happily shows campaign wrist bands of presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte. AP/BULLIT MARQUEZ

The WorldBusinessMirror news@businessmirror.com.ph�ursday, May 12, 2016A8

DHAKA, Bangladesh—�e head of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party was executed

early Wednesday for his role in acts of genocide and war crimes during the country’s independence war against Pakistan in 1971, a senior government official said.

Bangladesh executes leaderof Islamist party–minister

Home Minister A sadu zza-man Khan said Motiur Rahman Nizami, the 73-year-old leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was hanged at 12:10 a.m. on Wednes-day inside Dhaka central jail amid tight security. A crowd of activists celebrated outside the jail.

The execution came a few hours after Nizami’s family had visited him for the last time. His body was handed over to his fam-ily for burial in a family graveyard in the northwestern district of Pabna, his ancestral home. “We buried him in the morning,” said Abdullah Al Mamun, Nizami’s cousin. Jamaat-e-Islami issued

a statement condemning the ex-ecution and called for a daylong general strike across the country for Thursday. But such protests

usually get no major response from people.

Nizami refused to seek presi-dential clemency to commute his death sentence. A condemned man can seek such clemency from the country’s figurehead presi-dent. Nizami did seek a review of his death sentence through the judicial system, but the country’s Supreme Court upheld his pun-ishment. Nizami was convicted of three major charges stemming from the 1971 war, including the killings of 480 people.

He was also held responsible for the killings of dozens of in-tellectuals, including teachers, journalists and doctors, just two days before Bangladesh gained its independence in 1971.

Bangladeshi authorities say Pa k istani sold iers, a ided by loca l col l aborators, k i l led 3 mil l ion people, raped 200,000 women and forced some 10 mil-l ion people to f lee the country during the nine-month war in what was then known as East Pakistan, renamed Bangladesh after independence.

Nizami is the fifth senior of-ficial from opposition parties to

be executed since 2013 for war crimes carried out during the 1971 war. Three other senior members of Nizami’s Jamaat-e-Islami party and a top leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia have also hanged.

Trying suspected war crimi-nals has posed a major challenge for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has faced strong interna-tional pressure to stop executing people, such as Nizami who acted against the country’s strugglefor independence.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had pro-tested the death sentence for Nizami. The human-rights groups also raised questions about the standard of the trial process, but Hasina and her colleagues have re-jected claims that the judicial pro-cedures were f lawed. Authorities also rejected opposition claims that Nizami’s trial was politi-cally motivated and designed to weaken the opposition, saying the families of the 1971 victims have the right to receive justice for their suffering. AP

BOSTON—A fight over free speech involv ing break dance crews and bucket

drummers is brewing on the steps of a historic meeting house, where American colonists began the earli-est calls for revolt against England.

Boston officials say they’re considering imposing regulations on street performers because the breakdancers and drummers per-forming in front of Faneuil Hall, among the city’s most visited tour-ist sites, are using bad language, playing music too loudly, aggres-sively soliciting donations and bul-lying other performers out.

“The behavior out there is un-acceptable,” said City Councilor Salvatore LaMattina, a Democrat who has proposed a citywide per-mitting system with support from public safety officials. “I just want them to respect the people that visit our city. You can’t go out there and use foul language and blast music.”

But breakdance crews and drum-mers, who for years have drawn crowds to the plaza around a statue of Samuel Adams, have disputed complaints about their behavior. They say police have been pushing

them out of tourist destinations across the city but allowing them to perform at Faneuil Hall.

“We’re not the bullies. If any-thing, we’re getting bullied by po-lice and the city,” Universal Fair, a member of the You Already Know crew, said between performances last week. “They say this is the only designated spot for us, and now they want to take that away from us.”

Democ rat ic Mayor Ma r t y Walsh’s office didn’t comment this week on the breakdancers’ complaints. Other opponents warn imposing a citywide system is an overreaction that could put a damper on a vibrant busking scene.

Trying to control what artists say, even if it’s considered dis-tasteful, also infringes on free speech, a concern opponents say should have special resonance at Faneuil Hall, where Adams and other Sons of Liberty railed against British taxation, leading to the Boston Tea Party and other acts of rebellion.

“You can’t regulate an artist’s content,” said Stephen Baird, direc-tor of Community Arts Advocates,

a nonprofit arts organization. “This is one of the most historic free-speech spaces in the country, and yet, they’re trying to make it a First Amendment-free zone.”

City officials say a system that protects performers’ constitutional rights but responsibly manages public space, especially around bustling Faneuil Hall, is overdue.

William Joyce, who oversees security on city-owned proper-ty, said officers have tried to get the breakdance and drum acts to tone things down. He said there also have been complaints about marijuana, littering and crowds blocking access.

Boston repealed its laws against street performers, some of which dated to the 1850s, in 2004, after they were challenged in federal court. But Faneuil Hall Market-place, the privately operated shop-ping and dining complex adjacent to the meeting house, has long had a system for permitting acts, though performers staged protests last year when new fees and other changes were proposed.

Other cities have seen recent battles over street performers, too.

New York this year approved regulations aimed at restricting costumed characters and nearly naked painted women in Times Square and other pedestrian pla-zas to certain designated zones. Las Vegas did the same late last year a long freewheel ing Fre-mont Street. Joshua Rodriguez, who has been drumming on buck-ets around Boston for more than a decade, said he’s concerned the current permitting and applica-tion proposal leaves too much discretion with city officials. He’d prefer a lottery system like those in place at Los Angeles’s Venice Beach and Seattle’s Pike Place Market, where artists are ran-domly designated performance spots and times.

Boston resident Anthony Plant said he’d be open to seeing different acts get shots at working the plaza, which he crosses at least twice a week. But he doesn’t find anything particularly objectionable about their performances.

“They’ve got jokes, but I don’t have a problem with it. It’s all in humor,” Plant said. “They’re just trying to draw a crowd.” AP

Artists fight for free speech at a cradle of US independence

IN this May 6 photo, street performer Mallick Young plays trumpet on Congress Street in Boston. O�cials are considering regulations on street performers citywide, because they say breakdance crews and bucket drummers performing a few blocks away in front of Faneuil Hall, one of Boston’s most visited tourist sites, are using inappropriate language, playing music too loud, aggressively soliciting donations and bullying other performers out of the high-tra�c area. AP

W ELLINGTON, New Z e a l a nd — Fa c i n g declining revenues

and changing reader habits, New Zealand’s two main news-paper groups announced on Wednesday they’re discussing a merger that could end decades of competition and result in hundreds of job losses. Under the proposal, a single company would publish most of New Zealand’s metropolitan news-papers.

That would mean readers from Auckland to Invercargill would end up reading many of the same stories on politics, business and sports. If approved by regulators, the merger would combine the New Zealand news-papers, radio stations and web sites owned by Fairfax Media and APN News & Media. Both companies, which are Austra-lia-based, are seeking to divest their New Zealand assets and form them into a new, listed company. APN publishes the country’s biggest daily news-paper, The New Zealand Herald, while Fairfax publishes the next largest dailies, The Dominion Post and The Press. The compa-nies also own two of the largest news web sites, stuff.co.nz and nzherald.co.nz.

The companies say their businesses are complementary and the proposed merger would allow them to improve offerings to readers and advertisers. But unions and observers worry about the potential loss of jobs and diverse viewpoints.

The move represents the lat-est retrenchment in Australia and New Zealand, where many media companies are struggling to adjust to a rapidly changing landscape. Gavin Ellis, a media commentator and former editor-in-chief of The New Zealand Her-ald, said the upside of the pro-posed merger was that it would allow the newspapers to survive longer than if the companies tried to go it alone.The downside, he said, was the reduction in the variety and voices of journalists and opinion columnists.

The two companies have a combined New Zealand work force of about 3,000. Ellis said there could potentially be hun-dreds of job losses as the groups eliminated duplication in ev-erything from political cover-age to sales. To complete the merger, APN plans to separate its New Zealand holdings and list them on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges under the name NZME. Fairfax would then fold its New Zea-land assets into NZME. Ciaran Davis, the chief executive of APN, said the two companies had signed a memorandum of understanding.

The merger will need ap-proval from New Zealand ’s Commerce Commission, which is tasked with ensuring busi-ness monopolies don’t develop. Commission Spokesman Chris-tian Bonnevie said it hadn’t yet received an application, which would typically take between six weeks and one year to pro-cess depending on its com-plexity. In a trading update on Wednesday, APN said market conditions have been challeng-ing in New Zealand and its rev-enues were down 10 percent in the first quarter. Fairfax Me-dia, Australia’s second-largest newspaper publisher, has laid off about 2,000 employees, or about one-fifth of its staff, since 2012 and erected pay walls for its flagship papers in a bid to boost revenue. AP

NZ’s 2 main newspapergroups discuss merging

briefs REPORT: 27.8 MILLION PEOPLE

INTERNALLY DISPLACED LAST YEAR AMMAN, Jordan—A major aid agency says 27.8 million people around the world were internally displaced by conflict and natural disasters last year, or as many as the combined populations of New York City, London, Paris and Cairo. A report by the Norwegian Refugee Council on Wednesday says 8.6 million of last year’s internally displaced were uprooted by conflict, more than half of them in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. AP

PANAMA PAPERS LAW FIRMTHREATENS LEGAL ACTION PANAMA CITY—The Panamanian law firm at the center of the huge trove of leaked documents detailing offshore financial dealings says it will take legal action against an international consortium of journalists. The Mossack Fonseca firm said in statement on Tuesday that it had asked the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to stop publishing information from the documents that it has said were obtained through a computer hack. On Monday the consortium published information about some 200,000 offshore entities in a searchable database. AP

POLICE ALLEGE RADICALS PLANNED TO LEAVE AUSTRALIA BY BOAT CANBERRA, Australia—Five men have been arrested on suspicion that they planned to leave Australia in a 23-foot boat to fight in Syria, the police said on Wednesday. The men, aged 21 to 33, had towed the half-cabin power boat with a car 2,800 kilometers from their homes in the southern city of Melbourne to Cairns in Australia’s tropical north before they were arrested on Tuesday, the police said. All had their passports canceled to prevent them from leaving the country to fight for extremist groups, such as the Islamic State movement. AP

JAPANESE WELCOME OBAMA’SUPCOMING HIROSHIMA VISIT TOKYO—Japanese are welcoming President Barack Obama’s decision to visit the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima, and those interviewed on Wednesday said they aren’t seeking an apology. They expressed happiness that he plans to stop at the memorial for victims of the 1945 bombing after attending the annual Group of Seven summit in Japan. Obama will become the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima, a city almost entirely destroyed by a US atomic bomb in the final days of World War II. AP

TAIWAN EXECUTES MANFOR ‘14 STABBING SPREE TAIPEI, Taiwan—Taiwan has executed a man who was convicted of killing four people in a subway stabbing spree two years ago. The Ministry of Justice says Cheng Chieh was executed on Tuesday night. It did not say what method was used, but prisoners in Taiwan are usually sedated and then shot. Cheng’s two-minute attack on a subway train during rush hour in Taipei on May 21, 2014, left four people dead and 22 injured. AP

STABBING ATTACKS AT MALL,HOME LEAVE THREE DEADTAUNTON, Massachusetts—Two people were killed in stabbing attacks at a home and a shopping mall in Massachusetts before an off-duty law enforcement officer shot and killed the suspect, authorities said. Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said late Tuesday that Arthur DaRosa, 28, of Taunton, crashed a car outside a home in the city, walked inside and stabbed an 80-year-old woman and another woman. AP

The number of women allegedly raped during the nine-month war in 1971 in what was then known as East Pakistan

200K

The WorldBusinessMirrornews@businessmirror.com.ph �ursday, May 12, 2016 A9

CAIRO—Hours after marching in a peaceful protest against the government late last month,

Yassin Mohammed and his friends were lingering in the area in a district of the Egyptian capital when police descended on them, piled them into a minibus and took them to a police station. �ere, he said, he was blindfolded, handcuffed and beaten by security agents.

Wide arrests in Egypt signal no-tolerance policy on critics

Now the 21-year-old Moham-med, released on bail, faces trial on charges of breaking a 2013 law that virtually bans any street dem-onstrations. He knows how heavy the penalty can be. Two years ago he was sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison for joining protests—and he said he nearly committed suicide in his cell out of despair until a fel-low inmate stopped him.

Mohammed is among those caught up in one of the biggest waves of arrests in the past two years in Egypt, a sweep that sig-nals a fierce zero-tolerance stance by the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi over any sign of unrest.

The detentions were sparked by demonstrations against el-Sissi’s decision last month to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Ara-bia, which galvanized activists who had been largely silenced by previous crackdowns. But ac-tivists have been startled by the scope of the arrests and how little it takes to bring severe charges, including accusations of seeking to overthrow the government or fomenting terrorism, over dem-onstrations that gathered only a few hundred people.

In just the last three weeks, human-rights lawyers say nearly 1,300 were detained. Most of them have been released, but 277 have been formally charged and face trial, according to Mohammed Ab-del aziz, a rights lawyer who has been tracking the arrests and is representing 20 of the detainees.

In recent speeches, el-Sissi has demanded that all criticism of the handover of the islands stop. He

told a visiting United States con-gressional delegation that human rights issues in Egypt should be not approached from a “Western per-spective” because of the challenges it faces, including a fight with an Islamic militant insurgency.

El-Sissi also increasingly repeats that Egypt faces existential threats from “evil forces” or “evil people” conspiring to push the country into chaos and bloodshed like Syria or Iraq, though he has never explained what these forces are.

“It is like an old dam and the state is worried that allowing one crack to open will unleash a f lood. The regime has no solu-tion except suppression,” said rights lawyer Gamal Eid. Besides charges of violating the protest law, detainees often face other, broad and undefined charges, i nc lud i n g s pre a d i n g pro p a -ganda that harms security and hurting or disrupting national unity, security or social peace.

In recent days, police arrested five members of a satirical street performing group that produces videos on social media mocking el-Sissi. One of them, 19-year-old Ezzedeen Khaled, was detained Sat-urday and, though a court ordered

his release on bail, was charged with inciting protests and posting videos containing foul language and insults directed at state insti-tutions, according to his lawyer, Mahmoud Othman. The remain-ing four were arrested Monday and have been slapped with an even heavier charge of inciting terror attacks and protests.

A prominent rights lawyer, Malek Adly, who had filed a legal suit against the decision to hand the islands to the Saudis, was ar-rested last week and is under inves-tigation for a range of allegations, including attempting to overthrow the government. Another lawyer, Ahmed Abdullah, who had been advising the family of an Italian student kidnapped, tortured and killed in Egypt earlier this year, was arrested last month and has been charged with a long list of accusa-tions including membership in a terror group and inciting protests.

On April 25, when activists called for protests against the is-lands’ handover, police appeared to sweep up any young men who they believed intended to join in or were just in the area of planned demonstrations. Abdel aziz said that among the 20 defendants he represents are young men who were detained just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time or because antigovernment material was found stored on their mobile phones. Others, he told The Asso-ciated Press, were picked up from downtown Cairo cafés, a favorite hangout for secular activists.

Mohammed told the AP he and his two friends were detained well after the day’s marches were dispersed. They were still in the area looking for other friends who were missing. Mohammad had previously been sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison in two separate cases for involvement in protests. A 15-year sentence handed down in one of the cases was reduced to three years in a retrial. He was then pardoned for that case last September, but his appeal against the remaining 2-year sentence in the second case was rejected last month. So he now faces that prison term and a trial on the new arrest.

“Nothing is really achieved by ar-resting me and others,” he said. “It is the other side that is losing the

love of the people when they arrest anyone they see.” Another of those arrested said he and several friends were detained six hours before the protests were to start on April 25, when they arrived in the area.

“We parked our car and started to walk looking for a place where we can eat breakfast. Five minutes later we were cordoned off by po-lice and detained,” he said, speak-ing on condition of anonymity to avoid further police retaliation. The 26-year-old said he was taken to a riot police base on the city’s out-skirts where he was interrogated and beaten. He was released on bail and faces charges that include seek-ing to overthrow the government.

El-Sissi and government offi-cials have argued that strict mea-sures are necessary at a time when Egypt is battling Islamic militants based in Sinai and trying to repair an economy gutted by years of tur-moil since the 2011 ouster of auto-crat Hosni Mubarak. Hundreds of policemen and soldiers have been killed by the militants—most re-cently eight policemen gunned down this week in an attack on the southern outskirts of Cairo.

Officials and the media also drum up vague fears of threats to the nation. Cairo airport officials often report the seizure of “spy” drones and secret cameras found hidden in the luggage of arriving foreigners, but there’s never any further word on the “spies” or the nations behind them. Newspa-pers often speak of unidentified conspiracies and enemies. Hosts of political TV talk shows nightly engage in conspiracy theories com-plemented by incitement against government critics.

“Sadly, there is a significant level of social acceptance for these ar-rests because of the fear-mongering by el-Sissi and his loyalists in the media,” Abdel aziz said.

El-Sissi still appears to en-joy widespread public backing, though it has shown some erosion. The Egypt-based polling agency Baseera, one of the few that con-ducts polls in the country, said its latest survey in April showed 79 percent approve of el-Sissi ’s per-formance, though that was down from 85 percent in November. The poll surveyed 1,541 people above the age of 18 with a margin of error of 3 percent. AP

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky—White House dreams fad-ing, Bernie Sanders added

another state to his tally against Hillary Clinton with a win in West Virginia on Tuesday—a vic-tory that will do little to slow the former secretary of state’s steady march toward the Democratic presidential nomination.

Meanwhile, Republican Don-ald Trump also won there and in Nebraska, a week after he cleared the field of his remaining rivals. They were not victories likely to heal the party’s wounds, as some GOP leaders continue to hold off offering their endorsement of the party’s presumptive nominee.

The result in the West Virginia Democratic primary underscored the awkward position Clinton and the party’s establishment face as they attempt to turn their focus to the general election. Sanders has won 19 states to Clin-ton’s 23, but she is 94 percent of the way to winning the nomina-tion—just 144 delegates short of the 2,383 required.

That means she could lose all the states left to vote by a landslide and still emerge as the nominee, so long as all her supporters among the party insiders known as su-perdelegates continue to back her.

Clinton needs to win just 14 percent of the delegates and un-committed superdelegates at stake in the remaining contests, and she remains on track to capture the nomination in early June.

Still, Sanders is vowing to fight on. He campaigned in Oregon and California on Tuesday and his vic-tory in West Virginia highlighted anew Clinton’s struggles to win over white men and indepen-dents—weaknesses Trump wants to exploit in the fall campaign.

“Let me be as clear as I can be, we are in the campaign to win the Democratic nomination,” Sanders said at a campaign event in Salem, Oregon. “We are going to fight for every last vote.”

Among those voting in the West Virginia Democratic pri-mary, about a third said they would support Trump over either Clinton or Sanders in Novem-ber. An additional 2 in 10 said they wouldn’t vote for either candidate. But 4 in 10 also said they consider themselves to be independents or Republicans, and not Democrats, according to

exit polls. While Sanders is stil l attracting thousands to rallies, his campaign has grown more difficult as Clinton closes in on the nomination. His fundrais-ing has fallen off and so, too, has his advertising, with only about $525,000 in ads planned for California and $63,000 each in West Virginia and Oregon, ac-cording to advertising tracker Kantar Media’s CMAG.

That’s a significant decline from the wall-to-wall advertising cam-paign he ran earlier in the primary, during which his $74 million in ads outspent Clinton by $14 million.

Edward Milam, of Cross Lanes, West Virginia, is a self-described socialist who gave money to the Sanders campaign but his vote on Tuesday to Clinton.

“After about six and seven months of debating and watch-ing, I think Hillary has a lot more to offer than Bernie internation-ally,” the 68-year-old retiree said. “I think she handles herself well. I’ve known about her for 30 years, just like everybody else has. I don’t think there will be any surprises.”

Even as the primaries continue, Clinton has largely shifted her focus to the general election. On Monday she courted suburban women in Virginia and on Tues-day, in Lexington, Kentucky, she released a proposal to ensure fami-lies don’t spend more than 10 per-cent of their income on child care.

“I don’t care about what he says about me,” she said of Trump in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday night. “But I do resent what he says about other people, other successful women, women who have worked hard, women who have done their part.” Clinton’s campaign hopes suburban women, turned off by Trump’s bombastic rhetoric, could be a key source of support for her in the fall.

But she’s also trying to stop Sanders from gaining the psy-chological advantage of a series of wins this month. Her team went up with a $160,000 ad buy in Kentucky on Tuesday, a mod-est effort aimed at cutting into Sanders’ support before the state’s primary in a week.

Clinton also won a primary election on Tuesday in Nebraska, although the party allocated all of its delegates to the summer nomi-nating convention at a caucus won in March by Sanders. AP

Bernie Sanders’s West Virginia win makes up little ground on Clinton

N EW YORK—Sixteen black West Point cadets, who posed with raised fists

for a pregraduation picture that sparked debates on race and proper behavior in uniform, won’t be pun-ished for the gesture, the United States Military Academy (USMA) said on Tuesday.

The decision, less than two weeks before the 16 female seniors are poised to graduate, found they didn’t violate military rules limiting political activity.

An internal inquiry found the cadets didn’t plan to make a politi-cal statement, West Points Superin-tendent Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen Jr, said in a letter to the student body.

But, he said, they showed “a lapse of awareness in how sym-bols and gestures can be misin-terpreted and cause division,” and they will receive instruction to address “their intent versus the impact of the photo.”

The fists-up image, which circu-lated online, led some observers to question whether the women were expressing support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which grew out of protests over police killings of unarmed black men.

But the inquiry found the picture, among several the women made in keeping with an informal cam-pus tradition, captured a spur-of-the-moment gesture intended to demonstrate unity and pride in graduating, Caslen wrote. Groups of cadets often take Old Corps pic-tures in traditional dress uniforms to echo historical portraits.

A raised fist has symbolized political resistance for genera-tions, from Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison in 1990 to Democratic Vermont US Sen. Bernie Sanders on the presiden-tial campaign trail this year. It was used by black power advo-cates in the 1960s, including by two American sprinters during a medal ceremony at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, and more recently by activists for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Some observers suggested the women were improperly identi-fying with the movement while in uniform. Defenders said the women were simply celebrating their forthcoming graduation, something closer in spirit to a team lifting helmets to celebrate a win or Beyoncé raising her fist at this

year’s Super Bowl halftime show.“Their frame of reference is:

‘Right now, we’re getting ready to graduate in three weeks. I’m standing here with my sisters,’” said Mary Tobin, a 2003 West Point graduate and mentor who spoke to the students after the photo was taken in late April and to some of their relieved relatives on Tuesday.

Some critics of West Point’s in-quiry said the black women, who represent less than 2 percent of the graduating class, were being held to a different standard than other cadets.

“Will there ever be a time when black women can unapologetically show that they are strong proud and supportive of one another without their action being inter-preted as an act of militant defi-ance?” Essence magazine editor-in-chief Vanessa De Luca asked in a Wall Street Journal op-ed this week.

Indeed, Caslen noted that other cadets have used clenched fists to show support for a team or pride at serving their country. So did he, along with hundreds of West Point staffers and graduates on the night before last year’s Army-Navy football game, he added. AP

16 West Point cadets in raised-fist photo won’t be punished–USMA

THIS undated �le image obtained from Twitter on May 7 shows 16 black female cadets in uniform with their �sts raised while posing for a photograph at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. The US Military Academy said on May 10 that it concluded the group photo didn’t violate any Department of Defense rules limiting political activity. AP

The number of people detained in Egypt in just the last three weeks, according to human-rights lawyers

1,300

�ursday, May 12, 2016 •Editor: Angel R. Calso

OpinionBusinessMirrorA10

Toast to the people who gave us credible polls

editorial

PRESIDENT Aquino deserves a standing ovation for the successful, peaceful, honest and orderly May 9 elections. Under his watch, the Philippines has shown to the world that Southeast Asia’s oldest

democracy can still stage credible elections.Mr. Aquino proved his detractors wrong by not doing what they fear he

would do: A “high-tech hello, Garci” or “hocus-PCOS” to ensure the victory of his presidential bet and, thus, protect himself from the threats of jail when he leaves Malacañang in June.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) also deserves a pat on the back for a job well done. Ironically, the poll body got a lot of bashing on election day for some malfunctioning vote-counting machines (VCMs) that delayed voting in some precincts. There were even suspicions that the Comelec would corrupt the electoral process with VCMs that were preprogrammed to count votes for the administration’s favored presidential bet. That would mean tampering more than 97,000 VCMs deployed nationwide for the elections. Suspicions aside, these sensitive machines were stored in ovenlike rooms. We are lucky only 150 of them conked out.

We also have to give kudos to the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting and the thousands of PPCRV volunteers who have done a heroic job not just on election day, but also during the registration period with their vot-ers’ education program. That the PPCRV has made public all unofficial counts and showed the results of the elections as they come in made the May 9 polls transparent in the public’s eye. The whole nation must, likewise, applaud the efforts of our men in uniform —the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines—who were deployed nationwide to ensure that our elections are safe, peaceful and secure.

In like manner, our hats off to the four unsuccessful presidential candi-dates—Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Sen. Grace Poe and former Interior Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II—for accepting defeat with dignity. For the first time in Philippine politics, the public heard concession speeches from losing candidates.

The loudest applause, of course, is reserved for our teachers, who assisted in the voting process. Here’s how a netizen paid tribute to them: “To the un-sung heroes not just today, not just every election day, but in every single day that you’ve dedicated your life to help build a nation of hope, even if it means sacrifices of all sorts, a big tight hug to the teachers [and the volunteers] who spent crazy hours to facilitate a fair and honest election. May your dedication resonate in the credible results of the May 9 polls!”

Teachers are the most trusted public servants in our country. That’s the reason more than 233,000 of them were deployed nationwide on May 9 to assist in the voting process. They attended to voters’ concerns in their des-ignated precincts with care, and made sure the voting process remained or-derly. The whole country must laud these teachers, who sacrificed their time and risked their lives to serve us, the voters. But after we give them credit, here’s hoping the next administration will give our teachers the special attention they deserve.

HOM

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OUTSIDE THE BOXJohn Mangun

THE most divisive Philippine election to date is over, and Davao Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” R. Duterte has been given the elector-ate’s mandate to be the country’s president for six years. As of

this writing, Liberal Party vice-presidential bet Camarines Sur Rep. Ma. Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo has overtaken the lead of the late dicta-tor son and namesake, Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., and is a cinch to win the second most powerful seat in Malacañang.

THE Philippine stock market was basically down for 16 trad-ing sessions, from April 15 until the national election. The composite index (PSEi) was basically down for seven straight

weeks before the elections. The PSEi has been in a negative trajec-tory for 13 months prior to the elections.

Tapping into the AEC’s potential under Digong

The PSE: It’s all Duterte’s fault

Business has, so far, been clue-less about how Duterte will rule the country in the absence of a clear gov-ernance platform from his camp. He has, however, promised to tap the country’s most qualified technocrats to advise him on economic, security and foreign policies to be implement-ed during his term.

Duterte’s ascent to power comes at the time when the Asean Eco-nomic Community (AEC) is slowly evolving to rival that of the Euro-pean Economic Union (EU). The AEC came into effect in December last year, and it would be interest-ing to see how Duterte will navigate the country in taking advantage of the region’s combined GDP of $2.65 trillion. This immense economic prospect under the AEC is simply too good to pass up, and it is up to Duterte and his would-be eco-nomic managers to harness. The 10 member-nations of the Asean have

ironed out the AEC’s fundamentals, but its full-scale roll-out is still in its early stages.

The AEC seeks to integrate the region into a single market and pro-duction base to transform Southeast Asia into a vastly competitive region; safeguard equitable development across the Asean; and assimilate it into the global economy. Once fully implemented, the AEC foresees free trade in goods and services, invest-ment liberalization, and the free flow of skilled labor.

Duterte will inherit a robust economy nurtured by the Aquino administration. The Philippines under Mr. Aquino has become the darling of foreign investors with a 6.2-percent average growth rate, the biggest since the 1970s. President Aquino’s critics, however, believe that this economic bonanza has not trickled down to the margin-alized sectors of society, and that

For the two trading sessions since the elections, the index has risen by 5 percent, the largest two-day increase since 2013.

You are welcome to attribute any or even all of these moves to “pro-found fear of a Duterte presidency,” “joyful anticipation of a Duterte presidency,” or anything else that makes sense to you.

US Rep. Earl Landgrebe—a staunch supporter of then-Presi-dent Richard M. Nixon, who was facing impeachment—said dur-

ing the Watergate break in cover-up investigation hearings, “Don’t confuse me with the facts.” The next day, Nixon announced his resignation.

Discussing stock-market moves in light of external events in both the short and the long term is a horse that has been dead for too long. People are going to believe what they want to believe and are going to find “facts” to support their rationalizations. That is what we as human beings do very well.

the prospect of inclusive growth remains a dream.

Duterte promises to curb corrup-tion, criminality and spruce up the sorry state of the Philippines infra-structure system. He believes that these problems are what shackle the country and prevent it from achieving lasting prosperity. Albeit controversial, his extrajudicial meth-ods in dealing with crime have been embraced by a voting public that is mesmerized by his tough warlord-type valedictory.

His foreign policy has also been questioned in light of his combat-ive remarks to the Australian and American diplomats who called him out when he allegedly joked that, as the city mayor, he should have gone “first” when “the beautiful” Australian missionary, who was eventually murdered, was raped during a prison break in one of Davao’s penitentiaries a few years ago. Business now wonders how he would make amends and make himself worthy of international praise, just like what Mr. Aquino has accomplished.

The Philippines cannot afford to miss out on the huge economic po-tential that the AEC brings. With-out doubt, Duterte needs seasoned foreign affairs and economic lieuten-ants to help him convey the country to socioeconomic progress that the AEC is envisioned to bring to the Asean region.

Unlike the EU, the AEC seeks for an economic and financial integra-tion bereft of a monetary union or

political amalgamation. It is by far Asean’s grandiose undertaking, which is expected to boost the re-gion’s GDP by 5 percent by 2030.

The growth enhancement should be felt over the next decade, as con-tingencies are steadily being imple-mented through the AEC Blueprint 2025. This is the map on how the bloc will endure while working toward a unified economy between 2015 and 2025. But what makes the AEC even more interesting is the Asean Single Window, a regional initiative to ac-celerate cargo clearance which has already been established by some Asean countries and will help to simplify the trade of goods.

Financial integration and capi-tal-account liberalization will pro-pel economic rebalancing within Asean toward the AEC’s goal of evenhanded and all-encompassing development. This coordinated approach might be tough to reach because, without political assimila-tion, the Asean has a much punier institutional framework to guar-antee that requirements are met.

Before the region can realize stronger integration and profit from it, the Philippines is expected to chime in its inputs on how best to implement improvements, not only to the AEC but to Asean as a whole.

If he plays his cards well, Duterte can use the AEC as a viable venue to rebrand his “caricaturized” image in the international arena.

For comments and suggestions, e-mail me at mvala.v@gmail.com.

Different cultures through-out history have explained solar eclipses as the result of: hungry de-mons, a bear eating the sun, a quar-reling sun and moon, and mythical dogs trying to steal the sun.

Imagine you are the first person to observe a solar eclipse. Prewrit-ten history humans probably had enough to worry about for daily safety that a solar eclipse, which didn’t seem to want to eat them, was not much to fear. Further, a guy run-ning around with a banana leaf cov-ering his private parts also probably knew he had no chance of figuring out what caused the eclipse.

What his first thought might have been is, how could anything this unusual happen? That is often the reaction when the stock market suddenly makes a U-turn either up or down.

How could the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) go up in basically a continuous trend for six years and three months, and then suddenly start down? It must have been be-cause President Aquino came and

rang the opening PSE bell.Yet, no one would be shocked if

a car suddenly went from 60 kph, and then rolled to a stop. The driver took a foot off the accelerator and stopped giving fuel to the engine. What is confusing about that? Fur-ther, in examining the event, you might not question the reasoning for the driver making that move.

Trading volume is the absolute critical key to understanding mar-ket moves. The PSEi was destined to retreat from the 2015 high. The monthly trading-volume trend went flat, and then started decreasing when the PSEi hit 7,200. The last 1,000 upside points was the market rolling to a stop.

The last three weeks have been a period of low trading volume. The last two days have seen daily volume that we last had before April 15.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

BUSINESSWISEVal A. Villanueva

05122016

�ursday, May 12, 2016

OpinionA11BusinessMirroropinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Continued from A1

So listen to this. Ignore the sug-gestion that the new government should be a combination of conti-nuity and change. Sure, there are things that must continue; they are part and parcel of the struc-ture of our world; like the “condi-tionalities” imposed by the World Bank-IMF on Marcos for stealing the country blind. The World Bank-IMF continued them after Marcos left because we the people let him steal the country blind when we

could have stopped him. And the proof that we could have

stopped him is that we did—in 1986, when we should have done it the day after martial law was imposed on September 21, 1972. These structural things are anyway the exclusive domain of the Bang-ko Sentral run by the best central banker today. Those things aside, all the rest must change, because all the rest is what you promised. No more stealing, no more bor-rowing, no more smuggling, and far less duties and taxes; no more

WHEN God sends out His Spirit, the world is created anew and the face of the earth renewed (Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34). To those united with Him in love, Jesus promised

the Holy Spirit from the Father to teach them everything and to be with them always (John 14:15-16, 23b-26).

Change with the same face

Tutored by the Holy Spiritfirst creation where a mighty wind swept over the waters (Genesis 1:2). The same spirit and power of the Lord can bring about a new creation and a renewal of the old. May this “glory of God” endure forever, the psalm-ist prays, as he promises to devote himself to the praise of the Lord.

In the power of the Holy SpiritJESUS’ fundamental message of love means a love that is self-sacrificing, the way Jesus Himself has loved. Those who follow His example and keep His commandments truly love Him. In such union of love, Jesus will ask His Father to send another Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who will remain forever with His followers. As Jesus Himself has been the Advo-cate in relating to the Father in this world, so now, that He is about to leave them to return to God’s glory, another Advocate will be coming who will never leave them. Loving Jesus means keeping His word, which is actually the word of the Father who sent Him. That is why the Father will love those who love Jesus and keep His word and follow His commandments. And Jesus and the Father will come to them and make their dwelling with them, in

an abiding presence and intimacy. Those who do not keep the word of Jesus do not really love Him, and the Father and Jesus will not make their dwelling with them, and the Holy Spirit will also not be with them. It is only in union with Jesus and His Father that the Advocate will be available who will teach the believ-ers everything and keep the word of Jesus alive in them.

Alálaong bagá, the Holy Spirit, the greatest gift of the Father and of the Son to us, is the determinant person in the life of every Christian on the way to eternal life. Because of the Spirit who is in us, we live the life of the risen Christ and share already in His intimacy with the Father. The gift of the Holy Spirit that comes to us in baptism has initiated us into a new life in the communion of the Triune God. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the world is charged with divine energy; tutored by the Holy Spirit, the “katipunan” (assembly) of Christians are activated as evange-lizers in the renewal of the world.

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.

Renew the face of the earthPSALM 104 begins with a normal summon to acclaim the greatness of God, but this time in a self-address call: “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” What is here translated as “soul” (nepesh, “breath”) refers to every aspect of a person’s being from that center within the person from which all life forces flow. Wholeheartedly and in entirety, a person can only praise the greatness of God as seen in creation and in the order that ex-ists in the universe; all things give evidence to His glory. The diversity and complexity of the natural world are marvelous as they manifest the power and the wisdom of the Creator

(Proverbs 8:22-31; Wisdom 9:9). The invisible God is perceived in the gran-deur of creation and is described as if robed in majesty and glory. And creation is not just an event completed in the distant past, but an ongoing event and a personal expe-rience. God’s act of creation and un-ceasing divine providence sustaining all creatures are discernible in the renewal of life taking place before our eyes. When the breath of life is taken back, a creature returns to the dust whence it was taken (Genesis 2:7; Job 12:10). God not only creates but recreates in sustaining and perpetu-ating life. The “spirit” (ruah) is the same word found in the story of the

ALÁLAONG BAGÁMsgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

LAWS that ban street begging often are challenged as a viola-tion of First Amendment free-speech rights. Appellate courts are divided on the question, and the Supreme Court has never

answered it definitively.

Brother, spare me a dime, or else…

FREE FIRETeddy Locsin Jr.

Clinton has a weakness; that’s Trump’s only hopeB F W | BloombergView

THERE are two ways that Donald Trump can become presi-dent. Either he must become significantly more popular among general-election voters. Or his likely opponent, Hill-

ary Clinton, must become significantly more unpopular.

It won’t take long for Trump to figure out which is the more prom-ising path.

Right now, flush with optimism after a stunning victory over more than a dozen primary foes, Trump’s campaign has both goals in sight. Trump is hoping to rally conserva-tives and independents behind his candidacy. In his victory speech af-ter the Indiana primary last week, Trump magnanimously refrained from calling defeated Sen. Ted Cruz a liar, or implying that Cruz’s fa-ther aided the assassination of an American president. It was a veri-table charm offensive.

Yet, there are stark limits to Trump’s appeal. His genuine po-litical talent is utterly divorced from anything resembling wis-dom. He remains offensive to mul-tiple blocs of voters and ignorant of public policy. His unfavorable rat-ings—especially the number of Americans who hold a “strongly unfavorable” view of him—are, as Harry Enten of fivethirtyeight.com wrote, from “another planet.”

In polling from late March through late April, Enten reported, Trump’s aggregate “strongly unfa-vorable” figure was 53 percent. That is, by spring, a majority of Ameri-cans were already strongly opposed to him. If you add his strongly favor-able (positive) rating to his strongly unfavorable (negative) rating, the

net is overwhelmingly negative, about minus 40.

Mario Cuomo said that success-ful politicians campaign in poetry but govern in prose. Trump cam-paigns in Fahrenheit, but polls in Kelvin.

The one relatively warm spot for Trump in a chilly electorate is Clinton. She, too, is unpopular. Add her strongly favorable rating to her strongly unfavorable, and Clinton nets about minus 20. It’s not other-worldly like Trump’s. But it’s bad.

The question for Trump, then, is how to exploit her weakness.

Clinton has been subjected to a quarter century of political and personal attacks, many of them vicious, more than a few outland-ish. For every smear of President Barack Obama as a Kenyan anti-colonial socialist or terrorist en-abler, Clinton can probably cite two similarly inspired delusions—that she killed White House aide Vin-cent Foster or, for reasons no one ever seems able to explain, that she preferred to let a handful of Americans die in Benghazi rather than use her powers as secretary of state to protect them.

But the differences between Obama and Clinton are at least as telling as the similarities. More than half of Americans consis-tently have rated Obama “honest

and trustworthy” dur ing his presidency. Of nine Gallup mea-surements taken between 2008 and 2015, Obama fell below 50 percent only once, in 2014. In April 2008, the spring of his first cam-paign for president, 60 percent of Gallup respondents said Obama was honest and trustworthy.

By contrast, in a March 2016 Washington Post/ABC News poll, 37 percent of adults agreed that Hill-ary Clinton is honest and trustwor-thy, and 57 percent said they don’t think she is. Even Democrats aren’t sold. In Wisconsin, where Bernie Sanders defeated her on April 5, exit polls showed only 57 percent of Democratic voters rated her honest and trustworthy. Two weeks later in her home state of New York, which she won, only 60 percent of Demo-crats leaving the polls said she was honest and trustworthy.

Neither Sanders in 2016, nor Obama in 2008, aggressively at-tacked Clinton’s integrity. She finds herself in this hole as a result of conservative attacks on her and of doubts she raised by her own ac-tions. History weighs on her.

Clinton’s six-figure speeches to

Wall Street, after she left the Obama administration, ring the cash register a bit louder because they echo the questions dating from her trading of cattle futures, in the late 1970s. Her use of a private e-mail server while secretary of State, and the convoluted excuses it has engendered, is reminiscent of previous instances when this strikingly intelligent, detail-ori-ented professional claimed, in so many words, to be relying on the kindness of strangers.

The vast right-wing conspiracy against the Clintons is no dark fan-tasy. For more than two decades, it has been a concrete blot on the political landscape. Her resort to private e-mail was in all likelihood an effort to dodge those prying par-tisan eyes. Avoiding one trap, she entered another.  

At Clinton’s landmark April 1994 White House  news confer-ence on Whitewater and “Hillary-care” and cattle futures and what-ever else fit the catch-all portfolio of this path-breaking first lady, a reporter asked, “Is there a funda-mental distrust of the Clintons in America?”

The question, 22 years later, is still live. Trump is unlikely to gain traction against Clinton ar-guing about  experience  or tem-perament or preparedness or ideas. She overwhelms him on every count. Given his voluminous re-cord of  falsehoods, breathtaking at the presidential level of politics, he probably can’t win a contest on integrity either. But Trump is a very successful bully. He intui-tively understands weakness. He will find a way to hurt her.

BLOOMBERGNoah Feldman

crime, no more drugs, and far less criminals alive—the big and even more the petty ones that prey on the small. A foreign intelligence officer said to me, “Your cops know all the criminals and all about the crimes because for the most part they are criminals.”

All we have to do is tell the cops, “Okay double your pay and spare your life by taking out everyone bad you know. Give them a minute to decide but keep your finger on the trigger—you never know. Offer peace to the communists and social justice for all—that is the only rea-son they fought the republic at all. Be the man who ended the longest- running insurgency in history. Kick out the foreign diplomats who suggested, and the peace panel that proposed, carving out a home-land for Islamic terrorists so they will leave neighboring countries like

Malaysia alone. Cut the red tape, pare govern-ment down to bare bones, equal speed for equal pay for all Wi-Fi—all fast or all slow, no premium for those who can pay more. Punish the telcos, abolish the Customs bureau, cut taxes on the salaried, leave the honest rich alone, and repeal the withholding tax to equalize the op-portunity to question taxes across the board.

And, finally, call Sumitomo and say, “So solly foh tulning ova a pah-fack-lee woking EM AL TEE to a talyer in Paniqui. Please take it back.”

Do those and the other things you promised. Not by the end of six years but, with regard to crime, as early as three and no later than six months. Then the people will know that the change that was coming has arrived; but not—no not—with the same old faces as before.

But in the last year, courts across the countr y have be-gun  striking down  laws against panhandling on the ground that they prohibit certain speech on the basis of its content. The rea-son is a major Supreme Court deci-sion from last year that barred an Arizona town from using content to distinguish between different types of temporary signs erected on public property.

As a matter of morality, I think it’s usually a mistake for cities to suppress begging, which serves as a reminder to us that our society hasn’t solved some basic, serious social problems. But I don’t think the high court case, Reed v. Gilbert, necessarily has the consequences that the lower courts have been at-tributing to it.

The government is allowed to prohibit a course of conduct that happens to involve speech. And there’s no clear constitutional rea-son panhandling should be uniquely protected, while harassment and fraud and blackmail are not.

Let me start with the law the way it existed before 2015. The basic idea of the First Amendment was under-stood to be that the government couldn’t prohibit speech based on dis-approval of its message. It could, how-ever, prohibit behavior—a course of conduct—that might be associated with certain messages.

Thus, for example, Justice David Souter, who in his “retirement” still sits on cases in the US Court of Ap-peals for the First Circuit, wrote an opinion  for that court in 2014 up-holding the anti-panhandling ordi-nance of Worcester, Massachusetts. The Worcester law bans “aggressive” panhandling.

Souter’s careful opinion acknowl-edged that “panhandling and solici-tation of immediate donations con-vey messages of need, and waving placards at traffic islands may often be political expression.” But he ex-plained that this wasn’t the end of the matter.

So long as the government’s pur-pose was to prohibit the aggressive behavior, not to disfavor the po-litical message that panhandling carries, the law was permissible. “Even a statute that restricts only some expressive messages and not others,” the former justice wrote, “may be considered content-neu-tral when the distinctions it draws are justified by a legitimate, non-censorial motive.”

Souter’s position makes a lot of sense—because it explains why the government can, for example, prohibit harassment, including ha-rassment that takes place on a pub-lic street. The government’s aim is to prohibit a behavior or an action, namely, harassing someone. The government isn’t aiming to suppress speech—even though in some sense, the government is targeting speech on the basis of its harassing content and therefore saying it doesn’t like it.

Enter Justice Clarence Thomas, free-speech absolutist. In last year’s Reed case, he wrote for the major-ity of the court that “regulation of speech is content based if a law ap-plies to particular speech because of the topic discussed or the idea or message expressed.” That sounds plausible, and compatible with existing law.

But Thomas went on to say that it didn’t matter whether the gov-ernment was defining speech by its subject matter or by its “function or purpose.”  Either way, Thomas wrote, a restriction based on content was

subject to the highest form of scru-tiny and would therefore ordinarily be struck down.

Lower courts have been reading this statement to mean that a city can’t prohibit panhandling because that would mean prohibiting speech on the basis of its content. Thus, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which had previously  up-held  the anti-panhandling law of Springfield, Illinois,  reversed  itself after the Supreme Court’s Reed case and struck down the ordinance.

Judge Frank Easterbrook—a Reagan appointee who is the au-thor of some important free-speech decisions—wrote that it no longer mattered whether the government intended to suppress a certain mes-sage. “The majority opinion in Reed,” he said, “effectively abolishes any distinction between content regula-tion and subject-matter regulation.”

Easterbrook also noted that the Supreme Court vacated Souter’s Worcester opinion and sent it back to the First Circuit for reconsidera-tion after its Reed decision.

Could Easterbrook be right that the Reed case effectively prohib-its any ordinance that targets any speech at all based on its content? If he is, then the consequences would seem to be very strange and extreme. Consider laws that make harassment, fraud and blackmail—all activities that can be performed entirely via speech—illegal. Are those laws now constitutionally suspect?

If so, the government would, in every instance, have to prove that it had a compelling interest in prohib-iting the behavior, and that it had narrowly tailored its law by adopting the least restrictive means possible.

In the case of verbal harassment, that might be difficult, especially since most local harassment ordi-nances are drawn quite broadly.

In the case of fraud and blackmail, it might be easier to prove a compel-ling interest. But how many such laws are very narrowly tailored? There are many instances of criminal statutes that could be drawn more narrowly than they currently are.

The other possibility is that the Reed decision wasn’t intended to stop the government from outlaw-ing a course of conduct that is put into action through words. The facts in the Reed case had nothing to do with conduct. The sign ordinance that the court struck down simply treated different temporary signs differently based on what they said.

If that’s right, then a law that bans all panhandling could be perfectly constitutional, because what’s being banned is the conduct of begging, not the content of the speech. Laws against harassment, fraud and black-mail wouldn’t be treated as content-based either.

There’s still something morally troubling about banning people from saying that they’re in desper-ate need and want money. But the First Amendment shouldn’t be read in such an absolute way—and if it is, the consequences for the rest of our law are apt to be disastrous.

The government is allowed to prohibit a course of conduct that happens to involve speech. And there’s no clear constitutional reason panhandling should be uniquely protected, while harassment and fraud and blackmail are not.

The vast right-wing conspiracy against the Clintons is no dark fantasy. For more than two decades, it has been a concrete blot on the political landscape. Her resort to private e-mail was in all likelihood an effort to dodge those prying partisan eyes. Avoiding one trap, she entered another.

Council, it argued that these moves will adversely affect tourism revenues. But Duterte did not budge an inch. Occasionally, he would drive around to see how these measures were being im-plemented by business establishments. Today, Davao City has become a par-agon of discipline. In 2014 the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the city, including the rest of Davao region, “achieved 21 percent of the Department of Tourism target for domestic tourist arrivals and 30 percent for foreign tourist arrivals.” “The tourism sector was able to sustain its growth for the first quarter of 2014 at 3 percent,” the Neda said. Griping nightowls, however, have com-plained that nightlife in the city has become so short as business establishments would ask for the last order at 1 a.m. Last year Duterte changed the city-wide curfew to 1 a.m., sending people to explore options, such as driving to nearby Samal Island, to continue their drinking spree and merriment until sunrise. Samal Island is in Davao del Norte, and could be easily reached in less than 30 minutes via the 24-hour barge service. Duterte would periodically explain his policy, thus: “There is always a way for you to enjoy the Davao night life. You can continue drinking at home.” “That way, your family would always be assured that you are safe with friends, even if you drink till morning,” he said. Crime prevention, however, is his main

concern, “especially those that happen due to the influence of alcohol.” Killings over petty cases of unfriendly stares from nearby tables, or quarrel over their turn on the karaoke, would occasionally erupt. “Worse things happen when alcohol is mixed with shabu,” he warned. Smokers have also learned to adjust to the ordinance prohibiting smoking inside bars and tourism establishments. In later amendments to the smoking ban, the Task Force Smoking Ban has clarified that the policy required all business es-tablishments to remove smoking rooms and designate smoking areas not less than 5 meters from all points of entry-ways and exits.

Silent Yuletide and New Year SINCE 2002, the tally sheet of the Depart-ment of Health in Davao City has been a perfect zero as far as casualties during New Year festivities are concerned. That’s because the firecracker ban has been strictly observed. There was a case in 2004 when a pa-tient who hurt himself after lighting a firecracker hurriedly left the hospital af-ter getting basic treatment of his wound. He was warned by visitors that Duterte would be coming over to inspect those who were hurt by firecrackers. In all the succeeding Christmases and New Year’s Eve festivities, emer-gency rooms of private and govern-ment hospitals in Davao City were a

sleepy sight for the absence of fire-cracker casualties. A councilor attempted to amend the ordinance on the ban of firecrackers and fireworks by allowing a controlled area for fireworks displays. To no avail, the association of businesses in Bocaue, Bu-lacan, has also repeatedly appealed to Duterte to reconsider his policy because the ordinance also banned the transport of these items.

Crime-bustingTHE most controversial drive in Davao City is the mayor’s non-negotiable campaign against illegal substance. For a good glimpse of how this campaign would look like when implemented nationally, Duterte pointed out again and again that he will be harsh. In his campaign in Davao City, the mayor has repeatedly warned: “Those who would put up a shabu labora-tory here would not leave this city alive.” “I will tie them to their machines and burn them, and I will invite the human-rights people to witness the event,” he said. One of his campaign footage shows him saying, “My God, I hate drugs.”

Boom cityBUSINESSMEN in Davao City are ben-efiting from the mayor’s anticrime cam-paigns. They said the peaceful environ-ment gives them greater opportunities with the influx of international busi-nesses. Business leaders in this premier southern seaport said they are used to hearing the mayor curse when something makes him angry. “It’s his way to be more empathic and to send his message loud and clear,” said Vicente T. Lao, president of the Mindanao Business Council. “But the mayor has been assuring us that he would always support what busi-nesses in the city need. He would assure us that he is very determined in his anti-crime efforts, because he believes that a peaceful city is the best invitation to business,” Lao added. Last year Duterte’s directive to the City Engineer’s Office and other regulatory bodies at the City Hall is to process all applications within 72 hours. “Otherwise, they will have to personally come to me and explain why one application went beyond 72 hours.” “The best thing about Mayor Duterte is that he gets things done,” Lao added.

B M T. C | Mindanao Bureau Chief @awimailbox 

DAVAO CITY—The first president from Mindanao is expected to bring his own trademark of

discipline that gained international attention for Davao City, where he implemented a relentless anti-illegal- drug campaign that has earned for him the monicker “Duterte Harry.”

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First president from Mindanao seenbringing discipline to the whole PHLInflation. . .

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US SecDef coming to observe ‘Balikatan’

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BALIKATAN 2016 leaders lock arms to show solidarity at the commencement of the military bilateral training exercise (from left) AFP Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez, Philippine exercise director; Voltaire Gazmin, secretary of National Defense Philippines; Undersecretary Jesus I. Yabes, representative of Jose Rene Almendras, secretary of Foreign Affairs; His Excellency Philip Goldberg, US Ambassador to the Philippines; Gen. Hernando DC Iriberri, AFP chief of staff; US Marine Lt. John Toolan, US exercise director. MAU VICTA

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UNITED States Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will fly to Manila to

personally witness the war games involving more than 7,000 Filipino and American troops. It will be the first time for a US defense secretary to fly to Manila for the bilateral exercise. The presence of Carter in the Exercise Balikatan, an annual mili-tary event testing the joint capa-bility of the Armed Forces and the United States military to respond to regional crisis, was confirmed by US Marine Lt. Gen. John Toolan during the formal opening of the war games on Monday. “The secretary is going to be here toward the end of the exercise and he will actually observe a couple of things he’s very interested in…I be-lieve that really, his main purpose here is to come and reaffirm that the relationship that we have with the Philippines is rock solid, and we’re side by side,” he said. Carter’s presence in the Ba-likatan would be the first for a US defense official and it would come as both the US and the

Philippines continuously voice their concerns over China’s ag-gressive military activities in the West Philippine Sea. Toolan said, aside from the reaffirmation of the Philippine-US defense relations, Carter also wanted to see how the high-mobility artillery rocket system works, especially that it would be the first time also that the US would use it in its joint training with the country. The weapon would be fired live at Crow Valley in Tarlac, along with the other equipment that the US will bring in. “What I mentioned earlier about the high-mobility artillery rocket system and how that works,” said Toolan of Carter’s visit. “He’s also going to spend some time out at sea with the US Navy ships that will be out there.” Toolan said it was Carter who

wanted to visit the war games, which will run up to April 14 and would be joined by Australia and witnessed by the militaries of Southeast Asia. “He realized how important

it is, this exercise…so that’s why he’s coming,” the US Marine gen-eral said. Other than the use and firing of rockets, Toolan, said what is new in this year’s train-ing is the use of command and

control in warfare. “We’re going to work on that com-mand and control apparatus so that communications can be made very quickly and we can get response forces,” he said.

I n pa r t ic u l a r, t he Monetary Board decided to maintain the BSP’s key policy rates at 4 percent for the overnight borrowing or the reverse repurchase (RRP) facility and 6 percent for the overnight lending or the repurchase (RP) facility. The interest rates on term RRPs, RPs and SDAs were also kept steady. The reserve requirement ratios were, likewise, left unchanged. The BSP said the steady rates were based on their assessment of stable inflation, reiterating that the target range for this year and the next will still likely be attained. The central bank chief Amando M. Tetangco Jr. earli-er said that inflation for March will likely settle between 0.6 percent to 1.4 percent. The Philippine Statistics Authority will release infla-tion numbers this week. The BSP, meanwhile, will be hav-ing its third monetary policy meeting on May 12. 

Bianca Cuaresma

�e best thing about Mayor Duterte is that he gets things

done.”—L

Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte’s announce-ment that he wanted to widen his discipline campaign, which includes a liquor ban and curfew, from Davao City to the whole Phil-ippines has earned for the president-elect mounting resistance among netizens. A social-media post in reaction to these impending policies curtly told Duterte “to f_ck off your curfew,” a com-ment that should remind the mayor how some Davaoeños, mostly nightowls, ini-tially reacted when he started banning alcohol sales beyond 2 a.m. in 1994. Similar reactions were heard at the City Council when Duterte asked the august body in 2002 to issue ordinances prohib-

iting the sale and use of firecrackers and fireworks during the Yuletide season and to welcome the New Year. When Duterte implemented a speed limit in Davao City to prevent vehicu-lar accidents, his detractors called the campaign “driving at the speed of a funeral hearse.”

Business reactionTHE regional office of the Department of Tourism was unhappy with the curfew and liquor ban in Davao City back then. It argued against these measures that will “discourage foreign tourists to visit our city.” Bringing the matter to the City