By ELENA L. ABEN
Manila Bulletin
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/237291/afp-honors-ambassador-kenney
In recognition of her efforts in strengthening the bilateral defense ties between the United States and the Philippines, the Armed Forces (AFP) led by its Chief of Staff, Gen. Victor Ibrado on Wednesday paid tribute to outgoing American Ambassador Kristie Kenney in a testimonial parade held at the AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo.
A testimonial parade is normally given only to retiring military officials and visiting dignitaries and heads of states.
Kenney, described as “one of the best ambassadors the Philippines has ever had,” was an exception because of the extraordinary efforts she has made for the country and for transforming the high culture of diplomacy into a hands-on diplomacy and by directly reaching out to the Filipinos.
The AFP also gave a send-off gift to the Ambassador, which Ibrado called as the “Philippine luck” noting that quite a number of American envoys who served in Manila were subsequently promoted to higher positions.
In his speech, the AFP chief noted that as global insurgency, climate change, and problems in the developing world have spawned increasing multilateralism, the challenge confronting nations remain in how to maximize bilateral partnerships to their fullest potential for the mutual benefit of all.
“We are enhancing our defense capabilities in the numerous combined training, exercises and intelligence exchange. The United States is also assisting the Philippines in its military education and equipment requirements, as well as in the government’s socio-economic development program especially in Southern Philippines,” Ibrado said, adding that the US also benefited from its deployment in Mindanao, “gaining valuable operational lessons from its deployment in Mindanao, gaining valuable operational lessons from its Philippine counterparts.”
Ibrado said Kenney, America’s first woman envoy to the Philippines, was being honored for being one of the principal catalysts of the transformed alliance between the two countries.
Thursday, 7 January 2010
AFP honors Ambassador Kenney
US economy: Why it is not working
John Mangun
Outside the Box
Business Mirror
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/opinion/20610-us-economy-why-it-is-not-working.html
IT is important to clearly, as completely as possible, understand the situation in the world’s most important economy.
It is important to understand what is happening to that economy, to understand what the US government policy is, and to understand why the economic polices of the last two years have been and will continue to be an unqualified failure.
The US banking system came to disaster because of bad assets. A portion of those assets were loans for properties, and those loans became nonperforming as housing prices dropped and loan defaults rose.
In 2008 the US government pumped nearly $800 billion into the banking sector through basically buying shares and ownership of the banks. The theory behind this move was that, with a massive infusion of capital to offset the nonperforming loan portfolios, the banks would then loan out money to worthy creditors who would spend and spend, and thereby stimulate the overall economy.
The government, in effect, bought many of the bad housing loans from the banks, hoping to make it more attractive for the banks to loan to home buyers. The hope was that this intense stimulation of the economy would, in turn, reach quickly into the property sector with renewed buying and renewed appreciation of houses, thereby canceling out a good portion of the nonperforming loans.
This did not happen. Here is why.
The housing industry is so vitally important to the US economy, accounting for at least 20 percent of their gross domestic product. Stimulate housing; stimulate the economy.
The $800 billion accomplished almost nothing at all to help the economy. It did, however, put a tremendous amount of cash into the hands of the banks.
Why was this program a failure at economic stimulation?
In every country, there is a limit to the number of people who can afford to buy a house under any condition. The percentage of home ownership in the US had peaked prior to the collapse of home prices. In a real sense, there was virtually no one left to borrow money to buy a house in late 2008. No property recovery; no economic recovery.
Another $1.2 trillion was put into the banking sector in 2009 through continued buyouts, bailouts and takeovers of failed banks. Here again, one would think that all this money would show some economic results. After all, in the 1980s 700 banking institutions, the savings and loan companies, were closed and the government took over the bad loans. The loans were defaulted upon, the government took any recoverable assets, and then sold them at a deep discount to financially stable companies and individuals. Crisis solved very quickly, all things considered.
But in our current case, the bad loans were never completely taken off the banks’ books. Take note of this very well: because of pressure on the US government, the banks were and are allowed to carry the loans on their books at higher values than they are realistically worth. A $100,000 loan on a house now worth only $50,000 is not a loan worth $100,000. But the accounting magic makes the banks seem financially sound.
The housing-loan crisis is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bad bank assets. US banks are carrying hundreds of billions of dollars of worthless assets known as derivative contracts. Derivatives are complex and varied but basically they are “bets” that the bank made on the rise in price of an asset, primarily real estate and real-estate loans.
The banks are allowed here again to carry these derivative “bets” on their books at a totally unrealistic value.
It works something like this.
Imagine last month, I let you “bet” on Mayon Volcano erupting. You gave me P10 and whenever Mayon blows off, you get P100. A month ago, that betting slip was worth at least P10, since someone else would probably be willing to buy it from you and it might be worth P100.
What is it worth today? Yes, maybe someday Mayon will erupt and you get P100. But I doubt that betting slip could be sold today for even P10.
The banks are being allowed to keep their “betting slips” valued on their books at near the purchase price even though no one in their right mind would pay them full price, if anything at all, for their derivative contracts.
If all the nonperforming loans and all the derivative contracts were carried on the banks’ books at what they are actually worth, the US banking system would completely fail.
The US government knows this as a fact.
The government believed that more lending, coupled with more economic growth, would eventually put the banks in a position to be able to write off all those bad assets.
The monetary base of the US has increased 250 percent since 2007. The monetary base is the amount of actual currency, paper and coins. That should have a massive stimulus effect on economic growth, immediate and broad based. A very large amount of this money was coursed through the banking system.
However, the money in circulation, the “money supply,” has gone up only 26 percent since 2007.
It is the money supply that can stimulate the economy, since that is the money that is actually being used in the economy.
At least $1 trillion of newly printed dollars, plus another $1.2 trillion from the budget deficit, has disappeared at least in the sense of never reaching the street-level economy.
Where has all this money destined for economic stimulation gone to, and why?
Come back next Tuesday.
E-mail comments to mangun@gmail.com. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by CitisecOnline.com Inc.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
BM Editorial: What matters most
Business Mirror
Editorial
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/opinion/20545-editorial-what-matters-most.html
THERE are only nine session days left for this Congress to finish its work, and by various estimates, some 20 priority bills left to enact.
When lawmakers return to both chambers this month to complete their tasks, most of them will be quite distracted by the political fever, especially if they’re running in the May elections or are active in the campaign of a relative, friend or party mate who’s running.
Therefore, with such limited time, the leadership of both chambers should be sure to limit the agenda only to the most essential pieces of legislation, i.e., those deemed indispensable to reform, to human development and social justice, and to sustainable growth. That means eschewing completely any effort to push the envelop, even by an inch, closer to facilitating Charter change, say, by a special session in February as floated by some quarters; and shelving any bill that not only is irrelevant to the three thrusts we cited above, but could surely waste precious legislative time in pointless debate.
In the latter category, one of the first that comes to mind is the controversial reproductive-health bill which has been elaborately titled “An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development and for Other Purposes,” or House Bill (HB) 5043.
We cite this bill because of reports floating around that it may yet be resurrected in the final stretch of this Congress’s time. To those tempted to do so, please perish the thought.
The avid backers of this bill as crafted have conveniently framed the debates as simply one between superstition and science—or between a predominant Catholic Church that supposedly seeks to impose its beliefs on the entire population; and what is projected as the rock-solid, science-based argument that having more children is injurious to the national welfare per se because it leaves so many poor people scrambling for such tiny resources.
Last weekend, some Catholic priests delivering homilies on the Gospel about Herod’s order to massacre all innocents below age 2, to eliminate a potential rival in a messiah born somewhere, cited the alarming figures of illegal abortion in the country. It’s a figure that those championing artificial birth control often cite as precisely their reason for demanding that the state make available, with taxpayer money, the complete menu of birth-control devices that supposedly would cut down unwanted pregnancies, ergo, reduce abortion incidence.
Amid all these attempts at simplistically framing the arguments for and against HB 5043, it is well to go back to the scholarly, compelling paper written by Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., which this paper ran as a five-part series last year, titled “Culling Fields.”
There, Locsin dissected every item in the bill and concluded that it was not so much meant to boost reproductive health as to use massive resources of a cash-strapped state to promote just one school of population policy, i.e., artificial birth control, and thus achieve exactly what its advocates accuse the Catholic Church of: trying to promote only natural family planning to the exclusion of others.
The difference is stark, though: The Catholic Church uses its own set of carrots and sticks to win obedience to its set of beliefs, but not Juan’s money; the bill, contrary to the constitutional mandate to allow free choice while proscribing abortion, applies taxpayer money to further its own bias, throwing in huge sums for the humongous global business of the makers of artificial birth-control devices.
Thus would, argued the Locsin paper, the bill’s advocates attain several things in one blow: one, boost the business of the device makers, some of which, being drug manufacturers as well, were hurt by the impact of legislation in Third World countries that pushed cheaper medicine; two, push the defeatist agenda of those resisting genuine social justice by perpetuating the notion that poverty eradication is attained by “eradicating the poor,” as one newsroom wag put it; three, single out for a knockdown just one institution, the Catholic Church.
Achieving these three things wouldn’t do this Congress proud, especially not when it only has limited time to deal with so much backlog. In the end, it should just occupy itself with those that matter most.
MNTC, SMC vie for SCTEX contract
To operate, manage and maintain toll road
By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
Manila Bulletin
http://mb.com.ph/articles/237042/mntc-smc-vie-sctex-contract
Pangilinan-led Manila North Tollways Corp. and Northlink Toll Management Inc., a joint venture between San Miguel Corp. and STAR Tollways Corp., are vying for the 33 and half-year contract to operate, manage and maintain Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.
Rolando C. Manalo, acting head for the technical working group for SCTEX of the Bases Conversion Development Authority, said the two beat Tuesday’s deadline, (Jan. 5), for submission of bid documents out of the original six contenders.
The other four interested bidders that did not show up include the Citra Group, San Miguel Corporation, Amicus Holdings, Inc. and IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd.
MNTC, which is led by businessman Manny Pangilinan of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., is the current operator of the North Luzon Expressway.
This would be the first for San Miguel to operate a tollway if it wins the SCTEX contract over MNTC. STAR Tollways, on the other hand, is the current operator of the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road.
Manalo said that under the revised schedule, the Issuance of Notice of Award would be this January 22. The subsequent contract signing and Issuance of Notice to Proceed will be on February 22, 2010.
On November 16, 2009, BCDA opened the SCTEX data room at the Bonifacio Technology Center in Taguig City, following the bidders request that they be provided all the information needed to come up with an accurate and realistic offer.
Five out of six bidders have visited the place and gathered such relevant data as the actual traffic volume and revenue, traffic study and operations manual. A separate data room for engineering plans, drawings and technical specifications is also available at the BCDA construction and engineering project management office in Clark.
Both the BCDA Taguig and Clark SCTEX data rooms are open to the bidders until December 23, 2009, except Sundays and holidays.
Under the SCTEX privatization program, the winning bidder will enter into a lease or concession agreement with BCDA to manage, operate and maintain the SCTEX on “as is, where is,” basis for a period of 33 and a half years until 2043.
The winning bidder will be responsible for the operational funding requirements in running the country’s longest tollway, including periodic maintenance and emergency works, which will be covered by a performance security.
The private sector partner will also arrange for the insurance of the 93.77-kilometer toll road.
BCDA will receive a semi-annual lease/concession fee from the winning bidder, amounting to either: the peso equivalent of yen-dominated JBIC/JICA loan debt servicing as well as all financing charges payable to BCDA 10 days prior to its due dates secured by a rolling five-year letter of credit; or twenty percent of audited gross revenues whichever is higher.
Fil-Am armless pilot says sky’s the limit
By ANJO PEREZ
Manila Bulletin
http://mb.com.ph/articles/237088/armless-pilot-says-sky-s-limit
A Filipino-American girl who overcame physical limitations to become the very first pilot without arms is in the country, carrying with her the hope of inspiring her “kababayans.”
Jessica Cox, a 26-year-old native of Arizona, gained fame in the United States after she earned her wings in 2008 and was given her pilot’s license by the US Federal Aviation Administration despite having no arms.
Jessica was born without arms and has used her feet in doing just about anything.
She arrived last Monday aboard a Hawaiian Airlines flight together with her parents Inez and Bill and eldest brother Jason.
After earning her wings and proving that she can achieve great things even with her physical limitations, Jessica became a motivational speaker and began inspiring people around the world.
Jessica is in the country for two weeks to visit relatives in Eastern Samar, her mom’s hometown. She is also scheduled for several television appearances while in the country.
“I would like to inspire and encourage Filipinos to do more things,” Jessica said. “I want them to realize, ‘Hey, if she can do a lot of things without arms, then I can do so much more with my life.”
Jessica’s mother exposed her to all kinds of normal activities since she was young. Jessica took swimming lessons, gymnastics, tap dancing and even Tae Kwon-Do where she earned a black belt.
“I don’t care what other people think; I just let her have a normal life,” Inez said.
Recounting how she got into flying, Jessica revealed how she feared it at first.
“Flying was my greatest fear in life, and therefore I was motivated to conquer my fear by flying a plane. It is one of my greatest achievements in life and I really worked hard for it,” she said.
Jessica said she spent three years to log in 89 flying hours instead of the usual six-month training to acquire her license. She was certified by the FAA as a certified Sport Pilot and was given her license after her successful solo flight on October 10, 2008.
“I hope my story inspires a lot of Filipinos. To inspire the people that have the same roots as I have is a great honor for me. The only limitations in our lives are the ones that we create,” she said.
RP 3-yr T-bond rate up as investors swamp auction
http://www.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2002616&Itemid=2
MANILA, Dec. 5 (PNA) – The average rate of Philippines three-year Treasury bond (T-bond) rose to 5.27 percent on Tuesday's auction, higher than the 4.91 percent posted on Sept. 15, 2009.
The highest rate stood at 5.37 percent while the lowest was at five percent.
Investors swamped the auction after total tenders reached more than two-fold at P18.325 billion.
The auction committee, on the other hand, awarded P8.5 billion as offered.
Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran told reporters after the auction that the country had “a very stable market” as proven by investors’ confidence to get more debt papers.
He echoed statements of economists and governments worldwide that the “world economy is on its way to recovery.”
“Many investors are interested in the Philippines because of its stable policies,” Beltran said.
Beltran also quoted ratings agency Standard and Poors (S&P) as saying that "...higher deficit won’t affect credit rating of the country (Philippines).”
The government already breached its P250 billion budget deficit target for 2009 last October after it reached P266.1 billion. Last November, the deficit reached P272.5 billion.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves earlier said the government was now looking at P300 billion deficit for 2009 after the target had been breached. (PNA)
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
2010 stimulus between P100B & P330B
B. V. Buco, Jr.
BusinessWorld
http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=3995
THE GOVERNMENT plans to identify at least P100 billion from the 2010 budget and other sources to be used for continued stimulus funding this year, the country’s economic planning chief said yesterday.
Specifically, Acting National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Augusto B. Santos told reporters yesterday that the government plans to set aside "more than P100 billion but less than P330 billion" in stimulus spending this year.
"World Bank Chief Economist Justin Li says governments should continue stimulus spending until 2012-2013...We do not want to remove stimulus [this year] but will continue it [although] at a reduced rate. It will be less than P330 billion but more than P100 billion," he said.
Mr. Santos said that part of this year’s fiscal stimulus, this time called the Reloading Economic Acceleration Plan (REAP), will be the planned P100-billion private-public sector infrastructure fund for 2009 that failed to materialize due to these sectors’ failure to agree on projects to be funded.
"It’s [P100-billion public-private sector fund] not totally scrapped," Mr. Santos said. "The president authorized fund raising by the National Development Co. (NDC) by selling bonds to the tune of P50 billion which will be used for that."
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in August last year signed EO 824, authorizing NDC to issue P50 billion worth of "infrastructure bonds." It was eventually decided, however, that proceeds from the bond issue, which was originally earmarked for new infrastructure, will be used to fund rebuilding of public structures damaged or destroyed by storms and Ondoy and Pepeng in the last quarter of 2009.
"Basically, REAP is already part of [the proposed P1.54-trillion] 2010 national budget. As soon as the President signs it, the NPPS (National Planning and Policy Staff) can calculate the [exact] amount of [this year’s] fiscal stimulus," Mr. Santos added.
As regards last year’s fiscal stimulus, how much was actually spent on infrastructure has yet to be determined as various implementing agencies have yet to submit reports to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the NEDA chief said. "There’s lag time of two months from December 31. We still need to get the report from the DBM."
University of the Philippines economist Benjamin E. Diokno said via e-mail yesterday that "the real fiscal stimulus program last year was not P330 billion. It included items that are not real stimulus -- for example, the private-public partnership fund of about P100 billion. From the latter, very little was actually released."
Airport authority, industry groups note higher holiday passenger traffic
A. B. Nepomuceno
BusinessWorld
http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=3994
DOMESTIC AIRLINE passenger traffic rose by a faster 20% during the Christmas and New Year holidays, driven by lower airfare and increased frequency of flights, according to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).
The preliminary figure for holiday airline travel for 2009 was faster than the 15% growth recorded during the 2008 holidays, the MIAA chief said.
Driven by promos
"Passenger traffic during the holiday season was higher than last year. For domestic travel, I think there was a 20% increment in the number of Filipinos who traveled during the holiday season," MIAA General Manager Alfonso G. Cusi said in an interview.
"Promos of different airlines undoubtedly have affected the appetite of Filipinos to travel," he added.
He pointed out, however, that estimates for international airline passenger traffic have yet to be drawn up.
Aside from lower seat rates for domestic airline travel, "another factor is the increase in number of flights of airlines which accommodated more passengers," Mr. Cusi explained.
Major carriers, Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines could not be reached yesterday to confirm his observations.
Sea-borne travel
Aboitiz Transport System Corp’s Superferry, the country’s largest interisland water transport operator, noted increased passenger traffic despite a government order to ground most of its fleet.
"As expected, our ships were full-bound [sic] starting Dec. 16; this is the same scenario as last year," Superferry assistant vice-president for sales and marketing Andrew D. Deyto said in a text message yesterday.
"The only difference is that we had two ships on dry dock this year."
The government had ordered the grounding of much of Aboitiz Transport’s fleet in September last year in order to give way to an investigation of the sinking of Superferry 9 and an audit of all other vessels.
The Maritime Industry Authority has already allowed seven Superferry vessels that passed inspections to accept passengers and cargo.
Less packaged tours
Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) President Ma. Paz R. Alberto, however, noted fewer take-up of packaged tours this year.
"Though flights were very full this holiday season, I can still say that there was a slight decrease in traveling Filipinos that availed packages, meaning air fare plus board and lodging," Ms. Alberto said in a phone interview yesterday.
This decrease, which she did not elaborate on, may be attributed to the seasonal increase in prices of accommodations.
"Resorts as well as hotels are charging much higher than their usual rates," she explained. -- D.
2010: The year of more
John Mangun
Outside the Box
Business Mirror
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/opinion/20508-2010-the-year-of-more.html
The Christmas tree has been taken down and the colorful lights packed away for another year. For me, though, the holiday season is not officially over until the Christmas hams at the supermarkets are selling at “Buy 1, Take 1”. That is about the same time that I expect to see the Philippine stock market begin booming again, building on 2009 gains.
It was wonderful for me to see the stock market down yesterday, not only to counter all the experts in yesterday’s newspaper hyping you to buy in now, as they sell to raise cash. But also because so many individual issues are ready to explode once the weak players get out. As last year’s market rally left 80 percent of investors sitting with their mouths open, wondering what happened and how they missed the rally, this year is going to be more of the same only better.
What issues should you consider buying? Ask your stock adviser for a list of those shares that are the most below the 2009 high price. Eliminate the ones that rose or fell significantly based on one-time news or continuing confusion. In fact, those issues that grabbed the business headlines in 2009 probably should be at the bottom of your To-Buy list. Choose first those companies in industries that were flat in 2009. Property is No.1 on that list. Then ask your advisor for the projected Price Earnings Ratio for 2010. Pick the most attractive here, and you will now have a list of 10 or so buy-and-hold issues that will be up by at least 30 percent before 2011.
You want more money in 2010? Then buy more stocks.
2010 is going to be the year of “much more,” in many different ways.
I think we are going to see more new faces around the country this year as ten of thousands of balikbayan decide they have had enough of the “Great Recession” in the US and come home where their retirement dollars will actually be able to have some purchasing power. The last 18 months have been a disaster for those balikbayan Filipinos who are in or near retirement. The majority of Filipinos in the US populate those areas, California, Florida, Chicago, New Jersey/New York, that have been hit hardest by the economic meltdown. Most Filipinos are not as ignorant and naïve as their naïve-born American counterparts. They are not foolish enough to believe all the propaganda coming from the Obama administration that the economy is recovering. These repatriated Filipinos are going to quickly bring millions and millions of dollars into the Philippines during the next 18 months.
There will be much more outsourcing to the Philippines in 2010. The expansion plans that are being implemented to open new call centers around the country are moving forward as quickly as possible. One substantial player will add some 8,000 new employees by the middle of the year, simply because they have clients waiting in line to do business in the Philippines. These large US companies cannot afford to employ Americans to do a job that Filipinos can do better and more economically.
Anyone who characterizes this industry as not being beneficial for the country is either a fool or an economic traitor. Anyone who forecasts a slowdown for this sector is either ignorant or blind. There has never been a self-sustaining industry like this in the Philippines employing the numbers that it does, since independence. Foreign companies are now outsourcing to survive. But these jobs will never return to the West and when economic recovery does come, the industry growth rate will rocket up from where it is today. Much more foreign-currency inflows for this industry will mark 2010.
More is the forecast of overseas Filipino remittances also. The experts are calling for a 6-percent to 8-percent increase based on the global economic recovery. Wrong. In fact, wrong on both points. The Western economic recovery is a fantasy, since nothing can recover without the US economy recovering, and my growth estimate for remittances is 10 percent to 12 percent. More money coming in means more profits and excess cash for local companies and here also, we will see more.
Capital expenditures and business expansion in 2009 were minimal in the sense that companies spent just enough to remain stable without actually spending for growth. Local companies are sitting on a mountain of liquid funds and, in 2010, we will see more local business expanding.
A business cannot afford to miss opportunities as the clock is always ticking, and missed opportunities cannot be recaptured. The consumer- spending slowdown in the first half, particularly the first quarter of 2009, scared everyone. As a result, expansion plans were unfortunately put on the back burner. Now 2010 will be a catch-up year to get these projects to open as quickly as possible. Look at Shoemart. SM’s food retail group of SM Hypermarkets, Supermarkets, as well as Save More and Makro outlets, will open as many as 30 locations nationwide in 2010.
Hopefully, more common sense will prevail in 2010. Let us pray that the electorate will choose wisely and vote as if their future depended on it, which, of course, is true. That would be the best thing that could happen in 2010.
E-mail comments to mangun@gmail.com. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by CitisecOnline.com Inc.
Peso jumps back to 45:$1 territory on inflows, recovery hopes
Erik de la Cruz
Business Mirror
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/companies/20488-peso-jumps-back-to-451-territory-on-inflows-recovery-hopes.html
THE peso shot higher on Monday, rallying back into the 45 territory on the first trading day of 2010 as emerging Asian currencies strengthened against the US dollar on expectations for a sustained recovery in exports this year, traders said.
The local unit was also given a boost by remittance inflows during the four-day New Year trading break, they said.
Advancing 0.5 percent from its end-2009 level of 46.20 against the dollar, the peso closed at 45.95, near the day’s high of 45.93. A total of $991.65 million changed hands on the trading platform of the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp., a much bigger volume compared with the $604.52-million turnover on the last trading day of 2009.
Although it hit an intraday high of 45.855 on December 8, it was the first time since August 2008 for the peso to close at the 45 level.
Traders at Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. initially saw the dollar supported at 46.00 but for this week they set a trading range of 45.80 and 46.20.
Emmanuel Ng, a currency strategist in Singapore at OCBC Bank, said the start of the year usually sees Asian data releases coming in “thick and fast.” Thus, he said “markets will have a steady stream of data to chew on, especially with respect to the economic recovery and expectations toward Asian central bank interventions.”
Emerging markets, including those in Asia, are widely expected to lead the global recovery this year. Expectations for a rebound in developed markets also bring hope for an upturn for Asian exports this year.
“Near term we think that further confirmation of the continued improvement in Asian economic numbers will see positive sentiment toward Asian currencies accumulating,” Ng said in a note.
But this week all eyes will also be glued on fresh US data, particularly the unemployment report that will come out on Friday, traders said.
Markets “will be keen to see if there will be a follow-through after last month’s upside surprise in the nonfarm payrolls data,” said Philip Wee, a currency strategist at DBS Bank. Last month’s data helped propel the dollar as markets speculated that with a recovering US economy, the Federal Reserve was moving closer to withdrawing stimulus measures and raising interest rates.
“The dollar bulls will need another upside surprise to extend the dollar’s recovery,” Wee said. “Similarly, there is scope for the dollar to give back its gains should the number disappoint instead.”
He said the unemployment report on Friday was expected to show a rise to 9.9 percent in December from 9.8 percent in the previous month, “confirming the widely held view that the pause in the rising trend in unemployment in October was temporary.”
OCBC’s Ng said he remained “wary of a market trading prematurely on Fed rate hike prospects.”
BOP surplus seen to exceed $5B in ’09
Jun Vallecera
Business Mirror
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/20520-bop-surplus-seen-to-exceed-5b-in-09.html
THE improving global economic outlook and the unrelenting industry of millions of overseas Filipinos were seen on Monday to boost the country’s balance-of-payments (BOP) surplus beyond $5 billion in 2009.
According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., the latest numbers indicate the original BOP forecast of just under $5 billion will be exceeded instead.
“There is a good chance the BOP surplus will exceed $5 billion in 2009,” he told reporters.
The 11-month BOP surplus stood at only $4.08 billion, an indication of an economy that generated far more foreign-exchange earnings than it paid during the period.
According to Tetangco, the higher-than-expected surplus will draw strength from the business-process outsourcing sector, which continues to expand each month.
It should also draw strength from OFW remittances that as of end-October already grew by 4.5 percent to $14.32 billion.
This was the same sector that many experts, including those from the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Group, predicted would contract in 2009 by 20 percent as a result of the global financial downturn.
That OFW remittances instead grew in excess of 4 percent later validated an earlier BSP forecast that the foreign-exchange earnings of millions of overseas Filipinos should prove resilient, Tetangco said.
He also said the gross international reserves, which relates to the country’s capacity to pay for imports and pay for maturing external debt, should also exceed its forecast goal in 2009.
Tetangco had said the GIR in 2009 should end the year between $44.5 billion up to $45 billion.
On Monday he told reporters this was likely also to exceed $45 billion.
As for this year, the GIR was seen to range from $47 billion up to $48 billion.
“We expect the external liquidity position of the government to further improve with the projected balance of payments surplus last year,” Tetangco said.
The GIR gets a boost from the borrowing activities of both the National Government, the BSP and even the private sector.
The inward flow of foreign investments also helps fortify its level.
More important, the GIR level at present is sufficient to pay for more than eight months worth of imports or way past the global norm of just five months.
Monday, 4 January 2010
Tourists flock to RP in 2009 with improved facilities
http://www.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2002592&Itemid=1
If you build it, they will come.
Almost four million tourists, lured by better infrastructure, a liberalized airline industry and improved facilities, flocked to the Philippines in the first semester of 2009 alone. Only half of that number came in the whole 2001.
The country will thus have to forgive President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for taking an almost inordinate pride in the growth of the tourism industry. After all, she has always believed that tourism is a major creator of jobs and livelihood opportunities.
As early as her first State of the Nation Address in 2001, the President let on the country in her field of dreams. She said the Philippines, with its natural wonders and warmth of its people, has an edge over its neighbors. She added then that she would provide roads to those wonders and the means to take the tourists there. She also talked boldly about liberalizing the airline industry.
At that time, the world had known the Philippines only for Boracay, Palawan and Cebu.
Feeling a need to reintroduce the country to the world, the President ordered the Department of Tourism to find a way of increasing market share in the booming tourism industry of Southeast Asia. She insisted that the agency develop the Southeast and Far East Asian markets in addition to the traditional U.S. market.
The strategy has paid off. The biggest numbers of tourists now come from neighboring Asian countries, with Koreans topping the list for several years. Also impressive is the 500 percent growth since 2001 of tourists from China.
Domestic tourism also increased, along with foreign tourism due in part to the efforts of the government in partnership with the private sector to provide tourism infrastructure and facilities.
P555 BILLION WORTH OF INVESTMENT
From 2004 to August this year, P555 billion worth of investment went to the development of transportation, tourism eco-zones, accommodation and other related facilities. It is these investments that have enabled the country to increase its share in the Southeast Asian tourism industry.
Of course, the construction of roads, bridges, airports, and seaports, which falls under the President’s Super Regions Economic Strategy, was undertaken to spur and sustain growth primarily in industry and agriculture, but the tourism sector has benefited immensely from the ambitious infrastructure development program.
The liberalization of the airline industry has resulted in the opening of air routes to and from major tourist markets, including Incheon, Busan, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Kaohsiung.
AGGRESSIVE PROMOTION
While national government created the infrastructure, the Department of Tourism escalated its tourism investment promotions, encouraging establishments to build more hotels and other facilities. A variety of financing schemes and a stronger pitch for tourism investments facilitated the building of new hotels and other facilities in favorite destinations and in up-and-coming tourist attractions.
With the rise in the number of tourist arrivals comes an increase in job opportunities. Employment in tourism and related industries accounts for almost 10 percent of total employment. The industry directly employs more than three million Filipinos now, up from one million it did in 2001.The industry has merely doubled but it has created three times the number of jobs.
TOURISM ACT CONSOLIDATES GAINS
The National Tourism Act of 2009 seeks to achieve what President Arroyo has long dreamed of since Day One of her presidency: to make the tourism industry an engine of growth.
Otherwise known as Republic Act (RA) 9593, the Act is designed to strengthen the strategic partnership between the government and the private sector.
Signed into law by the President in May, the Act reorganizes the Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation (PCVC) into the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), a corporate body responsible for the marketing and promotion of the country as a global tourism destination by highlighting its tourism products and services.
It also reorganizes the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) into the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), a body corporate mandated to designate, regulate and supervise tourism enterprise zones (TEZs) as well as develop, manage and supervise tourism projects in the country.
Meanwhile, the Duty Free Philippines (DFP) will become the Duty Free Philippines Corporation (DFPC), a body corporate mandated to operate the duty and tax-free merchandising system in the country.
The Act provides that the TPB and TIEZA will each have a capitalization of P250 million to be subscribed by the national government. It establishes "tourism enterprise zones" in strategic areas, including Cebu, Davao, Bohol, Laguna, Cavite, Boracay, Palawan and Iloilo, to lure foreign investors and tourists to visit places rich in history and culture.
Clean Up Starts as Mayon Calms Down
ABS-CBN News
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgoLseSnA8w
AFP, MANNY T. UGALDE, RHAYDZ B. BARCIA AND ANGELO S. SAMONTE
Manila Times
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/component/content/article/42-rokstories/8980-clean-up-starts-as-mayon-calms-down
Legazpi City. Disaster relief officials in the Philippines launched a massive clean-up on Sunday as tens of thousands of villagers began returning home after the restive Mayon volcano showed signs of calming down. Gov. Joey Salceda of Albay province, southeast of Manila where Mayon is located, said that he expected all 29 public schools converted into temporary shelters would reopen for classes today.
“What we are doing now is conducting damage assessment. We are on an early recovery stage,” Salceda told reporters. “We are cleaning up schools and classrooms so that classes can resume tomorrow [Monday].”
He said that fire trucks had been brought in to hose down sanitation facilities that were overwhelmed when more than 50,000 people were evacuated over the past three weeks for fear of a possible major eruption.
“It’s a massive clean up-operation,” he said.
Salceda, meanwhile, ordered the provincial social welfare department to distribute half sack of rice to each of the families who left the evacuation shelters on Saturday. On Sunday morning, at least 250 tons, or 5,000 bags of rice from World Food Program arrived at the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council for distribution.
Exequiel Rieza, Albay’s information officer, said that the province spent about P24 million for the evacuees’ food supply for 16 days—about P1.5 million daily.
On the other hand, the 2,400 or so tourists who visited the province daily to get a closer look at Mayon reportedly spent P2.4 million a day.
Danger passes
Mayon began rumbling and spewing lava and ash in early December, leading authorities to declare a Level 4 alert out of a scale of 5, meaning that a major hazardous eruption was about to take place.
But Mayon has since shown signs it was calming down, and on Saturday the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) lowered the alert level to 3.
The provincial government said more than 46,000 people living some 7 to 8 kilometers from Mount Mayon, the country’s most active volcano, had been given the green light to return home.
But more than 3,000 others who live in a 6-kilometer zone will have to remain in evacuation centers.
“Right now we are not seeing a new rise of magma,” chief volcanologist Renato Solidum said in a radio interview.
Warning to locals
However, Solidum warned villagers returning to their farms on the foothills of Mayon to remain wary of lava flows or heavy rains that could dislodge volcanic debris from the slopes.
Resident volcanologist Ed Laguerta said that under alert Level 3, Mayon is still in danger of erupting and that the 6-kilometer permanent danger zone, as well as the 7- to 8-kilometer extended danger zone, should remain free from any human activity.
“We’re still closely watching the activity of Mayon Volcano, because based on the history Mayon has the habit of getting lull for a weeks or months before the explosive explosion,” he said.
Gov. Salceda said that about 900 families from within the 6-kilometer permanent danger zone and the extended danger zone on the south flank have not been allowed to return home yet.
He added that the evacuees were allowed to return home only temporarily until the alert is lowered to Level 2.
An August 2006 eruption caused no immediate deaths but the following December a passing typhoon unleashed an avalanche of volcanic mud from the mountain’s slopes that left 1,000 people dead.
The 2,460-meter Mayon has erupted 48 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed when lava flows buried the town of Cagsawa.
Praise from Palace
Also on Sunday, Malacañang praised the Albay government for its handling of the Mayon situation.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said that the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) of the province, headed by Gov. Salceda, lived up to expectations.
“We have always considered that the PDCC of Albay as one of the best and the most efficient in the country,” Remonde added. “And once again, the Albay PDCC has shown its capability to handle emergency situation like the threat of Mayon Volcanao eruption. We would like to congratulate Albay PDCC for that.”
Trade flow boost expected
JESSICA ANNE D. HERMOSA
BusinessWorld
http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=3936
LOCAL FIRMS are gearing up for further liberalization this year as the Philippines and 10 other economies in the region grant duty-free entry to more goods.
Under regional and bilateral trade pacts, Philippine tariffs on nearly all imports from five other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and China dropped to 0% as of Jan. 1, as did those levied on a number of products from Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and Japan.
The tariff cut round for 2010 will boost consumers’ purchasing power and make imported raw materials cheaper for manufacturers, industry groups told BusinessWorld, but may also hurt industries that can’t keep up with foreign competition.
Likely gainers this year include hog exporters, plastic and soap makers, and other manufacturers that use imported inputs, according to interviews with business leaders and previous reports. Philippine-based car assemblers and steel mills, meanwhile, were among those apprehensive.
"The usual vulnerable industries, those that are labor-intensive, will find they will have to compete with low-cost products coming in. Our domestic manufacturers must improve their products," Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Emeritus Donald G. Dee said in a telephone interview.
"[But the deals] will help consumers because the cost of goods will be lower. These might indirectly help our members -- those in banking, real estate and telecommunications -- because it increases purchasing power," Makati Business Club Executive Director Alberto A. Lim said in a separate phone interview.
Exporters, meanwhile, are looking forward to increased access to other economies especially Japan and China, an industry group leader said. The two Asian giants accounted for 26.8% of 2008’s $49.026 billion in exports and ranked as the Philippines’ third and fourth largest markets behind the US and the EU.
"Any agreement we enter into should be positive for exports," Confederation of Philippine Exporters President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said.
Under the ASEAN-China free trade deal, China should have removed tariffs on 90% of goods from the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand (ASEAN-6) by Jan. 1.
Manila did the same through Executive Order 814 issued in July 2009 and added certain marine products, vegetables, fruits, edible oils, grains, liquor, textiles, garments, and building materials as among the imports granted duty-free entry this year.
For Japan, the Philippines is supposed to drop tariffs on imported cars and auto parts this year under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement but these have not budged as negotiations are stalled.
Both Japan and the Philippines are also to reduce other tariffs in line with annual commitments that will eventually eliminate 95% of duties by 2018.
Regional deals among ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand, and one between ASEAN and Korea likewise require a round of tariff cuts this year.
In contrast, tariff elimination among the ASEAN-6 under a separate deal, the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), will be swifter.
Roughly 17% of the remaining tariff lines representing automotives and parts, certain fruits, vegetables, coffee beans, tobacco, spirits, processed meat, chemicals, fuel, as well as steel and plywood should now be at 0%.
Hog farmers, for instance, are looking forward to selling to Singapore this year, said Albert R. T. Lim, Jr., president of the National Federation of Hog Farmers.
But the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) was more apprehensive.
"We’re worried about ATIGA because [most tariffs] will be at zero already and we have more similar exports among ASEAN," said Mario Jose E. Sereno, head of the FPI’s international trade policy committee.
He conceded, however, that manufacturers might benefit from cheaper imported inputs and that firms are "exploring now which sources will yield cheaper freight costs."
Plastic and soap manufacturers, for instance, will get what they have earlier petitioned the Tariff Commission for: duty-free resins and acids.
Other manufacturers similarly expressed anxiety over this year’s tariff cuts.
"Japan is a very significant exporter of high-end steel products [like] tin plates, heavy plates, pipes, automotive-grade steel sheets... Thailand and Vietnam are [also] active in steel material exports but not yet in significant numbers," Arthur M. Florendo, president of Union Galvasteel Corp., said in an e-mail.
Groups representing other building materials -- cement and ceramic tiles -- also said in interviews that they were bracing for increased competition.
For her part, Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. President Elizabeth H. Lee said in an e-mail: "ASEAN neighbors and Japan are significant car exporters not only to the Philippines but globally as well."
Ms. Lee noted that imports have been eating up more market share over the years. Local assemblers, she added, are counting on import bans on used vehicles and other measures favoring Philippine-made cars to cope.
Other industry groups meanwhile cited indirect benefits to their sectors.
The electronics industry is expected to lure more Japanese investors as the free trade deal makes foreign firms more comfortable with the Philippines, Semiconductors and Electronic Industries in the Philippines, Inc. Chairman Arthur J. Young, Jr. said.
Bohol on the fast lane
Introspective
Raul V. Fabella
BusinessWorld
http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=3897
It took 30 hours on a "superferry" to reach Bohol from Manila. Unlike our interisland transport that seems to have retrograded, however, Bohol appears in some hurry to the future. Once synonymous with a promenade into the past, you hear a lot more about Bohol these days. The province in general and Panglao Island is giving Boracay a run for its tourist money.
Bea Zobel’s missionary effort in its behalf is beginning to deliver a ringing harvest of delicately appointed spots to visit and savor. The Dauis Church chancery renovation and transformation has the clawmarks of high-minded discernment and solicitude. Smallish Amarella, easily a favorite of well-heeled family vacationers wanting privacy, fascinates with its manicured floral landscape, stunning panoramic view, and its celebration of local artistic talents. One will be hard put finding anywhere else in the Philippines the equal in delicacy of cuisine and elegance of ambiance on offer at Old Heidelberg Restaurant owned by resident German Hans Hoff and located in Baclayon town. Startler number one is the sudden apparition of Peacock Garden, a vast menagerie of manicured walks, coiffured mango trees and flowerbeds, and top-caliber accommodations at the end of a nondescript suggestion of a road. Just when you thought your quota for wonder exhausted, you enter a restaurant having the appointment of a mini-museum and featuring a rich private collection of German cultural memorabilia that transports visitors to Heidelberg, Germany. No tacky imitations here; just pure authentic delights! Foremost among these: the sofa that our hero, Dr Jose Rizal, used while visiting Heidelberg, Germany. These and other "pleasant shockers" give the impression that Bohol has come of age and has begun to set the standard.
The development most promising as regards economic prospects is the completion of the Bohol Circumferential Road, which now rings the province with a uniformly specified all-weather concrete highway, a tribute to outgoing Governor Erico Aumentado. The Bohol road system of 10 years ago was just a patchwork of gravel and sprinkled asphalt that wash away with the rains. Back then, Bohol’s claims to fame included "Loboc’s half-a-bridge," a legendary homage to incompetence (corruption some claim) located at Loboc town. The bridge was started without the right of way being secured: the right of way, believe it or not, called for relocating the whole Loboc Church! As if to signal the new "can do" mood, this eyesore has been magically transformed into a stage for the famous Loboc Children’s Choir. Now you can view two humming tributes, one to human audacity and the other to human folly, in one evening. Talk about turning adversity into opportunity!
The speedy road system now means that whole province will begin to share the fruits of the burgeoning tourist trade. Farther flung attractions such the Loay-Loboc River Cruise and Firefly Watching and the Peacock Garden will host more than just hardy adventurers as the time and inconvenience cost of travel falls. And jobs will follow in their wake. Not that Bohol will lose its appetite for OCW jobs anytime soon. Everyone agrees that a very high proportion of families here has a foreign exchange lifeline.
The boon as expected is not without its cost and its detractors. Locals grumble that land prices have become prohibitive. Tourists come, get captivated, and decide to convert their romance into a long-term investment. As the cost of transport falls, local products once locked in for local demand now beckon buyers from far afield. Fish landed in Bongamar, Jagna, routinely get snapped up by buyers from Cebu or Tagbilaran. The well-heeled tourists of Panglao Island will pay unheard of premia for a rack of fresh "isdang bato." No wonder that townspeople everywhere demur as one the high fish prices. Our taxi driver, otherwise a wholly sensible fellow, declared for restricting local fish catch to local markets! Seems like common sense at first blush. Except that that would harm the fisher folk and the fish industry employing a good portion of the poor population in this sea-hugged island. No matter, he returned with true Boholano grit, the fishpond owners are outsiders. Such restrictions remind one of Ramon Magsaysay’s famous directive: "Repeal the law of supply and demand!" However well-meaning, they are quixotic but don’t count on common sense to vanish them. With the 2010 elections knocking, quick-fix remedies are being trafficked. Picturesque Bohol is not immune from bouts of hubris. The soon-to-begin construction of an international airport on Panglao Island is an example. Being just 20 minutes away by air from Mactan International Airport suggests awful waste! Perhaps Bohol Republic sometimes feels the urge to punctuate its autonomy from imperial Cebu.
That disputes germane to economic progress hug public discourse only point out that Bohol is generally headed in the right direction. Here’s hoping that the New Year will usher in a new crop of elected officials who will stay the course through the next decade.
Raul V. Fabella is the vice chairman of the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis, a professor at the UP School of Economics, and a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology.
For comments and inquiries, please e-mail us at idea.introspective@gmail.com.
Saturday, 2 January 2010
PGMA names members of commission probing private armies
http://www.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2002590&Itemid=2
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday ordered the dismantling of private armies to pave the way for peaceful elections next year with the creation of the independent commission to address the alleged existence of private armies in the country under Administrative Order 275.
Initially named as commissioners are Butuan bishop Juan De Dios Pueblos, representing the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines; Mahmoud Mala L. Adilao of the Bishops Ulama Conference; Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) president Herman Basbano, representing the media, Ret. Gen Jaime Echivarria, president of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO); Ret DDG Virtus Gil of the Philippine National Police, and Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers against Crime and Corruption (VACC).
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the commission is given broad investigative powers, including the tapping of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and other government agencies such as government-owned and controlled corporations. It's mandated to finish its work prior to the May 2010 elections.
The Commission will prioritize and focus investigation on the existence of private armies. It will be the government's sole voice on the issue of such armies which surfaced in the aftermath of the infamous Maguindanao massacre last Nov. 23.
The independent body will report to the President outlining its action and policy recommendations, including appropriate prosecution and legislative proposals aimed at eliminating the existence of private armies prior to the May 2010 elections.
The Commission has the power to summon witnesses, administrative oaths, take testimony or evidence relevant to the investigation. It also has the power to clear or disapprove all pertinent media statements by any member of the Administration.
Among others, it has the power to engage the services of resource persons, professionals and other personnel which may be necessary to carry out its functions. It also has the power to deputize AFP, NBI, PNP, the Department of Justice, and any other law enforcement agency to assist in the performance of its functions.
The Office of the President is providing the funds for the operation of the Commission which will be supported by a Secretariat composed of technical and administrative personnel. (PND)
Infrastructure development defines PGMA's 9-year tenure
http://www.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2002591&Itemid=1
As the year drew to a close, the current administration could look back with a sense of great accomplishment.
When she assumed office nine years ago, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo set out to create the physical infrastructure to spur and sustain economic development.
She has kept her eyes on the ball, so to speak. And the country has much to thank for such single-mindedness
Under the 2006-2010 Medium-Term Public Development Program (MTPDP), P94.19 billion has been spent for the construction or rehabilitation and improvement of major road arteries.
SCTEX Tops List
The P32 billion Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), located north of Manila, tops the list of completed new road projects. Now in full operation, the 94-kilometer SCTEX reduces travel time from Manila to Tarlac to one hour and 25 minutes and from Clark to Tarlac to a mere 25 minutes.
And SCTEX, a part of the Luzon Urban Beltway, is just an example of the government's thrust in this direction.
The newly completed Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) Tollway is another. The road cuts travel time from Sto. Tomas, Batangas, to Batangas City by 90 to 120 minutes.
In the Visayas, the P2.2 billion Bohol Circumferential Road does the same for the residents. Completed in 2006, travel time from one end of the island to the other has been reduced by half, from eight to four hours.
Soon, construction of the Halsema highway and Bontok-Tabuk-Tugugarao Road will be completed to make up the North Luzon Agricultural Quadrangle.
Similar other construction activities are being carried out in other parts of Central and Southern Philippines.
Under various stages of rehabilitation and improvement are the Nido-Bataraza-Rio Tuba Road, Panay Island Road Package, Maharlika Highway, Dinagat Island Road Network, Surigao-Davao-coastal Road, Zamboanga Coastal Road, and the Awang-Upi-Lebak Maguindanao Road.
Seaports & Airports
Also in the list of completed projects are 22 roll on-roll off facilities and seaports.
These projects, with an aggregate worth of P5.61 billion, are designed to facilitate the movement of people and goods from Luzon to Mindanao, and vice versa.
In an archipelagic country like the Philippines, seaports are a must.
The government has thus refurbished the Subic Bay Port at a cost of P8.04 billion. Similar other projects and their respective costs are Batangas Port, P6 billion; Jagna Port, Ubay Port, And Tubigon Port, all in Bohol, P128.08 million; and Lucena Port, P32.86 million.
The construction of new airports and improvement of old ones have been undertaken at a cost of P40 billion.
The Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Pampanga and the Poro Point International Airport in La Union fall under this category. So do the Bacolod-Silay Airport and the Iloilo Airport.
Agricultural Facilities
In agriculture, the administration allocated P171 billion for the construction of various agricultural facilities nationwide. About 17,289 kilometers of farm-to-market roads has been completed at a cost of P32.08 billion.
Likewise, 138,763 hectares of farmland has been brought under irrigation. The productivity of 1,463,461 hectares of farmland has been restored with the repair and rehabilitation of irrigation facilities that serve them.
The construction and rehabilitation projects were undertaken to the tune of P87.59 billion.
Social & Environment Projects
For social and environment projects, the government utilized P91.80 billion for power and energy facilities, P6.46 billion for hospital upgrading, P23.40 billion for relocation and housing, and P1.24 billion for sewerage treatment and sanitary landfill.
Altogether, P860.78 billion has been earmarked for the implementation of 149 priority projects.
A total of P242.53 billion has been utilized so far. The remaining P618.25 billion has been programmed for 71 projects now being implemented and 39 projects still in the pre-construction stage. (PND)
Received through e-mail
It is a slow day in a small Iowa town and streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody is living on credit. A rich tourist drives through town, stops at the motel, and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night.
As soon as he walks upstairs, the motel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, .the Farmer's Co-op
The guy at the Farmer's Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her "services" on credit.
The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner.
The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the rich traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, picks up the $100 bill and leaves town.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government is conducting business today.
Remittances via non-banks still hefty
by Eileen A. Mencias
Manila Standard
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideBusiness.htm?f=2010/january/1/business4.isx&d=/2010/january/1
Bangko Sentral said it expects remittances coursed through non-bank or informal channels to amount to $600 million in 2009.
Remittances in 2009 are expected to hit $17.7 billion, including those coursed through informal channels.
Informal channels include door-to-door delivery, or those sent to beneficiaries by couriers.
Remittances coursed through informal channels in the past few years accounted for about 5 percent of the total. They are expected to account for about 3 percent of the total as the remittance services of banks expand their reach.
Data from the central bank show that remittances coursed through informal channels amounted to $400 million in the first three quarters of 2009.
The central bank expects banks to account for almost 99 percent of remittances this year when the amount is forecast to hit $18.1 billion.
Remittances in the first 10 months of 2009 rose 4.5 percent to $14.32 billion from $13.71 billion year-on-year. Remittances in October grew 6.7 percent year- on-year, slightly lower than the 8.6-percent growth reported in September when money for school tuition started coming in.
Remittances from Filipinos working abroad reached $1.53 billion in October, the highest monthly level recorded by the central bank, as they sent additional money for rebuilding after the damage wreaked by typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng and Santi.
The United States remains the biggest source of remittances, accounting for $6.02 billion in the 10-month period, down by 8.67 percent from $6.59 billion a year ago.
Filipinos in the US sent $663.14 million to their beneficiaries here in October, the most they sent in any given month in 2009.
Citibank waived its fees for wire transfers right after Ondoy while Bank of the Philippine Islands suspended charges on remittances sent through Wells Fargo.
Remittances from the Middle East, meanwhile, totalled $2.21 billion during the period, up 4.86 percent on year.
Remittances from Asia increased 13.08 percent to $1.72 billion, fueled by the 29-percent jump in money sent from Singapore to $551.89 million and the 44.6-percent expansion from Japan to $651 million from $450.14 million.
Remittances from Europe grew 14.06 percent to $2.57 billion from $2.26 billion a year ago.
Zero tariffs for Asean-6 starting January 1
Milestone in free trade in regional bloc
INQUIRER.net
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20091231-244870/Zero-tariffs-for-Asean-6-starting-January-1
MANILA, Philippines—Starting 1 January 2010, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand can import and export almost all goods across their borders at no tariff as the Common Effective Preferential Tariffs for Asean Free Trade Area (CEPT-Afta) takes effect.
This move which will bring the total tariff lines traded under the agreement to 54,457 or 99.11 percent is a major milestone in efforts to transform Asean into a more integrated regional bloc economically, politically, socially, and culturally.
“The elimination of tariffs by Asean-6 underscores Asean’s commitment to dismantle tariffs and keep intra-Asean trade open. It will also serve as a catalyst for the development of the single market and production base projected by the Asean Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint,” the Jakarta-based Asean Secretariat said in a statement.
Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Asean Secretary General, said the landmark agreement could mean savings for the 600 million Asean consumers depending on the market dynamics of the respective Asean-6 countries.
“We sincerely hope that all parties will act to ensure that the man on the street will benefit from these reductions in tariffs,” he said.
The business community, especially the downstream producers, also stands to gain in this new regional setup, Pitsuwan said. “Lower cost of inputs will allow the business community a wider choice of goods, and in the process, they will move towards becoming more competitive globally, as envisaged in the AEC Blueprint,” he added.
Under CEPT-Afta, an additional 7,881 tariff lines will come down to zero tariffs for the so-called Asean-6, the secretariat said.
“Additionally, with the reduction, the average tariff rate for these countries is expected to further decrease from 0.79 percent in 2009 to just 0.05 percent in 2010,” it said.
In 2008, intra-Asean import value of commodities for these 7,881 tariff lines amounted to $22.66 billion, or 11.84 percent of Asean-6 import value within Asean.
The tariff lines include final consumer products such as air conditioners, and chili, fish, and soya sauces, as well as intermediate materials such as motorcycle components and motor car cylinders. Other products include iron and steel, plastics, machinery and mechanical appliances, chemicals, prepared foodstuff, paper, cement, ceramic, and glass.
The CEPT-Afta covers the whole range of products traded by the Asean members-states and provides for the gradual reduction in tariffs of these products starting 1993. It specifies zero-tariff by 2010 for Asean-6 and 2015 for the remaining four countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. In 2010, these four countries will also see tariff reductions to 5 percent, where the average tariff rate will decrease from 3 percent in 2009 to 2.61 percent.
Under the CEPT-Afta, agricultural products such as tobacco, coffee, live animals, and animal products, which come under the Sensitive List (SL), will have their tariffs reduced to 5 percent on 2010 and to zero tariff by 2015. The Highly Sensitive List (HSL), comprising rice, will have their tariffs capped on a specified date. As for the General Exclusion List (GEL), the tariffs will remain based on factors such as national security and morals/health/aesthetic/archaeological grounds (e.g.: weapons and opium). As of today, 487 tariff lines or 0.89 percent of tariff lines for Asean-6 still remain in the SL, HSL, and GEL categories.
To facilitate trade, Asean also seeks to complement tariff reduction by: formulating streamlined and simplified customs procedures for clearance of goods, eliminating non-tariff measures, developing the Asean Single Window and the Asean Trade Repository, improving investment protection, providing for dispute settlement and better Intellectual Property Rights regime, and removing the obstacles hindering the movement of professional and skilled workers.
Asean, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, groups together Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
US gives $100,000 for those displaced by Mayon
Inquirer
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20091230-244744/US-gives-100000-for-those-displaced-by-Mayon
MANILA, Philippines—The United States government has provided $100,000 (about P4.7 million) in immediate disaster relief assistance to families displaced by Mayon volcano and are now staying in evacuation centers, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney told reporter Tuesday night.
Released through the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to the Philippine National Red Cross and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the funds will support the purchase and distribution of food, shelter, water, and sanitation assistance for up to 47,000 people in Albay
“As a proud adopted daughter of Albay, I am particularly concerned about the well-being and health of the thousands of people in evacuation centers. We want to do all we can to help make sure relief agencies have vital resources to help serve those in need,” Kenney said.
“I have spoken with Governor (Joey) Salceda of Albay and Senator Gordon of the Red Cross, and my embassy team is in constant contact with Philippine officials and NGO representatives to determine how we can help local residents at this difficult time,” she added.
Friday, 1 January 2010
VP Noli de Castro's New Year message
By: Cristina Lee-Pisco
Journal
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?issue=2010-01-01&sec=4&aid=110751
VICE PRESIDENT Noli de Castro yesterday called on Filipinos to participate in the May 2010 presidential election to be able to exercise their right to choose the leader they want.
“I call on our countrymen to take part in this democratic process so that the results will truly reflect our people’s sovereign will,” De Castro said in his New Year’s message.
The Vice President said “let us make a strong stand against poverty, corruption, divisiveness and oppression. Let our united action and prayerful discernment open the path towards the continued development of our nation and sustained dynamism of our economy.”
“Let the hope that we feel today be transformed into concrete steps that we will commit to do in the interest of the common good,” he stressed.
The Vice President said “year 2010 brings us to a critical crossroad in our nation’s political life.”
Once more, Filipinos will exercise their right to choose their leaders at the national and local levels, he said.
“This will give us the opportunity for change in a manner that is peaceful and orderly,” De Castro stressed.
The Philippines was faced with difficult experiences this year because of the global financial crisis which also hit the rest of the world.
This was followed by the onslaught of natural disasters that left many Filipino families homeless and destroyed their sources of livelihood.
“We expressed indignation and rage over the senseless killing of our countrymen. Through all these, we fought back, rebuild our homes and restored our lives.”
He stressed, “today marks another new beginning for our country. Today we greet the coming year with renewed hope despite the challenges and uncertainties around us.”
“Isang maligaya, maunlad at mapayapang taon ang hangad ko para sa lahat. Manigong Bagong Taon!”
Philippine National Anthem
A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL,
HARD-WORKING FILIPINOS
ALL OVER THE GLOBE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Z-PGdjYgQ
