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Globe, PLDT grapple with interconnection issues

Economy

Feb 282013

Globe, PLDT grapple with interconnection issues

MANILA, Philippines — Rivals Globe Telecom and Philippine Long Distance Telecommunications Co. continue to wage a bitter fight over interconnection problems. Globe has urged PLDT to address the interconnection problems in several areas in the past three days. In a statement, Globe reported that problems began February 25. The telco recalled that at around 8 p.m. last February 25, the local interconnection with PLDT in the province of Bulacan was monitored to be out-of-service. It was relayed immediately to PLDT and initial investigation showed the problem was owing to the unavailability of Signaling Link. The PLDT team advised Globe that they will look into the problem and perform a reset if necessary. Globe revealed that since year 2012, the POIs with PLDT have experienced problems on the signaling link at PLDT side, prompting globe to perform a reset of these signaling links. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 On February 26, at around 12 p.m., other North Luzon local interconnections with PLDT (La Union, Baguio, Tarlac, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija) also went out-of-service, still owing to the unavailability of signaling links. The case was again brought to PLDT ‘s attention. PLDT informed Globe that they forwarded the concern to their technical teams and will update Globe accordingly. Yet on the morning of February 27, the local POIs were still out-of-service and PLDT was unable to give any reason for it. Given the amount of time and the inconvenience to Globe’s customers, it became necessary for Globe to issue a public advisory Read More …

Trading company charged with tax evasion

Economy

Feb 282013

Trading company charged with tax evasion

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Internal Revenue filed on Thursday a criminal complaint against a trading company for tax evasion. Jera Marketing, Inc. (JMI) and its President Ester Almendrala were charged before the Department of Justice for violating the National Revenue Code of 1997 as defined and penalized under Section 255 and in relation to Section 253. JMI is a local corporation involved in trading goods. It is registered with the BIR and is based in San Pedro, Laguna. The state agency said the firm failed to submit its books of accounts and other accounting records for all internal revenue taxes covering taxable year 2006. JMI was earlier issued a letter of authority for BIR to examine its documents. A subpoena duces tecum, a preliminary collection letter, a final notice before seizure and a warrant of distraint and/or levy were also issued to the company to settle its tax obligations. “However, despite such repeated demands and the lapse of a considerable length of time, JMI has obstinately failed and adamantly refused to pay, through its responsible corporate officer, the aforementioned deficiency taxes, to the prejudice of government,” BIR said. The criminal case filed against JMI is the 152nd filed under the bureau’s Run After Tax Evaders program.

Mla Water posts 28% income hike

Economy

Feb 272013

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Water has reported a 28 percent year-on-year increase in its net income to P5.44 billion for 2012 on higher billed volume. In a financial statement filed at the local bourse, the company said its revenues grew 21 percent to P14.55 billion, while its core income rose 27 percent to P5.72 billion. The company’s total billed volume for 2012 was placed at 579.4 million cubic meters, up by 39 percent year-on-year. The East zone concession area, which is the company’s main income source, accounted for 427.3 million cubic meters of the billed volume, up four percent from the previous year. The firm’s earning before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), rose 29 percent to P10.54 billion. Other concessions that contributed to the company’s billed volume are its subsidiaries Laguna Water Co., Boracay Island Water Co. and Clark Water Corp. The company last year acquired the Thu Duc Water Boo Corp. in Vietnam. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The East zone concession area covers the cities of Marikina, Pasig, Makati, Taguig, Pateros, Mandaluyong, parts of Quezon City, parts of Manila and towns in Rizal province. As of end- 2012, the East Zone concession area had 896, 148 service connections comprising domestic, commercial and industrial customers, up five percent year-on-year. In the fourth quarter of 2012, Manila Water installed 37, 120 new domestic service connections and 1, 047 commercial and industrial clients. For 2012, the company’s operating expenses rose 22 percent to P4.38 billion as Read More …

Gov’t warns of another power crisis

Economy

Feb 272013

MANILA, Philippines – The power crisis that hobbled Mindanao last year may recur if the region’s baseload capacity is not increased soon, a government think tank said. Based on a study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), the Mindanao power crisis may stage a comeback in this year’s and next year’s summer season given that there had been no additions to the baseload capacity. Baseload capacity refers to the generation units normally used to meet power demand round-the-clock. PIDS senior research fellow Adoracion Navarro said in the summer of 2012, Mindanao experienced a crippling power crisis, which revealed the shoddy and fragmented state of energy infrastructure in the region as well as in the whole country. Entering another summer period, attention is again rising because of the precariously low power supply, which is feared to put a brake on economic development. “Businesses, for instance, have voiced concerns that the country’s energy situation may slow down and even stunt the country’s economic growth,” Navarro said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Consolidated forecasts for electricity demand for the period 2010-2019 show an annual average demand growth of 4.28 percent in Mindanao, which is higher than the national rate of 3.63 percent for the same period. The Mindanao grid at present has 37.31-percent baseload generating capacity, a far cry from Luzon’s 63.94 percent and Visayas’ 71.88 percent, based on 2012 data from the Department of Energy (DOE). Mindanao’s generating capacity is also heavily dependent on hydropower, Read More …

Gokongwei Group expands in Visayas

Economy

Feb 272013

MANILA, Philippines – Tycoon John Gokongwei Jr., named recently as an adopted son and honorary mayor of Bacolod City, is expanding his portfolio in the Visayas. This as Universal Robina Corp. (URC), the food manufacturing arm of Gokongwei-led conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., will add value to its sugar mills in the region. Specifically, the company will put up an ethanol plant and power facilities in its sugar milling complexes in Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental, respectively, and operate a newly-acquired sugar mill also in the province to support the region’s booming economy. Gokongwei announced the projects last week in Bacolod, where he was named Honorary Mayor and Adopted Son by City Mayor Evelio Leonardia as part of the Bacolaodiat celebration of Chinese New Year. To date, the conglomerate has three sugar mills in the Visayas: Manjuyod in Negros Oriental, Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental and Passi City in Iloilo. “We recently bought a sugar mill in Tolong, Negros Oriental to add to our growing list of sugar mills,” said Gokongwei, chairman emeritus of JG Summit. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “And we are still thinking of more ways to partner with the region in its progress,” he added. URC is putting up ethanol and power plants using by products of sugar milling. In January, URC secured shareholders’ approval to enter the power generation business for the first time through a $60-million power plant in its sugar mill that will start commercial operations in 2014. Outside Read More …

BIR's January 2013 collections up by 11.27%

Economy

Feb 272013

BIR's January 2013 collections up by 11.27%

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s collections for January rose by 11.27 percent or P9.59 billion year-on-year, the state agency reported on Wednesday. BIR said it collected P89.03 billion from its operations and P5.71 billion from non-BIR operations for a total of P94.74 billion worth of tax revenues collected in January 2013. The agency collected P85.15 billion in January last year. BIR Commissioner Kim Henares earlier said the agency is aiming to collect P1.25 trillion this year after missing last year’s target by a small margin. BIR has also unveiled 26 major projects to ensure that it will sustain a positive growth in its collections.

Phl, emerging markets await US decision on spending cuts

Economy

Feb 262013

Phl, emerging markets await US decision on spending cuts

MANILA, Philippines – Hopes are high that leaders in the United States will strike a deal to stop spending cuts from taking effect Friday, an event that could trigger heightened risk aversion in the emerging markets like the Philippines, the central bank said. “Given what transpired at year-end, most analysts have probably not factored in ‘sequestration’ (or the automatic spending cuts) in their baselines,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. said. “As in the past, I think we can expect heightened volatility in the market in the run up to March 1,” he said in a text message to reporters Tuesday night. US lawmakers found themselves pitted against each other anew, two months after dodging the “fiscal cliff”— the $600-billion spending cuts and tax rises— by choosing to hike income taxes to generate revenues. They however left decision on disbursement cuts, choosing to extend the leeway by another 60 days which is bound to end Friday midnight, Washington time. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 A total of $85 billion worth of cuts could kick in immediately, affecting government services and employee payrolls, seen detrimental to the still-fragile US economy. On Tuesday, the BSP chief said the market would evaluate how the US would act to avert a looming budget problem. “Again, what we could see in the market is a move to safe haven. But what that safe haven is would depend on risk appetite at that point,” Tetangco said. “Given the US Read More …

A nation’s ‘absorptive capacity’ and its current relevance

Economy

Feb 262013

A nation’s ‘absorptive capacity’ and its current relevance

Is the nation’s “absorptive capacity” enabling the country to achieve its full potential for growth? Are investment decisions making the economy more efficient? These two questions have an identical answer: No. There is a great deal of room for improvement. At a time when economic gains are rising to optimistic levels, there should be less excuse for discussing those problems that slow down the achievement of growth objectives. The question of absorptive capacity stares us in the face. The delays in decisions concerning investment projects in the public sector reduce absorptive capacity. Indecision might be attributable to lack of courage on the part of the principals of government agencies to take responsibility for their actions. We should focus on this problem. “Absorptive capacity in the public and private sectors.” Absorptive capacity is the ability to implement projects and investments so that they achieve their intended objectives. If issues arise at any stage in the process, having absorptive capacity implies finding the appropriate ways or adjustments to solve or wiggle out of the problems. Taken in its wider meaning – absorptive capacity – is possessing the appropriate technical and managerial skills to oversee the completion of economic decisions toward satisfactory results . (There are many economic jargons of greater precision to explain this, but I will avoid that route.) In this country and in relative terms, the problem of inadequate or low absorptive capacity resides more in the public, than in the private, sphere. The former is much more inflexible when Read More …

Inflation seen at 2.8-3.7%

Economy

Feb 262013

MANILA, Philippines – Inflation could settle between 2.8 percent and 3.7 percent this month as lower food and electricity prices offset oil price hikes, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said yesterday. The forecast falls at the lower end of this year’s official three to five-percent target. Inflation picked up to three percent in January after settling at 2.9 percent in December 2012. On average, however, consumer prices rose 3.2 percent last year. “Results of the BSP’s latest forecasting exercises suggest that average inflation for 2013 and 2014 could still settle at the lower half of the government-set target range,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a text message to reporters. “(This reflects) continued manageable inflation pressures and well-anchored inflation expectations,” he added. For February, Tetangco said upside pressures coming from a spate of oil price adjustments – and their possible impact to other commodity prices – could nudge consumer prices higher. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Local oil firms have hiked prices five times this year compared with only three rollbacks, according to monitoring by the Department of Energy. Diesel and gasoline prices have risen by P2.05 and P3.05 per liter from their levels end of last year. As of Monday, diesel now has a price range of P41.25-44.30, while gasoline price range was pegged at P51-P57.39. Price pressures from oil prices could be tamed by lower electricity rates this month, Tetangco said.

We’re attracting Japanese investors

Economy

Feb 262013

Late last week, a buzz was created in the Japanese business community by Sumitomo Corporation on the growing attractiveness of the Philippines to Japanese investors. Sumitomo issued a press release that declared “among Asian nations where many Japanese manufactures have invested, the Philippines has been gaining power as an exporting nation…” Sumitomo cited our “attractive tax incentives as well as rich human resources equipped with English language skill.” Sumitomo went on to say that “in line with this trend, since 2011, the foreign direct investment from Japanese manufacturers to the Philippines has been increasing.” Thus, Sumitomo announced it has decided to launch an expansion project of an industrial park south of Manila it co-owns with the Lopez Group’s First Philippine Holdings. Sumitomo says it “believes the Philippines will further increase its position as a strategic location for export-oriented industries compared to other Asian nations…” The Sumitomo press release received wide attention in the Japanese and international press. The Asahi Shimbun reported that Sumitomo “has begun expansion work at the First Philippine Industrial Park in Manila, to add approximately 100 hectares of property for leasing and allow for additional factories to be constructed upon completion.” The Financial Times, on the other hand, observed that Sumitomo’s move means “a fair amount of this newer investment by Japan Inc is happening at the expense of China, as companies balk at spiraling labor costs after the flare up over a tiny chains of islands in the East China Sea.” The FT also noted “Japan’s Read More …

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