Corruption kills

 Economy
Nov 202016
 
Corruption kills

I just finished reading the handwritten suicide notes of Francisco Villa, Jr., an official of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the older brother of my colleague Charie Villa. It’s sad to hear of someone who had to take his life because he couldn’t see himself acceding to corrupt practices in his workplace. That’s not how it is supposed to be. The good guys should multiply and drive the bad eggs out of our civil service. But l also just read that a deputy customs commissioner was killed in an ambush as he drove home from work. I was told he was a pretty good guy too, a rarity in his agency. The late ERC director Villa wrote a series of three suicide notes starting on Aug. 23, addressed to “my dear Lord Jesus,” a prayer for deliverance from his situation. He expressed worries about his role in reviewing procurement contracts at the power industry watchdog. “I have fears about my BAC (Bids and Awards Committee) work,” he wrote. “Our mistakes may bring on (Commission on Audit) observations and disallowances…” He wrote that his “greatest fear in the Bids and Awards Committee is the AVP by Luis Morelos which the chairman and CEO, Jose Vicente B. Salazar, chose through a rigged selection system. That will be a criminal act.” In his first note, Villa asked the Lord’s help as he “cannot physically bring himself to work” at the ERC due to “fears” about his work as chief of the agency’s Read More …

Government spending slows down in October

 Economy
Nov 202016
 
Government spending slows down in October

A total of P131.09 billion in notices of cash allocation (NCAs) were utilized in October, accounting for 68 percent of the P192.65 billion released during the period. File photo MANILA, Philippines – Government agencies spent slowest in October for this year, latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed. A total of P131.09 billion in notices of cash allocation (NCAs) were utilized in October, accounting for 68 percent of the P192.65 billion released during the period. The NCA utilization rate – the proportion of utilized NCAs over total releases – was the lowest so far this year and marked a considerable drop from 119 percent the month before. It was 83 percent in August and 78.9 percent in July, the first full month of the Duterte administration. NCAs are used by agencies to secure checks from the Bureau of the Treasury to pay for their contracted obligations. Once utilized, funds are deemed disbursed and are recorded on government balance sheet. DBM officials did not reply to request for comment, but an earlier disbursement gave some glimpse of the pace of agency spending last month. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Based on preliminary numbers, spending for the month of October this year is likely lower than that of the previous year,” DBM said in a report on its website. According to the agency, the lower figures were a result of base effects, coming from high disbursements in same period last year for preparations for Read More …

BOI expects boost from new China pledges

 Economy
Nov 202016
 
BOI expects boost from new China pledges

MANILA, Philippines – The Board of Investments (BOI) expects its approved investment pledges to swell next year on the entry of more Chinese investors to the country. BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said the influx of new Chinese investors could be felt starting next year as a result of the current administration’s push for stronger economic ties with China. “They (investments from China) are about to come beginning next year. And once they arrived, our approved investments could further improve,” Rodolfo said. As of the nine months ending September 2016, the BOI has approved investments worth P286.44 billion, up 49 percent from P192.39 billion in the same period last year. Of these investment pledges, only a small portion is from Chinese investors, while the bigger part comes from Singapore, Netherlands, and Japan. The BOI said it is expecting to approve about 44 more projects in the coming months. These projects are worth P52.03 billion. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Rodolfo, however, said the expected deluge of Chinese investments to the country is still not part of this incoming P52.03 billion worth of new projects. For this year, the BOI is targeting to grow its investment approvals by 10 percent from the P366.74 billion recorded in 2015. With the country’s improving relationship with China, the Department of Trade and Industry and its counterpart in China are currently in talks for the creation of an industrial economic zone in the country that would be developed and financed mostly Read More …

Villar memorial park developer lifts income 27%

 Economy
Nov 202016
 
Villar memorial park developer lifts income 27%

MANILA, Philippines – Golden Haven Memorial Park Inc., the Villar family’s memorial park developer, registered a 27 percent increase in net income in the nine months to September to P135.5 million from P106.4 million a year ago. This as the company churned in revenues of P607.3 million during the nine-month period, higher than the P506.1 million recorded a year ago. Golden Haven chairman Jerry Navarrete said the double-digit growth was within expectations and in line with the company’s strategic expansion plans. “The continued double-digit growth of the company in both our top line and bottom line numbers that we have delivered were in line with our strategic expansion plans of providing premier privately-managed memorial parks and services for Filipinos all over the country,” he said. The company was the first to debut in the local stock market this year, raising P787 million from its initial public offering (IPO) last June. Navarrete said proceeds from the IPO have been funding the company’s expansion. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The funds we raised from our successful initial public offering is now being deployed to acquire more properties for expansion, to develop our existing parks as well as to construct our first stand-alone memorial chapel and crematorium facility in the San Ezekiel complex in Las Piñas,” Navarrete said. In all, the company plans to add an average seven new memorial parks a year with the aim of having at least 50 parks in the Philippines. The company has nine Read More …

DOT sees more visitors in South

 Economy
Nov 202016
 
DOT sees more visitors in South

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Tourism (DOT) is targeting to increase tourist arrivals in Mindanao by as much as 20 percent in 2017, following the drafting of a tourism and infrastructure masterplan in the region. Eden David, head of DOT’s Mindanao office, said the agency was aiming to accelerate the growth of arrivals in all five regions in Southern Philippines provided that Mindanao would be able to effectively roll out its infrastructure projects. In 2015, David said Region 9 reported a total of 800,000 arrivals; Region 10 welcomed 2.7 million visitors; Region 11, or the Davao Region recorded 2.8 million; Region 12 booked close to one million; and Region 13 registered 1.2 million. These brought the total arrivals in the whole Mindanao Region to approximately 8.5 million last year. “There’s really an increase in number of tourists in Mindanao and the target that has been set is to really increase it by 10 to 20 percent, but that would actually depend upon the logistics support when it comes to infrastructure,” David said. David said the DOT, together with the Mindanao Development Authority (MINDA) was already formulating a Mindanao Logistics Plan, which would set up an effective system to support infrastructure development in the region.

2 more Indonesian fishermen abducted off Malaysian state

 News
Nov 202016
 
2 more Indonesian fishermen abducted off Malaysian state

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian authorities said Sunday that another two Indonesian fishermen have been abducted by armed men off eastern Sabah state on Borneo island, the second such case this month and the latest in a spate of sea attacks. Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid, who heads Sabah’s security center, said five masked men armed with long rifles raided a fishing trawler late Saturday. He told local media Sunday that the men destroyed the boat’s communications system and stole hand phones and money before kidnapping the skipper and his assistant. He said the attackers then fled in a speed boat heading toward international waters. Another 11 crew members were rescued by passing boats, he added without giving further details. Wan Abdul Bari and Sabah police couldn’t be immediately reached for comments. Earlier this month, two Indonesian boat skippers were also abducted off Sabah. Despite efforts by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia to jointly shore up security along their busy sea border, Indonesians and Malaysians have been kidnapped from tugboats and fishing boats in recent months Abu Sayyaf militants in the Philippines, which is near Sabah, and its allied gunmen are responsible for many attacks at sea. The Abu Sayyaf group, which is blacklisted in the U.S. and the Philippines as a terrorist organization, holds more than a dozen foreign and local hostages. The kidnappings have continued despite one of the largest military offensives against Abu Sayyaf, mainly in Sulu and the nearby island province of Basilan, involving more Read More …

Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines unite against Abu Sayyaf

 News
Nov 192016
 
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines unite against Abu Sayyaf

Philippine Army soldiers deployed to Sulu to pursue the Abu Sayyaf. INQUIRER MINDANAO FILE PHOTO JAKARTA, Indonesia – The three countries will hold joint military training for their army personnel starting January 2017 to fight terror group Abu Sayyaf and secure the Sulu Sea from rampant piracy. Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have agreed to initiate joint army training to advance efforts to secure the Sulu Sea from rampant piracy. Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu explained that each of the countries would first begin its own army personnel training in January 2017 before conducting the joint training later in the year. The military training will take place in Indonesia’s Tarakan in North Kalimantan, Malaysia’s Tawao Island and the Philippines’ Bongao Island. Ryacudu said Army soldiers set to participate in the joint military training would form a special force tasked with facing the notorious Abu Sayyaf militant group that masterminded a series of recent kidnappings in Sulu waters, located in the southwestern Philippines. “It’s part of a concrete action we, Asean countries, are taking to secure the region,” he said in Jakarta on Thursday. Ryacudu said the training locations would later become posts for a joint taskforce assigned to help secure Sulu waters. The need for joint army training was discussed during a meeting between Ryamizard and his Malaysian and Philippines counterparts, Hishammuddin Hussein and Delfin Lorenzana, held on the sidelines of the Asean Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) retreat earlier this week in Laos. Both Malaysia and the Philippines welcomed the initiative, which will add Read More …

Duterte ‘falls ill,’ skips Apec gala dinner for world leaders

 News
Nov 192016
 
Duterte ‘falls ill,’ skips Apec gala dinner for world leaders

President Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO LIMA, Peru — President Duterte skipped the gala dinner for leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) here on Saturday evening (Sunday morning in Manila) as he was not feeling well, Philippine officials said. Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told reporters Mr. Duterte was ill and opted to have Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay attend on his behalf the dinner hosted by Peru President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. READ: Duterte talks to Putin about distrust with US, hypocrisy of the West Practically all the world leaders, with the exception of those who had sent representatives due to troubles at home, like South Korea and Thailand, were in attendance at the dinner, including Presidents Barack Obama of the United States, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Xi Jinping of China. Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau of Canada and Shinzo Abe of Japan were also present. The Apec leaders toasted each other with champagne and watched cultural presentations. The traditional dinner is typically seen as an opportunity for Apec leaders to hold informal talks with each other in the absence of time for formal bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the main Apec summit. Andanar said Kuczynski had been told beforehand that Mr. Duterte would not be able to make it to the dinner. The two leaders had a prolonged conversation earlier in the day during the official welcome ceremony for the arriving heads of state just before the formal opening of the annual trade gathering of Pacific Rim economies. In the Read More …

Duterte talks to Putin about distrust with US, hypocrisy of the West

 News
Nov 192016
 
Duterte talks to Putin about distrust with US, hypocrisy of the West

Russian President Vladimir Putin AP FILE PHOTO LIMA, Peru — Sparks flew at the first meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and his idol Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ Meeting here with Mr. Duterte wasting no time in complaining about the West to the Russian leader. Right out of the gate, the volatile Mr. Duterte, who had long expressed admiration for Putin’s strongman rule, talked about his distrust toward the United States and other Western countries, oblivious of the fact that Russia technically belonged in the West. READ: Duterte says America will never die for PH “I have been looking for this moment to meet you, Mr. President, not only because you represent your country but [because] of your leadership, too,” the Philippine president told Putin, who formally extended an invitation to Mr. Duterte to visit Russia during their exchange. In his trademark style, Mr. Duterte talked about the “hypocrisy” of the West in intervening in the affairs of other countries while advancing their own interests. “They want to seem to start a war but are afraid to go to war. That is what’s wrong with America and the others. They are waging war in so many places: in Vietnam, Afghanistan and in Iraq,” he said. “And for one single reason that there was a weapon of mass destruction [in Iraq] and there was none. They insist, if you are allied with them that they follow you. They go to the Read More …

Duterte to Putin: PH longing to be part of Europe

 News
Nov 192016
 
Duterte to Putin: PH longing to be part of Europe

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, left, listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) LIMA, Peru — Goodbye, Asia. Hello, Europe? President Rodrigo Duterte, in a bizarre turn of phrase, told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday that the Philippines had been “longing to be part of Europe.” In the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders, Mr. Duterte, who had long expressed disdain for the European Union, inexplicably remarked that he wished for his country to be part of Europe. “I have been looking for this moment to meet you, Mr. President, not only because you represent a great country but [because of your leadership] too,” he began. “And we’ve been longing to be part also of — despite the distance — we have been longing to be part of Europe, especially in commerce and trade around the world,” Mr. Duterte told the Russian leader. The Philippine president proceeded to talk, in his typical rambling style, about the “hypocrisy” of the West in intervening in the affairs of other countries while advancing their own interests. “They want to seem to start a war but are afraid to go to war. That is what’s wrong with America and the others. They are waging war in so many places: in Vietnam, Afghanistan and in Iraq,” he said. “And for one single reason that there was a weapon of mass Read More …

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