SOCIOECONOMIC Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said marine and coastal resources are underutilized, and called for proper management of the sector known as the “blue economy.”
In a news conference Monday, Mr. Pernia said that the country needs to pay more attention to the “blue economy” since these resources are currently “undertapped, underexploited and underused.”
“We have a paper, when I was dean at UP (University of Philippines)… our estimate was over a trillion pesos could be reaped from tapping the blue economy and that’s a very conservative estimate,” he said.
National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Undersecretary Adoracion M. Navarro said access to maritime resources is suboptimal and even the boundaries are not clearly defined by the current law.
“That’s why we are also including this in the legislative agenda to give our fisherfolk and commercial investors clearer guidelines on how to optimize the use of our resources,” Ms. Navarro said.
Amid competing claims, Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon added that a law that provides clear guidelines on the country’s water territories will help provide proper documentation that can be used in future territorial encroachments.
“Our problem is that because there’s no general declaration of what our territories are, so you have some encroachment, being done by our neighbors. So we claim that is an encroachment but actually we don’t have it in writing. We don’t have any documents that say this is actually ours. Definitely not part of the contested territories, but it’s actually really ours, but that has to be written, it has to be documented. The bill has been filed at the committee on foreign affairs,” Ms. Edillon said.
Former Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV filed in the 17th Congress Senate Bill 93, “An act defining the maritime zones of the Republic of the Philippines” and Senate Bill 92, a measure seeking to establish archipelagic sea lanes in Philippine waters.
The two bills are yet to be refiled with the current Congress. — Beatrice M. Laforga
THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) plans to build a new headquarters on Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City, with construction expected to take three or four years.
PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza told reporters at a briefing on Friday that the new headquarters will cost P800 million and rise 13 storeys.
Pending construction, PEZA’s head office operations will transfer to Double Dragon at Macapagal Boulevard from the current location in Taguig City. The agency plans to move by March.
Ms. Plaza said that PEZA is moving because the current offices have insufficient space and infrastructure.
The new office will be funded through a lease-to-own agreement with Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK). PEZA expects to attain ownership in 15 years.
“The scheme is we lease LANDBANK and then we all pay it later. Deducted na ’yung lease namin (our lease if deducted). Lease to own. After 15 years, amin na (it’s ours),” Ms. Plaza said.
PEZA is also looking to build a P2 billion to P3-billion multipurpose building behind the new office building.
“We are looking for a JV (joint venture) to put up what is allowed by CAAP (the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) is a 33-storey building,” Ms. Plaza said.
“There are now proposals because we want an iconic design and a green building.” — Jenina P. Ibañez
THE government is modifying the tariffs on products from Hong Kong, China and ASEAN member states as part of its commitments under a free trade agreement.
Executive Order No. 102 imposes the tariff rates agreed upon in the ASEAN-Hong Kong, China Free Trade Agreement (AHKFTA) on products entering the Philippines for consumption.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte ratified the AHKFTA on Jan. 4, 2019, after it was first signed by the Philippines in November 2017 in Manila. Representatives from ASEAN member states signed the agreement in Myanmar in March 2018.
The FTA first began to take effect in June, after Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, and Vietnam started reducing and eliminating tariffs on Hong Kong imports.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations said in a statement in June that the Philippines upon ratification will eliminate customs duties on 85% of the products it trades with Hong Kong, and deduct 10% of tariff lines within 14 years.
Exporters must submit a certificate of origin, as part of the rules of origin in AHKFTA.
The order dated Jan.10 said that the Tariff Commission “may be requested to issue advance rulings on tariff classification of goods to confirm the applicable rates of duty of particular goods subject of this order.”
The government however retains its right to issue trade remedy measures to prevent import surges, which harm domestic industries, and unfair trade practices.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, Hong Kong was the Philippines’ ninth-largest source of imports in November, bringing in $337.83 million worth of goods to the Philippines that month.
Hong Kong accounted for $3.3 billion worth of imports in the first 11 months of 2019, or 3.3% of total imports to the Philippines.
The order takes effect immediately after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. — Jenina P. Ibañez
THE Senate hearings on the proposed law to create the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) failed to attract key resource persons from various government agencies, a committee chairman said.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, who chairs the Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, said key resource persons did not turn up.
“The Senate Committee on Defense and Security, which I chair, has conducted a hearing which unfortunately did not elicit interest from the different stakeholders,” Mr. Lacson told reporters in a mobile phone message Monday.
“NDRRMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council) especially SND (Secretary of National Defense) and SILG (Secretary of Interior and Local Government), chair and co-chair did not attend.”
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said Mr. Lacson proposed instead to create a National Disaster Office, which he is inclined to support.
“Office, if given a choice. Department will involve regional office and personnel,” Mr. Sotto said in a separate phone message.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri backs the creation of the DDR in light of recent calamities.
“Given how many natural disasters hit the nation every year, it is absolutely necessary for us to bring disaster resilience up to the level of the Cabinet,” Mr. Zubiri said in a privilege speech, Monday.
“The creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience will also emphasize the need to pre-empt disasters, and not just respond to them.”
The creation of the DDR was among the bills mentioned by President Rodrigo R. Duterte during his fourth State of the Nation Address. Its counterpart measure in the House of Representatives has so far been approved in committee. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has banned imports from Indonesia of domestic and wild pigs and their by-products due to an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in North Sumatra province.
In memorandum order no. 4, series of 2020, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar ordered a ban on “the importation of domestic and wild pigs and their products, including pork meat, pigskin, and semen.”
The order sets in motion the “immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) import clearance… (and) stoppage and confiscation of all shipments of the above stated commodities into the country by all DA Veterinary Quarantine Officers/Inspectors at all major ports.”
In a report submitted by Indonesia to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the outbreak started Sept. 4, 2019. The first outbreak was reported in North Sumatra, affecting only backyard hogs.
The government currently bans imports from China, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, North Korea, Laos, Moldova, Mongolia, Myanmar, Poland, Germany, and South Africa. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has granted Germany and the US two-year accreditations to export frozen beef and poultry to the Philippines.
“Through the Department Order No. 1, Series of 2020 issued on 15 January, Germany has been granted a system accreditation to export beef and poultry meat to the country which will be valid until November 12, 2022,” DA said in a statement. Accreditation was authorized by Accreditation Review Body Resolution No. 2019-007 dated No. 21, 2019.
In a separate order, the US was also accredited to export pork and beef to the country as per Accreditation Review Body Resolution No. 2019-008 dated Nov. 21, 2019.
“Through the Department Order No. 2, Series of 2020 issued on 15 January, the US has been granted a system accreditation to export beef and poultry meat to the country which will be valid until Nov. 12, 2022,” the DA said.
The DA noted that representative foreign meat establishments in both countries “were inspected and audited by the DA Inspection Mission (DAIM) and were found to comply with the Philippine quarantine and meat inspection systems procedures.”
Both were also found to be compliant with the requirements under the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
The DA earlier accredited Sweden to export chilled pork meat to the Philippines until Oct. 7, 2022. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
A BILL that will consolidate all measures seeking to amend the Customs Modernization and Tariffication Act (CMTA) will be completed within the week, House Committee Chairman on Ways and Means Jose Maria Clemente S. Salceda said.
“I think within this week, the Committee will be able to finalize since…iilan lang naman ’yung malalaki eh (there are only a few major issues)” Mr. Salceda told reporters on Monday.
According to Mr. Salceda, main amendments to the CMTA are the mandatory inspection at the cargos’ point of origin and the mandatory inclusion of the transaction value in shipping documents.
“Kasi sa mga shipping documents walang transaction value. So ngayon, ginagawang mandatory na yung mga shipping documents should bear the transaction value and, kung kaya pa, yung CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight). So therefore, kung may diperensya po siya sa declaration nung importer sa atin eh kung plus or minus ten yung variance, ma-sa-subject po siya sa examination. So basically these are to improve the CMTA (Shipping documents currently have no transaction values; the amendments will seek to make transaction value mandatory, and CIF if possible. The intent is to require inspections for any variance of plus or minus 10% on importer declarations),” Mr. Salceda said.
Rep. Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon expressed his support for the Bureau of Customs’ (BoC) recommendation to make Customs brokerage courses be more available in schools.
“We have schools which offer Customs-broker courses. (Ideally, those schools should be the sources of) Customs officers because they underwent specialized education” Mr. Biazon told reporters Monday.
Mr. Biazon also added that there should be a provision which mandates that all Customs officers be graduates of Customs brokerage courses.
“(We need to declare that) we will only hire Customs employees who are graduates of Customs brokerage courses. So we might not have to put in resources to physically build a Customs academy, set up the academy. (Maybe the law) will be a good solution for us” Mr. Biazon said.
There are currently six bills seeking to amend the CMTA: House Bills (HB) 783, 784, 800, 2591, 5278 and 5548.
All bills propose to impose stricter administrative sanctions, specifically on the supervision and regulation of third parties, to curb corruption, enhance trade facilitation and improve the efficiency of revenue collection by the BoC.
CMTA was signed into law in May 2016 to modernize procedures for “faster trade, reduce opportunities for corruption, improve customs service delivery and improve supply chain.”
Since enactment, the Philippines’ trade facilitation rate hit 80.65% in 2019 from 69.89% in 2017, according to the 2019 United Nations Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation. — Genshen L. Espedido
Sunday was the Feast of the Sto. Niño or the Child Jesus. While attending Sunday mass, we were reminded to be obedient like a child to be more worthy of the kingdom of God. Obey the rules and you will be rewarded.
Without question, the same is also very much true when availing of income tax incentives. Currently, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and Board of Investments (BoI)-registered enterprises have compliance requirements to verify their entitlement to income tax incentives. Together with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), these investment promotion agencies (IPAs) want to ensure that only those entitled can enjoy the incentives.
For PEZA-registered enterprises entitled to income tax holiday (ITH) and/or the 5% gross income tax (GIT) incentive, they are required to secure from PEZA, on an annual basis, a certification that the enterprise is a bona fide PEZA-registered enterprise entitled to ITH and/or the 5% GIT incentive. Based on PEZA’s implementing rules, the registered enterprise will only be issued the certification once it has complied with all the PEZA reportorial requirements, such as the Economic Zone Monthly Performance Report (EZMPR) and Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (TIMTA) reports. To avoid issues in securing the certificate of incentives, the enterprise must ensure that it has complied with all the reportorial requirements.
BoI-registered enterprises are required to secure a Certificate of ITH Entitlement (CoE). For both PEZA and BoI-registered enterprises, such certifications are required to be attached in the annual income tax return (ITR).
In addition, PEZA-registered enterprises are required to submit to PEZA a copy of their BIR-received annual ITRs, together with the Audited Financial Statements (AFS) within 30 days from filing of the annual ITR.
For BoI-registered enterprises, a copy of the BIR-received annual ITR and AFS are required to be attached to BoI Form S-1 (Annual Report on Actual Operations). The form is required to be filed within four months after the end of the taxable year or April 30 for enterprises that follow the calendar year.
Based on the BIR-received AFS and ITR, BoI and PEZA shall validate, on a per registered activity/project basis, that the period covered by the annual ITRs is covered by the ITH/5% GIT incentive. These IPAs shall also determine the income that should not be covered by ITH/5% GIT, if any. To determine if the enterprises complied with the minimum/maximum sales requirement, they shall also validate the actual percentage of export sales for export oriented enterprise, low-cost housing sales for real estate companies, and other sales requirement as agreed per their registration terms and conditions.
So, what if, based on the IPA’s evaluation, the enterprise actually failed to comply with the conditions for the income tax incentive? Can the BIR assess the enterprises based solely on PEZA or BoI’s evaluation?
In a recent case decided by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), CTA Case No. 9553, the CTA ruled that the BIR cannot simply proceed to issue assessment notices based solely on the evaluation done by PEZA or BoI. The enterprise’s books of account and other accounting records must be independently investigated and considered by the BIR.
According to the ruling, the BoI-registered enterprise is required to have at least 20% of the total subdivision area or total subdivision project cost allocated and developed for socialized housing within one year from the date of registration. Otherwise, its ITH incentive for the taxable year will be forfeited.
Based on the BoI’s evaluation, the enterprise failed to comply with the 20% socialized housing requirement. Thus, in several letters to the BIR, the BoI declared that the grant of ITH incentives to the BoI-registered enterprise has been denied.
Relying only on the forfeiture of the ITH incentive by the BoI, the BIR issued a Preliminary Assessment Notice (PAN) and Formal Letter of Demand (FLD) assessing the BoI-registered enterprise deficiency income tax and penalties. The BIR no longer issued a Letter of Authority (LoA) to assess. The BIR did not also conduct its own tax investigation.
Since no LoA providing the revenue officers/examiners with the authority to examine the BoI-registered enterprise and to recommend an assessment was issued, the assessment was considered null and void. Though it may be clear from the BoI’s evaluation that the BoI-registered enterprise was not entitled to ITH incentives for the taxable year, the BIR should have also conducted its own investigation to verify the facts for its assessment to be valid.
Nonetheless, though the assessment in this case was considered invalid, PEZA or BoI’s results of validation of income tax incentives may still be a basis for the BIR to initiate/conduct its own investigation. Thus, every taxpayer enjoying income tax incentives must always ensure that it complies with the PEZA/BoI’s conditions for the grant of incentives. It must also ensure compliance with PEZA, BoI, and BIR reporting requirements, as discussed above. It must obey rules like a child to ensure that it fully enjoys the rewards and benefits of the tax incentives it was granted.
Let’s Talk Tax is a weekly newspaper column of P&A Grant Thornton that aims to keep the public informed of various developments in taxation. This article is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional advice.
Ma. Lourdes Politado-Aclan is a Director of Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.
THE MAIN INDEX took a nosedive on Monday due to the slump in Ayala-owned stocks, which followed remarks from the Office of the President regarding one of the company’s properties in University of the Philippines Diliman.
The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped 169.98 points or 2.20% to close at 7,552.60 during yesterday’s session. The broader all shares index likewise plummeted by 76.92 points or 1.69% to 4,474.27.
“Market was affected by the negative statements made by the President on the water concessionaires together with the investigation of the low rental rates given to Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) at Technohub,” Diversified Securities, Inc. Equity Trader Aniceto K. Pangan said in a text message.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a radio interview Sunday he wants to “probe” the lease rates of ALI at UP-Ayala Technohub, alleging that the company is paying less than P20 per square meter for 25 years.
ALI is the property arm of the Ayala group, which is already tied in a conflict with the government since December, but through its water arm Manila Water Co., Inc. (MWC).
“The PSEi was Asia’s worst performer today with four Ayala companies ending up on our top losers as the government has expressed the intent to probe other businesses owned by the conglomerate,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an e-mail on Monday.
Aside from MWC and ALI, listed parent Ayala Corp. and AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp. joined yesterday’s list of top 20 losers, shedding 7.06%, 7.003%, 6.60% and 5.30%, respectively.
Other Asian markets performed better on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix indices gained 0.18% and 0.50%, respectively, while China’s Shanghai SE Composite index increased 0.66% and South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.54%.
All sectoral indices at the PSE also ended in red territory. Property gave up 156.49 points or 3.87% to 3,879.29; holding firms dropped 164.70 points or 2.20% to 7,310.89; mining and oil went down 98.29 points or 1.20% to 8,045.24; industrials declined by 111.09 points or 1.17% to 9,366.33; financials sank 21.17 points or 1.14% to 1,825.74; and services gave up 10.24 points or 0.65% to 1,553.78.
Value turnover stood at P6.28 billion with 913.66 million issues changing hands, from Friday’s P6.27 billion with 1.22 billion issues.
Foreign investors continued to book outflows, with net foreign selling at P512.90 million, bigger than Friday’s net outflow worth P196.07 million.
“Any optimism that investors had vanished today as fears of a natural disaster and of the government’s crusade against oligarchs send prices much lower. The strategy is to look for opportunities in companies that do not correlate with the PSEi’s movement,” Mr. Mangun said on Monday. — Denise A. Valdez
THE peso weakened on Monday amid declines in the local stock market and as worries over oil prices arose amid tensions in the Middle East.
The local unit closed at P50.975 on Monday, weakening by 8.40 centavos from its Friday finish of P50.891 a dollar.
The peso opened at P50.93 against the greenback. Its weakest showing was at P51.04 while its intraday best was at P50.83 per dollar. Dollars traded climbed to $1.559 billion from $1.3 billion on Friday.
A trader attributed the peso’s slump to the decline in the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi).
“PSE composition was down 2.2%. We saw that as an outflow of investment which triggered dollar buying most likely foreign selling…,” the trader said in a phone call.
Meanwhile, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said the peso’s depreciation may be due to the brewing tensions between Libya and Iraq.
“The peso may have taken cue from the increasing Middle East unrest (Iraq and Libya). Oil prices have jumped immediately due to potential supply impact,” Mr. Asuncion said in a text message.
Reuters reported that two major oilfields in southwest Libya were closed on Sunday after forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar shut down a pipeline, potentially reducing national output to a fraction of its normal level.
In December, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia agreed to end a five-year dispute over their shared Neutral Zone in a deal that will boost production by the resumption of the operation of two oilfields that can pump up to 0.5% of the world’s oil supply
For today, the trader sees the peso ranging from P50.80-P51.10, while Mr. Asuncion thinks the local unit will fare around the P50.80 to P51.10 level against the dollar.
Meanwhile, most Asian currencies ticked higher on Monday, with China’s yuan leading the pack on a firm midpoint rate fix by the central bank and robust demand ahead of a week-long New Year holiday, according to a Reuters report.
The onshore yuan gained 0.2% to 6.85 against the dollar, its strongest since early July. — LWTN withReuters
This piece is a slightly shortened version of the Inaugural Speech of Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) President Francisco Ed. Lim.
ICONICBESTIARY / FREEPIK
Dear friends, data is staring us in the face. For the past three years, foreign direct investments have consistently gone down, from $10.3 billion in 2017 to $9.8 billion in 2018, and are projected to fall further to $6.9 billion in 2019, or 33% decrease from the 2017 level. Indeed, our $6.9 billion 2019 FDIs will only be about one-third of Vietnam’s $20.4 billion and nearly one-fourth less than Indonesia’s $24 billion foreign investments in 2019.
The message from the world is clear — unless we in the Philippines shape up, foreign investors will continue to view us as an unworthy investment destination and they might rather put their money in our ASEAN neighbors. Events of the recent past have exacerbated this perception.
But these challenges cannot scare us into retreating from MAP’s tradition of leadership in progressive management thinking. On the contrary, this must inspire and urge us to step up and be leaders for change. For one, we have government officials like our guest speaker, Secretary [Ramon] Lopez, who not only have their hearts in the right places, but who also work hard day and night in attracting investments into the country. Our most recent performance under the World-Bank Ease of Doing Report and the bold initiatives being undertaken by the Administration of President [Rodrigo] Duterte are, indeed, very admirable and encouraging.
But my friends, government cannot do it alone. To paraphrase the great John F. Kennedy, ask not what our government can do for business but ask what we in business, together with the government, can do for our country.
There is, indeed, a clarion call for the public and private sectors to work together.
Driven by this need, it is thus appropriate that our Board approved our battle cry for 2020, “LEAD for a Competitive Tomorrow.” My call is basically a continuation of President Riza [Mantaring]’s theme of “Shaping a Competitive Future.” Indeed, it is, in no small way, a restatement of the themes of several past MAP Presidents.
But why LEAD in the first place? MAP is in many ways a unique organization. Indeed, as I speak before you today, MAP has 1,034 members representing 40 of the top 100 corporations in the Philippines. Around 74% of our members are either the chairman, CEO, president, managing director/partner, and country head of these companies. We have in our fold 72 listed companies whose combined capitalization is P9.3 trillion, representing around 60% of our stock market’s total market capitalization.
We are the movers of Philippine business and the numbers alone dictate that our organization, together with the other business groups, can lead the business sector in helping government bring about positive change for our country… And LEAD we shall!
Now, what does the acronym “LEAD” stand for? It stands for the four-point agenda that will guide our presidency, namely:
• Level up by enhancing Ease of Doing Business. We shall support the various initiatives of the government on Ease of Doing Business under the recently amended Republic Act No. (RA) 11032, more popularly called the “EODB Act.” This includes our active participation in “PROJECT REPEAL: The Philippine Red Tape Challenge,” an initiative to repeal laws and regulations which are unnecessary, outdated and burdensome to businesses.
Philippine Competition Commission Chairman Arsenio Balisacan has also accepted our invitation to speak before our membership in May on ensuring a level playing field for all businesses as a means of promoting a more competitive environment in the country.
In coordination with the Judicial Reform Initiative, we shall continue to work with the Supreme Court on promoting integrity and simplifying court procedures. The new Chief Justice has graciously granted us an audience on Jan. 27 to pursue this initiative.
But Ease of Doing Business must be addressed not only at the national level but, equally important, at the local level. To highlight the importance of this matter, we are signing today a Memorandum of Agreement with Secretary Lopez to participate in “Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), a very laudable Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) program that awards annually Philippine cities and municipalities based on Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, and Resiliency. The program is envisioned as a tool for enhancing Ease of Doing Business in the Philippines and raise the overall competitiveness of the country.
This initiative will be coupled with a dialogue or dialogues with our mayors in Metro Manila where most of our members do business.
• Embrace Environmental, Social Responsibility and Governance (ESG) for sustainability. A fairly recent phenomenon is the increasing number of socially conscious investors. These investors consider, as part of their decision-making process for investing, a wide spectrum of issues that include how corporations respond to climate change, how good they are with water management, how their health and safety policies are [aimed at] the protection against accidents, how they manage their supply chains, how they treat their workers and whether they have a corporate culture that builds trust and fosters innovation.
In a publication last December, it was reported that ESG investing grew to more than $30 trillion in 2018 and was estimated to reach $50 trillion over the next two decades. Whether we like it or not, socially conscious investors believe that ESG supports a company’s long-term performance and sustainability.
We shall conduct activities that are meant to help our members appreciate this all-important development. We already lined up a speaker of note who will share their experiences on how they reconfigured their business model to respond to ESG and how the reconfiguration has benefited them.
My friends, we have to embrace ESG, lest we miss the boat — again.
• Accelerate best management practices. Accelerating best practices in management calls on our senior membership to be selfless and to think of country above self, by unselfishly sharing their insights and wisdom from years of experience with the other MAP members.
We shall strengthen and enhance the MAP CEO Academy to serve as the umbrella brand for all of MAP’s educational activities for the continuing education of our members.
We shall continue holding the MAP Teachers Training Program which brings together management practitioners and teachers to harmonize what students are taught vis-à-vis what employers need from future managers.
The efforts on this agenda item are designed to lead us to our final goal, which is to:
• Deepen the bench for future business leaders. This fourth thrust of our theme is, quite frankly, closest to my heart as a father, teacher, and mentor.
In my almost 40 years of practicing law and business that includes my stint as president of the Philippine Stock Exchange, I have come to realize that the infusion of young blood and fresh perspectives is one of the greatest life lessons. It is the audacity of the young to push boundaries tempered by wisdom from experience that will bring meaningful change in our society.
In an article I recently published on Rappler, I ruminated on how our young — yes, the “millennials” — have stepped into the limelight and shaken the world as we know it with their big dreams and bold attitudes.
It is inspiring to see our young generation taking an active role in shaping our communities and in building our nation. They have not only decided to demand more from their elders; they have taken it upon themselves to be the change in their own communities.
Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Larry Page of Google, who launched their businesses at ages 19 and 25, are powerful examples of how our young generation can change the world.
As the rest of the world continues to evolve and modernize — oftentimes faster than our ability to adapt — it is imperative for us to hone and elevate the professional and leadership skills of our young men and women to help build a better Philippines.
To this end, your board has targeted that no less than 20% of our membership should be 50 years old or younger. More importantly, your board created the NextGen Committee not only as a platform for new ideas from our younger members but, even more importantly, as a breeding ground for future business leaders.
In closing, let me assure our government of our fullest cooperation and support. We are not asking anything in return. All that we ask is to treat business with fairness and reason. Make our environment more conducive to doing business. We will do the rest.
Ladies and gentlemen, change and success do not happen overnight. But the steps we take today will shape the contours of our tomorrow. Together, as one MAP, I am confident we can make this happen!
Francisco Ed. Lim is Senior Partner and ExCom Member of ACCRALAW.
Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) survey last December revealed that 76% of Filipinos see many human rights abuses in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs. The SWS report prompted Philippine Star columnist Boo Chanco to ask on Facebook if people are turning a blind eye to these human rights abuses when they give President Duterte a high rating.
Many netizens have also expressed in social media their befuddlement over the President’s high satisfaction rating in SWS surveys given the high cost of food, joblessness, and widespread criminality, issues that have an impact on the daily lives of the great majority of the population. The same SWS December survey also revealed that 78% of Filipino adults believe the accusation that there are “ninja cops” among members of the police force.
A previous survey found that those who feel it is wrong to do nothing about the Chinese infrastructures and military presence in the West Philippine Sea now comprise 93% of the adult population, a 6% increase from 2018. In reaction to the call for him to take stronger action to assert the Philippines’ ownership of the West Philippine Sea, Mr. Duterte has said, “We cannot afford a war. We cannot win a battle against China. I would only lose maybe thousands of my troops and policemen.”
The President himself has admitted that he was wrong to assume that he could eliminate the illegal drug trade in three to six months, that he might not even eliminate it before the end of his term in spite of the avowal he made in his 3rd State of the Nation Address that his war against illegal drugs would be “relentless and chilling.” He has also intimated that he cannot eradicate corruption.
He has also become defeatist when faced with the challenges to his administration. Fed up with the unsuccessful attempts to solve the traffic gridlock on EDSA, he blurted, “Let EDSA rot.” About the Pasig River, he said, “That Pasig, you can no longer clean it because we don’t have any zoning (regulations). Over the years, the waste of factories and houses all go into the Pasig River. How can you clean that?” To the jeepney operators or owners who cannot afford the modern jeepneys, the President angrily told them: “If you can’t modernize that, leave. You’re poor? Son of a bitch, go ahead, suffer in poverty and hunger, I don’t care.”
In spite of all this, the satisfaction rating of the President remains high. No, the people do not turn a blind eye on those human rights abuses, they just don’t set their eyes on those abuses, just as they don’t set their eyes on other issues that impact on their daily lives.
We cannot tell what those who find the President’s performance satisfactory base their assessment on as they are not asked why they are satisfied with President Duterte’s performance. The usual wording of the question asked in surveys about the President’s performance is as follows: “Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, undecided if satisfied or dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, very dissatisfied, or you have not ever heard or read anything about Rodrigo Duterte?”
Each respondent interprets the question from his own viewpoint. One respondent’s understanding of the word “performance” may be different from another respondent’s understanding of the same word, and much more so from that of political commentators.
So when adult Filipinos are asked if they are satisfied or dissatisfied with the performance of the President, their frame of reference could be the performance of something unrelated to governance, like his long speeches spiced with racy adlibs or his expletive-laden tirades against his detractors and Catholic Church dignitaries. Respondents could also be referring to the President’s abandonment of the formalities, traditions, and protocol long established in Malacañang in favor of the ways of the common tao (person).
The 2004 presidential elections can give us an idea of how the majority of the voting or adult population see the highest position of the land. Almost 12 million votes were cast for Fernando Poe, Jr., who did not have the formal education nor the experience in governance that would have prepared him for the position.
Two other candidates with better credentials in government service — Panfilo Lacson and Raul Roco — got much fewer votes than Mr. Poe. Mr. Lacson, a Philippine Military Academy graduate, holder of a master’s degree in Government Management, former Philippine National Police chief, and sitting senator in 2004, got 3.5 million votes, while Mr. Roco, who earned a master’s degree in Law from the University of Pennsylvania, was a nine-year senator, and former secretary of Education got only 2.1 million votes.
The other factor could be the lack of competence of the respondents to answer the questions. The 1,200 respondents are supposed to be representative of all sub-groups of the adult population of the Philippines. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippine population breaks down into 1% AB, 9% C, 60% D, and 30% E. That means only 12 respondents come from the socio-economic class AB, 108 from Class C, and 1,080 from among those belonging to the socio-economic classes D and E.
SWS refers to the D class as the Lower Class who basically live a hand-to-mouth existence, and the E class as the Extremely Lower Class who face great difficulties in meeting their survival needs. They would be too preoccupied with earning a living to be interested in the performance of the president and therefore be competent to pass judgment on President Duterte’s performance.
So as not to appear an ignoramus to the interviewer, a respondent belonging to the Economic Class DE picks one of the possible answers presented to him. To play it safe, he gives the answer which he thinks would please the hypersensitive President.
It would be interesting to know what the respondents’ answers would be if, after having been asked if they are satisfied or not with the President’s performance, they are subsequently asked, “Why do you feel the way you do about President Duterte’s performance?” Based on my experience in public opinion polling, the lack of awareness on the part of the citizenry of the issues of national implication will be blatantly exposed.
In cognizance of the lack of competence of the great majority of voters to vote intelligently, many Catholic bishops waged in last year’s elections a vigorous campaign to “educate” the voters in their dioceses. They exhorted their flock to vote for persons of conscience, who are capable of governing, and who are committed to work for the common good.
Then there is the fear factor in the seeming contradiction between the President’s popularity and his actual performance. As he has shown a disdain for criticism and opposition, as evidenced by the fates of Senator Leila de Lima, former Senator Antonio Trillanes, Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno, journalist Maria Ressa, and media organizations Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN, survey respondents could also be afraid to say something not favorable to him and his policies and programs.
Interviews are conducted face-to-face. The respondent’s name and address are written down in the interview sheet. The interviewer is a total stranger to the respondent. The latter may have reservations about the true purpose of the interviewer, given the prevailing political climate.
Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a retired corporate executive, business consultant, and management professor. He has been a politicized citizen since his college days in the late 1950s.
