Nation at a Glance — (01/05/20)
News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.
Antitrust body wants dawn raids without writ
THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) wants Congress to empower it to conduct dawn raids without a court order, as it bolsters its probe of dishonest or fraudulent rivalry in trade and commerce, according to the agency’s year-end report.
Dawn raids — surprise inspections at business premises to search for evidence of anti-competitive behavior — are expected to improve the agency’s case-building and increase the number of cartel prosecutions, PCC Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a report released on Friday.
The Supreme Court upheld the competition body’s inspection powers in November, allowing it to conduct dawn raids through orders issued by special commercial courts in the cities of Quezon, Manila, Makati, Pasig, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan De Oro.
Antitrust bodies in some countries are not required to get a court order and only have to secure an inspection decision from the competition authority. Of the 28 European Union member states, half require a court warrant before business premises can be inspected.
Mr. Balisacan said they would also like to raise the fines on erring companies and reinforce the PCC’s “primary, original, and exclusive jurisdiction over all competition cases.”
The PCC said it might also seek to expand its mandate into consumer protection because it complements its work in competition cases.
Competition analysis and enforcement in 2020 will focus on the telecommunications, retail, energy and electricity, transportation, construction, health and pharmaceuticals, and food sectors.
“Our initiatives in these sectors are intended to unlock the economic potential of these industries that have long been protected by regulations,” Mr. Balisacan said.
The commission said it was prioritizing the probe of anti-competitive conduct, making sure violations are detected and prosecuted.
The PCC also plans to analyze sector regulations and market conditions to support their merger reviews and competition enforcement functions. The body will also look at the impact of its decisions as well as the effect of government subsidies on competition.
Mr. Balisacan said that PCC expects to expand its enforcement network through partnerships with its counterparts in Asia-Pacific countries such as the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore and the Hong Kong Competition Commission.
“With the continued rise of populist sentiments and trade frictions, the need for international cooperation and the exchange of knowledge and expertise has become even more urgent,” he said.
The competition body plans to formalize ties with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Intellectual Property Office and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Starting August, the commission will adjust its schedule of administrative fines to reflect their real value in the three years after the competition law was enacted.
The Philippine Competition Act was signed into law in 2015 to guard against monopolies and cartels, among other things. — Jenina P. Ibañez
Business group eyes GDP growth of as much as 7.5%
A BUSINESS chamber said the economy would probably grow by as much as 7.5% this year, thanks to continuing reforms, increased infrastructure spending and a benign inflation environment.
“We at the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. are optimistic about strong and resilient Philippine economic growth of 6.5% to 7.5%,” chamber President Henry Lim Bon Liong told reporters at a forum on Friday.
The businessman cited increased domestic and foreign investments, continuing economic reforms, a benign inflation rate and higher infrastructure expenditure.
The forecast matches the government’s 6.5% to 7.5% growth target this year until 2022.
The expected enactment of this year’s national budget on Jan. 6, though a week late, was unlikely to stunt growth, another business chamber said.
“This will definitely be a better year,” Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairwoman Alegria Sibal-Limjoco told reporters at a forum on Friday. “First, the budget is going to be signed on Monday. So we have a P4.1 trillion budget, plus the P400 billion that was not used for 2019.”
Ms. Limjoco also said a robust tourism sector could boost the economy.
Mr. Liong cited the need to build more hotels given the influx of Chinese tourists. “The two million Chinese tourists coming here is just a drop in the bucket,” he pointed out.
Alexander R. Magno, a political science professor from the University of the Philippines, said the economy was unlikely to be affected by a global economic slowdown because of domestic consumption.
“The year 2020 will probably be one of the best economic years we have on record,” Mr. Magno said. “Even if our exports declined in the last two years, the economy continued to grow,” he pointed out.
He said local consumption, which is fueled by public spending and dollar remittances from Filipinos overseas, has shielded the local economy from shocks.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s infrastructure program will have “palpable effects” on the economy this year, Mr. Magno said. “I share the earnest optimism that the economy will grow by 6.5% and possibly as high as 7.5% despite the global slowdown.”
The government should address the shortage in skilled workers, which constrains growth, Mr. Magno said. The risk of inflation become higher because of the labor shortage, he said.
A labor shortage often causes inflationary pressure. Workers are in a position to demand higher wages if companies struggle to employ sufficient labor, which can lead to higher inflation. — Jenina P. Ibañez
Creation of OFW agency sought after tragedies
A CONGRESSMAN on Friday renewed his call for the creation of a Department of Filipinos Overseas and Foreign Employment after the latest tragedies involving Filipino workers in Kuwait and Singapore.
Agusan del Norte Rep. Lawrence H. Fortun sought the swift passage of House Bill 5832, which he co-authored, as soon as sessions resume on Jan. 20.
The agency for Filipino workers overseas would make the bureaucracy more efficient and streamline government functions to protect their rights, Mr. Fortun said.
The lawmaker also said the Philippines should abandon the market for household service workers because it has created a “very wrong impression” for Filipino workers overseas.
Mr. Fortun said most Filipino housemaids are skilled and should be trained to upgrade their skills for jobs in the hotel and tourism markets worldwide “where work is dignified and decently compensated.” “It is time for our country to stop sending domestic workers abroad.”
The body of a second Filipina who died in a car crash in Singapore arrived in the Philippines on Friday and was immediately brought to Tuguegarao City in Cagayan province, the Foreign Affairs department said.
Abigail D. Leste’s mother and children received her remains. The other was Arlyn P. Nucos, whose body was brought home on Jan. 1.
Both died in a car accident at the Lucky Plaza in Singapore on Dec. 29. Meanwhile, Jeanelyn Padernal Villavende, a domestic helper in Kuwait, also died last month after her employer allegedly beat her to death.
Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III has said the government would stop sending household workers to Kuwait. — Genshen L. Espedido and Charmaine A. Tadalan
Mindanao still under state of emergency, Palace says
THE Mindanao region remains under a state of national emergency even as martial rule expired on Dec. 31, presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said on Friday.
This is in keeping with Proclamation 55 issued in September 2016, which ordered the Armed Forces and Philippine National Police to suppress all forms of lawless violence in the region, he said.
Mr. Panelo said President Rodrigo R. Duterte has the power to call out the Armed Forces, place any part of the country under martial law and suspend the privilege of writ of habeas corpus.
“While this calling out power is contained in the same provision which sanctions the imposition of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the same is unique in that it can be used independently without the participation of Congress,” he added.
“Its actual use cannot be subjected to judicial review unless constitutional boundaries are violated,” Mr. Panelo said.
Mr. Duterte first placed Mindanao under martial rule in 2017 for 60 days, after terrorists linked to Islamic State attacked Marawi City.
Congress extended this until the end of 2017 upon Mr. Duterte’s request and again until December 2018. It was extended anew until December 2019. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
High court rejects lawsuits vs EDSA bus ban
THE Supreme Court has dismissed several lawsuits seeking to stop the government from banning provincial buses from the main EDSA highway.
In a three-page notice, the court said the three lawsuits separately filed by lawmakers violated the doctrine of hierarchy of courts.
It said the plaintiffs should have first gone to a trial or appellate court, which can resolve factual questions raised by the suit. The high court said it could only look at the lawsuit if it exclusively raises legal questions.
“Petitioners question the manner by which the challenged regulation was approved, which necessitates the presentation of evidence on the procedure undertaken by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA),” the tribunal said.
“The issue of whether the ban of provincial bus terminals along EDSA eases traffic congestion is likewise factual in that it requires showing of verified data or statistics,” it added.
“These factual questions require reception of evidence and/or hearing, which must be relegated to the Court of Appeals or to the proper trial court,” it added. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
US senator scores Duterte’s `strongman tactics’
AN AMERICAN senator has criticized President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s “strongman tactics,” saying he won’t end his campaign against alleged human rights violations despite being barred from coming to the Philippines.
“President Duterte is sorely mistaken if he thinks he can silence my voice and that of my colleagues,” US Senator Edward J. Markey said in a statement on his website on Jan. 2.
Mr. Markey is one of the sponsors of Senate Resolution 142, which urged the Philippine government to release Senator Leila M. de Lima from her “wrongful imprisonment.” The resolution also asked prosecutors to drop the criminal charges against Rappler founder Maria A. Ressa, who is also a staunch Duterte critic.
“He has already failed to silence Senator de Lima, Maria Ressa, and others in his country who have spoken truth to power,” the American lawmaker said. “I stand with the people of the Philippines and with my state’s vibrant Filipino-American community in fighting for the highest democratic ideals and against the strongman tactics of the Duterte government.”
The Philippine has banned Senators Senator Richard Joseph Durbin and Patrick Leahy, co-sponsors of the resolution. Mr. Durbin also introduced an amendment in the 2020 US budget bill that barred Philippine officials behind the detention of Ms. de Lima from entering the US. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
Heirs of journalist in massacre file appeal notice
THE heirs of Reynaldo Momay, a photojournalist whose body was not found after the massacre of more than 50 people in Maguindanao province a decade ago, said they would appeal the dismissal of the murder case.
In a notice of appeal to a Quezon City trial court, his heirs said they would appeal the dismissal of the criminal and civil aspects of the case at the Court of Appeals.
The massacre took place when family members and the media were accompanying Esmael G. Mangudadatu to the Commission on Elections to file his certificate of candidacy on Nov. 23, 2009. Mr. Mangudadatu was then running for governor of the Mindanao autonomous region to end the 20-year rule of the Ampatuan family..
More than 50 people were murdered, including 32 journalists. New-York based Committee to Protect Journalists called the attack the “worst single incident of journalist killing.”
The heirs noted that while they were aware of the law against double jeopardy, the Supreme Court must revisit and reverse the doctrine because it is also illegal.
Double jeopardy prohibits charging an acquitted or convicted person twice for the same offense. They said the doctrine is imposed only by the US.
“The imposition of the said doctrine in the Philippines and its continuing use in this country — even after the Philippines gained independence and had its own sovereign constitution — violates the constitutional provisions on equal protection and due process,’” according to a copy of the notice.
The court on Dec. 19 acquitted all the accused in the case of Mr. Momay because of reasonable doubt. Prosecutors said he was the 58th victim of the massacre but his body was never found. Only his denture and jacket were found at the crime scene.
His name and signature were also on the supposed attendance sheet of journalists in the convoy.
A total of 18 private complainants and heirs of the victims told the court they would appeal the civil aspects of the case to the Court of Appeals.
Murder convict and former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Zaldy U. Ampatuan also asked the court to forward the decision and records to the appellate court.
The trial court last month convicted 28 primary suspects for the 2009 massacre.
More than a dozen people were convicted as accessories to the crime and more than 50 others were acquitted. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
50 ‘judges-at-large’ posts to decongest dockets
THE Supreme Court has designated 50 “judges-at-large” who will help other judges decide cases, in keeping with a law that seeks to decongest court dockets.
Thirty judges had been assigned to regional trial courts and 20 to municipal trial courts, according to a notice from the high tribunal.
The 50 magistrates have no permanent salas and will be assigned as acting or assisting judges in the trial courts. The court must create 50 more similar positions to be able to fully comply with Republic Act 11459, which President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed in August last year.
The judges will get salaries, privileges, allowances, emoluments and benefits that a trial court judge gets. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
DoJ to decide major cases at start of year
THE Justice department is expected to resolve “big cases” at the start of the year, a government prosecutor said on Friday.
“There will be quite a number of cases coming out, big cases in the early part of 2020,” Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony D. Fadullon said. He did not say which these cases are.
Among the cases under preliminary investigation are the sedition raps against Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo, drug complaints against rogue cops and the kidnapping case against former Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV.
“As soon as January kicks in, I will start collecting and asking what is happening to all these cases,” he Mr. Fadullon said.
The deputy state prosecutor recommends the approval of his peers’ case decisions to the prosecutor general. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
Aboitiz holding firm plans to offer dollar-denominated notes
ABOITIZ Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) is planning to issue dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes “subject to market conditions,” the holding said on Friday as one of its units appointed financial institutions to arrange events for investors on the proposed offering.
“The Notes, if issued, are expected to be unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by AEV and unrated,” it told the stock exchange.
It said the notes offering are to be classified as “Regulation S,“ referring to rules allowing safe harbor from the registration requirements for offshore offers and sales of securities. It has yet to disclose the use of the proceeds from the planned offering.
AEV said its wholly owned subsidiary AEV International Pte. Ltd. had appointed The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. and Standard Chartered Bank as joint global coordinators.
DBS Bank Ltd., HSBC, Mizuho Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., MUFG Securities Asia (Singapore) Ltd., and Standard Chartered Bank were also appointed as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners.
They will arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings and conference calls in Hong Kong, Singapore, and London starting on Jan. 6, 2020.
On Friday, shares in AEV rose by 0.19% to P52.35 each.
Separately, AEV’s energy arm Aboitiz Power Corp. said on Friday that its Cleanergy brand now has 32 customers in Luzon and the Visayas for the supply of 203 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy.
In a statement, it said the customers include multinational companies that are choosing renewables for their energy needs as well as electric cooperatives that are shifting to a more balanced energy mix.
“It is our commitment to continue providing ample, reliable, and reasonably-produced power to our customers by maximizing renewable energy for as long as feasible, while at the same time using the reliability and cost-efficiency of fossil-fired power plants,” AboitizPower President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel V. Rubio said.
Through Cleanergy, AboitizPower and its partners generate a total of 1,242 MW, which account for about 27% of the company’s net sellable capacity. Its renewable energy portfolio includes solar, geothermal, run-of-river hydro, and large hydropower facilities.
Among its customers are green office developer and operator NEO Property Management, Inc., which renewed its partnership with AboitizPower in January 2019 after first signing up in 2013.
NEO signed up for the supply of 13.5 MW to its facilities in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. The company is a bulk electricity user or a “contestable” customer that can choose its own electricity supplier under the country’s rules on retail competition and open access (RCOA).
Similarly, food and beverage company Nestlé Philippines switched to Cleanergy in 2017 to supply its manufacturing facility in Lipa, Batangas. Other Nestlé facilities have since switched, including factories in Cabuyao, Laguna and Tanauan, Batangas, as well as its corporate administrative office in Makati City. Their total power demand has reached 17 MW.
Other Cleanergy customers include Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa in Cebu, Shangri-La at The Fort, Shangri-La’s Boracay Resort & Spa, and Hotel Jen Manila by Shangri-La, for a total power supply of 10.4 MW.
AboitizPower also supplies a total of 15.7-MW of clean and renewable energy to Asian Development Bank, Draka Philippines, Eton Properties, and Unionbank.
Electric cooperatives that signed up for Cleanergy are Siargao Electric Cooperative, Nueva Ecija II Electric Cooperative, and Batangas II Electric Cooperative. Other customers include power distribution utilities in Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Bukidnon, Misamis Occidental, and Iloilo City. — Victor V. Saulon
Lopez firm appeals order to pay P1.2 billion in tax case
FIRST Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH) said on Friday that it intends to ask within the day the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) to reconsider its decision that granted in part the Lopez-led firm’s petition for review to protest a tax assessment of around P1.5 billion.
“FPH maintains that the assessments are without valid basis. It will be contesting the foregoing on factual, due process and legal grounds with respect to the assessments sustained by the CTA,” it told the stock exchange.
The firm said it had received on Dec. 20, 2019 the CTA decision ordering it to pay P1.21 billion composed of deficiency taxes, 25% surcharge plus 20% deficiency and delinquency interest.
FPH said it was also being ordered to pay delinquency interest of 12% on the total unpaid deficiency taxes as of July 15, 2014, computed from Jan. 1, 2018 until fully paid.
The decision came after the firm disclosed on Feb. 20, 2015 that it had filed a petition for review with the CTA to protest a tax assessment of the Bureau of Internal Revenue for different taxes, including interest and penalties, of around P1.5 billion.
The company’s major business segments are in power generation, real estate development, manufacturing, and construction and other services.
As of the third quarter, it reported a 35% increase in net income attributable to equity holders of the parent firm to P9.6 billion, which reflected the increase in operating income.
Its financial performance was also due to favorable foreign exchange rates and deferred income tax movements, as well as the decline in non-recurring expenses incurred by a subsidiary.
On Friday, shares in FPH rose by 0.59% to close at P68.40 each. — Victor V. Saulon