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PCC, Energy dep’t agree to cooperate in competition probes

THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and the Department of Energy (DoE) have signed an agreement that will allow for coordination in their power sector investigations.

In a statement Tuesday, the PCC said the memorandum of agreement allows for agency-to-agency information sharing, investigation support, technical audits, joint task forces, and continued capacity-building and consultation.

The deal also paves the way for the creation of a technical working group to coordinate investigative efforts into alleged collusion or the abuse of dominant position in the energy sector.

“The PCC and the DoE share a common vision of a more robust competition landscape in the power industry. With the energy department having the technical assets and ensuring proper functioning of the energy sector, we are confident this complementation of efforts with PCC’s own investigative capacity will lead to a stronger push for competition enforcement,” PCC Chair Arsenio M. Balisacan was quoted in a statement.

The deal comes following a series of power outages that hit several parts of Luzon earlier this year. The PCC said in April that it will look into allegations of possible collusion or abuse of dominant position by certain power generators.

The PCC and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) have been seeking ways to coordinate their efforts in competition investigations, with talks first surfacing in late 2016 when the anti-trust agency first looked into the possibility of anti-competitive practices playing a role in the power outages that struck several areas of the country that year.

Republic Act (RA) 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, authorizes the ERC to monitor and penalize market power abuse and/or anti-competitive or discriminatory behavior by any electric power industry participant.

Meanwhile, RA 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act (PCA) of 2015, empowers the PCC to implement a national competition policy and ensure the promotion and protection of the competitive market by prohibiting anti-competitive agreements, abuses of dominant positions, and anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions.

The Court of Appeals ruled on May 23, 2018 after Manila Electric Co. filed a petition questioning ERC’s jurisdiction over competition concerns related to the Malampaya shutdown in 2013, said the Competition law repeals Sections 43 and 45 of the EPIRA law, which gave ERC the power to resolve cases of anti-competitive behavior and other unfair trade practices in the energy sector.

Under the PCA, anticompetitive behavior or collusion are punishable with fines of up to P250 million, and imprisonment of responsible officers of up to seven years.

“Ensuring consumers are provided adequate supply of electricity on fair terms and prices, while allowing market players of all sizes to operate on a level playing field is at the center of our partnership,” the PCC’s Mr. Balisacan said. — Janina C. Lim

More controls on entry of Chinese workers looming

THE CABINET is working on a set of rules to be enforced across various agencies that will require foreign workers to acquire work permits and taxpayer identification numbers, signaling a crackdown on the unchecked entry of Chinese workers, the official said.

The President’s spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement Tuesday that the agencies agreed to the new requirements at a meeting with President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday night.

In the statement, Mr. Panelo said that the agencies working on the circular are the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Finance (DoF), Department of Justice (DoJ), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Bureau of Immigration (BI), and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).

The joint memorandum circular, according to Mr. Panelo, will require foreign nationals to first “secure an alien employment permit, a working visa, and a tax identification number before they can be permitted to work in the country.”

In a briefing, Mr. Panelo said foreign workers allowed entry will be limited to “specialized” jobs that Filipino workers cannot currently fill and can learn from.

“We will just get them kung hindi kaya ng Pilipino (We will only admit workers who can do jobs Filipinos are not capable of) — kung specialized; and then you can learn from them, ‘di ba (We can learn from their specializations). Iyon nga ang sinasabi ni Secretary Bello (As Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III has said), kapag mayroong highly specialized workers coming from abroad na nagtatrabaho rito, iyong mga workers natin will learn from them; and then, we don’t need them anymore (we can learn from highly specialized workers from overseas until our own workers learn the work and we don’t need them anymore),” he said.

More than half of the 45,000 work permits issued by the Labor Department in 2017 were given to Chinese nationals, according to the agency’s latest available data. The number of Chinese workers who secured permits doubled in 2016 to 18,000 when Mr. Duterte assumed the presidency and fostered friendlier ties with Beijing.

Also during the Cabinet meeting, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. and Undersecretary Sarah Lou Y. Arriola reported on the status of overseas Filipino workers who are affected by the conflict in Libya.

The officials, according to Mr. Panelo, said that there are over “2,000” Filipinos in Libya with “70 of them availing of the repatriation program of the government while most are still waiting for their back wages.” — Arjay L. Balinbin

Cabinet cluster backs perks, incentives to decongest NCR

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte will “most likely” issue an executive order to offer incentives to businesses locating outside of Metro Manila in order to help decongest the National Capital Region, as recommended by a section of the Cabinet, Malacañang said Monday.

In a statement, the President’s Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said Mr. Duterte’s Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation, and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCAM-DRR) proposed during the Cabinet meeting Monday to decongest Metro Manila “by reducing its population density and incentivizing the economic activities outside of the region.”

Asked during a news conference at the Palace, Mr. Panelo said the Cabinet “approved” the recommendation.

“Inaprubahan namin iyong ano eh, iyong motion to approve the suggestion,” he said.

Whether an executive order will be issued, Mr. Panelo said: “Most likely.”

Mr. Panelo added that the CCAM-DRR also proposed “to require all agencies to submit their public service continuity plans should The Big One occur.”

He said the CCAM-DRR also wants the next Congress to pass the bill creating the Department of Disaster Resiliency that will serve as the government’s lead agency for the implementation of risk reduction policies, programs, and projects.

“Having an earthquake resilient archipelago was highlighted by Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction Chairperson and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, together with National Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana. They recommended that the Office of the President, through the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, push for the passage of the creation of the Department of Resiliency in the 18th Congress,” he said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Rice inventories higher after NFA stocks surge

THE RICE inventory on May 1 was estimated at 2.95 million metric tons (MMT), up 1.3% from a year earlier, and up 12.2% year on year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

The inventory estimate by the PSA, which issued its Rice and Corn Stocks Inventory report Tuesday, is sufficient for about 92 days.

Some 42.9% of the rice stocks were held by households, 38.1% by commercial warehouses, and 18.9% by the National Food Authority (NFA).

Inventory held by households and commercial warehouses fell 9% and 25.9% year-on-year, respectively. Meanwhile NFA stocks surged 15,952.4% after year-earlier inventories were drawn down, helping trigger 2018’s inflation crisis.

On a month-on-month basis, inventory held by households grew 7.6% and commercial warehouse inventory rose 28.4%. NFA stocks declined 3.1%.

The NFA has shifted its focus to maintaining a buffer stock, its authorized role under the Rice Tariffication Law. It is currently purchasing clean and dry palay, or unmilled rice, at P20.70 per kilo, fulfilling its mandate of procuring rice only from domestic farmers. Year on year, depositories during the month was up 72.6% in households, and was up 160.2% in commercial warehouses. On the other hand, month-on-month, households’ stocks inventory was 30.1% lower, but commercial warehouses depositories were up 55.1%. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

Audit commission says Napolcom allowance for supplements unauthorized

THE COMMISSION on Audit (CoA) flagged the National Police Commission (Napolcom) for providing allowances for dietary supplements to its employees without legal basis.

According to its 2018 audit report, CoA said Napolcom distributed P9,090,000 to its employees unlawfully and in violation of the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) Budget Circular No. 16.

The circular specifies that “all agencies are hereby prohibited from granting any food, rice, gift checks or any other form of incentives/allowances except those authorized via Administrative Order by the Office of the President.”

In the report, CoA noted that dietary supplement allowance was given both to regular employees as well as to contact and job order personnel.

“The grant of said allowance is without authority/legal basis to prove the validity of the payment,” CoA said.

The report also noted that Napolcom claimed in 2017 that the payment of dietary supplement allowances is in line with the agency’s preventive health care program.

However, the state auditors pointed out that under the Civil Service Commission Administrative Order (A.O.) No. 402 medical benefits are only limited to diagnostic procedures.

“It is very clear that the medical benefit extended under A.O. No. 402 is a limited benefit confined to a medical check-up program consisting of procedures that are strictly diagnostic. Nothing in A.O. No. 402 refers to a prescription drug benefits nor dietary supplement benefits,” CoA said.

CoA recommended that Napolcom “immediately stop the payment of dietary supplement allowance; and henceforth, refrain from paying any form of allowances unless legally authorized.” — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

DoF: Small month-on-month price growth possible

THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) said inflation will be on track over the rest of the year if the month-on-month price movements are capped at about 0.4 percentage points, with the latest data settling well below that ceiling.

The DoF said the month-on-month price growth declined to 0.17% in May from 0.25% in April.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier reported that inflation in May of 3.1%, accelerating from the April rate of 3%.

“Inflation momentum is expected to recede further with crude oil prices moving to bear territory, with Dubai crude futures dropping below $60/barrel as of June 6,” the DoF said in a statement on Tuesday.

The DoF said the moderation in inflation month-on-month was largely caused by the stabilization in food prices, specifically rice.

The Rice Tariffication Law which was signed on March 5 aims to reduce the price of rice by liberalizing rice imports while collecting tariffs on foreign grain.

However, the DoF, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, noted price increases in vegetables and fruits due to El Niño.

Non-food inflation meanwhile moderated to 0.18% month-on-month in May, from 0.35% in April when petroleum prices were rising, with Dubai crude oil peaking at $72.84 per barrel from $70.95 in April, the highest level since November 2018.

In May, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reduced its policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.5%. The reserve requirement ratio (RRR) of banks has also been reduced by 200 bps to 16% from 18% with the first cut of 100 bps made on May 31, to be followed by a 50-bp cut on June 28 and another 50-bp cut on July 26.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno expects RRR to be in single digits by next year, while economists forecast more cuts by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, BSP Monetary Board Member Felipe M. Medalla said on Tuesday that there he sees no need for more cuts in policy rates with the current inflation trend. The BSP forecast inflation of 2.9% this year and 3.1% next year, both within the national government’s target range of 2-4%.

“Inflation is going to be a little bit below 3% this year, a little bit higher than 3% next year. Therefore there’s really no reason to change policy rates… If you look at the chart of inflation, there’s a 16-month period when inflation was below 2% and was even below 1% at that time. So if something like that were to happen, the economy is going to be very weak. Then you’ll have to take a position (of) maybe accelerating the reserve cuts or the policy rates. But right now, as I see it, its a safe bet that there’s no need to make adjustments unless we see new data,” Mr. Medalla told participants of BSP’s Conference on Gearing up for External Competitiveness.

“My own forecast is that no change [on rates] for at least two meetings,” Mr. Medalla said. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

ASF task force warns gov’t to prepare to compensate farmers

AN official with the government’s task force to prevent the entry of African Swine Fever (ASF) said the group is pushing for funding to indemnify farmers should the disease enter the Philippines.

At a hog industry meeting, Maria Glofezita Lagayan, head of communications for the task force under the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry, said the funding will compensate farmers for any losses should the government declare an ASF emergency.

She did not provide details.

Private sector participants said consumers also had to be encouraged to buy domestic pork.

Angel Antonio C. Manabat, technical services manager for PIC Philippines, Inc., called for an “Eat Pinoy Pork Campaign,” among other education measures, taking the industry position that pork imports are at a level currently disadvantageous to domestic producers.

“The only way we can help the industry is to talk about it, come out with programs, eat local pork, sponsor seminar lectures with the farmers… at least all the farmers and allied industries to know about ASF,” Mr. Manabat told BusinessWorld after the forum.

A university representative, Clarissa Yvonne Domingo, associate professor at the Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Science and Medicine at Central Luzon State University, said her institution is developing a method to detect the disease in pigs.

The CLSU method uses the process of recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) to function like a pregnancy test kit.

She said the university has also signed a memorandum of agreement with the BAI for capacity-building at veterinary laboratories.

Romeo E. Sanchez, associate professor at the University of the Philippines Los Banos, discussed methods to control ASF through biosecurity, disease confirmation, movement restrictions, and slaughter methods. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

Mr. President, we can make an explosion

Our situation in the South China Sea evokes an image of a child who gets his pants pulled down on the playground at lunchtime. This is normally followed by physical harm such as repeated hitting, kicking, pushing, and the like. And, to make the physical intimidation more credible, the bullies usually outnumber the victim, and more often than not, have a visible physical advantage.

In such cases, what are the options available to the boy? Starting with the obvious: the victim, at that particular point, may put up a fight, give in, or flee. Given the odds, fighting may be a losing proposition. But it can also send a clear message to the bullies that he will never take the bullying sitting down. He may even be lucky enough to land a punch and hurt his adversaries. When this happens, obviously the consequences for the victim would be dire.

The victim may also decide to give in and spare himself the additional pain that could be inflicted on him if he challenges the bullies. This scenario emboldens the bullies and gives them more encouragement to continue the mistreatment.

Finally, the boy may attempt to flee the scene and have a stay of execution. Sooner or later, however, the inevitable may happen, and when it does — like hunters deprived of their prey — the appetite of the bullies to harm is more vicious and aggressive.

But in the morning after, the matter can be reported to the authorities, either by the victim or by his parents. However, telling an authority figure about bullying is regarded as the most common failed solution. From most accounts of bullying, the authorities are limited to just telling off the bullies that what they are doing is wrong and has no place in the school. Following the state of mind of the bullies, this scenario may only result in more negative consequences for the victim — this time, for being a snitch.

A lot of victims swear by the effectiveness of the talking to the bullies — engaging them in a candid and personal conversation. Having a sincere dialogue between the bullies and the victims gives them an opportunity to deal with their differences in a more rational way.

However, should the Philippines consider this as a case of Chinese bullying? Expert sources say that for a behavior to be considered as bullying, there must be hostile intent, imbalance of power, repetition, distress, and provocation.

Except for their apologists, the Chinese seem to tick all the boxes in determining whether bullying actually exists. The heavy presence of their military and continuing build-up of military facilities in the area all the more emphasizes their hostile intentions. Every now and then, Filipino fishermen are harassed by the Chinese navy for their presence in the disputed territories. Recently, Chinese vessels were seen harvesting giant clams in the Scarborough Shoal, clearly taunting the Philippine military and our fishermen of the obvious imbalance of power, coupled with the repetitive and provocative nature of these incursions.

Should the Philippines put up a fight, give in, or flee? Should we tell on the Chinese to the authorities or Uncle Sam? Or, should we engage them in a sincere dialogue?

In January 2013, we told the authorities about what was happening. Following a tense standoff between Philippine and Chinese ships, the Philippines filed its case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). The PCA said that there was no legal basis for the so-called nine-dash-line insisted on by China and that it violated Philippine sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone by (a) interfering with Philippine fishing and petroleum exploration, (b) constructing artificial islands and (c) failing to prevent Chinese fishermen from fishing in the zone.

Since then, President Duterte, has been vacillating on what to do with the ruling and how to deal with China. By and large, it appears that he wants to be friends with China and then live happily ever after. But Gregory Poling, Executive Director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, is sounding the alarm: “The fish are going to be dead pretty soon. And the Philippines is not going to be handcuffed to an ASEAN-China code of conduct process with some indefinite end date that may or may not touch on these issues.”

His prescription is for the Philippines to work side by side with other claimant countries to forge a deal with China regarding fisheries management — not really to settle the territorial dispute. Poling’s approach is directed at saving the resources of the area, without having to push China and its might into doing something worse than what it is already doing. The Philippines, Vietnam, and China may agree on declaring certain areas as protected zones for coral reefs and shoals and limit fishing in other areas.

There seems to be a lot of wisdom in Poling’s prescription. Why go on a one-on-one, all-out conflict with China when the power imbalance is so pronounced? China may just stonewall all efforts to force it to behave like an outstanding global citizen. Poling further suggests that the Philippines should have sanctioned the Chinese companies who have supported paramilitary forces in the Spratlys. At the very least, he says, we should be banning them from operations.

Our biggest obstacle may be the eagerness of President Duterte to throw in the towel and concede to China. He has led many to believe that it is in our best interest to just kowtow to Beijing and to Xi Jinping. As it turns out, we are not that helpless. We may just need to believe that there is something more to be done. We may just need to light the match and put international pressure on China.

As cliché as it sounds, Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” may as well be our rallying cry. It goes:

Like a small boat
On the ocean
Sending big waves
Into motion
I might only have one match
But I can make an explosion

Edwin Santiago is the Executive Director of Stratbase ADR Institute.

Snapshots of Eddie Garcia

I’m praying that, by the time this piece comes out, my friend and motion picture colleague Eddie Garcia will have recovered from his recent neck fracture and is resting well, before going back before the cameras. At age 90, Eddie is one of the oldest film and TV actors in the country and, without fear of contradiction, one of the most awarded silver screen professionals in the world, not just as best actor and best-supporting actor, but as best director, as well.

In fact, Eddie’s achievements in films are so awesome that in April last year, I took the liberty of suggesting that he be named National Artist for Film, alongside directors Gerry de Leon, Lamberto V. Avellana, Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal and Eddie Romero, and actor-directors Manuel Conde and Fernando Poe, Jr.

Here’s what I cited, among Eddie’s many achievements: “In the annual Filipino Academy of Movie Arts & Sciences (FAMAS) Awards (the equivalent of Hollywood’s Oscars), Eddie has had a total of 34 nominations (13 for Best Supporting Actor of which he won 6; 10 for Best Actor of which he won 5; and 11 for Best Director of which he also won 5).

“He is the only one in the history of the FAMAS to win the Best Supporting Actor trophy for 3 consecutive years (1957, 1958 and 1959); was the first to be inducted into the Best Supporting Actor Hall of Fame; and is the only one to have also been inducted into the Best Actor and Best Director Halls of Fame, in addition to a Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Additionally, Eddie received from the Film Academy of the Philippines 3 Luna Awards for Best Director (1986, 1987 and 2001), the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 and the Best Actor Award in 2000. In the Metro Manila Film Festival, Eddie won the Best Director Award in 1989 and the Best Actor Award in 2002. In 2000, he won the Urian Award for Best Actor, conferred by movie critics. In 2006, he was given the Natatanging Gawad Urian Award for his achievements in Film. In 2012, the Asia-Pacific Film Festival named him Asian Best Actor.

“There have also been two special honors given in the name of fellow actors, a distinct recognition in a highly competitive field: the Fernando Poe, Jr. Memorial Award and the first Dolphy Lifetime Achievement Award conferred in 2013 by the Entertainment Press Society. Even the TV industry acknowledged Eddie’s artistry by giving him the 2002 Star Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series.”

I have known Eddie as a friend and a fellow film worker for an unbelievable 63 years. He is 10 years older than I am and I first met him when he was a 27-year-old top contravida (villain) at Sampaguita Pictures and I was a 17-year-old movie reporter. We met through director Armando Garces who gave me my break as a screenplay writer. I would subsequently write several screenplays directed by Eddie, specifically the Tony Falcon, Agent X-44 series starring Tony Ferrer. Among them were Sabotage and Crisis, both of which were the box-office champions in the 1966 and 1971 Manila Film Festivals, respectively.

I knew Eddie as someone with a wicked sense of humor, delivered in a semi-serious, soft-spoken drawl that invariably caught the victims of his jokes off guard and vulnerable. You were sure to come to grief if you ever tried to sing a song in his presence. “Are you crying or complaining?” Eddie would quip, poker-faced.

In my forthcoming book, Confusions of a Communications Man – Surviving Radio, TV, Movies, Journalism and Advertising, I recount snapshots of Eddie Garcia as a person:

“Whenever Manding (Garces) and Eddie were not busy with their movies, they were sure to make a beeline for nightclub row on Roxas Boulevard. Their favorite watering hole was Kapitbahay Sa Riviera. This was because Carding Cruz and the Tirso Cruz Band played there. Carding was a perennial musical director in Manding’s films.

“Like a mascot, whenever I happened to be at Sampaguita, I always tagged along with Manding and Eddie. And while they had fun on the dance floor, I would help myself to the drinks and the cigarettes, which I couldn’t afford to buy for myself…

“I distinctly remember an incident at Kapitbahay when our group was confronted by a pair of gun-wielding toughies who had a grudge against one of our companions, Ben Johnson, a Sampaguita actor. With us at the table, aside from Manding, Eddie and Ben, were Sampaguita star Rod Navarro, script writer-director Chaning Carlos and choreographer Rally Calvo.

“Despite having already downed a lot of drinks, I suddenly sobered up at the sight of the gun barrels pointed at us. But Eddie calmly told the toughies, ‘How can you be sure that guns aren’t being aimed at you right now?’

“It was a bluff but it worked. The two gun-wielders backed off and hurried out of the club. That was when I learned that Rod Navarro was an active duty officer of the Philippine Constabulary. He quickly left the club and in less than an hour was back, armed and in uniform, accompanied by a squad of soldiers. Luckily, the toughies had long gone.

“That incident would not be my last experience where the line between reel and real-life violence overlapped.”

As a screenplay writer, I was notorious for not submitting a complete shooting script, even in the course of production. I turned in sequences on installment as required by the filming schedule. But I had to make an exception of the movies I wrote for Eddie:

“The only director to whom I eventually had to diligently submit a complete shooting script before start of production was Eddie Garcia. Eddie and Tony Ferrer had already done several Agent X-44 films together, with Eli Corcuera and Henry Cuino as script writers. They were all box office hits. But on the suggestion of Manding Garces, Eddie agreed to try me out for the next sequel, Deadline: Agosto 13, based on a story by Manding himself.

“Apparently, everyone was happy with my output because I was assigned two more Agent X-44 films in succession, Trapped and Blackmail. In each case, Eddie cheerfully accepted my installment system of writing screenplays.

“Then came Sabotage. According to Atty. Laxa, it would be his company’s biggest production yet and would be Tagalog Ilang-Ilang’s entry in the first Manila Film Festival. Some of the scenes would be shot on location. In fact, I was asked to go along with Eddie and the production team to check out Binga Dam, up in the Mountain Province, several kilometers from Baguio.

“With his trademark wicked smile, Eddie told me, ‘Greg, I know that you like to submit your script on installment. That’s perfectly okay with me. I’ll simply bring you along to Binga Dam.’

“Eddie had found my Achilles’ heel! Being shanghaied on location would keep me away from my day job. And there was no way I could slip back to civilization from Binga Dam.

“A week before start of production, I handed over a complete shooting script to Eddie. ‘This means I get to stay in Manila,’ I said cheerfully.

“‘You better hope so,’ was his reply.”

To be inducted into the Order of the National Artists of the Philippines (Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas) is, doubtless, the apex of one’s achievements in the Arts, specifically, in the fields of Music, Dance, Literature, Theater, Visual Arts, Film and Broadcast Arts, and Architecture, Design and Allied Arts. Eddie’s accomplishments as an actor and as a director — and, just as importantly, as an artist who epitomizes the finest qualities of a professional in Film and Visual Arts — deserve a place alongside that of the country’s National Artists.

I fervently hope that Eddie Garcia will receive this well-deserved recognition while he can still relish the honor in person. Sadly, all the National Artists for Film have been sent for by the Great Producer in the Sky.

 

Greg B. Macabenta is an advertising and communications man shuttling between San Francisco and Manila and providing unique insights on issues from both perspectives.

gregmacabenta@hotmail.com

*The original version of this column said that Mr. Garcia suffered a heart attack, in line with earlier reports. He did not. He suffered a neck fracture on set, after tripping and falling while shooting a TV series. We regret the error.

Who gets the credit?

By Tony Samson

AFTER the Bay of Pigs fiasco, John Kennedy famously noted: “Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.” It seems this quote was originally from Tacitus which in Latin has a slightly different tone: “This is an unfair thing about war: victory is claimed by all, failure to one alone.”

In trying to grab credit for success, many self-proclaimed fathers jostle for acclaim. Basking in unearned triumphs takes some cheek, especially when the involvement is marginal. (I was serving them coffee when they decided on the winning bid.)

Sharing the limelight can be a simple matter of sneaking uninvited into a group photo in front of a championship trophy.

Brilliant ideas with successful outcomes are hard to pin down to individuals. Concepts are not subject to ownership rights. This is the whole point of intellectual property rights like patents and authorships which are often the subject of litigation and settlements for big bucks.

Claiming other people’s ideas as one’s own is plagiarism, and more than a simple breach of etiquette. While words set on paper or blogs are properly dated and attributed, fleeting insights and ideas in a business discussion are more abstract and often neither properly recorded nor definitively attributed.

There is no accepted process that allocates credit, like those who thought of an idea first — why don’t we create a platform for sharing rides? Even email is not a reliable record of chronology and authorship, as what is written down may be based on something already discussed earlier. “Aha moments” are not recorded under intellectual property.

Even when someone thought up a great idea first, another person operationalized it and made it work with all the moving parts. Who gets the bigger credit?

Credits for ideas, performance, and achievements are rewarded with recognition and a bigger paycheck. So, this is not just about bragging rights. It may mean the Nobel Prize or at least a promotion and a better car.

Individual honors like “Most Valuable Player” are sought and treasured, even in team sports like basketball or hockey. True, the recipient of the trophy feigns modesty in his acceptance speech by saying he couldn’t have won the award without his teammates. Yet he alone gets to bring home the prize and the bigger paycheck that comes with it.

Recognition can be sought as an end in itself. In the corporate world, the quiet worker who contributes to excellent performance behind the scenes (usually classified as “support service”) just gets more assignments as the adulation (and promotions) go to others above him — yes sir, your file is in the folder tagged “looney tunes.”

Corporate culture highlights individual achievement as a basis for bonuses and promotions and thus encourages credit-grabbing as a way of getting ahead. Even in team-building exercises out of town, one team is usually pitted against another… around designated leaders.

Paternity for success, as in its biological counterpart, is not so easy to establish as it requires a combination of knowing the mother (and more importantly the mother knowing the claimant) as well as a combination of opportunity, intimacy, and the confluence of factors synchronized with the gestation period.

The movie Mamma Mia! handles this conundrum of the bride’s rightful father among three possible partners of the Mom. All three sing their claims to the right ABBA song. In the end, it really doesn’t matter who the real father of the bride is. All the potential fathers love the bride to be, and get to sing the nice finale number, “Dancing Queen”.

An adviser for a successful venture may opt to hide his influence, cherishing his anonymity even as powerful people seek his counsel and claim the credit. When queried on his influence on high profile leaders, he demurs — we just had coffee and chatted about old friends. Powers behind thrones deflect envy by affecting a lack of influence on any decisions made.

A quote attributed to Harry Truman notes: “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” Grabbing glory takes too much effort. It also leads to turf wars and the sabotage of good ideas coming from the wrong person.

Anyway, successful initiatives eventually go wrong. Murphy’s Law states: “If anything can go wrong, it will”. Not as well-known is a corollary, one of many, to Murphy’s Law which goes: “When things go right… the wrong person gets the credit.”

 

Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda.

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Moving to a low-carbon future — why banks and companies need to step up

By Bill Winters

THE CLOCK is ticking on climate change. We currently have more greenhouse gases in our atmosphere than at any time in human history.

As a result of our increasing economic activity, scientists estimate that, under one potential scenario, average temperatures could rise by 6°C by the end of this century. The consequences of that would be catastrophic for humanity. And the most alarming thing is that scientists call this scenario “business-as-usual.”

But this does not have to be the outcome. The term “business-as-usual” itself implies that there must be an ‘unusual’ alternative that leads to a different outcome. We at Standard Chartered are committed to helping our clients, communities, stakeholders, and ourselves achieve the climate goals, as set out in the Paris Agreement, to keep warming below 2°C.

We announced last year that we would develop a methodology to “measure, manage, and ultimately reduce” the CO2 emissions from the activities we finance. We believe this is critical to enable us to meet these climate goals and support our clients through the low-carbon transition.

We can do this, but it won’t be easy. As a global bank, we operate in over 60 markets, many of which have fast-growing, increasingly prosperous economies which bring with them growing demand for energy, food, water, and goods. We can help our communities meet that growing demand in a sustainable way, ensuring those markets have access to the capital they need to fund reliable, cleaner energy.

We must also help them to improve their resilience to the potential impacts of climate change, of which they are often on the frontline. At Standard Chartered we believe we have both an obligation — and a unique opportunity — to help countries meet these challenges without compromising our collective climate goals.

But like action on climate change itself, measuring emissions is complex and requires action from multiple parties. This is a challenge we cannot solve alone. Today, we are making public the work we have done to date to build our methodology. We want to use this to drive the conversation, to accelerate progress and to prevent duplicated efforts. As we see it, success depends on joint efforts among financial institutions to help collectively and continually refine this methodology, as well as widespread company disclosures of accurate and meaningful emissions data.

With the objective of refining our framework, we’re collaborating with four other banks — BBVA, BNP Paribas, Société Générale and ING — through the Katowice Commitment to develop the methodologies and tools the banking sector needs to assess our own contribution to climate goals. We are making some progress, but with more collaborators, we can do more.

We recognize that getting robust, verifiable data in many of our markets may take some time, but we are not waiting. We’ve joined forces with 2 Degrees Investing Initiative (2DII), a climate think tank to pilot a software tool which provides emissions assessments, the actions and findings of which can be found in our emissions white paper (available online at https://www.sc.com/en/sustainability/emissions-whitepaper/). Our pilot has shown a lot of promise, and with the help of other banks and stakeholders, we can make more headway and find answers to the challenges we have identified: getting the right data, validating it and scaling it up to cover 100 percent of our portfolio.

Of course, none of our actions will matter without the efforts of companies across our markets. Disclosures are critical, to show current progress in the transition to a low-carbon future, and help us and other banks understand where capital is needed to complete this transition. There is much we can do in working with clients to assess and improve their emissions profiles.

Disclosures make perfect business sense — the Paris Agreement is expected to open up climate investment opportunities of US$23 trillion in emerging markets between now and 2030, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Much of this investment flow will be guided by and dependent on emissions data. When the private sector recognizes its business case, disclosures on climate-related matters can become the new “business-as-usual.”

The stakes cannot be overstated. To ensure that the flow of capital reaches the places where it is needed most to achieve climate goals, the world must work together and fast. “Business-as-usual” as we know it is no longer acceptable; let’s all come together to help ensure the sustainability of our planet.

 

Bill Winters is the Group CEO of Standard Chartered.

Palace advises KAPA investors to file class suit

MALACAÑANG PALACE on Tuesday urged those who put in money to the Kapa-Community Ministry International, Inc. (KAPA) to file criminal and civil suits against the group to recover their investments.

“They should. They should in order to recover [their investments],” Mr. Panelo told reporters in an ambush interview when asked if the investors should file a class suit against individuals behind KAPA, which according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been “running a scam.”

Mr. Panelo added, “And so that you will put behind bars those people who have been swindling them.”

KAPA, a non-stock and independent religious corporation, collects money from members with a promise of very high return rates.

The SEC said the scheme in which KAPA operates is unsustainable as it may run out of investors and fail to pay its members. The group is said to be soliciting investments of P10,000 to P20,000 for monthly returns of 30%.

Mr. Panelo also noted that it is “strange” that many investors remain very supportive of the SEC-registered group despite the order from President Rodrigo R. Duterte to close it down because it is “fraud.”

“Ang…supportive ‘yung mga nakakuha na ng pera, ‘yung mga nauna (Those who are supportive are those who joined first, those who received money). They were able to get that. Hindi nila alam (They don’t know) that was a trap,” he said.

In a press briefing, the spokesman said the government will also run after other investment scams in Mindanao.

“Kapag nalaman nating mayroong mga ganiyan, ‘di dapat talagang ipasarado (Once we find out there are other such scams, it should really be closed) because it’s a continuing crimes of estafa,” he said.

Asked if filing charges is the only way for investors to recover their money, he said: “Yes, they will have to file criminal and civil suits.”

The SEC announced on Monday that it has obtained a freeze order on several bank accounts and assets of KAPA.

In 2017, SEC found KAPA to be soliciting investments from the public even if it does not have a secondary license to conduct such.

SEC issued a cease and desist order against KAPA last Feb. 14, but it still continued its operation. Its certificate of registration was revoked by the commission last April.

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it is preparing the appropriate complaints against the founder and officers of KAPA for violation of the Securities Regulation Code.

In a press conference Tuesday, lawyer Antonio M. Pagatpat, deputy director for Regional Operation Service, said they conducted simultaneous operations for 14 search warrants, 13 of which were in various KAPA offices, including the residence of its founder, Joel A. Apolinario.

He said the search warrants were issued by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 20 for the violations of sections 8 (Requirement of Registration of Securities) and 26 (Fraudulent Transactions) of the Securities Regulation Code.

Mr. Pagatpat said while there was no one arrested and all the offices reached by the NBI teams were non-operational and closed, they were able to seize “some vital evidence.”

“In the course of the service of the search warrants, our teams were able to seize or recover various documents, records, books, equipment, all proving that indeed KAPA was violating the Securities Regulation Code. And so this time, we are preparing the appropriate complaints against the founder and the other officers of KAPA,” he said.

Mr. Pagatpat also said that reports from their agents showed the organization was not conducting any religious activity.

The NBI is also looking into the possibility of filing charges of large-scale estafa. — Arjay L. Balinbin and Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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