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Am I for Federalism? My answer is a qualified yes if it meets certain preconditions. No partisan color here, just a citizen’s assessment of what is best for the country given our present circumstances from over half a century of observation and experience.
Firstly, it must be a unifying model rather than a divisive one. We are a nation divided despite our being a unitary state. It’s a cultural divide that’s kept us from coming together as one nation.
We need to fix our culture first I would think that develops a compelling sense of nationhood in us, a sense of common purpose and a sense of urgency to build a nation better and stronger for future Filipino generations.
Today, like yesterday, we remain tribal or regional or parochial in our thinking and behavior. It translates to “me first before you” that fans the flames of exclusion and self-interest, ahead and above the common good and the national interest. That’s why the disparities in the distribution of wealth and social benefits are so wide that we distinctly have from an economic sense, two nations, one of “haves” and the other of “have-nots.”
Politically, we have the dynasties lording it over newbies. Socially, we suffer backwardness across-the-board as the consequence of those disparities, with poverty, injustice, and armed conflict at the tip of the spear.
We must ask ourselves this. In order for Federalism to succeed can we sensibly jump straight in without fixing those handicaps? Or must we first address those before we adopt Federalism to give it a fighting chance to work for the benefit of the nation?
Secondly, how will the people benefit from this? This point flows from the first. We need to scrutinize the final draft from the Constitutional Commission to find out how Federalism will directly benefit the lives of the people, how it can build a better Philippines — One Philippines, for all Filipinos — with no one left behind. For example, how will it be made to work for the economy to finally reunite OFW families? I’m hoping that there are excellent provisions there that address the question.
Most people I’ve talked to express the concern that the shift to Federalism is simply going to benefit politicians. They see this shift from a unitary state to a federal state as a convenient way of prolonging one’s tenure in office; that whatever new system and structure may emanate from it won’t principally take into account the people’s well-being. In other words, will Federalism be in our national interest if the personalities, policies, and practices that keep us divided don’t undergo a paradigm shift of fundamental transformation?
Thirdly, what will it take for the nation to make it work for generations to come? To this day, most of us keep hearing the word “federalism” but no one can say when asked what model it is that we’re looking at? I’m aware that the ConCom is proposing the same national setup comprising the same 3 branches of the government — Executive, Legislative, Judiciary — that will function at the federal level; while the regions would be transformed into federated states.
The Executive branch will likely have less institutions to manage to fulfil the requisites of deconcentration, decentralization, and devolution. The Legislature will likely still have two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. I’m not sure if the ConCom has a parliamentary setup in mind or whether the President will opt for it. The federated states will have the power and the leeway to build their own future.
The thing is this: what model will best suit our gene pool assuming Federalism will somehow be used as a transformative tool to change our culture? No one knows because there have been no strategic communications at all to inform the people what to consider and debate about the substance or the specifics of various models; and which one, or a hybrid, is best for us. If the target is to have the people decide this next year, is that enough time for the people to make the right choice with sufficient knowledge on how to make it work for everyone’s benefit?
Fourthly, I think that the transitory provisions will play an important role in buying time for government and society to adjust to the new system. Time is the most important factor because it will take some doing for it to take root. Surely, we can’t do it cold turkey. A rush job is the best recipe for tragedy, not with our current mentality.
We need time to settle down, get sober, and deliberate with reason on how best to move from the presidential to the federal form of government. Whatever we decide must have in mind that everything we failed to attain or achieve in a presidential form of government — inclusion, peace, justice, equitable growth, sustainable development, safety and security, social cohesion — will now have a better chance under a federal form of government.
Let me just squeeze this in before I sign off. Related to Federalism is the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) issue. I personally object to giving our brother Muslims a “homeland” which is a parcel of land in Mindanao. My reasoning is this: they are Filipinos and their homeland is the ENTIRE country. BBL is unnecessary because our Muslim brothers and sisters can freely reside, study, work and retire anywhere in the Republic of the Philippines, their one and only true HOMELAND.
ARMM, just like other regions in the country, needs to improve its state of governance and civics. It’s been deprived of a fair shake in the equitable distribution of powers and wealth creating measures to pick itself up from the floor to one that stands tall among its peers.
I want Federalism to work.
If both the government and society know its respective roles, rights and responsibilities to make it work, it will succeed far into the future. It starts from there, but without sufficient knowledge and maturity, our decision will have to wait. That would be best in our national interest.
 
Rafael M. Alunan served in the cabinet of President Corazon C. Aquino as Secretary of Tourism, and in the cabinet of President Fidel V. Ramos as Secretary of Interior and Local Government.
rmalunan@gmail.com
map@map.org.ph
http://map.org.ph

Lifehacks for when a robot wants your job

By Nisha Gopalan and Andy Mukherjee
CAN’T CODE, or speak Bahasa? Didn’t go to school with a CEO’s son or daughter? A robot will take your trading seat. Read on if you want to save your job.
The threat from automation is in the flows part of banks’ global markets business, the most important chunk of the biggest division of investment banking. Investment banks garner 70% of their revenue from global markets, made up of trading stocks and bonds, as well as structuring derivatives products and financing; the remaining 30% comes from advisory services like shepherding M&As or helping companies raise equity and debt.
The higher-margin areas within markets — from structuring to swaps — is relationship-oriented, and therefore (relatively) safe from robot overlords. And it happens to be a big contributor to the 70% pie, especially in Asia, where commissions on equities and fixed-income trades are sinking fast, and language and client connections play a big role. Good news? Read on.
With the flows business comprising 51% of banks’ global markets revenue of $109.8 billion last year, according to Coalition data, automation of even vanilla trades is no small threat. Besides, the 30% advisory pie of investment banking revenue outside global markets only pays well when banks counsel on large cross-border transactions or underwrite big IPOs.
In Asia, the former is largely a Japanese game since China pulled the plug on dealmaking by its overly ambitious conglomerates. And large share sales only happen in a few markets. India may be the second-biggest destination for cheap Xiaomi phones, but the Chinese firm’s Hong Kong IPO probably made more for banks than the entire Indian equity advisory industry will earn in fees this year, as a senior finance executive told one of us.
Desks have already shrunk, and will get smaller still. A decade from now all trading will be electronic. Last year, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman Jamie Dimon famously boasted of a currency trader that made a $100-million bet via a cell phone. That’s the shape of things to come.
In contrast to the early days of the 2008 financial crisis, when tech was culled to cut costs, digital upgrades are now seen as both an operational necessity and a strategic differentiator. Tech spending in global-markets divisions of investment banks has risen to $16.5 billion at the 12 institutions Coalition canvassed, from $13.8 billion in 2013. A chunk of that is maintenance of bulky legacy systems, but Amrit Shahani, a London-based research director at Coalition, says large Wall Street and European banks are each spending around 10%, or a giddy $1 billion of their annual revenue, to stay relevant.
robot
Chief technology officers are pushing for even bigger budgets. Their teams are the financial coders who’ve created bespoke systems for Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and the like and who are increasingly sitting on trading floors so that precious minutes aren’t wasted talking to someone in Bangalore when a huge deal blows up. Contract workers from third-party firms like PageGroup Plc’s Michael Page and Robert Walters Plc are getting seconded for a few years to help run trading floors smoothly. Headhunters say a $155,000 salary (excluding bonuses) for someone with eight years’ experience isn’t uncommon in Hong Kong, for instance. It’s not exactly banker comp, but it’s rising much faster.
Beyond the coders are the bankers-cum-traders-cum-tech thinkers.
Nomura Holdings, Inc. in February hired Jezri Mohideen, a former senior trader at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Brevan Howard Asset Management, to be its global chief digital officer for investment banking. Based in Dubai, part of his job is to set up artificial-intelligence labs and merge the old and new worlds of asset custody.
Talk to any senior banker or trader and they’ll tell you there’s a lot of soul-searching going on amid threats from fintech and blockchain. The challenges are even more pressing for consumer and private banks, as well as in some corners of corporate lending such as trade finance.
Barclays Plc’s wealth management and investment operations head in the UK is Dirk Klee, previously at UBS Group AG’s wealth arm in technology and digital services. Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings Ltd. CEO Piyush Gupta is using open-application-programming interfaces to blur the boundaries between payments and commerce. If he doesn’t do it, Ant Financial’s Alipay or upstarts such as ride-hailing service PT Go-Jek Indonesia surely will.
In trade finance, using blockchain to retire paperwork older than Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” is a project both Singapore and Hong Kong are working on.
None of this is to say that investment banking is immune. Right now, there’s a rush to hire geeks — so they can make other humans irrelevant. Most banks are struggling to recruit because they “need people who not only have the new technology backgrounds but can also see how these can disrupt financial services processes and models,” says Ian Woodhouse, an associate partner at financial services consultancy Orbium.
So here’s what we think in a nutshell: If you’re trading vanilla fixed-income or cash equities, you’ll only have a job in five years if your dad owns the firm. If you’re a paan-chewing, vaping kind of investment banker (the FT’s delicious description of Rajeev Misra, who built Deutsche Bank AG’s credit derivatives business), you’ll need to impress someone like SoftBank Group Corp.’s Masayoshi Son with your structuring skills. (Robots lack chutzpah.)
If you’re somewhere in between, learn to code. Or at a minium, think tech disruption on a very large scale.
 
BLOOMBERG

Strong second half propels Beermen to 2-0 series lead over Aces

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE defending champions San Miguel Beermen moved a win away from returning to the finals of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup after beating the Alaska Aces, 105-94, on Monday night in Game Two of their best-of-five semifinal series to go up 2-0.
Limited in the first 24 minutes of the contest, the Beermen flipped the switch in the second fold to overtake the Aces and eventually seize the victory.
Alaska started aggressively on both ends of the court to keep control of the opening quarter, 29-18.
Led by rookie Jeron Teng, the Aces continued to play strong to begin the second canto.
They outscored the Beermen, 12-7, to extend their lead to 16 points, 41-25, in the first four minutes.
But San Miguel would hit its strides after, cutting its deficit to just five points, 43-38, with a little over three minutes left in the quarter.
Alaska was able to collect itself for a recoil as the period expired, going on a 9-3 run to reestablish a double-digit cushion, 52-41, by the halftime break.
In the third quarter, it was the Beermen’s turn to go on a fast start, going on a 13-3 blitz with three and a half minutes lapsing to tie the count at 54-all.
The two teams went back and forth after with the score continued to be knotted at 64-all at the four-minute mark of the quarter.
Things eventually settled with San Miguel completing a third-quarter turnaround, holding a 79-74 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes.
Alaska cranked up its pressure defense at the start of the fourth, immediately reaping benefits as it was able to seize back the lead, 80-79, at the 10:34 mark.
The scored stood at 88-85 and the Beermen on top with six minutes remaining on the clock.
Import Renaldo Balkman and Alex Cabagnot combined for six points after for the Beermen in the next three minutes to give their team added leverage, 94-87.
San Miguel held an eight-point lead, 98-90, as the match entered the last two minutes.
Alaska tried to claw its way back from there but could only come within six points, 98-92, after a basket by Vic Manuel.
Back-to-back triples by Arwind Santos and Mr. Cabagnot put the game away for San Miguel.
Mr. Balkman led the way for the Beermen with 31 points and 10 rebounds with June Mar Fajardo adding 21 points and 18 rebounds.
Chris Ross and Mr. Cabagnot, for their part, added 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Diamon Simpson, meanwhile, paced the Aces with 19 points and 15 boards.
Simon Enciso also had 19 while Vic Manuel finished with 15 for Alaska, which continued to play sans Chris Banchero (personal emergency) and Calvin Abueva (team suspension).
“Credit Alaska for making it tough for us in the first half. We’re fortunate to have been able to come back in the second half on the strength of our defense,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria after their win.
San Miguel tries to go for the jugular in Game Three set for Wednesday.

Lessons from Lolo

By Raju Mandhyan
YEARS AGO, the Philippine Council of Management asked me to make a presentation at their National Management Conference and provide an entrepreneur’s point of view for responding to the challenges of the global economic crisis. They suggested that I focus on the values of resilience, ethics, and strategy for not just surviving but for succeeding through the challenging times. They also suggested that I make my presentation lively and light.
After I agreed to do the presentation, I hit a stonewall.
Planning a strategy, essentially, involved research, intelligence, planning, structure, discipline and a large amount of ruthlessness towards the achievement of personal or organizational goals. Ethics, on the other hand, brought up responses about compassion, honesty, transparency, righteousness, and morality.
These two ideas were like two mountain goats heading in opposite direction on a narrow bridge.
I was stuck!
On the night before the presentation, I went to bed fraught with anxiety and chaos.
Finally, past midnight, a mentor, coach, and a ghost from my past came visiting. This was a man who had lived through the great depression, survived World War II and the partition of India-Pakistan in 1947. This guru from the past had not just lived through these devastating periods of human history but had also succeeded through them with a combination of spunk, sincerity, and suppleness of strategy.
LOLO MAKHIJA
Lolo Makhija, born and raised in Karachi, Sindh, was brought up by a lawyer father. Though he never did go to college he’d acquired the sharpness and the analytical mind of his father. Lolo Makhija had built and nurtured several successful businesses in his lifetime.
By the time he was in his early fifties, he had turned into a very conservative investor whose life had acquired calm and stability which we all strive for. From his position of strength and stability, he was able to support his life and family with grace and dexterity.
The lessons that he had shared with me are the ones that I presented to the members of the 37th National Management Congress. These are lessons that I picked up not in one sitting but over a period of time through my growing years.
I’d like to create a larger context on why his ideas made so much sense and meaning given how the world moves and changes so fast.
Gandhi, once, claimed that man is the center of a circle which has no circumference. The bigger truth is that humans are, really, the center of a sphere with no boundaries in any direction. We are also all that we do, which in turn creates ripples and affects the universe. All these ripples we create over time and space also come right back at us, affecting our lives. This fact of interconnectedness and synchronicity is now being recognized much more than it was a few decades ago.
Now we know, understand and believe that when a butterfly flaps its wings in Batangas, it can create a bagyo [storm] in Bombay. Now we also know that excessive and reckless lending of money by banks in America can generate joblessness and hunger in Asia.
Lolo Makhija, I remember, had an unspoken and a deep understanding of how waste, frivolity, and abuse can seriously exploit nature, humanity and life.
Lolo, even though he was substantially rich for his times, used to have a minimal number of personal clothing. He lived in a small home and would use public transportation on most of his commutes and travel. He also had another habit too which I, as a kid, and many other family members used to tease him about. Lolo used to pick up and gather little nuts, bolts, coins, milk bottle caps, etc., from the street and bring them home. Here are certain things he told me that I haven’t forgotten about. His tips also became values for organizations and, even, global development.
LESSON ONE: INVEST IN LEISURE, LUXURY AND OSTENTATIOUS BEHAVIOR ONLY IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT 10 TIMES AND OVER
Every successful individual and organization that surfs through hard times is the one that has cash reserves handy and in plenty.
Taipan Henry Sy made his best deals and investment in the early 1980s when the country was undergoing political and economic turmoil.
When everyone else was closing shop and moving funds across borders and economies, Henry Sy bought a chunk of land and, at the tail-end of the crisis, built his first “mega-mall” called SM North Edsa. It makes Sun Tzu kind of strategic sense to always be ready with more than enough ammunition to conquer adversities and capture opportunities. Business acumen is the right hand of success and frugality, like that of my Lolo’s, makes up the left hand.
LESSON TWO: FIRST, HAVE, AT LEAST, ONE REVENUE STREAM THAT IS STEADY, SAFE, AND SUSTAINABLE AND ONLY THEN INDULGE IN OTHER INVESTMENTS.
It is always good business strategy to be standing on solid ground. If one is not standing on steady ground how can he aim correctly his actions towards his targets in life? If all our income sources are volatile and chaotic then the welfare of the organization and its stakeholders will remain at high risk. Finding and starting from solid ground again and again, makes every warrior a lethal and strong one. Finding solid ground and working from that angle is a matter of strong discipline and allows us to unleash unlimited power towards all opportunities. Nurturing a discipline of consistently finding stable ground builds strong bridges, in business, between aspirations and accomplishments.
LESSON THREE: STAY DETACHED FROM THE TEMPTATIONS OF SMOOTH AND SHINY OBJECTS THAT GO “CLINK!”
Most of us can become short-sighted and end up making our appearances and financial bottom-lines our glorified obsessions.
If money was the only goal then all those chasing it would be on the right track to success and happiness. On the contrary, the opposite is the truth. Those who chase curiosity, learning, and discovery end up being truly wealthy, successful, and fulfilled. Likewise, business entities that focus on innovation, true growth, and socially responsible constructivism succeed phenomenally. Companies like Ayala group of the Philippines and Tata group of India are shining examples of such a paradigm.
LESSON FOUR: WHEN ENGULFED IN A WHIRLPOOL, STAY CALM AND USE ITS ENERGY RATHER THAN FIGHT IT.
This particular tip from Lolo came at a time in my life when my personal life, my career and my financial status had made a home in the dog house. “The more you fight it the worse it’ll get,” I remember him telling me. “Be less frantic, complain less, bear more, put your head down and work away. Soon time and providence will find you a way out.”
Though I did not act on his advice right away, it became my mantra. Over the years, I have benefited powerfully from living calmly through all crises.
For businesses, patience, positioning, and proper timing become a powerful synergy. Becoming intrinsically and strategically “cool” drives our actions and judgments to become more proactive and powerful.
LESSON FIVE: LOOK AFTER ALL FAMILY, NEAR AND FAR.
From his fifties right until his moving on to the next world, Lolo Makhija, kept supporting and sponsoring the growth, the welfare, and the education of near and distant family. His employees, his associates were always well looked after. Though he led the family quietly and firmly, he never claimed recognition. He was, also, always grooming others to take over and take charge.
In business, it makes profound sense to have leaders who build other leaders and not followers. It makes profound sense to run a smooth, harmonious, happy, efficient, and effective organization.
This amazing sense of family and community is intrinsic to humans regardless of cultural diversity. In the Philippines, I have seen proof of its existence during the People Power Revolution of the 1980s and most recently during the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy.
During these times, ordinary people from the street came together as one and looked after the welfare and relief of the larger family — the country.
My take on Lolo Makhija’s amazing personality is that the man was made out of a very special stock. In a time and age when people were just content with safe, long-term jobs, in a place and country where people struggled for food and simple household needs, he managed to walk taller than them. He had this raging desire to be different, to stand apart and to be always strong and supportive.
What really and truly drives every individual and organization to be different is that same “raging desire” to be different. This deep, burning desire to succeed and stand apart in all our trials and tribulations is the key to success. Thus, for us to always succeed, we need to ignite ourselves in a such a way that people from far and wide should come watch us burn.
 
Raju Mandhyan Author, Coach and Trainer
www.mandhyan.com
A World of Clear, Creative and Conscientious Thinkers!
http://mandhyan.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/RajuMandhyan

Bourse caps four-day rally amid lack of leads

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
EQUITIES slipped on Monday as the market consolidated amid a lack of catalysts.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEI) snapped its four-day winning streak Monday, July 16, dropping 29.74 points or 0.4% to end at 7,369.44, while the broader all-shares index gave up 12.29 points or 0.27% to finish at 4,462.60.
“The market is still consolidating and trying to test the 7,400. It’s range-bound between 7,400 and 7,200. So it has to test and trade within that range first, before it tests new highs,” First Metro Investment Corp. Vice-President Cristina S. Ulang said in an interview on the sidelines of the company’s midyear economic briefing in Makati City. “That’s the behavior of the market, it’s just consolidating.”
For Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan, a “[l]ack of catalysts remained the culprit once again, as some investors were profit taking after the release of China GDP (gross domestic product) and renewed fears of an escalating trade war.”
“Value turnover remained weak as there were not enough leads to push the index past the 7,400 resistance,” Mr. Limlingan said in a mobile message.
The PSEi shrugged off gains seen in Wall Street last week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 0.38% or 94.52 points to 25,019.41 last Friday.
Most Asian indices also closed lower on Monday, following the release of China’s latest GDP growth figure which came in at 6.7% — meeting market expectations, but still slower than the preceding quarter’s 6.8%.
Back home, the industrial counter was the lone winner among the sectoral indices, gaining 23 points 0.22% to 10,470.73.
Holding firms led losers, shedding 55.20 points or 0.75% to 7,249.75, followed by property’s 23.81-point or 0.65% drop to 3,589.11; mining and oil’s 60.48-point or 0.62% fall to 9,659.65; services’ 2.72-point or 0.19% decline to 1,429.19; and financials’ 1.91-point or 0.10% dip to 1,823.83.
Some 919.84 million issues worth P4.28 billion switched hands, compared to Friday’s 1.49 billion stocks worth P5.46 billion. Decliners outpaced advancers, 90 to 82, while 55 names were unchanged.
Foreigners remained in selling position for the eighth straight trading day, with net selling accelerating to P279.31 million on Monday from Friday’s P37.78 million.
Half of Monday’s 20 most active stocks ended in negative territory, with Ayala Land, Inc. losing 1.46% to P37.10 each; Megawide Construction Corp. falling 1.75% to P19.04; BDO Unibank, Inc. dipping by 0.78% to P127.90 each, while SM Investments Corp. plunged 1.64% to P901 each.
Shares of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. were the most actively traded, gaining 0.43% to P69.80 each, after the company clarified that talks of a P400-million branch fraud, as bared in a gossip piece, were false.

Peso drops to fresh 12-year low as Trump calls EU a trading ‘foe’

THE PESO weakened against the dollar to hit a fresh 12-year low due to continuous corporate demand for the dollar as well as the negative statement of US President Donald J. Trump against the European Union (EU).
The local unit ended Monday’s session at P53.53 versus the greenback, two centavos weaker than the P53.51-per-dollar finish on Friday.
This is a fresh low for the peso as this is its weakest finish in nearly 12 years since it closed at P53.55 against the greenback on June 29, 2006.
The peso strengthened slightly as it opened the session at P53.50, which was already its best showing for the day. Its intraday low meanwhile stood at P53.54 versus the US currency.
Dollars traded declined to $290.75 million from the $397 million that switched hands the previous session.
A foreign exchange trader said the peso just moved sideways against the dollar.
“The dollar-peso barely moved [on Monday] as it traded within a very tight range,” the trader said in a phone interview.
The trader added the peso had some support as “there is still a lot of flows in terms of companies buying dollars,” particularly oil firms.
“But on the top side, it seems that there are still offers at P53.55. It’s capping the range for now,” the trader added.
Meanwhile, another trader said the peso slipped versus its US counterpart following a “negative” statement by Mr. Trump versus the European bloc.
“The peso depreciated to another new 12-year low following the recent negative trade remarks by US President Donald Trump to the European Union which drove renewed safe-haven buying towards the dollar,” the trader said in an e-mail.
In an interview with CBS’s aired on Sunday, Mr. Trump said the EU is a “foe” of the United States for what the European bloc does to them in terms of trade.
“Well I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now you wouldn’t think of the European Union but they’re a foe,” Mr. Trump said in the “Face the Nation” news program.
For Tuesday, the first trader sees the peso moving between P53.30 and P53.55 against the dollar, while the other gave a P53.40-P53.60 forecast range.
“The peso might recover [on Tuesday] amid expectations of weaker US retail sales data which might indicate possible slowdown in American consumer spending,” the second trader noted. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Pulse Asia: 2 of 3 Filipinos against charter change

TWO OUT of three Filipinos are against charter change, despite seven out of 10 Filipinos having little awareness towards the proposed shift to federalism, the latest survey by Pulse Asia showed.
Amid the survey findings, congressional allies of President Rodrigo R. Duterte will proceed with this program stemming from his 2016 election campaign. But the leader of the Senate said he will hold a caucus “before I speak about the matter at hand.”
Pulse Asia’s June 2018 National Survey on Charter Change, conducted June 15 to 21, showed that 67% or two out of three Filipinos are opposed to charter change. Of that percentage, 37% are against changing the 1987 Constitution “now and in the future,” while 30% “may be open to it sometime in the future.”
Other respondents either support charter change now (18%) or are undecided on the matter (14%).
“During the period March to June 2018, the overall level of support for charter change now declines (-5 percentage points) while public opposition against it now and in the future becomes more notable (+5 percentage points),” Pulse Asia said.
In terms of areas and socio-economic groupings, the polling group found big pluralities in Metro Manila (40%), the rest of Luzon (40%), the Visayas (43%), and Class D (38%) opposed to charter change now and in the future.
“About the same percentages of those in Class E either reject it now and in the future (32%) or oppose it now but may be supportive of its in the future (30%). In Mindanao and Class ABC, nearly the same percentages oppose charter change now but may be open to it in the future (34% and 30%, respectively), support it now (28% and 25%, respectively), or reject it now and in the future (26% and 38%, respectively),” Pulse Asia said.

FINDINGS BY AREA
The polling group also found majority of Filipinos (62%) rejecting the shift to federalism, with 34% opposing it now and in the future and 28% being against it now but may be open to it in the future.
With the exception of Mindanao (45%), majority levels of opposition to federalism are shown across geographical areas (56% to 72%) and socio-economic classes (54% to 68%), Pulse Asia said.
The survey pointed out further: “While a bare majority of Mindanawons (51%) back moves to shift to a federal government now, a big plurality of those in the rest of Luzon (41%) are against such a change now and in the future.”
“About the same percentages in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Class ABC are in favor of federalism now (23% to 34%), oppose it now but may be open to it in the future (24% to 43%), or reject it now and in the future (25% to 34%). In Class D, basically the same percentages either reject federalism now and in the future (35%) or oppose it now but may be open to it in the future (28%). And in Class E, nearly the same percentages either support a shift to a federal government now (36%) or oppose such a move now and in the future (33%).”
The poll also noted a “few changes” in Metro Manila and Mindanao:”Support for shifting from a unitary system to a federal one eases in Metro Manila (-19 percentage points) while it becomes more pronounced in Mindanao (+18 percentage points). Also in Mindanao, the level of opposition to such a shift taking place now goes down (-20 percentage points). More specifically, opposition to changing the system of government to a federal one now and in the future becomes less manifest (-19 percentage points).”
The survey also noted that opposition to charter change “opposition becomes more pronounced in the Visayas (+15 percentage points) and Class E (+12 percentage points). More specifically, opposition to changing the country’s charter now and in the future becomes more manifest among Visayans (+15 percentage points).”
On the other hand, “Almost seven (7) out of 10 Filipinos (69%) have at best a low level of knowledge about the federal system of government that is being proposed by charter change advocates,” the survey said. “From March to June 2018, the only significant change is the increase in the percentage of Metro Manilans with little/almost no/no knowledge at all about the proposed federal system (+15 percentage points) and the consequent decline in the percentage of Metro Manilans with at least enough knowledge about it (-15 percentage points).”
“A small majority of Filipinos (55%) report awareness of proposals to change the country’s charter. This overall level of awareness is higher than the March 2018 figure (49%),” Pulse Asia said.
The non-commissioned survey is based on a multistage probability sample of 1,800 registered voters 18 years old and above, with a +2% error margin at the 95% confidence level, + 6% for Metro Manila, + 3% for the rest of Luzon and + 5% for each of Visayas and Mindanao.
‘WAVES OF PUBLIC OPINION’
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said in a phone message to reporters: “I will listen to what my colleagues have to say before I speak about the matter at hand. The Senate was created to be independent, impartial and fair but courageous. We are supposed to withstand Presidential power and the waves of public opinion.”
In her statement, Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares said: ““As it stands now, the man on the street is perplexed on how Cha-cha can be the answer to the problems he grapples with daily, like the rising prices of food, poor infrastructure, the lack of jobs, pollution and a health system that can barely take care of the sick.”
She said she will take a “centrist view” on the matter, noting the lack of “palpable popular clamor” to amend the Constitution and the lack of “proof” that a new Constitution would be the “magical cure-all” to the country’s problems.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said in his statement: “The survey only confirms that, even if Congress rushes the procedure and passes a new charter that will pave the way for a federal form of government, people will reject it. So, why rush it when the resources and efforts that Congress — and the government — put into this Charter change movement can be channeled to other urgent matters affecting our countrymen, such as inflation, unemployment, and rising criminality.”
For his part, Senator Francis N. Pangilinan, who heads the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes, said ordinary citizens “will throw up” if the government will “force-(feed) no-el (no-election) and Chacha (charter change).”
“This is because the people don’t see the benefit of these in their everyday struggle against higher prices of goods, lower value of their earnings, traffic, and the continuing violence in the streets,” he said in a statement.
In her press briefing on Monday, Deputy Speaker Gwendolyn F. Garcia said, “The House of Representatives, while it takes into consideration public opinion, we have to focus on our work and we do not base our direction purely on survey.”
She added: “That is a challenge to the House to translate the benefits of… a federal system in more understandable and more relatable ways to the Filipinos.”
For his part, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a statement: ““There is clearly much work to be done in terms of spreading awareness and knowledge on the aforementioned issue.”
He pointed out that “only 55% of respondents have heard, read, or watched anything about the proposals to change the 1987 Constitution before the survey was conducted or only during the time the survey was held.”
“Also, 69% of respondents admitted little awareness of the proposed federal system of government. For this reason, we cannot expect our people to support an initiative, which they know only little about.” —reports by Gillian M. Cortez, Camille A. Aguinaldo, Arjay L. Balinbin, and Charmaine A. Tadalan

House sees signing of BBL by Duterte’s SONA

By Charmaine A. Tadalan
THE HOUSE of Representatives expects President Rodrigo R. Duterte to sign the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) the same day as his third State of the National Address (SONA).
“The bill is currently under deliberations and we expect to ratify it by the 23rd of July, to be presented to the President on the same day for his signature,” Deputy Speaker Gwendolyn F. Garcia said in a press briefing, Monday.
The Committee is scheduled to resume meetings on Tuesday to finalize and approve its committee report, after discussing at length the contentious issues of the House and Senate bills since last week.
Among the issues the House and Senate panels have so far resolved are the provisions on territorial jurisdiction, wealth sharing and block grant.
The Committee, with Mr. Duterte’s help, has agreed to adopt the House version which will allow the six municipalities of Lanao del Norte and 39 barangays of North Cotabato to join the proposed Bangsamoro region in a referendum to be conducted in their mother territories.
Likewise, the House provision on wealth sharing was also adopted, which stated that 75% of the region’s income will be retained by the Bangsamoro government, while the other 25% will be given to the National government.
As for the block grant, or the annual fund which will be 5% of national revenues, the Committee has decided to remove conditions provided in the Senate version.
“The approval of BBL is an affirmation of our support to the President who believes the BBL is crucial to securing lasting peace in Mindanao which is facing threats of Islamist radicals,” Ms. Garcia said.

Carpio’s nomination is JBC’s ‘decision’ — Palace

PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESPERSON Harry L. Roque, Jr. on Monday said it was up to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) whether or not it would nominate Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio as chief justice.
“That’s their decision,” Mr. Roque told reporters in a text message, when sought for comment on JBC ex-officio member Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra’s remarks that the appointing body might include Mr. Carpio on the list of Chief Justice candidates, even if he said he was not interested in the post.
Almost a month after Ma. Lourdes P.A. Sereno’s ouster as Chief Justice on June 19, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has yet to receive an application for that position, according to Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra and lawyer Jose V. Mejia.
As the most senior member of the Supreme Court (SC), Mr. Carpio is automatically nominated should he submit a letter to the JBC. The rule applies to the five most senior justices sitting in the high court.
Mr. Carpio dissented in the Supreme Court’s May 11 decision which granted Solicitor-General Jose C. Calida’s quo warranto petition voiding Ms. Sereno’s appointment for not completely submitting her Statements of Assets and Liabilities (SALN) to the JBC as a requirement to the post.
Mr. Carpio has said he will decline all nominations to the post after receiving nominations from former Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP.) He added he would “soon” submit a formal letter to President Rodrigo R. Duterte to decline all nominations.
Mr. Mejia, another ex-officio member of the JBC like Mr. Guevarra, said the five most senior justices still have to formally accept the nomination to be officially considered as a candidate. — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

Advocacy group calls for plan to connect gov’t, industries in workforce training

By Gillian M. Cortez
EDUCATION advocacy group Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) calls on the government to establish a workforce development plan that would help boost economic growth.
“Workforce Development is an interconnected set of solutions that aligns education and training to national competitive needs. It is an international approach that brings together multiple sectors to ensure that the workforce is equipped with the skills that are relevant to the economy,” PBEd executive director Lovelaine B. Basillote said in a press briefing on Monday.
“The objective, in the end, is to enable people to get the right jobs,” she added.
Ms. Basillote said PBEd is “pushing for the alignment of education and national competitive level goals.”
“While other countries have been investing in people, connecting education to their economy (The Philippines has still remained)stagnant,” she pointed out.
PBEd said in a press statement, “Studies show that economies with sustained economic growth have high knowledge capital. Another common thing that these economies share is an established workforce development plan.”
Ms. Basillote reported that “Actual investments in education don’t translate to actual learning.”
PBEd reported that “getting a degree does not automatically result in work-readiness or employability.” The organization added that college graduates compose “22% of all unemployed Filipinos.”
“We’re seeing a lot of people unemployed; the youth, the educated,” Ms. Basillote said. “But the jobs are there. How do we make sure that education does lead to employment?”
“Workforce development is not just the problem of the education sector nor is it just the problem of employers. It’s really that interrelation, (along) with government, that brings them all together,” she said.
PBEd said that while producing a workforce development plan “may take time,” the organization presented “multiple areas that all actors can pursue.”
For government, Ms. Basillote said it should have “a national labor market intelligence system.” She noted that although the Department of Labor and Employment(DoLE) already has its own system, “it could be further developed. We could look to other countries to see what those models could be.”
She said PBEd urges industries “to articulate skills demands and competencies.” She stressed that the academe shouldn’t only be responsible in formulating curricula but it’s also the responsibility for the employers to also be involved in this process as well.
The Philippine Qualifications Framework is also a window of opportunity to commit goals of improving national competitiveness that industry and government should take advantage of.
“They’re already developing the implementing rules and provisions for the Philippine Qualifications Framework(PQF) National Coordinating Council,” Ms. Basillote said.
She added, “That’s actually a way for both industry and academe to identify the standards for skills, knowledge and values.”
She said there is a provision in the PQF that says “Industry needs to be represented in the council (and) PBEd strongly supports that.”
PBEd is also currently in talks with the Commission on Higher Education(CHED) regarding “a new CMO(CHED Memorandum order) for the participation of industry (to) be institutionalized.” She said although there is industry participation, it still “is not consistent” and hopefully the CMO will institutionalize that industry participation in training.
“With fast-paced technological advancements and the Fourth Industrial Revolution upon us, it is high time for our country to prioritize the prosperity of every Filipino by investing in the workforce–investing in the future,” the PBEd executive director said.

Nationwide Round-Up

Robredo counters: OSG comment on voting threshold “has no basis”

Leni Robredo
AFP

VICE-PRESIDENT Maria Lourdes “Leni” G. Robredo, through her chief legal counsel Romulo B. Macalintal, has urged the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) to disregard the Office of the Solicitor General’s (OSG) comment on her motion to uphold a 25% voting threshold in the ongoing election recount against losing candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.
Solicitor-General Jose C. Calida in a manifestitation submitted to the PET last July 6, invoked his right to act as “the People’s Tribune” and dropped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as its client in the case, calling on the tribunal to instead uphold its 50% threshold as it would not disenfranchise voters.
Mr. Macalintal, however, in his 13-page manifestation dated July 13 and released on Monday, said “the OSG has no personal knowledge to conclude that the application of the 50% threshold will not disenfranchise the votes.”
According to him, “(A)t no instance has OSG, any of its representatives and/or lawyers attended and observed the ongoing revision, recount, and re-appreciation of ballots.”
Sought for comment, the OSG’s spokesperson, lawyer Hector G. Calilung, told BusinessWorld in an email, “We don’t have a copy of the manifestation yet.” — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

Another case filed against Garin, 37 others over alleged Dengvaxia death

FORMER HEALTH secretary Janette L. Garin on Monday was slapped with a new criminal case over the alleged Dengvaxia-related death of 11-year old Michael V. Tablate, the 11th complaint filed against her and several others by family members of alleged victims with help from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO).
Ms. Garin, several other government officials, as well as officers of drug manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur, Inc. and distributor Zuellig Pharma Corporation were charged for their alleged involvement in the government’s P3-billion anti-dengue vaccination program.
The latest complaint charged the respondents with reckless imprudence leading to homicide and with violations of Republic Act (RA) No. 9745 (Anti-Torture Act) and RA No. 7394 (Consumer Act of the Philippines.)
PAO chief Persida V. Rueda-Acosta told reporters in an interview on Monday the young Tablate showed symptoms exhibited from the agency’s previous autopsies such as «bleeding, edema, (and) hemorrhages of the internal organs.»
She added three more cases would be filed in the future following the PAO’s autopsies on a total of 67 alleged victims out of the «more than 200» it has recorded, with six more still awaiting autopsy.
Sought for comment, Ms. Garin told BusinessWorld in a text message, “There is nothing new in the charges being brought up by PAO.”
According to her, “All the findings of PAO have been bereft of any causal relationship with Dengvaxia and sometimes even Dengue.” — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

Diesel price cut this week, gasoline up

FOR THE third straight week this month, oil companies will be raising the price of gasoline but at a lower rate of increase at P0.30 per liter (/L) compared with the previous weeks. Diesel, on the other hand, will be down by P0.15/L, while kerosene will be unchanged after last week’s P0.70/L hike. All the companies that sent their advisories as of 5:00 p.m. on Monday said they would be implementing the price adjustment at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 17. “This is to reflect movements in the international petroleum market,” said Seaoil Philippines, Inc. Last week, the per liter price of gasoline and diesel both went up by P0.40 and P0.35, respectively. — Victor V. Saulon

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