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Hidden violations of competitive neutrality

Competitive neutrality (CN) aims to provide a level playing field between public and private firms. State corporations competing in a market may be accorded many types of support on their operations not available to private firms such as tax and tariff exemptions, debt guarantees, exemptions from procedural requirements, exclusive purchase privileges, access to lower or subsidized interest rates, etc. These non-neutral policies distort the market and attenuate market gains. When extended to provide a level-playing field for all market players regardless of ownership in the same industry, we call it “Competitive Neutrality +” (CN+). The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is committed to pursue efficiency and thus CN in the market. We begin by making a distinction between de jure and de facto neutrality. A rule or law may be de jure neutral but may be de facto non-neutral, that is, enforced in a non-neutral manner by the biased enforcement of the law. We start with the proposed non-exclusive franchise for Solar Philippines.
NON-EXCLUSIVE FRANCHISE: DECEPTIVELY REASSURING
HB8179 passed by the Lower House proposes to grant a non-exclusive franchise to Solar Philippines to operate, that is, sell electricity across all existing DU franchises. If enacted into law, it will unbundle further the DU legal franchise into wires and retail business with the retail business no longer exclusive. RCOA already has this effect on a more open competitive basis. Non-exclusive franchise means that other firms, say, other solar PV firms, wind power generators, mini-hydros or distributed generation cooperatives, may be prevented from selling power to households unless they are able to secure a similar non-exclusive franchise. Anyone indeed can apply for a franchise so there seems to be a de jure open entry. But securing a franchise from Congress is a mighty costly proposition and most other firms will be barred because they cannot afford the cost of the hurdle. This is an example of enforcement-based violation of CN+. A franchise may even be redundant. By becoming an RES in the RCOA architecture, Solar Philippines will already be able to sell directly to heretofore contestable consumers (≥ 1 MGW) in all franchise areas and to households when RCOA is fully unveiled.
PICC AND MEMO CIRCULAR 14
We take the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) as a live case to illustrate this. PICC competes with private firms in the market for function and convention services. Government agencies require function and convention services in pursuit of their mandates. COA’s Memo 14 regulates the contracting of these services by government agencies.
Memo Circular 14 directs all government departments, bureaus, agencies to “give preference to the facilities of PICC in holding their local, national and international conventions and conferences …and similar official events.”
It further directs “that in the event the procuring authority would resort to privately-owned real property or conference venue, the end-user shall justify the same as more efficient and economical to the government.”
At the outset, Memo Circular 14 seems to be de jure neutral in view of the phrase “…the end-user shall justify the same as more efficient and economical to the government.” The common sense understanding is that the end-user canvasses all suppliers including PICC and, in case PICC’s offer matches the best private sector offer, PICC gets the contract. This satisfies the “preference” and the “more efficient and economical” requirements. But that is not what happens in practice.
Enforcing Memo Circular 14, specifically evaluating the justification offered for not using PICC is assigned to the Commission on Audit (COA). That is where neutrality bogs down. COA personnel review financial transactions of gov’t agencies and issue Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM). The reward structure faced by a COA examiner is based partly on how many questions he/she has raised in the AOM regarding the compliance to COA rules.
Government agency personnel implementing the purchases are accountable for violations of COA rules. He/she has to justify employing a private provider. If the COA is not satisfied, it could result in disallowance and the personnel is monetarily responsible and/or may be subject to a legal sanctions. A retiree’s pension can be held in abeyance indefinitely. If he/she secures the best deal for his/her agency and COA accepts the justification, the government agency benefits but the personnel in question gets at best a pat in the back. If however COA does not accept the justification, he/she faces heavy losses. There is a huge asymmetry in incentives. What will the unfortunate personnel do?
Agency personnel who implement the contract mostly opt to interpret MEMO 14 defensively, as follows: Contract is first offered to PIC. If PICC accepts the contract, PICC gets it even when PICC’s price is high or the fit is poor. Only if PICC rejects the contract in writing is the canvass of private sector initiated and awarded, this being the least risky option. PICC can raise its price and/or deliver poor quality service to government customers and still have custom. Private providers are disadvantaged in procurement. This is a clear violation of CN. But the violation is hidden in the bias of the enforcement.
A modality that satisfies CN+ but also meets the requirement of “preference” and “efficient and economical to the government” is the following: The gov’t agency: (a) canvasses private suppliers for its requirements with proper and transparent documentation on price and specs (pax, service offer, time, date, etc); (b) picks the best private offer as provisional winner; (c) allows PICC to match the best offer, (d) and if PICC matches, then PICC gets the contract; if PICC declines to match in writing, the private sector best offer is the winner and gets the contract. One may call this the “A Modified Swiss Challenge” method.
But even this is a second best solution. The first best solution is just to privatize PICC. This makes Memo Circular 14 moot and academic. PICC can then be treated just as any market player.
It is useful many times to distinguish between “letter of the law” and the “enforcement of the law.” The latter may be non-neutral even when the former is neutral. And many unnecessary economic costs can be avoided.
 
Raul V. Fabella is a retired professor of the UP School of Economics and a member of the National Academy of Science and Technology.

The economics of coal power

Most anti-coal activists would resort to disinformation and deception to advance their ecological leftist agenda and in the process, deprive energy consumers of the opportunity to have cheaper, stable and reliable 24/7 electricity, badly needed to sustain fast growth and generate more jobs for the people.
One paper spreading fake news is an opinion piece, “Consumers should not pay the price for risky coal deals” by Sara Jane Ahmed published in BusinessWorld last week, February 20, 2019. I quote three of her statements.
Table 1
Table 2
(1) “Coal has become toxic… In India, China, Malaysia, and, most recently, Vietnam, a trend of cancellations and delays involving new coal plants has emerged.”
Coal remains attractive not only for the four countries mentioned but other major economies in the world, including “greenies” US, Germany, Australia and Japan. Until 2017, these four developed countries were reliant on coal power from 31% to 61% of their total electricity generation. For India, China, Malaysia and Vietnam, coal reliance was 45% to 76%. In the Asia-Pacific overall, coal supplied 60% of total electricity production.
The real “toxic energy” would be candles and gensets because of frequent blackouts. Candles mean more fires and destruction of property while gensets running on diesel mean more air and noise pollution.
(2) “SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., plans to forge ahead with the construction of a 300-megawatt (MW) coal plant in Negros Occidental…. insurance and reinsurance companies… will no longer insure coal.”
San Miguel Energy sees the power deficiency in Negros so its main insurance for building a coal plant is that its output will be quickly used by the 5M consumers (4.4M in 2015) as electricity demand keeps rising.
The main source of electricity in Negros is geothermal from Palinpinon, Negros Oriental (by EDC). Before and even after the many solar farms were constructed in Negros, regular and rotating blackout was the norm.
Luckily there are saviours somewhere — the coal plants from Cebu (Toledo and Naga). Negros imports energy from Cebu which has similar population as Negros but power generation is nearly 2x that of Negros. An anti-coal ideologue opposing a new coal plant in Negros but silent about coal plants in Cebu and Iloilo that give lights to Negros.
(3) “coal as it becomes “stranded”… happening with increasing regularity to coal plants, including those from our neighboring countries, which are becoming obsolete in the face of cheaper renewables…”
Dr. James Roumasset, a famous environmental and energy economist from the University of Hawaii and frequent visitor and writer in Philippines economics events, made this observation:
“If stranded costs are really happening with regularity, it’s because of uneconomic mandates and subsidies favoring renewables. In California, this is called the “missing money” problem. But a more accurate term would be “stolen money.” Those “progressive policies” rob from the IPPs and poor consumers and give (a far lesser amount) to rich consumers who can afford panels and to politically well-connected renewable providers.”
The Arangkada Philippines Project (TAPP) in its paper, “Seven Big Winner Sectors: Power” made a good Recommendation #12, “Develop a power plant on an isolated island such as Semirara with a supply of indigenous coal and deepwater access to international coal sources… close the loop of Bicol, Samar, Leyte, Cebu, Negros, Panay, Semirara, Mindoro and Batangas.”
Amen to that. We should have 24/7 electricity even if the Sun does not shine, even if the wind does not blow, even if a bad El Niño would reduce water supply in hydro dams.
 
Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers
minimalgovernment@gmail.com

Justice for all

Growing old, we like to meet old friends. We “junior senior citizens” (a term coined by Nenette, a college friend of my late wife Mae) enjoy the luxury of time to get together for coffee or dinner. But in the case of Fides (our friendship dating back to almost half a century ago), we had our last couple of appointments at the Manila regional trial court.
Attending the trial hearing of her husband Vic Ladlad has been our way of catching us up on latest personal stories but also my means of expressing solidarity with Vic and other political prisoners who are facing trumped-up charges. Being at the trial is a personal matter. Another of the accused is the husband of my cousin Bobbie — Satur Ocampo.
Vic, Satur, and others have been charged with a multiple murder case. They are accused of supposedly murdering rebels suspected of being government spies. State witnesses claim they saw Vic and Satur, among others, ordering the killings in the locality.
But the accusation is patently false, refuted by the fact that both Vic and Satur were detained at Camp Nakar and Bicutan, respectively, during the time of the supposed commission of the crime. Realizing the mistake, a witness produced a new affidavit that changed the date of the crime. In the original affidavit, the commission of the crime took place in 1984, but in the revised affidavit, the killings happened in June 1985. The change had to be done to make it appear that the crime was dated after Satur obtained freedom by way of a daring escape in May 1985. In any case, the changing of the date makes the evidence against Vic untenable. Vic was still in detention in 1985; he was released from prison upon the fall of the dictatorship in 1986.
Further, the defendants argue that this multiple murder case filed at the Manila regional trial court is a recycled one. The regional trial court of Baybay, Leyte, had earlier dismissed a similar case. Consider the absurdity of the evidence: In both the dismissed case and in the current case, the same skeletal remains of three alleged victims were found in different towns. In the dismissed case, the skeletal remains of three alleged victims were exhumed in Barangay Monterico, Baybay. In the present case, the skeletal remains of the same victims were exhumed in Barangay Kaulisihan, Inopacan. The tale of itinerant dead skeletons would look like a script taken from a horror fiction movie.
But as Fides observed, one can be either enlightened or entertained by the trial. The accounts of witnesses produced by the military are laughable. What I encountered is worth sharing as a joke. The witness for the prosecution testified that he saw a memorandum about the killings that was signed by the chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). But he kept fumbling for the right alias of Joma Sison. He jumbled the names Amado Guerrero, Armando Guerrero, Amando Guerrero. Which led the amused judge to quip: “baka maging Leon Guerrero.”
The prominent names in the case are those who have been part of the publicized high-level peace talks — Vic, Satur, Joma, Adel Silva, Raffy Baylosis, and Luis Jalandoni. But others, specifically Eksam Lloren, a former mayor, and the peasant organizers, are unknown to the public.
In truth, Lloren and the peasants were no longer active in the revolutionary movement when they were arrested. They are collateral damage, so to speak. Although innocent of the criminal charges filed against them, they continue to languish in jail because they refused to turn state witnesses and testify against their former comrades.
They are very upright, very principled, very courageous people. But for rejecting the wicked military offer, they have suffered more. One of the imprisoned peasant organizers, Bernabe Ocasla, died from a heart attack. He died in a most subjugating, most undignified manner. He was handcuffed to the hospital bed despite the plea of his daughter to the police to have the handcuffs removed.
The names of the remaining detained peasants are Norberto Murillo, Dario Tomada, and Oscar Belleza. Together with Eksam Lloren, they are detained at the notorious Manila City Jail.
I didn’t immediately recognize Eksam when I attended the hearing. He approached me and said, “Naalala mo pa ba ako?” I said he looked familiar, but I could not recall where and when we met. He then reminded me of my visits to his town in Bohol. Only then did I realize that he was once the three-term mayor of Jagna, Bohol, a beautiful, serene coastal town, about an hour away from Tagbilaran City. The economics professor and National Academician Raul Fabella has raved about Jagna, a town also known for a high school that has gained international recognition for its novel, unconventional way of teaching math and sciences to poor students.
I came to know Eksam in the early 2000s, when I was asked by a non-governmental organization to help the town set up sustainable investment projects. Eksam’s leadership was exemplary, and his municipality became a paragon of good governance and sustainable development. He was the pride of Akbayan (his political party), being one of the few progressive candidates to win at the local level.
Despite being a former CPP cadre and later being affiliated with CPP’s rival Akbayan, Eksam is a person who commands the respect of other political actors. Gloria Arroyo’s Arthur Yap and Rodrigo Duterte’s Jun Evasco (both will be slugging it out in the Bohol gubernatorial elections) want Eksam freed. I am hoping Akbayan and other groups will provide moral, political, and material support to Eksam and his fellow prisoners.
One way of showing support is to attend the hearings. Presence of sympathizers boosts the spirits of those falsely accused. Following the hearings and knowing the accused also provide insights into the dismal state of the Philippine justice system: Trumped-up charges, manipulation of evidence, recycled cases, delayed justice, inhuman prison conditions, etc.
Justice is a public good. We cannot allow authorities to break justice. It is most shocking when President Duterte himself accepts this as the norm. Remember what he said early in his term: “We planted evidence.”
It’s most worthy that Vic’s lawyer is Chel Diokno. Chel has given his time defending victims of injustices.
Chel deserves to be elected senator. Among all the candidates, he is the most knowledgeable and the most passionate about reforming our justice system.
From attending that hearing, I have realized that my support is no longer just about being a friend of Fides and Vic and Satur. I will continue attending future hearings and will continue talking and writing about the issue as my own little way of reforming our broken justice system. Justice for the political prisoners; justice for all.
 
Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III coordinates the Action for Economic Reforms.
www.aer.ph

Central bank chief Espenilla passes away

BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. passed away on Saturday, Feb. 23. He was 60.
The central bank’s Corporate Affairs Office said late Saturday night that it was preparing an official statement.
Mr. Espenilla was battling tongue cancer since late 2017. He had been on intermittent medical leaves since, after undergoing surgery and radiation therapy.
Mr. Espenilla was to serve a six-year term until July 2023, after President Rodrigo R. Duterte appointed him to the post in May 2017.
He pledged a “Continuity Plus Plus” reform agenda, which meant building on the gains of his predecessor, former BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco, Jr.
The central bank under his watch last year saw banks’ reserve requirement ratio cut by two percentage points to 18% and benchmark interest rates rise by a total of 175 basis points to 4.25-5.25%.
A measure amending the BSP Charter, a key reform pending for two decades that was designed to strengthen the monetary authority, was signed into law just last week.

Fiscal deficit remains ‘manageable’ — Dominguez

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
THE wider-than-programmed budget deficit last year should not be a cause for concern, with authorities pointing out that infrastructure outlays as well as revenue effort are on the rise.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the P558.3-billion fiscal deficit remains “manageable,” following the release of official data from the Bureau of the Treasury on Friday.
The deficit was substantially wider than the P350.6-billion shortfall in 2017, and settled above the P523.7 billion programmed for the entire year.
The wider fiscal gap came as state disbursements reached P3.408 trillion, higher than the P3.37-trillion target for the year and spelling a 20.7% increase from the P2.824 trillion spent in 2017.
Economic growth reached a three-year low of 6.2% in 2018 despite the hefty spending, with officials pinning the blame on elevated inflation.
Meanwhile, total revenues amounted to P2.85 trillion to also settle a tad above the P2.846-trillion goal for the year. The amount likewise grew by 15.2% from the previous year’s collections worth P2.473 trillion, which came after the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.
2019 DEFICIT
Despite the deficit breach, Mr. Dominguez said they expect to remain within the programmed fiscal gap for 2019 at P624.4 billion, equivalent to 3.2% of GDP.
“We’re confident of keeping within the target,” Mr. Dominguez said in a Viber message to reporters. “The delay in the approval of the budget is regrettable but we will strive to catch up during the rest of the year.”
Mr. Dominguez earlier said that the delayed passage of the P3.757-trillion spending plan meant pushing back P46 billion which should have been already spent by the national government in the first quarter.
For its part, the UnionBank Economic Research Unit (ERU) said the 2018 fiscal balance is “not alarming” thus far, but flagged that public spending will need to continue doing the heavy lifting for economic growth this year.
“With uncertainties from the external environment, ERU sees the government to continue to prop up the economy through continued spending and a welcome buoy to growth prospects is declining inflation,” said UnionBank chief economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion.
Mr. Asuncion, however, noted that the budget delays will affect public finances through the first semester, unless the Duterte administration succeeds in securing exemptions for a 45-day ban on public works ahead of the May 13 midterm polls.
GAINS MADE
Latest Treasury data also revealed that the state’s revenue effort rose to 16.4% in 2018, improving from 15.6% the previous year as collections matched the target.
The revenue effort also beat the 16.3% target for the year, and is the highest since 2007.
Broken down, tax effort also improved to 14.7% to mark its best showing in 20 years.
The share of expenditures to gross domestic product (GDP) also surged to 19.6% from 17.9% in 2017, well above the 19.3% target. Meanwhile, the interest payments burden went down to 10.2% from 11% previously.
“In sum, the quality of government spending has improved,” the Treasury said.
In a separate statement, the Budget department noted that infrastructure outlays in 2018 likely clocked in at 6.2% of GDP, lower than 2017’s 6.3% share but is seen on track to hit the 7% goal by 2022.
“This means that the country’s borrowings are financing worthwhile infrastructure investments that the Filipino people can look forward to enjoying,” Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said.
“Filipinos may really look forward to better roads, comfortable mass transport systems like trains and modern public utility vehicles (PUV), among other infrastructure initiatives. The data support the eye test, with so many construction projects going on around the country.”

BSP mulls floating debt notes

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
THE central bank will consider floating debt notes at a time of a significant surplus in the financial market, noting that future issuances will have to be coordinated with the national government to avoid crowding out Treasury papers.
The newly-enacted Republic Act (RA) 11211 updates the New Central Bank Act and brings back the authority of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to issue “negotiable evidences of indebtedness.”
BSP Deputy Governor Maria Almasara Cyd N. Tuaño-Amador said authorities are looking for an appropriate window to issue debt notes.
“The central bank wants to have an expanded toolkit, a policy instrument, an arsenal of policy instruments that can be used to fine-tune monetary aggregates in the economy… [I]t’s a structural surplus liquidity absorption tool,” Ms. Tuaño-Amador said in a press chat on Friday. “So as to when it will be used, it will be dictated by the times.”
“[W]hen we have significant structural liquidity surplus, then we can start thinking about using the central bank debt papers,” she added.
Prior to this, the BSP official noted that such authority is reserved for episodes of “extraordinary” financial conditions, which is said to ring alarm and disruption if availed. She added that the central bank would like to tap the option to float notes “in both normal and non-normal situations.”
BSP Senior Assistant Governor Ma. Ramona Gertrudes D.T. Santiago noted that they will have to set up a formal agreement with the Department of Finance (DoF) for the central bank’s foray into local debt issuances, as they transition into offering market-based and negotiable notes.
“The operational details of the issuance of the central bank debt papers will be carefully coordinated with the national government, particularly in terms of tenor,” Ms. Tuaño-Amador added, noting that this will ensure that there will be “no competition” between the two state-run offices.
The Bureau of the Treasury, an attached agency of the DoF, is mainly in the business of offering debt papers ranging from a 91-day to a 20-year tenor. Meanwhile, the BSP’s weekly term deposit offerings range from the seven to 21-day maturities.
Another key feature of the new law is the P200-billion capital for the BSP, which will be sourced from the central bank’s dividend payments to the government. BSP General Counsel Elmore O. Capule said the process entails that the dividends remitted to the state — which is equivalent to half their net income each year — will be returned to them as additional capital subscriptions.
Ms. Tuaño-Amador said they will secure these supposed dividend payments until they collect the additional P150 billion capital provided by the law.
Updates to the BSP charter will officially take effect on March 5.
Mr. Capule added that implementing rules for the wide array of changes will be carried out via separate BSP circulars, as well as memoranda of agreement with other agencies like the DoF and the Bureau of Internal Revenue for tax exemptions.

MILF’s Murad Ebrahim appointed Chief Minister of Bangsamoro Transition Authority as members take their oaths

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Friday, Feb. 22, administered the oath of office to the newly appointed 80 members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA).
Mr. Duterte also led the “ceremonial confirmation” of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite canvass results.
During the ceremony, Mr. Duterte announced his appointment of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairman Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim as interim Chief Minister of the BTA.
“The road to peace may be long and rough but I am glad we have finally reached its endpoint. My only hope is that we put to rest the bitter memories of the past so we can build a new region,” the President said in his remarks.
“Always embody the dreams and aspirations of the great men and women who came before you and fought for the recognition of your right to determine your future,” he added.
The Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which the President signed on July 27 last year, was “deemed ratified” when approved by a majority of the votes cast in the plebiscite held on Jan. 21 and Feb. 6.
The law states that upon its ratification, the transition period for the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region “shall commence” through the creation of the BTA, which will serve as the region’s interim government during the three-year transition period until June 30, 2022.
The Organic Law states that the MILF shall lead the BTA, “without prejudice to the participation of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in its membership.”
The BTA is composed of 80 members who are appointed by the President. The law says that the elected officials of the Autonomous Regional Government in Muslim Mindanao become automatic members of the BTA, and they will serve until June 30 of 2019.
During the transition period, executive authority will be exercised by the interim Chief Minister, who is also appointed by the President, while the legislative authority will be exercised by the BTA.
Moreover, all powers and functions of the Bangsamoro Government, as provided in the Organic Law, are vested in the BTA during the transition period.
The BTA’s functions and priorities include the enactment of priority legislation such as the Bangsamoro’s administrative code, revenue code, electoral code, local government code, and education code. Until such laws are enacted, the Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 25 or the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Local Government Code and existing laws on elections and other electoral matters will be applied in the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. — Arjay L. Balinbin

COMELEC’s next target: candidates’s commercial endorsements

FOLLOWING its crackdown on illegal campaign materials, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) said that advertisments featuring commercial endorsements of a product by candidates for the midterm elections will be also taken down.
COMELEC Spokesperson James B. Jimenez said that product advertisements featuring candidates are also considered illegal campaign materials.
“Lahat ng mga kontrata sa Pilipinas, dapat sumusunod sa batas ng Pilipinas. So dapat alam ng mga kumpanya na magkakaroon sila ng ganyang issue…. So kahit ’yung mga ganyang material, ’yung mga commercial endorsements, ayan po ay masasama sa pagbabaklas after due notice (All contracts in the Philippines should follow the law of the country. So these companies should be aware that they will encounter that kind of issue…. So even those kind of materials, the commercial endorsements, will be also taken down after due notice.),” said Mr. Jimenez in a joint press conference with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Friday, Feb. 22.
Mr. Jimenez added that the COMELEC will issue notices to candidates regarding their illegally placed product advertisements.
“Bibigyan natin sila ng pagkakataon na tanggalin ’yung kanilang mga materials on their own, especially ’yung mga may commercials, baka gamitin nila ’yan after the elections kung kailan pwede na,” he said. (We will give them a chance to remove these materials on their own, especially those who have commercials, because they might be able to use them after the elections.)”
Under COMELEC Resolution 10488, campaign materials should be put up only in common poster areas such as plazas, markets, and barangay centers. Further, there are strict rules on the sizes of posters and tarpaulins.
“‘Yung pagbibigay natin ng notice is for the purpose of establishing liability…. Kapag malinaw na mayroon silang [mga kandidato na] liability, kakasuhan natin sila, maari silang mauwi sa disqualification (The purpose of issuing notices is for the purpose of establishing liability… If it is clear that these candidates have liability, we will file a case against them and they could be disqualified.),” said Mr. Jimenez.
Further, COMELEC said that only campaign materials that measure two by three feet can be placed in public utility vehicles.
“Bawal maglagay ng political ad kahit nasa tamang sukat, sa bintana, sa mga side windows… [Pwede] ’yung back windshield, specifically sa bus, pero hindi dapat lalagpas sa two feet by three feet (It is prohibited to place campaign materials on the windows, on the side windows, even if they are of the right size… They can be placed on the back windshield of buses but these should not be more than two feet by three feet.),” said Mr. Jimenez.
COMELEC along with the MMDA, the PNP, and the DPWH created a task force against illegal campaign materials. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

Rebellion case vs Trillanes set to continue

MAKATI Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 is set to resume hearing the case against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for the same rebellion charges which were dismissed by the same court back in 2011.
In its Order dated Feb. 22, the Makati RTC “hereby sets the continuation of the presentation of prosecution evidence on March 20, 2019.”
The senator was charged with Rebellion following his role in the Manila Peninsula “siege” in 2007. The same court dismissed the charges after then President Benigno C. Aquino III granted him amnesty in 2011.
But President Rodrigo R. Duterte then issued Proclamation No. 572 in September last year, which revoked the amnesty given to Mr. Trillanes for his rebellion case in Makati RTC Branch 150. It also revoked his amnesty regarding coup d’ etat charges before the Makati Branch 148 in connection with the Oakwood mutiny in 2003.
Makati RTC Branch 150 originally meant to set the presentation of the prosecution’ evidence back in Nov. 21, 2018 but was cancelled due to the pendency of Mr. Trillanes’ Omnibus Motion for Reconsideration regarding the court order
That motion was denied by the court which said that Mr. Trillanes failed to provide sufficient proof to reverse the Makati RTC’s earlier arrest order following the issuance of Proclamation 572. The Court said that Mr. Trillanes was unable to show an “original” version of his amnesty application forms which he had submitted to the Department of National Defense and which subsequently disappeared.

Former AFP head Villanueva acquitted in PhilPost graft case

THE Sandiganbayan acquitted former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Diomedio P. Villanueva of graft charges for prosecution’s failure to prove his role in anomalous transactions worth P53 million. He is also free of civil liabilities.
In the anti-graft court’s decision released on Friday, the Sandiganbayan said “(F)or failure of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt, accused Diomedio Villanueva is hereby acquitted.”
“Considering the absence of fact from which civil liability may arise, no civil liability is adjudged against accused Villanueva,” the decision, signed by Associate Justice Efren N. De la Cruz, added.
Mr. Villanueva was accused for gross negligence in approving a $1,031,936.04 (P53 million) refund to Philpost USA when he sat as Philippine Postal Corp. (PPC) Postmaster General and CEO in 2003. The refund was supposed to cover terminal dues paid by PhilPost USA to PPC for mail dispatched to the United Kingdom Postal Administration.
The recommendation was made by PPC Assistant Postmaster-General Antonio R. Siapno, whom Mr. Villanueva sought advice from. Mr. Siapno is still at large.
The Sandiganbayan decision stated that Mr. Villanueva acted in good faith when approving the refund and there were no corrupt motivations behind it.
“(T)here was no showing that accused Villanueva stood to gain anything should a refund be effected. Similarly, bad faith cannot be ascribed to his actions as the records are wanting that he was motivated by a dishonest purpose or ill will in seeking Siapno’s recommendation and eventually, in approving the refund,”” the decision said.
“Mistakes committed by a public officer are not actionable absent any clear showing that they were motivated by malice or gross negligence amounting to bad faith,” the Sandiganbayan also noted.
The hold departure order issued against the former AFP Chief was lifted by the anti-graft court and it directed the release of his bail bond. — Gillian M. Cortez

Palace pushes for rescue of Indonesians, Malaysian taken hostage by Abu Sayyaf

AS MALACAÑANG on Friday said authorities have been directed to rescue three hostages, one from Malaysia and two from Indonesia, being held by the Abu Sayyaf (a Philippine-based fundamentalist Islamic group), it reiterated that the government has a policy against paying ransom.
“We are doing our best to secure the release of hostages from the evil hands of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) but we stand firm on our no ransom policy,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement.
Mr. Panelo added that “to give in to the demands of terrorists and other lawless groups would embolden them to engage in more abductions that would allow them to conduct extremist and other criminal activities as they could buy more arms and weapons.”
He said that the ASG “continues to be on the run” as a result of the order of President Rodrigo R. Duterte to the military “to crush them.”
“Our security forces are hunting them in the wild forests of Mindanao to unleash their might and blow them to kingdom come,” said the spokesman.
Early this month, at least five members of the ASG surrendered to authorities. They are believed to be behind the bombing of a Catholic church in Jolo, where 23 persons died and 95 others were wounded.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar D. Albayalde said the suspects belong to a group of 22 Abu Sayyafs led by Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan.
Mr. Duterte declared an “all-out war” against the ASG and other enemies of the state last month following the attacks in Jolo.
In a press briefing on Jan. 29, Mr. Panelo said, “When you say against the ‘enemies of the state,’ [we refer to] those who use violence against the state. Those who want to destroy the democratic institutions of this country.
“Those who kill, who sow terror, who bomb civilians, soldiers, and policemen. These are the enemies of the state that the President is referring to, not the critics,” he clarified. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Inflation for low-income households eases further in January

INFLATION, as experienced by low-income households, was lower in January as prices of food and utilities eased further, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.
The January inflation turnout for goods and services used by households at the bottom 30% income segment stood at 5.9%, slower than the year-on-year price increase of 7.2% in December 2018.
The consumer price index (CPI) for the bottom 30% income segment has a heavier weighting for the food, beverages and tobacco subindex, seen to more accurately represent the spending patterns of the poor.
The food, beverages and tobacco subindex rose 6.7% year on year from 8.1% in December 2018. Food alone logged a 5.8% growth versus the previous month’s 7.1%.
Slower upticks were noted in the following food groups in January: rice at 6.8% in January from 7.8% the previous month; fish (8.7% from 10.5%); fruits and vegetables (5.7% from 8.7%); miscellaneous foods (5.5% from 5.9%); meat (4.8% from 5.6%), eggs (2.6% from 3%), cereal preparations (4% from 4.1%), and dairy products (3.7% from 3.8%). Meanwhile, the price of corn went down 0.7% from last year’s 1.2% growth.
The cost of utilities, consisting of fuel, light and water, decelerated to 3.4% from December’s 5.3%. Lower increases were also recorded in housing and repairs (4.6% from 5.5%), and services (3.5% from 3.6%).
Meanwhile, the clothing and “miscellaneous” subindices were steady at 3.1% and 2.4%, respectively.
Inflation experienced by poor households in the National Capital Region (NCR) was recorded at 4%, slower than the 4.8% posted in December. A similar case was observed for those living outside of Metro Manila, which recorded slower inflation at 5.9% from 7.3%.
“The downtrend in inflation bodes well for economic growth and the lives of Filipinos as this will restore lost purchasing power in 2019, aiding overall household consumption,” Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa, senior economist at ING N.V.-Manila branch, said in an email.
“The deceleration in the print moves in line with the current path of inflation now that supply conditions have eased. This can be expected from inflation that had been primarily driven by cost-push pressures: inflation comes down very quickly once supply bottlenecks have been addressed,” he said.
“Lastly, we note the 4.6% inflation in housing repairs in areas outside NCR, in particular the north, reflecting possible ongoing repairs after severe storm damage seen in these areas towards the end of 2018.” — Marissa Mae M. Ramos

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