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Fire damages: P100M for LMB, still undetermined for historical records

A FIRE that started during the first hours of May 28 at the Land Management Bureau (LMB)office in Binondo, Manila quickly spread to its neighbors, including the Juan Luna Building that houses the National Archives of the Philippines. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the head agency of the LMB, said the incident caused P100 million in damages, destroying digitized back-up files from regional offices and recently-procured equipment such as drones and computers. “The LMB building in Binondo serves as the back-up of the regional offices… if there is a problem, it will be minimal. There’s nothing to worry about because our records are intact in the regional offices,” Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government units Concerns Benny D. Antiporda said in a press conference Monday, May 28. A technical working group has been formed to address operational issues. Damages on historical records at the National Archives, on the other hand, has yet to be assessed as of press time. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato with InterAksyon.com
>> See related story on What we could lose in the fire that hit the National Archives

Fuel prices up again this week

OIL COMPANIES will be raising the prices of petroleum products this week, the third straight week that they will be doing so after a slight decrease during the first week of May. Gasoline prices per liter (/L) will increase by P0.65, while diesel and kerosene will rise by P0.35 and P0.45, respectively. The increase will be implemented at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 29. Last week, oil companies raised the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene at P1.60, P1.15 and P1.00, respectively.
Separately on Monday, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. said it is offering its high-performance fuels at discounted rates. From May 29 to 30, a discount of P5.00/L on gasoline and P2.00/L for diesel will be given to motorists at selected stations in Metro Manila. The discount will be available from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., the company said. — Victor V. Saulon

Calida says he will ‘defend’ himself in proper forum amid calls to resign

TWO SENATORS on Monday called for the resignation of Solicitor General Jose C. Calida following reports on government contracts his family’s security firm bagged since he has been in his position.
The resignation calls came on the same day Mr. Calida visited the Senate, which also coincided with the meeting of the Senate committee on rules regarding the Senate resolution on the Supreme Court’s quo warranto decision that ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno.
Sought for comment on the alleged government contracts, a visibly irked Mr. Calida told reporters: “I will defend myself in the proper forum, not here.”
Senators Francis N. Pangilinan and Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, in separate statements, said Mr. Calida’s resignation in view of the accusations would be in line with the Duterte administration’s anti-corruption thrust.
“If DoT Secretary Wanda (Tulfo) Teo resigned because the DoT/PTV 4 favored her Tulfo brothers’ TV production company to the tune of P60 Million worth of government contracts then Solicitor General Jose Calida, the lawyer of the government, should resign as well,” Mr. Pangilinan said in a Facebook post.
“I challenge President Duterte to prove his anti-corruption rhetoric. I challenge him to not only fire Mr. Calida but also to file the necessary charges against him,” Ms. Baraquel said in a statement.
Malacañang, meanwhile, defended the appointed principal legal defender of the government, saying there was no conflict of interest in the awarded government contracts.
“If it’s not in his office, then I don’t see the conflict of interest; but I could be wrong. I’m sure this matter will be pronounced upon by our courts,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing at the Palace.
“My reading of the Constitution and the Anti-Graft Law supports the conclusion made by the SolGen that there is no conflict of interest. He resigned all his corporate posts before he become SolGen and I don’t think mere ownership of stocks certificates is prohibited by the Constitution,” he added.
Mr. Roque also pointed out that Mr. Calida did not violate Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees since the government contracts in question did not require the approval of Mr. Calida’s office.
“You have to be part of management to be guilty of violating Section 13 and this is also mirrored in RA 6713. The prohibition is to directly or indirectly have any financial or material interest in any transaction requiring the approval of their office,” he said.
“As long as he did not secure contracts with the Office of the Solicitor General. Even if he enters into contract with the DoJ (Department of Justice), the DoJ is not under him,” he added.
Responding to the controversy, Mr. Calida’s office issued a statement late Friday dismissing the allegations against the solicitor general as “totally baseless and concocted.”
According to the statement, “there is no conflict of interest on the part of Solicitor General Jose C. Calida in the matter of the contracts between Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency, Inc. and its client agencies.”
“The Office of the Solicitor General, as a government agency, is not involved in the approval of the contracts between Vigilant and its clients,” the statement read.
On Mr. Calida’s 60% stake at Vigilant which was pointed out by the company’s General Information Sheet (GIS), it said “he has not divested his interest in said enterprise is of no moment since the requirement of the law is either to resign from the management of the enterprise and/or divest himself of his interest in it.”
“The allegation that there is conflict of interest is baseless,” the statement read further.
The statement also reinforced Mr. Roque’s claims made earlier, saying, “these attacks are because he won at his quo warranto petition and his enemies are getting back at him.”
Mr. Calida was the author of the quo warranto petition that the SC granted on a landmark ruling made on May 11, which voided the top magistrate’s appointment for not filing her SALNs as a requirement for the post.
SENATE MEETING
Senate leaders who were visited by the top government lawyer Monday, May 28, said Mr. Calida only discussed with them the bill on the charter of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
“He was following up the bill updating the OSG law,” Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III told reporters.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri also told the media: “Nothing secretive. We discussed only the issue of the Solgen bill. He asked me what the timelines were… He never mentioned anything about the quo warranto.”
The quo warranto petition was filed by the OSG.
When asked about the meeting on the Senate resolution, Mr. Zubiri, who also chairs the committee on rules, said the members agreed to present the Senate resolution to the plenary for debates.
“We agreed to calendar the resolution for plenary debates,” he said. — Camille A. Aguinaldo with a report from Arjay L. Balinbin

Marcos asks PET to dismiss Robredo’s voting threshold appeal

FORMER SENATOR Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. has asked the Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to dismiss Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo’s appeal to use a 25% shading threshold in the ongoing election recount. The PET, in an April 10 resolution, ruled that they would only count as valid those ballots that were shaded 50% or more. Ms. Robredo has appealed the decision. Mr. Marcos asked the PET to uphold its resolution in a 13-page comment he personally submitted on Monday, in compliance with an order issued by the PET on April 24. He argued that there was no declaration by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that the 25% threshold was to be adopted during judicial recounts and revision of ballots in election protests. Ms. Robredo’s lawyer, Romulo B. Macalintal, denounced Mr. Marcos’ statements in a press release. “It is not true that the Comelec set 50% threshold for the 2016 national and local elections,” he said. — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

The Philippine flag story


“On May 28, 1898, days after the return of General Emilio Aguinaldo from exile in Hong Kong, Filipino troops were once again engaged in a battle against Spanish forces in Alapan, Cavite. It was in this skirmish that the Philippine flag was first unfurled as the revolutionary standard. Sewn in Hong Kong by Filipino expatriates and brought to the country by Aguinaldo, the flag was a tri-color featuring red and blue with a white triangle framing three yellow stars and an anthropomorphic eight-rayed sun. Half a month later, on June 12, 1898, following the proclamation of independence from Spain, the same flag was waved at Aguinaldo’s residence in Kawit, Cavite, as the Marcha Nacional Filipina played.”
Source: malacanang.gov.ph/history-of-the-philippine-flag/

P50,000/ha loan out soon for Zamboanga City farmers

THE ZAMBOANGA City agriculturist office said a loan program offering P50,000 per hectare will soon be available to farmers to help boost production in corn, rice, and vegetables. City Agriculturist Diosdado N. Palacat said about 7,000 farmers could benefit from the financing project backed by national government fund. “We will be having a series of meeting with the farmers on how to implement the project,” he said. The loan is intended for the purchase of farm input such as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides as well as for soil sampling. Mr. Palacat said a monthly payment scheme will be implemented. — Albert F. Arcilla

Nation at a Glance — (05/29/18)

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

Asia energy firms dive with oil, Trump-Kim hopes provide optimism

Hong Kong, China — Energy firms plunged with oil prices in Asia Monday after Saudi Arabia and Russia signaled they could lift output, while indications Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un could be back on provided support to equity markets.
Both main contracts tanked on Friday after Saudi oil minister Khaled al-Faleh said his country could open the taps wider in the second half of the year to insure against any supply shocks.
His Russian counterpart Alexander Novak said they had spoken about a two-year-old deal capping production, adding OPEC and other members of the pact would discuss lifting limits next month.
The comments come as supply worries increase, with major producer Venezuela hit by economic uncertainty, Iran facing painful export sanctions and demand seen picking up.
On Friday, Brent sank three percent and WTI fell four percent, and in early Asia business they were both down a further two percent.
The losses come after crude earlier this month hit levels not seen since November 2014, and led to sharp selling in Asian energy firms.
Sydney-listed Woodside Petroleum was 3.6 percent down and Inpex dived a similar amount in Tokyo.
CNOOC plunged three percent in Hong Kong, while Sinopec was off more than two percent.
Broader markets were mostly up as the oil sell-off was offset by renewed hopes for the Trump-Kim summit after the US president appeared Friday to do a U-turn 24 hours after cancelling the meeting.
Euro edges up
Markets fell in Asia Friday after Trump said he had pulled out of the June 12 gathering, citing “open hostility” from Pyongyang. However, a flurry of diplomacy — led by South Korea, whose President Moon Jae-in met Kim Saturday — has put it back on track.
And on Sunday, Trump tweeted that a US team “has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the summit”.
He added: “I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!”
By the break in Tokyo, the Nikkei was flat, Hong Kong added 0.5 percent and Shanghai gained 0.1 percent. Singapore, Seoul and Jakarta were all sharply higher but Sydney fell 0.6 percent and Manila dipped 0.2 percent.
On currency markets, the euro edged up despite political uncertainty in Italy, with investors welcoming news that President Sergio Mattarella had vetoed the nomination of fierce eurosceptic Paolo Savona as economy minister.
While the decision led to the resignation of prime minister-elect Giuseppe Conte and could lead to fresh elections, it was seen as a positive move for the euro.
However, Ray Attrill, head of foreign-exchange strategy at National Australia Bank in Sydney, told Bloomberg News: “We may now be in for an extended period of heightened uncertainty ahead of fresh elections — assuming that’s where we’re headed.
“For now it’s more relief that Italy will not — for now at least — have an avowed eurosceptic finance minister.”
The single currency’s gains are also being limited by the prospect of upheaval in Spain, where Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy could face a no-confidence vote after his party was found guilty of benefiting from illegal funds in a massive graft trial. — AFP

Asian stocks mixed

Asian stocks struggled for traction Monday with energy shares tumbling after oil extended its biggest drop in about a year. The euro rallied after Italy’s president rejected a candidate for finance minister who’s been skeptical of the single currency.
Benchmarks dipped in Tokyo and Australia. South Korean stocks rose, as did U.S. futures, after President Donald Trump appeared to confirm that his June summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un was back on. Hong Kong stocks advanced. The MSCI Asia Pacific Energy Index had the biggest decline after a Saudi minister said petroleum supply would likely rise in the second half. Oil slid further below $70 a barrel in New York while the dollar slipped against most major peers.
Trading may be subdued round the world by U.S. and U.K. holidays Monday.
Investors turn their attention to the economy this week with readings on European inflation, Chinese manufacturing and Friday’s U.S. jobs report, the last before Federal Reserve policy makers meet in June. Italian assets will be in focus after that country sank deeper into political uncertainty, with populist leaders failing in their attempt to form a government.
“We may now be in for an extended period of heightened uncertainty ahead of fresh elections – assuming that’s where we’re headed – but that’s not a story for today,” said Ray Attrill, head of foreign-exchange strategy at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Sydney, referring to the euro’s advance on Monday. “For now it’s more relief that Italy will not — for now at least — have an avowed euro-skeptic finance minister.”
Elsewhere, the Indonesian rupiah climbed amid speculation of another interest rate hike by the central bank, while the nation’s sovereign bonds also rallied, with the 10-year yield sliding 20 basis points. — Bloomberg

Trump sees ‘brilliant potential’ in North Korea

Washington — US President Donald Trump sees “brilliant potential” in North Korea, he tweeted on Sunday, continuing an upbeat tone about a planned summit with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un.
“I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!,” said Trump, who on Thursday had cancelled his June 12 meeting with Kim in Singapore, before reversing course within 24 hours.
He confirmed that a team from the United States had arrived in North Korea “to make arrangements for the summit.”
Earlier Sunday, the US State Department said an American delegation was holding talks with North Korean officials at the Panmunjom border truce village between North and South Korea.
The talks come a day after Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a surprise meeting in Panmunjon aimed at salvaging the June 12 summit after Trump announced he was pulling out. — AFP

Oil slumps as Saudis and Russia say reviving output on the table

Oil headed for its longest run of losses in almost four months as Saudi Arabia and Russia said they are discussing reviving output to ease consumer anxiety after prices jumped to levels last seen in 2014.
Brent futures that traded above $80 a barrel last week slumped below $75 in London Monday, while crude in New York dropped 3.1 percent. Saudi Arabia and Russia signalled they’ll restore some of the output they halted as part of a deal between OPEC and its allies that went into effect in January last year. Still, with opposition from several producers, it’s not clear whether the group will reach a consensus when it meets in Vienna next month.
Oil earlier in May rose to a 3 1/2-year high after U.S. President Donald Trump decided to renew sanctions on Iran and as plunging Venezuelan output fueled concerns over disruptions. With the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners said to have cleared a market surplus despite record American production, traders now are weighing whether Saudi Arabia and Russia will implement their plan without finding a compromise with allies.
“The latest signal from OPEC and Russia cooled down expectations for the group’s cuts, which have been a major factor boosting crude prices since late last year,” Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst at Rakuten Securities Inc., said by phone from Tokyo. “If OPEC and allies decide at the June meeting to maintain their production cuts through December and ease anxiety among investors, crude prices may rebound.”
High Prices
West Texas Intermediate for July delivery fell as much as $2.08 to $65.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $66.20 at 1:31 p.m. in Tokyo. There is no settlement Monday because of the U.S. Memorial Day holiday. Trades will be booked Tuesday for settlement purposes. Prices dropped $2.83 to $67.88 on Friday, the biggest loss since July 5. Total volume traded was about 150 percent above the 100-day average.
Brent futures for July settlement dropped as much as $1.95 to $74.49 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices on Friday lost $2.35 to $76.44. The global benchmark crude traded at a $8.82 premium to WTI for the same month, on course for the widest close since March 2015.
Futures for September delivery fell 4.1 percent to 457.7 yuan a barrel on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange. The contract dropped 1.6 percent to 477.4 yuan on Friday.
Demand Worries
Higher crude prices are starting to affect demand, Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of consultant IHS Markit Ltd., had said on Friday. He was echoing concerns voiced a week earlier by the International Energy Agency, which advises major oil-consuming nations.
OPEC and its allies are likely to gradually revive oil output in the second half of the year, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia last week. He and Russian counterpart Alexander Novak said earlier that while scaling back the supply caps is “on the table,” no decision has been made.
Excess cuts amounted to about 740,000 barrels a day in April, according to estimates from the IEA. Without compensating supply from other members, this number looks likely to expand as the U.S. reimposes sanctions on Iran and the collapse of Venezuela’s oil industry worsens.
Separately, President Vladimir Putin said oil prices at $60 fully suit Russia and the country doesn’t want them to spiral higher. Anything above that level “can lead to certain problems for consumers, which also isn’t good for producers,” he said. OPEC and his nation don’t plan to stick to existing output cuts, he said.
Saudi Arabia and Russia’s potential policy shift doesn’t materially change Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s bullish oil outlook, the bank’s analysts including Damien Courvalin said, reiterating the bank’s forecast of Brent at $82.50 per barrel in the third quarter. Drilling rigs targeting oil in the U.S. rose by 15 to 859, the highest since March 2015, according to Baker Hughes data on Friday. Hedge funds trimmed their net-long positions — the difference between bets on a price increase and wagers on a drop — in Brent crude by the most in almost a year. — Bloomberg

Senate approves bills granting franchise extension of four broadcasting firms

The Senate on Monday, May 28, approved on third and final reading bills granting the franchise extension of four broadcasting companies for 25 years, which included dzRH radio operator Manila Broadcasting Company.
Senator Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares, chair of the Senate committee on public services, sponsored the House bills seeking to renew franchises of MBC, Bright Star Broadcasting Corp., Notre Dame Broadcasting Corp., and Vanguard Radio Network Company.
In her speech, Ms. Llamanzares noted the importance of broadcast services to provide timely and accurate news to Filipinos.
“Broadcast services are the nervous system of our society as they connect communities and families through a seamless flow of information,” she said.
She also lauded radio dzRH’s role in the nation’s history from World War 2 to the EDSA Revolution until the administrations of former Presidents Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Benigno S.C. Aquino III.
Bright Star Broadcasting Corp. operates FM radio station Retro 105.9.
Vanguard Radio was created in 1961 with broadcast stations in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Baguio City, La Union, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, Cagayan and Bohol.
Nortre Dame Broadcasting is based in Kidapawan City and an affiliate of the Catholic Media Network. — Camille A. Aguinaldo

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