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Corporation 101 and amending the Corporation Code

Corporations have a crucial role in the overall economic well-being of the country. Most businesses prefer the corporation as an efficient and rational legal structure in order to conduct their commercial pursuits.
Essentially, a corporation has a personality separate and distinct from its board of directors, officers and stockholders. The liabilities of the stockholders are limited to their shares, thereby encouraging more investors’ participation in the growth plans of the company. It has the power of succession, ensuring continuity of its existence, managed centrally by a board and corporate officers.
Except as otherwise provided by law, a corporation can deal with property, shorten its term, freely transact with respect to its corporate assets, transfer its shares, invest in another corporation, declare dividends and can enter into contracts to further its interests. Supporting corporations as fundamental business organizations makes good business sense.
With the organizational advantages of a corporation, the avenues for expansion are close to boundless. As the company grows, their operational capabilities increase, enabling it to widen the scope of its delivery of goods and services and maximizing satisfaction in the market. Profits are huge and steady thereby justifying the sale of more quality products at lower prices. With more financial resources, they could hire the best and brightest talents to do more research, development and innovation, produce new goods and technology.
All of these activities stimulate competition among market players, thereby fueling economic growth. Studies have shown that there is a very strong linkage between positive national economic performance and the growth of corporations.
IMPROVING THE CORPORATE LEGAL BASIS
Given this context, Senate Bill 1280 which introduces amendments to the Corporation Code of the Philippines (“Code”) can indeed be considered as a milestone piece of legislation. The bill, approved in August 2018, is one that the investment community is looking forward to because of its attempt to make “doing business” via the corporate vehicle a more simple and rational process.
Most of the changes to the Code cover some of the key issues that confront corporations such as corporate continuity and stability, ease in doing business, directors and officers’ accountability, and process improvements in corporate activities, public interest and corporate governance.
BUSINESS CONTINUITY
Perpetual existence for corporations — Unless otherwise provided in the corporation code, a corporation shall have perpetual existence. The original term of 50 years is too short a period for corporations to achieve its purposes and these organizations should be able to exist even if its incorporators are no longer living.
Revival of existence — Companies whose life has expired can apply for a revival of its existence. Upon revival, its rights under its certificate of registration are also reinstated.
EASE OF DOING BUSINESS AND STIMULATING INVESTMENTS
One-Man Corporation — The new Code allows a single shareholder to form a one-person corporation. The requirement for at least five (5) incorporators was removed. There is also no minimum authorized capital stock but 25% must be subscribed. This feature will allow entry of small investors and will pose a better alternative to sole proprietorships which are exposed to personal liabilities. No meeting is needed and one person can just sign a resolution for a particular corporate action.
SEC to call and hold elections — Upon petition by any member or stockholder, the SEC can summarily hold elections. The purpose is to prevent excesses brought about by holdover boards due to failure to conduct elections.
Emergency boards — If no quorum results from a vacancy in the Board of Directors and there is a need for immediate action to prevent damage to the corporation, the remaining directors may fill up the vacancy from its remaining officers
Use of technology for board meetings — Video or teleconferencing and any other form of remote attendance are now allowed for board meetings. Stockholders can also vote in absentia or thru electronic means.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND PROTECTION OF PUBLIC INTEREST
Independent Directors’ role — At least 20% of the entire board should be independent directors particularly in companies vested with public interest. Included in this enumeration are educational institutions, public utilities, banks and other similarly situated companies whose securities are registered under the Securities Regulations Code, including publicly listed or public corporations.
Material Contracts — Corporations vested with public interest should acquire the approval of at least 2/3 of the entire membership of the board for material contracts.
Stopping Anti-Competition — Voting trust agreements that have been executed to violate anti-trust laws and whose purpose is to stifle competition are prohibited.
Removal of Directors – A disqualified director can be removed by the SEC on its own initiative or upon a verified complaint especially in relation to those convicted of violations of the Securities Regulation Code, offenses such as fraud, deceit and crimes like graft and corruption.
Stockholders’ right to disclosures — Formerly considered as sensitive and confidential, stockholders are entitled to have information about compensation and other remuneration of its directors, business strategies, risk management and other related matters. Transparency is the objective here.
WAY FORWARD
On paper, the changes seem encouraging.
Hopefully, when carried out, the aforementioned amendments do not add to the complicated processes, requirements and bureaucratic red tape that hound individuals or groups locally or abroad who intend to start a business enterprise by using the corporation as its organizational form.
The different agencies of government — from the SEC, to the law-enforcement agencies, the departments belonging to the Executive branch and the judiciary — should make this law work. Unless the corporation is used to violate the law, trample on the rights of the populace or perpetuate crime or wrongdoing, no niching, compartmentalization or misplaced independence should stop our economy from being given a positive boost by the passage of the new Corporation Code.
As earlier raised, not only international players but small to medium-size investors and capitalists should be freed from excessive regulatory and legal burdens. More doors should be made open to them so they can innovate and grow. Participation in wealth creation can be facilitated by allowing them to build their own corporations, grow their businesses, pump up the economy and in the future, significantly contribute to nation-building.
 
Ariel F. Nepomuceno is a management consultant on strategy and investment.

Iron farming

This piece has little to do with mining or “farming” for iron. Although, mining becomes crucial in the way that it significantly contributes to technological advances, which, in turn, help boost agricultural productivity. Metallic soil is not conducive for food farming, anyway. So, farm or mine the iron and other elements, then use these elements to improve farming for food.
Why this proposition? Well, it seems we are in the era of high-technology farming, where robots — naturally made of iron and other metallic elements — are beginning to play a bigger part in the food production process. Perhaps not in a big way, just yet, but I suspect this is the trend for the coming years. Robots will eventually replace farmers, who are already diminishing in numbers.
A report in this paper a couple of days ago noted that agricultural employment continued to contract or fall in 2018, based on statistics from the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE). Natural calamities, which negatively impact on farming and harvest, are among the culprits, BLE Director Dominique R. Tutay was quoted as telling BusinessWorld.
The employment in the Agriculture sector — which includes Agriculture, Hunting, and Forestry; and Fishing and Aquaculture — was down to about 10 million workers in 2018 from about 11.3 million workers in 2015. A big drop was seen in Fishing and Aquaculture, about 14.7%, compared to 11% in Agriculture, Hunting, and Forestry.
This contraction may be seasonal in nature, or more related to weather, but I still believe that in general, the numbers will continue to drop as farmers and fisherfolk tend to favor white-collar or highly skilled work for their children. Thus, there is little incentive for continuity, where children continue on to become farmers or fishers themselves, after receiving an education.
And this is where technology can help. In a separate report in another newspaper, a farming expert was quoted as saying that digital agriculture and disruptive breeding technologies were crucial to addressing food scarcity and in raising agriculture’s contribution to creating jobs and promoting economic and national development.
Dr. Paul S. Teng was quoted as saying that in a consultation organized by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study & Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), it was noted that the use of technology was now a factor in determining agriculture growth. And such “technology” can be as simple as the use of the Internet to boost knowledge among farmers and fishers.
An example is the use of the Internet for more accurate weather forecasting. This ties in with the BLE finding that natural calamities, such as typhoons and earthquakes or landslides, significantly impact on agricultural employment. Of course, it is one thing for ordinary farmers and fisherfolk to know how to use the Internet, but it is another that they actually have access to it. They can be taught to use it only after they are provided access to it.
Obviously, farmers’ access to computers and smart mobile phones and connectivity are seen as crucial to adopting and promoting use of technology. Cooperatives may be encouraged to pool resources and invest in technology that can be made available to members, like Internet access to information on weather and farm management, and to establish an electronic library or a database as a resource on new farming technologies.
The report also quoted Teng as saying that other technologies like “gene-Editing biotechnologies (CRISPR, TALENs, Zinc Finger Nucleases) provide capability — the ability to edit native crop genes coding for important traits and generating non-transgenic plants. Genome-edited (important) crops include, soybean, maize, wheat, rice, potato, tomato, and peanuts.”
Over in San Carlos in California, technology is already playing a big role in determining the future of agriculture. I note with interest the piece by Erin Winick in the MIT Technology Review, of which he is Associate Editor, that was published recently. Winick’s background is in mechanical engineering. He had been a freelance science writer and was previously into 3-D printing.
In an article titled “New autonomous farm wants to produce food without human workers,” he wrote about Iron Ox, a robotics company with a facility near San Francisco, California, that “produces and sells food.” He quoted the firm’s cofounder, Brandon Alexander, as saying that despite the robots, the company is “a farm and will always be a farm.”
Alexander was also quoted as saying that automation solved two problems: the shortage of agricultural workers and the distances that fresh produce currently has to be shipped. But rather than eliminate human jobs, robots are seen as filling gaps in the farming workforce. In short, technology augments and complements, rather than take over.
Winick wrote: “The company’s 15 human employees share their work space with robots who quietly go about the business of tending rows and rows of leafy greens.” Iron Ox’s first production facility — an 8,000-square-foot (about 800 square meters) indoor hydroponic farm attached to its offices — is estimated to produce roughly 26,000 heads of leafy greens annually.
“That’s the production level of a typical outdoor farm that might be five times bigger,” Winick wrote. “The opening [of the facility] is the next big step toward fulfilling the company’s grand vision: a fully autonomous farm where software and robotics fill the place of human agricultural workers, which are currently in short supply.”
The way the farm is put together, Winick noted, robotic arms “individually pluck the plants from their hydroponic trays and transfer them to new trays as they increase in size, maximizing their health and output — a luxury most outdoor farms don’t have. Big white mechanical movers carry the 800-pound water-filled trays around the facility.”
And to make the farm work properly as an automated facility, Iron Ox has developed a software — nicknamed “The Brain” — to operate and keep watch over the farm, monitoring nitrogen levels, temperature, and robot location, among others. Winick noted that the software “orchestrates both robot and human attention wherever it is needed.”
And while workers still help with seeding and processing of crops, Iron Ox plans to automate these steps as well in the future. Also, Iron Ox is not selling any food yet, but it is in talks to supply restaurants and grocers, Winick noted. Meantime, whatever is produced goes to a food bank and the company cafeteria.
Winick added that it was Iron Ox’s belief that if technology could allow people to grow crops in indoor facilities that were closer to urban areas, using up smaller lots and minimizing labor costs, then these automated farms could provide cheaper and fresher produce, and deliver them quicker, than big farms outside cities.
There is logic to this, without doubt. But, “the problem with the indoor [farm] is the initial investment in the system,” Winick quoted Yiannis Ampatzidis, an assistant professor of agricultural engineering at the University of Florida. “You have to invest a lot up front. A lot of small growers can’t do that.”
Ampatzidis added that the rise of technology could actually widen the gap between big farming corporations and small family-owned farms, which lack the capital to invest heavily in automation. However, the academic also acknowledged the role of technology is addressing the shortage in agricultural labor.
And this, to me, is the crux of the matter. The Philippines is obviously losing farmers and farmlands to urbanization and development. However, food remains the most important input to sustaining the population, followed by clean potable water, then healthcare and education. We cannot produce farmers or farms overnight, and without heavily investing in people and land and infrastructure.
Technology can help bridge that gap. Robotics can address the issue of labor supply, and automation can help improve productivity and efficiency, even with limited land and infrastructure. Technology for indoor farming also mitigates the impact of adverse weather conditions.
I believe in the value of technology, and I realize the importance of its role particularly in food production. The use of high technology in agriculture is not only inevitable, it has in fact become necessary. As Assistant Professor Ampatzidis noted, “If we don’t find another way to bring [in] people for labor, automation is the only way to survive”.
 
Marvin Tort is a former managing editor of BusinessWorld, and a former chairman of the Philippines Press Council.
matort@yahoo.com

The business of corruption

By Geronimo L. Sy
PERHAPS there is no field of economics as overstudied or understudied as the causes, effect, and impact of corruption as a good and a service, as an industry and a business.
There are millions of reports on graft since the beginning of man, his family and his organizations. Corruption is classified scientifically. There are institutes dedicated to the discipline and think tanks whose sole purpose is its control. Yet the phenomenon, though widely experienced and personally distasteful to most while delicious for others, is taken like breathing dark air or drinking brown water.
Coffee money may grease a transaction to make it faster or smoother, or taxes can be collected on bribes, but there is no serious argument that corruption is good for anyone, giver, intermediary or taker, whether in the short, medium or long term. It is after all biblical in the form of a sin. Is it then like the poor who will always be with us?
At its essence, corruption is an abuse of power, authority, or any type of privilege. When it is done with regularity, with a range of fees, dedicated personnel and set processes, it is a business. It is a going concern that is systemic. It is also opportunistic as an enterprise.
For jurisdictions where economic liberty is severely restricted or non-existent, where the honest and hardworking little guy ends up exactly where he started, corruption becomes the mode of making a living. It is a way of life like any other business person running a sari-sari store, a franchise or a monopoly.
There being no sufficient creative outlets or other rewarding channels, he enters some position or takes on a role that is lucrative for him. When the scales of life are skewed, man does what he needs to do to survive and then to thrive.
The default approach to interdicting corruption is via the criminal justice system with specialized laws and agencies. This includes the setting up of an anonymous complaints mechanism, the provision for investigation and prosecution, the judgment of courts and the rehabilitation of offenders. Evolved strategies span increased penalties, simpler evidentiary proofs, anti-money laundering schemes and lifestyle checks.
Other approaches call for increase of salaries of civil servants and focus on prevention and audit. More innovative programs involve use of technology, designing transparency into rules and surfacing information flows.
All these are well and may work here and there, sometimes or often. What is absent is the clear insight that the only way to make corruption go away is to put it out of business, not literally to bankrupt it but to employ a coherent plan of action to compete and beat it. It is not the case of feeding a bigger shark to rid of smaller predators. It is to think of why people go into a business, any business including corruption as an industry. If corruption is not a ‘good’ product or a ‘reliable’ service’ for purveyors and users, it will naturally go away.
In any sector, anyone who provides a better alternative will win market and replace the others. This analogy and analysis to business is valid when there is no underlying offense except for the crime of graft and corruption itself punished by law.
But what about those cases when parties bribe their way out of a crime of murder or of plunder? Not only is bribery a crime but the offense of killing and stealing in large scale are abhorrent to society. In this case, no amount of economic reform or financial engineering can affect the problem of evil. It is through the criminal justice system that the balancing of the scales of divine and human justice takes place.
How do we deal with corruption in the criminal justice system? Is it to add another layer to supervise it — to police the policeman, prosecute the prosecutors, and judge the judges? It is a vexing metaphor of turtles all the way up and all the way down.
The research on the economics of corruption requires the dimensions of rational psychology, behavioral science, motivational theory on the complex issue of why people go wrong. When people fight over a bowl of rice, a property, or an electoral challenge, they are similar only in the way the actors calculate or not. When people extort and bribe, their reasoning is the same justification.
The responses, however, cannot be the same. It is the fallacy of employing the same treatment for similar symptoms but differing causes. The economics of corruption, the crime of corruption and the business of corruption are dimensions for understanding its occurrence. They also serve as platforms of action.

PSEi surges past 7,900 as US, China wrap up talks

THE MAIN INDEX soared past the 7,900 level on Wednesday, following optimistic views on trade relations between the United States and China alongside the continued flow of foreign funds into the local bourse.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) surged 2.82% or 217.55 points to 7,919.67 yesterday, recovering from its decline in the previous session.
The all-shares index likewise jumped 2.02% or 93.80 points to 4,727.97.
“The market’s surge reflects rising optimism on US-China trade relations, as well as subsiding local inflation. So far, foreign funds have been net buyers since the start of the year. We are hoping that this will continue,” PNB Securities, Inc. President Manuel Antonio G. Lisbona said via text.
China’s foreign ministry announced yesterday that it has concluded trade talks with the US, which had extended into a third day versus the scheduled two. Officials said this indicates the serious nature of the discussions.
With this, Wall Street registered strong gains overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.09% or 256.10 points to 23,787.45; the S&P 500 index edged higher by 0.97% or 24.72 points to 2,574.41; while the Nasdaq Composite index also advanced 1.08% or 73.53 points to 6,897.
Aside from warming trade relations, Diversified Securities, Inc. trader Aniceto K. Pangan also attributed the uptrend to the market’s net foreign buying position of P1.37 billion. This is about nine times the P152.33-million net inflow on Tuesday, and is the fifth straight session of net purchases.
“Market manifested an uptrend today on the continued investment inflows from overseas fund with a net foreign buying of more than P1.37 billion after inflation simmered down substantially for two consecutive months and dovish remarks from US Fed favoring emerging markets particularly Philippines on attractive valuation,” Mr. Pangan said in a separate message on Wednesday.
December inflation slowed to 5.1% from six percent in November, the second time that prices of goods eased since September and October’s peak of 6.7%.
Sectoral indices were gainers across-the-board, led by holding firms which climbed 4.47% or 339.43 points to 7,918.66.
Services firmed up 2.52% or 37.45 points to 1,519.47; property rose 2.2% or 85.24 points to 3,955.85; financials gained 1.37% or 24.45 points to 1,797.86; industrials added 0.48% or 54.78 points to 11,362.95; while mining and oil also closed 0.4% higher or 35.14 points to 8,814.39.
Some 3.37 billion issues worth P10.17 billion switched hands, much higher than Tuesday’s P6.03 billion.
Advancers were double the decliners, 140 to 72, while 30 names were unchanged.
“The market is now within striking distance of the psychological resistance level of 8,000. If the market will move and close decisively above 8,000, we could see it test 8,250…otherwise it’s back to support at 7,580,” PNB Securities’ Mr. Lisbona said. — Arra B. Francia

Peso rebounds to fresh high

THE PESO rebounded against the dollar on Wednesday to a fresh one-month high amid better risk appetite from investors on the back of positive developments in the US-China trade talks.
The local unit ended the session at P52.345 versus the greenback, higher than the P52.47 finish last Tuesday. This was the peso’s best in more than a month or since it closed at P52.32 against the US currency on Dec. 3.
The peso traded stronger the whole day, opening the session at P52.41 per dollar. Its intraday low stood at P52.43 before closing the session at its high.
Dollars traded declined slightly to $775.64 million from $798.9 million the previous session.
Foreign exchange traders interviewed yesterday attributed the strengthening of the peso to the risk-on sentiment from market players following the conclusion of the US-China talks in Beijing.
The two countries extended their trade talks for an unscheduled third day, boosting market optimism that Washington and Beijing can strike a deal. If no deal is reached before the 90-day truce ends on March 2, US President Donald Trump has said he will proceed with slapping increased tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, according to a Reuters report.
“There was a lot of risk-on sentiment throughout the day, especially with our stock market breaking the 7,900 level today,” the trader said in a phone interview.
The trader added that the peso traded “fairly quietly” for most of the day, except towards the end where he saw a surge of selling.
Meanwhile, another trader said the peso traded stronger against the dollar on Wednesday, mimicking the move of the Asian currencies versus the greenback.
For today, the first trader expects the peso to trade between P52.25 and P52.45, while the other gave a P52.20-P52.50 range.
“The peso might strengthen further on expectations of possible dovish tone from the minutes of the December 2018 Fed[eral Reserve] policy meeting,” another trader said in an e-mail.
PESO TO DECLINE THIS YEAR
But the peso is seen to decline further by three percent by the end of the year as inflationary pressures are likely to remain elevated, Fitch Solutions said, noting that its depreciation in the near term will be somewhat modest compared with 2018.
“Over the longer-term, higher inflation will continue to drive the PHP weaker,” Fitch Solutions said in a report published on Wednesday, expecting the local unit to decline to P54.15 versus the greenback by end-2019.
“From a longer-term perspective, we expect the Philippine peso to maintain its multi-year trend of depreciation given that inflationary pressures are likely to remain elevated versus the US.”
The research unit of the Fitch Group forecasts that headline inflation will average 4.7% through 2020, compared with 2.3% in the US, as previous years of monetary policy continue to unwind, with credit growth remaining “substantially above” nominal gross domestic product growth.
Inflation in December eased to 5.1% from the 6% recorded in November as food and transport prices grew at a slower pace, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported.
This brings the country’s full-year inflation average at 5.2%, the highest since 2008’s 8.2% and faster than the central bank’s 2-4% target range.
In 2018, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas cumulatively raised its benchmark interest rates by 175 basis points to rein in inflation as well as price expectations.
“Meanwhile, the real effective interest rate is currently around fair value as compared with its historical average…suggesting that valuations will not act as a tailwind as it did in Q418,” Fitch Solutions added.
Over the coming months, Fitch Solutions said the peso will “continue its weakening trend against the US dollar,” albeit modest compared with 2018 given the decline in oil prices as well as growing downside risks to broad greenback strength.
“We expect the Philippine peso to weaken slightly against the dollar within the trend channel in the near-term given the persistent twin deficit situation, political uncertainty, and a still-negative real interest rate differential with respect to the US.”
Fitch Solutions said the country’s twin deficits, or the current account and fiscal deficits, has “widened considerably over the past few quarters,” as this is expected to remain elevated partially due to the state’s expansionary fiscal agenda.”
Meanwhile, the real interest rate differential against the US is still in the negative territory, with the central bank expected to remain reactive than proactive and as local yields remain higher in neighboring countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam.
Political uncertainty will also pose risk to the local unit, as the Duterte administration seemingly faces a domestic backlash over its closer relations with China.
“[T]his could have negative implications for his allies at the upcoming May 2019 mid-term elections, and result in further political uncertainty.” — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Poe leads Pulse Asia’s December senatorial poll

SENATOR GRACE S. Poe-Llamanzares led the latest senatorial survey by Pulse Asia, conducted last December.
The 2018 Ulat ng Bayan Survey, released on Wednesday, showed that if elections were held today 75.6% of Filipino registered voters will support reelectionist Senator Poe-Llamanzares, who also led Pulse Asia’s Sept. 2018 poll.
“We are humbled by the unwavering support of our kababayan (people). This will serve both as an inspiration and challenge to continue working hard, grateful to the people for giving us the chance to help make lives a little better,” Ms. Llamanzares said in a statement on Wednesday.
Ms. Llamanzares was followed by fellow incumbent Senator Cynthia A. Villar, placing second with 66.6% overall voter preference.
Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara and Taguig City Rep. Pia S. Cayetano (2nd district) shared the 3rd and 4th places, with 58.5% and 55.4%, respectively.
Ranking 5th to 7th are reelectionist Senators Manuel M. Lapid with 49.8%, Nancy Binay-Angeles with 46.7% and Aquilino L. Pimentel III with 45.5%.
Other senatorial bets who made it to the list are former senator Sergio R. Osmeña III (38.8%, 8th to 13th places); former Senator Ramon Revilla, Jr. (37.6%, 8th to 14th places); Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee R. Marcos (36.7%, 8th to 15th places); Jose E. Estrada (36.3%, 8th to 15th places); Ronald M. dela Rosa (35.7%, 8th to 15th places); Manuel A. Roxas (35%, 8th to 15th places); Jose Victor G. Ejercito (33.6%, 9th to 16th places); and Senator Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV (32.6%, 10th to 16th places).
It can be noted that public support for Mr. Revilla increased, after he placed 9th in the Dec. 2018 survey from 14th in Sept. 2018.
The survey was conducted from Dec. 14 to 21, through face-to-face interviews with 1,800 respondents, aged 18 years old and above.
It was held after the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division on Dec. 7 acquitted Mr. Revilla of plunder charges in connection with the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.
Co-accused Mr. Estrada, in contrast, dropped to 11th place from 7th in the Sept. 2018. Mr. Estrada’s case for his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam is still pending in the anti-graft court.
Meanwhile, Liberal Party (LP) bets fell short in the quarterly poll, which showed only Messrs. Roxas and Aquino secured a place among the candidates with the highest chances.
Other LP bets Lorenzo R. Tañada, Jose Manuel I. Diokno, incumbent Magdalo Rep. Gary C. Alejano and Samira Gutoc-Tomawis were in the 22nd to 55th ranking.
The survey also found that 43% of the registered voters already have a complete slate of senatorial candidates; while 2.2% refuse to identify the candidates they will vote for ahead of the elections in May.
In a statement, Senator Francis N. Pangilinan, campaign manager of the LP candidates, said in part, “The election is still a long way away. We are confident the Filipinos will be discerning enough to elect candidates who will work for the best interest of the Filipino family.”
Sought for comment, political science professor Marlon M. Villain of the University of Santo Tomas said in part, “This is a given fact considering that the Liberal Party failed to attract better candidate(s) (who are) both politically and socially sound…. (T)his also partially shows that maybe the pulse of the people preferring candidates (who) can be politically and socially cooperative with the administration’s agenda.”

Duterte signs into law HIV and AIDS Act

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
MALACAÑANG ANNOUNCED on Wednesday that President Rodrigo R. Duterte has signed into law the Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act of 2018.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement that the new law, which mandates the government to strengthen its programs to effectively prevent the spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS) in the country, was signed “last December 20.”
“We consider its enactment and signing timely and relevant on account of the report of the Department of Health disclosing that our country has the highest percentage relative to the increase of new HIV cases in the Asia-Pacific region from 2010 to 2016,” he added.
The Palace also cited lawmakers and stakeholders “who immensely contributed to the passage of an updated legal framework addressing HIV and AIDS.”
“This piece of landmark legislation will significantly reduce the stigma of people living with HIV or AIDS,” Mr. Panelo said.
He also said the Palace will release a copy of the law as signed by Mr. Duterte “once it has undergone appropriate documentation by the Office of the President.”
For her part, Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, the principal author and co-sponsor of the law, said in a statement: “With the signing into law of this measure, we now have a modern policy to curb the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the country. In September of last year alone, there were 954 new cases of HIV in the country, many of which involved young people. With this law, the government can now effectively update and upgrade its response to this growing problem.”
She noted that the Philippines is “the only country in Southeast Asia where the number of new cases is on the rise, and where there has been a 170% increase among those aged 15-24.”
“The measure provides young Filipinos with the correct information and healthy values that will protect them from the disease,” she added.

Lorenzana: UK military presence in region to be tackled with ASEAN

By Vince Angelo C. Ferreras
FOLLOWING the pronouncement of the United Kingdom to open military bases in the Caribbean and Southeast Asia, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana said the entry of the European country in the region should be discussed first with other ASEAN nations.
The Defense chief said the interest of UK to have a military base in the region might be discussed within this year by the ASEAN nations.
“Magkakaroon kami ng meeting very soon, pag-uusapan namin ‘yun… kung anong maging effect sa ASEAN,” Mr. Lorenzana told reporters on Tuesday, Jan. 8. (We will have a meeting very soon, we will discuss… what could be its effect in ASEAN.)
UK’s Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson was cited in a report by the Sunday Telegraph as saying that their government is working on plans to build two military bases in the Caribbean and Southeast Asia as part of plans to broaden relations with other countries after Brexit.
Although Mr. Williamson did not name the possible locations, British media outlets said that Singapore or Brunei, both former British colonies, were eyed as a potential site for the base.
Mr. Lorenzana said, “We are looking at it very carefully kung ano ang magiging implication….Wala pa kaming masabing study, but we are going to study that closely with the other ASEAN defense ministers.” (We are looking at it very carefully on what could be its implication…. We cannot [cite] any study for now, but we are going to study that closely with the other ASEAN defense ministers.)
He said the Philippine government is also reviewing its Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States. “We are reviewing it on our own muna, tingnan natin muna ‘yung kabuuan ng MDT-MDB (Mutual Defense Board) kung ito pa ay gusto pa natin, gusto nating i-rebisa, o tanggalin na natin. Tatlo lang naman ‘yun e, maintain, revise or abrogate,” he said. (We are still reviewing it on our own, let’s see first the whole picture of the MDT-MDB if we still want it, revise it, or just abolish it. We just have three options, maintain, revise, or abrogate.)
On the dispute over the South China Sea, Mr. Lorenzana said, “There is status quo muna, walang galawan (status quo for now, no movement)…. Allow the fishermen of all countries to fish in the area so that’s it, and we are hoping that the Code of Conduct… will be finished soon…. So hopefully we can have a workable or acceptable Code of Conduct in the sea in three years time.”

Palace to study recommendation to abolish wage boards

By Gillian M. Cortez, Reporter
Malacañang said it will study proposals on changing the current wage fixing system, days after a labor group called on the the current administration to abolish the regional wage boards.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement on Wednesday that removing the regional wage boards will require amendments by lawmakers and consultations with other affected sectors with regards to Republic Act No. 6727 or the The Wage Rationalization Act.
“Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards(RTWPBs) are created by law. The call of certain groups to abolish these and replace them with a singular wage-fixing body requires congressional fiat,” he said.
He added, “The President will initially defer to the wisdom of both houses of Congress as to amending the pertinent provisions relating to the existing wage boards. The Executive, however, will review and study the proposed change of structure of these boards.”
Mr. Panelo’s statements come after the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Sunday urged the President to abolish the RTWPBs and regional minimum wages in order to make way for a singular tripartite board that will determine a national minimum wage.
TUCP Party-list Representative Raymond C. Mendoza also recommended that Mr. Duterte order all 17 RTWPBs to review their wage orders and increase all prevailing wages by P100.
P100 is the increase Labor Chief Silvestre H. Bello III preferred if he were to have it his way when he told reporters last month.
Wage increases for 2018 were from P8.50 to P56, depending on the region.

Concern over Dutertre’s health rises in SWS poll

A SURVEY by the Social Weather Stations conducted in the fourth quarter last year found 66% of Filipino adults saying they are worried (22% worried a great deal and 44% somewhat worried) and 34% saying they are not worried (16% are somewhat not worried and 18% are not worried at all) about President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s health.
The Fourth Quarter 2018 Social Weather Survey, conducted from December 16-19, showed public concern over Mr. Duterte’s health rise by 11 points from 55% (18% worried a great deal and 38% somewhat worried, correctly rounded), while those not worried fell by 10 points from 44% (22% are not too worried and 23% are not worried at all, correctly rounded).
The noncommissioned survey also found that 49% believe (17% strongly believe and 32% somewhat believe), and 24% do not believe (11% somewhat not believe and 13% strongly not believe), Mr. Duterte has health problems. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are undecided about the matter. This gives a net belief score of +25 (% believe minus % not believe), 6 points above the net +19 (45% believe, 26% do not believe) in September 2018, the polling group said.
The survey also found higher public satisfaction with Mr. Duterte among those worried about his health. “Net satisfaction (% satisfied minus % dissatisfied) with the performance of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte was higher at an excellent+71 among those worried about his health (up from the very good +68 in September), compared to the good +37 among those not worried about it (up from the good +36 in September),” SWS said.
“The 11-point rise in the overall proportion of those worried (% worried a great deal and % somewhat worried) about Pres. Duterte’s health from September 2018 to December 2018 was due to increases in all areas,” the polling group said, adding:
“The proportion of those worried about the President’s health was highest in Mindanao at 73% (up by 12 points from 61% in September 2018), followed by Metro Manila at 66% (up by 7 points from 59%), the Visayas at 66% (up by 15 points from 51%), and Balance Luzon at 63% (up by 10 points from 53%).”
“Net belief (% believe MINUS % not believe) that Pres. Duterte has health problems was highest in Metro Manila at +31 (same as +31 in September), followed by Balance Luzon at +28 (up from +21 in September), the Visayas at +26 (up from +14 in September), and Mindanao at +14 (up from +12 in September).”
It was higher in overall urban areas at +29 (same as +29 in September), compared to overall rural areas at +22 (up from +12 in September) [Chart 10].
It was highest in class ABC at +31 (up from +19 in September), followed by class E at +27 (up from +8 in September), and class D at +24 (up from +21 in September) [Chart 11].
The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 360 each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±2.6% for national percentages, and ±5% each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao).

3-year timeline to end insurgency bound to fail- Sison

By Vince Angelo C. Ferreras
COMMUNIST Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria C. Sison said the timeline of the military to end communist insurgency in the country is bound to fail.
“The scheme will surely fail from day to day, week to week, month to month and from year to year as the NPA will intensify tactical offensives and mass work. The same military and police of the same exploiting classes cannot accomplish in 3 years what they failed to accomplish in 50 years,” said Mr. Sison in a statement on Wednesday, Jan.9.
Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana said on Tuesday that the military is aiming to end the insurgency in the last three years of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
Mr. Sison noted that the government was not able to terminate their presence in the country during the first three years of Mr. Duterte as the president.
“The Duterte regime has reset by three years the deadline for its scheme to destroy the New People’s Army,” said Mr. Sison.
He added, “In the next three years, Duterte himself will have difficulty surviving politically. These are lame duck years for him, during which infighting among his followers will be debilitating and challenges will rise from within the ruling system as well as from the revolutionary forces.”
Mr. Lorenzana also told reporters that the government is willing to resume the peace talks as long as it will be held here in the country as the communist leader is currently based at Utrecht, Netherlands.
In response, Mr. Sison said: “The demand that the peace negotiations be held in the Philippines is calculated by the Duterte regime to put the NDFP negotiating panelists, consultants and resource persons under the regime’s surveillance, control, duress and manipulation, reducing the peace negotiations to the status of the fake localized peace talks.”
“The problem with the Duterte regime is that it thinks peace negotiations are merely for the surrender and pacification of the revolutionary forces and that the sincerity of the NDFP is merely the willingness to surrender to the unjust ruling system of big compradors, landlords and corrupt bureaucrats like Duterte,” said Mr. Sison.

House committee, Ombudsman coordinating on alleged flood control scam

THE HOUSE of Representatives’ rules committee is already coordinating with the Office of the Ombudsman for an investigation on the alleged flood control scam, House Majority Leader Rolando G. Andaya, Jr. said on Wednesday. “Some of these investigators have already made contact with the House rules committee. They are requesting for copies of testimonial and documentary evidence, which our committee generated during the public hearing in Naga City,” Mr. Andaya, who represents the 1st district of Camarines Sur, said in a statement. “Apparently, the Office of the Ombudsman has noticed red flags of corruption on the evidence presented and on the testimonies made during the hearing,” he added. The House committee uncovered during the hearing last week that flood mitigation projects are targeted for “parked funds” due to the lack of a comprehensive plan. House Minority Leader Danilo E. Suarez, for his part, said he will support the majority leader if he chooses to file a complaint against Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno before the Ombudsman. “I will co-sign the charges against him (Diokno), if Nonoy will ask me,” Mr. Suarez, who represents the 3rd district of Quezon, said in a briefing on Wednesday. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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