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Focus shifts to 2nd tax reform package

By Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
Reporter

THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) hopes to secure midyear approval by the House of Representatives of the second tax reform package in order to start enforcement in January 2019, even as the head of the committee that will shepherd the measure through the chamber said it would be “difficult” to stick to such a timetable.

“Hopefully by midyear,” Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said in a mobile phone message when asked when the department wants the House to approve the second of up to five planned tax reform packages that was submitted to the House last week.

He added that the DoF hopes to have the measure take effect by “January 2019.”

House ways and means committee chairman Rep. Dakila Carlo E. Cua of Quirino, however, was cautious when asked for a preliminary timetable.

“We had an overview briefing [on Wednesday]. I am awaiting further submissions from DoF in order to have an in-depth understanding of the bill,” he said, referring to “TIMTA (Republic Act No. 10708 or the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act) data that can give light to some cost-benefit analysis of the existing fiscal incentive programs of the government”

“Filing (of the bill) will come after then.”

Informed of the Finance department’s hope for midyear approval by the House, Mr. Cua remarked: “It’s difficult, but possible.”

“I hope DoF will supply the necessary data soon and collaborate closely.”

The Constitution provides that all tax measures must originate from the House of Representatives.

The DoF submitted the second package to the House on Jan. 15 which seeks to cut corporate income tax rates to 25% from 30% currently to match those of the Philippines’ Southeast Asian competitors, while withdrawing fiscal incentives from firms that do not need them.

To recall, the first package — enacted on Dec. 19 as RA 10963 that cuts personal income tax rates and hikes or imposes sales taxes on various items — was submitted to Congress in September 2016, filed as a bill in January 2017, approved in the House — after enduring what President Rodrigo R. Duterte described as “resistance” and “rough sailing” — on May 31 and in the Senate on Nov. 28.

RA 10963 is now estimated to yield some P90 billion in additional revenues in the first year of enforcement, compared to P133.8-157.2 billion originally.

BMI flags rising risks in Philippine infrastructure

THE Philippines’ infrastructure sector faces rising risks from implementation hurdles and political concerns, BMI Research said in a Jan. 24 note.

The Fitch Group unit said the country fell three places to 11th out of 21 economies in Asia and the Pacific, and fell 12 places to rank 32nd out of 105 globally in its infrastructure Risk/Reward Index (RRI) that was tracked between February 2017 and this month.

BMI gave the Philippine Country Risk score of 50.8 — out of 100 where a higher score denotes a more attractive market — falling “below the regional average this quarter.”

“Although the Philippines continues to be one of the most opportune infrastructure markets in Asia, the market’s RRI score has gradually deteriorated due to persistent challenges in meeting project implementation deadlines and rising political risks associated with terrorism and Duterte’s anti-drug campaign,” BMI said in its note.

Both the government and economists have blamed the country’s huge infrastructure backlog for its failure to sustain overall economic growth beyond the six percent area.

The government of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who assumed office in mid-2016, now hopes to spur growth to 7-8% annually until he ends his term in 2022 by spending some P8 trillion on 75 “high-impact” infrastructure projects within that period, hiking spending on this item each year to 7.3% of gross domestic product from 6.3% this year.

“The Philippines continues to have one of the highest Industry Rewards scores in the Asia-Pacific region, indicative of President Rodrigo Duterte’s ambitious infrastructure development initiatives and strong investment interest from Chinese and Japanese companies,” the report read.

“At the same time, we note that the project implementation process continues to be plagued with delays and bureaucratic setbacks. This has led to slower-than-expected growth in the construction and industry sector, weighing on the market’s Industry Rewards score,” it added.

The national government spent P43.8 billion on infrastructure and capital outlays in November last year, rising 44.8% — the fastest monthly pace so far in 2017 — from P30.3 billion in 2016’s comparable month. This brought the 11-month infrastructure spending to P486.5 billion, 14.2% more than the P426.1 billion recorded in 2016’s comparable period.

Aside from implementation delays, the Fitch unit said that investors still take into account concerns over the drug war as well as terrorist threats in Mindanao.

“Investor concerns surrounding pro-ISIS militants in southern Philippines and Duterte’s anti-drug campaign have weighed on the Country Risks component of the Philippines’ RRI over recent quarters,” BMI said.

BMI forecasts a 6.3% gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2018 and 6.2% in 2019, which if realized, will be slower than 2017’s actual 6.7% and will fall short of an official 7-8% GDP annual target for 2018 to 2022.

Yesterday also saw debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service saying in a report that the country’s growth, along with that of Vietnam, will outstrip those of their peers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the back of better trade and monetary environments.

“We expect broad-based economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region in 2018. China’s growth will slow, but only mildly, in line with authorities’ desire for higher-quality growth; positive momentum will continue in Japan and recover in India,” Moody’s said in its report, adding that “the Philippines and Vietnam will be standouts among ASEAN economies.”

“Among the five-largest ASEAN emerging economies, we expect the Philippines and Vietnam to post the strongest growth next year, supported by trade and domestic demand.” — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

Looking for Richard in the tambakan

By Menchu Aquino Sarmiento

Theater Review
RD3RD: Throne of Blood
Presented by Tanghalang Ateneo
Directed by Anton Juan and Ricky Abad
On view until Jan. 28
Black Box Theater, Ateneo Communications Bldg.,
Ateneo de Manila, Katipunan Ave., Quezon City

Tanghalang Ateneo’s production of Shakespeare’s Richard III gives it a distinctively contemporary Pinoy makeover as RD3RD.

First, it’s pungently bilingual and liberally peppered with P.I.’s, although much of the Bard of Stratford-Upon-Avon’s elegant English is still there — just not in the order you expect. Thus, the line “Conscience is but a word that cowards use, devised at first to keep the strong in awe,” is delivered by a hired killer (Ron Capinding) as “Ang konsyensya, gagawin kang bakla.”

There is rhyme and reason to such creative license, thoughtfully taken by the dramaturge and Shakespearean scholar Judy Ick who also plays Queen Margaret. RD3RD has a very important message for Filipinos today which must be delivered in words and images we can more readily comprehend.

Ms. Ick’s husband Teroy Guzman is in the title role.

Anton Juan’s co-director and the Narrator Ricky Abad (he also plays the Duchess of York) explains that RD3RD was largely inspired by Stephen Greenblatt’s essay “Shakespeare Explains the 2016 Election” (The New York Times, Oct. 8, 2016). Greenblatt was talking about Donald Trump, and RD3RD alludes to you-know-who. In Shakespeare’s day, Richard III was his response to the problem of how a great country ended up being governed by a sociopath. It was among his most popular plays.

According to Greenblatt, as Shakespeare wrote it, Richard’s victorious ascent “depended on a fatal conjunction of diverse but equally self-destructive responses from those around him. The play locates these responses in particular characters… but it also manages to suggest that these characters sketch a whole country’s collective failure. Taken together, they itemize a nation of enablers.”

Those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. Throughout the play, the Narrator uses the elements of Greenblatt’s essay to show the audience how such things have come to pass. Just as the Duke of Gloucester or Richard III’s rise to power was awash with blood, the allegorical RD3RD opens with an EJK. One might argue that Richard III killed off other nobles, mostly his relatives and rivals to England’s throne, while what we have here is the systematic serial slaughter of the lowly, nameless, often unproven drug abusers, petty criminals, with human collateral damage aplenty. The ghostly visitors in RD3RD strew the tsinelas (slippers), several for tiny feet, of those whose deaths are still under investigation or DUI. Actual news video clips are periodically projected, most poignantly of an anguished mother asking the world to believe that her son never had a gun (hindi siya nanlaban — he did not fight back), that he was not an animal to be slaughtered in the streets.  

We Filipinos who are not steeped in the history of the British throne may find the character names confusing. For example, Richard III is also known as Gloucester. One wonders what the effect might have been if the characters who are named after their British fiefdoms had the names of Philippine provincial capitals instead, e.g., Davao, Laoag. The originally minor role of Catesby (Goldie Soon) is amusingly inflated to a Mocha Uson look-alike, the Pinoy Richard III’s own private dancer (“a dancer for money, I’ll do what you want me to do,” as Tina Turner sang) who has her own pair of trolls. In case one doesn’t get it, the first act ends with Richard III (Teroy Guzman) adopting the famous presidential at-ease stance: one arm across the chest, proping up the other arm whose thumb and index fingers coyly frame the face.

Lord Acton has less famously reminded us that “Great men are almost always bad men even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you add the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.” The better known Acton quote is “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” RD3RD is set in the tambakan (garbage dump), where many Filipinos actually live in the midst of daily death and decay. Colloquially, the term kalakal (trade) refers to the scraps garbage scavengers scrounge for in order to survive. The production design plays on this theme with all the actors costumed in variations on plastic garbage bags and discarded cartons. Their faces are veined and in varying states of putrefaction: naagnas na. It is a world of the damned, as doomed as those who are condemned to repeat their history, a nightmare from which we are still trying to awake.

For those who missed this brief three-weekend introductory run of RD3RD, and there are many who didn’t get to see it because the Black Box Theater in the old Ateneo Communications Building, is just about the size of two classrooms and seats only a hundred at a time, take heart. The grander, scaled up version of RD3RD will be staged in March at the magnificent Arete, Ateneo’s creativity hub at Gate 3 of Katipunan Avenue. RD3RD is not your conventional Shakespeare, but it is the one that speaks to us best.

Cryptocurrency sector braces for tougher regulations as use surges

By Krista Angela M. Montealegre
National Correspondent

THE CRYPTOCURRENCY ECOSYSTEM is gearing up for tighter regulatory scrutiny, as market players tout the potential of the Philippines to become the main market for virtual currency (VC) in Southeast Asia.

The Philippines has a “very forward-thinking” regulatory body in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that has embraced cryptocurrency following the rise of transactions here, Zach Piester, co-founder of venture development and innovation firm Intrepid Ventures, said at the first Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Philippines yesterday at the EDSA Shangri-La hotel in Mandaluyong City.

“There is a need to regulate out the bad actors. Some of the things that are happening now maybe illegal in other markets, but they are not yet,” Mr. Piester said.

After a dizzying ascent from $450 per unit in May 2016 to almost $20,000 last month, Bitcoin has plunged below the $10,000 mark amid concerns of increased regulation in South Korea and China. Its price has stabilized above $10,000 per unit.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are digital currencies that are not regulated by any state or central bank. They rely on cryptography to secure and verify transactions as well as control the creation of more units.

The BSP is in the process of approving 12 entities seeking to operate as a Bitcoin exchange after authorizing two VC exchanges — Betur, Inc. (better known as Coins.ph) and Rebittance, Inc. — last year. They are considered remittance companies and are required to comply with rules on anti-money laundering, among others.

The central bank has also urged the public to exercise caution when investing in cryptocurrencies, citing its potential to be used in illicit activities such as money laundering and terrorist financing.

VC transactions in the Philippines reached a monthly average of over $8.8 million per month in the first half of last year from $2 million in the entire 2015 and $6 million in 2016, Reuters reported last month, citing BSP data.

Likewise, the Securities and Exchange Commission came out with an advisory at the start of the year warning the public against investing in unregistered securities, particularly initial coin offerings (ICO).

“Regulation here is pretty light enough that we haven’t felt so stifled over the last year… At the very least, it allows you to seek legitimacy when you are ready to do so and that’s certainly an advantage,” said Luis Buenaventura, chief technology officer at BloomSolutions and author of the book Reinventing Remittances with Bitcoin.

Investors must be aware of the technology, execution and market risks before participating in ICOs, said Nithinan Jessie Boonyawattanapisut, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder at marketing automation solutions company Hotnow (Thailand) Co. Ltd., noting that only five percent of ICOs have underlying businesses to support them.

“Regulation is coming and it is okay. We should be thankful for it will normalize the industry,” Jimmy Nguyen, CEO at blockchain research and development firm nChain Group, said in the same event.

Japan is leading the way in cryptocurrency use following its recognition of Bitcoin as a legal payment method in April last year. This has resulted in a surge in mainstream adoption, with some of that country’s biggest firms accepting Bitcoin payments last year.

Aside from certifying Bitcoin as a legal form of tender, regulators must define exemptions from cryptocurrency license or requirements. For example, nChain’s Mr. Nguyen said regulators must make it clear if software developers and providers should be licensed as well or if businesses should secure a separate money services business license if they have already obtained a “BitLicense.”

One area where cryptocurrency or the blockchain technology can be used in the Philippines is the remittance industry, said Vlad Sapozhinikov, co-founder and CEO of Deex.exchange, adding that it can help bring down costs and facilitate faster transactions.

The Philippines has the potential to be the “epicenter” of Southeast Asia’s cryptocurrency market given the huge presence of talent, development and level of “ideation” happening here, Intrepid Venture’s Mr. Piester said.

“What is happening over the last three years, it is really robust. It is coming to its own,” Intrepid Ventures’ Mr. Piester said.

“We are seeing really good projects that are born here that can fundamentally shift the balance of power and economics and empower tens of millions of Filipinos.”

Treasurer maps out plan to face higher debt costs

ONE of Asia’s fastest-growing economies is getting ready for higher borrowing costs, just as it embarks on a massive infrastructure spending program.

Philippine Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon plans to conduct a peso-denominated debt exchange, the first in three years. The Treasury may also sell bonds to retail investors later this year to lock in rates before global central banks collectively begin to reverse stimulus of the past decade.

“We are prepared to meet the challenges, having rolled out reforms years ago,” she said in an interview this week.

“The Philippines remains a strong growth and credit story.”

Economic expansion in the Philippines, which topped six percent for the sixth year in 2017, is set to maintain momentum as President Rodrigo R. Duterte rolls out a $180-billion program to build roads and railways.

At the same time, the boom has led to twin deficits in the budget and current accounts.

The government last week sold $2 billion of global bonds, using $1.25 billion of the new debt to swap shorter, more expensive dollar bonds previously issued.

Debt exchanges helped cut interest payments to 12.4% of the budget in 2017, from 30% in 2006, according to data from the Treasury.

“If ever they issue a longer tenor bond, effectively they would be locking in fixed rates at relatively low levels,” said Orencio Andre P. Ibarra III, senior vice-president at Security Bank Corp.

“Definitely, the timing is good.”

The administration has room to borrow after the previous administration ran a tight fiscal policy with a budget-deficit goal of only two percent of gross domestic product.

Mr. Duterte, who took office in 2016, now anticipates widening that to three percent from 2018 to 2022.

Ms. De Leon said she has a number of fund-raising options to choose from this year, including a debut sale of yuan-denominated bonds. Return to the Japanese debt market.

The Treasury will review its borrowing strategy by midyear once it has a clearer picture of revenue and spending trends, de Leon said.

A record sale in November of P255 billion ($5 billion) to retail investors has given Ms. de Leon the headroom to cap borrowing costs by rejecting “out of line” bids, she said.

“As investors see that we have been managing our portfolio well, along with the stellar performance of the economy, they will see an upside in holding the debt” of the Philippines, even if interest rates were to climb, Ms. de Leon said.

The Philippines has a credit rating one notch higher than Indonesia at Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s. — Bloomberg

SNAP-Magat confident Isabela plant can qualify for feed-in-tariff

By Victor V. Saulon,
Sub-Editor

SN ABOITIZ Power-Magat, Inc. (SNAP-Magat) has asked the Energy department to endorse its 8.5-megawatt (MW) Maris main canal hydroelectric plant in Isabela province to receive the guaranteed rate for 20 years under the feed-in-tariff (FiT) system, an official of the company’s parent firm said.

Antonio M. Moraza, president and chief operating officer of SNAP-Magat’s parent Aboitiz Power Corp., said he was confident  the project would secure the required clearance, including the certificate of compliance (CoC) from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

“We need the FiT CoC from ERC. Hopefully, when they have enough commissioners we can move,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the P2.15-billion plant’s ceremonial launch in Barangay Ambatali in Ramon, Isabela, on Thursday. “We’re confident we’ll get it.”

Mr. Moraza said the project should qualify for the FiT as the power plant uses water that flows from the dam through a river.

“We’re dependent on the flows from Magat [dam]. We can’t control it. So it’s like a river,” he said.

Company executives said the Department of Energy had conducted several “validations” before the granting of the certificate of endorsement, the required document before the ERC issues the CoC.

The ERC set a FiT rate of P5.90 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for run-of-river hydro projects that started commercial operations by end-2016. The rate has been degressed in 2017 to P5.8705 per kWh as called for by the FiT rules, but remains significantly higher compared with those at the electricity spot market.

The system of granting FiT ended in 2017, but Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi had said he was inclined to extend it for run-of-river hydro plants as the 250-MW installation target set by the previous administration was significantly undersubscribed.

Maris hydro is the first power plant constructed by the SNAP group since it acquired the 380-MW Magat hydropower plant in 2007 through privatization. It is composed of two Kaplan generator units with a nameplate capacity of 4.25 MW each. The first unit was commissioned on Oct. 24, 2017 while the second was commissioned on Nov. 6, 2017.

Joseph S. Yu, SNAP president and chief executive officer, called Thursday’s launch “a celebration of the partnerships that made this project possible: the synergy of local and international expertise; the collaboration with the provincial and local governments, agencies, and communities, and the tireless effort of an amazing team which contributed greatly to our project’s success.”

“This was truly a collaborative effort — and will continue to be — as we work together to power positive change for our country, our host communities, and our team,” he said in his speech during the event.

SNAP-Magat, which took about two years to finish the plant, received in 2017 the Corporate Safety Milestone Award by the Safety and Health Association of the Philippine Energy Sector, Inc. for accumulating at least a million man-hours without lost time accident.

Maris hydro makes Barangay Ambatali the latest addition to SNAP-Magat’s roster of host communities. The municipality of Ramon and province of Isabela are host communities of SNAP-Magat through the Magat hydro, which stands on the border of Ramon, Isabela, and Alfonso Lista, Ifugao. 

EastWest eyes P15B from LTNCDs

EAST WEST Banking Corp. (EastWest Bank) is looking to raise up to P15 billion by selling peso-denominated long-term negotiable certificates of deposit (LTNCD).

In a disclosure to the local bourse on Thursday, the Gotianun-led bank said its board of directors approved the issuance of up to P15 billion worth of peso-denominated LTNCDs. Terms of the offering were not disclosed.

The offering will still need regulatory approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

EastWest Bank said it will issue LTNCDs to “diversify its funding sources as part of its overall liability management.”

LTNCDs are similar to regular time deposits which offer higher interest rates, but the difference is that these cannot be pre-terminated. Being “negotiable” means that these can be traded at the secondary market prior to maturity date.

In August 2017, EastWest Bank listed P2.631 billion worth of long-term debt notes on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx), completing the five-tranche borrowing plan worth P10 billion. The LTNCDs were all due by 2022.

EastWest Bank is the 13th largest commercial bank in the Philippines in asset terms, with P296.53 billion as of end-September 2017.

The bank reported it booked a P3.75-billion net income for the first nine months of 2017, a 60% jump from the P2.33 billion recorded in the same months a year ago.

Shares in EastWest Bank fell by 1.3% or 40 centavos to P30.35 apiece on Thursday. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

RLC prices stock rights offering at 16% discount

ROBINSONS LAND Corp. (RLC) has priced its P20-billion stock rights offering at P18.20 per rights share, it disclosed to the stock exchange on Thursday.

The Gokongwei-led property developer said the price was based on the volume weighted average price of RLC shares on the PSE as of Jan. 24, discounted by 16%. One rights share will be made available to every 3.7217 existing common shares held as of Jan. 31.

The company last November announced the issuance of 1.1 billion common shares in a stock rights offering. The shares will be offered from Feb. 2 to 8.

BPI Capital Corp. will act as sole issue manager, book runner, and underwriter for the offer.

RLC’s parent firm JG Summit Holdings, Inc. expressed its intent to participate in the offer, saying it plans to avail of any remaining shares that will be unsubscribed by the end of the offer period.

Proceeds of the offering will be used to finance RLC’s acquisition of land located in several parts of the country to support the expansion of its business segments, which include commercial centers, residential, office buildings, and hotels.

For shopping malls, the company ended 2017 with 47 under its portfolio. It opened a new mall in Tacloban, Leyte in December. Under the residential business, RLC has  over 70 condominium buildings and housing projects. The company’s office developments, meanwhile, are located across Metro Manila, Cebu City, and Ilocos.

The hotel segment consists of 10 Go Hotels, three hotels under the Summit brand, as well as the Intercontinental Hotels Group, which manages Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria and Holiday Inn Manila Galleria.

In 2017, RLC said it is forming a fifth unit that will handle infrastructure-related businesses. The new company will be the one entering bids for government infrastructure projects, reclamation projects, mixed-use complexes and real estate-related infrastructure projects.

Incorporated in 1980, RLC’s other subsidiaries include Robinson’s Inn, Inc., Robinsons Realty and Management Corporation, Robinsons (Cayman) Limited, Robinsons Properties Marketing and Management Corporation, Altus Angeles, Inc., Altus San Nicolas Corp.,GoHotels Davao, Inc., RLC Resources, Ltd., and Lingkod Pinoy Bus Liner, Inc.

RLC’s attributable profit for the first nine months of 2017 stood at P4.56 billion, slightly higher than the P4.50 billion reported in the same period in 2016. Nine-month revenues were also flat at P16.64 billion.

Shares in RLC gained 80 centavos or 3.85% to close at P21.60 each at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday. — Arra B. Francia

Dollar still king as supply of cold cash soars unabated

THE TRUMP administration may have softened the US’ strong dollar policy and sent the greenback lower, but the supply of cold, hard American cash is alive and well.

In an era of electronic payments and digital currencies, the amount of US currency in circulation has increased unabated. The weekly average value of paper notes and coins in circulation reached a record of $1.62 trillion earlier this month, according to Federal Reserve data.

While that’s not surprising given the world’s largest economy is in the ninth year of an expansion, the increasing supply of physical US currency is outpacing gains in gross domestic product. It also comes as the value of the greenback falls relative to other currencies, with a Bloomberg index measuring the dollar having dropped about 10 percent over the past year.

So what’s behind the pickup in cash despite the proliferation of digital options such as Apple Pay and Square? Economists say several factors may help explain why.

For one thing, there is still a significant portion of Americans who don’t have a bank account or use traditional financial services. Nine million households were “unbanked” — meaning they deal exclusively in cash — in 2015, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s latest study.

What might also be sustaining the cash craze is demand abroad. About 60% of American dollars are held outside the US, according to San Francisco Fed research. The dollar is among the most sought-after safety nets, sources of stability and store of wealth in a global economy, they said.

More sinister factors are at work, too. Regulators have cracked down on the flow of illicit funds following the financial crisis. “Money-laundering rules have in fact pushed more underground activity, out of banks and into cash transactions and that has kept demand very high,” said Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP LLC. — Bloomberg

Peso strengthens on US protectionism worries

THE PESO strengthened against the US currency on Thursday as the dollar slumped due to concerns over the United States government’s protectionist trade policies, and ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) decision on its interest rates. 

The local currency ended Thursday’s session at P50.81 versus the greenback, 15 centavos stronger than its P50.96-per-dollar close on Wednesday.

The peso traded stronger the whole day, opening the session at P50.86 versus the dollar, while its intraday high stood at P50.72. The peso’s worst showing, meanwhile, landed at P50.91 against the US currency.

Dollars traded soared to $1.05 billion from the $791.45 million that changed hands in the previous session.

“The US dollar has declined because of the recent protectionist policy from the US,” Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist of UnionBank of the Philippines, said in a mobile phone message on Thursday.

On Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump imposed tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines in support of the American manufacturers.

A trader said the dollar’s weakness across the board prompted the dollar-peso trading to follow suit.

“It was a volatile session as we continue to see funds selling dollar aggressively,” the trader said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Asuncion added that US officials’ comments welcoming a weaker dollar added to the downward pressure.

On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin was quoted by Reuters as saying: “Obviously a weaker dollar is good for us as it relates to trade and opportunities.”

Another trader added the peso continued to gain strength as investors took profits ahead of the ECB interest rate decision on Thursday.

“The markets are likely to take cues on possible hawkish indications from the ECB as economic data shown constant growth within the Euro area, which might put some downward pressure towards the dollar,” the trader said in an e-mail.

For today, the first trader said the peso might move between P50.65 and P50.90, while the other trader gave a slightly slimmer range of P50.60 to P50.90.

“[T]he local currency will continue to appreciate following the ECB rate decision and amid likely softer initial GDP (gross domestic product) growth data from the US,” the second trader noted. – K.A.N. Vidal

DMCI Homes expands QC condominium project

DMCI HOMES, Inc. unveiled on Thursday the second tower for its residential condominium project in Quezon City (QC) called Infina Towers, targeting both investors and end-users as potential clients.

Located along Aurora Boulevard in Project 3, Quezon City, Infina’s South Tower will have 40 storeys. The project will offer two-bedroom and three-bedroom units with a gross floor area spanning 52.50 to 81.50 square meters (sq.m.). The price of each unit starts at P5.08 million, with pre-selling to begin on Jan. 26.

The entire development covers a land area of 12,701 sq.m.

“Infina Towers offers an ideal place for start-up families to raise and optimize their children’s potential with the easy access of top-notch educational institutions such as the University of the Philippines Diliman and Ateneo de Manila University as well as flourishing businesses in nearby Araneta Center in Cubao area,” the company said.

Aside from universities, Infina Towers is also within the vicinity of medical institutions such as Quirino Memorial Medical Center and World Citi Medical Center. The towers will also be accessible through the Anonas Station of Light Rail Transit Line 2 or through the Araneta Bus Terminal.

Amenities include lounge areas, a game area, a fitness gym, an audio-visual room, sky lounge, function room, pool complex, gazebo, court roof garden, and a basketball court. The tower will also offer commercial spaces at the ground floor for the unit owners’ convenience, as well as five levels of basement parking.

The launch of the second tower comes less than a year after Infina’s North Tower was introduced to the public in April 2017, which is now already 64% sold.

The company looks to turn over the North Tower by September 2021, while the South Tower will be delivered to customers by September 2022.

DMCI Homes’ net income grew 59% to P2.7 billion in the first nine months of 2017, boosted by higher sales and reservations.

Real estate development is among the business segments ventured into by the Consunji group, which has core investments in coal mining, nickel mining, energy, and construction under DMCI Holdings, Inc. The company also maintains an interest in Maynilad Water Services, Inc.

DMCI Holdings saw its net income attributable to the parent rise 18% to P11.7 billion in the first nine months of 2017. This follows a 23% growth in revenues during the same period to P58.4 billion.

Shares in DMCI Holdings picked up 14 centavos or 0.96% to finish Thursday’s trading session at P14.66 apiece. — Arra B. Francia

Duterte forms review body on 1987 Charter

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has formed a consultative committee to review the 1987 Constitution, by way of appointment letters sent out by Malacañang on Thursday, Jan. 25.

The appointments follow on the heels of a meeting over dinner Wednesday night between leaders of Congress to settle their row over how the legislature should vote on charter amendments.

The following were appointed to the committee:

Former chief justice Reynato S. Puno was appointed chairman of the 19-member committee (including Mr. Puno), which also includes former Senate president Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr., retired associate justice Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura, former assemblyman Reuben R. Canoy, and analysts Ranhilio C. Aquino and Edmund S. Tayao.

The other committee members are Arthur N. Aguilar, Eddie M. Alih, Antonio B. Arellano, Ali Pangalian M. Balindong, Virgilio C. Bautista, Victor S. dela Serna, Roan I. Libarios, Susan U. Ubalde-Ordinario, Randolph C. Parcasio, Bienvenido L. Reyes, Rodolfo D. Robles, Julio C. Teehankee, and Laurence B. Wacnang.

On Wednesday night, leaders of Congress have agreed to focus on coming up with amendments to change the 1987 Constitution and to set aside debates over the manner of voting in a constituent assembly, the heads of both the Senate and the House of Representative said Thursday.

“We have decided to focus on the revisions that have to be made rather than how these changes will be effected,” Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III said in a statement.

“We agreed to discuss the manner of voting in another time. We will first talk about the details, for example, the government structure, until we amend the Constitution. And when we have finished, it will not make any difference anymore if we vote separately or jointly,” House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez said in a radio interview.

A consensus was also reached among the leaders for the need to shift the government structure to federalism, according to Mr. Alvarez.

The agreement was made during a meeting over dinner Wednesday night among Messrs. Pimentel, Alvarez, Senate majority leader Vicente C. Sotto III and House majority floor leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas.

Both Messrs. Sotto and Alvarez described the gathering as “cordial.”

Asked if there were specific amendments discussed in the meeting, Mr. Pimentel said they talked about the system of government and the economic provisions in the present Constitution.

Business groups as well as other lawmakers have been calling for amending the Constitution but only for the purpose of changing its economic provisions, particularly on foreign ownership limits.

“It’s just a matter of explaining to the people that we are doing this to benefit the country. Number one, to save money by streamlining some processes, number two, by equalizing development all over the country by sharing powers and resources, and number three, making the government, the administration more accountable because of the adoption of some parliamentary concepts,” Mr. Pimentel said.

Over the past weeks, the Senate and the House of Representatives have been in sharp disagreement over the manner of voting to amend or revise the Constitution if both chambers are convened as a constituent assembly.

While congressmen pushed for a joint voting, the senators — arguing against the House outnumbering them — took the position of separate voting, also in accordance with the procedure under a bicameral legislature.

Mr. Pimentel said the differing views on how to amend the charter “should not distract us from the crux of this exercise: to make revisions to the charter that will help improve our people’s lives.”

But he said he would leave the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes to determine the preferred mode of changing the Constitution since resolutions were filed to call for a constituent assembly and, on the other hand, a constitutional convention.

“Let us await the report of the committee, since it will now start hearing all of these referrals given to it,” the Senate leader said.

Mr. Alvarez said a more detailed discussion of the proposed features of federalism would be held in the coming weeks, in subsequent meetings between the support staff of both chambers of Congress.

“Both the House and the Senate have support staff that will first discuss proposed amendments. When the proposals are clearer, we will sit on it until it gets approval in the majority,” he said in Filipino.

He added that both chambers would strive to harmonize the contentious issues in the charter amendments.

Sought for comment, Senator Francis N. Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes, said he would like to be informed first what was discussed on Wednesday.

“The Senate met in a caucus last week and took a common stand on the matter of charter change. I am certain my fellow senators would like to be briefed first by the leadership as to what was discussed in the meeting before we can commit to anything in this regard,” he said in a text message to reporters.

Mr. Pangilinan held a hearing last week on charter change with constitutional experts, including Mr. Puno, supporting a separate vote should Congress convene as a constituent assembly.

Senate minority leader Franklin M. Drilon said it was best to await the Senate’s decision on the matter. “The Senate is a collegial body. The need for cha-cha, the mode amendment and related issues are being heard by the Senate committee on constitutional amendments. It is best that we await the decision of the committee and the Senate itself on these issues,” he said in a text message to reporters.

Senator Francis G. Escudero, who remained unconvinced on federalism, said: “The issue has always been the manner and process of doing so. But I guess, as the saying goes, let’s agree on what we can agree and set aside for tomorrow what we cannot agree upon.”

Ifugao Representative Teodoro B. Baguilat, Jr. of the House minority bloc described the way Congress leaders decided on charter change and federalism as “whimsical and frivolous.”

“Now after dinner of selected House and Senate leaders, a temporary cease-fire is in effect with no clear picture on what type of federalism are we going to tackle, how both Houses will vote on the proposed charter changes and the time line,” he said. — main report by Camille A. Aguinaldo

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