THE Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has approved the acquisition by Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. (Phoenix) of shares in Philippine FamilyMart CVS, Inc. (PFM) or Philippine Family Mart.

Phoenix is a publicly listed domestic corporation that trades petroleum products on the wholesale and retail basis and operates gas stations, oil depots, storage facilities, and allied services. The ultimate parent of Phoenix is Udenna Corporation.

PFM is a domestic corporation engaged in the business of operating convenience stores under the trademark “Family Mart.”

Following the proposed transaction, Phoenix will wholly own Family Mart.

According to the Commission decision made on Jan. 3, 2018, the Mergers and Acquisitions Office (MAO) of the PCC found that the transaction does not result in substantial lessening of competition in the relevant market.

PCC said there is no ability or incentive for the firms to engage in foreclosure after the acquisition. The antitrust commission also noted there are sufficient competitive constraints from other players in the same market after the transaction.

PCC, the country’s anti-trust body, is mandated under the Philippine Competition Act to review mergers and acquisitions to ensure that these deals will not harm the interest of consumers.

To date, PCC has received 142 merger filings by local and international companies, worth a combined P2.171 trillion. Of the total number of filings, 38 involve global deals. The Phoenix-Family Mart notification is the 119^th transaction approved. — News5/interaksyon.com

By Maya M. Padillo

DAVAO CITY — After conducting their final walk through at the fire site yesterday, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Inter-agency Anti-Arson Task Force team leader and BFP spokesperson Jerry D. Candido said the focus of the task force now is to determine who are liable for the Dec. 23, 2017, NCCC fire that killed 38.

Mr. Candido said they will recommend charges to be filed after they have gathered the necessary documents within the week. He said the BFP-Davao could face criminal, civil, and administrative cases, while the NCCC management and SSI may face criminal and civil cases.

“We are trying our best to finish collecting the documents in one week starting today including the finalization of report. But if we cannot make it we will try on the second week of January but our target is within the week. Kakayahin namin (We can do it) and it depends on the submission of documents,” he said in an interview.

The task force also wants to identify the contractor that conducted repairs at the third floor of the mall when the fire erupted.

The cases will be filed by the task force, which is composed of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), BFP, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Department of Justice (DoJ), and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group XI (CIDG XI).

Mr. Candido said the investigation covered such aspects as the cause of the fire, how the victims were trapped, the conduct of firefighting operations, and determining the liabilities of the parties responsible for this incident.

He said they received last night laboratory test results on the cause of the fire from different pieces of evidence, adding that the results point to electrical short-circuiting in the furniture section of the mall’s third floor.

Mr. Candido said they also brought in the burned debris and ashes to determine if there was flammable liquid used and the result yielded negative. “Angle of arson is totally disregarded. In fact, we can now finally say that the cause of fire is electrical short-circuit,” he said.

He said the point of origin is the ceiling portion of the third floor. “We’re almost done and (it’s) just a matter of writing it since we have already received last night the laboratory test results,” Mr. Candido said.

Mr. Candido noted earlier that there were violations in the conduct of the emergency like the delayed warning during the fire, because the mall’s fire detection and alarm system was not connected throughout the building, particularly in the SSI area. “It means their alarm systems are not interconnected and we can also establish that at the time of fire their automatic alarm system did not function, because it is manually operated, because the floor control valve was already turned off,” he said.

He also said the exits were not compliant with the fire code. “The worst is at the ceiling portion of their exit there was also an opening na parang naging highway ng smoke (that became a smoke highway). Ang kanilang (Their) automatic fire suppression system hindi rin (was not activated) all throughout since SSI has no automatic fire suppression system,” Mr. Candido said.

Mr. Candido said while they were having their final walk through in the fourth floor of the mall yesterday, they discovered more burned human bones. He said they requested officials from the Scene Of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) to “re-process” the bones.

An employee of SSI, Alexandra Moreno-Castillo, remains missing.

“Ang hindi na account si Moreno na lang (Only Ms. Moreno remains unaccounted for),” Mr. Candido said, adding that he had talked to her father who believes his daughter is inside the mall.

By Minde Nyl R. Dela Cruz

RATHER than extend his term, President Rodrigo R. Duterte would rather shorten it, a leading ally as well as Malacañang emphasized on Thursday, Jan. 4.

“Malinaw po ang sinabi ng Pangulo na ’yung kanyang termino mag-e-end on or before (2022). Kasi kung kinakailangan niyang mag-resign bago mag-2022 para ang ating bagong Saligang Batas, ’yung bagong sistema ng gobyerno, ay kaya niyang gawin ’yon,” House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez said in an interview with DZRH on Thursday.

(The President clearly said that his term will end on or before 2022. Because if he has to resign before 2022 for the new Constitution, for the new government system, he can do that.)

“Matagal ko nang kilala ’yan, talagang pagod na rin at kung pupuwede nga lang bukas…” Mr. Alvarez added.

(I’ve known him for a long time, he’s really tired and if it were only possible, by tomorrow [he will resign].)

The Speaker noted that the “no-election” scenario he mentioned is for senators whose terms will expire by 2019.

Among the senators whose terms end in 2019 are Senators Francis Joseph G. Escudero, Gregorio B. Honasan, Loren B. Legarda, and Antonio F. Trillanes IV.

However, Senator Ralph G. Recto said he “expect[s] to have elections (in) 2019.”

“[It] will be very difficult to revise the Constitution in a few months. For starters I have not read any details on federalism, etc.,” Mr. Recto said.

“Might be a difficult to make people accept that there will be no elections. People look forward to elections which is a referendum of all elected officials,” Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito for his part said.

Senator Francis N. Pangilinan expressed opposition to charter change, citing that one of the “possible amendments” in the proposal is the 10-year transition period which will postpone the elections and extend the term of all government officials.

“At dahil wala (nang) eleksyon, appointed na muna ang lahat ng mga lokal na opisyal,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

(And because there will be no elections, all local officials will be appointed.)

He added: “Bibigyan ng kapangyarihan ang Pangulo na gumawa ng mga batas tulad ng Amendment no. 6 nung panahon ni Marcos habang hindi pa nabubuo ang federal government.”

(It will give the President the power to create laws like Amendment No. 6 during the time of [dictator] Ferdinand E. Marcos while the federal government is not yet formed.)

The senator also said charter change will “remove restrictions on foreigners to exploit the natural resources of the country.”

To this, Mr. Pimentel said that as no proposal is definite yet, “each one is free to air his ideas.”

For his part, Albay Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, who leads a coalition of opposition lawmakers, warned that a constituent assembly, one of the modes for charter change, will be grounds for the supermajority in Congress to do as the President says without intensive deliberation.

“With the projected constituent assembly principally composed of Duterte’s dyed in the wool allies, what the President wants as amendments or revision will be delivered with alacrity and minimal debate,” Mr. Lagman said.

Mr. Lagman urged the government to revert to con-con instead to make sure the delegates who will craft the new Charter have no ties with the president.

“Since amending the Charter affects the present and future generations, proposed amendments for the people’s ratification must be approved only after serious and deliberate consideration even as the assembly authorized to propose the amendments must not be dominated by partisans of the President,” Mr. Lagman said.

He added: “We must not count centavos and pesos in undertaking a charter change by asserting that a constituent assembly is less expensive than holding a constitutional convention.”

Mr. Alvarez earlier said convening Congress into a constituent assembly would be more practical than calling a constitutional convention, which entails the election of delegates who will draft the new constitution.

A constitutional convention would cost the government around P7 billion, according to House appropriations committee chair Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles.

THE BUSINESS Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) and other frontline offices will be open after office hours and on weekends to accommodate applications for renewal of business permits and tax payments in time for the Jan. 20 deadline. Makati Mayor Abigail Binay-Campos has also ordered the Finance Department to provide free lunch to the first 200 business taxpayers daily from Monday to Friday only, starting Jan. 8 until Jan. 19. Stubs for the free lunch will be given to clients upon payment of the amount due with the cashier. They may then proceed to the designated area at the ground floor lobby of Makati City Hall Building II to claim their free lunch. Clients will also be treated to free-flowing coffee and biscuits daily on weekdays during the renewal period. From Jan. 3 to 5, BPLO will be open until 7 pm. The rest of the schedule will be as follows: Jan. 6 and 7 (Saturday and Sunday), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Jan. 8 to 12 (Monday to Friday), 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Jan. 13 and 14 (Saturday and Sunday), 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Jan. 15 to 19 (Monday to Friday), 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Jan. 20, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. BPLO chief Maribert Pagente urged business owners to beat the Jan. 20 deadline to avoid the penalties on late payments, which include a 25% surcharge and a 2% penalty per month of delay until the amount due is fully settled. For more information, follow MyMakati on Twitter or visit http://www.makati.gov.ph

THE Regional Trial Court (Branch 52) of Manila convicted Ronaldo Espinosa, a Sheriff of the Department of Labor and Employment — National Capital Region (DoLE-NCR), of direct bribery and was sentenced to imprisonment of three to seven years. The accused was also ordered to pay a fine of P45,000.00 and was meted the penalty of special temporary disqualification.

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