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Stocks extend climb on Wall St., bargain hunting

LOCAL SHARES continued their recovery on Wednesday, tracking the upswing seen in international markets, complemented by bargain hunting of oversold stocks.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped 1.61% or 112.66 points to 7,099.68 yesterday, propelling the main index back to the 7,000 level. The broader all-shares index likewise climbed 1.22% or 52.57 points to 4,342.28.
“I think the index was also tracking the global stocks performance driven by optimism of strong corporate earnings,” IB Gimenez Securities, Inc. Research Head Joylin F. Telagen said in a text message.
Wall Street indices soared overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 2.17% or 547.87 points to 25,798.42. The S&P 500 index edged higher by 2.15% or 59.13 points to 2,809.92, while the Nasdaq Composite index rallied 2.89% or 214.75 points to 7,645.49.
Analysts attributed the rise of global stocks from the solid earnings reports of companies like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, as well as an uptick in tech shares.
Most Asian indices also went up, lifted by Wall Street’s strong performance.
“Aside from that, some investors bought back selected oversold stocks ahead of the third- quarter earnings results,” IB Gimenez Securities’ Ms. Telagen added.
Eagle Equities, Inc. President Joseph Y. Roxas noted the same, saying in a separate text that investors felt “maybe the worst is over for inflation that the selling has been overdone.”
The main index closed to as low as 6,884.38 in the previous week, as investors turned a cautious eye on the slower-than-expected growth of the Philippine economy, in addition to rising tensions in the trade war between the United States and China.
Overall sentiment was also down due to tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia amid the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which some analysts anticipated could affect oil prices.
At home, all sectoral indices climbed back to positive territory. Mining and oil soared 2.74% or 243.56 points to 9,131.61, followed by financials which surged 2.72% or 42.51 points to 1,601.21. Industrials gained 2.69% or 284.42 points to 10,831.73; property firmed up 1.39% or 48.95 points to 3,547.86; holding firms rose 0.86% or 58.23 points to 6,800.57; and services went up 0.46% or 6.85 points to 1,484.56.
Some 527.59 million issues valued at P5.74 billion switched hands, rising from Tuesday’s P4.75-billion turnover.
Advancers were more than double the decliners, 129 to 57, while 46 names closed unchanged.
Net foreign outflows also more than doubled on Wednesday, swelling to P633.66 million from the P223.54 million posted in the previous session.
Papa Securities Corp. trader Gabriel Jose F. Perez placed the PSEi’s initial resistance from 7,130 to 7,140. — Arra B. Francia

Peso strengthens further vs dollar

THE PESO strengthened further on Wednesday to log a fresh one-month high, even as the dollar climbed on the back of a rebound in global equity markets.
The local unit closed the session at P53.89 versus the greenback on Wednesday, seven centavos stronger than the P53.96-per-dollar finish the previous day.
This was peso’s best showing in more than a month or since it closed at P53.88 against the dollar last Sept. 10.
It traded stronger the whole day, opening the session at P53.87 versus the dollar. It climbed to as high as P53.84 per greenback, while its worst showing stood at P53.95.
Dollars traded rose to $872.95 million from the $777.8 that switched hands last Tuesday.
A foreign exchange trader said the peso rose on the back of an “equity bounce from world equity index.”
“At the same time, the dollar traded stronger as risk-on sentiment was seen overnight,” the trader added.
The dollar strengthened against the major currencies on Wednesday as the three main Wall Street indexes each rose by more than 2% as blue-chip firms delivered strong earnings, reducing global appetites for safe haven assets, Reuters reported.
Michael L. Ricafort, economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., concurred, adding that “relatively bigger gains” in the local stock market as well as hawkish signals from the central bank pushed the peso stronger.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 112.66 points or 1.61% to finish Wednesday’s session at 7,099.68.
“The peso continued to strengthen…amid recent signals that the [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] could possibly keep policy rates unchanged for the rest of 2018 amid some easing inflation especially on a month-on-month basis,” Mr. Ricafort said in a text message.
Meanwhile, another trader attributed the peso’s continued strength to “cautious” profit-taking following the recent strength of the local currency.
“The absence of major geopolitical noise in the recent days eased some safe-haven pressures on the dollar,” the trader said.
For Thursday, the first trader expects the peso to move between P53.85 and P54.05 against the dollar, while the other gave a P53.80-P54 range. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal with Reuters

Palace: DDB wants Duterte to name narco-candidates

THE Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) wants President Rodrigo R. Duterte to make public the names of candidates involved in illegal drugs, according to his spokesman.
“Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) has announced that it is pushing for the President’s approval for the release of a list containing the names of politicians or candidates involved in illegal drug activities in order to guide the voters as they elect their respective leaders in the midterm elections next year,” Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement on Wednesday, Oct. 17.
Mr. Panelo added that Mr. Duterte “has yet to categorically announce if he will approve the release of this list amid the forthcoming elections.”
He said the President is considering “all rights and interests involved in order to ensure that the 2019 elections is not only credible and peaceful but also one that is truly reflective of the people’s desires and aspirations.”
But in a press conference in Davao City last Oct. 12, Mr. Duterte said he will not disclose the names of the alleged narco-politicians. “No, I will not. It’s not a good policy to let know the — to telegraph your intention or what you know about the other fellow, especially in matters of breaking penal laws. No, I will not. We will not in government,” he said.
Mr. Panelo for his part said: “The Narco-lists prepared by our law enforcement agencies, including the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, are not products of mere conceptions but are based on intelligence reports which underwent a series of comprehensive assessments. The public can thus be assured that these lists are credible and not propaganda tools to taint the characters of candidates. At the same time, release of narco-lists should not be perceived as a verdict against those candidates named therein as they are free to seek recourse and object to the findings of our authorities in clearing their reputations. To be sure, the sole purpose of releasing such lists is for voters to be informed of personalities involved in destroying or ravaging our nation through facilitating the proliferation of dangerous drugs in our societies.”
The President’s spokesman also said the DDB’s position “finds basis on the people’s right to information, which certainly includes the right to be cognizant of the profile, background and upbringing of candidates we will choose to elect to powerful positions.”
Filipinos “have the right to know these in order for [them] to make intelligent and studied choices when [they] go to the polls next year and exercise [their] right of suffrage,” Mr. Panelo said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

De Lima says Faeldon’s appointment meant to sustain pressure on her

SENATOR Leila M. De Lima on Wednesday claimed that the appointment of former Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Deputy Administrator Nicanor E. Faeldon as Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief was meant to ensure that National Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmates will continue to testify in drug cases filed against her.
“The recycled appointment of former Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon to the BuCor after the resignation of Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa is just another step in ensuring that the NBP inmates being used against me continue to be coddled and given special treatment, or pressured and threatened, at least until they finish falsely testifying against me,” she said in a statement.
The senator pointed out that those who had persecuted her in the past “were all discarded” by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, instead of being rewarded.
“All those who continue to pursue this persecution should take a lesson from those who came before them. If they think they will be rewarded by Duterte at the end, they only have to look at what happened to Aguirre, Alvarez, Fariñas, Umali and Roque. Duterte discarded these ambitious sycophants as easily as he had used them, as soon as they had served their purpose,” she said of the President’s associates and political allies.
“There can be no reward in doing injustice to innocent people. In the end, trust and justice will always catch up,” she added.
Mr. Faeldon was appointed to the BuCor after his predecessor Ronald M. Dela Rosa filed his senatorial candidacy last Friday, Oct. 12. Prior to his post in the OCD, Mr. Faeldon was Bureau of Customs (BoC) chief.
Ms. De Lima was detained on February 2017 for her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trading at the NBP when she was justice secretary. But according to her supporters, including some in the international community, Ms. De Lima is a victim of political harassment by the Duterte administration. — Camille A. Aguinaldo

Opposition coalition launched, names 8 senatorial bets

THE MAIN opposition Liberal Party (LP) has teamed up with other political and cause-oriented groups, forming an eight-member senatorial line-up for the May 2019 midterm elections to fight what it described as a “creeping authoritarianism” in the political landscape.
Francis “Kiko” N. Pangilinan, LP president and campaign manager of the new coalition, said the groups share a “common set of facts and values” and aim “to reclaim wider democratic spaces to push our common agenda of a progressive and prosperous Philippines primarily through the 2019 national elections.”
The coalition includes the Aksyon Demokratiko party founded by the late Raul S. Roco, party-lists Magdalo and Akbayan, and the Tindig Pilipinas group, among others.
The senatorial slate is composed of Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” A. Aquino IV; former senator and interior secretary Manuel “Mar” A. Roxas II; legal counsel to the vice-president Romulo B. Macalintal; Magdalo Party-list Representative Gary C. Alejano; Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) Chairperson Jose Manuel “Chel” I. Diokno; former Bangsamoro Transition Commission member Samira Gutoc-Tomawis; former solicitor general Florin „Pilo“ T. Hillbay; and former House of Representatives deputy speaker Lorenzo „Erin“ R. Tañada III.
Mr. Pangilinan said the LP’s chosen candidates are “pro-democracy, pro-poor, and pro-progress.”
“That would be the over arching theme of our campaign as we put forward solutions to high prices and inflation, creation of better-paying jobs and increased incomes,” he added.
Sought for comment on the senatorial bids of three former senators who are facing charges relating to the pork barrel scam — Ramon “Bong” B. Revilla Jr., Jose Pimentel “Jinggoy” E. Estrada Jr., and Juan F. Ponce Enrile -— the opposition leader said, “That shows the level of disrespect and cynicism in our democracy and electoral system. I hope our voters will see through that.”
Mr. Revilla, who is in jail while awaiting resolution on his plunder case, filed his Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) yesterday through his wife, Lani Mercado-Revilla.
The 94-year old Enrile, who is out of detention for humanitarian reasons, personally filed his CoC after an earlier filing by a proxy contained errors.
Mr. Estrada, out on bail, filed his COC on Tuesday.
Among the other candidates who made their bids on Wednesday, the last day of the COC filing, were former Presidential spokesperson Harry L. Roque, who is gunning for a Senate seat after announcing earlier this week that he would be the first nominee of party-list Luntian.
Mr. Roque said he is now running under the People’s Reform Party (PRP), founded by the late senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
He added that the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party offered him a seat in its senatorial slate, but he declined.
“I have been offered a seat under PDP-Laban, which I am grateful for, pero ang sabi ko nga (but as I’ve said), if I’m going to run it cannot be as a traditional politician.”
152 SENATORIAL CANDIDATES
After the closing of the five-day filing period, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported that it accepted 152 COCs for senator and 185 party-list certificates of nomination.
Comelec Commissioner Ma. Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon noted that only 42 of the party-lists have women as first nominees, or 23% of the total.
“It’s too little,” she said, adding that the minimum for women candidates should be 20%.
The Comelec will release the final list of candidates by December 15.
“We have a deadline to cleanse all the nuisance candidates before December 15,” Comelec Commissioner Marlon S. Casquejo said. — Gillian M. Cortez

Andaya says assassination attempt won’t stop his bid for governor

CAMARINES SUR Rep. Rolando G. Andaya, Jr — CONGRESS.GOV.PH

HOUSE MAJORITY Leader Rolando G. Andaya Jr., who represents the 1st district of Camarines Sur and is running for governor of the province in the 2019 elections, said he is not backing out of his bid despite yesterday’s foiled assassination attempt as he filed his certificate of candidacy. Mr. Andaya alleged that the gunman, a member of the provincial Capitol Complex Security Unit, was directed by his “powerful political figures” in the province. “Kung akala nila matatakot ako, diyan sila nagkakamali. Wala nang atrasan ito (If they think I will be intimidated, then they are mistaken. There is no backing out here),” he said. The gunman, identified as Ray John Musa, approached Mr. Andaya from behind and pulled out a firearm. The gun then fell to the ground, which caught the attention of the House leader’s security officers. The close-in security members, PCI Samuel A. Alforte (Ret.) and Lupi Mayor Roberto M. Matamorosa, subdued the suspect and recovered a .38 revolver. The 26-year-old Mr. Musa was arrested and has been charged with attempted murder and violation of the gun law. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Japanese fish cage technology attracts investments in typhoon Yolanda areas

A FISH cage technology of Japanese firm Nitto Seimo has attracted private sector investment in Samar and Leyte, two of the areas hit by super typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) in 2013. In a statement released yesterday, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which brought the technology through its Partnership with the Japanese Private Sector program, said private investors have already rented the fish cages and are employing displaced fisherfolk as caretakers, harvesters, cage cleaners, net installers, and transporters of harvested milk fish. Some of the typhoon-resistance cages are also operated through two other schemes: family-based fish farming where one family for every barangay operates the fish cage; and association-based. JICA said the project is estimated to have created over 700 jobs. Nitto Seimo has also trained 178 fishermen and members of local government units on using the fish cages that are made of high-density polyethylene and submerged by filling with seawater to avoid damage caused by wind and waves. “Our partnership with Nitto Seimo shows that we can leverage on the technology made by Japanese companies to address development issues in the era of massive climate change,” said JICA Representative Jin Hirosawa.

No opposition to P2.50 jeepney fare hike in Central Visayas

A P2.50 jeepney fare increase in Central Visayas is now up for review and recommendation by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-Region 7 (LTFRB-7) after no opposition was presented during Monday’s public hearing. The region’s current minimum fare is P6.50. Students, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities get a 20 % discount. Edwin A. Antepuesto, LTFRB-7 legal and hearing officer, said the petitioners, the Basak-Lapu-Lapu City Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (Balacjoda), have until Oct. 16 to submit all supporting documents. Balacjoda cited rising fuel prices, cost of spare parts, and inflation among the reasons for the provisional fare increase. Mr. Antepuesto did not promise to resolve the matter within the next few days, but he said the petition is considered as an “extreme urgency.” LTFRB-7 Regional Director Eduardo C. Montealto, Jr. said they will immediately send their recommendation to the LTFRB board members for the final decision. — The Freeman

MGB-11, Davao City gov’t to meet on illegal establishments in Marilog’s landslide-prone areas

THE MINES and Geosciences Bureau-Davao Region (MGB-11) office is set to meet with the Davao City government to discuss steps that will be taken against businesses located in landslide-prone areas in the Marilog District and operating without permits. MGB-11 Regional Director Noel B. Angeles said last week that they are prepared to close down more establishments, particularly those related to tourism. The agency has closed down seven establishments this year. Mr. Angeles said some of these businesses “operate even without permits and that when they are discovered, they will fight the government.” The Marilog District, an upland area of Davao City along the Davao-Bukidnon Highway, is being positioned as an agri-tourism destination. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

Mayors in Mindanao’s 3 major cities running for re-election


INCUMBENT MAYORS in three of Mindanao’s major cities — Cagayan de Oro, General Santos (GenSan), and Davao — have filed their respective Certificates of Candidacy (CoC) for another term in office. Last Monday, GenSan Mayor Ronnel C. Rivera made his bid for a third and last term under the local party People’s Champ Movement Gensan (PCM GenSAn). Davao’s Sara Duterte-Carpio also filed on Oct. 15 under the regional Hugpong ng Pagbabago party, which she founded and was accredited by the Commission on Elections earlier this year. She is gunning for a second term. In Cagayan de Oro, Mayor Oscar S. Moreno filed his CoC yesterday, the last day of filing. Mr. Moreno, now on his second term, is a member of the ruling national PDP-Laban party. Under the country’s 2018 competitiveness index, these three ranked the highest among highly urbanized cities in Mindanao with Davao in 4th place, Cagayan de Oro in 6th, and GenSan, 14th.

Last Day

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) officially ends the filling of Certificates of Candidacy (CoC) for senatorial party-list at exactly 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17.

Nation at a Glance — (10/18/18)

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

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