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PCIC to dole out P1.65-B in insurance to Ompong-affected farmers

The Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) will allot P1.65 billion in insurance to farmers affected by Typhoon Ompong.
In a statement on Tuesday, PCIC President Jovy C. Bernabe said they will be fast tracking the processing of this allotment to speed up the release of insurance to farmers who availed of their program.
“It’s important that we give timely assistance so farmers can replant quickly so they can bounce back from their losses more easily and that we will have a stable food supply,” he said.
Out of the P1.65 billion, P585 million of this will be doled out to Region II, while Region I will receive P510 million.  The insurance will cover around 262,057 farmers.
PCIC is an attached agency under the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The DA yesterday reported that the total agricultural damage caused by Typhoon Ompong reached P26.7 billion, the bulk of which came from devastated rice crops.

Duterte insists on destabilization plot by LP

By Arjay L. Balinbin
President Rodrigo R. Duterte last Monday said that “some soldiers” are “in cahoots” with the Liberal Party to overthrow him.
“Ang sakit ko dito, kayong mga Liberal pati ‘yung iba sa military, nakipag-ugnayan sila (What hurts me is that the Liberal Party and some members of the military, they connived),” Mr. Duterte said in media interview during his visit to wounded soldiers at the Camp Teodulfo Bautista Station Hospital in Jolo, Sulu last Monday, Sept. 24.
He added: “Diyan ako naghihinakit sa kanila ‘yung mga sundalo na ‘yan. Hindi na bale magalit sila sa akin, wala ‘yon. But to go into a cahoots with the kalaban…Ako isa lang ako eh…”
(That is my ill feeling towards these soldiers. It does not matter to me if they got mad with me. It’s nothing. But to go into cahoots with the enemies… I’m alone…)
For his part, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. clarified during a press briefing at the Palace on Tuesday that Vice-President Maria Leonor G. Robredo is “not amongst those specifically named to be part of the conspiracy.”
He added: “She is after all the second highest elected official. She took an oath to support the Constitution, and she should not and she’s expected not to support any unconstitutional means to remove the President.”
Ms. Robredo, in a statement, denounced “baseless allegations” linking the opposition to an ouster plot against Mr. Duterte.
“We must recall that branding critics as criminals was the same draconian tactic employed by the Martial Law Regime to strip the opposition of its voice,” she said.
In a separate statement, she said: “Recent allegations by key leaders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) regarding a supposed plot to oust the President would be laughable if they were not so dangerous. For while the claims themselves are absolutely ridiculous, the attempt to delegitimize various opposition groups and personalities by linking them to an alleged extra-constitutional ‘plot’ is alarming.”
“A free, independent, and critical opposition plays an indispensable role in our democracy. It provides a necessary check on an incumbent administration – keeping it honest, responsive, and accountable – ultimately ensuring better governance and better service to our people. This is a principle protected and enshrined in our Constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech and to petition the government for redress of grievances. Our men and women in the AFP took the same oath as me to uphold and defend the Constitution. Our first responsibility is to maintain fidelity to this commitment, regardless of any personal affiliations,” Ms. Robredo explained.

Hontiveros bares 'tara system' in NFA

By Camille A. Aguinaldo, Reporter
Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel on Monday revealed the tara system within the National Food Authority (NFA) involving the grains agency’s administrator Jason Laureano Y. Aquino and other private rice traders and importers.
In a privileged speech, Ms. Baraquel, citing her sources, said Mr. Aquino was allegedly being paid tara or grease money between P100 to P150 per bag of rice in exchange for the issuance of the certificate of eligibility or import permit. And with 20,000,000 imported bags of rice, the senator calculated the windfall to be around P2 billion.
“This is just the ‘entrance fee’ of the importer in order to be given the certificate of eligibility and import permit. Other fees for various modus operandi are not yet included. The service fees that the Jason Aquino administration imposes abruptly are not yet included ,” she said.
“We are looking at a multi-billion enterprise that has lined the pockets of a privileged few, and caused hunger to untold numbers of Filipinos,” she added.
Ms. Baraquel also named the “favored individuals” from NFA’s tara system to be Marlon Barillo, Marigold De Castro, Richie Carpio, Mercedes Yacapin, Rocky Valdez, and Judy Carol Dansal.
She said the alleged conspiracy between unscrupulous rice traders and insiders within the NFA has resulted to the present rice crisis in the country.
Ms. Baraquel said the NFA’s buffer stock was also deliberately depleted to jack up rice prices for private traders. She added that the imported rice via the government to government (G2G) scheme was deliberately set aside at the pier to allow private traders to position themselves so they could sell rice at a higher price.
Another strategy, the senator pointed out, was by consolidating the hold of rice cartels over stocks of imported rice through the use of front cooperatives and farmers association.

“In both these pathways, corruption is endemic,” she said.
Ms. Baraquel maintained that Mr. Aquino, along with the private rice traders and importers, should be held liable for economic sabotage over the different illegal activities during rice importation.
“We can talk about rice tarrification and other important policy measures. But without addressing rice tara-ffication, our policies remain inutile, she said.
The senator’s privileged speech was referred to the Senate committees on accountability of public officers and investigations (Blue Ribbon) as well as agriculture and food, chaired by Senators Richard J. Gordon and Cynthia A. Villar, respectively, for further investigation.

Fiscal deficit marks Aug. on spending hike

By Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
Reporter
THE GOVERNMENT’S budget balance swung to a deficit in August from a year-ago surplus as expenditures surged faster than revenue growth, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said on Monday.
The government posted a P2.6-billion fiscal deficit in August against a P28.8-billion surplus recorded in the same month last year.
Overall revenues that month grew 11% year-on-year to P256.9 billion from P230.4 billion in August 2017. However this was slower than the 24% growth clocked in July.
Of this amount, tax revenues accounted for P239.8 billion, a 13% increase from last year’s P212.2 billion. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P185.1 billion, eight percent more than the year-ago P171.1 billion. The Bureau of Customs (BoC) raked in P52 billion, 36% more than the P38.3 billion collected a year ago due to “the higher exchange rate, increased oil prices, proper valuation, strong enforcement and revenue-enhancing measures.” Other revenue offices’ tax take totaled P2.7 billion, 18% bigger than the P2.3 billion collected a year ago.
Non-tax revenues, on the other hand, stood at P17.1 billion in August, down six percent from P18.2 billion in August 2017. The BTr’s collections amounted to P5.4 billion, down 13% from P6.2 billion, while other offices’ revenues were P11.7 billion, dipping three percent from P12 billion.
Government expenditures, meanwhile grew 29% to P259.5 billion in August from P201.6 billion in the same month in 2017. Of this amount, interest payments (IP) accounted for P28.3 billion, up seven percent from P26.4 billion last year. Other disbursements — which includes spending on infrastructure and other capital outlays — stood at P231.2 billion, 32% more than the P175.2 billion a year ago.
For January-August, the government posted a P282-billion deficit, 60% bigger than the P176.2 billion recorded in the same eight months last year. This is equivalent to 54% of the P523.68-billion full-year deficit target.
Revenues grew 19% to P1.91 trillion from P1.60 trillion in the same comparative seven months.
Tax revenues accounted for P1.71 trillion of the total, 18% more than the year-ago P1.46 trillion. The BIR collected P1.31 trillion of tax revenues, up 13% from P1.16 trillion the past year. The BoC meanwhile raised P383.5 billion, a 35% surge from P283.6 billion a year ago. Other offices collected P15 billion, up four percent from P14.5 billion.
Non-tax revenues surged 35% to P197 billion as of August from P145.6 billion collected in the same eight months of 2017. The BTr raised P83.3 billion of that amount, 24% bigger than the year-ago P67.4 billion, while other offices raked in P113.7 billion, 45% more from P78.2 billion a year ago.
The same comparative eight-month periods saw the government spend 23% more at P2.19 trillion from P1.78 trillion.
Interest payments accounted for P238.7 billion as of end-August, up seven percent from P222.6 billion disbursed in the same period in 2017. The BTr attributed this performance to the “combined effects of the discount for T-bills (Treasury bills) issuances for 2017 and 2018 and the coupon payment for the 20-year domestic bond issued in February 2018, while the depreciated peso and higher LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) continue to impact foreign payments.”
Other disbursements on the other hand amounted to P1.95 trillion, jumping 26% from P1.56 trillion last year.
Sought for comment, UnionBank of the Philippines Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said that the latest fiscal data have remained largely within expectations.
“I think we are aware that from the start of this administration, ‘tax and spend’ was the key priority. They said that they will reform the tax system and spend to fund an ambitious infrastructure development plan and other social services. And so far, it has been doing what it has set out to do,” Mr. Asuncion said in an e-mail yesterday.
“If government faithfully sticks to its spending and borrowing plans, I think it can stay within comfortable levels. Government needs to stay the course of reforms and changes necessary to help the country track a higher growth trajectory that benefits as many as possible.”
Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa, senior economist of ING Bank, said the state’s expenditure growth was “impressive.”
“They appear more on track at hitting their target this year versus last year. As long as spending is pro-growth, this will help ensure that the deficit to GDP (gross domestic product) ratios remain close to or at target levels,” Mr. Mapa said in a separate e-mail.
National government fiscal performance (August 2018)

National government fiscal performance (August 2018)

THE GOVERNMENT’S budget balance swung to a deficit in August from a year-ago surplus as expenditures surged faster than revenue growth, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said on Monday. Read the full story.
National government fiscal performance (August 2018)

House body turns to financial products as it presses on with tax reform

THE HOUSE of Representatives Ways and Means Committee on Monday raced to tackle more of the Executive’s proposed tax reforms in a bid to approve as many of them as possible before lawmakers turn their attention to preparations for next year’s midterm elections, this time focusing on making capital income and financial intermediary taxes simpler, fairer and more efficient.
“The taxation of capital income and financial services has become overly complex,” according to House Bill No. 8252 — or the proposed “Capital Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act of 2019” — the measure supported by the Department of Finance (DoF) that was filed by committee chairman Rep. Estrellita B. Suansing of Nueva Ecija’s first district and Sultan Kudarat 2nd District Rep. Horacio P. Suansing, Jr.
“Based on the current tax system, there are 80 tax base and tax rate combinations applicable to financial income, financial intermediation services and financial transactions,” according to the bill’s explanatory note, which cited factors affecting financial income taxation as type of product, type of lending, issuer, currency involved, maturity, taxpayer, residency, business status and various special laws (among others, 41 in total outside Republic Act No. 8424, or the National Internal Revenue Code, covering capital income alone, 32 of which the bill proposes to repeal).
A DoF brief distributed during the hearing showed that, under the current system, capital income tax has 52 rates and bases, tax on financial intermediaries has eight while financial transactions’ documentary stamp tax (DST) has 20.
Such a complicated tax structure — involving varied tax rates and unequal treatment of equivalent or comparable financial instruments — gives rise to arbitrage that can distort investment decisions and entails high administrative and compliance costs.
Moreover, investments in equity and some long-term instruments favored by those who can afford them are subject to lower tax rates compared to taxes on short-term investments and savings deposits of “working-class individuals,” the bill noted further.
“What we proposed is that everyone — regardless of the type of taxpayer, instrument, currency and maturity — will pay a flat rate of 15%,” DoF Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua told committee members at the briefing on Monday.
“This I think is very pro-poor because regular Filipinos, instead of paying 20%, will now pay 15%.”
Among others, existing rates on dividend income now amount to 10%, 20% and 25% for individuals, against 10-11.7% for Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. HB 8252 proposes to simplify this regime with a uniform 15%.
The rates for companies’ dividend income — now at 10%, 15% and 30% — will also be harmonized at 15%, matching the rate of the other five major Southeast Asian economies except Indonesia.
The same measure also initially keeps the 0.6% rate for stock transaction tax on listed equities, which will then be slashed by 0.1 percentage point annually until a final rate of 0.1%. In the other comparable major Southeast Asian economies, this item is “mostly exempt”, the DoF brief noted.
The tax on initial public offerings — now at one, two and four percent and which is not levied in most of the other major regional economies except Indonesia — will be removed.
The rates of capital gains tax on unlisted stocks — currently at five percent, 10% and 15% — will also be harmonized at 15%, against exemption for individuals and 17.5% for corporations in much of the Philippines’ major Southeast Asian peers.
The proposed reform also expresses all DST rates in ad valorem (% instead of peso terms), harmonizes all life and non-life insurance rates and removes the DST on domestic money transfers in order to lift the burden on the poor, among others.
HB 8252 also proposes changes to the tax on trading gains on debt instruments and the premium tax on insurance products (proposed at two percent for life insurance and five percent for non-life insurance from the current two and 12% for life and 12% for non-life, respectively), among others.
Financial sector representatives present at the hearing generally expressed support for the measure, save for a few concerns.
For one, Philippine Insurance and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) Executive Director Michael F. Rellosa said “PIRA requests the DST on non-life policy be similar to the current related tax rates imposed on life insurance policies.”
The bill proposes 0.2%, 0.5%, 7.5% and 12.5% ad valorem DST for non-life insurance products and 0.007-0.02% for the DST on life insurance instruments.
Mr. Rellosa said lawmakers should take into consideration that the Philippines is a disaster-prone country. “We would not like our countrymen to purchase insurance from our neighbors simply because it is cheaper,” he explained.
The DoF projects incremental revenues from this reform at P18.5 billion, P16.9 billion, P15.1 billion and P13.7 billion annually between 2019 and 2022, when President Rodrigo R. Duterte ends his six-year term.
Assuming 70% tax collection efficiency, these annual projections are slashed to P13 billion, P11.8 billion, P10.6 billion and P9.6 billion in the same corresponding years. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

World Bank cites dev’t tasks ahead for PHL

THE PHILIPPINE economy needs to grow at least 6.5% annually if it is to turn “into a prosperous middle-class society free of poverty by 2040,” the World Bank said on Monday, describing this goal as challenging but attainable.
“To achieve the national Ambisyon, the Philippines needs to triple GDP (gross domestic product) per capita in the next two decades. The Philippines has done it before but there are challenges,” said World Bank senior economist Rong Qian during a media briefing in Manila as she presented its report, titled Growth and Productivity in the Philippines: Winning the Future.
“High growth is not enough. More could be done to make it more inclusive.”
She said the country’s per capita income of around $3,000 needs to grow to $9,000 to minimize poverty, as envisioned in the government’ long-term plan Ambisyon 2040.
The report found that the Philippines’ ability to sustain high growth rates will depend on how it can accelerate infrastructure investments, as well as efficiently tap capital, labor and technology to boost productivity.
“The Philippines has been investing little in physical capital compared to regional peers over the last two decades, so there’s an opportunity to accelerate growth by investing in infrastructure,” she said.
“Second, the Philippines needs to sustain high growth productivity, or how the economy efficiently uses its resources to produce goods and services.”
She also cited constraints such as the unfair playing field in the telecommunications industry that has made mobile and Internet services slower and more expensive than those of regional peers.
“Sadly, competition in the Philippines is not as strong compared to other countries as many sectors are dominated by only a few firms. A clear example is the current telecom industry which has only two players that don’t really compete,” she said, citing restrictions in the Constitution on foreign participation in several economic sectors.
She added that the country should also address non-tariff measures to attract foreign investments such as reducing logistics cost by building more physical infrastructure.
She added that despite foreign investments growing constantly in recent years, the value was still low compared to those going to other countries in Southeast Asia.
“Trade opens up a country to foreign competition, but Philippines is not trading enough. This is despite having low tariff rates,” she said.
The World Bank said that the Philippines has been growing at an annual average of over six percent since 2010, faster than the 5.3% average in the preceding 10 years. It added that income per capita doubled between 2000 and 2017.
World Bank said in a statement that the country “is clearly in a better position now to speed up reforms to achieve its development goals.”
It said that the Philippines labor market has also remained “rigid” due to cumbersome regulations on processes to hire and fire a worker.
The World Bank recommended to: “increase competition in the telecommunications, electricity, and transport sectors; streamline burdensome procedures to start new businesses and pay taxes; reduce restrictions on foreign investors; reduce trade costs by improving port and logistics infrastructure; pursue more balanced regulations between employees and employers by lowering costs and simplifying procedures for hiring and firing workers; make regular employment contracts more flexible.”
Moving forward, the World Bank economist said that sustaining the 6.5% is “challenging,” but noted that the “Philippines has shown that it can implement difficult reforms to accelerate and sustain that high level.”
Moreover, she said that the current per capita income is already close to the $4,000 threshold of an upper-middle income country.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia has said that the government may reach that status in 2019, earlier than the 2022 target.
“Depending on how we will perform this year, it’s achievable next year,” the World Bank official said.
The economy grew 6.3% last semester, against 6.6% in 2017’s first half.
The World Bank estimates that the Philippines’ GDP would grow 6.7% this year until 2019, and 6.6% in 2020, below the government’s official target of 7-8%.
“The current government public investment program, the ‘Build, Build, Build’ — that is on track to close the physical capital investment gap,” the World Bank economist added..
The government aims to cut poverty incidence to 14% in 2022 from 21.6% in 2015, with infrastructure spending at the forefront of its development thrust targeted to be equivalent to 7.3% of GDP by 2022 from the 5.6% recorded last year. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

When Charice became Jake

HE BURST into the limelight as a little girl with a big voice, becoming an internet sensation, earning the recognition of composer David Foster and of American celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres, and singing with vocal heavyweights like Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli.
But Jake Zyrus — formerly Charice Pempengco — decided to leave the limelight at the height of his career and do what he always wanted to do: live his life as a man. This he then chronicled in his recently release autobiography, I am Jake.
“For me, the story and my experiences is [all about] survival. I wanted it to be a book about survival, especially for those who have depression and tried to take their lives for the same reasons I tried to take mine. And I want them to know that even if our experiences differ, we can survive,” he said in vernacular during the book’s launch on Sept. 21 at the 49-B Heirloom Kitchen restaurant in Quezon City.
The 140-page book tells relates his turbulent relationship with his mother, the sexual abuse he suffered from a family member, mental illness, his career, and, ultimately, his transition.
“I don’t believe in fairy tales, I believe in reality,” he said of the book.
Many a chapter is dedicated to describing how he felt before he transitioned, where he said he didn’t feel like he was free, and how he felt when he had his top body surgery to have his breasts removed.
“My boobs were gone. I couldn’t believe it. My eyes filled with tears over the realization that beneath the bandages was a flat chest — the chest that I had always wanted. After years of living in a body that didn’t feel like mine, I felt a sense of ownership,” he wrote.
He was likewise jubilant when he stopped having his period due to the testosterone injections he was taking, noting that he ordered all the sanitary pads in the house be thrown away because he didn’t need them anymore.
The book is both poignant and hopeful. He noted that he may not be “worth $16 million anymore but I assure you I am richer than Charice.”
“Today, for the first time in my life, I actually have my own house. It’s not big, but it’s mine,” he said in the book’s last chapter.
While many bemoaned the loss of the rich, high-register voice he once had as Charice — the loss due mostly to the testosterone shots he takes — he tells people “steeped in nostalgia” to go on YouTube to “replay my best hits and past performances as many times as they want to.”
During the launch, he said that he is now able to fulfill his dream to be a balladeer now that his voice has grown deeper.
“My voice did not get ‘destroyed,’ as some say. It simply became deeper. If you ask me, it sounds so much better now because you can feel my soul and essence with each bar I sing,” he wrote.
I am Jake is available for P295 online via www.anvilpublishing.com and will hit the shelves at National Bookstore and Powerbooks starting Oct. 5. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Is Robert Redford retiring from acting? Maybe not, he says

NEW YORK — The Sundance Kid may have a few acting adventures left in him.
Last month, screen legend Robert Redford said he was finished with acting, and planned to focus on directing in his golden years.
But in an interview published Friday, Redford says he may have spoken too soon.
“That was a mistake. I should never have said that,” the 82-year-old actor told the entertainment publication Variety late Thursday at the New York premiere of his latest film, The Old Man & the Gun.
“If I’m going to retire, I should just slip quietly away from acting, but I shouldn’t be talking about it because I think it draws too much attention in the wrong way. I want to be focused on this film and the cast,” he said.
The comments backtracked from what he told Entertainment Weekly in early August: “Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting.”
So, what does the future hold? Is Old Man his last movie or not?
“I’m not answering that,” he told Variety. “Keep the mystery alive.”
In the August interview, Redford said that he would “move toward retirement” after Old Man because he’s been in the acting business for more than 60 years.
“I thought, well, that’s enough. And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?” he told Entertainment Weekly.
Director David Lowery told Esquire magazine that Redford had mentioned during the filming of The Old Man & the Gun that it would be his last film as an actor.
The film, set for release in the United States on Sept. 28, sees Redford play Forrest Tucker, the real-life bank robber whose criminal career and multiple escapes from prison spanned more than 60 years.
Redford is an Oscar winner, but not for acting: he won in 1981 for best director for Ordinary People. — AFP

PAL, Cebu Pacific raise fares as fuel cost rises

By Denise A. Valdez
LOCAL airlines have started imposing higher fares for domestic and international flights after the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) approved a fuel surcharge matrix to address the rising price of jet fuel.
Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL) and Cebu Air, Inc. (Cebu Pacific) said they had started implementing a fuel surcharge on Wednesday, Sept. 19, to respond to the effects of growing fuel expenses.
Cebu Pacific President Lance Y. Gokongwei told reporters on the sidelines of an air transport forum in Makati City on Monday that the airline had rolled out updated airfares after the CAB’s issuance of a fuel surcharge matrix last month.
Alexander G. Lao, president of Cebu Pacific subsidiary of Cebgo, Inc., said the airline had followed “Level 3” of the surcharge matrix, which means an addition of as low as P74 for short distance flights. Examples of these flights are those from Cebu to Bacolod, or Cebu to Tagbilaran.
For international flights, a Level 3 surcharge means an additional airfare of P1,425 for those connecting Manila to Dubai or Melbourne, Australia.
Maria Socorro R. Gonzaga, PAL vice-president for external affairs and partnerships, confirmed to reporters that the airline had started charging higher fares last week. This was after PAL filed an application to the CAB when the surcharge matrix became effective mid-September.
Mr. Lao said while the fuel surcharge is not meant to offset all costs, it is expected to help the company recover some of its losses.
“Fuel surcharge is only to recover a portion of the cost. I think it’s 70% or 80% of the incremental fuel cost. But it does help,” he said.
Philippines AirAsia, Inc. said it had filed an application with the CAB on Friday but had yet to get the regulatory board’s approval.
Cebu Air, which operates under the trade name Cebu Pacific, saw a 24% drop in net income during the first half at P3.309 billion. This was mainly attributed to the rising price of jet fuel and the weakening of the Philippine peso.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the cost of jet fuel as of Sept. 14 reached $90.83 per barrel, 28.49% higher than in the same period last year and 2.96% higher compared with the cost last month.
Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo previously said allowing airlines to impose a fuel surcharge was necessary to keep them from suspending flights just to cope with ballooning expenses.
“We have to let the airlines survive instead of cancelling flights, sacrificing quality of service,” he had said.
PAL’s listed parent firm PAL Holdings, Inc. reported higher spending in the first half due to the rise in fuel costs, recording a 21.7% increase in flying operations to P41.012 billion.
In a text message, PAL Spokesperson Cielo C. Villaluna told BusinessWorld the surcharge would help cushion the impact of rising fuel prices on the airline’s operations.
“It partially helps a carrier recoup extraordinary expenses brought about by such price hikes. Fuel surcharge is computed per route, based on distance. The imposition of fuel surcharge is allowed to help sustain the viability of airline operations,” she said.

Prince vaults open up with jazzy Piano & A Microphone album


NEW YORK — A nine-track album from Prince’s vast vault of unreleased material went on sale on Friday, along with a new video highlighting gun violence.
Piano & A Microphone is compiled from a 1983 home studio cassette of the late musician playing jazz piano versions of some of his own songs and those of others, record company Warner Bros. said on Thursday.
Prince, 57, died of an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl in 2016, leaving behind thousands of recordings and videos in the vaults of his home studio in suburban Minneapolis.
The new video, shot recently in New York City, accompanies the album track “Mary Don’t You Weep,” a 19th century spiritual. It is intended to pay tribute to the hundreds of people who are killed or wounded by gun violence in the United States, the record company and the singer’s estate said in a statement.
Prince in 2015 performed at a Rally 4 Peace concert in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray from injuries suffered in police custody. The “Mary Don’t You Weep” video begins with a quote the musician made at that rally, “The system is broke. It’s going to take young people to fix it.”
Piano & A Microphone hears Prince working through his songs “Purple Rain” and “17 Days,” as well as a version of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.”
It is one of a handful of recordings released posthumously by Prince’s estate, including an expanded edition of his Purple Rain album and Anthology: 1995-2010, a selection of 37 of his biggest hits. — Reuters

Melco bourse exit ‘unfair’ to shareholders, say analysts

AFP

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
SHAREHOLDERS of Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp. (MRP) stand to lose from the company’s proposed exit from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), as analysts claim that its low tender offer price — just around half its initial share sale price in 2013 — is unfair.
The operator of the City of Dreams Manila is set to conduct a tender offer to buy out minority stockholders in accordance with its voluntary delisting plan. The gaming firm has set a tender offer price of P7.25 each, much lower than its price of P14 apiece when the company conducted an initial public offering (IPO) back in 2013.
“That’s an unfair price now that MRP is starting to earn money… The shareholders, who bought higher or held on to the IPO price, are the losers here,” said Jervin S. De Celis, a trader at Timson Securities, Inc., in a mobile message.
Aniceto K. Pangan, equities trader at Diversified Securities, Inc., echoed this view, saying the pricing will be against the stockholders who planned their investments for the long term.
“It’s unfair for those investors who were offered a higher price during their IPO and follow on offering. Considering they stayed on and saw more of a long term investment from the company, then they are the ones who will lose money here,” he said in a phone interview.
MRP engaged FTI Consulting Philippines, Inc. to conduct a fairness opinion for the tender offer price, which reported a fair market price range of P6.11 to P7.49 per share. The final offer price indicates a premium of around 14% to the shares’ three-month volume weighted average of P6.35 as of Sept. 7.
The stock’s closing price was P6.21 on Sept. 7, or the trading session before the company announced its delisting plan.
The shares to be tendered are currently owned by MCO (Philippines) Investments Ltd. (MCO Investments), which seeks to acquire up to 1.54 billion common shares in MRP at P7.25 apiece, or a total of P11.18 billion.
MCO Investments must acquire at least 95% of MRP’s outstanding capital stock for the PSE to entertain its petition for voluntary delisting, as per PSE rules.
“The shareholders have to talk to the Board to really know the fair price but what makes the tender offer unfair is that their follow on offer price was at P14 five years ago and MRP was not even earning that time. Now that they’re starting to earn, they’re buying back the shares at almost half the price below the IPO price,” Mr. De Celis said.
Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Piper Chaucer Tan noted that more than the unfair price, investors are worried that their stock will be illiquid once the company delists from the PSE.
“If they don’t exercise the tender offer, first it will be illiquid since it has been delisted in the exchange and you will go directly to the stock transfer office in order to sell it,” Mr. Tan said via text.
He added that once MRP is delisted, stockholders will no longer have an indicative price to base on how much they will sell the shares.
“When the tender offer was made it has a indicative price. If you don’t exercise, you don’t have a reference price and MRP will determine the price per share of your stock position or even they can value it below the tender offer price which is at P7.25,” Mr. Tan explained.
MRP said that should it fail to comply with the 95% requirement for the tender offer, it will still proceed with its petition for delisting.
MRP’s tender offer is scheduled to run from Oct. 3 to 30, with the acceptance of shares tendered to be completed by Nov. 7. The company then targets to cross its shares from the exchange by Nov. 14, as per PSE approval.

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