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Mines chamber to meet with DENR chief to discuss changes in mining policies

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (CoMP) will be meeting with Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu on Thursday, April 19, to discuss the future of the mining industry.
CoMP Executive Director Ronald S. Recidoro told reporters on Wednesday, April 18, the chamber is working with Mr. Cimatu to improve the industry’s image and fast track changes in mining policies.
Mr. Recidoro noted that given President Rodrigo R. Duterte is not in favor of open-pit mining, the “contributions” of the mining industry is not seen.
“That’s going to take a lot of work but we have to start somewhere and that’s what we’re doing now,” he added.
“Until the perception problem is addressed, until it’s fixed, we don’t see much movement in policies so that open-pit mining ban, it won’t move. The moratorium, it also won’t move until we are able to answer the more basic question[s] of ‘is there responsible mining in the country? What is responsible mining?.'”
Last year local mining companies agreed to commit to the Mining Association of Canada’s Towards Sustainable Mining initiative, which advocates responsible mining.
The signing came after Mr. Cimatu had urged the industry to sign the Baguio Declaration and commit to environment-friendly methods of mineral extraction. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

SEC issues warning against 14 online cryptocurrency scams

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned the investing public against 14 investment scams found online, including entities riding on the growing popularity of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to lure investors.
The country’s corporate regulator advised against investing in the following entities:
• NewG
• Smart Capital
• Gener8X
• Paid2Prosper
• CMT (Coins and Mining Trading)
• PSO (PSOPOWER Apps)
• TradeConnect
• IronTrading (Team Bangon)
• ExpertTrading
• OneCash
• Lucky Coins
• Miner’s Investment Group
• Digital Coin Trading
• All Pal for All Seasons
The commission said that the companies have been soliciting investments from the public through social networking site Facebook, promising returns of as high as 200% per month. The SEC said that the abovementioned entities claim that funds from investors will be converted into cryptocurrency, thus justifying the investment’s earning capacity.
The SEC emphasized that none of the firms are registered with the commission, nor are they allowed to solicit investments from the public as they have no prior registration and/or license to engage in such activities. — Arra B. Francia

National Youth Commission to seek deadline extension of COC filing for SK

The National Youth Commission (NYC) is open to appealing to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to extend the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COC) if the number of Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) candidates are insufficient to fill almost 300,000 positions.
Two days short of the Comelec deadline, NYC Assistant Secretary Rhea B. Peñaflor called on aspiring community youth leaders as the filed COCs totaled only 39,180, as of April 16, 2:30 PM.
The data also reported 9,160 individuals are seeking SK chairmanship, while 30,020 for the position of an SK councilor.
“The commission proper will meet and we will recommend to Comelec (to open another round of filing),” Ms. Peñaflor told reporters in a press briefing, Wednesday. “(But) still it is up to the Comelec.” — Charmain A. Tadalan

Not enough jobs for 2018 graduates despite significant rise in postings — Jobstreet.com

With the first batch of K-to-12 graduating this year, the number of job applicants is expected to rise to 1.2 million, creating stiff competition in this year’s job market, data from online advertising platform Jobstreet.com showed.
In the annual hiring preferences survey of Jobstreet.com, employers were reported to be less likely to accept K-to-12 graduates this year. Of the 503 companies surveyed, 35% said they will not hire the new crop, while 41% said their decision is still indefinite.
Only 24% willingly said they are ready for K-to-12 graduates. These companies are in the BPO (21%), manufacturing (16%), professional services (12%), retail (12%) and machinery & equipment industries (7%).
Mr. Philip A. Gioca, Jobstreet.com Philippines country manager said there are not enough jobs for all college and K-to-12 graduates.
“[I]f you have 1.2 million graduates, I don’t think we have enough jobs for that. Even if (there is) growth (by) 50% in job postings alone, that cannot accommodate (everyone),” he said.
In 2017, available jobs for fresh graduates rose by 10% at 52,149, from 47,339 the previous year. Most of these applicants were absorbed in BPO (45.0%), retail (5.6%) and manufacturing (4.0%) industries.
Their average monthly salary stood at P19,785, a 1.759% increase from the figure in 2016. — Dennis A. Valdez

Airlines back creation of global drone registry -IATA

MONTREAL/SINGAPORE — The world’s airlines are backing the development of a United Nations-led global registry for drones, as a rise in near collisions by unmanned aircraft and commercial jets fuels safety concerns, an executive of their trade group said on Tuesday.
The International Air Transport Association backs efforts by the United Nations’ aviation agency to develop such a registry, which could also help track the number of incidents involving drones and jets, said Rob Eagles, IATA’s director of air traffic management infrastructure.
IATA would consider collaborating with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to use the registry for data analysis to improve safety.
ICAO is developing the registry as part of broader efforts to come up with common rules for flying and tracking unmanned aircraft.
“One of the important things we would like to see on a registry as well is the compilation of data which would include incident and accident reporting,” Eagles said in an interview on the sidelines of IATA’s Safety and Flight Ops Conference in Montreal.
Airlines and airport operators are looking to drone registries, geo-fencing technology and stiffer penalties for operating drones near airports. They hope these steps will ensure flying remains safe as hobbyists and companies like Amazon.com Inc use more drones.
In Britain, the number of near misses between drones and aircraft more than tripled between 2015 and 2017, with 92 incidents recorded last year, according to the U.K. Airprox Board.
Air New Zealand Ltd said last month a flight from Tokyo with 278 passengers and crew on board encountered a drone estimated to be just five meters away from the Boeing 777-200 jet during its descent into Auckland.
A single registry would create a one-stop-shop that would allow law enforcement to remotely identify and track unmanned aircraft, along with their operator and owner.
“The intention at present is to merge this activity into the ICAO registry for manned aircraft, so that the sector has a single consolidated registry network,” said ICAO spokesman Anthony Philbin by email.
The manned aircraft registry is operated by Aviareto, a joint venture between Switzerland-based aviation technology group SITA and the Irish government.
SITA CEO Barbara Dalibard said her company wanted to build a blockchain-based global drone registry and had been working with Geneva Airport on tests of a geo-fenced zone around the airport where drones listed in the registry would not be able to fly.
“The data is connected to the airport system,” she said during an interview in Singapore on Tuesday.
“The drone is approaching the airport and it says ‘No, go back’. If everything is connected you can ask the drone to change its flight plan or to readjust in order to get out of the danger zone,” she added. — Reuters

Comparison-shopping site says interest in car loans stable despite TRAIN

Moneyguru Philippines Corp., the company that operates financial comparison website MoneyMax.ph, said interest in car loans remained steady after the implementation of the tax reform law, driven by aggressive discounting and lower-end vehicles which are now taxed more lightly.
The company’s managing director Moritz Gastl said the website did not see any decrease in its car loan applications following the imposition of higher excise tax on automobiles brought by the Tax Reform on Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.
“Since [the implementation of the tax reform], the volume has been stable comparable with the beginning of last year. We haven’t actually seen it going down,” Mr. Gastl told reporters in a round table discussion in Makati City.
MoneyMax.ph is an online platform that lets its users to compare financial and telecommunication products such as insurance, loans, credit cards and broadband plans. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Peso weakens on US housing data amid easing Korean tensions

THE PESO weakened slightly against the dollar on Wednesday on the back of strong US housing data as well as easing geopolitical tensions on reports that North and South Korea are moving to formally end the Korean War.
The peso ended the session at P52.07, two centavos weaker than its P52.05 finish on Tuesday.
The peso was weaker for most of the day, after opening flat at P52.05, which was also its high for the day. It dipped to as low as P52.135 against the dollar intraday.
Volume rose to $502 million from $427.3 million on Tuesday.
A trader told BusinessWorld that the currency pair has been trading within a tight range in the past few weeks.
“It has been the same for the past two or three weeks. We haven’t seen movement in dollar-peso lately,” the trader said in a phone message.
“We’re continuing to see demand coming from both sides. A few days ago, we saw oil companies buying dollars. At the same time, there were also inflows, although I’m not sure where those came from,” the trader added.
Meanwhile, another trader attributed the slight weakness of the peso to the “US housing data last night and news of (US President Donald) Trump’s diplomatic talks with North Korea.”
According to Reuters, housing starts in the US rose 1.9% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.319 million units, more than the consensus among economists of 1.262 million units in a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, an unidentified South Korean official said the two Koreas are set to announce a permanent end to the military conflict between Pyongyang and Seoul.
The two countries have technically been at war since the Korean War ended in 1953 with a truce and not a peace treaty.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a summit.
Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump are also poised to hold talks in late May or June, according to North Korean state media.
For today, the first trader still expects the peso to move between P51.90 and P52.20, while the second trader gave a slightly narrower range of P51.95 to P52.15.
“In the next few days or weeks, we might see inflows due to the rights offering of [Bank of the Philippine Islands],” the first trader noted. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Fintech firm to offer card-less payment option to Lazada shoppers

Financial technology (fintech) firm First Digital Finance Corp. (Digital Finance) is set to launch a card-less and installment-based payment platform in Lazada.
In a statement sent to reporters on Wednesday, April 18, First Digital will launch BillEase, a payment platform wherein Filipino shoppers can pay for their purchased items in Lazada without using a credit cards and over a series of installments. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

PSEi halts losing streak on bargain hunting

SHARE prices halted a three-day run of declines on Wednesday, as investors sought bargains as global markets provided cause for optimism overnight.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 0.90% or 69.74 points to close at 7,793.13 yesterday, bouncing back from its 100-point decline in the previous trading session. The broader all-shares index also firmed up 0.52% or 24.62 points to end at 4,720.58.
“Technical indicators such as a Bullish Divergence with RSI (relative strength index) as well as optimism from US markets last night from strong first-quarter corporate earnings signaled the possible comeback of the index today. And true enough, the index gained as much as 105 points before (giving up much of its gains to close at) 7,793.13,” Papa Securities Corp. trader Gabriel F. Perez said in an e-mail.
Earnings reports boosted Wall Street’s performance on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 0.87% higher or 213.59 points to 24,786.63. The S&P 500 index jumped 1.07% or 28.55 points to 2,706.39, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.74% or 124.81 points to 7,281.10.
“(The PSEi) probably just moving in line with United States markets last night. Could also be due to bargain hunting given yesterday’s move,” China Bank Securities Corp. Research Director Garie Ouano said via text.
Most Asian indices followed suit, also trading on a positive note on Wednesday.
Four sectoral indices stayed in positive territory, led by property which added 1.46% or 52.32 points to 3,619.70. Industrials rose 1.14% or 126.13 points to 11,178.63; financials grew 1.11% or 22.04 points to 1,997.31; while holding firms closed 0.26% higher or 20.29 points at 7,747.10.
On the other hand, mining and oil lost 1.35% or 147.05 points to 10,717.66, while services gave up 0.13% or 2.14 points to 1,587.20.
Some 1.1 billion shares changed hands, resulting to a value turnover of P7.31 billion, slightly higher than Tuesday’s P7.03 billion.
Decliners narrowly beat advancers, 107 to 103, while 40 were unchanged.
Papa Securities’ Mr. Perez noted that net purchases by foreigners amounted to P443.24 million. This was a reversal of the P453.85 million worth of net sales on Tuesday.
“Notably, ALI (Ayala Land, Inc.) had the highest net foreign buying figure of the day of P156.6M,” Mr. Perez said.
Index heavyweight Universal Robina Corp. led the index higher, as the stock gained 2.64% to close at P140. ALI also gained 3.14% to P41, while BDO Unibank, Inc. added 3.01% to P137. — Arra B. Francia

Countdown begins for Pacman’s return to ring

THE road leading to the much-anticipated return to the ring of Filipino boxing superstar Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao was further paved on Wednesday when his scheduled fight with Lucas Matthysse of Argentina, dubbed “Fight of Champions,” officially got unveiled at the City of Dreams Manila Grand Ballroom.
Happening at the 16,000-seat Axiata Arena in Malaysia on July 15 (July 14 US time), the fight will see the eight-division world champion challenge Mr. Matthysse for his World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight title.
It will also have Mr. Pacquiao (59-7-2) vying for an 11th world title that would further underscore his legendary standing in the sport.
The countdown for Fight of Champions began yesterday with the first of a two-city press tour kicking off here in Manila that was attended by the headlining fighters and their respective teams as well as officials of promoters MP Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions.
The press tour next moves to Malaysia, the site of the July fight.
Fight of Champions is being touted as the biggest fight event in Malaysia since boxing legend Muhammad Ali fought there against Joe Bugnerre in 1975.
It is something that Mr. Pacquiao, as promoter and president of MP Promotions, is very proud of mounting and an event they hope to build on as a platform to foster “nation-building” in the region through sports and channeling attention to Asian fighters.
Turning his attention to the fight, Sarangani native Mr. Pacquiao, 39, said his fight with Mr. Matthysse is going to be an exciting one, owing to their similar aggressive style of fighting.
“This is going to be a good fight. We chose Matthysse as an opponent because he is tough and aggressive and we will have more action,” Mr. Pacquiao said.
“His style and mine are similar. We are not underestimating him,” he added.
On the part of champion Mr. Matthysse, he said he is looking forward to the fight because it was “a fight I have always wanted.”
“I worked hard to earn this title and as I much respect Manny I would not give the title up and defend it to the death,” the 35-year-old Argentinian champion said.
Adding, “I’m confident I can beat Pacquiao. He is still a good fighter but I believe not at a level as before.”
Mr. Pacquiao, also a sitting senator in the country, enters the fight off a loss to Australian Jeff Horn by unanimous decision in July last year in Brisbane. The defeat saw the Filipino pride lose the World Boxing Organization title in the process.
Mr. Matthysse (39-4), for his part, is riding a two-fight winning streak, the latest of which coming in January this year over Thai Tewa Kiram by way of knockout in the eighth round in Inglewood, California.
Fight of Champions: Pacquiao vs. Matthysse will also feature three other world championship title fights, namely, the 12-round featherweight world title fight between Filipino Jhack Tepora and Mexican Edivaldo Ortega, WBA light flyweight world title fight between Chinese Lu Bin and Venezuelan Carlos Canizales, and International Boxing Federation flyweight world title fight between Pakistani Muhammad Waseem and Saudi Moruti Mthalane.
Also on tap are five other bouts, most of which involving Filipino fighters. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Peso weakens on strong US housing data

The peso weakened slightly against the dollar on Wednesday, April 18, on the back of strong US housing data as well as the easing diplomatic tensions between North and South Korea.
The local currency ended Wednesday’s session at P52.07 versus the greenback, two centavos weaker than the P52.05-per-dollar finish on Tuesday.
The peso traded weaker the whole day, opening the session flat at P52.05, which was also its best showing for the day. Meanwhile, it dipped to as low as P52.135 against the US currency intraday.
Dollars traded rose to $502 million from the $427.3 million that switched hands on Tuesday.
A trader told BusinessWorld that the pair has been trading within a tight range for the past few weeks.
“It has been the same for the past two or three weeks already. We haven’t seen movement in dollar-peso lately,” the trader said in a phone message.
“I guess, we’re continuing to see demand coming from both sides. A few days ago, we saw oil companies buying dollars. At the same time, there were also inflows, although I’m not sure where that came from,” the trader added.
Meanwhile, another trader attributed the slight weakness of the local currency to the “US housing data last night and news of Trump’s diplomatic talks with North Korea.”
According to Reuters, housing starts in the US rose 1.9% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.319 million units, more than the consensus among economists of 1.262 million units in a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, an unnamed South Korean official said the two Koreas are set to announce a permanent end to the military conflict between Pyongyang and Seoul.
The two countries have technically been at war since the Korean War ended in 1953 ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will go to South Korea next week to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a summit.
Mr. Kim and President Donald J. Trump are also poised to hold talks in late May or June, according to the North Korean state media. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Olympian Barriga looks to advance pro career with IBF title eliminator

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
WITH his professional boxing career off to a decent start, Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga now angles to take it at a notch higher by positioning himself for a title shot in a big fight scheduled for next month.
In what would be his ninth fight since making the decision to turn professional, Mr. Barriga will take on Colombian Gabriel Mendoza in an International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimum weight world title eliminator on May 13 here in Manila.
It will be the headlining fight for the “Survival Instinct” boxing offering of Joven Sports Promotions that will happen at the SM North EDSA Skydome.
The boxing card is also part of ESPN5’s newly launched “Live Boxing Month” fare that will feature explosive bouts of top fighters in the world.
In the press conference for the fight card and Live Boxing Month on Tuesday, Davao native Mr. Barriga said he is very excited for his upcoming fight, the significant of which is not lost to him.
“This is a big fight for me and I’m very thankful for the opportunity. I have been training hard with my team for it and I will try my best not to let our hard work go to waste,” said Mr. Barriga (8-0, 1 KO).
By while he has stayed undefeated since moving to the professional ranks in July of 2016, Mr. Barriga, a decorated national team athlete who saw action in the London Olympics in 2012, said the transition is still ongoing for him.
He pinpointed at stamina and power as some of the things he is still working on to get used to.
“One thing that separates amateur and professional boxing is how long the fights are. In the amateur you only have three rounds which in itself are already tiring. But in the pros it’s far longer,” said the 24-year-old fighter.
“Also in the amateur, speed is given more premium as you go for points while in professional boxing there’s more emphasis on power and being calculated,” he added.
But he was quick to say that he has been progressing steadily with the help of his team, led by coach Joven Jimenez of Survival Camp and stablemate Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas, the IBF super-flyweight champion.
Zeroing on his opponent Mr. Mendoza (29-5-2, 23 KOs), Mr. Barriga said he is not expecting the fight to be easy so they are not leaving anything to chance and making every effort to come in prepared.
“He (Mendoza) is no ordinary fighter. His 29-win record is a testament to that. It will be a difficult fight. But I know I can do it,” he said.
In the event he emerges triumphant against Mr. Mendoza, he will be the mandatory challenger against reigning IBF champion Hiroto Kyoguchi of Japan.
Survival Instinct, which will air beginning at 3 p.m., will also feature the comeback fight of Marvin Sonsona as well as AJ “Bazooka” Banal.

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