Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube
Home Blog Page 11937

China is hitting reality now on `impossible' tax, deficit goals

China’s government is grappling with an inconvenient truth: you can’t cut taxes, boost spending and reduce the budget deficit all at the same time.

By Bloomberg
China’s government is grappling with an inconvenient truth: you can’t cut taxes, boost spending and reduce the budget deficit all at the same time.
Having promised to do all three this year, a slowing economy coupled with the trade war with the U.S. is now underlining the contradiction in the government’s goals. Incomplete implementation of tax cuts and a rising social-security burden are also worsening the downward pressure on consumers’ spending power.
The government is looking into that situation, Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday, and expects that tax revenue will see a relatively large decline in the second half of the year. There are also plans for further tax reductions, he said, and a lowering of the burden of social security payments.
Those measures may well encourage consumption, as Li claims, but are unlikely to do anything to help achieve the goal of reducing the budget deficit. While policy makers are expected to hit their tightened target of a deficit of 2.6 percent for this year, it may to be at the expense of a reversal in 2019.
“It’s impossible to cut tax, maintain government expenditure growth but not adjust the deficit at the same time”, said Song Yu, chief China economist at Beijing Gao Hua Securities Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s mainland joint-venture partner. Without a meaningful cut in spending, the only effective way to cut taxes is to widen the deficit, according to Song, and the government needs to be explicit about it.
China has gaps to fill when it comes to paying for public services like health-care and provision for the elderly, especially with an aging society and an economy that’s on a long-term glide path to more modest rates of growth. Nevertheless, the government is now poised to water down reforms of the social security system that Nomura Holdings Inc estimates could have shaved up to 0.6 percentage point from output growth.
Domestically listed companies will see their labor costs rising by 105 billion yuan ($15.3 billion) due to stringent collection of social security payments, or 3.2 percent of their net profit, China International Capital Corp analyst Wang Hanfeng wrote in a report. Labor-intensive industries such as logistics and catering will feel a bigger impact.
Altering the deficit target would mean reversing March’s policy to cut that deficit, which had been part of Premier Li Keqiang’s plan to reduce risk in the economy. To do so, the government will have to find new revenue sources, and with tax hikes off the table, that means new bond sales and borrowing at both central and local levels.
From 2019, policy makers will likely have to raise the annual budget deficit target, “otherwise fiscal authorities will be forced to tighten collection to meet the expenditure demand, and there’ll be no reduction of the burden for businesses and households in the end,” Song said.
With tensions increasing with the U.S. over trade and the slowdown of the domestic economy, the government has revised its strategy to focus more on growth. Since the start of July, the State Council has convened a series of meetings to look at new investment projects, pushed local governments to sell bonds faster and spend money, and added tax breaks, offering at least an extra 65 billion yuan of tax cuts in addition to 1.1 trillion yuan of reductions planned already this year.
In addition, reform of the personal income tax code includes new deductions aimed at helping middle-class families. While the measures which partly start next month should support consumption, it still puts extra weight on fiscal policy which is the natural shock absorber at a time of stress.
The stricter collection of taxes this year has meant businesses felt the pinch, with the government stepping up local law-enforcement inspection to crack down on tax evasion, especially on corporate value-added tax.
So while the measures Li flagged Thursday to reduce the burden on companies may help alleviate that, investment is still sluggish, indicating that more time and, potentially, further policy changes will be needed.
Officials are tackling a very fluid, unclear situation, and sentiment is rapidly worsening, triggered by the trade war, wealth management rules and other challenges, said Wen Bin, researcher at China Minsheng Banking Corp. in Beijing.
“When business sentiments is weak, more government-funded projects are necessary to quickly drive up demand along the supply chain,” according to Wen, who estimates China needs to raise the annual budget deficit target to 3 percent in 2019, from this year’s 2.6 percent.
“There’s a long way to go to achieve meaningful tax cuts to households and companies, especially the smaller ones,” said Zhao Bo, professor of economics at Peking University. “It requires painful reforms. And sometimes you just have to give up something.”

US takes off the gloves in global cyber wars: top officials

By Agence-France Presse
The United States is taking off the gloves in the growing, shadowy cyber war waged with China, Russia and other rivals, a top White House official said Thursday.
National Security Advisor John Bolton said the country’s “first fully articulated cyber strategy in 15 years” was now in effect.
The new more aggressive posture follows a decision by President Donald Trump to revoke rules established by his predecessor Barack Obama to require high-level authority for any big military cyber operations.
“Our hands are not tied as they were in the Obama administration,” Bolton said.
“For any nation that’s taking cyber activity against the United States, they should expect… we will respond offensively, as well as defensively,” Bolton said.
“Not every response to a cyber attack would be in the cyber world,” he added.
Bolton referred to China, Iran, North Korea and Russia as major sources of threats, saying “Americans and our allies are under attack every day in cyberspace.”
Hostile intrusions target everything from US infrastructure to government bureaucracies, businesses and elections, according to Bolton.
Among the most notorious incidents is the hacking, allegedly by Russian military agents, of Democrat figures’ email accounts just before the 2016 elections, in which Republican Trump took a surprise win against the heavily favored Hillary Clinton.
Multi-pronged offense
On the defensive side, US efforts will include “network hardening” and improved cyber security, the Pentagon said.
But the new strategy of what the Pentagon called “countering, disrupting, degrading and deterring” attacks emphasizes much more than better firewalls.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the department “has used its cyber sanctions authorities to impose costs on Russia, North Korea, Iran and others for a wide range of behavior.”
And Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said that the domestic security department would push “for electronic surveillance and computer crime laws to be updated to keep pace with the rapidly evolving environment.”
“Transnational criminal groups are employing increasingly sophisticated digital tools and techniques,” she said.
The State Department, meanwhile, focused on what it said would be increased efforts to build up internet security in allied countries “because of the interconnected nature of cyberspace.”
“When our partners improve their cyber security practices, it ultimately makes other states, including the United States, safer and more resilient against cyber threats,” the State Department said.

Saudi woman's case against father stirs 'guardianship' debate

By Agence-France Presse
A Saudi court has ruled in favour of a woman who challenged her father’s decision to not let her have a passport, reports said Thursday, stirring an online debate on the contentious male guardianship system.
The conservative kingdom requires women to seek permission from male “guardians” — their fathers, husbands or other male relatives — to travel, get married and do other tasks.
In a rare case, an unnamed 24-year-old woman in western Jeddah city sought to disown her father as her guardian after he refused to let her seek a passport to study abroad, local media including the pro-government Okaz newspaper reported.
A civil court this week ordered the father to obtain a passport for the woman.
The newspaper also said the woman, a university student, had been living with her mother for 10 years and had not seen her father for six years.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing far-reaching social reforms that include a historic decision allowing women to drive, attend soccer games and take on jobs that once fell outside the narrow confines of traditional gender roles.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reform plan for a post-oil era seeks to elevate women to nearly one-third of the workforce by the end of the next decade, up from about 22 percent now.
But the kingdom also faces longstanding criticism over the male guardianship system.
Long a symbol of repression against women, the system allows men to exercise arbitrary authority to make decisions on behalf of their female relatives.
“If a woman had the right to get her own passport — just like men — we wouldn’t need a court” to rule on the matter, tweeted Latifah Ashaalan, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, an advisory body.
The rare court case also prompted a raft of comments on social media.
“I am surprised by the contradictions in the system,” said a Saudi Twitter user.
“In the end the father was forced to seek the passport against his will. Why not allow women to get their passports themselves without losing time and going through all this trouble?”

Coca-Cola, Walmart to cut plastic pollution in oceans

By Agence-France Presse
Coca-Cola, Walmart and other big multinationals pledged on Thursday to help reduce plastic pollution in the world’s oceans in support of a campaign by five of the G7 industrialized nations.

Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy, along with the European Union, signed the Ocean Plastics Charter at a leaders’ summit in Canada’s Charlevoix region in June.

The United States and Japan abstained but non-G7 nations Norway and Jamaica are also backing the plan to ensure 100 percent of plastics are recyclable by 2030.

The nations aim to develop more viable alternatives to plastic packaging, to work towards a goal of all plastics being recycled and reused by 2040.

On the second day of a G7 ministerial meeting in Canada’s Atlantic port city of Halifax, Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna announced “a new partnership with businesses” to reduce plastics waste.

Backers include Loblaws, Walmart, Nestle Canada, IKEA, Dow Chemicals, the Coca-Cola Company, BASF Canada and A&W Canada.

Unilever also announced that it was launching a non-profit entity to reduce consumer and business waste, while Volvo upped its target to make 25 percent of the plastics in its cars recyclable by 2025.

The G7 group of the world’s major economies are also looking to tackle a growing source of marine pollution: lost fishing nets and gear, which account for 70 percent of plastic waste floating on the surface of the sea, Canada’s Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said.

About 640,000 tonnes (tons) of nets and other fishing gear are discarded in the oceans each year, killing an estimated 136,000 seals, dolphins, sea lions, turtles, small whales and other seabirds, according to the World Animal Protection group.

“This is a really big problem,” Wilkinson told AFP from the Halifax talks.

“There is a consensus among G7 countries that this is a very important issue… and there is a clear commitment to address it,” he said.

According to the United Nations environment agency, 70 percent of the large plastic waste that floats on the seas comes from fishing.

Josey Kitson, executive director of World Animal Protection, called the plastic debris “death traps” for many seabirds, fish and marine mammals, but expressed hope that the G7 will address the problem.

Wilkinson said G7 and other governments represented at the Halifax meeting are exploring fixes such as incentives for fishers to reuse gear and dispose of aging nets properly.

The aim is “to actually clean it up (but also) not discharge it in the first place,” he said.

The G7 is also looking at ways of tracking discarded gear back to vessels in order to identify polluters.

Although no timetable has been set, the G7 ministers have agreed to “discuss this issue again” at the Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi in November, Wilkinson said.

Big life insurer shifts to activity tracking in health push

By Agence France-Presse
Financial giant John Hancock is converting all its life insurance policies to an incentive-based system using activity tracking, a move aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles but which also raises privacy questions.
The Boston-based insurer announced Thursday that it would immediately begin moving life insurance policies to a “behavior change platform that rewards customers for the everyday steps they take to live longer, healthier lives.”
Policyholders will be asked to sign up online for fitness and nutritional advice, or may get premium discounts for using devices such as Fitbit or Apple Watch to monitor daily activities.
“For centuries, the insurance model has primarily provided financial protection for families after death, without enhancing the very quality it hinges on: life,” said Marianne Harrison, John Hancock president and chief executive.
“We fundamentally believe life insurers should care about how long and well their customers live. With this decision, we are proud to become the only US life insurance company to fully embrace behavioral-based wellness and leave the old way of doing business behind.”
One of the largest US life insurers, John Hancock said the new offering is aimed at countering unhealthy lifestyles including physical inactivity, poor diet, excessive alcohol use and smoking blamed for most premature deaths, and expressed hope that other companies would follow suit.
The company, a division of Manulife of Canada, said it believes people who use these kinds of wellness and activity tracking programs will live longer with lower medical bills compared with those who do not use these systems.
The latest effort stems from a partnership agreed in 2015 between Hancock and Vitality, part of the South Africa-based financial group Discovery Limited which offers incentive-based wellness programs.
Too much data?
Wellness programs using health tracking have been in use for years, but privacy activists worry about the risks or invasive monitoring of consumer habits.
“I realize this is to encourage healthier habits but I worry about excessive data collection,” said Nuala O’Connor, president of the Washington-based Center for Democracy & Technology, a digital rights group.
“These devices can collect a lot of data such as your location or whom you associate with, much more than what they need to know if the person is insurable. There can be unintended sharing of that data.”
Others expressed concern over the idea of using incentives linked to data collection, sometimes called “gamification,” for insurance products.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the move raises questions about “algorithmic transparency” or whether insurance decisions are fair, accountable, and transparent.
“There are also larger policy questions, including whether it is possible to maintain insurance markets if companies are able to assign risk directly to individuals policy holders,” Rotenberg told AFP.
The announcement comes amid a push by some large employers to introduce wellness programs which may require employees to wear fitness trackers in order to obtain health coverage, or to get discounts.
O’Connor noted that the private life insurance offering is not as invasive as a mandatory employer-based program but contended that the benefits of such wellness programs may be overblown.
A 2015 study cast doubt on the accuracy of data from wearable devices and questioned whether this data should be used for important decisions.
Wearables and health apps “are buggy, produce errors, they can be gamed, and the data are open to misinterpretation,” said Kate Crawford, a New York University research professor who was co-author of the 2015 study and is a co-founder of the AI Now Institute which studies social implications of artificial intelligence.
Crawford said there are additional concerns about trading personal data for economic benefits.
“What concerns me is that people are being told that wearing these devices will get them discounts and gift cards, but they are giving up enormously detailed portraits of their lives,” she said. “What if policies change such that ‘negative’ behaviors are punished?”

Combatting bank scams and frauds

Scams and frauds remain a serious threat to financial institutions and consumers, especially these days when fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated as the technologies and methods they employ advance over time. Innovations that allow people to conveniently manage financial tasks and transactions via digital channels have ironically opened opportunities for fraudsters to deceive the banking public.

Jonathan John B. Paz, BPI’s enterprise information security and data privacy officer

According to Jonathan John B. Paz, enterprise information security and data privacy officer of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), as banks increasingly rely on digitalization to achieve expanded reach, personalization of banking, development of services, and improving the efficiency of operations, security vulnerabilities increase correspondingly.

“Users have become so used to online and mobile banking that there’s a tendency to take basic security hygiene for granted, exposing themselves to greater risks of account takeover — enabling fraud,” Mr. Paz told BusinessWorld in an e-mail.

With changes in technology, fraudsters have a broader scope to exploit the weakest links in security. These weaknesses range from customers’ bad habits of using weak passwords, failing to protect sensitive data up to a bank’s security vulnerabilities.

As a result, financial institutions and their clients are now more exposed to various risks, such as phishing, identity theft, card skimming, vishing, SMSishing, viruses and Trojans, spyware and adware, social engineering, Web site cloning, and cyber stalking.

Mr. Paz said that it is not surprising that the financial industry continues to be one of the most attacked sectors globally due to the sheer number of targets, including access to personal and financial records, payment systems, personal online banking facilities, and ATMs.

In the local banking scene, phishing is by far the most favored modus operandi, according to Mr. Paz. “Phished credentials and other sensitive information such as credit card details, e-mail access and mobile numbers enable fraud to be committed against unwitting individuals,” he said.

Phishing, as defined by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), is a form of identity theft whereby someone steals or uses personal or sensitive information of another person without his or her knowledge or permission, through hacking into one’s personal account, hijacking one’s data and taking over one’s online identity, to commit fraudulent acts or crimes, or conduct unauthorized business.

This kind of cyberattack may be done by various methods other than e-mail, such as text messages, chat rooms, electronic fake banner advertisements or message boards, fake mailing lists, fake job search sites and job offers, and fake browser toolbars.

Once the scammers have obtained the confidential information of a certain individual, it becomes possible for them to withdraw money or purchase items under the victim’s name, open a new bank or credit card account, use an account to illegally deal with other people, or encash checks on his or her behalf.

The increasing number of scam and fraud cases have disturbing effects not only on the banking public but also on financial institutions and the banking industry in general.

“By impersonating banks, fraudsters can degrade the trust that exists between the client and institution, specifically in the services being offered by the latter,” Mr. Paz said.

“A client once victimized through account takeover may never take to online banking the same way again. If these types of incidents become widespread enough, this will undermine the whole project of digitalization not only for one specific bank but for the entire industry as well,” he added.

Just as fraudsters are always coming up with new and more sophisticated methods of deception, banks are doing their part to protect their clients against different frauds.

Recently, local banks have shifted to chip-based or EMV cards, which are believed to be more secure compared with cards with magnetic stripe technology.

Some banks are also using biometrics technology for their mobile app-based services, such as fingerprint and voice authentication, to keep unauthorized people from gaining access to the accounts of their clients.

In addition to these, Mr. Paz said that banks have to become proactive in managing the risks of fraud by embedding a culture of risk awareness and management in developing and maintaining systems and the processes that support these systems.

“We need to make sure that not only do we identify and address the vulnerabilities of these systems and processes on a continuing basis. We also need to know the enemy — what their capabilities, methods and targets are and the ecosystems they operate in — through a robust threat intelligence capability,” he added.

Amid the rising cybersecurity risks in the electronic space, the BSP, according to Mr. Paz, has been proactive in recognizing the dangers of putting banking services online. He said that the institution had issued a number of circulars and other regulatory requirements in order to ensure that the industry is better prepared to identify, assess and manage cyber risks without unnecessarily stifling innovation, which is necessary to bring more people into the banking system.

In November of last year, BSP issued stricter rules to boost cybersecurity measures. In a statement, the BSP said that the Monetary Board — its highest policy-making body — approved pioneering guidelines on information security management that place renewed focus on cybersecurity. This seeks to address the growing concerns with the fast-evolving cyber threats that continue to confront global as well as domestic financial communities.

According to the central bank, the amended rules highlight the role of the BSP-supervised financial institutions’ board and senior management in spearheading sound information security governance and strong security culture within their respective networks.

The new guidelines also cover key elements of cyber resilience, such as participation in information sharing and collaboration fora, enhancing situational awareness capabilities, and adoption of advanced cybersecurity controls and countermeasures.

A good example is the creation of 24/7 security operations center, which is equipped with advanced technologies and manned by competent analysts, to proactively monitor emerging and highly sophisticated cyber threats and attacks. — Mark Louis F. Ferrolino

Tricky schemes to watch out for

In the rising tide of the Philippine economy, many ships have received bounty. Amid the flood of foreign investors and new businesses into the country, many Filipinos have found more cash to spend or save or invest, and this has opened the doors to a future of financial success.

Yet, higher incomes and good financial literacy are sometimes not enough. One should also be wary of those who wish to take advantage or even prey on the careless and unsuspecting with scams and frauds. What use is a sizeable bank account if a malicious hacker manages to break into it and steal it all for himself?

Among the most common frauds and scams in the country to watch out for, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Financial Consumer Protection Department, are text message scams.

As the Philippines is one of the countries with the most mobile phone users in the world, with over 60% of the population reported to possess and use a mobile phone, this is unsurprising. Text message scams often work by telling SIM owners fraudulent claims regarding huge amounts of money, the most common of which involve stranded relatives asking for help, raffle prizes, discounts and the like.

Among the most common frauds and scams in the country to watch out for, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Financial Consumer Protection Department, are text message scams.

Users are then asked to either transfer prepaid load to an unknown mobile number or share personal information which can then be exploited. Victims of text scams should report incidents to their telecommunications providers and the local authorities.

Another common type of fraud is credit card or debit card skimming, in which criminals use a small device to steal credit card information in an otherwise legitimate credit or debit card transaction, such as ATM withdrawals. The skimmer device copies and stores credit or debit card details, such as the card number, expiration date, and the holder’s full name, whenever a card is swiped through it, allowing crooks to make fraudulent charges or even commit identity theft with a counterfeit card.

There is also a possibility of criminals placing a small, undetectable camera nearby ATMs to record users entering their PIN, which can give the thieves all of the information needed to make fake cards and withdraw cash from the cardholder’s bank account.

Victims of credit card skimming are often unaware of the theft until they notice unauthorized charges on their account, have their card unexpectedly declined, or receive an overdraft notification in the mail, which makes it difficult to track down culprits. Fortunately, due to the urging of the BSP, many local banks have switched from magstripe credit and debit cards to EMV-chip enabled cards designed to deter card skimmers.

Other scams that the BSP identified as common threats involve the use of the Internet through e-mails and Web sites, such as phishing. Phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by someone claiming to be from a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data. Through cleverly designed or otherwise eye-catching e-mails, thieves can manipulate or fool users into giving away personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.

Related to this is spoofing, which is a type of scam where criminal elements attempt to gain unauthorized access to a user’s system or information by pretending to be the user. Spoofing works by tricking users, through fraudulent Web sites or by other means, into giving away sensitive information in order to gain access to one’s bank account, computer system or to steal personal information, such as passwords.

“When faced with a scam fraud, stop, think and be skeptical. Do not be pressured into making hasty decisions and check things out before you buy or sign anything right away,” the BSP said.

“Stay calm and do not immediately follow instructions coming from a stranger for any demand of money or valuables in exchange for a kidnapped relative or hospitalized family member. Verify first with other immediate family members the veracity of the call received.”

The central bank also advised individuals to remain vigilant with any and all financial transactions they participate in, by checking the legitimacy of merchants and investment companies through independent agencies. Investors were also given reminders to remain cautious when making investments.

“Never invest what you cannot afford to lose. Never send money to pay for taxes, fees, prepaid cards on domestic, foreign text or lottery winnings, which you did not join. Legitimate promos use only three or four digit phone numbers,” the BSP said.

“Do not be fooled by the promise of large sums of money for your cooperation. Safeguard your personal information by not giving private information unnecessarily.

As soon as you are convinced that your identity has been compromised, report it to your bank or credit card issuer immediately.” — Bjorn Biel M. Beltran

Fitch Solutions downplays corporate tax cut’s lure

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez
Senior Reporter
LOWER CORPORATE INCOME TAX RATES are unlikely to provide a big boost to inbound investments, Fitch Solutions said, noting that a weak business environment hounded by red tape still deters investors from making big bets in the Philippines.
Fitch Solutions, a unit of Fitch Group, said the second tax reform package now awaiting legislative approval will not be a source of additional state revenues and is unlikely to lead to a deluge of foreign direct investments (FDIs).
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives approved House Bill No. 8083, or the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities (TRABAHO) Act, which gradually reduces the corporate income tax (CIT) rate to 20% from the current 30% by two percentage points every other year starting 2021.
This will come alongside a new one-size-fits-all scheme for tax incentives, which will replace various types granted by investment promotion agencies and likewise put a cap on the number of years in which a company can enjoy such perks.
Under the bill, incentives will consist of a three-year income tax holiday (ITH) as well as allowable deductions up to five years for “labor, training, infrastructure building, and research and development expenditures.” This is a far cry from the current regime which grants ITH for up to nine years, with a five percent tax on gross income.
The House approval puts the ball in the Senate’s court, although lawmakers there are studying a different version that would immediately cut the CIT rate to 25% in the first year of implementation.
However, the Fitch unit said the country is unlikely to see much fiscal gain from the TRABAHO bill. “We believe that the impact on the government’s fiscal position is negligible…” Fitch Solutions said in an analysis issued yesterday. “The government expects a loss of P62 billion in revenue upon the lowering of CIT in 2021 and, according to our forecast, this will represent just 1.5% of the expected revenue collection that year. Moreover, the TRABAHO also seeks to trim tax incentives that are offered to investors, making them more selective and less encompassing, and this will likely offset some of the loss in revenue from lower corporate taxes.”
The Department of Finance had originally designed the second tax package to be revenue-neutral, meaning it was not to yield additional tax collections unlike Republic Act No. 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act, that took effect this year. But since CIT cuts are no longer pegged to annual revenue increments from removal of redundant fiscal perks under the bills in Congress, this measure is now expected to yield more foregone revenues.
Fitch Solutions is also unsure that the lower tax rates will improve the Philippines’ attractiveness as an investment destination.
“On the investment front, we are unconvinced that the lowering of CIT rates will provide a significant boost, in the absence of accompanying improvements to the business environment,” the report read.
“While CIT rates are one of the considerations of potential investors when they look to relocate their businesses, we believe that more of them are deterred by the poor business environment caused by red tape and corruption, as well as poor infrastructure conditions.”
“Moreover, the lowering of CIT rate is so gradual that it will take until at least 2025 before they fall in line with regional levels,” the think tank added, noting that it will take years before the tax rate actually becomes competitive.
Not all tax reforms proposed by the Executive can be approved by yearend, a House leader has said, contrary to President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s request in his State of the Nation Address last July in hopes of securing legislative approval before lawmakers shift attention to preparations for the May 2019 mid-term elections.

House sends proposed mining tax reform back to DoF

By Charmaine A. Tadalan
and Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
Reporters
A PROPOSAL to give government a bigger share in mining revenues goes back to square one, as House Speaker Gloria M. Arroyo on Thursday asked the Department of Finance (DoF) to submit a new draft that would consider inputs from miners.
“I will ask the industry to talk to the DoF… and let the DoF come back with a new draft in three days’ time; otherwise, we do our own,” Ms. Arroyo said at a hearing of the House of Representatives Ways and Means committee meeting.
The panel was scheduled to discuss the still-unnumbered substitute bill that consolidated House Bills 7994 and 422, titled: “An Act Establishing the Fiscal Regime for Mining Industry” and authored by committee chairman Rep. Estrellita B. Suansing of Nueva Ecija’s first district and committee member Rep. Romero S. Quimbo of Marikina City’s second district, respectively.
Ms. Arroyo recalled that when Gloria L. Tan-Climaco, director of Filminera Resources Corp. and member of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (CoMP) board of trustees, had approached her “two days ago” to say “that the measure, as you are preparing it, is going to kill the industry,” she told the official: “Do not tell me that. This is an administration measure. Tell it to the DoF.”
“And she said, ‘but I told (Finance Secretary Carlos G.) Sonny Dominguez’ and — listen to this DoF officials — she showed me the text, ‘That is not my priority. That is GMA’s priority,’” Ms. Arroyo recounted, referring to her initials.
“Now, since you’re all here, since it is not his priority — he just stated it verbally — but it is the President’s priority as he (Pres. Rodrigo R. Duterte) said in the SoNA (State of the Nation Address), therefore, we will come up with a mining bill.”
Ms. Suansing then asked DoF officials attending Thursday’s hearing to “Please clarify and inform the Speaker that this is not his (Mr. Dominguez’s) priority officially.”
Sought for comment, Mr. Dominguez downplayed the issue as “a misunderstanding.”
“If the mining (bill) is ready to be passed then we respect House decision to pass it,” Mr. Dominguez told reporters in a mobile phone message.
“Then next priority is (tax) amnesty, [further increases in] alcohol, tobacco, MVUC (Motor Vehicle Users Charge), financial taxes and [uniform] property validation in that order.”
Finance Assistant Secretary Ma. Teresa S. Habitan, who attended the hearing, said in a mobile phone message that Ms. Arroyo’s request was “not an ultimatum, just clarification on the priorities of the bills.”
Asked when DoF will submit a new draft bill, she replied: “Version naman namin ‘yung Suansing bill (is our version).”
Mining tax restructuring was one of the tax reforms the DoF submitted to Congress in late July in hopes of securing legislative approval by yearend, before lawmakers turn their attention to preparations for the May 2019 mid-term elections.
Asked whether the DoF would consider miners’ suggestions to take into consideration the varied cost structures of extracting various ores, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua told reporters late Wednesday on the sidelines of plenary House discussions on the DoF’s budget for 2019: “If there are better suggestions, we’ll review and study the proposals.”
“If they want other [schemes], that’s being studied… when there is a proposal its always being studied.”
Among others, DoF-backed HB 7994 proposes a three percent royalty based on the market value of gross output of mines outside mineral reservations in the first three years of the effectivity of the measure, increasing to four percent in the fourth year and then five percent in the fifth year onward, on top of all other national and local taxes.
CoMP has said that the government should first regulate illegal small-scale miners, arguing that they account for bulk of uncollected industry revenues.
Ms. Arroyo said on Thursday that she supports the phased royalty scheme, and that she has “a proposed provision that says ‘open-pit mining, as defined here in this Act, is prohibited and any mining tenement that will not comply with DAO (Department Administrative Order) shall take steps to comply with the DAO within a period allowed by the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources).”
“And within that period, they must pay an excise tax of such and such an amount which is the one you were saying was prohibitive,” she added.
In the same hearing, CoMP Chairman Gerard H. Brimo, chairman and chief executive officer of Nickel Asia Corp., said: “I can categorically say without any doubt, it’s going to dry up investments in the mineral sector and the other problem that we are going to be faced with is that there are some operations — particularly the copper and gold — that are suffering under the current low prices.”

Tales from the dark days

Compiled by Doris Lois Rifareal

As we approach the 46th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law on Sept. 23, 1972 (not Sept. 21 as was promoted during the time and which many people still believe — that was part of the dictator’s fetish with the number “7”), here is a listing of books on Martial Law, the Marcos dictatorship, and the people who struggled against it. The books are different takes by different authors, from the 1970s to the present, published in the Philippines and elsewhere, for readers of all ages.
(Year indicated is for the first publication. Book covers may be other than the first edition.)
FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS, ILLUSTRATED
• 12:01 (2016) by Russell Molina, illustrated by Kajo Baldisimo
This graphic novel is set in one of the darkest chapters of modern Philippine history. A minute after midnight mean it’s a minute past the midnight curfew that was enforced during Martial Law and that’s where four teenagers find themselves after being stranded when their ride breaks down.
• Isang Harding Papel (2014) by Augie Rivera, illustrated by Rommel Joson; Filipino Readers’ Choice Award for Children’s Picture Book (3rd place) 2015
It is Martial Law and Jenny is separated from her mother who is in prison for protesting the regime. Jenny visits her once a week, and her mother gives her a paper flower. Until when will she grow her paper garden?
• Ito ang Diktatura and Mga Uring Panlipunan (2017) by Equipo Plantel, illustrated by Mikel Casal and Joan Fernàndez Negrescolor
These children’s books tackle dictatorship and social injustice, explained in everyday Filipino. The slim volumes never resort to pandering or lecturing to their intended reader. The source material, which is part of a four-book series, was published between 1978 and 1979 in Barcelona, Spain, at a time when it was transitioning from the effects of the dictator Francisco Franco’s regime and transitioning towards a more stable democracy.
• Martial Law Babies (2008) by Arnold Arre
In this graphic novel Arnold Arre (author of The Mythology Class) explores the lives of children who grew up knowing only Marcos and his New Society, following them into adulthood after the martial law years.
• Si Jhun-Jhun, Noong Bago Ideklara ang Batas Militar (2001) by Augie Rivera, illustrated by Brian Vallesteros
This children’s book is meant to explain martial law to children. The main character, Jhun-jhun, wonders what is happening to his older brother and gets a frightening answer.
FICTION / NOVELS
• The Alien Corn: A Novel (1992) by Edith L. Tiempo
• Awaiting Trespass (1985) by Linda Ty-Casper
A portrait of the Marcos’s period as well as a sophisticated comedy of the bourgeois manners in Manila society, according to Goodreads.
• Bamboo in the Wind (1990) by Azucena Grajo Uranza; Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Novel in English
A senator, a young nationalist, a dispossessed farmer, a radical activist, a convent school girl, a Jesuit scholastic desperately try to prevent the coming of Martial Law in 1972.
• Cave and Shadows (1983) by Nick Joaquin
A Martial Law era “metaphysical” thriller written by the National Artist for Literature. The whodunit is set in motion by a mysterious death, and intersperses historical fact with fiction.
• Dekada ’70 (1984) by Lualhati Bautista; Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Nobela, Grand Prize (1983)
Parents deal with raising their five teenage sons through Martial Law. The book was turned into a film by Chito Roño in 2002, and into a theater musical this year.
• Desaparesidos (2006) by Lualhati Bautista; Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards (2006)
A novel by the award-winning writer, it tells the story of a mother’s search for her missing child after a military encounter. With an introduction by National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera Bien.
• Dogeaters (1990) by Jessica Hagedorn; American Book Award (1991), National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (1990)
“As sharp and fast as a street boy’s razor” (The New York Times Book Review), Dogeaters is an intense fictional portrayal of Manila in the heyday of Marcos’s Martial Law. In the center of this tale is Rio, a feisty schoolgirl who will grow up to live in America and look back with longing on the land of her youth. Hagedorn adapted her book into a play in 1997.
• Eating Fire and Drinking Water by Arlene J. Chai
A reporter learns more than she expects when she rushes into a burning street after a deadly student demonstration.
• An Embarrassment of Riches (2000) by Charlson Ong; Centennial Literary Prize
A satire of Philippine politics and cults of personality, the book relates what happens after a dictator dies in the fictional island of Victorianas, with a motley crew of characters — the daughter of a tycoon, the of the underground, a preacher, a feng shui master, and an exile — drawn to the upcoming elections.
• Empire of Memory (1992) by Eric Gamalinda, edited by Ricardo M. de Ungria
Two friends are hired by Marcos to rewrite Philippine history to make it appear that Marcos was destined to rule the country in perpetuity.
• Fish-Hair Woman by Merlinda Bobis; Most Underrated Book Award 2013
A village is caught up in the government’s war against the communist insurgency, the Fish Hair Woman searches for corpses in the water, and an Australian writer disappears in the conflict. Years later, his son comes searching.
• Fortress in the Plaza (1985) by Linda Ty-Casper
The book is an “attempt to show how, faced with dark choices, it is possible to live with dignity, courage and grade,” according to Joseph A. Galdon. “The basic symbol of the novel is the fortress, which ambivalently stands for both the fortress of the Philippine society under Martial Law and for the fortress of a family, as well as for the fortresses that individuals erect within themselves.”
• Great Philippine Jungle Energy Café (1998)
By Alfred A. Yuson
In the novel, the Revolution of 1896, the demonstrations against Marcos in the 1980s, and banditry in the boondocks in the days of the​ Guardia Civil happen side by side.
• The Jupiter Effect: A Novel (2006) by Katrina P. Tuvera; Juan C. Laya Prize for Best Novel in a Foreign Language (2007)
The story of two Martial-Law babies who underwent political initiation during the Marcos years.
• Ka Gaby, Nom de Guerre (2001) by Paulino Lim, Jr.
• Killing Time in a Warm Place (1992) by José Y. Dalisay Jr; NBDB National Book Award for Fiction (1992)
A fictionalization of Dalisay’s experiences as a student activist and writer during the martial law years, it follows a young man whose bucolic life in a village is changed with the arrival of Martial Law.
• Mass: A Novel (1973) by F. Sionil Jose; Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for English Novel, Grand Prize (1981)
A historical and political novel written by the National Artist F. Sionil José, it looks at life during the years before and after Martial Law, discussing a failed uprising and how one character goes home to rebuild his life.
• Secrets of the Eighteen Mansions (2010) by Mario I. Miclat; Man Asian Literary Prize Nominee (2009)
The novel intertwines the Philippines’ First Quarter Storm and the formation of the New People’s Army, and China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and ’70s, and looks at how the movement goes awry.
• A Small Party in the Garden (1988) by Linda Ty Casper
Set during Martial Law, a friend of Imelda Marcos learns first hand what brutality means.
• State of War: A Novel (1988) by Ninotchka Rosca
Three friends travel to an island festival only to get caught up in a plot to kill The Commander.
• Stolia (1983) by Wilfredo Garrido
• Surveyors of the Liguasan March (1981) by Antonio R. Enriquez; Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature 1982
The book tackles the never-ending rift between the Moros and Christians in Mindanao.
• Tiger Orchids on Mount Mayon series by Paulino Lim, Jr. — Tiger Orchids on Mount Mayon (1990), Sparrows Don’t Sing in the Philippines (1994), Requiem for a Rebel Priest (1996)
The first book is a love story against the backdrop of an erupting Mayon Volcano. An American businessman has an affair with his secretary, while his wife wants to return to California. His assistant, a former activist, is being pressured to take a more active role in the Communist party while the parish priest confronts social ills. Violence explodes on the night Mayon unleashes it fury.
• Twice Blessed (1992) by Ninotchka Rosca; American Book Award (1993)
Twins engage in Philippine politics, with their rise marked by catastrophes — to themselves, to the people around them, and to the nation they aspire to dominate.
• Wings of Stone (1986) by Linda Ty-Casper
After a 13-year absence, Johnny Manalo returns to the Philippines after the Aquino assassination and sees the horrors of the twilight years of the Marcos regime.
NONFICTION
• Agaw Dilim, Afaw-Liwanag (2009) by Lualhati Milan Abreu
A creative nonfiction autobiographical work on the communist underground written in colloquial Filipino.
• Armando (2006) by Jun Cruz Reyes
A biography of Armando Teng, a cadre in the revolutionary movement.
• Armando J. Malay, A Guardian of Memory: The Life and Times of a Filipino Journalist and Activist (2002) by Marites N. Sison and Yvonne T. Chua
Journalists Sison and Chua help Filipinos tackle the three roles Malay has played — journalist, educator, activist — in the country’s history through this book along with other aspects — family man, coworker, friend — to bring out his human side.
• Assassinations and Conspiracies:
From Rajah Humabon to Imelda Marcos (2003) by Manuel F. Martinez
A look into the details that led to the deaths of some heroes, as well as heretofore unpublished details of assassination attempts against former Philippine presidents.
• Bangsamoro: National Under Endless Tyranny (1999) by Salah Jubair
The author explains the struggle he was involved in for the Moro people’s liberation in the light of Marcos’ oppression.
• Beyond Disappearance: Chronicles of Courage (2006) published by Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND), edited by Silverio G. Sevilla, Jr. with Louie Crismo, Phebe Gamata Crismo, Estelita del Rosario, Bonifacio Parabuac Ilagan, Benito E. Molino MD, Raquel Paca-Santos, Celia Sevilla, and Nicolas Amado Tayag
A record of some Filipino desaparecidos who were among the brightest minds and spirits of an era.
• Breaking Through: The Struggle Within the CPP (1994) by Joel M. Rocamora
• Closer than Brothers : Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy (1999) by Alfred W. McCoy
Through a comparison of two generations of graduates from the Philippine Military Academy — the classes of 1940 and 1971 — the author finds fundamental differences in their academic socialization and subsequent ascent to power.
• The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (1976) by Primitivo Mijares
An insider, Mijares wrote this controversial book detailing the abuses and corruption of the Marcos regime. Mijares subsequently disappeared and a year later his younger son was found dead, having been brutally tortured. In reaction to the resurgence of the Marcos family, Mijares’ heirs released it in 2016 as a free e-book download from the Ateneo de Manila Rizal Library, and in February 2017, a revised and annotated reprint was released by his grandson.
• Dateline Manila (2007) by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP)
A compilation of essays and photographs of events in the 30 years since the founding of FOCAP, it provide snapshots of events from the declaration of Martial Law in 1972, through the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr. in 1983, the “People Power Revolution” of 1986, the ouster of President Joseph Estrada in 2001, and the travails of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
• Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage: The First Quarter Storm & Related Events (1982) by Jose F. Lacaba
A first-person account of the political awakening of the Filipino youth, it was published before the actual end of the Marcos era. Lacaba reports on the protests in the lead up to the declaration of Martial Law.
• Dead Aim : How Marcos Ambushed Philippine Democracy (1997) by Conrado de Quiros
• Debts of Dishonor, Vol. 1 (1991), published by Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, edited by Amado Mendoza, with Robert Verzola, et al.
• Development Debacle: The World Bank in the Philippines (1982) by Walden Bello, David Kinley, and Elaine Elinson
A landmark study of leaked World Bank documents published in 1982.
• Dictatorship & Martial Law: Philippine authoritarianism in 1972 (1987) by Alex B. Brillantes, Jr.
• Down from the Hill : Ateneo de Manila in the First Ten Years of Martial Law (2002) by Cristina Jayme T. Montiel and Susan Evangelista
The book contains vignettes from former students, faculty, administrators, professionals, and Jesuits on things that had been whispered about on campus. Has an appendix of relevant documents that are often difficult to access.
• Endgame: The Fall of Marcos (1987) by Ninotchka Rosca
An account of the fall of Ferdinand Marcos and his regime in the Philippines in February 1986 detailing the major forces that shaped the uprising, the underground revolutionary movement, the moderate reformers, and the Washington government.
• Ferdinand Marcos and The Philippines : The Political Economy of Authoritarianism (1997) by Alberto F. Celoza
An examination of how the authoritarian regime of Marcos remained in power for 14 years through the support of bureaucrats, businessmen, and the military, and the assistance of the United States government.
• Fight for the Filipino (2008) by Teofisto Guingona, Jr.
The memoirs of a politician with a front-row seat to the seminal events in the history of the Philippines. With a foreword by Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno
• Filipino Poetry and Martial Law 1970-1987: Clenched Fists and Yellow Ribbons (2016) by Lilia Quindoza Santiago
The Marcos dictatorship produced a wealth of art and literature dedicated to dismantling an unjust social order. This book focuses on the poets.
• Full Quarter Storms: Memoirs and Writings on the Philippine Left, 1970-2010 (2010) by Cesar “Sonny” Melencio
The book covers the most significant periods of the rise, decline and renewal of the Philippine left.
• A Garrison State in the Making (1985) by Benigno Aquino, Jr.
• I See Red in a Circle (1972) by Ceres S.C. Alabado
About the student activist movement in Philippine Science High School.
• In Our Image : America’s Empire in the Philippines (1989) by Stanley Karnow
Pulitzer Prize for History (1990)
Traces the history of the Philippines, discusses the influence of Spain and the United States, and looks at the problems facing the Philippines when it was published.
• Inside the Mass Movement: A Political Memoir (2008) by Raul E. Segovia
A participant and witness in the mass movement, Segovia shares his perspective on its history, direction and problems.
• Inside the Palace : The Rise and Fall of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (1987) by Beth Day Romulo
An insider’s account of the Marcoses’ opulent lifestyle, the nature of their relationship, and why they were overthrown.
• A Journey of Struggle & Hope: The Memoir of Jovito R. Salonga (2001) by Jovito Salonga
“Poignantly reflects our people’s political pilgrimage and struggles.” – Hilario G. Davide Jr, Supreme Court Chief Justice; “A personal testament to a man’s search for meaning and purpose as a devout Christian and political leader.” – Corazon C. Aquino, President of the Philippines, 1986-1992
• Justice Under Siege: Five Talks (1981) by Jose W. Diokno
• Living and Dying: In Memory of 11 Ateneo de Manila Martial Law Activists (2007) by Cristina Jayme Montiel
Memorializes the 11 young Ateneans: Ferdie Arceo, Bill Begg, Jun Celestial, Sonny Hizon, Edjop Jopson, Eman Lacaba, Dante Perez, Ditto Sarmiento, Lazzie Silva, Nick Solana, Manny Yap, who died during Martial Law.
• Ang Mamatay nang Dahil sa ’yo: Heroes and Martyrs of the Filipino People in the Struggle Against Dictatorship 1972-1986 (Vol 1, 2015) by the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation
A book about the heroes and martyrs of resistance against the dictatorship that ruled over the country between 1972 and 1986.
• The Marcos Dynasty (1988) by Sterling Seagrave
The inside story behind the corruption of Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos and the involvement of American business, organized crime, the CIA, the Pentagon and the White House.
• The Marcos File: Was He a Philippine Hero Or Corrupt Tyrant? (1987) by Charles C. McDougald
• Marcos Martial Law: A Brief History of Torture and Atrocity Under the New Society (2016) by Raissa Robles
In the foreword, Rene Saguisag writes: “Raissa’s magnum opus cites certain of the worst cases of Martial Law human rights abuses… Bongbong Marcos asks, what human rights violations during my parents’ watch? This edifying volume answers the foolish question. Learn more about terror of 1972-1986 from this magnum opus.”
• Martial Law Diary and Other Papers (2003) by Danilo P. Vizmanos
Covering the period between 1973 and 1974, “this is not a personal diary in the conventional sense,” explains the book’s preface. “Almost all its pages are devoted to accounts, observations and comments on significant happenings during early and critical stage of martial rule.”
• Martial Law in the Philippines: My Story (2006) by Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.
While primarily about the experiences the author and his family underwent during the martial law regime, the author describes how Marcos laid the foundation for Martial Law in the 1973 Constitutions, and describes how some detainees were tortured and who the torturers were.
• Militarism and Repression in the Philippines: Working Paper Series (1982) by Jim Zwick
• Mondo Marcos: Writings on Martial Law and the Marcos Babies (2010) edited by Frank Cimatu and Rolando Tolentino, photography by Andy Zapata
Some of the best Filipino writers recall their life under President Ferdinand Marcos.
• Miltant But Groovy: Stories of Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (2008) edited by Soliman M. Santos, Jr. and Paz Verdades M. Santos
This book revisits one of the more prominent youth organizations of the early 1970s.
• Musika at Bagong Lipunan: Pabuo ng Lipunang Filipino, 1972-1986 (2014) by Raul Casantusan Navarro
This examines how music was used as a powerful propaganda tool to advance the political agenda of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos during the Martial Law period.
• A Nation for Our Children: Human Rights, Nationalism, Sovereignty: Selected Writings of Jose W. Diokno, by Jose W. Diokno, edited by Priscila Manalang
A collection of Jose W. Diokno’s speeches and articles tackling three major concerns — respect for human rights, nationalism, and Philippine sovereignty.
• Not on Our Watch: We Were There (2011), published by LEADS-CEGP 6972 Inc., edited by Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon
The true-to-life stories of 13 Filipino student journalists during the martial law years of the Marcos dictatorship, all of whom are now prominent individuals in Philippine society: Jaime FlorCruz, Manuel M. Dayrit, Diwa Guinigundo, Alfonso S. Mendoza, Soledad F. Juvida, and José Dalisay Jr, Jay Valencia Glorioso, Jack Teotico, Victor H. Maranarang, Calixto Chikiamco, Roberto Verzola, Angie Castillo, and Vic A. Wenceslao.
• Of Tyrants and Martyrs: A Political Memoir (2017) by Manuel C. Lahoz
An account of Manuel Lahoz’s experiences during Martial Law including his encounters with Fr. Zacarias Agatep, Deacon Santiago Arce, Ama Macli-ing Dulag, Puri Pedro, Sr. Mariani Dimaranan, and Bobby dela Paz.
• O Susana!: Untold Stories of Martial Law in Davao (2016), edited by Macario D. Tiu
Thirty-four former church and development organization workers wrote 45 essays, all of them having their own stories to tell.
• A Pen for Democracy (1984) by Raul S. Manglapus
A decade of articles, speeches, letters, interviews, and committee testimony published in the international press and the US Congressional Record.
• The Philippine Press: Under Siege, Vol. I (1984) and Vol. II (1985), published by the National Press Club & Committee to Protect Writers
Vol. 1 is a selection of articles by journalists — many of whom were charged with libel — written from 1981-1984, Vol. 2 is selection of dangerous writings from 1980-1984 and includes articles that were banned from print.
• The Philippines Reader: A History of Colonialism, Neocolonialism, Dictatorship, and Resistance (1987) edited by Daniel B. Schirmer and Stephen R. Shalom with Luzviminda Francisco, et al.
A compilation of analytical essays and narratives linking the country’s colonial history with the dictatorship.
• Policing America’s Empire: The United States, the Philippines & the Rise of the Surveillance State – New Perspectives in SE Asian Studies (2009) by Alfred W. McCoy; George McT. Kahin Prize (2011)
With a breathtaking sweep of archival research, McCoy shows how repressive techniques developed in the colonial Philippines migrated back to the United States for use against people of color, aliens, and really any heterodox challenge to American power. This book proves Mark Twain’s adage that you cannot have an empire abroad and a republic at home. – Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago
• The Political Economy of Growth and Impoverishment in the Marcos Era (1993) by James K. Boyce
This book analyzes the Philippine economy from the 1960s to the 1980s, during which the benefits of economic growth conspicuously failed to “trickle down.” Professor Boyce focuses upon three central elements of the government’s development strategy: the “green revolution” in rice agriculture; the primacy accorded to export agriculture and forestry; and massive external borrowing.
• Politics of Plunder: The Philippines Under Marcos (1987) by Belinda A. Aquino
Dr. Aquino uses the controversial Marcos papers and other incriminating materials retrieved from the plane that carried Marcos and his family to exile in Hawaii.
• Presidential Plunder: The Quest for Marcos’ Ill-Gotten Wealth (2000) by Jovito R. Salonga; NBDB National Book Award
A detailed account of the history of Ferdinand Marcos’s ill-gotten wealth based on primary accounts and documents collated by Presidential Commission on Good Government.
• Project Seahawk : The Barbed Wire Journal (1993) by Dolores S. Feria
• Pumipiglas: Political Detention and Military Atrocities in the Philippines, 1981-1982 (1986) published by Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines
• Recollections (2013) by Thelma Arceo
A compilation of short anecdotal pieces written by Arceo about her son, Ferdinand “Ferdie” Arceo, who is one of the Bantayog martyrs.
• Serve the People: Ang Kasaysayan ng Radikal na Kilusan sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (2008), edited by Bienvenido Lumbrera with Judy Taguiwalo, Roland Tolentino, Ramon Guillermo, Arnold Alamon
A collection of stories on activism and radical movements within University in the Philippines.
• Six Young Filipino Martyrs (1997) edited by Asuncion David-Maramba
Includes short biographies of Lean Alejandro, Lorena Barros, Remberto “Bobby” de la Paz, Edgar “Edjop” Jopson, Emmanuel “Eman” Lacaba, and Abraham “Ditto” Sarmiento, Jr.
• SOCDEM: Filipino Social Democracy in a Time of Turmoil and Transition, 1965-1995 (2011) published by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, edited by Benjamin T. Tolosa, Jr.
An effort at collective story-telling.
• Some Are Smarter than Others: The History of Marcos’ Crony Capitalism (1991) by Ricardo Manapat, edited by Larry Henares
This book documents in detail how state power was used to intervene in the economy during Marcos’ rule.
• Subversive Lives: A Family Memoir of the Marcos Years (2012) by Susan Quimpo, Nathan Gilbert Quimpo, et al
An oral history on how nine Quimpo siblings did their part to resist Martial Law.
• Summary Execution: The Seattle Assassinations of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes (2018) by Michael Withey
A true story that is stranger than fiction, peopled with assassins, political activists, FBI informants, murdered witnesses, a tenacious attorney, and a foreign dictator.
• Testament from a Prison Cell by Benigno Aquino, Jr.
Written in a prison cell by one of the first political opponents to be arrested and held in military detention after Marcos established his totalitarian regime. Presented here is Aquino’s defense of his political views, his outline for an ideal society, and a family history of patriotism.
• Thirty Years Later… Catching Up With the Marcos-Era Crimes (2016) by Myles A. Garcia
• A Thousand Little Deaths: Growing Up Under Martial Law in the Philippines (2013) by Vicky Pinpin-Feinstein
A year after Martial Law was declared, the author, then just 15 years old, was picked up by soldiers and sent to a military camp, becoming one of the thousands of political prisoners. After her release, she was required to report to camp, her probation lasting five years. She was never charged and was never told why she was arrested.
• Through the Eye of the Storm: Random notes of Danilo P. Vizmanos (2000) by Danilo P. Vizmanos
The author gives an account of his life, times, the people and circumstances that helped develop his thinking, that led to his conversion from a ranking AFP officer with the rank of naval captain to a progressive struggling for social and national emancipation.
• Tibak Rising: Activism in the Days of Martial Law (2012) edited by Ferdie Llanes
A collection of individual stories about the struggle against martial law, with contributors including Gilda Cordero-Fernando, Edicio Dela Torre, Joel Saracho, and Joel Rocamora.
• A Time to Rise: Collective Memoirs of the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP) (2017) edited by Rene Ciriacruz, Cindy Domingo, and Bruce Occena, foreword by Augusto F. Espiritu
An intimate look into the workings of the only revolutionary organization that emerged in the Filipino American community during the 1970s and 1980s.
• The Transnational Dynamics of the Marcos Plunder (1999) by Belinda A. Aquino
A companion piece to the author’s book, Politics of Plunder, it tackles the unresolved corruption issues under the Marcos regime and how they continue to affect the larger geopolitical environment within and outside the Philippines.
• To Suffer Thy Comrades: How the Revolution Decimated its Own (2001) by Robert Francis Garcia; NBDB National Book Award for Social Science (2001)
An account of one of the CPP-NPA internal anti-infiltration operations — the infamous Oplan Missing Link — written by a former cadre. The book looks at the guerrilla headquarters and lives of those in the revolutionary movement during the Martial Law era, and the chaos and paranoia that later caused the group to implode.
• Turning Rage into Courage: Mindanao Under Martial Law (2002) edited by Carolyn O. Arguillas
A compilation of memoirs by 38 Mindanaoans
• U.G. An Ungerground Tale: The Journey of Edgar Jopson and the First Quarter Storm Generation (2006) by Benjamin Pimentel Jr, foreword by Jovito R. Salonga, afterword by Gloria A. Jopson-Kintanar
One of the most fascinating and tragic personalities connected with martial law was Edgar “Edjop” Jopson, the Ateneo student council leader who faced off with Ferdinand Marcos, joined the NPA, and was killed by the military.
• Unequal Alliance, 1979-1986: The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Philippines (1988) by Robin Broad
US development specialist Robin Broad chronicles the Philippine experiment with the structural adjustment model of development espoused by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, demonstrating why this model of development is harmful to the poorer majorities in developing countries, and how it is particularly inappropriate in a world economy of vastly reduced growth.
• The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos (1988) by Carmen Pedrosa
How Imelda Romualdez-Marcos rose from being a destitute child to becoming the most powerful woman in the country.
• Waltzing with a Dictator (1987) by Raymond Bonner; Cornelius Ryan Award (1987)
Based on hundreds of interviews and more than 3,500 previously classified government documents, this is an account of the 20-year relationship between the United States and the Marcos regime.
• Whose Side are We On? Memoirs of a PMAer (2016) by Dante Simbulan
The author — a cadet and officer in the PMA, a professor, a political prisoner, and an activist — narrates his personal experiences and provides historical context.
• Women Against Marcos: Stories of Filipino and Filipino American Women Who Fought a Dictator (2016) by Mila de Guzman with Mila D. Aguilar, Geline Avila, Aurora de Dios, Cindy Domingo, Sr., Mary John Mananzan and Aida Santos
The accounts of six women who joined the struggle against Ferdinand Marcos.
• Worth Dying For (1987) by Lewis M. Simons
A Pulitzer Prize-winner’s account of the events that took place from the time of Benigno Aquino’s assassination to the victory of Corazon Aquino and the flight of Ferdinand Marcos.
Most of these books are available in university and institutional libraries, local bookstores, and online shops. Some are also in digital format freely available for downloading.
Doris Lois Rifareal is today a freelance graphic/multimedia artist, but back in the 1980s she was a student activist belonging to the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP) and worked part-time at the Philippine News & Features under UP Dean Luis Teodoro.
The book list is Ms. Rifareal’s personal project, born from an online plea from a teacher in a Batangas public high school who wanted to put up an exhibit on Martial Law for her students but didn’t know where to get the materials. Ms. Rifareal, with the help of some friends, came up with several materials in poster form which were then exhibited in the school, and which later made their way to UP Davao.
The list of Martial Law books was one of the subjects the project tackled. Tess Battad, a librarian based in the US, helped start with a list, and many more contributed.
“Especially with the proliferation of fake news and ‘historical revisionism,’ that teacher’s plea made me realize more how wanting we are of good resource materials, those that can be easily digested by the young. So while her request is no easy task, I took it, for our kids,” said Ms. Rifareal.
Sources
General, shops:

• adarna.com.ph

• anvilpublishing.com

• amazon.com

• ateneo.edu/ateneopress

• bantayog.org

• books.google.com

• en.wikipedia.org

• goodreads.com

• ncpag.upd.edu.ph/book-shop

• newdaypublishers.com

• press.up.edu.ph/project

Articles, lists:

• cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/literature/2017/07/28/aklat-ng-sakin-adarna-house.html

• dokumen.tips/documents/musika-at-bagong-lipunan-pagbuo-ng-lipunang-filipino-1972-1986.html

• en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php/Desaparesidos

• facebook.com/pg/upsystem/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1638867879469433

• jstor.org/stable/42633072?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

• lifestyle.inquirer.net/64248/the-books-of-martial-law

• mindanews.com/top-stories/2016/02/book-on-davaos-untold-martial-law-stories-launched-on-feb-19

• ncpag.upd.edu.ph/book-shop/the-transnational-dynamics-of-the-marcos-plunder-ncpag-reprint-series-99-1

• oovrag.com/bibliography/bibliography8.shtml

• opinion.inquirer.net/107474/book-of-the-disappeared

• philstar.com/opinion/2017/09/17/1739883/truths-about-martial-law

• philstar.com/news-feature/2016/05/20/1585188/controversial-book-martial-law-now-available-free

• pressreader.com/philippines/manila-times/20100213/282067683083489

• rebyuhan.blogspot.com/2006/08/armando-biograpi-ni-armando-teng.html

• and various other sources

ADB OK’s bigger PHL program

THE ASIAN Development Bank (ADB) said on Thursday that its Board of Directors has approved a $7.8-billion lending pipeline for 2018-2021, ramping up support for transport infrastructure, local governance and social development in line with the Duterte administration’s priorities.
The total allocation for ADB’s new country partnership strategy with the Philippines is more than the $5 billion approved for 2011-2017.
About 47% of the total lending pipeline will go to transport, followed by public sector management with 21% and finance sector reform which will get 13%.
This compares to the previous program under which public sector management took the biggest share at 54%, followed by education and finance reform with 15% and 12%, respectively.
“This country partnership strategy really reflects a historic shift in our engagement with the Philippines and I think that shift has been provided by this government’s socioeconomic agenda.” ADB Country Director for the Philippines Kelly Bird said in roundtable discussions on Thursday at the ADB headquarters.
“Way back in 2005, it was already pointed out that infrastructure is a key constraint. And not only is it relatively poor compared to the other ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) countries, but within the country the dispersion of infrastructure is disproportionate,” ADB Principal Country Specialist for the Philippines Joven Z. Balbosa said in the same briefing.
Projects include big-ticket items such as the Malolos-Clark Railway, North-South Commuter Rail, Metro Manila Bridges and Bataan-Cavite Long-Span Bridge.
Mr. Balbosa said poverty incidence in the country is “still high”, even as he noted that “while there’s still is a lot that needs to be done, there are achievements so far; substantial achievements.”
He noted that investments in infrastructure are now equivalent to about five percent of gross domestic product (GDP), from an average of around two percent in 2010-2016.
The government aims to cut poverty incidence to 14% in 2022 from 21.6% in 2015, with infrastructure spending targeted to be equivalent to 7.3% of GDP by 2022 from last year’s 5.6%.
ADB’s lending program covers fields like physical connectivity investment, livable cities, water resource and disaster risk management, public infrastructure policy and planning development, capital market reforms, green finance solutions, promoting private participation in government infrastructure, assisting in local competition, tax policy reforms, improved public expenditure management, local government capacity development, coordinated regional planning, post-disaster recovery programs, improving the local business climate, improving local government credit-worthiness, financing for increased access to quality secondary education and technical vocational training, access to healthcare, improving financial literacy, adoption of financial technology solutions, expanded conditional cash transfer program, as well as facilitation of private sector and civil society engagement.
“So we are supporting the administration through infrastructure financing and also providing capacity to build those large infrastructure projects… these are huge undertakings,” said Mr. Bird, noting that the lender has already established the Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility for the government, which was approved in October last year.
Mr. Balbosa said the ADB hopes to help change the mindset and improve the capacity of local governments to take charge of socioeconomic development within their jurisdiction.
“In our minds, federalism… is a political decision, but what is fundamental is… whatever state you have, you got to have a very strong local government. One of our projects on local development is on inter-local government cooperation,” he said.
“That’s why the mindset is beyond your territory, that’s the only way you can think of regions for states.” — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

PT&T plans P7-B fund raising for broadband expansion

By Denise A. Valdez
PHILIPPINE Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (PT&T) is looking to raise P7 billion for its plan to expand its fixed line coverage throughout the country over the next two years.
In a press conference on Thursday, PT&T Chief Executive Officer James G. Velasquez said the company had started expanding its presence outside existing coverage in Metro Manila and outlying areas in Regions 3 or Central Luzon, and 4A or Mimaropa (Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan).
“In a span of one year, I can say the company has done extremely well. And that’s really because of the focus on our current business, which is broadband. We are a 100% pure fiber broadband company today. Our plan is to grow that,” he said.
“We have already started expansion of our network . . . I think we’re looking at P100 million to fund immediate growth for this year,” adding about P7 billion is needed to build a nationwide backbone.
In March, the listed company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with state-owned National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) to use the government’s national fiber optic backbone facility.
Mr. Velasquez said the partnership with TransCo is expected to help in PT&T’s plan to expand its fiber footprint to about 20,000 kilometers from the current 10,000 kilometers.
“We’re working on [our MoU with TransCo] as well, essentially to get us nationwide presence. We plan to be able to increase our fiber footprint from 10,000 kilometers to about 20,000 kilometers, which is essentially reaching more Filipinos in the country,” he said.
He noted as soon as the company’s signs a final agreement with TransCo, PT&T is looking at a 24-month nationwide expansion period, which will come in three phases: six months for Luzon, a year for Visayas, and the remainder for Mindanao.
With the goal of boosting its operations after suffering from an P8.8-billion debt, PT&T had sought an early exit from its court-assisted rehabilitation program and is seeking the resumption of trading of its shares at the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The regional trial court of Makati City granted PT&T’s petition to leave its corporate rehabilitation last month.
On Thursday, the company held its first annual stockholders’ meeting since its voluntary suspension of trading with the PSE in 2004.
Shareholders have agreed in the program to conduct a debt-to-equity conversion, to increase the authorized capital stock to P15.6 billion from P3.8 billion, and to participate in the government’s search for a so-called “third telco” player.
Alfredo T. Divino, Jr., the company’s chief finance officer, said PT&T aims to source funding for projects, such as the broadband expansion and third telco bid, through a mix of equity, internally generated funds and the resumption of trading,
“The whole range of capital-raising activities are open to us, and we will calibrate depending on the amounts needed,” he said.
Renato B. Garcia, one of PT&T’s directors, said the company is in talks with foreign investors for the funding of its third telco participation, but refused to disclose details.

1...11,93611,93711,938...14,238Page 11,937 of 14,238
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube