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Gov’t to comply with SC order on drug records

Malacañang on Wednesday said it will heed the Supreme Court’s (SC) directing the Solicitor-General on Tuesday to submit records on the government’s record on its anti-drug campaign. “The Office of the Solicitor-General has argued that there are certain security concerns that need to be addressed in connection with this matter. But since the Supreme Court itself has apparently made a final order for the production of these particular documents by the law enforcement agencies of the government, I guess we have no other alternative except to comply, subject probably to certain security checks or requirements that must be complied with and observed,” Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said in a press briefing Wednesday.

Junior high school students wait for their turn as they join more than 800 students receiving their diplomas at the Manuel G. Araullo High School in Manila on . — PHOTO BY MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

Senator calls on private sector to hire K-to-12 graduates

Senator Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares, through a resolution filed on Tuesday, called on the private sector to hire the first batch of senior high school (SHS) graduates “The successful implementation of the reforms under Republic Act No 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 requires the cooperation of the private sector, as they comprise a major part of the demand-side of the job market, and can thus allow or prevent K-to-12 graduates from finding decent and fulfilling employment,” she said in a statement Wednesday. Concerns over job readiness among K-to-12 graduates were earlier raised by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), noting that the 80-hour on-the-job training was not enough to equip them with skills they need once in the workforce. — Camille A. Aguinaldo

2 opposition senators submit intervention on quo warranto

Senators Antonio F. Trillanes IV and Leila M. De Lima on Wednesday submitted a 26-page intervention urging the Supreme Court to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction Solicitor-General Jose C. Calida’s quo warranto petition seeking to void Chief Justice Marie Lourdes P.A. Sereno’s appointment. — D.A.M. Enerio

Lowest ever energy bids and leveling the playing field

By Sara Jane Ahmed
MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) recently received the lowest ever bid to build new wind capacity in the Philippines at P3.50 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Solar is even cheaper than wind. The lowest price for solar received by Meralco so far has been P2.9887 per kWh for a 50-MW capacity plant.
Given that our consumers pay the highest costs in the region for electricity, the emergence of low cost renewable energy in the Philippines is excellent news for all of us who worry about our bills every month.
But the news could also be a lot better, because the lack of fair competition in our market is stifling our ability to access more of this clean cheap power. Removing some of the road blocks would make a big difference for us all.
In the face of rapidly declining costs and technological advances in renewable energy, liquefied natural gas (LNG), energy efficiency and storage, there is a need to enable greater use of cheaper domestic alternatives to imported coal and diesel.
A new report from a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, Lazard, concludes building new wind and solar farms costs less in an increasing number of markets than continuing to run current coal or nuclear plants.
This is indeed happening in the Philippines, as shown by last month’s offer to Meralco of P3.50 per kWh for 20 years to supply 150 megawatts (MW) from a proposed wind project in Rizal province. And this price is open to competition, meaning it could drop further.
What’s more, the prices of solar and wind are rapidly declining every year due to increased scale and improvements in technology, and neither of these trends are expected to level out any time soon. Since last year, the cost of energy for both utility-scale solar and onshore wind technologies globally are already down by 6%.
Meanwhile, the price of coal has doubled over the past two years leaving a $2-billion annual hole in the Filipino budget due to current need to import 21 million tons of coal a year from the likes of Indonesia and Australia.
When coal is expensive and renewables are cheap, there’s only one sensible path to take.
Significant variable renewable energy capacity negates the need for more coal and diesel; a reality that makes the Aquino administration plan to build 10,423 MW of coal ill-advised.
The current coal pipeline would lock in costs immediately double that of renewable energy, bringing with it currency and cost inflation over time to consumers, meaning expensive, rising and volatile electricity prices. Solar and wind are already also a remarkable seven times cheaper than diesel.
The question is: how can we enable greater competition to directly benefit consumers?
The most obvious method is to open up the energy plans to greater competition. Setting up an open and transparent bidding process using auction systems would mean the lowest bids translate into new energy projects.
This is turn would mean cheaper energy prices. Open and transparent price bids should also be used in power projects under the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and feed-in-tariff (FiT).
However, we still need to level the playing field.
Coal and diesel generators are sheltered from increasing import prices because of the automatic pass-through to consumers and industry. We can use greater competition by allowing coal and diesel generators to compete based on how much they are willing to step back from the traditional automatic cost pass-through model and shoulder more fuel-price and currency risk. Many such deals in India now have power generators agreeing to limit fuel-price pass-throughs to 30% instead of 100%.
In some cases, power generator proposals are also being presented now with fuel hedge contracts, which reduce exposure to fuel-cost volatility. Such contracts are already widely used by airlines, cruise lines, and trucking companies, and can certainly be tapped by the electric power industry too.
It’s at this stage that fossil fuel companies tend to raise the issue of reliability as a barrier to change. Solar and wind can’t provide baseload goes the usual line.
But that’s simply not the case.
Instead of continuing to rely on expensive import coal fired power, wind can cover day and night-time demand. Pumped storage is available for the peak demand periods, which in any case would be lower due to solar power reducing demand in the all-important noon-period.
Excessive reliance on imported coal is one of the main reasons the Philippines has the highest electricity price in ASEAN. The Philippines would be much better off improving energy security by diversifying its electricity grid and accelerating deployment of domestic renewables, reducing thermal fuel imports, driving deflation and encouraging more sustainable economic growth.
Natural gas, solar, wind, run of river hydro, geothermal and biogas are attractive, viable domestic options that can be combined to create a cheaper, more diverse and secure energy system in this country.
And the time to act is now, before we start to build a new generation of coal plants which will lock us into at least three more decades of expensive polluting power.
 
Sara Jane Ahmed is an Energy Finance Analyst of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

3 businessmen charged with tax evasion

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Wednesday filed with the Department of Justice (DoJ) tax evasion charges against businessmen Wilson Gabuten Tan, Jose B. Dyquiangco, Jr., and Lemuel Sibuma Consolacion.
Mr. Tan, whose tobacco-trading business is based in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, is being sued for tax liabilities of about P2.77 million for taxable year 2009. Mr. Dyquiangco, a soft-drinks retailer based in San Fernando City, La Union, is being sued for about P9.3 million for taxable year 2007.
Mr. Consolacion, a pharmaceuticals dealer, also from La Union, was found to have filed thrice his value added-tax returns for 2015 and 2016 using the electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS), but without their corresponding eFPS payments. He is liable to pay an estimated total of P3.5 million. — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

Clark airport achieves record-high 215,040 passengers in March

CLARK INTERNATIONAL Airport (CIA) reached a total of 215,040 passengers for March 2018.
“These numbers are the highest, so far, in the history of CIAC (Clark International Airport Corp.) since 1995,” CIAC president and CEO Alexander S. Cauguiran was quoted as saying in a statement by the Department of Transportation and CIAC.
The average daily passenger volume at the Clark airport is 7,000 served by a total of 481 weekly flights, of which 158 are international flights while 323 are domestic flights.
“From January 1 to March 31 this year alone, there were a total of 600,811 passengers that passed through Clark airport.   At this rate and with the full support of the Duterte administration, we will be able to break the 2017 record of 1.5 million passengers and will probably reach the two million mark this year,” Mr. Cauguiran added. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

Have you ever wrestled with humor?

By Raju Mandhyan
I bet you have more than once struggled and wrestled with humor.
You know it is important. You know as a trainer, speaker or a business leader it breaks ice, increases engagement and many a times earns you trust. Yet, at times it can pin you down and have you tapping on the floor to surrender and give up.
I know this. I have been there. There are times I’ve had the crowds rolling on the floor with laughter and then there are times that I have wanted to lie down on the floor and die.
Humor and pain like comedy and tragedy have subtle similarities. At the root level, these are both essentially the same. A person who has suffered great pain and tragedy in life also has the ability to transcend from it and convert it to comedy.
If you look through the history of those who have made the world laugh, you will note that they did, indeed, suffer great sorrow and pain before discovering laughter.
The bard, Shakespeare, created immortal masterpieces of drama but lived a personal life wrought in longing and loneliness. His every work is a constant dance between the tragic and the comic.
clown
Charlie Chaplin, the lovable tramp, grew up in a world surrounded by poverty and Dickensian angst; almost all of his movies depict scenes of glee and sadness sublimely mixed and exaggerated for theatrical effect.
The legendary Doctor Patch Adams, who proved to the world that, indeed, laughter is the best medicine, lived a life of hardship and struggle, until and even after he acquired a medical degree. His patients loved his clowning and humor because they knew that behind the facade, he deeply understood, felt and also shared their pain.
Now, as a business leader, when it comes to generating laughter if you have been to where I have and want to be more careful and funny at the same time here are some humble tips from my book, the HeART of HUMOR;

* Know your pain, understand your pain and then recognize the human in you and let go of the pain through laughter and play. Transcend it.

* Know the possible pains of your audiences and, gently, help them see a different and a lighter perspective of life. Do not play down their suffering but poke fun at your own and they will heal and laugh.

* Have love and compassion for your audiences and your people. Love will lighten your spirits and hold you in a joyful state. Your audience will read and mirror your attitude and behavior. Laughter and lightness will become a natural by product.

* Stay rooted to the ground by choosing your stories and words with care and caution. The world has becoming increasingly sensitive and demands political correctness. Stay away from making fun of caste, color, and creed. Stay away from gender-related humor. If there is anyone that you need to make fun of, then make fun of yourself.

* Humor is about timing and absolute precision. The same joke that was great at meeting one may be a total flop at meeting two. The best humor is situational, quick, and clean.

* Lastly, yes, do try all your stuff at home. Good and funny stories after a few rounds of practice mature and ripen over time. You do notice that the previous tip, somehow, contradicts this tip. When you are able to strike a balance between then you can call yourself a professional humor wrestler.

So those are a few insights and tips on wrestling with humor. If you’d like to get some coaching into being funny then come join me for a session of “the HeART of HUMOR,” in Singapore at the end of April. Together, we will peel apart the wraps of humor in speaking. We will dig deep into the sciences behind stand-up comedy; we will look into improvisation, stage acting, and storytelling and then practice methods that will become more than relevant to generating laughter, engagement and rapport in business scenarios.
Remember, when you wrestle with humor and lose, you still win because they will laugh at your attempts and you will have still accomplished your goal.
 
Raju Mandhyan is an author, coach and speaker.
www.mandhyan.com

SSS-delinquent employers found to be victimized by bookkeepers, accountants

AN OFFICIAL of the Social Security System-Davao branch (SSS-Davao) has alleged that SSS delinquent employers in this city were being victimized by their bookkeepers and accountants.
“Sometimes all summons from the court and orders from SSS for legal action are being kept by their people. (But many among these cases involve) bookkeepers and accountants,” said Greta Fe M. Quayle, SSS senior analyst.
She also said SSS files an average of 30 to 40 cases a month against delinquent employers, adding that 40% of 19,000 employers are found to be delinquent. Employers are required by law to remit SSS contributions by their employees, and failing thus, are presumed to have pilfered these contributions. Once convicted by the courts, said employers need to comply with the requirements of the court.
“SSS has no hand on it anymore,” Ms. Quayle said. “Employers can surrender their properties as payment for their delinquency and majority of the employers opt for installment.” — Maya M. Padillo

Gina Lopez launches program

FORMER ENVIRONMENT secretary Regina “Gina” L. Lopez recently launched her Quest for Love Program recently in this city and hopes to find “loving organizations” through a competition. The competition, which will be featured as a special segment of G Diaries on ABS-CBN this June, will give a chance to social enterprises, cooperatives, people’s associations, foundations, NGOs, and other socially oriented organizations in the country to establish sustainable community based businesses. — Maya M. Padillo

Duterte to visit Kuwait if his conditions are met

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte will only visit Kuwait if the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) can assure the implementation of his conditions on the protection of Filipino workers in the Gulf state.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, April 4, Presidential Spokesperson Herminio Harry L. Roque, Jr. said Mr. Duterte “might proceed to Kuwait if DoLE can assure the implementation of his minimum conditions.”
On Feb. 20, BusinessWorld reported that the government of Kuwait has invited Mr. Duterte to visit as both countries “seek to settle their differences over allegations of extreme abuse of migrant workers in the wealthy Gulf state.”
The President’s conditions for the government of Kuwait include “no confiscation of passport and will instead be deposited to the Philippine Embassy, seven hours sleep, one day off, and Filipino workers can cook their own food ( no pork) plus absolutely no physical abuse.”
According to Mr. Roque, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said his department is “moving to include” the President’s conditions “in the employment contract” of Filipino workers bound for Kuwait.
Mr. Roque likewise said the deployment ban to Kuwait “stays.”
The Philippines and Kuwait, according Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano, have “not yet reached” a “final agreement” on the deployment, employment, and treatment of Filipino workers in the Gulf state, the spokesman added. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Duterte offers support to replace rebels’ ‘revolutionary tax’ — Dureza

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has committed to resuming peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines- New People’s Army (CCP-NPA) and has expressed support for the replacement of “revolutionary tax” that the group has been collecting, Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza said.
“President Duterte directed during the Cabinet meeting today (April 4) to work on the resumption of peace talks with the CPP/NPA/NDF with clear instructions on the importance of forging a ceasefire agreement to stop mutual attacks and fighting while talks are underway,” Mr. Dureza said in a statement.
According to Mr. Dureza, the President also “committed to provide support, if necessary, in replacement of the revolutionary tax that he asked be stopped.”
In a separate statement, Mr. Dureza argued that the President’s offer of support for the revolutionary group is not tantamount to condoning extortion.
“Not condoning as it must be stopped…Those who wish to get support may be considered. Details, of course, will be discussed if acceptable to both sides,” he added.
As for the target date of the resumption of talks, Mr. Dureza said: “[We] will see when that ‘enabling environment’ becomes apparent.
In his statement on Tuesday, April 3, National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison said his party is “sincere” in its desire to return to the peace table with the government.
For her part, Senator Loren B. Legarda said she “supports the resumption of the peace talks, because stalling the negotiations could only lead to more deaths and suffering and neither the government nor the NDFP will win.”
“As someone who has been involved in facilitating releases of captives by the New People’s Army (NPA) when I was a neophyte senator, I have seen the sincerity of all sides to this conflict and have witnessed the intense desire for peace,” the senator added.
Ms. Legarda explained that “many of the items in the NDFP’s socio-economic reform agenda can already be addressed through existing laws and programs. In fact, the 2018 national budget has provided funding for free public tertiary education and additional funding for our state universities and colleges, free health care services in government hospitals, free irrigation services for small farmers, more budget for social welfare programs, and increased funding to support rural livelihoods and micro, small and medium enterprises. Our laws on environmental protection are already in place and, as author of most of these laws, I am glad that we are gradually seeing stricter enforcement.”
“The Philippine Government and the NDFP should resume peace talks to come up with agreements that are acceptable to both parties and beneficial to the Filipino people. Our people have a huge stake in the peace negotiations, the success of which is a step towards a brighter future for generations to come,” Ms. Legarda also said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

ConCom to include socio-economic rights in proposed new charter

By Camille A. Aguinaldo
The Consultative Committee (ConCom) tasked to review the 1987 Constitution plans to include socio-economic rights, namely the right to education, to health and to decent housing, in the new draft charter’s bill of rights.
“We thought that the protection of these second generation rights would be more robust if some of the socio-economic rights would be incorporated in the bill of rights,” ConCom chairman and former chief justice Reynato S. Puno said during a press briefing at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
Under the present Constitution, no existing provisions in the bill of rights tackles socio-economic rights. It was only enumerated briefly under the Charter’s declaration of principles and state policies.
Mr. Puno said the inclusion of socio-economic rights in the bill of rights would take on a “progressive” approach. This meant the provisions in the draft charter would have to consider the capacity of government to meet its obligations under the proposed bill of rights.
“This should be done progressively in relation to the ability of the State to really enforce these socio-economic rights (and) to make this right demandable. So this means that Congress would have to look at the entirety of resources and see what can be given progressively to the people when they demand the enforcement of their socio-economic rights,” Mr. Puno said.
He added that the socio-economic rights provisions would encourage Congress “to make the proper appropriations” for its implementation and would make it demandable against the federal government.
“If we don’t do this, then the enforcement of these socio-economic rights will just remain as statement of policies,” he said.
The former chief magistrate added that the ConCom was inclined to adopt the model of South Africa which he deemed “proper and fit” for the Philippines.
The 1996 South African Constitution mandates the State to make basic and higher education “progressively available and accessible.”
It also enumerated the right to access “health care services, including reproductive health care, sufficient food and water,” as well as “social security.”
It also guarantees “the right to have access to adequate housing” and directs the State to take legislative action “to achieve the progressive realization” of the provision.
The inclusion on socio-economic rights as well as environmental rights provisions would be formulated by the Concom subcommittee on rights, obligations, social justice headed by Rodolfo D. Robles before it would be voted upon by the en banc next week.

Duterte to travel to China for Boao Forum

By Arjay L. Balinbin
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte is scheduled to fly to China next week for a working visit and to participate in a forum, Malacañang said.
In Special Order (SO) No. 310, the President designated Executive Secretary Salvador S. Medialdea as the country’s Officer-in-Charge from April 9 to April 12.
The SO said: “The President will be in Boao, China to participate in the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) on 09-10 April 2018, and in Hong Kong for a working visit on 11-12 April 2018.”
The purpose of the Boao Forum for Asia, according to its Web site, is “to offer a high-end dialog platform for governments, enterprises, experts, and scholars to jointly discuss economy, society, and environment and other relevant issues.”
The forum was proposed “in 1998 by Fidel V. Ramos, former President of the Philippines, Bob Hawke, former Prime Minister of Australia, and Morihiro Hosokawa, former Prime Minister of Japan.”
The organization “was formally inaugurated on February 27, 2001 in Boao, Hainan Province, China.”

Nation at a Glance — (04/05/18)

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

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