Electric vehicle (EV) sales this year will continue growing thanks to ongoing public and private initiatives — including putting up support infrastructure and enacting policies that back the industry’s growth — the head of the country’s main EV group said.
“Are EVs finally taking off? Without a doubt,” Rommel T. Juan, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, told participants of the 6th Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit in Pasay City.
Mr. Juan said, based on a study by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, global electric car sales last year exceeded the one million mark, ending the year with 1.2 million units sold. Battery electric vehicle made up the majority of sales.
This year, global sales are expected to reach 1.6 million units, and the number of public charging stations will reach 100,000, he said, citing the study.
“There are now 3.3 million electric cars in use around the world. China and Europe together make up about 75% of the global EV market,” he said.
Among the private firms supporting the growth of electric vehicles in the country is Unioil Petroleum Philippines, Inc., which last month launched its second electric vehicle charging station in Metro Manila, with plans for 10 more to be put up before the end of the year.
In the public sector, Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Senate energy committee chairman, said his office is currently finalizing legislation to promote the entire e-vehicle ecosystem, “from charging stations, to the usage, all the way to importation and even manufacture of e-vehicles in our country.”
According to Mr. Gatchalian, demand for these vehicles will see major growth as soon as they become more affordable, citing studies that show e-vehicle prices matching those of traditional cars by 2025. — Victor Saulon

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has certified the Universal Healthcare Bill as an urgent measure, presidential spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said on Tuesday.
“I am very pleased to announce that our pet bill when we were in Congress, Universal Health Care, which we sponsored and defended in the lower house was certified urgent by the President,” he said at a press briefing in Indang, Cavity.
The Universal Healthcare Bill provides for the automatic inclusion of all Filipinos under the National Health Insurance Program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth).
The proposed measure remained pending at the Senate committee level while its counterpart measure in the House of Representatives passed on third and final reading last September 2017.
It has been identified as among the priority bills of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
A bill certified urgent by the President will allow Congress to pass the proposed measure on second reading and third reading on the same day.
In a statement, Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, chair of the Senate committee on health, vowed to pass the measure when Congress resumes session on July 23.
“I view universal health care as an integral to our anti-poverty drive,” he said. “Ensuring good health for Filipinos is crucial to economic development as because ensuring the well-being of all Filipinos means that they can be more productive, which further means they can better overcome poverty.” — Camille Aguinaldo

Vice President Leni G. Robredo on Tuesday said she is ready to take on the role as the leader of the opposition groups planning to unite for the upcoming 2019 midterm elections.
At a press briefing in Quezon City, Ms. Robredo, who also chairs the Liberal Party, said she has been an opposition leader for quite some time, citing the instances where she voiced her statements against the policies of the Duterte administration. This time, she said she wants to be the voice of the opposition groups united in dissent.
“Matagal naman na tinake-on ko yung role na yun.” Ms. Robredo said. “Pero this time dati kasi iba-ibang grupo ang gumagalaw… Maraming grupo pareho ang paniniwala, grupo na pareho naman yung issues na gustong salungatin pero dahil hindi nag-uusap-usap hindi napapag-isa ‘yung boses.
“At yun yung role na gusto ko itake na siguraduhin na yung mga boses nagkakaisa ay lalong mapagisa para lalong mapakinggang,” she said. “Siguraduhin yung mensahe na gustong ipaabot, mas maintindihan.”
“Maraming mga kababayan nagsasabi sa akin na kailangan ng leader. Parati ko sinasabi yung sa atin, obligasyon natin lahat na ipaabot yung saloobin natin, obligasyon nating sumalungat kapag kailangan sumalungat,” she added.
“Pero it is becoming apparent na mas malakas loob ng ibang magboses pag merong sinasandalang grupo na pareho yung paniniwala sa kanya,” Ms. Robredo said. “At yun yung role ko na pag-isahin yung mga boses na yun.”
Senator Francis N. Pangilinan, president of the Liberal Party, earlier said he hoped to build a coalition of groups and individuals united against the policies of the Duterte administration, especially on the issues of extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses.
He said the “resistance coalition’s” bets for the 2019 senatorial election included Senator Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV, former Quezon Rep. Lorenzo R. Tanada III, Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) chairman Jose Manuel I. Diokno, Magdalo partylist Rep. Gary C. Alejano, and former Akbayan partylist Rep. Ibarra M. Gutierrez. — Camille Aguinaldo

Megaworld Corp. is ramping up its land bank in Cavite and Laguna with the acquisition of a South Luzon-based real estate firm through one of its subsidiaries.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Megaworld said its wholly-owned unit Suntrust Properties, Inc. (SPI) recently acquired Stateland, Inc.
The 42-year old real estate firm has existing developments covering over 200 hectares primarily in Cavite and Laguna, as well as some parts of Metro Manila.
Stateland’s existing developments include horizontal residential projects, including the 4.34-hectare Villa San Lorenzo in Imus, Cavite, and three developments in Calamba, Laguna: 23-hectare San Francisco Heights, 16.25-hectare Gran Avila, and 7.46-hectare Casa Laguerta. — Arra B. Francia

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has approved the Consultative Committee’s (ConCom) draft federal constitution, Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said.
“Approved na ito, except for request to amend transitory provision to provide for an elected president during transition,” Mr. Roque said in a text message to ConCom spokesman Ding Generoso.
“PRRD mentioned in cab meeting his request to amend transitory provision for elected transition leader,” Mr. Roque also said in a text message as shared by Mr. Generoso to reporters.
He said the President “wants to step out as soon as the draft constitution is ratified,” requesting instead a general election for a transitory leader.
The President also wants a “younger” leader to take over once he steps down.
In his speech on Monday, ConCom chairman retired Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno said the draft constitution seeks to create 18 federated regions, including federated regions of the Bangsamoro and Cordillera.
“We divided the powers of government guided by the Filipino spirit of bayanihan where both the federal government and the federated regions govern the people less in competition but more in cooperation and aligned with the maxim: The welfare of the people is the supreme law, Salus populi est suprema lex,” Mr. Puno said.
Citing several features of the draft federal constitution, Mr. Puno said it “democratizes the electoral process by prohibiting political dynasties that have long monopolized the elections.”
“At the same time, it transformed political parties as mechanisms of citizen representation and democratic governance,” he said. “Under the draft constitution, political turncoatism is also prohibited.”
The proposed constitution, according to Mr. Puno, prohibits “monopolies and oligopolies.”
“For this purpose, the draft constitution established an independent competition commission to stop these monopolies by the moneyed,” he said, saying the federal constitution is “pro-poor.”
“For the first time in our history, the socioeconomic rights of the poor to adequate food, comprehensive health care, complete education, adequate and decent housing and livelihood and employment opportunities are included in the Bill of Rights as rights demandable against the government,” he said.
Mr. Puno added that under this system, the country’s impoverished communities are guaranteed political representation in legislative bodies and federated regions.
“Finally, the draft constitution established a permanent and indissoluble nation because it recognized the ethnicity, culture, religion, customs, traditions, language, and distinct identities of our brothers and sisters in the Cordillera and Bangsamoro,” Mr. Puno said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

China will provide Arab states with $20 billion in loans for economic development, President Xi Jinping told top Arab officials Tuesday, as Beijing seeks to build its influence in the Middle East and Africa.
The money will be earmarked for “projects that will produce good employment opportunities and positive social impact in Arab States that have reconstruction needs,” said Xi, without providing further details.
It is part of a special Chinese programme for “economic reconstruction” and “industrial revitalisation,” Xi told participants at a China-Arab States forum in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
Beijing is also prepared to provide another one billion yuan to countries in the region to “build capacity for stability maintenance,” Xi said, using a term commonly associated with policing and surveillance.
Since taking office, Xi has overseen a concerted effort to expand Chinese influence in the Middle East and Africa, including the construction of the country’s first military base in Arab League state Djibouti.
China has already provided vast sums to Arab countries, with Djibouti alone owing some $1.3 billion, according to estimates from the US-based China Africa Research Initiative.
The financial largesse has raised concerns both at home and abroad over the vulnerability of poor nations to such massive debt.
Last year Sri Lanka was forced to hand over majority control of its Hambantota port to China after being unable to repay its loans.
At the heart of Xi’s vision is the “Belt and Road” initiative, a $1-trillion infrastructure programme billed as a modern revival of the ancient Silk Road that once carried fabrics, spices and a wealth of other goods between Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
The Arab states’ position at the centre of the ancient trade route makes them “natural partners” in China’s new undertaking, he said, adding he expected the summit would end with an agreement on cooperation on the initiative.
“Chinese and Arab peoples, though far apart in distance, are as close as family,” he said, describing a romanticised history of trade along the Silk Road.
The project, which has already financed ports, roads and railways across the globe, has spurred both interest and anxiety in many countries, with some seeing it as an example of Chinese expansionism.
“China welcomes opportunities to participate in the development of ports and the construction of railway networks in Arab states” as part of a “logistics network connecting Central Asia with East Africa and the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean,” said Xi. — AFP

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.
Trump suggests China might be interfering in U.S.-North Korea talks
President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that China might be seeking to derail U.S. efforts aimed at denuclearizing North Korea, but said he was confident that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would uphold a pact the two agreed on last month. In his first remarks about challenging diplomatic talks held at the weekend that sowed fresh doubts over North Korea’s willingness to give up its nuclear arsenal, Trump said China “may be exerting negative pressure” in reaction to punitive U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods.
Thai boys await resumption of rescue mission after first four freed from cave
The Thai soccer team trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand waited for a rescue operation to resume on Monday, a day after the first four were brought out safely and whisked away to hospital. The daring and dangerous bid to rescue the boys – aged between 11 and 16 – was suspended by the mission chief late on Sunday to replenish oxygen supplies and make new preparations, which he said would take at least 10 hours.
When Donald meets Vladimir: the neophyte and the black belt
When Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin, he sits down with a disciplined, detail-oriented and experienced Russian leader who has played on the world stage for more than 18 years, in contrast to the U.S. president’s 18 months in office. Former U.S. officials argue that Putin will come to the July 16 Helsinki summit armed with facts and figures, flaunting a familiar narrative of Russian grievance and probing for a way to get something from Trump for little or nothing in return.
China jails hundreds of officials for pollution violations
China has jailed hundreds of officials for failing to tackle environmental violations uncovered during inspections last year, the environment ministry said in the latest round of the “war on pollution” led by President Xi Jinping. A total of 4,305 officials in 10 provinces and regions had been held to account for failing to rectify violations, with some of them facing fines and even jail time, the ministry said late on Monday.
Euroskeptic British ministers quit in blow to May’s Brexit plan
Prime Minister Theresa May’s foreign minister and Brexit negotiator quit on Monday in protest at her plans to keep close trade ties with the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc, stirring rebellion in her party’s ranks. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, the face of Brexit for many, resigned just hours after Brexit minister David Davis, emboldening some in her Conservative Party to mull a plot to unseat her less than nine months before Britain exits in March.
Mexico will not intervene in Venezuela, Nicaragua crises: incoming minister
The next government of Mexico, led by leftist President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, will not intervene in the internal affairs of other nations, such as crisis-ridden Venezuela and Nicaragua, the country’s future foreign minister said on Monday. Mexico’s current administration has taken a lead in regional efforts to pressure socialist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro into restoring democracy in the South American country, and has worked closely alongside the United States to stem north-bound Central American migration.
Myanmar court files secrets act charges against Reuters reporters
A court in Myanmar on Monday charged two jailed Reuters journalists with obtaining secret state documents, moving the landmark press freedom case into its trial stage after six months of preliminary hearings. Yangon district judge Ye Lwin charged reporters Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, with breaching the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
As Trump confounds, Mattis seen as quiet champion among NATO allies
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will only play a supporting role to President Donald Trump at this week’s NATO summit – an event that by definition is focused on heads of state from the trans-Atlantic alliance. But Mattis’ small part belies his high standing among NATO allies, which has only risen as they become increasingly bewildered by Trump’s policies on trade and Iran and anxious about his outreach to Russian President Vladimir Putin, European diplomats, officials and experts say.
Israel announces Gaza sanctions in response to cross-border blazes
Israel imposed sanctions on the Gaza Strip and its dominant Hamas Islamists on Monday in retaliation for attacks by Palestinians using burning kites and helium balloons carrying blazing rags. People taking part in more than three months of protests at the Gaza border have started scores of fires by sending the balloons and kites into Israel, vexing its advanced military which is used to dealing with more conventional weapons.
Turkey’s Erdogan sworn in with new powers, names son-in-law finance minister
President Tayyip Erdogan appointed his son-in-law as Turkey’s finance minister on Monday hours after he was sworn in with sweeping new executive powers, promising a “strong government and a strong Turkey”. The lira, which has lost nearly a fifth of its value against the dollar this year, dropped nearly 3 percent to 4.74 to the U.S. currency after the cabinet announcement. — Reuters