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China, other Middle East destinations considered for overseas workers displaced from Kuwait

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is considering the deployment to China of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) repatriated from Kuwait, Presidential Spokesperson Herminio L. Roque, Jr . said.

“The Labor secretary is finalizing the mechanism by which we can deploy workers to China as an alternative destination. So, that’s being worked out. Hopefully, there will be bilateral agreements soon,” Mr. Roque told reporters at a briefing Monday.

Also on Monday, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Sarah Lou Y. Arriola received the first batch of 377 workers who were repatriated on three commercial flights that left Kuwait on Sunday afternoon.

According to Ms. Arriola, “the Philippine Embassy and Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Kuwait expect that more than 10,000 Filipinos who have overstayed their visas will avail themselves of an amnesty program” that they arranged with the Kuwaiti government.

DoLE Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said that “both the DFA and the DoLE have made arrangements with Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific for the repatriation of those who already have travel documents and all those who want to return to the country.”

President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Friday ordered Filipinos working in Kuwait to leave the country “within 72 hours” after receiving a report about the body of a missing Filipina domestic helper believed to have been frozen for more than a year.

Both the DFA and the DoLE, for their part, said they will “strictly carry out the President’s directive to prevent more workers from reaching the Gulf state.”

Mr. Roque has also announced that “those who opted for repatriation from Kuwait will be given financial assistance, including capital for livelihood ventures.”

“The missions all over the Middle East in particular have been instructed to find alternative employment for our kababayans who have opted for voluntary repatriation from Kuwait. We are particularly keen on finding alternative employment in countries such Oman and Bahrain, both of which are signatories to the relevant ILO Convention that protects migrant workers,” the spokesman added.

As to the need for justice, Mr. Roque said that the Philippine government “will hold Kuwait responsible under the concept of state responsibility.”

“Kuwait, under international law, has a legal obligation to provide legal redress for the victims, Filipino victims of these horrendous crimes in Kuwait. And of course, if Kuwait fails in this regard, then it will incur international responsibility for an internationally wrongful act.” — Arjay L. Balinbin

ERC caps system loss pass-on costs at 5% for private distributors

THE electricity systems loss that distribution utilities can pass on to consumers has been capped by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to as low as 5.5% for private distribution utilities, the commissioners said on Monday.

“[The] range is 8.25 to 12% [for] ECs (electric cooperatives),” said ERC Commissioner Josefina Patricia A. Magpale-Asirit told reporters on Monday on the sidelines of a press conference at the commission’s head office.

“[For] private [distribution utilities, the] range is 5.5 to 6.5[%],” she added.

The lower figure is the resulting cap after the gradual decrease of the systems loss cap within a four-year period, she said.

Systems loss is the difference between the electric energy delivered to the distribution system and the energy delivered to the end-users and other entities connected to the system.

The Senate has separately approved on third and final reading a bill that seeks to reduce the cap to 5% from 8.5% of systems loss for private distribution utilities. The cap for electric cooperatives will be lowered to 10% from 13%.

Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate energy committee, said that with the proposed rates, the bill would contribute to immediate consumer savings. He noted that a systems loss rate of 10% for an electric cooperative in Mindanao would translate to a rate reduction of P0.1636 per kilowatt-hour. The annual savings at P196.32 is equivalent to seven kilos of rice, he added.

ERC Chairman Agnes T. Devanadera said the commission will review its system loss cap should the Senate bill on system loss become law. — Victor V. Saulon

A meal for any occasion

It seems that in our culture, no commemoration is complete without a meal. It’s not just for happy moments. We also eat when we lose a contest (accompanied by hard drinks), attend a wake, say goodbye to a retiree not yet in his 50s, open a new store, welcome a new partner, or any other milestone event we can think of.

Our predilection to eat for any occasion is not related to hormonal imbalance. It is a cultural bias. An unwritten rule on Filipino hospitality states that food must be served at all times. We follow a simple social rule — where two or more are gathered together for any reason, food has to be provided. The only exception seems to be when lining up for a ride. In this instance, the queue consists of strangers who are absorbed in their gadgets, and don’t feel obliged to chat — is this bus going to Katipunan?

The social convention of serving food at any gathering, whether social or corporate, attracts participants whose destination is the buffet table, or maybe unguarded handbags and cell phones.

Free meals, sometimes with promotional giveaways, attract mothers with toddlers along with an assortment of gawkers to such corporate events as the annual stockholders meetings of publicly listed companies. These are scheduled events in posh hotel settings that ever-alert gate-crashers look out for. Such corporate lurkers dressed in “drab casual” wander into the ballroom… right after the reception desk has disbanded.

Meals are served (or open for serving) after the president’s report and just before the final item on “other matters.” (Are there any other questions? There being none, let’s enjoy our carbo-loaded offerings at the buffet table.) Freeloaders don’t ask questions about EBITDA or the declining market share of the company. They head straight for a table with the flatware setting still undisturbed. And why do they always come with big back packs?

The phenomenon of uninvited guests popping up at invitation-only events like book launches misleads authors in concluding that their tome on the rise of the work ethic among indigenous people in Southern Mindanao is bound to sell out its print run of 250, judging from the crowd at the pica-pica table. (Sir, the siomai tray has run out.) That the line consists of a bedraggled lot whose attire suggests not literary hunger but enforced fasting does not dampen the optimism of the self-published author. These may be starving artists, after all, or bloggers who can give fulsome reviews of the new book. (Sir, I need a complimentary copy.)

The feeding frenzy of our culture also has supply-side aspects.

Hosts of events that involve food and catering arrangements are frustrated in their inability to nail down the exact number of guests to expect with the determined refusal of invitees to follow RSVP protocol. (I’m still shaking off this persistent ennui.) Still, who can anticipate the number of uninvited tag-along’s even with assigned tables? (Let’s add two extra chairs here with paper plates.)

An official visit to the regional office of a multinational company can lead to culture shock. A meeting is defined as a discussion without any meal. Food is considered merely a nutritional necessity. If it is served at all, it is during a working lunch where health and a low sugar and cholesterol count seem to be the only consideration — want a Cobb salad or just carrot sticks with alfalfa sprouts? The message is clear: if you need to be stuffed, do it in your own time.

Why is food such an obligatory part of office meetings lasting more than 30 minutes? Cost-cutters should view the suspension of meals at meetings as an opportunity not just for improving the bottom line but contributing to a healthier work force.

But if food is removed from meetings, it is not the attendees that will raise a howl. One only has to observe what happens to untouched leftovers to see where the pain will be felt. It is no mystery why there is so much food at meetings even if there are only a few attendees. The meal service is likely of interest to those with grocery bags on their desk drawers.

Virtual meetings, chats, and e-mail exchanges with numerous addressees have made some actual meetings unnecessary. Still, when the digital discussion stalls, and the teleconference equipment or line hits a snag, the parting salutation of the presiding officer is only too predictable — why don’t we break for lunch in the next room?

 

A. R. Samson is chair and CEO of Touch DDB.

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Restoration of the Notice of Informal Conference

The start of the year has been good for taxpayers who are under investigation, as new tax rules introduced some changes that will benefit them. Changes such as the lowering of the deficiency interest rate, the no simultaneous imposition of deficiency and delinquency interest, and allowing the deduction of an expense for which necessary withholding tax was belatedly paid are sure to be of great help. As they say, good things come in threes, and I believe the third important change in the tax rules which affects tax investigations is the reinstatement of the Informal Conference stage in the assessment process.

In 2013, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 18-2013, which removes the Notice of Informal Conference (NIC) stage in the assessment process. The intention is to expedite the proceedings and avoid corruption through reduced coordination between taxpayers and revenue officers. While the intention was noble, the removal of the NIC stage did not actually resolve the issues it sought to address and, in fact, has just made the assessment more burdensome for taxpayers.

Thus, the issuance of RR No. 07-2018 reinstating the NIC stage is one of the welcome changes in the tax rules for the following reasons:

First, the due process requirement is reinforced. As established under our laws and various jurisprudence, the truest meaning of giving due process under the law is being given the right to be heard before one is deprived of life, liberty, or property. In view of the restoration of the NIC stage, taxpayers are given ample time to explain and present supporting documents on the initial findings of the revenue officer. Only after the NIC stage and when the taxpayer is still found to be liable for deficiency tax shall the case be endorsed for the issuance of the Preliminary Assessment Notice (PAN).

Prior to the issuance of RR No. 07-2018, after the taxpayer submitted the requested documents during the tax investigation, the examiner was to prepare a report and issue a PAN. The revenue officer was not required to discuss the findings with taxpayers. The issuance of the PAN will more likely than not result in the issuance of a Final Assessment Notice (FAN) with the same findings, despite the submission of a Reply to PAN. The 15-day period to issue the FAN set forth under RR No. 18-2013 clearly undermined the taxpayer’s right to due process during the tax investigation. The period provided under the rules to issue the FAN is unrealistic for a revenue officer to evaluate the explanation and supporting documents, taking into account the case load of each examiner. Under previous regulations, the taxpayer was, in effect, limited to presenting an explanation and discussing this with the examiners after the FAN was issued and a protest was filed. Clearly, the right to be heard is curtailed under the previous rules.

Second, bloated assessment is avoided. Revenue officers were previously not required to discuss with taxpayers their findings before issuing the PAN and then the FAN. This practice has resulted in exorbitant deficiency tax assessments, since all discrepancies noted by the BIR are included, even those which can easily be explained, e.g., findings for improperly accumulated earnings tax for a Philippine Economic Zone Authority, final withholding tax for payment to a non-resident foreign corporation for services rendered abroad, timing differences in the recognition of sales/purchases, etc. With the restoration of the NIC stage, discrepancies noted by the BIR may be reduced before the FAN is issued.

Considering that taxpayers and revenue officers are given time to discuss the findings during the NIC stage, simple issues and discrepancies noted can be threshed out immediately. Thus, only the contested findings will be the subject of the PAN and FAN. The issue of the drastic lowering of the tax deficiency paid by the taxpayer, implying a resort to extra-legal means in closing the tax investigation, will be avoided.

Last, the assessment procedure will be expedited. Since the issues will be reduced during the NIC stage, closing the tax investigation within a short period may happen. Under RR No. 07-2018, the NIC stage shall not extend beyond 30 days from the receipt of the notice. If, after the NIC stage, the examiner and the taxpayer have agreed to the remaining findings for tax deficiency, the assessment is likely to be closed at the administrative level, i.e., at the PAN or FAN stage. The fear of a prolonged tax assessment due to the lengthy NIC stage is addressed by the 30-day limit set by the regulation. The extended period of assessment reaching the request for reconsideration stage and the filing of a case in court may be reduced since taxpayers are given more chances to explain their position at the BIR level before the PAN is issued.

With the new tax rules in place, it appears that the government is keen on making compliance easier for taxpayers. The changes we are seeing show that the grievances of taxpayers did not fall on deaf ears. There is more room for improvement in our tax rules, and I believe we can expect more changes to come. For now, however, let us be grateful for this simple victory for taxpayers.

Jennylyn V. Reyes is a manager of the Tax Advisory and Compliance of P&A Grant Thornton. P&A Grant Thornton is one of the leading audit, tax, advisory, and outsourcing services firms in the Philippines.

Stocks end lower on inflation, rate hike concerns

SHARES continued to drop on Monday as investors stayed cautious amid fears of rate hikes and inflationary pressures that continue to affect Western markets.

The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gave up 0.18% or 15.78 points yesterday to close at 8,487.91, marking the third day of losses for the bellwether.

The broader all-shares index also lost 0.04% or 2.48 points to finish at 5,025.90.

“Our index fell below 8,500 on the lack of fresh leads and the correction last week is still making investors stay in a cautious mood towards emerging markets like the Philippines,” Timson Securities, Inc. equity trader Jervin S. de Celis said in a mobile phone message.

Mr. De Celis noted that investors were also veering away from index stocks, as they “are the most affected when the Western markets dip due to inflation and rate hike fears.”

“Negative market sentiment continues from uncertainty amid wide swings in the US markets… We attribute this to lingering inflationary concerns as the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) has revised its inflation target to 4.3% from 3.4% previously,” Papa Securities, Corp. Research Head Ramon Vicente T. Kabigting said in an e-mail.

The financial sector was the sole sub-index that managed to post gains, rising 0.65% or 14.35 points to 2,198.89.

On the other hand, the mining and oil counter was down 1.22% or 139.76 points to 11,284.45, followed by industrials, which dropped 0.82% or 95.53 points to 11,470.62. Property ended 0.29% or 11.26 points lower at 3,812.85; services slipped 0.24% or 4.18 points to 1,692.21; while holding firms shed 0.08% or 7.67 points to 8,607.61.

The market saw thinner trading on Monday, with a value turnover of P5.86 billion after some 2.39 million issues switched hands, down from the P8.62-billion turnover recorded last Friday.

Decliners trumped advancers, 118 to 94, while 36 issues were flat.

Net foreign selling, meanwhile, swelled to P1.27 billion today, significantly higher than the net outflow of P136.80 million recorded last Friday.

Papa Securities’ Mr. Kabigting attributed the increase on outbound funds to continued volatility in the market.

Meanwhile, Timson Securities’ Mr. De Celis said investors are looking forward to the corporate earnings season as well as the MSCI index rebalancing announcement on Tuesday, which will be effective on Mar. 1.

“I guess this will also urge investors to keep cash for more buying power to spend on the new stocks that will be included  in the index.”

Meanwhile, most Southeast Asian stocks rose on Monday as Wall Street’s recovery in the last session instilled some confidence into Asian markets.

Wall Street’s main stock indexes climbed more than 1% on Friday, giving investors some solace after a week of major swings that shook the market out of months of calm. — Arra B. Francia with Reuters

Peso plunges to 11-year trough

THE PESO plunged to an 11-year low against the dollar on Monday even as equity markets corrected amid hopes for the US Federal Reserve to tighten its rates this year.

The local currency closed Monday’s trading session at P51.77 versus the dollar, down 29 centavos from its P51.48 finish on Friday.

This was the peso’s worst finish in more than 11 years or since it ended at P51.87 against the greenback on July 25, 2006.

The peso traded weaker the whole day, opening the session at P51.55 against the greenback. It hit a low of P51.775 intraday, while its best showing was at P51.485 per dollar.

Dollars traded slid to $930.6 million from the $1.17 billion that changed hands in the previous session.

“The peso probably still took the cue from last week,” Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at UnionBank of the Philippines, said in a mobile phone message.

Mr. Asuncion attributed Monday’s slump to the “huge correction” of global equities.

“For global markets, I think the value lost was in trillion,” Mr. Asuncion added.

A trader meanwhile said the peso traded lower yesterday as “investors already factored in the release of US inflation figures this week.”

Median forecasts are for consumer price inflation to slow a little to 1.9% in January from a year earlier, mainly due to the base effect of a high reading in January 2017, while the core measure is seen ticking down to 1.7%, according to a report from Reuters.

Although the trader said that stronger US inflation might signal tightening moves from the Fed on its March rate decision, Mr. Asuncion noted that: “The US dollar was weaker as fears of faster interest-rate hikes persisted.”

Last week, officials of US Federal Reserve affirmed market expectations of three rate hikes this year, saying it is reasonable to hike given the boost provided by the recently passed tax reform law to the American economy.

For Tuesday (Feb. 12), the trader sees the peso moving between P51.55 and P51.95 versus the dollar.

“The US inflation outlook might still cause the peso to weaken [today] amid bargain-hunting positions for the dollar in view of a stronger inflation reading for January,” the trader said.

Meanwhile, most Asian currencies firmed against the US dollar on Monday, as regional equities gained following a rise in S&P futures, while the greenback slipped after US Congress signed a deal that will push budget deficits past $1 trillion annually.

Asian share markets showed signs of recovery on Monday from a dramatic sell-off last week. — K.A.N. Vidal with Reuters

Philippines to secure first tranche of loan from Japan for subway line

The Philippines is targeting to secure next month an initial loan line from Japan for the construction of the country’s first subway line, as the two countries reinforce economic ties during a joint meeting yesterday in Cebu City.

In a statement, the Department of Finance (DoF) said both economies “are looking forward to the signing of the first tranche of the loan for the Metro Manila Subway Project (Phase I) by March 2018.”

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and Socieconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia represented the Philippines during the latest meeting of the Philippines-Japan Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation at Shangri-La Mactan.

Hiroto Izumi, a special advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, led the delegation from Tokyo. This is the fourth meeting held by the two parties since March 2017.

The subway plan aims to build a 25-kilometer underground rail system that will connect Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque. Construction is expected to cost P355.6 billion, higher than the previous estimate of P227 billion. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Auto sales grow 4% in January

The Philippine automotive industry recorded in January 2018 a 4% sales growth over the same month last year. Based on the joint report issued by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (“CAMPI”) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (“TMA”), a total of 31,645 units were sold during the month compared to the 30,425 units sold in January 2017.

“We started the year with a modest growth of 4% in January 2018 against the same period last year. While this is considerably low compared to the growth rate of January 2017 (27% up versus January 2016), we still consider January 2018 sales as satisfactory and a good start for the auto industry. We will continue our efforts in sustaining the growth momentum of past years”, according to CAMPI President Atty. Rommel Gutierrez.

71 dead, no survivors in Russian plane crash outside Moscow

MOSCOW — A Russian passenger plane carrying 71 people crashed outside Moscow on Sunday after taking off from the capital’s Domodedovo airport, killing everyone on board.

The Antonov AN-148 plane operated by the domestic Saratov Airlines was flying to Orsk, a city in the Urals, and crashed in the Ramensky district on the outskirts of Moscow.

“Sixty-five passengers and six crew members were on board, and all of them died,” Russia’s office of transport investigations said in a statement.

News agencies said witnesses in the village of Argunovo saw a burning plane falling from the sky.

President Vladimir Putin offered “his profound condolences to those who lost their relatives in the crash,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

State television aired a video of the crash site, showing parts of the wreckage in the snow.

Russia has seen record high snowfall in recent days and visibility was reportedly poor.

The Russian-made plane was reportedly seven years old and bought by Saratov Airlines from another Russian airline a year ago.

HARD-TO-REACH CRASH SITE
Russian media reported that the emergency services were unable to reach the crash site by road and that rescue workers walked to the scene on foot. Emergency services said in a statement that more than 150 rescue workers were deployed to the site.

The transport investigations office said the plane disappeared from radar screens around four minutes after take-off.

The Russian transport minister was on his way to the crash site, agencies reported. The transport ministry said several causes for the crash were being considered, including weather conditions and human error.

The governor of the Orenburg region, where the plane was flying to, told Russian media that “more than 60 people” on board the plane were from the region.

Prosecutors opened an investigation into Saratov Airlines following the crash. Russia’s Investigative Committee will consider all possible causes, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Saratov Airlines was founded in the 1930s and flies to 35 Russian cities. Its hub is Saratov Central Airport in southern Russia.

Local media Web site Ural56.ru in the Orenburg region showed footage of distressed relatives at Orsk airport, where the plane was due to land.

Andrei Odintsov, the mayor of the city of Orsk, told Russian state television that six psychologists and four ambulances with medics are working with the relatives in the small airport.

Orsk is the second biggest city in the Orenburg region, near Russia’s border with Kazakhstan.

Russia has suffered numerous plane crashes, with airlines often operating aging aircraft in dangerous flying conditions.

A light aircraft crashed in November in Russia’s far east, killing six people on board.

In December 2016 a military plane carrying Russia’s famed Red Army Choir crashed after taking off from the Black Sea resort of Sochi, killing all 92 people on board.

The choir had been due to give a concert to Russian troops operating in Syria.

Pilot error was blamed for that crash.

In March 2016, all 62 passengers died when a FlyDubai jet crashed in bad weather during an aborted landing at Rostov-on-Don airport. — AFP

Trump to unveil $1.5-trillion plan to invest in US infra

WASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump’s administration will sketch out more details of its plan to invest in America’s creaking infrastructure Monday, hoping it can leverage up to $1.5 trillion for the cause.

Senior White House officials said the president’s budget, due to be released on Monday, will include $200 billion earmarked for projects to fix roads, bridges and other crucial infrastructure.

Under the proposals, states and private investors would put up the remaining $1.3 trillion.

Mr. Trump, playing up his background in construction, had made fixing US infrastructure a core campaign pledge and already announced the $1.5-trillion plan in his State of the Union address last month.

On Monday, the administration will put more flesh on the bones, including ideas for cutting the length of the permitting process to two years.

“Infrastructure is obviously a critical component to the functioning of our economy, a lot of American success is a result of the quality of the infrastructure we have had historically,” said a senior White House official.

“But the current system is fundamentally broken.”

“We are under-investing in our infrastructure and we have a permitting process that takes so long that even when funds are adequate it can take a decade to build critical infrastructure.”

It will now be up to Congress to discuss the proposal and Mr. Trump will host lawmakers from both parties at the White House on Wednesday to make his case.

He will likely face fierce questions about what the administration is willing to fund, including questions about whether any money will go to so-called climate-proofing.

The Trump administration has questioned global warming and the president has called it a hoax.

Fiscal hawks are likely to question where the money will come from, so soon after tax and congressional spending deals that are expected to explode the deficit.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that the spending plan passed by Congress last week will alone increase the deficit by $420 billion over a decade.

The Trump administration says the funding will come from cuts in other programs, which will be outlined in his budget proposal.

White House officials acknowledge the plan is just the opening salvo in the back-and-forth with Congress.

Experts have warned that poor roads, rail and air traffic systems are costing the US economy a fortune.

According to civil engineer Henry Petroski, traffic congestion alone costs the United States $120 billion per year. — AFP

Oxfam vows shake-up after Haiti sex abuse

LONDON — Oxfam announced a new raft of measures to tackle sexual abuse cases after being ordered to meet the British government on Monday to explain its handling of a 2011 prostitution scandal involving its aid workers in Haiti.

The British-based charity will reexamine the episode as part of an independent review started this year to drive out unacceptable behavior, while pledging to improving the recruitment, vetting and management of staff.

“It is not sufficient to be appalled by the behavior of our former staff — we must and will learn from it and use it as a spur to improvement,” Caroline Thomson, Oxfam’s chair of trustees, said in a statement.

She confirmed the charity would meet with the Department for International Development (DFID) on Monday and the Charity Commission, which regulates the sector, later this week.

Earlier Sunday Britain’s International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt warned Oxfam to cooperate with a renewed probe into the scandal or face repercussions.

“If they do not hand over all the information that they have from their investigation… then I cannot work with them any more as an aid delivery partner — and any other organization in those circumstances,” she told the BBC.

In a sign of widening fallout, the Sunday Times reported more than 120 workers for Britain’s leading charities were accused of sexual abuse in the past year, “fueling fears pedophiles are targeting overseas aid organizations.”

Ms. Mordaunt said she was writing to all charities that receive state aid demanding they step up efforts to tackle sexual misconduct among staff or face funding cut-offs.

She will also seek to confirm they have referred all concerns about specific cases and individuals to the relevant authorities.

“I think this is an emerging picture, there are more allegations coming out about Oxfam and other organizations… and all of them will be followed up,” Ms. Mordaunt vowed.

The government’s hardening stance follows reports in The Times newspaper that young sex workers were hired by Oxfam’s senior staff in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake which devastated the island and left up to 300,000 people dead.

The charity — which employs around 5,000 staff and has 23,000 more volunteers — also recorded 87 sexual abuse incidents last year, referring 53 to the police or authorities and dismissing 20 staff or volunteers, according to the Sunday Times.

Oxfam Chief Executive Mark Goldring admitted Saturday that it had failed to detail fully the nature of the 2011 scandal but insisted it “did anything but cover it up.”

“With hindsight, I would much prefer that we had talked about (the) sexual misconduct,” Mr. Goldring told BBC radio.

“But I don’t think it was in anyone’s best interest to be describing the details of the behavior in a way that was actually going to draw extreme attention to it.”

However, Ms. Mordaunt said not disclosing the full picture was “a scandal” and Monday’s meeting was a chance “to see if they are displaying the moral leadership that I think they need to now.”

She added: “what is so disturbing about Oxfam is that when this was reported to them, they completely failed to do the right thing.”

The minister noted offenses committed by British citizens anywhere in the world could still be prosecuted in Britain.

“We’re talking about a historic case, but it is in some respects still live.

“They still have information they should be giving to the authorities.”

Oxfam has said it launched an immediate investigation in 2011 which found a “culture of impunity” among some staff.

During the probe, it dismissed four staff members and another three resigned. — AFP

UnionBank to acquire PETNET, Inc.

UnionBank of the Philippines group is set to acquire the controlling stake of transaction network PETNET, Inc.

In a disclosure to the local bourse on Monday, UnionBank said its subsidiaries City Savings Bank, Inc. and Union Properties, Inc. signed a share purchase agreement with Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. to buy 51% of PETNET.

The acquisition, which will undergo closing conditions and regulatory approval, is expected to be completed by  the second quarter of this year. PETNET, commonly known by its retail name PERA HUB, has the largest network of Western Union outlets nationwide. With 2,800 PERA HUB branches in the country, PETNET offers various cash-based financial services such as remittance, currency exchange and bills payment. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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