How PSEi member stocks performed — April 6, 2018
Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Friday, April 6, 2018.
Duterte: ‘Fast-track’ Sereno’s impeachment
By Dane Angelo M. Enerio
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday declared himself an “enemy” of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno and called on Congress to speed up her impeachment case, after she implied he had a hand in Solicitor-General Jose C. Calida’s quo warranto petition and lawyer Lorenzo G. Gadon’s impeachment complaint seeking to oust her.
“Sinasabi ko na sa iyo na hindi ako nakikialam (I have told you I never meddled),” an angry Mr. Duterte told reporters on Monday at a Davao press conference prior to his flight to China for the Bo-ao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2018.
“I’m your enemy and you have to be out of the Supreme Court,” he said, adding that he would ask House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez to “kindly fast-track the impeachment” because “she is bad for the Philippines.”
“Now this time, I’m asking the Congressmen and the Speaker, ‘Do it now.’ Huwag niyong dramahin (Do not give it much drama) or else I will do it for you,” Mr. Duterte said.
Ms. Sereno on Monday morning addressed a gathering partly organized by the Movement Against Tyranny, a group critical of the administration, and said Mr. Duterte should explain “why Sol-Gen Calida, na nagrereport sa iyo, ang nag-file nitong quo warranto petition (why Sol-Gen Calida, who reports to you, filed this quo warranto petition).”
“Surely you must explain to the people why this unconstitutional act,” she added.
She also challenged her detractors in the House of Representatives to “forward na (nila) yan sa Senado ng malaman na ng taong bayan ang totoo (forward it to the Senate so the people can know the truth.)
Mr. Duterte, for his part, said, “if you are insisting then count me in.”
“Ako na mismo ang maglakad kalaban sa iyo… daldal ng daldal, upakan kita (I will personally walk it through… I will hit you because you are so noisy),” he said.
Mr. Calida’s petition, scheduled for oral arguments today, April 10, urged the Supreme Court (SC) to have the Chief Justice’s appointment voided for her incomplete Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).
The President said Congress can go ahead with Ms. Sereno’s impeachment “because the two entities can hear it simultaneously.”
“They can proceed with the quo warranto. (The) quo warranto is the Supreme Court, impeachment is the Congress,” he said.
Sought for comment on the President’s remarks regarding co-equal branches of government, University of the Philippines (UP) law professor Antonio G.M. La Viña said, “It’s good (Mr. Duterte) ordered the Speaker to quicken things.”
“They should now send this to the Senate,” he added.
The President also compared Ms. Sereno’s impeachment case with that hounding her predecessor, the late former chief justice Renato C. Corona, saying, “Yung maestra na hindi naka file ng statement of assets, liabilities, isang maestra na mahirap lang… pinaalis niyo (the judge who was unable to file his statement of assets, liabilities, a judge that was poor, … you kicked him out).”
‘Itong babae na ito (This woman), she earned money, attorney’s fees collected from the government, ni singko centavos (not even five cents),” Mr. Duterte also said, referring to Ms. Sereno’s P30 million in legal fees as government counsel in a 2001 plunder case against the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (PIATCO).
Mr. Alvarez was Senior Assistant General Manger of the Manila International Airport Administration (MIAA) when PIATCO was awarded the contract for the construction of Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Duterte threatens mining firms anew
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday, April 9, gave mining companies six months to rehabilitate mined out areas and warned he may yet impose a total ban on open-pit mining next year.
“I’m going to give you six months from now. Six months. I do not want to see any bald [areas]. I want [to see] the trees as tall as me by six months. Without the replacement of those trees, consider your permit revoked. Better pack up your things. You can go and that would be closed permanently,” Mr. Duterte said in his speech at the Davao International Airport prior to his departure for China and Hong Kong.
He added: “I am not kidding. Do not wait for the day of your sorrow. Six months. I do not want to see any bald piece of land there. And, maybe next year, maybe, I will ban open-pit mining. Sleep on it. Sleep on it.”
Sought for comment, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines Executive Director Ronaldo S. Recidoro said in a phone interview: “Active mining really requires that you replace flora and fauna. If it’s within the mining plan that once an area is mined out, the miner has a responsibility to rehabilitate it. Now the President is saying that we have to rehabilitate, I think that is already a known responsibility of miners. We know that we have to rehabilitate. So, I don’t understand the context of six months.”
Mr. Recidoro also explained that the 43 operating mines in the country are still in the process of mining. “We cannot rehabilitate until those areas are mined out. Hence, if the President was referring to the mined out areas, those areas are already being rehabilitated.”
“If he is referring to the abandoned mines, that is a very complicated discussion. However, he is correct. Abandoned mines have to be rehabilitated properly, but who will assume the responsibility given that these abandoned mines are precisely abandoned? They have to look for the contractors who will be held liable, or the government itself can assume the responsibility of the rehabilitation,” he added.
As for the total ban on open-pit mining, Mr. Recidoro said the ban imposed by former Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez “is still in effect.”
The Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), according to Mr. Recidoro, “has come out with a recommendation to lift it, but the President has not acted on it.”
“There is already an ongoing ban. If he is going to make it permanent, then that is a new thing,” he added.
Mr. Recidoro also said the mining industry has been trying to convince the President to consider the MICC’s recommendation.
“It is because open-pit is… accepted… globally. It has been shown to be the most effective and safer method for extracting minerals. It’s been shown also that you can rehabilitate open-pit mines quite easily. It’s been shown that older open-pit mines are now converted into parks, tourism areas, or converted back into agricultural or forest lands. So we can do that here in the Philippines.”
The President’s decision to totally ban the open-pit mining, according to Mr. Recidoro, will impact copper and gold mining operations in the country. “Or it could be nickels, depending on the coverage of the ban. Or even coals and cements,” he added.
For now, the national contribution of the mining industry to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country, according to Mr. Recidoro, is “admittedly insignificant.”
“But if you look at the regions where mines are operating like Region 4-B, Caraga, Region 13, you will see that the contribution of mining to these regions (is) something like 20% to 25% of the regional GDP. And if you go down to the provincial level, the contribution of the mining industry is bigger. There are only 43 mining operations in the country. The next question there is, what do we want from it? Do we want to increase this small number? Or do we want to decrease it some more?”
Mr. Recidoro stressed the need for a clearer understanding of what the President plans to do with the mining industry. “We need to find out the context of the President’s pronouncement, where he is coming from.”
When it comes to Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, Mr. Recidoro said he “has a plan.”
“He has a vision for the industry. He wants it to be a contributor to the economy. He said, if the oil companies in the Middle East were able to help the region achieve the First World status, the mining industry [in the Philippines] is also capable of doing it. So that’s what he wants to see happen. For that to happen, we need to improve the perception of mining,” Mr. Recidoro said, adding:
“Perhaps Secretary Cimatu has already told the President about his proposal to accelerate the rehabilitation of the nickel mines, then that could be his basis.” — Arjay L. Balinbin
President says Boracay subject to land reform
By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte announced on Monday, April 9, that Boracay island will be subject to land reform.
The President made his remarks a few days after he approved the six-month closure of the island beginning April 26.
“So maybe after that, i-land reform ko lahat yan (I will put it all under land reform program), then I’ll give it to the farmers. I’ll give them the tractors,” Mr. Duterte said at Davao International Airport prior to his departure to China to attend a forum there.
He added: “How about the business? Well, I’m sorry but that is the law. The law says it is forestal, agricultural. Why would I deviate from that? Do I have a good reason to do so?”
Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Proclamation No. 1064 which “classifies Boracay Island situated in the Municipality of Malay, Province of Aklan as Forestland (for Protection purposes) and Agricultural Land (Alienable and Disposable) in accordance with the provisions of Commonwealth Act 141, otherwise known as the Public Land Act, and Section 13 of Presidential Decree No. 705, otherwise known as Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines, subject to actual ground survey and delineation.”
Mr. Duterte also commented on recently reported planned casino ventures in the island.
“I never said about building anything or even a nipa hut there. What I said is that the island itself is owned by the government. I’ve said before that it is agricultural and forestal. Unless there is a law or a proclamation of the President setting aside anything there, an inch of land, maybe, then that would be all right for all those people to go in,” he said.
Mr. Duterte also said “there’s no (master) plan” on Boracay’s rehabilitation. “My order was to clean it up.”
“Now if you are asking of a financial help, I’m going to sign the proclamation of calamity and we can make available about P2 billion of assistance. But this is only for the poor Filipinos. I will not spend any single centavo for those inns there, hotel owners, or motels. Do not expect me to pay anything. That money is only intended for the Filipino.”
For his part, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Jonas R. Leones said on Monday that finding out the exact figures on Boracay’s carrying capacity is not “so useful for our rehabilitation effort for six months.”
“(That’s) because we can see that all the indications (show that) Boracay is already deteriorating,” he added.
“So, the carrying capacity will only be used and serve as a guide on how much volume of waste can be generated by the area, how (many establishments and) tourists will be allowed to enter Boracay, so that’s the basis,” Mr. Leones also said.
DENR’s efforts to gauge the island’s capacity will follow after a similar study 10 years ago, Environment secretary Roy A. Cimatu had earlier noted.
On April 26, the government will shut down the island for a six-month rehabilitation. Aside from water and solid waste management, the government will also rehabilitate the roads, forests and wetlands. — with Anna Gabriela A. Mogato
PHL, China to sign deal on English teachers
By Charmaine A. Tadalan
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo R. Duterte is expected to sign an agreement with China, allowing around 100,000 Filipino teachers in English teaching opportunities there.
The Philippines is also planning to discuss the employment of domestic helpers in China, on account of the growing demand from Chinese middle-class households.
“The market of China is growing and our Philippine efforts are included there,” Mr. Duterte told reporters in a press briefing before his departure to China. “We are also in a position now — we are going to have a platform for this actually, especially the Labor Department. Tumatanggap na sila ngayon ng trabahante. (They are hiring workers now.) They are accepting, first, teachers but 1,000 — ah 100 — 100,000.”
Mr. Duterte headed to China on Monday for the annual Bo-ao Forum for Asia, where he is set to discuss Philippine economic achievements before business leaders as well as meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana in a press briefing said there are “minor details still being ironed-out,” but the agreement is likely to be signed on Tuesday.
Mr. Sta. Romana said the agreement comes after China has relaxed its rules, barring non-native speakers to teach.
“There used to be a Chinese rule that excluded the Philippines as a legal source or as a source that they encouraged. They wanted to emphasize, you know, what they called ‘native speakers,’ but they have relaxed it now,” Mr. Sta. Romana said. “So now they are more open, they are more accommodating and there’s growing need in China to learn English.”
On the possibility of the employment of Filipino domestic helpers in China, Mr. Sta. Romana said “there is growing interest on the Chinese side, particularly the high-income Chinese. They’d like not just local helpers but foreign helps.”
He added: “There’s a lot of details still to be resolved because if the Chinese market open up to us, they have to open up to other foreign markets. You know, they have to balance their policy.”
“There are a lot of problems to be solved. You know, we want to make sure that they are covered by social security,… that they’re not subject to unfair rules. So we want the assurances,” Mr. Sta. Romana also said.
Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, meanwhile, raised concerns on which country has the authority to accredit schools that will grant certificates to English teachers.
“One of the contentious issues, there is the requirement by the Chinese government that they will accredit the schools that will issue certification to our English teachers. We maintain (the) position that it should be the Philippines that will choose these schools or the college that will issue certification,” Mr. Bello told ANC.
Oil prices roll back this week
AFTER TWO straight weeks of big price increases, oil companies this week will be cutting the cost of gasoline and diesel while keeping unchanged the price of kerosene. Gasoline prices will decrease by P0.40 per liter (/L) while diesel prices will be down by P0.30/L.
“This is to reflect movements in the international petroleum market,” said Seaoil Philippines, Inc., which will be among the first to impose the price cut at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, April 10. The others will be adjusting fuel prices at 6:00 a.m. Last week, oil companies raised the prices of gasoline and diesel by P0.90/L and P1.00/L, respectively. Kerosene prices also increased by P1.00/L during the first week of April. — Victor V. Saulon
Ejercito to propose review of Banaue Rice Terraces
SENATOR Joseph Victor G. Ejercito plans to file a resolution looking into the “deteriorating” state of another tourist destination, the Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao province.
“Like Boracay, we need drastic measures to save it,” he said in a mobile message to reporters on Monday. Mr. Ejercito’s plans was prompted by his visit over the weekend in the Cordillera region, where he observed that the Banaue Rice Terraces, a UNESCO Heritage Site, is under threat from residential structures.
He added that the “younger generation” in the area have lost interest in farming and there may no longer be cultivators in the future. Mr. Ejercito will discuss his proposal with Senator Nancy S. Binay, chair of the committee on tourism. — Camille A. Aguinaldo
QC building clearance functions ‘devolved’ to national gov’t agencies
THE QUEZON CITY government said it has “devolved” to agencies of the national government some of its approval functions in the building code governing the city.
The Local Building Code, which was created through a 2016 ordinance, transferred the “responsibilities with regards on who evaluates and whose jurisdiction are the certain sections or rules of the National Building Code (NBC),” Quezon City Department of Building Office (DBO) chief of staff Roy Xavier A. Cornista said in an interview when sought for comment about last month’s issuance of law’s the implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
“Halimbawa, sa (for example, in) architectural, we will not bother to thoroughly check (the requirements of the applicant seeking clearance) or we’ll not bother to thoroughly check ‘yung (the) fire safety requirements niya as long as (we can see there is) fire clearance and… locational clearance. Ibig sabihin na-comply niya na ‘yon (This means these requirements have been complied with),” Mr. Cornista said.
Mr. Cornista said that when an applicant has all the requirements for clearance such as location, barangay approval, and fire-safety evaluation, the city building office can issue an order of payment within 10 to 12 working days.
Mr. Cornista said before the IRR took effect last month, city building officials would be tasked with zoning regulations, land use and occupancy, height and ventilation, provisions on fire safety, and other such “disciplines.”
This was despite the existing Fire Code of the Philippines, Comprehensive Land Use Development Plan, and Quezon City Zoning Ordinance, Mr. Cornista pointed out.
“In order to address ‘yung ganoong (that) situation, dinevolve ‘yung responsibility (the responsibilities were devolved),” Mr. Cornista said.
Another salient provision of the IRR is the requirement for design professionals and private practitioners who undertake construction projects in the city to register with the DBO.
Executive Director Ibarra G. Paulino of the Philippine Constructors Association (Philconsa) said in an email interview: “The strong points of the code in addition to the strict adherence to the NBC are the enforcement of environmental safeguards as well as compliance (with) sanitation and safe working condition for the overall welfare of the public.”
Mr. Paulino also noted that while the Local Building Code “will cause more legwork (on) the part of the contractors and practicing professionals, there is nothing to disagree (with) since it is intended for the overall welfare of the people.”
“Registration of professionals doing these tasks will enable the Building Official/s to monitor the activities as well as their compliance to what is set for by the law. This will also develop the sense of being more responsible on the part of the professionals since they know that they are being watched upon,” Mr. Paulino said. — Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz
DoF targets tax reform package approval by June
THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) hopes to have the follow-up “Package 1-B” approved on final reading by both houses of Congress before June 1, after missing its initial first-quarter target.
In a March 27 interview, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua told reporters that “the original target that it be passed by both Houses before recess did not happen.”
Asked for the DoF’s new timetable, Mr. Chua said: “They have three weeks when they come back in May before they have recess again on June 1, after that then it will be in July. So (I hope approval happens) in the next session before June 1,” referring to the third and final reading of the bills in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The package concerns an estate and general tax amnesty with the easing of the Bank Secrecy Law, and an increase in the motor vehicle user charge — which are follow-up measures to Republic Act No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) that was enacted on Dec. 19.
Congress will resume its session on May 14, working until June 1, late adjourning between June 2 and July 22.
“1-B is basically, as you know, all the unfinished business of 1-A, because… there was little time,” Mr. Chua said.
The reform package is intended to generate the remaining revenue needed for the TRAIN law to yield P130 billion this year, from the expected P82.3 billion currently.
The general tax amnesty and the relaxation of the Bank Secrecy Law are pending at the committee level in both chambers of Congress, where the legislation is known as House Bill (HB) No. 7105 and Senate Bill (SB) No. 942. The House of Representatives however approved the estate amnesty component, HB No. 4814, in February 2017, but its counterpart measure SB No. 293 has yet to make it out of committee.
Asked to comment on the DoF’s June timetable, Senate ways and means committee chairman Juan Edgardo M. Angara said in a mobile phone message yesterday: “We’ll definitely have it out of committee by then, and hopefully it moves swiftly during plenary debates.” His counterpart in the House, Quirino Representative Dakila Carlo E. Cua, had yet to respond at deadline time.
The motor vehicle users charge (MVUC) legislation on the other hand is pending at the House committee on public works and highways according to Mr. Chua, while the Senate has yet to file a counterpart bill.
Mr. Chua said that the measure has three components, which increase MVUC rates, abolish the Road Board, and make the MVUC fund the responsibility of the Public Works and Highways and Transportation departments.
“In the Senate, Senator [Emmanuel D.] Pacquiao went ahead and filed the one on the fund and the Road Board, but not the one in the increase in the rates. So we are requesting Senate President [Aquilino L.] Pimentel [III] to file the rate legislation,” Mr. Chua said.
Apart from package 1-B, the DoF expects four more tax reform packages to be ratified by Congress before 2019 — an election year — including the ones covering corporate income tax reform, increases in alcohol and tobacco excise taxes, comprehensive fiscal reform for the mining sector, adjustments in property taxation and valuation, as well as the capital income and financial tax reform package.
“Any time there’s an election, the dynamics change that’s why in the first hundred days we filed the first package, and in the first few days of the year we filed the second,” Mr. Chua said. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
PHL eyes joint sea exploration deal with China within months
THE PHILIPPINES is looking to seal a pact with China within a few months to jointly explore for oil and gas in a part of the busy South China Sea waterway claimed by both countries, a Philippine official said on Monday.
In February, the two countries agreed to set up a special panel to work out how to jointly explore for offshore oil and gas in areas both sides claim, without needing to address the touchy issue of sovereignty.
“We’re trying to see if we can achieve an agreement, hopefully within the next couple of months,” Jose Santiago Santa Romana, Philippine ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, told a news conference held on China’s island province of Hainan.
There is political willingness to land a deal, but both parties could take as much time as needed to ensure the goals are met, Mr. Santa Romana said at the event, aired live on Facebook, adding that the Philippines aimed to boost its energy security.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, a key trade route with areas believed to hold large quantities of oil and natural gas. Parts of it are subject to competing claims from Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, besides the Philippines.
Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday flew to China for the Boao Forum for Asia, and will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday.
Last month, the Philippines identified two areas in the South China Sea where joint exploration for oil and gas may be undertaken with China.
But any potential deals between Manila and Beijing should be agreed with a company and not the Chinese government, the presidential spokesman said.
The idea of joint development dates from 1986, but disputes and the sovereignty issue have kept it from materialising.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled that portions of the contested areas were part of the Philippines’ 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, and Manila had sovereign rights to resources there. China refuses to recognise the ruling. — Reuters