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Jokowi says his reforms are a success with Indonesia’s economic growth above 5%

JAKARTA — Indonesian President Joko Widodo said government reforms to boost the economy are starting to pay off, enabling it to embark on the biggest infrastructure plan in the nation’s history.

Conditions are much better now than when he took office three years ago, with economic growth back at above 5% and the currency rebounding, Mr. Widodo, known as Jokowi, said in his speech at Bloomberg’s Year Ahead Asia Conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

“These positive developments are thanks to one thing and one thing only: reform,” he said.

The economy grew more than 5% every quarter this year and is forecast by the government to expand 5.4% in 2018. While that’s still below the 7% target set by Jokowi when he came to power three years ago, a recovery in exports and rising investment are underscoring the strength in Indonesia’s economy, he said.

Jokowi has been rewarded for his economic reforms with an investment-grade credit rating from S&P Global Ratings this year and a flood of foreign investment in the nation’s bonds. After dropping to its weakest level since 1998 in September 2015, the rupiah has gained nearly 9% against the dollar.

FOREIGN BORROWING
Indonesia, which is rated by Moody’s Investors Service at Baa3 with a positive outlook, should continue pursuing economic reforms, Michael Taylor, managing director and chief credit officer for Asia Pacific at Moody’s, said at the conference. The measures have started to bear fruit in the form of higher foreign direct investment, he said.

Still, the nation is heavily reliant on external borrowing and a shift toward more domestic sources of financing would be a positive development, he said.

The government has worked hard on reforms, including removing fuel subsidies to free up funds to finance building roads, railways and ports, the president said.

“We are on track to complete the most amount of infrastructure ever built during a five-year period in Indonesia,” he said.

Jokowi, who is yet to commit to running for reelection in 2019, still faces plenty of economic challenges. Indonesia has a poor record of tax compliance and he needs to raise revenue to help keep the budget deficit under control.

While Indonesia has jumped 19 places to be ranked 72 out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s latest ease of doing business index, the nation still needs to reduce regulatory uncertainty to spur foreign investment.

That’s a sentiment echoed by Thomas Lembong, chairman of Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board, known as BKPM.

“We definitely admit that the top complaint of investors is regulatory uncertainty,” Mr. Lembong said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. Having joined the public sector from the business world, “I’m quite startled by how underdeveloped our policy-making processes are,” he said. “The way we formulate policy has fallen far behind the cutting edge.”

The president is aware of the challenges and is making an effort to reform the bureaucracy, Mr. Lembong said.

“Government needs to be a public servant, and supportive, rather than talking a lot,” he said. “We need to be a great listener, and that’s what President Jokowi is.”

The dramatic growth of the digital economy will continue to boost Indonesia’s growth, Jokowi said.

“Indonesia is today experiencing a historic boom in e-commerce,” he said, citing the rise of three so-called unicorn companies. “Given the size of our domestic market we will have many more in the years to come.” — Bloomberg

Radjabov misses

Palma de Mallorca Grand Prix
Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
Nov. 16-25, 2017

Final Standings

1-2. Levon Aronian ARM 2801, Dmitry Jakovenko RUS 2721, 5.5/9

3-9. Hikaru Nakamura USA 2780, Ding Liren CHN 2774, Peter Svidler RUS 2763, Teimour Radjabov AZE 2741, Penteala Harikrishna IND 2738, Evgeny Tomashevsky RUS 2702, Richard Rapport HUN 2692, 5.0/9

10-12. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave FRA 2796, Pavel Eljanov UKR 2707, Ernesto Inarkiev RUS 2683, 4.5/9

13-15. Anish Giri NED 2762, Li Chao CHN 2741, Francisco Vallejo Pons ESP 2705, 4.0/9

16. Alexander Riazantsev RUS 2651, 3.5/9

17-18. Boris Gelfand ISR 2719, Jon Ludvig Hammer NOR 2629, 3.0/9

Time Control: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, and then 15 minutes play-to-finish with 30 seconds added after every move starting move 1.

Here is the situation. In March we will have the 2018 Candidates’ tournament to take place in Berlin. Eight of the top players of the world will compete in a double round-robin event and the winner will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World Chess Championship in London on November 2018.

The eight players are:

The loser of the 2016 world championship: Sergey Karjakin

The two finalists in World Cup 2017: Levon Aronian and Ding Liren

Top 2 highest rated players: Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So

Organizer’s Nominee: Vladimir Kramnik

The top two of the Grand Prix 2017: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk.

About the two qualifiers from the Grand Prix, Mamedyarov and Grischuk were leading the Grand Prix going into the final event in Palma de Mallorca just last month. Both Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Teimour Radjabov could take over one or two slots with a +2 performance (meaning 2 more wins than losses) in Palma. Neither of them succeeded.

The Frenchman-with-3-names started off well with a nice win vs Boris Gelfand in the first round but could not get the needed second full-point. In the last round he tried too hard against Jakovenko and even lost. Vachier-Lagrave is a player of very high class and tactical genius and he will be missed in the Candidates. There were some who criticized him for his 13-move draw with Nakamura and 10-move armistice with Svidler but I understand that you cannot maintain such an energetically high level of play without taking some rest days.

Radjabov’s tournament had more adventures. First, a 12-move draw with Riazantsev then a nice King’s Indian victory vs Vallejo Pons which I will show you in a while. After that came another short draw with Giri and a loss to Nakamura. Then a quick draw with Harikrishna followed by another loss, this time to Tomashevsky. With three games to go and his score at -1 only a clean sweep of the last three rounds will get him into the Candidates. He almost did it, beating Li Chao in round 7, Gelfand in round 8 but was held to a draw by Rapport in the final round, ending his candidates’ aspirations.

Vallejo Pons, Francisco (2705) — Radjabov, Teimour (2741) [E73]
FIDE Grand Prix Palma 2017 Palma de Mallorca (2), 17.11.2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7

As many of our BW readers know Radjabov is currently the world’s best authority on the King’s Indian Defense.

4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Be3

I don’t think the line that Vallejo uses in this game has a name yet, but it is similar to the Makogonov (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0–0 5.Nf3 d6 6.h3 e5 7.d5 e5 8.g4 Na6 9.Be3). Ivan Sokolov used this system three times against Jorden Foreest in their match in Hoogeveen last year and won all three games.

6…e5 7.d5 a5 8.g4 Na6 9.h4

In contrast with the Makogonov White has played his h-pawn to h4 directly without “wasting” a move on h2–h3, so you might say this is an improvement, but of course it is not that simple.

9…Nc5 10.f3

In the Makogonov the kingside pawn advances are made only after Ng1–f3–d2. Here in this line how to develop the knight is a problem.

10…h5 11.g5 Nh7 12.Kd2!?

Most people would play Qd2 followed by 0–0–0 here, but Vallejo thinks that his king should be more secure on d2. GM Yermolinsky, annotating the game in the Chessbase Web site, opines that he “underestimated the importance of maintaining pressure on the d-file to fight against c7–c6.”

12…Bd7 13.Nh3 c6 14.Nf2 cxd5 15.exd5

After 15.cxd5 Black has …a5–a4, …Qa5 and …b7–b5 and White’s king will be feeling insecure on d2.

15…f5 16.gxf6 Nxf6 17.Bxc5

It must have been painful for White to part with his dark-squared bishop, but he really wanted to get a knight on e4.

17…dxc5 18.Kc2 a4!

Radjabov shows his understanding on King’s Indian formations. He wants to weaken the long diagonal a1–h8 foro his g7–bishop. For us people who have seen the twin brilliancies Pachman vs Bronstein and Zita vs Bronstein, surprisingly enough from the same Prague vs Moscow Matrch in 1946 (shown below), this decision is very logical.

19.Qd2

[19.a3 creates a hole on b3 for Black’s queen to exploit after …Qb6.]

19…a3 20.b3 e4!

Just like I said — opening up the long diagonal.

21.fxe4

[21.Nfxe4 Nxe4 22.fxe4 Rf2 is even worse]

21…Ng4 22.Nxg4 hxg4

Position after 22…hxg4

Here is what Black will try to accomplish: (1) put his bishop on either d4 or e5, (2) put a rook on f2, queen on f6 and then the other rook on f8, (3) push his passed g-pawn.

23.h5 Rf2 24.h6 Be5 25.Raf1 g3 26.Rxf2 gxf2 27.Nd1 Qf6 28.Rf1 Bd4

With the idea of …Bh3.

29.Nxf2

White is just trying to muddy the waters, he already knows he is lost.

29…Bxf2 30.e5 Qxe5 31.Rxf2 Bf5+ 32.Kd1 Qa1+ 33.Qc1 Qxa2 34.Rxf5 Qxb3+

Please, not 34…gxf5?? 35.Qg5+ and it is White who is winning.

35.Kd2 Qa2+

[35…a2 36.Qa1 Qb4+ 37.Kc2 Qb1+ 38.Qxb1 axb1Q+ 39.Kxb1 gxf5 wins as well]

36.Ke1

[36.Kd1 Qb3+ simply goes back to the line above]

36…Qb2 37.Qf4 Qb1+ 0–1

You know what? The 36-move draw with Rapport in the last round was not a sterile position — it could have been fought on. When Radjabov shows up at the chessboard you don’t know whether it will be a fightless draw or a struggle to the finish. I think he got a bit confused himself at the end.

SOFTENING UP THE LONG DIAGONAL
Here are the two brilliant examples of softening up the long diagonal I wrote about earlier.

Pachman, Ludek — Bronstein,David Ionovich [E68] 
Match/City Prague-Moscow 13,0–23,0 Moscow (Russia) (2), 03.1946

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.g3 g6 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.0–0 0–0 8.b3 Re8 9.e4 exd4 10.Nxd4 Nc5 11.Re1 a5 12.Bb2 a4 13.Rc1 c6 14.Ba1 axb3 15.axb3 Qb6 16.h3 Nfd7 17.Rb1 Nf8 18.Kh2 h5 19.Re2 h4 20.Rd2 Rxa1 21.Rxa1 Bxd4 22.Rxd4 Nxb3 23.Rxd6 Qxf2 24.Ra2 Qxg3+ 25.Kh1 Qxc3 26.Ra3 Bxh3 27.Rxb3 Bxg2+ 28.Kxg2 Qxc4 29.Rd4 Qe6 30.Rxb7 Ra8 31.Qe2 h3+ 0–1

Zita, Frantisek —
Bronstein, David Ionovich [E68]
Match/City Prague-Moscow 13,0–23,0 Moscow (Russia) (6), 03.1946

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 Nbd7 5.g3 g6 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.0–0 0–0 8.b3 Re8 9.Bb2 c6 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd4 Qb6 12.Qd2 Nc5 13.Rfe1 a5 14.Rab1 a4 15.Ba1 axb3 16.axb3 Ng4 17.h3 Rxa1 18.Rxa1 Nxf2 19.Re3 Nxh3+ 20.Kh2 Nf2 21.Rf3 Ncxe4 22.Qf4 Ng4+ 23.Kh1 f5 24.Nxe4 Rxe4 25.Qxd6 Rxd4 26.Qb8 Rd8 27.Ra8 Be5 28.Qa7 Qb4 29.Qa2 Qf8 30.Bh3 Qh6 0–1

In his “100 Selected Games” former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik mentioned that the Ukrainian players (at that time the two leadings Ukranians were Isaak Boleslavsky and David Bronstein) had developed a “secret weapon” in the opening. Well, this is it.

Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.

bobby@cpamd.net

Australia stung by NZ bid to register manuka honey brand

MANUKA honey’s much-hyped healing properties have proved a money-spinner for beekeepers in Australia and New Zealand, but a push to trademark its name has sparked a bitter row between the two countries.

The fracas erupted when a New Zealand association applied for exclusive rights to market manuka honey in five countries, including the United States, Britain, Australia and China, incensing Australian beekeepers who have dismissed the Kiwi claims as “ridiculous.”

Nicknamed “liquid gold,” manuka honey is produced by bees foraging on the flowers of the tea tree shrub, which grows wild in both countries.

Devotees hail it as a wonder food, with antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties that can cure skin conditions, heal sore throats, boost immunity and aid digestion.

Celebrity fans include Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kourtney Kardashian, a manuka “brand ambassador” who slathers it on her face, eats it raw and feeds her children manuka honey tea to ward off colds.

In his autobiography, tennis champion Novak Djokovic cites manuka honey as a key part of the organic diet that helped revive his career when he discovered he was gluten intolerant.

The honey’s star ingredient is methylglyoxal (MGO), an antimicrobial molecule, found in higher concentrations in manuka than other honey varieties.

While scientists strongly dispute some of the health claims made on its behalf, manuka is now a staple in high-end supermarkets around the world and appears in expensive products ranging from face cream to shampoos and lip balm.

Prices soar in line with the proportion of MGO, reaching up to €300 for a one-kilogram jar containing 700 milligrams of the antiseptic ingredient.

It has helped the value of New Zealand’s honey exports triple in the five years to 2016 on soaring demand, particularly from China.

Small wonder then that New Zealand’s honey producers are fiercely protective of their manuka brand and bristle at what they see as Australian attempts to piggyback off its success.

The Australians are equally adamant that their honey should be called manuka because it comes from the same plant as the Kiwi product and has similar MGO levels.

The New Zealanders want to secure protected status for honey labeled manuka, meaning only their products can carry the name.

France did it with Champagne, Portugal with its Porto wine, and Italy with Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan) cheese, all to lucrative effect.

“Our initiative is not an anti-Australian thing,” said John Rawcliffe, spokesman for the New Zealand association Unique Manuka Factor (UMF), whose contentious application for the trademark sparked the dispute.

“The most important thing is to protect the customers. Manuka is a Maori word and it’s crucial that Manuka honey can be authenticated and related to a terroir, a climate, exactly like… Champagne,” Rawcliffe told AFP.

The absence of certification has helped counterfeiters hawk their version of manuka honey to unsuspecting consumers, Rawcliffe said, citing Portuguese producers among the offending imitators.

“Australia should be able as well to have certifications for its very good honeys… in a global market exposed to forgeries, the certification of our products would benefit both of us,” he added.

But Australian producers say New Zealand has no right to claim a monopoly on manuka honey.

Lindsay Bourke, a spokesperson for the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, described the trademark bid as “ridiculous and unfair.”

“Why would they prevent other manuka honey producers to use the name manuka considering they grow exactly the same variety of plant?” Bourke told AFP.

Paul Callender of the recently established Australian Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) said Australia was home to 80 varieties of manuka honey, including one native to Tasmania but claimed by New Zealand.

Callender pointed out the manuka market is expected to continue to grow — making further inroads into “medical, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and nutritional sectors” — and urged producers in both countries to join hands and reap the benefits.

“We have cheaper price acquisition and operating costs than the Kiwis. But they are very good in marketing. So why not become partners instead of fighting?”

New Zealand producers launched their bid for protected status in 2015, applying to authorities in their five largest markets.

It is expected to be a long process, with their Australian rivals lodging objections every step of the way and warning that a result in the Kiwis’ favor would have dire implications for honey lovers.

“If they managed to get the certification then our losses would be huge,” Bourke said.

“Fortunately it’s not going to happen: first because this request is based on a lie and then because it would mean a surge of manuka honey prices for consumers.” — AFP

Google blocks YouTube access from Amazon’s streaming devices

ALPHABET, Inc.’s Google pulled support for its YouTube video service from Amazon.com, Inc.’s streaming-media devices, citing the Internet retailer’s failure to make Amazon Prime Video available through Google’s gadgets and the recent halt of the sale of some Nest products on its Web site.

Google blocked YouTube access via the Echo Show, Amazon’s smart speaker with a touchscreen, on Dec. 6 and will stop supporting YouTube on Amazon’s Fire TV set-top box on Jan. 1. In a statement, a Google representative said it’s taking the action because the YouTube apps on Amazon products aren’t made by Google, like the YouTube app on the iPhone is, and the retail giant doesn’t sell some Google products, such as Chromecast and Google Home.

“We’ve been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers access to each other’s products and services,” Google said in a statement. In its own statement, Seattle-based Amazon said its gadgets now send users to the YouTube Web site, and the company hopes to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.

The rivalry between Google and Amazon has heated up as the search giant and online retailer have moved quickly into hardware and Internet services. In the past few years, both have introduced multiple new home devices, including speakers and home-security products. Both have also been pushing their own video and music-streaming services as well as competing video-control platforms. They also both offer corporate cloud-computing services, a market where Amazon leads by a wide margin.

“Echo Show and Fire TV now display a standard Web view of YouTube.com and point customers directly to YouTube’s existing Web site,” Amazon said in the statement. “Google is setting a disappointing precedent by selectively blocking customer access to an open website.”

Mountain View, California-based Google isn’t the only competitor that has seen its products blocked from Amazon’s site. After being pulled from the no. 1 e-commerce site in 2015, the Apple TV box reappeared on the retail Web site in September, only to vanish again. Apple Inc., meantime, said Amazon Prime Video would become available as an app for Apple TV by the end of the year, but it hasn’t yet been released. — Bloomberg

Forgotten and overlooked

Heading into the start of any given National Basketball Association season, the Raptors feel forgotten, perhaps even overlooked. Every year, pundits assess their victory potential, and, every year, they set about exceeding it. Not that it has mattered any; in recent memory, they have failed to turn 50-win campaigns into deep playoff runs. And even as the reason — LeBron James — is understandable to the casual observer, their inability to translate early overachievement to late prosperity serves only to fuel their intent to break through.

And so the Raptors greeted the 2017-18 season intent on disproving armchair experts anew. Not a few quarters saw fit to rank them as low as sixth in the East, behind usual suspects (the Cavaliers and Celtics) and unusual upstarts (the Bucks and Sixers), and they viewed the development as a continuing dis. Significantly, the chip-on-the-shoulder mentality pervades the roster, from top dog DeMar DeRozan to backcourt mate Kyle Lowry to fellow starters Jonas Valanciunas and Serge Ibaka to head coach Dwane Casey to general manager Masai Ujiri.

Fast forward two months, and the Raptors are once again in the thick of things in their conference. They’re on the heels of the Celtics and Cavaliers, but ahead of notables supposedly better than them. Granted, it’s hard to draw conclusions when a full three-quarters of the regular season still has to be plaed. On the other hand, it bears noting that they’re competing on the strength of better ball movement, with emphasis on the power of a determined team of five players to surpass the output of five determined players on a team.

Parenthetically, the Raptors’ new identity stems from their desire to effect lasting changes. They didn’t want to be branded insane for moving to do the same thing and expecting a different result. Instead, they reinvented themselves, relying less on isolation sets and more on equal-opportunity efforts, to decidedly tangible results. Their net rating of 7.2 is tops in the conference, a reflection of their preferential option to spread the wealth (with five players norming double figures in points and a sixth coming close).

Whether the Raptors manage to do better from April onwards is anybody’s guess. Meanwhile, one thing’s clear: They’ve earned the right to wax optimistic. And armed with no small measure of confidence, they’re out to turn their underdog status to success.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.

When artificial intelligence gets real for investors: a timeline

AI’s recent feats — beating a Go champion, navigating driverless cars, making money for investors — were many decades in the making.

1950: Alan Turing developed the Turing Test for recognizing machine intelligence.

1956: John McCarthy coins “artificial intelligence” at Dartmouth College conference.

1957: Invention of Perceptron, an algorithm that could be trained to classify images.

1964: Computers understand natural language enough to solve algebra word problems.

1968: Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey features intelligent computer HAL 9000.

1979: The Stanford Cart, an autonomous vehicle, navigates across a room full of obstacles.

1982: James Simons starts quant investment firm Renaissance Technologies.

1988: David Shaw founds D.E. Shaw, an early AI adopter among hedge funds.

1990s: AI advances in machine learning, case-based reasoning, data mining, virtual reality.

1997: IBM computer Deep Blue beats world chess champion Garry Kasparov.

1990s: Web crawlers, other AI-based information programs, become Internet mainstays.

1999: Sony AIBO, a robotic pet dog, understands 100 voice commands, learns and matures.

2005: Sebastian Thrun’s Stanford team wins DARPA’s 132-mile driverless car race.

2011: IBM Watson, a system capable of answering questions, wins quiz show Jeopardy.

2012: Google’s self-driving car gets license in Nevada.

2014: Man Group starts using machine learning algorithms to manage client money.

2016: Alphabet’s DeepMind AlphaGo computer program beats Go champion.

2017: AlphaGo Zero learns by playing against itself, beats AlphaGo by 100 games to 0.

2017: Facebook switches entirely to neural networks for 4.5 billion translations a day.

2017: First AI Powered Equity ETF driven by IBM’s Watson computer starts trading.

2017: Two Sigma, a hedge fund that deploys machine learning, crosses $50 billion in assets under management.

2040s: AI could be involved in 99% of investment management, according to Man Group. — Bloomberg

La Niña pattern forms in tropical Pacific Ocean, Australia says

A WEAK La Niña weather pattern has formed in the Pacific Ocean, Australia’s weather bureau declared, and the event may bring wet weather to cropping and coal mining regions in the nation.

Climate models suggest this La Niña will be short-lived, persisting until early in the southern hemisphere autumn of next year, the Bureau of Meteorology said on its Web site. The central to eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean has cooled steadily since winter and has now reached La Niña thresholds.

La Niñas occur when the atmosphere above the equatorial Pacific reacts to cooling water temperatures and typically deliver colder winters across the northern US, drought in Brazil’s soybean-growing areas and flooding rains across the coal-mining regions of Australia. The US last month said a weak La Niña formed in October and had a 64% chance of lasting through March.

Prices for agricultural commodities including corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, sugar and coffee may rise and be volatile during a La Niña cycle, BMI Research said in October. Australia’s cotton output may benefit from La Niña rain, industry group Cotton Australia said in October, as the weather conditions can fill irrigation dams.

While La Niña events are typically associated with wetter than normal conditions across eastern and northern Australia, the sea surface temperatures in the current event aren’t typical of La Niña and so may result in a reduced likelihood of widespread, above average summer rain, the bureau said. La Niñas can also increase the chance of prolonged warm spells for southeast Australia, it said.

The last event was the 2010-2012 La Niña which included one of the strongest peaks on record. The nation activated a watch for the weather pattern in October this year with seven out of eight international climate models suggesting sea surface temperatures would reach La Niña levels by November. — Bloomberg

Coal excise tax could dampen manufacturing growth — DTI

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is expecting the manufacturing sector to face higher power costs as a result of the higher coal excise tax.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said that the proposed tax — which he considers to represent too “rapid” an increase — will affect the growth of the manufacturing sector but remains hopeful that it will not heavily affect the DTI’s targeted 10% increase in growth next year

Last week, Mr. Lopez said he expects the manufacturing sector to maintain its momentum given the DTI’s programs to strengthen domestic manufacturing.

Aside from the Manufacturing Resurgence Program and the tax and fiscal incentives under the 2017 Incentives Priorities Plan, Mr. Lopez also said that the DTI is also looking into high-value goods that can be locally manufactured to reduce the country’s dependence on imports.

However, power costs are a key consideration for businesses, especially manufacturers, in deciding to locate in a particular country.

The Senate version of the tax reform bill raises the coal excise tax from P10 tax to P100 per metric ton next year, adding another P100 by 2019. By 2020, the excise tax for coal could rise to P300 per metric ton if the legislation passes.

The excise tax on coal is included in the first package of the comprehensive tax reform program, currently being discussed in bicameral committee.

“You can see the cost implications. Offhand, it still needs to be studied [because] that’s too big of an increase. It’s a little surprising. It’s a challenge, obviously, [because] it’s a much higher cost for the power. You’ve seen the impact on our monthly bills,” Mr. Lopez said. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

PARMS to build recycling facility for plastic sachets

THE Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Materials Sustainability (PARMS) is set to establish a P25-million facility that will recycle plastic sachets.

In a statement, the multi-stakeholder group said the  recycling facility will be able to process more than 150 metric tons of waste per year, which will be converted into products such as pallets, school chairs and other high-value plastic products.

“PARMS is premised on developing and implementing a holistic and comprehensive program to increase resource recovery and reduce landfill dependence, leading toward ‘zero waste,’” PARMS founder and National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) Member Crispian Lao said in a statement.

The large demand for products in sachet sizes in the Philippines is putting a strain on the environment, especially since plastic sachets end up clogging waterways. The Philippines, in recent years, has been tagged as one of the biggest polluters of oceans due to plastic dumping.

A partnership supported by the NSWMC, PARMS is a multi-sectoral coalition composed of top consumer goods companies such as Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines; Liwayway Marketing Corporation; Monde Nissin Corp.; Nestlé Philippines Inc.; Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc.; Procter & Gamble Philippines; Unilever Philippines; Universal Robina Corporation; as well as Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Philippine Plastics Industry Association; and environmental nongovernment groups such as the Zero Waste Recycling Movement; and Philippine Business for the Environment.

Aside from the establishment of the recycling facility and exploring other sustainable technologies to address waste, PARMS will promote information, education and communications campaign, and recovery, collection, treatment, and market development for recycled products. — Janina C. Lim

Federalism, diversity, and national integration

By Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco

WHEN Spanish explorers landed here centuries ago they had initially observed that the aboriginal people of these islands were of one ethnic stock. Later on however, they would realize that despite the apparent homogeneity in the population, the native inhabitants were actually divided into sub-ethnic groups with each having their own language, traditions, and rituals.

Interestingly, such diversity still exists in the Philippines today. Different indigenous identities are still evident among Filipinos despite other peoples’ view that as a people we have become too Hispanized, Americanized, or Westernized. The reality is centuries of colonization, the onslaught of globalization, and even the internet have all failed to homogenize Filipino identity.

The Duterte administration’s push to shift to a federal form of government has cast a different light on these differences. Specifically, parties who are opposed to undertaking this fundamental reform have persistently warned against the possibility of the Philippine polity fragmenting along ethnic, religious, and even economic divides under a federal setup.

According to former Supreme Court Justice, Vicente V. Mendoza, federalism will “magnify or encourage regional differences.” Consequently, constituent states of the proposed federal republic “may become so focused on local development and security that they neglect national concerns and issues.”

Furthermore, Atty. Christian Monsod, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, warns that federalization may not lead “to unifying communities, but to their unravelling.” Seemingly hinting here of a situation where political subdivisions of the state compete against each other for rapid economic gains. Potentially creating more disparity amongst cities, between urban centers and rural areas and between Imperial Manila and the regions.

Certainly, these are caveats that cannot be ignored.

But while it can be argued that federalization, national unity, and the recognition of diversity within the state are not inherently mutually exclusive realities, mechanisms that directly address the concerns raised by these legal scholars must nevertheless be self-evident in the federal constitution itself.

In this regard, the United Nations Human Development report for 2004 entitled “Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World” is helpful, specifically:

“The solution could be to create institutions and polices that allow for both self-rule that creates a sense of belonging and a pride in one’s ethnic group and for shared rule that creates attachment to a set of common institutions and symbols. An alternative to the nation state, then, is the “state nation,” where various “nations” — be they ethnic, religious, linguistic, or indigenous identities — can coexist peacefully and cooperatively in a single state polity.”

The institutional marriage of “self-rule” and “shared-rule” is an integral feature of federalism. Therefore, a federal structure can accommodate both the need for national cohesion and the duty to respect diversity within the polity. However, for this to eventuate the new federal constitution must establish a governance framework that foster cooperation and collaboration among the subnational governments representing these diverse communities, particularly in addressing national concerns.

For example, the governing body of the current National Economic and Development Authority could be reorganized to be comprised of representatives from each constituent state. However, for this office to effectively function as the national congregation of the various communities in the country, it should not be a mere advisory council. It should be designed to have substantive policy-making functions as well.

Additionally, the League of Provinces organized by the Local Government Code (see Sections 502-504) can be redesigned to have the same function as the Council of Australian Governments (CoAG) or Canada’s Council of the Federation (CoF).

The role of CoAG is to promote policy reforms that are of national significance or those which need coordinated action by all state and territory governments of the Australian federation. On the other hand, the CoF is a national platform to sustain meaningful relations between subnational governments based on recognition of the diversity within the federation and to enable the leaders of these governments (Premiers) to work collaboratively to strengthen the Canadian federation.

Similarly, a regular summit convening all the Panlalawigang Pederasyon ng mga Sangguniang Kabataan organized by Section 21 (3) of the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act of 2015 can be mandated.

The purpose of this forum will be to give Filipino youths from all over the country the opportunity to address national leaders from all three branches of government. This reform measure is particularly vital because young Filipinos comprise a significant segment of the Philippine electorate.

And as clearly demonstrated in the recent presidential election, getting them actively involved in politics is no longer a problem. This is just one way of harnessing their energy and enthusiasm and hopefully prevent them from ever feeling disenfranchised and disillusioned.

The fact is the shift to a federal structure of government should be conceived as merely a feature of a broader political reform undertaking. Revising the constitution is in a sense a reset button because it is an opportunity to address pathologies in the current political system such as the domination of dynastic families in the electoral process or the substandard political party system that allows these traditional political elites to skew elections in their favor.

Therefore, the new charter should contain a whole set of reform measures. The ones suggested here are specifically aimed to facilitate national solidarity and to ensure a more inclusive economic regime. These institutions are designed to make national development planning in the federal context more consistent and responsive to the sociocultural reality in the country. The notion of “unity in diversity” lies at the very core of the federalism movement after all.

The offices proposed here are specially intended for issues that require a cohesive nationwide effort. Their primary goal is to ensure that important national policies are formulated through a deliberative process whereby the views and insights of the regions are duly considered.

Because more than anything else, the federation of the Philippines should be about all Filipinos further internalizing a shared responsibility for shaping the future of the whole country. Indeed, for federalism to succeed here, “Para sa Bayan!” must become the national ethos.

Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco is a lecturer at the Institute of Law of the University of Asia and the Pacific and nonresident Research Fellow at the Ateneo School of Government.

Stocks down as investors turn cautious on tax bill

THE MAIN INDEX slumped anew on Wednesday, failing to sustain early gains, as investors turned cautious on the government’s tax reform program. 

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped 0.18% or 15.38 points to close at 8,129.62 yesterday.

The all-shares index likewise shed 0.09% or 4.66 points to finish at 4,781.40.

Diversified Securities, Inc. equity trader Aniceto K. Pangan said the index’s movement in previous days was mostly due to technical corrections as investors take on a wait-and-see stance on the government’s tax reform program.

“There’s a continued concern of investors with regards to the tax reform plan of the government, and it is still creating this correction within the market. Especially with the big difference of the Senate vis-à-vis with that of the House of Representatives,” Mr. Pangan said in a phone interview yesterday.

The government is eyeing the implementation of new tax collection schemes by next quarter should Congress complete the reconciliation of two different versions of the bill from the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

“I believe this is the main reason that the market is moving towards the correction period,” Mr. Pangan said, adding that investor confidence would be dependent on the final version of the tax reform program.

Summit Securities, Inc. President Harry G. Liu also attributed the decline to the tax reform program, but further noted a psychological effect on the index due to the lower performances of its Asian counterparts. 

“Basically it follows most of the Asian market, it’s triggered by the Japanese market. Environment whole day was really setting a pressure for the market to be negative,” Mr. Liu said in a phone interview.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 took a 1.97% plunge on Wednesday, shedding 445.34 points to 22,177.04. The MSCI Asia Apex 50 meanwhile lost 1.91% or 25.09 points to 1,285.59.

Back home, sectoral counters were split, with three posting gains and three sustaining losses. The services sector advanced the most, rising 1.02% or 16.16 points to 1,597.70, followed by industrials which added 0.75% or 79.9 points to 10,732.90, and financials which climbed 0.13% or 2.75 points to 2,077.13.

Meanwhile, the property sub-index logged the largest drop at 1.05% or 40.72 points to 3,806.54. Mining and oil was down 0.97% or 111.11 points, while holding firms slipped 0.44% or 36.44 points to 8,236.71.

A total of 734.65 million issues changed hands for a P6.62-billion trading value for Wednesday. This is slimmer than the P7.81 billion recorded on Tuesday.

Decliners narrowly beat advancers, 95 to 90, while 59 issues were unchanged.

Foreign selling widened to P707.87 million on Wednesday from the P127.03 million recorded in the previous trading day. — Arra B. Francia

It’s beginning to taste a lot like Christmas

THE HOLIDAY spirit can be found anywhere, because it dwells in the heart — or so TV specials would tell us. In any case, this list brings you options for either staying in (pre-packed goodies and party trays) or going out (staycation and dining options) for the holiday season.

Going Out

Over at the Marco Polo Ortigas, gaze at the hotel’s chocolate tinsel town as you listen to Christmas carols performed by the Sisters of Mary Boystown Choir, the Psalm of David Orchestra, and the Children’s Joy Foundation, on Fridays to Sundays, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., throughout December. Meanwhile, the Cantonese restaurant Lung Hin has special Christmas and New Year menus. For Dec. 24 and 25, there are two set menus with dishes like Pan-fried foie gras and Crispy Hong Kong chicken, Baked lobster with cheese sauce and vermicelli, and Crispy suckling pig platter. Once can also celebrate at home with Lung Hin’s Roasted Chinese goose with stir-fried mixed vegetables and fried rice with special sauce, for takeaways, available for pre-order. For details, visit www.marcopolohotels.com.

ROASTED Chinese goose from Marco Polo’s Lung Hin

A carefully selected lineup of gourmet cuisine entices at the Manila Pavilion. At Season’s, the celebration begins with a Christmas Eve dinner on Dec. 24 for P950 net. To make the season truly memorable, Manila Pavilion Hotel & Casino is offering a 6 + 1 Promo for families and groups who wish to staycation in the city. Reserve and pay by Dec. 16 and get a 20% discount on room rates.

At the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino in Lahug, Uno offers Christmas meals on Dec. 24 and 25 for P1,588 net. All meals include free-flowing selected beverages. In the same region, at the Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino in Mactan, its Uno restaurant presents the traditional treats in a Christmas Eve dinner on Dec. 24 and Christmas Day lunch and dinner on Dec. 25 set at P999 net. Even further down south at the Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao, Uno’s Christmas Eve dinner is available for P1,500 net. Christmas dinner will give guests a sneak preview of the Uno Filipino Food Festival in Davao, where they will feature some of chef Roland Laudico’s dishes in the Holiday buffet. For information and reservations, call the Central reservations number — 1-800-WFRONT8 (937-6688) or visit www.waterfronthotels.com.ph.

At the City of Dreams luxury integrated resort, Santa will be available for photo ops during weekends of December, handing out Snickers bars at his log-cabin and sleigh next to a 32-foot Christmas tree. Outdoors, beside the Nobu Hotel pool deck, a 22-foot teddy bear covered in 16,000 LED lights illuminates the garden at night, while at The Shops boulevard, a cluster of golden trees with a troupe of fairies in flight evoke enchantment and fantasy. The lobbies of Nobu, Crown and Hyatt also sport distinct holiday showpieces that invite photo ops. Meanwhile, at DreamPlay, a Christmas-themed family celebration is in store in DreamPlay with the Shrek the Halls holiday adventure activity at P1,588 net per person, which is ongoing until Jan. 2. The Christmas experience with Shrek includes an all-day pass, a Gingy apron, a Baked Christmas Apple and Gingerbread smoothie, a meet-and-greet with Shrek and Princess Fiona, and a viewing of the Shrek the Halls Holiday Special Short film at the Dream Theater. Meanwhile, Café Society highlights gift ideas at a one-stop-shop until Jan. 1, with holiday cakes, breads, stolen, English fruit cake, traditional mince pies, cookies, and chocolates. Over at Nobu Manila, a seven-course Omakase dinner menu is being served until Dec. 1 28. The menu includes Aburi Tachiuo salad, Roasted King Prawn with scampi gratin, and Nobu-style puto bumbong. The promotion is set at P5,400++ per person. At Crystal Dragon, one has a choice between two five-course Christmas set menus priced at P1,988++ and P2,388++ offered for the whole month of December. Finally, a barbecue buffet spread featuring grilled dishes and a variety of Eastern and Western dishes are served by the poolside during the weekly Sunday barbecue dinner at Wave restaurant. Available on all Sundays of December. For inquiries and reservations, call 800-8080, e-mail guestservices@cod-manila.com, or visit www.cityofdreamsmanila.com.

Celebrate the season at Diamond Hotel’s Corniche Buffet Restaurant where a Christmas Eve lunch can be had for P2,680 net per person and Christmas Eve dinner for P2,980 net per person with a glass of cava. On Christmas Day, traditional holiday favorites will be served at a lunch buffet with a glass of cava (P2,980 net per person) and dinner (P2,680 net per person). For authentic Japanese cuisine, Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant will offer Christmas set menus for lunch and dinner on Dec. 24 and 25 for P2,580 net per person (with a glass of Cava), accompanied by featured entertainment. For inquiries and reservations, call 528-3000 ext. 1121.

Staying In

Share a feast with your family and friends with the holiday food-to-go from Ilustrado at Intramuros, Manila. House specialties take center stage like Adobong bagnet with taba ng talangka, Callos Madrileña, Twice cooked Angus beef shortplate, Paella Ilustrado, Palabok Negra with crispy calamares, Christmas turkey, Pineapple glazed leg of ham, Cochinillo, and a lot more. For dessert there are Baked cheesecake, Christmas eggnog cake, and Chocolate fudge cake along with different flavored brownies, cookies, and breads. There are also homemade dips, deli items, and dressings like Boursin cheese spread, Spicy cheeseball, Chimichurri, Malunggay pesto and the traditional atsara and bagoong. For details, visit Ilustrado branches in Intramuros, SM Makati, and Alabang Town Center, or e-mail caterings@ilustradorestaurant.com.ph.

CHRISTMAS goodies from City of Dream’s Café Society

Epilogue makes it easy to prepare a feast for the heart as its resident chef Hiroyuki Meno has arranged a holiday package — a selection of artisan chocolates, classic stollen, and traditional fruit cake, paired with Epilogue’s roasted KRO Coffee Beans. The gift baskets are available at Epilogue, S Maison, Conrad Manila, Ocean Drive, Mall of Asia, Pasay City or go to epilogue.ph/gift-order to order.

Hop on to The Lounge’s Christmas Gingerbread Train at the Eastwood Richmonde for chocolate goodies and savory treats like chocolate chip banana bread (P255), oversized double chocolate chip cookie (P135), and chocolate rum balls (P165/6 pcs), Belgian chocolate medallion (P635/8 pcs), green tea tiramisu (P225/slice), Christmas velvet cupcake (P225), gingerbread snowflake cookies (P225/6 pcs), Christmas cake Pops (P255/6pcs), and a gingerbread train (P495), among many others. All goodies may be ordered with holiday packaging at a minimal cost. Place an order by calling 570-7777, or sending an e-mail to erhfbsec@richmondehotel.com.ph. Visit www.eastwoodrichmondehotel.com.ph for details.

Who knew the holiday spirit can be found in a convenience store shelf? FamilyMart carries finger food to bring to potluck parties: a tray of lumpiang Shanghai for P150 or lumpiang gulay for P230 are both great for sharing. Add some fried pork siomai or fried sharksfin for P290. Complete a festive table with fried chicken trays for P550. Pair that up with trays of lasagna, carbonara with bacon bits, or spaghetti and meatballs for P650 per tray. Mindful of the holiday rush, order the Party Trays at least two days in advance at the nearest FamilyMart store.

A RUM butter cake from Flourpot

Home baker Rhea Castro-Sycip — the mind behind Flourpot — is taking orders for her cakes, including her signature rum butter cake. The cake is made with free-range eggs and artisan butter from Bukidnon then soaked in rum sauce using local and premium small batch rum. Packed in a pine wood craft gift box, it is available in two variants — plain original and nut crumble — in two sizes, seven and nine inches. Other items on the menu are the Hummingbird Cake (a spiced cake made from bananas and Tagaytay pineapples in light buttercream frosting), Strawberry shortcake, Tres Leches Cake (a yellow pound cake soaked in rich milk mixture), Malacañang Roll (sponge cake with dark chocolate ganache filling covered in boiled icing frosting), and On the Fence Brownies. For orders and inquiries, e-mail hello.flourpot@gmail.com or call 0917-789-2352. For more information, visit her Facebook page and Instagram account, @flourpotmanila.

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