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Aboitiz estimates P7.4-B savings from putting 4 airports under 1 management

By Anna Gabriela A. Mogato,,
Reporter

ABOITIZ InfraCapital, Inc. said its proposal to upgrade four airports in the Visayas and Mindanao and operate them under a single management is more efficient and cost-effective.

“We proposed this project as part of a package. We believe that we can […] unlock synergies of scale when it comes to operating all four airports in a centralized manner,” Iara B. Arcilla, Aboitiz InfraCapital manager and spokesperson for its regional airport projects, told reporters last Friday.

“If you don’t really pull them together, imagine if an airport would need its own corporate functions. So [centralizing] them will estimate a total savings of P7.4 billion over the 35 years,” she added.

Last week, the infrastructure unit of the Aboitiz group submitted an unsolicited proposal for the P148-billion transformation of the Iloilo International Airport, Bacolod-Silay Airport, Laguindingan Airport, and New Bohol International Airport in Panglao into world-class facilities.

Asked why Aboitiz chose the four airports, Ms. Arcilla said this is due to the “booming” economy and tourism in the Visayas and Mindanao.

“It’s accelerating a lot in the last few years and will only continue but the airports have not been able to keep up. Obviously a lot of them are operating above capacity already,” she said.

Aboitiz InfraCapital is planning to adopt a “green airports” concept wherein the planning, implementation and operation will have the least environmental impact.

“We’re making it more systematic, having a scorecard on how you implement a sustainable airport. We hope that it is something that can be replicated and serve as a benchmark for all airport developments in the Philippines,” Ms. Arcilla said.

Aboitiz InfraCapital is also planning to introduce new technology such as virtual assistants and media walls in the four airports.

“As an added bonus, we’ll try to modernize as soon as possible to keep up with the changing times so we’re also proposing enhancements in making connected or digital airports,” Ms. Arcilla said.

If contract is awarded within the year, Aboitiz InfraCapital said it can start work on the airports in 2019 and have the terminals “rightfully sized for the traffic” by 2021.

The Aboitiz-led company will be competing with businessman Dennis A. Uy’s Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. for the New Bohol International Airport in Panglao.

On Friday, Chelsea Logistics said it offered to upgrade the Bohol and Davao international airports for P67 billion.

Aboitiz InfraCapital is also part of the “super consortium” that submitted an unsolicited bid to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The seven-conglomerate consortium also includes Ayala-led AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation, Andrew L. Tan-led Alliance Global Group, Inc., Lucio C. Tan-led Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corporation, Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corporation, Gokongwei-led JG Summit Holdings, Inc., and Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corporation.

Australia can’t capitalize on record wool prices due to shortage of shearers

SYDNEY — Sheep farmers in rural Australia waited more than half a century for wool prices to come roaring back, only to find there aren’t enough shearers to trim their golden fleeces.

“Once upon a time you could go down to the local pub and arrange for some fellas to come in and start almost immediately — those days are gone,” said Alan Rae, a wool producer in Bungunya, a town of about 200 people in Queensland state.

The industry shackles mean suppliers in Australia, which provides about 90% of the world’s exported fine-wool used in clothing manufacturing, are struggling to meet demand. That has forced some garment makers to sell at a loss or reduce their wool content.

Prices for very fine wool used for clothing hit a record high A$18.30 per kilogram (kg.) this week, thanks in large part to ferocious demand from Chinese garment makers.

That’s more than three times the price during the early 1990s when a massive oversupply led the government to offer indebted farmers A$2 for every sheep they shot.

The high prices coincide with the peak shearing season in some parts of Australia, but some in the industry think things are as good as they will get.

“My concern for the future of the market is how opaque the Chinese market is,” said Phin Ziebell, an agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank, who expects prices to fall to around A$16 per kg. by the end of the year.

“It was chilly today so I put on my A$50 ($40) Uniqlo jumper, which is super-fine Merino wool. I can’t see how that product can be manufactured at the price levels we have today.”

There are early signs of a standoff between buyers and sellers emerging at wool auction houses, according to the country’s dominant wool storage and export house AWH. Weekly pass-in-rates have topped 10% in some states, double usual levels.

“Some of the sellers are putting too high a reserve on their wool and the buyers are obviously trying to keep the rate down,” said AWH Chief Executive Michael Jones.

Those who can shift their wool are still making hay. Unlike most agricultural commodities, wool can hold its value for many years if properly stored.

“We had some wool that had been sitting here for 14 years,” said Jones. “It’s high value wool that farmers had put in and it was like their (pension) fund, sitting there paying a low storage rate. Even that is now being cleaned out.”

Australia famously “rode to prosperity on the sheep’s back” during the 20th century, fine tuning Merino breeds to produce a soft, durable and natural fiber popular in Europe.

That demand has now extended to Asia, and China in particular.

But high wool prices are having an impact on clothing makers, according to woolgrower body Australian Wool Innovation (AWI).

“There are those selling fine wool products as loss-leaders and others blending down, but we also have people putting wool into their garments for the first time replacing synthetic materials,” said AWI Chief Executive Stuart McCullough.

While prices remain susceptible to a China-led pullback, there is less danger of oversupply.

Flock increases in China, which in 2016 surpassed Australia as the top wool producer, are expected to pressure coarse wool prices, according to Australia’s chief commodity forecaster ABARES, but not significantly impact fine wool prices in the medium term.

Australia’s wool output is set to grow just 1.4% over the next 12 months, ABARES said, despite record prices.

Australia’s modest growth is still expected to outpace global competitors, according to industry body International Wool Textile Organisation. It expects worldwide wool output to increase 0.5% this year amid unfavorable weather conditions in competitors Argentina and South Africa.

New Zealand production is also forecast to be stagnant as farmers cull sheep and lambs to capitalize on high meat prices, according to ABARES.

Meanwhile, Australia’s sheep count is at 70.4 million, representing the fourth lowest level on record.

That is still well under half the flock in the early 1990s, when Australian sheep numbers soared under a government-backed reserve price scheme that proved unsustainable.

Now, beef prices are high so cattle farmers are not switching, while grain farmers that previously had sheep have lost the fences and shearing sheds they need to return to livestock, let

“We should have been prepared for it because this has been talked heavily for the last five years, the shearing shortage,” said shearing contractor Emma Morvell, whose company has had to turn down work.

“The guys have been seven days a week since mid-October and we’ve just about burnt them out.”

Sheep farmers are responding by shearing outside of traditional peak seasons but the problem remains a lack of workers entering the back-breaking industry.

Most shearers in Australia are paid a standard rate of just over A$3 per sheep, which adds up for top-performing shearers who can get through more than 200 fine wool sheep a day.

But downsides include long, hard hours in old shearing sheds during Australia’s hot summers, where the temperatures regularly exceed 40 degree Celsius (104˚F).

“I can’t imagine any vocation tougher,” said AWI’s McCullough.

“There has been a very vibrant resources sector so it was easy for many young guys to say, ‘I’ll just go work on the mines where the money is just as good and conditions are a lot easier.’” — Reuters

Happy Skin enters the skincare arena

By Zsarlene B. Chua
Reporter

HAPPY SKIN, the Filipino brand known for its color cosmetics, has finally branched out into skin care — a plan that has been in the works for a couple of years, said Jacque Yuengtian-Guttierez, one of its founders during its launch, as one of the brand’s ideals is to promote good skin while making the entire process simple.

“My background was originally with skincare, [before Happy Skin] I was with Unilever,” explained Ms. Yuengtian-Guttierez vernacular during the launch on Feb. 26 at the Harlan+Holden Glasshouse in Makati City. “[With Happy Skin] I really wanted to do skin care because that’s my passion but [when we were starting the brand] it was very hard to create new skin care products because it has to have a lot of research and testing… it takes years to do that.”

It turns out that for much of the four years since the brand launched its makeup line, it had been working on expanding in to skin care.

“For the past two to three years we have been developing the products on the back-end,” said Ms. Yuengtian-Guttierez before adding, “If you have bad skin, it’s hard to apply makeup so in Happy Skin we really believe that you have to have good skin so from start to finish, you can have a good canvas.”

Called Happy Skin Beauty, the company’s skin care products are categorized into two lines: an Anti-aging series and an Oil-control series.

The Anti-aging series, sourced from Japan, is recommended for those with dry, normal, and combination skin while the Oil-control series products, sourced from Korea, are for those with normal, oily, and combination skin.

“The Korean suppliers gave a better oil control solution and the Japanese supplier gave a better anti-aging solution,” Ms. Yuengtian-Guttierez said of the decision to source the products from two different countries.

Among the ingredients used in the anti-aging line are Chardonnay extract, Umbrella Pine extract, and Citrus Jabara extract. All of these are said to help promote newer, brighter skin and promote collagen production.

The oil-control line’s ingredients include salicylic acid, Vitamin C and Centella Asiatica extract, all of which are said to help shed dead skin cells while healing the skin and promoting collagen production.

Each line is made up of three products — a face wash, a serum or ampoule, and a moisturizer. Unlike the Koreans who have promoted a seven- to 10-skin care product routine, the founders of Happy Skin felt that condensing the laborious multi-step process down to three would make it easier for users to sustain the skin care routine.

“We wanted to crash the steps because we realized Filipinos don’t like putting 10 products on our faces like the Koreans. We have neither the time nor patience to do so,” Ms. Yuengtian-Guttierez said.

“We also wanted it to be sustainable, and for it to be sustainable, you shouldn’t be spending an hour every day applying skin care. What we did was we turn the seven steps into three,” she further explained.

The sustainability was also a factor in the pricing as none of the products are over P1,000.

Happy Skin Beauty products are available at all Happy Skin branches and online.

Happy Skin 2

Product Review

THIS WRITER was given a chance to take Happy Skin’s new three-step anti-aging line for a spin, mostly because it’s the line dedicated for dry skin and, well, getting into an anti-aging regimen at 24 doesn’t seem to be a bad idea.

It has been almost two weeks since the day of the launch, and I have been using the anti-aging line consistently.

The brand promises almost immediate results in two days.

As with all skin care products I get try for the first time, the first hurdle was to see if it would cause me to break out because the moment I see clogged pores or other blemishes, that’s the death knell for a product. I won’t ever use it again, though my heart breaks.

The good thing is, Happy Skin Beauty passed that crucial first step, and so I continued using them.

I had committed to using just the brand’s three steps but my skin is really very dry so I had to go back to using my regular moisturizers along with the Happy Skin products — for the record, I use three moisturizers. That’s how dry my skin is.

The Happy Skin moisturizer is really decent. The consistency reminded me of Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream which can set one back at least P2,000 for a 50-gm bottle while the 30-gm bottle of Happy Skin Regenerating Moisturizer is P999, making it a value-for-money product.

The facial wash didn’t dry me out, something I have been quite particular about in recent years. Kiehl’s Calendula Deep Cleansing Foaming Face Wash (P2,455 for 230 ml) is a favorite of mine and while I won’t throw it out and replace it with Happy Skin’s Hydrating Facial Wash (P599 for 100 ml), it’s a close fight.

Finally, the serum. I’m such a Kiehl’s girl (obviously) that I won’t ever throw out my Midnight Recovery Concentrate (P3,220 for 30 ml). Still, the Happy Skin serum is a nice addition to my daytime skincare routine — it is light and is absorbed really well.

Adding the three products to my already extensive skin care routine — I use around six products at a minimum — helped my skin be a bit more moisturized, which I am currently loving.

I would love it if the brand came out with an SPF day cream because sun protection is a non-negotiable part of my daytime routine (and should also be yours), but Rissa Mananquil-Trillo, Happy Skin cofounder, mentioned that they didn’t introduce an SPF-laden product because they wanted the cream to be used for day and night.

Oh, a toner would also be appreciated.

But all in all, Happy Skin Beauty is an affordable option for those who want to get better skin. The packaging is nice too, a definite plus.

(All quoted Kiehl’s prices are from Lazada.) — Z. B. Chua

Wynn settles Universal Entertainment suit for $2.4B

WYNN RESORTS Ltd. agreed to pay a total of $2.4 billion to settle a lawsuit with Universal Entertainment Corp. over the forced redemption of the Japanese pachinko-machine maker’s 20% stake in the casino operator six years ago.

The settlement announced Thursday is the latest dramatic turn since Steve Wynn resigned last month amid a sexual harassment scandal at the casino empire he founded. It adds $464 million to a $1.94-billion 10-year promissory note Wynn gave Universal in 2012 for the shares, and it puts an end to the biggest chunk of the court fight that started with the acrimonious falling out between Steve and his former business partner, Kazuo Okada.

Wynn Resorts has come under scrutiny from gaming regulators in Macau, Nevada and Massachusetts, where it is building a $2.4-billion casino resort, in the wake of reports the founder and now former chairman pressured employees into having sex with him. The settlement with Universal Entertainment may help clear a path for Steve Wynn, the company’s biggest shareholder, to sell part of his stake should that be necessary.

REMAINING CLAIMS
Okada, ousted from his Tokyo-based company last year, isn’t a party to the settlement and Wynn Resorts’ claims against him for breach of fiduciary duty remain pending. A trial on those allegations is scheduled for next month in Las Vegas and a lawyer for Okada, J. Stephen Peek, said his understanding is that the claims against his client will move forward.

In February 2012, Wynn Resorts took the Japanese billionaire’s shares, which then had a market value of about $2.7 billion, and gave him the promissory note in exchange. The company claimed Okada had put the company’s gaming licenses at risk by making illicit payments to Philippine regulators. Okada countered that he was forced out of the company because Steve Wynn perceived him as a threat to his control.

Wynn Resorts will make the $2.4-billion payment to Universal by March 31, the company said in a statement.

“Today’s outcome is tremendous for our client,” David Krakoff, a lawyer for Universal Entertainment, said in a separate statement. “It resolves long-running litigation on very favorable terms, and provides substantial resources for Universal to continue its international growth.”

UNIVERSAL TUMBLES
Universal Entertainment shares tumbled 16%, their daily limit and the most in almost five years, in trading in Tokyo on Friday.

“The amount of the settlement was much smaller than expectations,” said Tomoichiro Kubota, an analyst at Matsui Securities Co. in Tokyo. “The fact that Kazuo Okada himself was not involved in the settlement left some uncertainty.”

Wynn Macau Ltd. climbed 0.5% in Hong Kong on Friday, while parent Wynn Resorts jumped 6.4% in New York on Thursday before the settlement was announced.

The settlement comes a day after Wynn Resorts unexpectedly raised its dividend, and announced one of its longer-serving board members resigned while another won’t seek re-election.

Those steps are helping to bring some stability and boost investor confidence after volatility in the company’s stock amid the controversy surrounding Steve Wynn, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Margaret Huang. Wynn Resorts shares fell as much as 19% following a Wall Street Journal article detailing the allegations of sexual harassment against Wynn.

The settlement doesn’t cover claims by Steve Wynn’s ex-wife, Elaine Wynn, who has been trying to get out from under a 2010 stockholder agreement that ties her up 10% stake in the company.

Last week, Steve Wynn asked a judge to dismiss Elaine’s claims pertaining to the validity of that agreement because, following his resignation last month, he no longer seeks to enforce it. His request was denied in part because Aruze USA, the Universal Entertainment unit that held the Wynn shares, argued that it was party to the 2010 agreement and neither Steve nor Elaine Wynn could sell their shares without its permission.

A spokeswoman for Elaine Wynn declined to comment.

As part of the settlement announced Thursday, Aruze will no longer consider itself part of the 2010 agreement, which will open the door for Steve Wynn to renew his argument that his ex-wife’s claims are moot. If the judge agrees this time, Wynn would be free to sell his shares if gaming regulators decide the misconduct allegations make him ineligible to be the company’s largest shareholder.

The case is Wynn Resorts Ltd. v. Okada, A-12-656710-B, Clark County, Nevada, District Court (Las Vegas). — Bloomberg

Philippine trade year-on-year performance

THE Philippines’ trade deficit continued to widen in January with imports rising by double-digits amid flat exports growth. Read the full story.

BRF execs barred from returning to chicken exporter

BRASILIA — Executives of major food processor BRF SA who were released by police on Friday will not be able to return to their posts at the company, the world’s largest poultry exporter, Brazil’s public prosecutor’s office said on Saturday.

A Brazilian judge ordered their suspension from their activities in the company to avoid the risk of them interfering with an ongoing investigation that they engaged in fraud to evade food safety inspections.

They were ordered to stay away from the company and any establishments BRF dealt with, including labs.

Police arrested former BRF chief executive officer Pedro Faria, the company’s former vice-president Helio dos Santos and other executives on Monday on charges that they knew the company engaged in fraud to evade food safety inspections.

All six people were set free on Friday.

BRF shares posted their biggest loss ever on the Sao Paulo stock exchange after the arrests that compounded concerns about the firm’s leadership following a 1.1-billion reais ($338-million) loss last year in the fallout from the “Weak Flesh” investigation into alleged bribery of food-sanitation inspectors at BRF and other food Brazilian processors.

Major shareholders have been pushing to replace the entire BRF board of directors and Chairman Abilio Diniz, a billionaire retail magnate, in the wake of last year’s scandal.

Faria, BRF’s chief executive between 2015 and 2017, and Dos Santos, who resigned last week as BRF’s vice-president of global operations, spent the week in police custody with four other company officials in Curitiba, Paraná state.

In last year’s “Weak Flesh” probe, police accused scores of people, mostly inspectors, of taking bribes in exchange for allowing the sale of rancid meat products, falsifying export documents or failing to inspect meatpacking plants at all.

The scandal prompted several export markets to temporarily close their doors to Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of beef as well as chicken.

Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Wednesday there was no risk of countries applying new bans on Brazilian meat due to the new phase of the investigation. — Reuters

How PSEi member stocks performed — March 9, 2018

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Friday, March 9, 2018.

San Miguel pulls rug from under Barangay Ginebra to go up 2-0

THE San Miguel Beermen did a solid “salvage” job in Game Two of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinals against the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Sunday night, claiming a 104-102 overtime victory to move 2-0 up in the series.

Played catch-up for much of the contest, the Beermen used a ferocious charge in the end to pull the rug from under the Kings to stay undefeated in their Philippine Basketball Association semifinal affair.

The two teams opened the match with their guns firing from all cylinders, fighting to a 10-all count in the first five minutes of the opening canto.

Prince Caperal then would lead the Kings in outscoring the Beermen, 14-5, in the next four minutes to build a nine-point cushion, 24-15, by the 3:05 mark.

San Miguel, however, would regain its footing as the period wore on, with Alex Cabagnot leading the charge, cutting down their deficit to just five points, 30-25, at the end of the first 12 minutes.

In the second quarter, the Kings pounded on the Beermen anew, stretching their lead to 13 points, 42-29, with a little over seven minutes remaining, and extending it further to 15 points, 53-38, with 2:19 to go.

When the opening half smoke cleared, Barangay Ginebra continued to hold control, 55-42.

The Beermen came out in the third quarter with more energy, angling to get back some lost real estate.

But Mr. Caperal and the rest of the Kings continued to keep San Miguel at bay, keeping a 14-point lead, 63-49, with 7:54 left on the clock.

Chris Ross, June Fajardo and Marcio Lassiter though would pull San Miguel to within three points, 73-70, at the 1:10 mark.

The score would stay stuck as the quarter drew to a close with the Kings still on top.

Recognizing that the Beermen were already too close for comfort, the Kings, led by Japeth Aguilar, began the payoff quarter with a 12-4 run to stretch their lead back to 11 points, 85-74, in the opening four minutes.

Mr. Lassiter waxed hot as the quarter progressed, bringing his team within four, 91-87, with 3:31 to go in the contest.

A basket by Mr. Aguilar gave the Kings more breathing room only to be answered by San Miguel’s Arwind Santos with a triple to push his team to come closer to three points, 93-90, at the 1:32 mark.

Joe Devance made it a five-point lead anew, 95-90, for the Kings with a basket off an offensive rebound.

Mr. Fajardo was fouled in the ensuing play and converted two free throws and pulled San Miguel to three once again, 95-92.

The Kings failed to score in the play after which San Miguel capitalized on as Mr. Santos drained a three-pointer to tie the count at 95-all with 11 ticks left.

Barangay Ginebra set up a play to win the game by Mr. Devance’s drive to the basket as time expired failed to produce the game-winner, setting up the extension.

Mr. Caperal opened the scoring in the extra period with a jumper.

A floater by LA Tenorio with two minutes remaining gave Barangay Ginebra a three-point lead, 99-96.

But Mr. Fajardo pulled San Miguel closer, 99-98, with two free throws that were answered immediately by Mr. Devance with a triple, with 62 seconds to go.

Mr. Lassiter followed up on a Fajardo miss to make it a 102-100 count, with 50 seconds remaining.

The sharp-shooting guard pulled his team even with two free throws at the 15-second mark.

San Miguel thereafter forced a five-second inbounds violation on Barangay Ginebra, setting up the winning play that had Mr. Lassiter once again starring as he converted the go-ahead, tip-in basket with three seconds to go.

The Kings had no timeouts left and were forced to make a play in the backcourt but to no avail as the final buzzer sounded.

Mr. Fajardo led the Beermen with 33 points and 19 rebounds while game hero Lassiter finished with 25 points and eight boards.

Messrs. Ross and Cabagnot had 13 points each while Mr. Santos had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Mr. Aguilar, meanwhile, led the Kings with 28 points while Mr. Caperal had a career-high 26.

“We knew it was going to be a tough fight. We just kept coming back in the game and it paid off,” said Mr. Lassiter after the game.

“This is not over though. We need to win two more. It’s first to four just like them,” he added.

Game Three of the San Miguel-Barangay Ginebra series is on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

NAIA rehab bidder cites project urgency amid rising demand

THE CONSORTIUM bidding to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for P350 billion said the government could speed up the process of approving its proposal, to keep up with the number of passengers set to use the terminal by 2020.

In a statement issued over the weekend, the consortium composed of seven of the country’s largest conglomerates noted how the current processing time for unsolicited proposals takes more than a year to complete. With this, NAIA will still be accommodating passengers well past its capacity in the next two years.

“The government can expedite the approvals allowed under existing rules. That will be the best scenario. Once we complete our short-term expansion and upgrading plans, passenger convenience will be immediately felt. There will be more space for everybody and that is just the first step,” Jose Emmanuel P. Reverente, the spokesperson for the consortium, was quoted as saying in a statement.

The Department of Transportation said in February that it will decide on the consortium’s proposal by April. The department could award the original proponent status (OPS) to the group, or reject its offer.

The seven-conglomerate consortium includes Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc., Ayala-controlled AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Andrew L. Tan’s Alliance Global Group, Inc., Lucio C. Tan’s Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings, Inc., and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

Should the group bag the OPS for the project, the government will invite other bidders to improve on the offer through a Swiss challenge. The consortium will then be given the chance to match the offer, an advantage of OPS.

There are currently two proposals to rehabilitate the country’s premier gateway, with the other headed by Megawide Construction Corp. and India’s GMR Infrastructure Ltd. The Megawide-GTR consortium’s proposal to spend $3 billion for NAIA’s rehab, with the concession period to run for 18 years, around half of the first group’s proposed 35 years.

The bidding war for NAIA’s rehabilitation comes as the government seeks solutions for congestion at the airport. In 2017, NAIA’s four terminals served around 42 million passengers, beyond their designed capacity of 31 million.

“By 2019, the projection is we will have 47 million passengers. And the NAIA terminals will still have the same 31-million passenger capacity. So it is urgent for the country to get this project going because doing nothing as a result of a long approval process will set all of us back,” Mr. Reverente said.

The consortium said the first phase of the expansion will take 48 months, set to double NAIA’s capacity to 65 million passengers per year. The first of two phases will include the improvement and expansion of existing terminals. The second phase will depend on necessary capacity upgrades upon consultation with the government, which will further expand the airport’s capacity to 100 million passengers annually.

It has tapped Changi Airports International Pte. Ltd. as the technical partner for the rehabilitation.

“But if we can have our first wave completed by, say, 2020, tourism can become so much stronger that it can be a third economic pillar after the BPO (business process outsourcing) and OFW (overseas Filipino worker) remittances,” Mr. Reverente said. — Arra B. Francia

RCEP framework deal seen by end-2018

TRADE ministers have reached a consensus to complete a basic framework for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) within the year, though the members are under pressure to approve a document because of limited time to meet and forge a deal.

“There was general consensus among Ministers to conclude the RCEP negotiations within the year,” Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said in his report on the 4th ASEAN Economic Minsters’ Retreat held in Singapore between Feb. 23 and March 3.

“The target is to finalize all issues by the October meeting. I impressed the need for swift conclusion but at the same time, maintain the high quality that was initially agreed on,” Mr. Lopez said.

With only two RCEP ministerial meetings scheduled for 2018, Mr. Lopez said the members need to conduct “extra” dialogue around end-June, at a meeting to be hosted by Japan.

The minutes, as sent to reporters over the weekend, noted that ministers have set target discussions for each negotiating round in the following months to fast-track the process.

Mr. Lopez noted that prospects for agreement with two or three non-ASEAN dialogue partners are uncertain.

“We have not yet obtained agreement from the non-ASEAN partners,” Mr. Lopez told reporters on Friday. He did not provide details, though he has said that differences remain on the degree of liberalization to be adopted in the trade in goods.

Members are required to submit a new round of counter-offers and proposals on April 13.

Since 2012, the 10 ASEAN member states — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — have been trying to conclude negotiations on RCEP. The pact involves free trade agreements with Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

If concluded, RCEP members, whose GDPs will make up a third of the global economy, will account for close to half of the world’s population.

Mr. Lopez hopes that prospects of sealing the final RCEP terms will improve by June or July.

Elswhere, the ASEAN and the European Union (EU), during consultations held alongside the ASEAN retreat, agreed to continue pursuing a framework for a possible trade agreement between the two blocs, with a decision on the matter expected next year.

“I supported the continuing engagement with the EU as this will serve as an alternate avenue for increased market access of Philippine goods to the country’s 4th top export destination and possible expanded working opportunities for Overseas Filipino Workers,” Mr. Lopez said.

Mr. Lopez said he also raised the country’s need to adopt a “special safeguard mechanism” to protect farmers from the influx of agricultural imports.

“This was well received by ASEAN and the EU,” Mr. Lopez added. — Janina C. Lim

DoE touts benefits of hosting power facilities on IPs’ ancestral land

THE Department of Energy (DoE) said a circular recently signed by the secretary has assured indigenous communities “tangible financial benefits” as their share of the funds from the energy infrastructure and facilities that they host.

“With this policy, we establish our commitment to boost the inclusion of our indigenous kababayans in the development power projects and the hosting the power generation facility,” said DoE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi in a statement during the weekend.

The circular — DC2018-03-0005 — is meant to enforce compliance with Section 66 and Rule 29(A) of the implementing rules and regulation of Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA). The provisions provide benefits to power infrastructure host communities.

“Primarily, this policy recognizes the rights of the Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples in their ancestral domains and the other benefits that goes with it under the EPIRA and the Indigenous People’s Rights Act,” Mr. Cusi.

The DoE said the policy supports its mandate to ensure direct benefits to the people and communities, cities, municipalities and provinces up to the regional level that host an energy resource or an energy-generating facility.

The policy will strengthen the cooperation among the energy resource developers or power producers and the host local communities. It will also fast-track the process of providing direct benefits to the indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples, it added.

Under EPIRA, host communities are entitled to receive from the “one centavo per kilowatt-hour (P0.01/kilowatt-hour) of the total electricity sales” trust fund that is owned by the power generators and the recipient communities.

The fund is allocated for development and livelihood, reforestation, watershed management, health and or environment enhancement fund, and electrification initiatives.

The policy covers all legitimate and bonafide indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples that are recognized and accredited by the National Commission on Indigenous People, and issued with Certificates of Ancestral Domain Title that hosts the generating facilities or energy resources.

Under the policy, development and livelihood fund and reforestation, watershed management, health and or environment enhancement fund are allocated the following:

• designated resettlement area (5%);

• host barangay (20%);

• host municipality (35%);

• host province/s (30%);

• host region/s (5%); and

• host organized indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples (5%) for non-highly urbanized cities.

The sharing for highly urbanized cities is as follow:

• designated resettlement area (10%);

• host barangay (30%);

• host cities (55%); and

• host organized indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples (5%). — Victor V. Saulon

ADB to provide technical aid, $5M for Marawi rehabilitation

By Carmelito Q. Francisco
Correspondent

DAVAO CITY — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will provide technical assistance and $5 million worth of funding to support the rehabilitation of Marawi City following last year’s five-month siege.

Kelly Bird, ADB country director for the Philippines, said experts will help evaluate the needs for the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase.

The bank “will provide technical staff support to the government to produce the needs assessment… and we’ll be providing staff support to provide inputs to the government’s reconstruction and rehabilitation program,” Mr. Bird said in an interview with BusinessWorld Friday, on the sidelines of the regional press launch here of the Philippines’ hosting in May of the 51st Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors.

He said the technical experts will coordinate with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in the assessment process.

The other component is a $5-million grant for urban planning initiatives and “small scale infrastructure projects.”

Mr. Bird said the ADB assistance is targeted for rollout in the “next few months.”

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia earlier urged the bank, among other international financial institutions, to provide the Philippine government technical and financial assistance for rebuilding Marawi and helping its more than 200,000 displaced residents.

Officials have estimated that at least P50 billion is needed to rehabilitate Marawi, the country’s leading Islamic city and the capital of Lanao del Sur province.

The Marawi siege prompted government to declare martial law on Mindanao, which remains in effect until end-2018.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, this year’s chair of the ADB Board of Governors, said in a statement Friday that Mindanao will be among the primary beneficiaries of an inclusive approach to growth in the Asia-Pacific region, citing the government’s strong partnership with the ADB to bring peace and prosperity to the southern island.

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