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Human Rights Watch flags drug-testing plan in campuses

THE Philippine government’s “plan for mandatory drug testing for all college students and applicants seriously threatens their safety and right to education,” New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Friday, Aug. 11.

HRW cited an order to that effect dated Aug. 2 by the Commission on Higher Education, noting this agency as being under the Office of the President. The group has been among the leading voices critical of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s war on illegal drugs and its rising death toll.

“The college drug testing plan is a dangerous outgrowth of the Duterte administration’s abusive ‘war on drugs,’” HRW said, adding: “The order permits local governments, the police and other law enforcement agency to ‘carry out any drug-related operation within the school premises’ with the approval of school administrators. This will effectively allow the police to extend their ‘anti-drug’ operations to college and university campuses, placing students at grave risk.”

“Imposing mandatory drug testing of students when Philippine police are committing rampant summary killings of alleged drug users puts countless children in danger for failing a drug test,” said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Education officials should be protecting students, not putting them in harm’s way through mandatory drug tests.”

The group further noted: “The higher education commission order does not require, but ‘strongly encourages’ schools of higher education to impose random mandatory drug testing of students and applicants. It follows the Department of Education’s announcement in May that it will launch random drug tests of primary, elementary, and high school students later this year.”

“Mandatory drug testing of students puts them in the crosshairs of Duterte’s abusive drug war, risking the creation of a school-to-cemetery track for students testing positive for drugs,” Mr. Kine said in the statement. “The Philippine government should educate students about the health hazards of illegal drugs — not make them targets for unlawful killings by police and their agents.”

Peso closes at nearly 11-year low on Korea tensions

THE PESO closed lower against the dollar on Friday, breaching the P51-to-the-dollar level intraday, amid escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea.

The peso closed at P50.98 against the dollar on Friday, slumping 18.5 centavos from Thursday’s finish of P50.795.

Yesterday’s close was the lowest for the peso in nearly 11 years. It ended at P51.05 to the dollar on Aug. 29, 2006.

The peso was weaker the entire day, opening the session at its peak of P50.90, later breaching the P51 level to P51.08 at its lowest intraday against the dollar.

Trading volume on Friday was $690.1 million, against $692.55 million in the previous session.

Prior to the close of yesterday’s session, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. said: “We’re constantly monitoring peso developments for excessive short-term volatility not consistent with underlying economic fundamentals and take appropriate action when necessary. We recognize that the market is also often self-correcting.”

Meanwhile, traders attributed the weaker peso to persistent tensions between the US and North Korea.

“The peso remained weak today due to geopolitical concerns involving the US and North Korea,” one trader said by e-mail on Friday.

Another trader said, “It’s still the tensions between North Korea and the US, and everything that’s happening there causes risk-off sentiment among traders, leading markets to resort to safe-haven assets such as the dollar, the yen and even gold.”

US President Donald J. Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” after Pyongyang announced it is making plans to target Guam, suggesting a flight path over US ally Japan.

Meanwhile, one trader said corporate demand also drove the peso lower.

“There is still demand for dollar-peso from companies, but I think the market is still dominated by risk-off sentiment,” the trader said. – Janine Marie D. Soliman

PNB first-half net profit falls 37% in absence of year-earlier on-offs

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL Bank (PNB) said first-half net profit declined in the absence of one-off items from a year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, the bank said net profit was P2.7 billion, dropping 37% from a year earlier.

“The Bank’s net income for the first semester was lower than the P4.3 billion posted for the same period in 2016 that included one-time gains amounting to P2.7 billion,” the country’s fifth-largest bank by asset terms was quoted saying in a statement.

Despite this decline, the bank noted its core lending and deposit-taking businesses as well as fee-based activities continued to grow during the first six months of the year.

Net interest income rose nearly 8% to P10.3 billion in the six months to June, fueled by a 13% increase in interest income. The loan portfolio meanwhile rose 16%, led by business generated by corporate, commercial and small and medium-sized enterprise clients.

“Net interest income totaled P10.3 billion, higher by 7.9%… mainly due to expansion in the loan portfolio and income from deposits with banks which accounted for P1.2 billion and P0.6 billion increase in interest income, respectively, partly offset by the decline in interest on investment securities by P0.4 billion,” PNB said.

Its non-performing loan (NPL) ratio was at 0.25% while NPL coverage at 130% at end-June.

The consolidated risk-based capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was 15.89%.

Non-interest income stood at P3.4 billion year-on-year driven by one-off revenue. These include net gains from major disposals of foreclosed assets, the sale of shares of stock of a subsidiary and the collection of non-performing assets.

Boosted by cross-selling, net service fees and commission income expanded 12% year-on-year.

“Meanwhile, treasury-related income decreased substantially owing to muted trading opportunities as investors continue to stay on the sidelines amid further global monetary tightening and interest rate developments in the international markets,” PNB said.

The lender’s operating expenses increased by 6% year-on-year on the back of “prudent spending despite aggressive business growth.” This excluded provisions for impairment and credit losses.

Net consolidated resources hit P824 billion in the six months ending June, up 16% from a year earlier.

PNB’s deposits grew 17% in the first half of the year amid its “focus on generating low-cost funds and replacing matured high-cost Tier 2 Notes with Long-term Negotiable Certificates of Deposit (LTNCD.)”

Meanwhile, net profit in the three months to June fell 18% to P1.4 billion.

At the end of June, it had 685 branches and 1,143 automated teller machines in the Philippines. It also has 70 overseas bank branches, representative offices, remittance centers and subsidiaries locared in Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America. – Janine Marie D. Soliman

Geopolitical fears drag bourse down further

By Krista Angela M. Montealegre
National Correspondent

STOCKS extended their losing streak to a fourth straight session amid lingering fears over escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 37.82 points or 0.47% to close at 7,928.43 on Friday, while the all-shares index gave up 26.75 points or 0.57% to end at 4,681.81.

“As expected, the Philippine market suffered the same fate as everyone regionally, succumbing to the panic as tensions between the United States and North Korea persisted after President (Donald J.) Trump doubled down its rhetoric against North Korea,” Luis A. Limlingan, business development head at Regina Capital Development Corp., said in mobile phone message.

Overnight, Wall Street took a hit after US President Donald J. Trump warned Pyongyang after it unveiled plans to fire missiles over Japan to land near Guam.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 204.69 points 0r 0.93% to close at 21,844.01, its biggest point loss since May 17.

Asian equities excluding Japan fell the most in eight months, according to Bloomberg.

For PNB Securities President Manuel Antonio G. Lisbona, the local market has managed to stay relatively calm compared to its counterparts.

The benchmark PSEi lost as much as one percent in intraday trade before recouping losses to finish flat for the week.

“The market is still taking money off the table due to tensions between North Korea and the US. Value turnover is a bit thin at P5 billion, which tells me that investors are not panicking,” Mr. Lisbona said in a separate message.

Value turnover improved to P5.5 billion after 1,999,871,264 shares changed hands, from P5.17 billion on Thursday.

MSCI REBALANCING
The rebalancing of the Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI) index, which reduced the weight of Philippine stocks in the widely tracked measure, may have added to the selling pressure, RCDC’s Mr. Limlingan said.

MSCI also announced that it is removing ABS-CBN Holdings “A” Philippine depository receipts from the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes, which will take effect at the close of Aug. 31.

Four of the six sub-sectors finished in the red, with property sustaining the biggest losses at 58.28 points or 1.54% to 3,728.38.

Likewise, mining and oil tumbled 116.51 points or 0.92% to 12,492.21, holding firms slid 55.93 points or 0.71% to 7,803.44, while financials dipped 6.33 points or 0.32% to 1,988.09.

Bucking the trend were the industrial sector, which climbed 44.27 points or 0.41% to 10,793.93, and services, which eked out a gain of less than a point to 1,685.32.

Decliners dominated advancers, 108 to 60, while 82 issues were unchanged.

Net foreign buying accelerated to P251.896 million from P168.94 million in the previous session.

History Con: From pickers to astronauts

Who knew history could be so, well, epic? From Aug. 10-13, stars of popular History Channel and History Channel Asia shows will descend on the Philippines for History Con 2017, to be held at the World Trade Center.

HistoryCon-ManilaSpecial guests making a return to the country include Corey Harrison from Pawn Stars, Jaime Dempsey from Ride N’ Seek and Justin Mott from Photo Face-off.  “Horny” Mike Henry from Counting Cars, Danielle Colby from The Pickers,  Ryu Lim from Forged In Fire, and Phoemela Baranda of Celebrity Car Wars joins them as well. Popular international celebrities from FYI’s hit shows John Weisbarth and Zack Giffin of Tiny House Nation, and Adam Liaw of Destination Flavour will also join the line up. They will all be present to make talks and presentations throughout the event.

As for other stars to watch, professional freestyle basketball dunker Jordan Kilganon, will attempt to make a 50-inch vertical jump. Takeru Kobayashi, one of the world’s most extraordinary professional competitive eaters, once  broke the world record for eating 50 hotdogs in just 12 minutes. Both will attempt to break new records in Manila.

Other special guests include Barry E. Wilmore (Captain, U.S. Navy), a veteran of two spaceflights who has accumulated a total of 178 days in space as a NASA Astronaut, and Dr. Ambeth R. Ocampo, award-winning and distinguished public historian whose research covers the Philippines in the 19th Century. Both honorable guests will be conducting exclusive talks respectively at the mega convention.

Other activities include a home and living fair by FYI, a lifestyle channel; medieval and battleground re-enactment, an antique bazaar, and automobile and motorbike exhibitions and competitions, plus other exhibitions, and even a Cosplay contest (give it a shot by entering the event in accurate period costume). — Joseph L. Garcia

ABS-CBN reports 41% fall in Q2 profit on soft revenues

BROADCAST media giant ABS-CBN Corp. reported a 41% decline in first-half earnings on weak revenues.

ABS-CBN’s regulatory filings on Friday showed it made P1.256 billion in the January to June period, down 41% from first-half last year’s P2.114 billion.

Revenues fell by an annual 8% to P19.344 billion, from year-ago’s P20.99 billion, with advertising sales accounting for 51% of total. Ad revenues had a 60% share in the first half of 2016, an election year.

The broadcaster trimmed its expenses by 1% in the first half to P17.783 billion.

“We are particularly pleased to have been able to control overall costs for the first half of the year,” chief financial officer Aldrin Cerrado was quoted as saying in a separate statement.

The company has yet to file its income statement.

Its regulatory filing — a slide presentation prepared for an investors’ briefing — showed it reported P942 million in net income for the second quarter, stronger than the P314 million it made in the first quarter.

Davao City faces chicken shortage as development crowds out poultry farms

THE BROILER chicken supply in Davao City could deteriorate as residential development begins to edge out poultry farms in districts outside the city center, possibly putting pressure on businesses selling one of the area’s signature dishes — roast chicken.

Photo by Marifi S. Jara

“Most of the land developers are going to Calinan and Tugbok; they are buying the lands around us so if they are near our poultry, we will be closed down (because of residential zoning). Even if we want to solve the deficit, we cannot because of the expansion problem,” Lalaine A. dela Victoria, president of the Davao Poultry and Egg Producers Inc., told the media.

The group is calling on the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) and the local council to re-asses zoning and conversion plans.

Ms. Dela Victoria said the association is proposing that the CPDO specify poultry farm areas in the city’s geo-map. The city council, on the other hand, could pass a resolution that would encourage socialized housing developers to pursue vertical projects to conserve on land.

Clear policies, she pointed out, should then guide property developers as well as the poultry-egg producers, who have been looking at establishing a “food corridor” in the Calinan and Tugbok areas.

“But of course we cannot do that alone, we have to get the permission of the council for that to be established. Another big problem is most of the land developers are lobbying that those areas (Calinan and Tugbo) be converted into residential areas,” she said.

Data from the Department of Agriculture-Davao show Davao City had production of 32 million birds in 2016.

Ms. Dela Victoria said a small portion of the total output is sent to Cotabato, but most are sold in local markets, where demand is still higher than supply.

Davao City’s population was about 1.5 million in 2010.

“For export, Davao City has minimal contribution. Some of our chicken goes to Cotabato province… because there is no dressing plant there so we provide our broiler chickens,” she said.

The poultry group estimates a deficit in Davao City of about 20 million birds annually by 2018.

Ms. Dela Victoria said there are about 60 poultry farmers in Davao City, 50% of whom are small growers, or those producing 10,000 to 50,000 birds a year. The other half is composed of those with a capacity of 200,000 to 300,000 birds annually.

The number of poultry farmers has not been increasing recently, she said, while the existing ones have not been expanding due to fears of being closed down when real estate developers come in. – Maya M. Padillo

Court denies Parojinogs’ request to attend burial of relatives

THE Regional Trial Court in Ozamiz City on Friday, Aug. 11, denied a petition by the city’s Vice-Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog-Echavez and her brother Reynaldo Parojinog, Jr. to attend the Aug. 14 burial of their father, Ozamiz Mayor Reynaldo O. Parojinog Sr., mother Susan Engracia Parojinog, and aunt Monna Parojinog.

The three were killed together with 13 others during a police raid last month at the Parojinog family’s home in Ozamiz City in the Mindanao province of Misamis Occidental. Mr. Duterte has placed the entire Mindanao under martial law following the May 23 siege of Marawi City, provincial capital of Lanao del Sur, by the terrorist Maute group.

Vice-Mayor Parojinog-Echave and her brother were among several arrested and transported to Metro Manila following the raid.

Prosecutors in their counter-motion argued that the detainees presented a “high-security risk…as classified by PNP-CIDG [Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detention Group].”

The court also issued a statement saying it had invited the Chief of Police of the Ozamiz City Police Station to appraise the security conditions of the said request. A police report submitted to the court stated “facts and circumstances gathered by its intelligence which the police interpreted to mean as strongly suggesting that a daring and bloody rescue of the accused would be carried out once the accused are allowed furlough.” The court also recommended that the motion by the Parojinogs be denied.

“The Court chooses the path of caution and gives greater weight to the assessment of the police more especially that of the Ozamiz City Police,” the statement read.

It also noted “emotions are high between people who are sympathetic to the accused-movants and people against them.” — with MMB

iNod

When Apple launched the iPod—the sleek, portable music player line which was recently trimmed—I disliked it for exactly the same reasons people loved it.

Back in 2001, when most music players were big and clunky and had more than just a wheel, the iPod looked way too cool and far too easy to use.

But then again, you could say that I was on the wrong side of history (at least at that time).  When the iPod made its debut, I was obsessed with my Sony MiniDisc (which, by the way, became extinct by 2013).

Art Samantha Gonzales with select graphics from Giphy

Smaller than a coaster but thicker than a box of matches, my Sony MiniDisc only had one edge over Apple’s favorite music player—it could record audio clips (a function future iPods would later have, thanks to iMics and voice memos).

But otherwise, the iPod reigned supreme, trumping every other audio player, including but not limited to my late but not unlamented Sony MZ-R700.

Despite these setbacks, I kept the MiniDisc faith for years.

When CSI: Las Vegas’ Gil Grissom used one to interview a suspect, I mocked the iPod infidels, belittling its arguably low‑quality 128 kbps, its default rate when compressing music.

Only Sony’s proprietary audio format offered the best listening experience, I told everyone, especially when the subject of music came up—on email lists, during parties, and conversations at work.

But later on, I surrendered.

I gave up on the tedious process of transferring music using the computer and the MiniDisc. It involved pressing the play and record buttons at the same time after linking both with a cable that was more brittle than toothpicks found in certain Chinese restaurants.

And so, in 2006, four years after I got my MiniDisc, I made the Big Switch. I bought a first‑generation, four‑gigabyte iPod Nano.

Art Samantha Gonzales with select graphics from Pixel Art Maker

It was great.

Not only did it require low maintenance, my Nano was a small and handy device that could withstand the rough and tumble of daily life. It’s been lost (and found) in a pile of dirty laundry, accidentally left inside a car parked under direct sunlight, and soaked in sweat while lodged in my gym shorts.

When it finally died six years later, I had no second thoughts about buying a new one, if only to continue living in my iPod bubble.

So far, the seventh‑generation, 16‑gig iPod Nano works like a charm, even though I admit missing the clickwheel.

Moreover, unlike its predecessor, my second iPod has lived a relatively sheltered existence.

For the past six months, it has practically lain dormant like Sleeping Beauty, rendered inactive by Spotify, my current music platform of choice.

Available on all my Apple devices—desktop, laptop, and handheld—the audio streaming service has allowed me to discover new songs, genres, and even stand‑up comedy acts I never imagined existed.

Perhaps this super modern invention is also one of the reasons why the gods of Apple decided to render the iPod (nearly) obsolete. They killed the iPod Nano and Shuffle last month (the Classic had already retired in 2014) and left only the iPod Touch behind.

Since a number of songs—obscure and otherwise—remain unavailable on Spotify’s service, I have chosen to keep my iPod within easy reach to have the best of both worlds.

That way, I know I can always press a button—any button—and enjoy the soundtrack of my life, with or without an internet connection.

DPWH to conduct weekend road reblocking

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will undertake road reblocking and repairs starting 11:00 p.m. Friday night, Aug. 11, until Monday, Aug. 14, the department said in a statement on Friday.

The road reblocking and repairs will be conducted in the following areas:

 Northbound:

Along Mac Arthur Highway near Monumento Circle, Caloocan City

Along Mindanao Avenue near Road 20, Quezon City (2nd lane)

Along Manila East Road in front of SM East Ortigas, Pasig City

Along Congressional Avenue Extension between Visayas Avenue to Tandang Sora Ave., Quezon City (3rd lane)

Along Quirino Highway between Regalado Avenue North to La Mesa Dam, Quezon City (2nd lane)

 Southbound:

Along Bonifacio Avenue between Del Monte St. after Binhagan St., Quezon City (2nd lane)

Along EDSA near Trinoma, Quezon City (2nd lane)

Along C-5 Road near Julia Vargas, Pasig City

Westbound:

Along Luzon Avenue between Commonwealth Ave. to Congressional Ave. Extension, Quezon City (1st lane)

All affected roads will be fully passable by 5 a.m. on Monday, August 14.

Motorists are advised to avoid the said areas and use alternate routes instead.

Submerged

An Indian man wades walks a flooded street during a heavy downpour in Agartala, the capital of northeastern state of Tripura on August 11, 2017. / AFP 

India flood

Train wreck

Officials and emergency personnel remove the wreckage of a collision between two trains on August 11, 2017 near Khorshid station in Alexandria.
At least 36 people were killed as two trains collided August 11 outside the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, in one of the deadliest in a string of such accidents in Egypt, the health ministry said. The crash also injured 123 people, the ministry said in a statement. AFP

Egypt train accident

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