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Super Bowl: It’s Falcons vs Patriots on Feb. 5

LOS ANGELES — Tom Brady led the New England Patriots into the seventh Super Bowl of his career on Sunday with a clinical 36-17 defeat of the Pittsburgh Steelers after the Atlanta Falcons routed the Green Bay Packers to reach the NFL showpiece.

Brady, 39, will now be chasing a record-equalling fifth Super Bowl crown in Houston on Feb. 5 after throwing three touchdowns for 384 yards in a convincing defeat of the Steelers at Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium.

Brady’s latest Super Bowl appearances comes a fully 15 years after he led the Patriots to victory over the St. Louis Rams in the 2002 championship game.

Brady was at his deadly best on Sunday as the Bill Belichick-coached Pats outsmarted the Steelers with a series of clever plays which often left Pittsburgh’s defense chasing shadows.

After a field goal from Stephen Gostkowski opened the scoring for New England, Brady picked out wide open receiver Chris Hogan for the first touchdown with a 16-yard pass.

The Steelers responded with a five-yard touchdown run from DeAngelo Williams which reduced the deficit but Brady found Hogan once again with a clever play-fake that left the Patriots defender in acres of space to make it 17-6.

Chris Boswell and Gostkowski traded field goals to keep the score respectable but New England took full control with two quick touchdowns in the third quarter from running back LeGarrette Blount and receiver Julian Edelman which propelled the hosts into a 33-9 lead.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger endured a frustrating evening, unable to get any change out of a dominant Patriots defense until finding Cobi Hamilton with a 30-yard pass for a consolation score late in the fourth quarter.

RYAN RAMPANT AS FALCONS SOAR
Earlier Sunday, Matt Ryan led a dominant offensive display as Atlanta crushed Green Bay 44-21 in their last ever game at the Georgia Dome.

The Falcons surged into a 24-0 half-time lead after overwhelming the Packers defense with their varied running and passing game as Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers was never able to get going.

“We’ve got some more business at Houston in two weeks,” Ryan said after the Falcons were presented the NFC Championship trophy.

“We showed up. We did exactly what we’ve been doing all year. It feels really good,” added Ryan, who completed 27 out of 38 pass attempts for 392 yards and four touchdowns.

Rodgers was left frustrated as the Packers squandered vital early scoring opportunities through a missed Mason Crosby field goal and a fumble from Aaron Ripkowski near the Atlanta line with a touchdown begging.

The Falcons meanwhile looked threatening whenever they ventured into Green Bay territory.

Mohamed Sanu scored the opening touchdown from a flipped shovel pass from Ryan before the Atlanta quarterback grabbed his team’s second six-pointer with a 14-yard run into the end zone.

Ryan punished a Rodgers interception with a pass to find Julio Jones from five yards, leaving the Falcons 24-0 ahead at the break.

Jones then galloped away for a 73-yard touchdown in the opening minutes of the third quarter to put Atlanta 31-0 ahead.

Further Atlanta touchdowns came from Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman and although Green Bay attempted to give the scoreline some respectability with touchdowns from Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams, and Jared Cook, the result was never in doubt.

Ryan said the Falcons had been determined not to let up on Green Bay despite building their massive first half lead.

“We knew going in against Green Bay and going against Aaron (Rodgers) it’s never over,” Ryan said. “He’s such a great player. We just kept at them the entire four quarters. I’m proud of the way we competed.” — AFP

Keep saving HK, China’s coming for your best land

HONG KONG — It takes around 35 years for a median-income household to buy a 90-square meter (970-square foot) apartment in Hong Kong. So, by 2052 in other words. That makes the former British colony the world’s least affordable city, according to Oxford Economics. Now, with Chinese buyers forking out ever-higher amounts for land sold by the government and outbidding domestic stalwarts, prospective home buyers are going to have to wait a whole lot longer.

A stamp-duty hike in November to 15% for all non-first time home buyers and to as much as 30% for foreigners hasn’t dulled the market. Secondary home prices surged almost 40% between July 2012 and the end of last year, Centaline Property’s Centa-City Leading Index shows, just 1.8% shy of their September 2015 record.

Although the increased levies helped put a lid on sales volumes, there’s still more end-user demand than supply, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Patrick Wong. First-time home buyers, being exempt, remain a force while existing homeowners always seem to find ways to circumvent the rules in their hunt for yield. Hong Kong’s relatively low unemployment rate also means lots of people are willing to take the real estate plunge.

Added pressure, meanwhile, is coming from China. Mainland purchasers, keen to buy property in the city as a hedge against a weaker yuan, have long been imaginative when it comes to evading foreign-exchange curbs. Now developers are getting more aggressive.

At a time Beijing is clamping down on speculative buying, Hong Kong offers a chance to diversify. Although land is more expensive than on the mainland, funding costs are lower. The Hong Kong interbank offered rate has averaged 1.01435% this year while the People’s Bank of China benchmark lending rate for individual housing loans of up to five years is 2.75%.

Buyers from China accounted for almost half the value of all land sold by the Hong Kong government in 2016, up from 30% in 2015 and less than 5% in 2011, research from CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. show. That Chinasation of the market, as CIMB calls it, may increase prices 10% by 2019.

Some impact is already being felt. China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. sold all 188 apartments at a project on the site of the city’s former airport on day one last week. The units were offered to Hong Kong residents only.

And while the city’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying may bemoan the large amount of parks and green spaces that could be put to better use, mainland buyers did help the government chalk up record revenue from land sales in the first nine months of the 2016 fiscal year.

With so many cash-rich companies across the border and even firms like HNA Group Co. joining the bidding party, the tensions pooling in Hong Kong real estate aren’t about to go away. All too soon, taking 35 years to buy a shoebox may seem pretty decent. — Bloomberg.

Airports to toll roads top picks amid boom in infrastructure

MANILA’S Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Indonesia’s PT Krakatau Steel and Airports of Thailand Pcl. are among the top investor picks as Southeast Asian governments embark on programs to boost roads, rail, ports and power plants.

Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte is promising P8 trillion ($160 billion) of spending over his six-year term, while Thailand’s military-led government plans to list an infrastructure fund on the stock exchange in March. Indonesia has set aside almost 10% more to spend on projects this year and Malaysia is pushing ahead with plans including a high-speed rail line from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

Thailand and the Philippines are likely to see the biggest increase in infrastructure spending over the next few years, while in Indonesia and Malaysia, budgetary constraints may mean the rhetoric of politicians translates into comparatively little extra outlay, Capital Economics Ltd. said in a Jan. 16 research note.

Below are some selections from fund managers and analysts across the region:

INDONESIA
Within Southeast Asia, Old Mutual Global Investors favors Indonesia, said Joshua Crabb, head of Asian equities in Hong Kong. The Jakarta Composite Index is cheap and President Joko Widodo’s improved political standing will give him some firepower to push ahead with his infrastructure plans, despite perceived fiscal constraints, he said. Mr. Crabb said he liked Krakatau Steel. While acknowledging the budgetary risk, Jemmy Paul, investment director at PT Sucorinvest Asset Management in Jakarta, said many Indonesian infrastructure-related firms have received capital injections from the government and have good revenue outlooks. PT Adhi Karya, PT Pembangunan Perumahan and PT Waskita Beton Precast are among his top construction picks, along with toll road operator PT Jasa Marga. Krakatau Steel is also interesting as prices are on the rise due to stronger demand from projects, Mr. Paul said. Earnings growth for Indonesian construction companies will still be there, but investors should emphasize cash flow and look for companies with stronger balance sheets, said Jeffrosenberg Tan, a director at PT Sinarmas Sekuritas in Jakarta. The condition of the state budget will be critical this year, he said, adding that he prefers Pembangunan Perumahan and Adhi Karya.

THAILAND
The 2016-2020 infrastructure rollout in Thailand should benefit from the longevity of the military government and high public and private sector participation, said Maria Lapiz, co-head of research at Maybank Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) Pcl in Bangkok. She said she likes the high cash flow of Airports of Thailand and telecommunications company Advanced Info Service Pcl. Sino Thai Engineering & Construction Pcl. is also attractive, said Lapiz. The Thai government will provide 10 billion baht ($283 million) for its Future Fund, which it expects to grow to as much as 50 billion baht with money from private investors, pension funds, insurers and sovereign wealth funds. It’s an attractive investment alternative, but more details and pricing are needed before deciding to invest in the fund, said Yingyong Nilasena, the Bangkok-based chief investment officer of Government Pension Fund, which oversees around $22 billion of assets.

PHILIPPINES
Infrastructure will be least vulnerable to the headwinds of a strengthening dollar and rising US interest rates, said Frederico Ocampo, chief investment officer at BDO Unibank, Inc. in Manila. Metro Pacific — which is involved in water, toll roads and electricity generation and distribution and is looking at bidding for airport projects — and Megawide Construction Corp. are among the best bets, he said. Metro Pacific is also the top infrastructure pick of Karen Hizon, an analyst at UBS Securities Philippines, Inc. in Manila. Some exposure should also go to construction company DMCI Holdings, Inc., cement firms will be a good play, while banks and property companies will also benefit, she said. Eduardo Francisco, president of BDO Capital & Investment Corp. in Manila, said his company was looking at structuring new debt instruments for infrastructure, but is waiting for rules to govern such issuance. The challenge for marketing the debt would be the absence of cash flow in the initial years of projects, he said.

MALAYSIA
Construction stocks will provide the biggest opportunity among shares in Malaysia this year, said Ang Kok Heng, chief investment officer at Phillip Capital Management Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur, whose Phillip Master Equity Growth Fund has beaten 94% of its peers over the last five years. He said he favors mid-cap stocks like George Kent Malaysia Bhd., Hock Seng Lee Bhd. and Kimlun Corp. as they have better return potential, especially when they win large contracts relative to their size. Some 96 billion ringgit ($22 billion) of new and ongoing infrastructure contracts will be awarded over 2017 and 2018, Loong Chee Wei, an analyst at Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur, wrote in a Jan. 16 note. Loong maintained an overweight call on Malaysia’s construction sector and his top buys are Gamuda Bhd., Sunway Construction Group Bhd., WCT Holdings Bhd. and Gabungan AQRS Bhd. — Bloomberg

Philippine builders are among investors’ top picks on prospects of accelerated government spending. A view of the Pasig City skyline — BW File Photo

In all humility

As a national pastime, putting down our country beyond the bounds of humility has become all too common. Is it an inferiority complex that automatically compares our country unfavorably with others? Don’t travelers always come home with stories of how things are much better in the countries visited (they have clean public toilets), even when their experiences are limited to sightseeing, not at all subjected to what citizens there undergo and the high cost of living?

Overseas workers even when employed (or unemployed) under dire conditions find their adopted homes more advanced in every way. Of course, being home and pampered in their infrequent visits somehow reins in the tendency for odious comparisons.

Self-deprecation in the form of making fun of oneself and any accomplishments, no matter how awesome, can be an endearing trait. Paradoxically, self-deprecatory humor work best when one is clearly triumphant. Winners of international competitions like beauty contests, computer game events, and billiard tournaments credit their triumphs to luck, prayers of the nation, and support of fans.

Even a fading boxer who previously got top dollar and won on a routine basis by knockouts credits an appetite for more games in the face of fading excitement to the desire to wave the flag, and bring the bout to his home country. (When did that start?) There may be no more competitive matches to be had or ardently awaited. But, never mind. Those who buy tickets or subscribe to pay-per-view may decide to sit the next ones out, even if there may still be somebody left out there willing to run around the ring avoiding physical contact with the former icon, and just waiting for the final bell to declare that he can now deposit his check.

Politicians use self-deprecation in the campaign trail to great advantage. But once in power, the language may change into a confrontational and threatening tone. Why abandon a winning strategy? Self-deprecation at this time can be refreshing — I can’t do this alone. Maybe I’ll start inviting her again.

A twisted version of self-deprecation is false humility. Anyone prefacing what he is about to say with the phrase “modesty aside” is about to launch into self-aggrandizing statements, trumpeting achievements by packaging them as modest — my winning this prestigious award against other contestants from forty other countries is testament to the ingenuity of the Filipino (ahem, you’re looking at him). It’s probably better to outsource this praise release and hire image consultants for the job. Nothing seems more off-putting than a windbag who puts modesty aside on a regular basis.

Is it only the obviously competent and unquestionably accomplished that can comfortably engage in self-deprecatory humor? Is the phrase, “in all humility” going to make a comeback without strains of self-flagellation?

The insecure and under-qualified may feel that making fun of himself may invite ready agreement. (Oh Sir, you have every right to be modest.) For self-deprecation to work as it should, a social compact is implicitly entered into between the speaker and his audience. Poking fun at oneself is premised on the desire of avoiding envy and malice, and putting people at ease who would otherwise be intimidated by the speaker’s power, intellect, or wealth — yes I used to take the bus to school. It was a good way to meet girls, although I didn’t meet any who were not asking for my ticket.

Self-deprecation has to do with humility, or more crassly, lowering people’s expectations. There is an invitation not to be taken seriously, even to be underrated. (Please I am not a threat to your standing in the organization.) An achievement is scaled down (I was just lucky) in order not to attract resentment and inciting a desire to see a fall from grace for the high and mighty.

Whom the gods wish to destroy they first make arrogant. Intentional depreciation of one’s assets is a way to deflect the lightning from Mount Olympus. Anyway, if nothing else, self-deprecation preempts the viciousness of critics who are only too willing to put down anyone standing on a pedestal. This is harder to do when he is already climbing down from it and laughing at himself as he takes off his socks… ready to jump into a shallow pool.

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

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Another round of high FiT due to expensive wind-solar power

Cheaper electricity and stable energy supply are among the important components to have fast and sustainable economic growth.

On Jan. 17, the Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC) sent a press release saying that “effective settlement spot prices (ESSPs) in the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) plunged to P2.28/kWH for the December 2016 billing period which is the lowest since January 2011. ESSPs refer to the average prices paid by wholesale customers for energy purchased from the spot market.” That is good news as various players using fossil fuel sources like coal, natural gas, and oil, are fiercely competing with each other in generating electricity. WESM was created by EPIRA of 2001.

On the same day, the Department of Energy (DoE) posted a “Request for comments on the draft Department Circular entitled ‘Declaring the launch of WESM in Mindanao’ (on Jan. 26, 2016) and providing for transition arrangements.” Another good news because finally, there will be a formal spot market for power producers and electric cooperatives that will guide a competitive and deregulated market, benefitting the consumers.

Last Dec. 23, 2016, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) posted a request for public comments until Dec. 30 regarding the petition of three wind developers — Trans-Asia Renewable Energy Corporation (TAREC), Alternergy Wind One Corporation (AWOC), and Petrowind Energy, Inc. (PWEI) — that their feed in tariff (FiT) or guaranteed price for 20 years of P7.40/kWh be raised to P7.93/kWh, citing various cost escalations. That was bad news because expensive electricity is never a virtue. I sent a letter to ERC Commissioner Salazar arguing that they say No to the petition.

And last Dec. 6, 2016, the ERC published in a newspaper a National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) petition asking for a FiT allowance (FiT-All) of 22.91 centavos/kWh starting January 2017. That’s also bad news because FiT payments by consumers keep rising fast. From an introductory price of only 4 centavos/kWh in 2015, became 12.40 centavos/kWh in 2016, and almost 23 centavos/kWh this year.

Now two factors will raise the FiT-All for 2017 beyond 23 centavos. (1) ERC will not be able to act on this by January or not even February 2017, that means there will be price underrecoveries that must be added to the original requested price. And (2) with low WESM prices the past few months — P3.19/kWh last September, P2.91/kWh last October, P2.54/kWh last November (data from Meralco), and the P2.28/kWh ESSP last December — this means that FiT-All will go up. This allowance is the difference between FiT rates (highest prices are solar of P10+/kWh this year due to price escalation, followed by wind, then biomass, cheapest is run of river hydro) and average WESM prices. Or FiT-ALL = FiT rates — WESM prices

Expensive electricity is the hallmark of renewable energy favoritism anywhere in the world.

Understand that in my previous columns, it was shown that the main beneficiaries of expensive electricity from renewables in the Philippines are not ordinary firms but huge companies: the Lopez group (EDC Burgos wind) and Ayala group (Northern Luzon UPC Caparispisan wind, and Northwind Bangui) who got P8.53/kWh FiT and combined revenues of about P4.3 billion in 2015 alone.

Let us check Germany’s renewables output. The chart below is for the last three months, Oct. 23, 2016 to Jan. 22, 2017.

Last Jan. 8, its total electricity consumption was 57.4 GW and here are the renewables output that day: solar 0.23 GW, onshore wind 1.53 GW, and offshore wind 0.39, or a total output of only 2.15 GW from these three renewables (see chart).


Click to enlarge

A total of only 2.1 GW was generated by solar-wind sources or only 3.7% of 57.4 GW power demand. If Germany relied solely on wind-solar, that would have meant massive, large-scale, and catastrophic blackouts. Germany of course was saved by the power plants that it wants to banish someday — fossil fuel sources like coal and natural gas plus nuke power, within Germany and from energy imports from its European neighbors — and which it kept running. So we did not hear or read such massive blackouts in Europe’s biggest economy.

Aside from expensive direct cost of wind and solar in Germany due to FiT, there is additional indirect cost of higher transmission cost. From a news report, “The Energiewende is running up against its limits” last Oct. 21, 2016 (http://energypost.eu/energiewende-running-limits/)

“German transmission system operator Tennet recently announced an 80% increase in its transmission fees because of the high construction costs of new power lines to accommodate renewable energy. A study of the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics found that by 2025 costs of the Energiewende could exceed €25,000 for an average four-person household.”

The Joint Congressional Power Commission should consider introducing a law in the future that will abolish the RE Act of 2008 (RA 9513). Penalizing the energy consumers to further enrich the favored and crony firms in renewable energy is wrong.

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers, a fellow of SEANET and Stratbase-ADRi.

minimalgovernment@gmail.com.

Let’s fix our trade statistics

There are many stories from the private sector about the unreliability of some export statistics. The latest was about the halving of banana exports in 2015 from 2014. Despite the drought, these numbers were not as credible as the players in Davao confirmed otherwise.

This brief discusses three cases — banana, pineapple, and rubber tires. The data, which will cover Philippine exports and buyers’ imports from the Philippines, is from the United Nations (UN) Trademap. The UN uses the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for Philippine transactions.

BANANA
The Philippines reportedly exported 1.22 million (M) tons ($440 million) in 2015, a massive fall from 7.93M tons ($1,137M) in 2014, and 3.27M tons ($963M) in 2013.

In 2015, the Philippines exported 898,000 tons to key country markets as compared to 2,020,000 tons bought by the main partners. It was also down 87% versus only six percent based on purchases by importing countries.

Export to Japan in 2014 was unbelievable at 5.35M tons. The 80,000 hectares of Cavendish areas in Mindanao could not produce that much yield (almost 100 tons per hectare)!

My hypothesis is that the PSA data were only for the first half of 2015.

Export and import data are bound to have some variations but a 20% to 25% difference appears suspect.

PINEAPPLES
A similar story can be told regarding large quantity differentials in 2015 between what the Philippines exported and what the key countries bought. As per Philippine data, exports fell 37% in 2015 over 2014. With respect to imports of main trading partners, shipments only fell by six percent.

RUBBER TIRES
The country exports nearly $300M a year of rubber tires. However, they are not reflected in Philippine export statistics. There is only one major tire exporter in the Philippines — Yokohama Rubber, located in Clark Economic Zone. Very likely, the PSA does not collect export and import data of locators in ecozones.

Even imports of crumb rubber were not reflected in Philippine statistics. In 2015, Indonesia and Thailand exported over 10,000 tons of crumb rubber ($14.5M). These did not appear in Philippine official data, either.

WHAT TO DO?
There is a need to fix our trade statistics. Accurate and timely data are crucial to making the right decisions. It will be good for PSA to keep an accurate record of export shipments from the ports and ecozones. If more personnel are needed to access Customs data, so be it.

Moreover, government needs to consider the views of the industry players on the export trends. This way, the country will have better reading of export performance.

The article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or the M.A.P.

Rolando T. Dy is the vice-chair of the M.A.P. AgriBusiness and Countryside Development Committee, and the executive director of the Center for Food and AgriBusiness of the University of Asia & the Pacific.

map@map.org.ph

rdyster@gmail.com

http://map.org.ph

It’s going to be a laughter-filled year

The Philippine Daily Inquirer called 2016 annus horribilis — a horrible year, although the high profile public officials provided much comic relief with their laughable utterances. That is why in my last column for the year I wished you all dear readers a laughter-filled 2017.

Well, indications are 2017 will indeed be laughter-filled as in the month of January alone the jesters — the old and the new — in the court of DU30 have already drawn much laughter with their ludicrous pronouncements. The new ones opened the year with statements that elicited from the public a reaction like “What was that?” or “Say again!”

On the very first working day of 2017, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno made this banal statement: “The candidate Duterte is different from President Duterte. You make campaign promises but when you see the data you realize it’s impossible to fulfill.” One didn’t have to study in the prestigious universities Syracuse and Johns Hopkins as Mr. Diokno did to know that.

The comment though reflects on the true character of the highly respected economist. He supported the candidacy of Mr. Duterte for president when he knew all along that what Mr. Duterte was promising during the campaign cannot be fulfilled. It raises the question of what the motive for his support is.

Immediately following was Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial dimwitted remark: “People are now afraid to light firecrackers because of the President. They have this impression that somehow they will get caught or they will be punished.” That observation was no more than an expression of sycophancy for the people had no reason to fear punishment for lighting firecrackers. As Presidential Spokesman Martin Andanar had explained, the President had deferred the signing of an executive order banning firecrackers because there are industries and laborers who would be adversely affected by the ban.

Then came the resident jesters of the Duterte administration.

On Jan. 4, Senate Committee on Justice Chair Richard Gordon said that he will not look into what Matobato says following the latter’s recent allegation that he personally saw President Duterte kill eight people when Duterte was still Davao City mayor. “Well, for me it’s finished, I will not look into it unless he will say something new, he himself discredits his own testimony. The law says you have to prove it, there should be evidence. He had every opportunity,” said Sen. Gordon. He added that he, a lawyer, “would be laughed at if he presented Matobato’s testimony in court.”

He is now laughed at as a lawyer precisely because of his sloppy handling of Matobato’s testimony. First of all it is not true that Matobato had every opportunity to provide evidence. As the Jan. 4 editorial of the Inquirer put it, Sen. Gordon “had abruptly terminated the hearings, in a fit of pique.”

The Inquirer also pointed out that the law also provides guidelines for assessing the credibility of a witness and the worth of his testimony. A person who speaks against his self-interest is more credible than someone who speaks only to protect his own interest; Matobato came forward to claim responsibility for at least 50 kills. He dismissed Matobato’s account of the killing of alleged Pakistani terrorist Sali Makdum because a Google search had revealed nothing about Makdum. But now, Sen. Gordon’s committee has recommended the filing of charges against Matobato precisely for the Makdum case. Sen. Gordon also ignored Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s own claim that he personally killed some criminals when he was mayor of Davao City.

Last week, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez expressed amazement at people talking about Martial Law. He urged the public to stop talking about Martial Law. “Let’s not talk about it,” he said.

Funny, he should ask the people to refrain from talking about it when it is his bosom buddy Digong who brings up the subject now and then.

As the Inquirer editorial of Jan. 18 said, President Duterte was “unprompted and unprovoked” when he said: “If I have to declare Martial Law, I will declare it, not because of invasion, insurrection, I will declare Martial Law to preserve my nation, period.”

Also last week, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay stated that “the public should know we are not sleeping on the job.” That was in reaction to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s statement that the Philippine government would be remiss in its duty to protect its national interest if it does not protest, question, and seek clarification from China on the presence of weapons in the Spratlys.

Not only does the public know that Sec. Yasay and company are not sleeping on the job, the public knows that they are wide awake but watching passively if not submissively what China is doing in the Spratlys.

But perhaps there is nothing more inane than what Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao uttered in the same week. “God gave the government the right to use capital punishment. Jesus Christ was even sentenced to death because the government called for it,” pontificated the Bible-quoting pastor when he pushed for the restoration of capital punishment.

Strange that he did not say crucifixion when asked what his preferred form of execution is. He said he would go for hanging, quipping, “We just have to kick the chair.” Sen. Francis Pangilinan cautioned the professional boxer against turning the death penalty into a laughing matter.

On the call of Speaker Alvarez last week for PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa to resign in the wake of the brutal murder of Korean Jee Ick-joo allegedly by police officers right in the backyard of Dir. Gen. Dela Rosa’s official residence, Bato said: “Do they think I’m enjoying my work? That’s too much. How cruel of them to say that I should resign.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former PNP chief himself and former superior of the beleaguered Bato, advised him to refocus his priorities, shun activities not related to work and start thinking PNP 24/7. He had gone to Las Vegas to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Jesse Vargas fight at a crucial stage of the war on drugs, and watched a concert of American singer-songwriter Bryan Adams when public attention on the Jee kidnap-murder case was at its height. He had watched Philippine Basketball Association games, too.

Last Christmas, he donned the Santa Clause garb and distributed gifts to orphans of victims of the drug war, to compensate for the loss of their father. What a display of insensitivity.

The other resident jesters Justice Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre, Sen. Tito Sotto, and Cong. Reynaldo Umali have also let out laughable statements but space limitation prevents me from quoting them all.

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a member of Manindigan! a cause-oriented group of businessmen, professionals, and academics.

oplagman@yahoo.com

Group of aggrieved plan holders revives estafa class suit vs Lifetime Plans

BY ABOUT 450 plan holders on Monday went to the Department of Justice (DoJ) to file a total of more than 1,600 counts of syndicated estafa against executives of Abundance Providers and Entrepreneurs Corp. (APEC) — then Pacific Plans, Inc. (PPI) — led by businessman Alfonso Yuchengco.

840 counts of “syndicated estafa by means of deceit” and 840 counts of “syndicated estafa by abuse of confidence were filed against Mr. Yuchencgo, Alfonso Yuchengco III, Ambrosio Padilla, George Dee, Helen Dee, Paul Sycip, and 30 others by disenfranchised plan holders.

Lawyer Joshua Santiago who stands counsel for the group said: “We are focusing all our efforts to delivering this case to court and getting the justice the disenfranchised plan holders deserve.”

In a statement, the complainants, who declined to be named, recounted their grievances against the pre-need company. The group recalled: “In June 2004, PPI unilaterally transferred the assets and liabilities of its pension, memorial, and fixed-value educational plans to a new company, Lifetime Plans.” Two months later, GPL holdings bought Lifetime Plans’ stake in PPI. In 2009, Noel Oñante of Zest Air acquired PPI.

The group said that “they were only informed of the takeover through letters sent via mail,” adding that no explanation was given to them.

“Sometime in [2004], the Department of Finance (DoF), which has supervision over corporate regulators, called for a probe on the series of inter-company transactions, that eventually led to the sale of PPI. The company then had almost P17 billion in assets, nearly P3 billion in receivables from installment contracts, and 400,000 plan holders. Yet at the time of the sale, it claimed it had no resources to fund the claims,” the group stated.

The group also contested that in 2009, the company had “P591 million available as tuition assistance payments. Of the amount P250 million came from Yuchengco Group of Companies head Alfonso Yuchengco, and P341 million from Pacific Plans itself. None of the money was distributed to the plan holders.”

An earlier class suit against Mr. Yuchengcho and several others who served as part of the executive board of Pacific Plans. was dismissed by the DoJ on 2013, saying that the complainant “failed to prove that respondents committed any unlawful act or carry out transactions of soliciting funds from the public by way of investments in fraudulent scheme.” — Kristine Joy V. Patag

North Cotabato encounter spurs call for bilateral cease-fire

DAVAO CITY — The clash between the New People’s Army and the military during the weekend in Makilala, North Cotabato has pushed the Philippine government to convince the National Democratic Front (NDF) to implement a bilateral cease-fire agreement.

In a statement released Monday, President Assistant on the Peace Process Jesus G. Dureza said it is important to implement a bilateral cease-fire as there will be a mechanism that will find ways to resolve these issues.

“In a bilateral cease-fire, independent monitors conduct their own independent investigations, submit reports with possible sanctions imposed, if warranted,” said Mr. Dureza, using as an example a similar mechanism being employed in the peace negotiations between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government.

In the incident, he added, both the rebels and the soldiers “have their own reports and accusations favorable to their own version and interest or propaganda line.”

The NDF and the government have resumed peace talks since January 19 in Rome, Italy with the bilateral cease-fire agreement as among the issues to be tackled.

In its press statement, the rebels claimed that one of their members and eight soldiers were killed. The military on the other hand had no casualties, according to a press statement by the 10th Infantry Division.

The rebels, in the statement signed by Southern Mindanao spokesperson Rigoberto F. Sanchez, claimed that since the government implementation of the unilateral cease-fire in August, soldiers of the 39th Infantry Battalion, in the pretext of its peace and development outreach program, have “continued to mobilize…troops and paramilitaries in various forms.”

They added that the soldiers even killed civilians in Arakan Valley on Nov. 22, prompting an evacuation.

The military, on the other hand, claimed the encounter was the result of a campaign to run after those who have been extorting local businesses in the area.

“Several extortion letters signed by a certain Ricardo Fermiza, spokesman of Guerilla 51, Davao del Sur-North Cotabato Operation Command of the NPA, Southern Mindanao Region were also recovered (from the encounter site),” said a press statement from the command.

On the allegation that the military lost eight of its soldiers in the encounter, the statement said it is inviting the public to scrutinize the records of the Makilala MPS (Municipal Police Station), interview the people around the encounter site and check on all hospitals and funeral parlors in Regions 11 and 12 to determine who is telling the truth.”

Duterte on Trump: ‘Gago din’

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte in his freewheeling remarks as he took part in his police chief’s birthday celebration last Saturday recalled anew his Dec. 2, 2016 phone call with US President Donald J. Trump, describing the American president as “gago din (a fool as well)” but “hindi bugoy” (not mischievous).

Mr. Duterte, who had recently shifted from his anti-American stance upon the victory of the also tough-talking Republican leader, said that like him, Mr. Trump is concerned about his country’s drug problem and will also kill narco-traffickers.

“O tingnan mo sa inaugural speech niya, he will stop drugs, gago din. Papatayin ka talaga niyan. You know, si Trump, huwag kang magpa-kumpiyansa, parang bugoy. Pero hindi iyan maging billionaire kung talagang bugoy ang utak niyan (Oh, listen to his inaugural speech — he will stop drugs — a fool like me. Trump could really kill you. You know, with Trump, you can’t be too confident, he’s mischievous. But he would not become a billionaire if he does have the brain of a mischievous person),” Mr. Duterte said.

‘THEY’RE FLOODING MY COUNTRY’
In the same impromptu speech, Mr. Duterte, still recollecting his brief chat with Mr. Trump, also said that the newly inaugurated American president complained to him about illegal drugs “flooding” the US and the “bad fix” between the Philippines and the US State Department.

“Tapos pagdating si Trump, tinawagan ko. ‘Mr. President, this is President Duterte. I am privileged to congratulate you.’ ‘Oh, yes. I heard that we have a bad fix with the United States Department.’ ‘Yes, Mr. President. I’m sorry but it’s just a matter of principle, nothing more.’ ‘Yeah, this guy, you know, the boundary of, [censored], you know, they are flooding my country,’” Mr. Duterte said as he feigned the US leader’s accent.

Mr. Duterte had been critical of the US and its then outgoing president, Barack Obama, who had expressed human rights concerns over the Philippine government’s war on illegal drugs.

But since the Republican leader’s victory in the US presidential election, Mr. Duterte has changed his stance with remarks aimed at reaching out to Mr. Trump.

In October, he appointed Jose E.B. Antonio, the chief executive and controlling shareholder of Philippine-listed Century Properties Group, Inc., as a special government envoy to the US.

Century Properties, the company behind the $150-million tower that’s set to open next year, paid as much as $5 million to use the Trump name, in a licensing agreement that’s common for the American property mogul before he won the race for the White House.

In a divisive election campaign, the American tycoon-turned-politician drew sharp criticism for his protectionist as well as racist and sexist remarks, seen to be in response to the rising multiculturalism in the US.

Meanwhile, more than 5,000 have been killed in Mr. Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.

2 of 4 ethics complaints vs De Lima dismissed: Ethics Chairperson Sotto

SENATE COMMITTEE on Ethics Chair Vicente C. Sotto III on Monday said the committee has dismissed two of the four ethics complaints filed against Senator Leila M. de Lima, while the remaining two would be consolidated and submitted to her.

Senator Leila De Lima speaks during a womens forum at Miriam College in Quezon city last Octoebr 14, 2016. (Photo by Michael Varcas)

“After she receives the copies of the complaints, we will ask her to submit her reply within 15 days,” Mr. Sotto told reporters after the committee hearing.

During the hearing, the ethics complaints filed by lawyers Ronillo Pulmano and Abelardo de Jesus were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, given that the events pertained to happened during Ms. De Lima’s term as justice secretary.

On the other hand, the ethics complaints filed by the House of Representatives and the supplemental complaint of Mr. De Jesus would fall under the Senate’s jurisdiction, anchored on Article 50 of the Revised Penal Code: Disobedience to summons issued by the National Assembly, its committees or subcommittees, by the Constitutional Commissions, its committees, subcommittees or divisions.

“Whether or not a full blown hearing is necessary or will we accept her explanation, it depends,” Mr. Sotto said.

Should there be a need for another hearing, Mr. Sotto said this would be public.

“Almost always I will conduct the hearing publicly,” Mr. Sotto said. “I don’t ever want to be charged that we will not be impartial.”

Sought for comment, Ms. De Lima told reporters before the plenary yesterday: “I will just wait for the notice from the ethics committee.”

Ms. De Lima is currently facing charges at the Quezon City metropolitan trial court for alleged violation of Article 150 of the RPC for advising her former aide and alleged bagman Ronnie P. Dayan against attending the House inquiry on the drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison. She has also complaints before the Department of Justice. — Lucia Edna P. de Guzman

AFP

Senators find holes in probe on alleged bribery by Jack Lam

THE SENATE started yesterday its probe on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) bribery scandal, in which two former associate commissioners and the Secretary of Justice himself were alleged to have been bribed by casino mogul Jack Lam for the release of Chinese nationals illegally employed in his establishment.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II, BI Commissioner Jaime H. Morente, former BI Associate Commissioners Michael B. Robles and Al C. Argosino, and former BI Executive Assistant Charles T. Calima, Jr. attended as resource persons, as well as representatives of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) and establishments City of Dreams and Shangri-La the Fort.

Retired police senior superintendent Wenceslao “Wally” A. Sombero, who allegedly tried to bribe Messrs. Aguirre, Argosino and Robles, was likewise invited but according to his counsel is currently in Singapore for a medical procedure. The government issued a lookout order on Mr. Sombero on Dec. 16 2016 but only listed his name as “Wally Sombero.”

Mr. Aguirre testified to his meeting with Mr. Lam at the Shangri-La, Bonifacio Global City on Nov. 26 with two interpreters and Mr. Sombero.

“Mr. Sombero called me and asked for a meeting, he told me that Mr. Jack Lam wanted to meet me in order to address the problem of the arraigned and the grievances of all those detained,” Mr. Aguirre told the committee, pertaining to the 1,316 Chinese nationals working without permit at Mr. Lam’s Fontana leisure park. “So I agreed to meet him [on] Nov. 26 at the BGC Shangri-la.”

“Associate Commissioner Al Argosino asked me if he can join us and I agreed.”

He met Mr. Lam, his two interpreters, and Mr. Sombero in a room that they rented as an event by the San Beda College of which he and President Rodrigo R. Duterte are alumni would be conducted in the same hotel that night. Their meeting ended at 5:00 p.m.

Mr. Aguirre said that before he left the room, Mr. Sombero told him: “Matagal nang walang nag-aalaga kay Jack Lam. Pwede bang ang Secretary of Justice ang maging ninong ni Jack Lam (It’s been a long time since someone took care of Jack Lam. Can the Secretary of the Justice be the godfather/protector of Jack Lam)?”

“I knew what he meant by that, that he was trying to bribe me,” Mr. Aguirre added. “I rejected it.”

Mr. Argosino for his part said: “It was my first time at the City of Dreams, I went there because I wanted to help the arrested Chinese citizens.”

“I arrived there early at 9:30 p.m. and then I told Atty. Robles that I was there.” Mr. Robles arrived after him at Erwin’s Gastrobar. At around 10:45 p.m. Mr. Sombero met with them.

“We talked for a while, then he suddenly left us and at around 11:45 he arrived with two bags,” said the former associate commissioner. He also recalled Mr. Sombero leaving them and returning with three bags at 5:00 a.m.

Messrs. Robles and Argosino took the bags home with them, which contained the alleged P50 million they were bribed with. The two men claimed they took the money as evidence of bribery.

Mr. Calima relayed his side of the story and how he had reported to Mr. Morente that he had returned the P18 million that was allegedly his cut in the P50 million Lam bribe.

The BI intelligence chief had already filed raps against Messrs. Argosino and Robles, alleging that they had extorted money from Mr. Sombero.

“On Nov. 30, Wally reported to me on a extortion activity and he would set up an entrapment operation,” Mr. Calima said. “He briefed me on the P50-million transaction.”

“[What happened] was a part of our counter-intelligence measures,” the sacked BI intelligence officer said.

Mr. Calima did not report the information to Mr. Aguirre, and said: “I am under Gen. Morente, not directly under the Secretary of Justice.”

In an ambush interview after the proceedings, Senate blue ribbon committee chair Richard J. Gordon told reporters that he had already thought of examples of legislation that could be developed from these inquiries.

“We will look at the protocolar duties of the BI, second there should be an increase of manpower in the bureau especially because of this influx of Chinese tourists, it seems that we were lax since these tourists became illegally employed laborers,” Mr. Gordon said.

He added that Mr. Aguirre should return to fill in the gaps between testimonies and to further explain his side.

Senator Leila M. de Lima, in a separate interview, told reporters that it’s too early to tell who among the resource persons are telling the truth.

“We still have plenty to ask them, so it would be premature to say who among them are telling the truth,” she said.

She found the meeting between Messrs. Aguirre, Argosino, Sombero and Lam at the Shangri-La hotel questionable. “The Secretary of Justice, and officials at the DoJ and BI shouldn’t be talking to people facing cases. If they’re really determined to remedy the problem of the 1,316 Chinese nationals under their custody, they should have met at the BI [office].”

Senator Antonio F. Trillaines IV said it was clear that Mr. Aguirre and the other BI officials were conducting a shakedown operation against Mr. Lam.

“No matter how much Sec. Aguirre tries to spin his story, why would he even meet with Mr. Lam in the first place,” Mr. Trillanes told reporters. “It’s a clear shakedown operation that just happened to be exposed.”

“On the part of Messrs. Sombero and Lam, why would they waste P50 million if they weren’t confident with the conversation they had with the Justice Secretary at Shangri-la,” he added.

Mr. Trillanes hinted that more witnesses could be invited for the subsequent inquiries.

“There are a lot of witnesses approaching us, we’re currently verifying the information they give us,” Mr. Trillanes said. “We’re still making sure that they’re credible that’s why we’re still not saying who they are.”

For his part, Senate committee on labor chair Joel T. Villanueva is considering filing contempt charges against Mr. Argosino for not disclosing that he had already received P50 million from Mr. Lam when he was invited as a resource person during the probe on the presence of illegal foreign workers, particularly in Fontana, on Dec. 11.

“I would like to manifest my absolute disgust at what he did and we are contemplating and exploring our options, such as considering filing contempt charges against him,” Mr. Villanueva said in his opening statement for the inquiry. “This representation believes that he is liable of perjury for having provided false statements through withholding information from the Senate.”

The next inquiry is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 7.

A subpoena was issued for Mr. Sombero to attend the inquiry, while the Senate will look into its records for the inquiry conducted by the Senate committee on justice on Mr. Lam in 2008.

Messrs. Robles, Argosino, Calima, Morente, Aguirre and Sombero were ordered to submit their affidavits for clarity of narrative and details.

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