THE Filipinas Under-17 booters are in for an acid test in their AFC Women’s U-17 Asian Cup debut with two former champions and the host standing their way.
During Thursday’s official draw in Malaysia, the league first-timers drew home squad Indonesia and powerhouses North Korea and South Korea in Group A of the Continental meet set May 6 to 19 in Bali.
North Korea has won the biennial tournament three times (2007, 2015 and 2017) and placed second to Japan in the last staging in 2019 when it was played as a U-16 tournament. Its Southern counterparts, meanwhile, triumphed in 2009. Meanwhile, it will be the Indonesians’ second time after the 2005 edition.
The Young Filipinas must finish in the Top 2 of the group to advance to the knockout semifinals against the best and second-ranked teams from an even tougher Group B.
Battling it out for the two semifinals slots in the other bracket are four-time winner and defending champion Japan, China, Australia and Thailand.
The champion, second placer and third placer of the U-17 WAC will then proceed to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in October in the Dominican Republic. — Olmin Leyba
To contend that Luka Doncic was extremely frustrated in the aftermath of the Mavericks’ loss to the Pacers would be to understate the obvious. Even as he had just put up another masterclass in offense (a fourth straight triple-double that gave him 39, 10, and 11 through 43 minutes of exposure), he came nowhere close to lifting the hosts out of the doldrums. And as he looked back at the whopping 17-point setback, he could not help but highlight their deficiencies. “We have to play better defense” was his response, in various versions, to one query after another on the state of their game.
The irony, of course, is that the Mavericks seemed to have gotten their groove heading into, and shortly after, the All-Star break. Proud owners of a seven-match winning streak, they saw themselves as bona fide contenders in the mega-competitive West. They were provisionally in line to claim homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and their status conjured images of a repeat of their sterling run to the Conference Finals in 2022. The pairing of foundational piece Doncic with fellow marquee name Kyrie Irving appeared to be finally hitting its stride, to the relief of fans who did not want to see a second consecutive wasted season.
And then came the swoon — suddenly, unexpectedly, shockingly. Their deflated effort against the Pacers led to their fifth setback in six outings. And the fact that Doncic was all but invincible with the ball in his hands throughout served only to exacerbate the frustration. What the heck else can they do if they’re already playing to their strengths? Under the circumstances, he’s right, to be sure. If they are to live up to expectations, they would have to work on their weaknesses, starting with, as he pointed out, their defense.
Make no mistake. Doncic is not without blame. All too often, he lingers or complains to the referees after a failed possession instead of running back to fulfill his designated role in collective coverages. All too often, he gives teammates deathly stares if he thinks they made a mistake or did something not to his liking. And, if nothing else, the dichotomy can be grating. Everybody wants to win and everybody contributes, and there can be no discounting the value of leading by example. He’s clearly not doing so when he keeps on singling out the specks in others’ eyes and not seeing those in his.
Doncic is signed on until 2027, albeit with a player option in the last year. If the Mavericks continue their brushes with mediocrity, there is nothing to prevent him from bolting for new, more desirable digs. Which is why they would do well to right the ship, and sooner rather than later. There’s a lot more at stake than just the present. And in the era of player empowerment, there’s no question that he will explore all his options — and decides on a future that suits him best.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
CHESS PIECES are seen in front of displayed China and Taiwan’s flags in this illustration taken Jan. 25, 2022. — REUTERS
TAIPEI — China has stepped up gray-zone warfare against Taiwan, aiming to make the areas around the democratic island “saturated” with balloons, drones and civilian boats, a Taiwan defense ministry report said on Thursday.
Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, has complained in recent years that China has been using so-called gray-zone warfare, which wields irregular tactics to exhaust a foe without resorting to open combat.
In a report sent to parliament, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, the ministry said Beijing has launched “multi-front saturated gray-zone” tactics to harass Taiwan, including increased patrols of ships and planes.
China has attempted to “increase burdens of our naval and air forces and to obscure the existence of the median line in the strait,” the report said, referring to an unofficial border between the two sides, which China’s forces have began regularly crossing in recent years.
It added China has also incorporated research and militia vessels in a move to “disguise military activities with civilians.”
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to request for comment.
To counter the Chinese threats, the ministry said it was working on measures to “preserve” its troops in the event of a war by boosting the resilience of its infrastructure and running drills to ensure Taiwan forces survive in a prolonged conflict. It also said it was drawing lessons from the war in Ukraine and the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
The ministry said it is stockpiling weapons and fuel to endure a prolonged war with China.
In a conflict, China will try to speedily seize Taiwan and prevent external intervention, the ministry added. To complicate that, the island is working to diversify its command systems and incorporate more mobile and long-range weapons, as well as artificial intelligence, while boosting “connections” with democratic allies, including the United States. The report did not elaborate on what those steps entailed.
China said this week it would boost its defense spending by 7.2% this year, fuelling a military budget that has more than doubled under President Xi Jinping’s 11 years in office as Beijing hardens its stance on Taiwan.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of parliament, Taiwan Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng said Taipei would not join an arms race with Beijing because it was an “indisputable fact” that China’s military is more powerful than Taiwan’s.
“The only thing we can do is to boost every aspect of our training,” he said.
Taiwan Defense Ministry this week said it would this year increase the number of missile drills and begin night-time exercises for pilots.
Beijing last month begun regular coast guard patrols around the Taiwan-controled Kinmen islands, which hug the Chinese coast, after two Chinese fishermen died trying to flee Taiwan’s coast guard. — Reuters
LONDON — British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said he plans an extra tax on vaping products from October 2026 to make the habit more expensive and deter non-smokers from taking it up.
Mr. Hunt said the government would introduce a one-off increase in tobacco duty at the same time to maintain the financial incentive to choose vaping over smoking.
The duty, which would be introduced from October 2026, was intended to “discourage non-smokers from taking up vaping,” Mr. Hunt said in his budget speech to parliament on Wednesday, adding the government would consult on its design.
Given ever-stricter tobacco regulations and falling smoking rates in some markets, for tobacco giants like British American Tobacco (BATS) vapes potentially represent an increasingly important revenue stream.
Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett said the tax could benefit larger players such as BAT by making it harder for smaller players to compete.
“BAT, especially given its highly profitable broader cigarette business, can afford to swallow the tax and not adjust prices,” he said, whereas it could make smaller firms’ products unviable.
BAT’s shares were flat at 1451 GMT, while rival Imperial Brand’s were just over 1% higher.
BAT said it supports the introduction of a “low” excise tax on the nicotine-infused liquid in vapes to better control the market, but said a tax linked to nicotine content would be difficult to enforce.
“We encourage the government to implement a vape tax sooner than October 2026 to tackle the illicit market that is already prolific,” a BAT United Kingdom spokesperson added.
A sharp rise in vape use by non-smokers and young people has forced the British government — a relative proponent of vaping as a way to reduce the harms of smoking — to consider tougher controls.
Most vapes are subject to value-added tax at the standard 20% rate, but no extra levy is applied.
Maggie Rae, president of the Epidemiology & Public Health Section of the Royal Society of Medicine, said any tax must be carefully considered to ensure it does not undermine efforts to encourage smokers to quit. — Reuters
A woman sits in a cafe in Dandong, Liaoning province, China Dec. 22, 2018. — REUTERS
XIAN, China — Freelance copywriter Chai Wanrou thinks marriage is an unfair institution. Like many young women in China, she is part of a growing movement that envisions a future with no husband and no children, presenting the government with a challenge it could do without.
“Regardless of whether you’re extremely successful or just ordinary, women still make the biggest sacrifices at home,” the 28-year-old feminist said at a cafe in the northwestern city of Xian.
“Many who got married in previous generations, especially women, sacrificed themselves and their career development, and didn’t get the happy life they were promised. Living my own life well is difficult enough nowadays,” she told Reuters.
President Xi Jinping last year stressed the need to “cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing” as China’s population fell for a second consecutive year and new births reached historic lows.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang also vowed to “work towards a birth-friendly society” and boost childcare services in this year’s government work report.
The Communist Party views the nuclear family as the bedrock of social stability, with unmarried mothers stigmatized and largely denied benefits. But a growing number of educated women, facing unprecedented insecurity amid record youth unemployment and an economic downturn, are espousing “singleism” instead.
China’s single population aged over 15 hit a record 239 million in 2021, according to official data. Marriage registrations rebounded slightly last year due to a pandemic backlog, after reaching historic lows in 2022. A 2021 Communist Youth League survey of some 2,900 unmarried urban young people found that 44% of women do not plan to marry.
Marriage, however, is still regarded as a milestone of adulthood in China and the proportion of adults who never marry remains low. But in another sign of its declining popularity, many Chinese are delaying tying the knot, with the average age of first marriage rising to 28.67 in 2020 from 24.89 in 2010, according to census data.
In Shanghai, this figure reached 30.6 for men and 29.2 for women last year, according to city statistics.
“Feminist activism is basically not allowed (in China), but refusing marriage and childbirth can be said to be … a form of non-violent disobedience towards the patriarchal state,” said Lü Pin, a Chinese feminist activist based in the United States.
NO APOLOGIES After decades of improving women’s education levels, workforce participation and social mobility, Chinese authorities now face a dilemma as the same group of women have become increasingly resistant to their propaganda.
Long-term single lifestyles are gradually becoming more widespread in China, giving rise to online communities of mostly single women who seek solidarity from like-minded people.
Posts with the hashtags “No marriage, no children” from female influencers often in their thirties or forties on Xiaohongshu, China’s Instagram, regularly gain thousands of likes.
One anti-marriage forum on Douban, another social media platform, has 9,200 members, while another dedicated to “singleism” has 3,600 members who discuss collective retirement plans, among other topics.
Liao Yueyi, a 24-year-old unemployed graduate in the southern city of Nanning, recently declared to her mother that she “wakes up from nightmares about having children”.
“No marriage or kids is a decision I’ve made after deep consideration. I don’t owe anyone an apology, my parents have accepted it,” she posted on WeChat.
Instead, she has decided to “lie flat” – a Chinese expression that means doing just enough to get by – and save money for future travels.
“I think it’s okay to date or cohabit, but children are a huge asset investment with minimal returns,” she said, adding that she has discussed renting a house with some female friends when they all retire.
Many of the women interviewed cited a desire for self-exploration, disillusionment with patriarchal Chinese family dynamics and a lack of “enlightened” male partners as the main factors behind their decision to stay single and childless.
Gender equality also plays a role: all the women said it was difficult to find a man who valued their autonomy and believed in equal division of household labour.
“There’s an oversupply of highly educated women and not enough highly educated men,” said Xiaoling Shu, professor of sociology at the University of California, Davis. Decades of the one-child policy have led to 32.3 million more men than women in 2022, according to official data.
“College-educated women become stronger believers in advocating for their rights and status in society,” Shu said. “Well-educated women in search of supportive life partners find fewer suitable men who also endorse women’s rights.”
While not all the women interviewed identified as feminist or viewed themselves as deliberately defying the government, their actions reflect a broader trend of Chinese female empowerment expressed through personal choices.
And even though some analysts believe that the number of people who remain single for life will not grow exponentially in the future, delayed marriages and falling fertility are likely to pose a threat to China’s demographic goals.
“In the long run, women’s enthusiasm for marriage and childbirth will only continue to decrease,” said feminist Lü.
“I believe this is the most important long-term crisis that China will face.” — Reuters
SYDNEY – Tesla said on Thursday it is quitting Australia’s major auto lobby and resigning from its board, accusing the group of misleading consumers over the government’s proposed fuel efficiency standards and the potential impact on car prices.
In a letter addressed to Australia’s Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), Tesla said the country’s biggest auto industry body “has repeatedly made claims that are demonstrably false.”
“Tesla is also concerned that it is inappropriate for the FCAI to foreshadow or coordinate whether and how competitor brands implement price changes in response to environmental regulations,” the US electric vehicle market leader said.
Tesla said it has requested Australia’s competition regulator to investigate FCAI’s comments.
The FCAI, which includes top leaders of major car brands, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. Tesla said it would cease to be a member in June.
Until recently, Australia was the only developed country apart from Russia to either not have or be developing fuel efficiency standards.
The current centre-left Labor government, which won power in 2022, plans to develop a fuel efficiency model that aims to limit the average carbon emissions of new vehicles sold from next year.
That could prompt manufacturers to send more EVs to Australia and further boost adoption, putting the country in line with standards adopted in most other developed economies.
The FCAI on Wednesday said the government had opted to impose a fuel efficiency standard with “extremely aggressive targets and severe penalties to be effective on very short notice” from Jan. 1, 2025.
This could cause significant disruption for large sections of the industry, and result in fewer choices and higher prices for consumers, FCAI said.
The government has closed consultations on its preferred model and is aiming to introduce legislation later this year. – Reuters
BEIJING – China’s export and import growth in the January-February period beat forecasts, suggesting global trade is turning a corner in an encouraging signal for policymakers as they try to shore up a stuttering economic recovery.
China’s improved export data joins those of South Korea and Germany, and Taiwan, who all saw their shipments top expectations over the first two months of the year, with the Asian economies benefiting from a surge in demand for semiconductors.
Exports from the world’s second-biggest economy in the two months were 7.1% higher than a year before, customs data showed on Thursday, beating a Reuters a poll that expected an increase of 1.9%. Imports were up 3.5%, compared with a poll forecast for growth of 1.5%.
“The better-than-forecast data echoes a recovery in global trade driven by the electronics sector, but also benefits from a low base effect, as export growth in January-February 2023 was -6.8%,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The customs agency publishes combined January and February trade data to smooth out distortions caused by the shifting timing of the Lunar New Year, which this year fell in February.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday announced an ambitious 2024 economic growth target of around 5% and promised to transform the country’s development model, which is heavily reliant on exporting finished goods and industrial overcapacity.
China has been grappling with sub-par growth over the past year amid a property crisis and as consumers hold off spending, foreign firms divest, manufacturers struggle for buyers, and local governments contend with huge debt burdens.
Policymakers have pledged to roll out further measures to help shore up growth after the measures implemented since June had only a modest effect, but analysts caution Beijing’s fiscal capacity is now very limited and note Li’s address to the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress also failed to inspire investor confidence.
Many analysts worry that China may begin flirting with Japan-style stagnation later this decade unless policymakers take steps to reorient the economy towards household consumption and market-allocation of resources.
China’s trade surplus grew to $125.16 billion, compared with a forecast of $103.7 billion in the poll and $75.3 billion in December. – Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Filoli estate on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Woodside, California, U.S., Nov. 15, 2023. — REUTERS
BEIJING – The US is clinging to wrong perceptions of China and has yet to fulfill its “promises” despite some progress since presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met last November, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.
Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing, Wang said exchanges between both countries can only continue if both sides respect and recognize their differences.
“It has to be pointed out that the US side’s erroneous perception of China continues, and the promises it has made have not really been fulfilled,” Wang said at the National People’s Congress.
“The methods of suppressing China are constantly being renewed, and the list of unilateral sanctions is constantly being extended,” he said.
The “crimes” the US wanted to add to the list China had supposedly committed “have reached an unbelievable level,” Wang said.
Still, Mr. Biden had made it clear the US would not seek a new Cold War nor seek to change the Chinese system or back Taiwan’s independence, Wang said.
In an annual and wide-ranging discussion, Wang struck a relatively measured tone as he also covered relations with Russia and the Ukraine conflict, Europe, China’s stuttering economy and artificial intelligence.
Wang said China would submit a draft resolution on AI to the United Nations General Assembly, reflecting the need for both development and security.
“AI should always be under the control of human beings,” he said.
UNEASY DETENTE
Tensions between the two superpowers have slightly eased since Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi staged their landmark summit in San Francisco last November, but they remain in an uneasy detente ahead of the US election this year which could see Republican China hawk Donald Trump return to the White House.
Washington has repeatedly stated its desire to put a floor under the relationship after it spiraled to its worst in decades last year over issues including Taiwan, tech competition, trade and an alleged Chinese spy balloon shot down by the US off its east coast.
China alleges the US is trying to contain and suppress its high-tech development and industrial policy, while both militaries eye each other closely amid increased deployments across East Asia.
“So we urge the US to understand the historical development trend, objectively and rationally look at China’s development (and) actively and pragmatically carry out interactions with China.”
Beijing also faces ongoing geopolitical confrontations on multiple fronts, including with Europe on trade and the Ukraine war, Japan across a variety of issues, as well as the Philippines over the South China Sea, a regional hotbed of competing territorial claims.
Wang said China is willing to work with Russia to foster new drivers of cooperation and consolidate friendship.
China and Russia had declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 when Mr. Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two.
Wang also announced an expansion of its visa-free travel scheme, saying that China will offer visa-free travel to nationals from Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Australia, Belgium and Luxembourg from March 14.
China currently has a mutual visa waiver agreement with 22 countries, including most recently Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.
China has also unilaterally allowed visa-free entry for citizens from nations such as Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy for 15 days. Those five European nations have yet to reciprocate with a similar arrangement for Chinese citizens. – Reuters
LONDON – Ocean temperatures hit a record high in February, with the average global sea surface temperature at 21.06 degrees Celsius (69.91 degrees Fahrenheit), the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday.
February’s average sea surface temperature surpassed the previous record of 20.98 C (69.77 F) set in August 2023, in a dataset that goes back to 1979.
The concerning marine record arrived during what was also the hottest February on record, marking the ninth consecutive month with such a milestone for the respective month.
Marine scientists warned this week that a fourth global mass coral bleaching event is likely unfolding in the Southern Hemisphere, driven by warming waters, and could be the worst in the planet’s history.
Corals bleach under heat stress, expelling the colourful, helpful algae that live in their tissues, leaving behind a pale skeleton. This makes them vulnerable to starvation and disease, and many die. This can lead to the collapse of fragile reef ecosystems, with coastlines left unprotected from erosion and storms and fisheries falling short.
An El Nino climate pattern, borne out of warmer than usual surface waters in the Eastern Pacific, alongside human-caused climate change is fueling the extra heat.
“What is more surprising is that sea surface temperatures are at record levels over regions far away from the centre of the El Nino action, such as the tropical Atlantic and Indian Ocean,” said climate scientist Richard Allan of the University of Reading.
This, he said, pointed to the strong influence of rising greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.
While the global average sea surface temperature record excludes the polar oceans, things are in bad shape there, too.
Antarctic sea ice reached its annual minimum extent in February, registering its third lowest extent on record at 28% below average.
El Nino is now weakening in the equatorial Pacific, C3S said, but air temperatures over the oceans remain at an unusually high level. – Reuters
The water treatment plant of Apo Agua is powered by its own hydroelectric power plant, with AboitizPower’s Hedcor providing general management functions and support.
Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower) added to its synergistic partnerships with fellow Aboitiz-owned companies by helping operate the run-of-river hydroelectric power plant of a bulk water supply project in Davao City.
Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. (AIC) water subsidiary Apo Agua Infrastructura, Inc. (Apo Agua), along with partner and local service provider Davao City Water District (DCWD), recently inaugurated a bulk water supply project that has a daily water production capacity of 300 million liters. Through DCWD, the project benefits over one million Davaoeños within its service area.
Hedcor, a subsidiary of AboitizPower, will provide general management functions, and technical and asset management support to Apo Agua’s hydroelectric power plant that powers its water treatment facility. Hedcor has generated electricity from run-of-river hydropower systems for more than 45 years.
In fulfilling these functions, the energy firm’s National Operations Control Center — a digital command post that allows for the remote operation of faraway renewable energy facilities — will serve as the main controller of the power generation assets. Aside from providing strategic and operational guidance, the AboitizPower unit will also train Apo Agua’s personnel in these activities.
The latest addition of Apo Agua effectively builds on a growing list of projects that show the Aboitiz Group’s transformation to becoming the Philippines’ first Techglomerate. This Great Transformation involves leveraging the strengths of the legacy conglomerate and its growing cross-company synergies to deliver more value to stakeholders and help tech-up the Philippine economy.
“I’m proud to witness OneNewAboitiz’s seamless collaboration making a positive impact on communities. It’s heartening to see the Aboitiz Group unite as stewards of sustainable development. This initiative reflects our push for innovation and uplifting lives across the Philippines. These moments reaffirm our belief in the power of synergy to create meaningful change,” said Aboitiz Group President and CEO Sabin Aboitiz.
“The Great Transformation challenges us to be the best version of ourselves by being purpose-driven, synergistic, and innovative. It aligns with AboitizPower’s purpose of ‘Transforming Energy for a Better World,’ generating shared value for our stakeholders within and outside the Aboitiz Group, our host communities, and the country,” added AboitizPower President & CEO Emmanuel Rubio.
Powering economic growth drivers
1 of 3
The power demand from the Economic Estates of Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. in Batangas and Cebu are served by AboitizPower’s Enerzone Group.
The power demand from the Economic Estates of Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. in Batangas and Cebu are served by AboitizPower’s Enerzone Group.
The power demand from the Economic Estates of Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. in Batangas and Cebu are served by AboitizPower’s Enerzone Group.
Aside from operating Apo Agua’s hydro power plant, AboitizPower has also been generating electricity to power Economic Estates by AIC, particularly LIMA Estate in Lipa — Malvar, Batangas; Mactan Economic Zone 2 Estate in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu; and West Cebu Estate in Balamban, Cebu.
The 826-hectare LIMA Estate is considered to be the largest privately-owned industrial park in the Philippines. It contains about 66,000 employees, 177 locators, 167 retail stores and restaurants, a 136-room 4-star hotel, a transportation hub, and over 4,000 households.
It is envisioned to be the next leading mixed-use economic center for CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), with BPOs, dormitories, hotels, schools, hospitals, churches, and other institutions.
Currently, some facilities in LIMA Estate are powered through retail electricity supply (RES) contracts with AboitizPower, while most are serviced by Lima Enerzone Corporation, an AboitizPower distribution utility.
AboitizPower Distributed Energy, Inc. and AIC have also installed 1.5-megawatt peak solar panels on the roofs of The Outlets, a 9,100-square-meter shopping outlet inside the LIMA Estate. This is estimated to offset 31,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Meanwhile, the 63-hectare Mactan Economic Zone 2 Estate is a mixed-use development hosting 14,000 employees from 46 locators; 70 retail stores, services and restaurants; 18 office spaces; and a transportation hub.
Operated in partnership with the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority, it offers future development areas for BPOs, dormitories, and hotel buildings.
The electricity demand of Mactan Economic Zone 2 is serviced by AboitizPower utility provider Mactan Enerzone Corporation. Some locators have opted to choose their supplier via either RES contracts or the Green Energy Option Program or GEOP.
The 540-hectare West Cebu Estate is a mixed-use development anchored by a 283-hectare, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)-registered zone tagged as “the Shipbuilding Capital of the Philippines.”
It hosts 12 locators from medium to heavy industries, employing 14,000 skilled workers. The township has complementary residential, commercial, and institutional components, with future development eyed for commercial centers, dormitories, and residential communities.
The electricity needs of West Cebu Estate are met by AboitizPower distribution utility Balamban Enerzone Corporation. It also services contestable industrial customers.
All three economic zones are registered under the PEZA. Through these projects, AIC, the infrastructure arm of the Aboitiz Group, continues to champion smart and sustainable infrastructure solutions across the country that enable businesses and uplift communities.
The LIMA Estate in Lipa — Malvar, Batangas is considered to be the largest privately-owned industrial park in the Philippines.
Promoting a circular economy and resilient infrastructures
Republic Cement, an Aboitiz company, is an offtaker of fly ash from AboitizPower’s 340-megawatt Therma Visayas power plant in Toledo City, Cebu, enabling the repurposing and upcycling of what is otherwise considered a waste product.
Fly ash, which is a byproduct of coal-fired power generation, is used as a cement enhancing additive that reduces the need for clinker, a binder in cement products. Since clinker accounts for most of cement production’s carbon emissions and costs, replacing a proportion of it with fly ash reduces its environmental impact and lowers its production cost. Fly ash is estimated to be four times cheaper than clinker.
According to the Global Cement and Concrete Association, using fly ash as a supplementary cementitious material results in higher ultimate strengths, reduces the risk of cracking, decreases the permeability of concrete, enables higher resistance to chemically aggressive environments, and improves the workability of concrete, which means using less water during production. Overall, fly ash concrete is likely to be more durable over time.
The truck of Republic Cement, one of the largest cement companies in the Philippines, delivers fly ash from AboitizPower’s Therma Visayas, Inc. to be mixed with other components for the creation of cement.
In 2023, Republic Cement hauled over 1,600 metric tons of fly ash per month, greatly benefiting its cement production while championing the idea of a circular economy.
In the realm of construction, AboitizPower has also engaged with Aboitiz Construction, Inc. (ACI), the construction arm of the Aboitiz Group involved in heavy industries, light industries, infrastructure, and industrial maintenance.
Last year, ACI installed 16,000 cubic meters of scaffolding outside the boiler of both units of the 300-megawatt Therma South, Inc. power plant in Mindanao during its scheduled outage. It also replaced a unit sootblower lance tube in the 1,336-megawatt GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. power plant in Bataan also during its planned outage.
In the same year, the construction firm conducted a small soil investigation for Therma Power Visayas, Inc. in Naga City, Cebu.
These projects, albeit small, are part of AboitizPower’s larger efforts to maintain the quality and efficiency of its generation facilities.
As it nears its Great Transformation goals in 2025, AboitizPower looks to continuously build, sustain, and strengthen its expertise and synergies with the rest of the Aboitiz Group by then and in the years to come. It will persist in driving progress and prosperity, not just for itself and each respective Aboitiz company, but for people and the planet as well.
Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by enabling them to publish their stories directly on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.
Join us on Viber at https://bit.ly/3hv6bLA to get more updates and subscribe to BusinessWorld’s titles and get exclusive content through www.bworld-x.com.
A SELLER waits for customers at the Paco Public Market in Manila, Feb. 1, 2024. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ EDD GUMBAN
By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINE central bank governor on Wednesday said it is too early to cut benchmark interest rates absent an assurance that prices are really on a downtrend.
Even as February inflation stayed within the 2-4% target, the risk-adjusted forecast of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is still at 3.9%, BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said.
“It’s on the edge, so I can’t say that we’re going to ease soon,” he told a news briefing. “It’s unlikely that we will tighten some more. But we’ll see what the data say.”
The BSP faces a delicate balancing act to maintain price stability and support economic growth. Central banks all over the world have tightened monetary policy since 2022 to quell inflation.
Inflation accelerated to 3.4% in February from 2.8% in January, due to higher food and transport costs. However, it slowed from the 8.6% print a year ago.
This was the first time in five months that inflation quickened but marked the third straight month it settled within the BSP’s 2-4% target.
Mr. Remolona said the February data showed it is still “too soon to declare victory” over inflation.
“We seem to be on our way, but there’s not enough data to assure us that we will settle comfortably within our target range of 2-4%,” he said.
The BSP has kept its benchmark rate steady at a near 17-year high of 6.5% in February for a third straight meeting. The central bank has raised borrowing costs by 450 basis points (bps) from May 2022 to October 2023 to tame inflation.
Mr. Remolona noted that elevated rice prices and higher-than-expected minimum wages are still upside risks to the inflation outlook.
“People tend to notice rice prices more than other prices. It has an outsized effect on expectations, so we’re struggling with this. For now, we seem to be able to manage expectations, but rice is a big factor in that,” he said.
Rice was a major contributor to overall inflation and inflation of the bottom 30% income households in February, the statistics agency said on Tuesday.
Rice inflation quickened to 23.7% in February from 22.6% in January and 2.2% in the same month a year ago. It also marked the fastest print for rice inflation since the 24.6% recorded in February 2009.
Mr. Remolona said the Monetary Board will also keep a close eye on the proposed legislated wage hike at its next policy meeting on April 4.
“The main thing is still whether there are upside risks, supply-side shocks, whether there shall be more of them, whether it will cause second-round effects,” he said.
In a note, Nomura Global Markets Research said it sees rising upside risks to its inflation forecast of 3.2% for this year, “taking into account this early re-acceleration in February, which could persist at least through Q2, in part due to less favorable base effects.”
“Rice prices could remain elevated, given drought conditions — including in major exporter Thailand — which are taking place at a time when other countries have implemented protectionist policies (e.g., India’s export bans), while import demand elsewhere is also rising (e.g., from Indonesia) to support local supply conditions ahead of the holiday season,” it said.
The proposed legislated wage hike could also pose new upside risks, Nomura said.
“When combined with prospects of supply-side constraints potentially pushing headline inflation higher, faster wage growth could lead to greater second-round effects, in our view, and raise additional concerns for BSP,” it added.
The Senate last month approved its proposed P100 wage hike, while the House of Representatives is deliberating on separate measures to increase wages by P150 and P750. Congressmen are also studying a wage hike between P350 and P400.
“We believe the latest inflation outlook is therefore likely to add to BSP’s caution in starting the cutting cycle too early. We maintain our forecast for BSP to start cutting only by August, a few months after June, when our US team expects the first rate cut by the Fed,” Nomura said.
ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said that adjusting the key policy rate would have “little to no impact” on stopping inflation.
“This is due to Philippine inflation being a supply-side problem. As such, rice, as the main driver for inflation rate hikes, will have no ability to boost local rice stocks to help alleviate the situation,” Mr. Mapa said in a Viber message.
Pantheon Macroeconomics said the faster-than-expected February print prompted it to raise its average annual inflation forecast to 3.2% for 2024 from 2.8% previously.
“Our revised projection sees the headline rate rising further in March to 3.9%, just a touch under the 4.0% upper bound of the BSP’s target range, though easily still hot enough to keep the Board’s finger on the pause button at its meeting in April,” Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Emerging Asia Economist Miguel Chanco said.
Mr. Chanco said he still expects the BSP to cut policy rates by a total of 100 bps this year, but the first 25-bp cut will be done in June.
A loader dumps sand into a magnetized black sand mining equipment along the shoreline of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur in northern Philippines, May 6, 2013. — REUTERS
By Aaron Michael C. Sy, Reporter
THE FINANCE department is proposing a simplified fiscal regime for the Philippine mining industry that is seen to generate as much as P10 billion in additional revenues every year.
In a statement, the Department of Finance (DoF) said it is pushing for the Rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime, “which aims to simplify the tax system, ensure the government’s fair share in mining revenues, and establish good governance in the mining industry.”
The DoF said its proposal is simpler than House Bill (HB) No. 8937 as it adopts fewer tiers and rates for easier compliance and implementation. The House of Representatives approved HB 8937 on third and final reading in September 2023.
Under the DoF’s new proposal, large-scale metallic mining operations inside mineral reservations will still pay the government 5% of their gross output. This is higher than the 4% under the House bill.
Margin-based royalties on income from metallic operations will be imposed on those outside mineral reservation areas.
The DoF is proposing a margin-based royalty rate of 1.5-5% with only four tiers, unlike the House version that proposes 1-5% with eight tiers. For instance, miners with margins of 1% but not over 20% would be subject to a 1.5% rate.
“Compared to the eight-tier structure from HB 8937, four-tier makes it simpler for investors and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to compute the corresponding tax rates. Furthermore, the simplified DoF version will lessen incentives for the private sector to pursue aggressive accounting to avoid taxes,” the DoF said.
The DoF is also proposing to simplify the windfall profit tax to just four tiers, from 10 tiers under the House bill.
For example, miners with margins of 26% but not more than 45% will be subject to 1.5%, while those with margins of more than 75% will be imposed a 10% rate.
“Similarly, a four-tier, compared to the 10-tier structure in HB 8937, margin-based windfall profits tax rate ranging from 1.5% to 10% on income from mining operations is proposed in light of the sudden increases in the world prices of metal,” the DoF said.
Based on its new proposal, the DoF expects the “compromise” mining fiscal regime to generate an average of P10.23 billion a year from 2025 to 2028.
Broken down, the government expects to generate an annual average of P5.55 billion from royalty tax on miners inside mineral reservations, P1.31 billion from royalty tax on miners outside mineral reservations, and P3.37 billion from the windfall profit tax.
“We began discussions to rationalize our country’s mining fiscal regime in 2012, yet the Philippines’ mining potential remains untapped. With this proposal, the nation will finally receive its rightful share of mining revenues to fund the country’s development goals,” Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said in a statement.
Mining companies in the country currently pay corporate income tax, excise tax, royalty, local business tax, real property tax, and fees to indigenous communities.
The Rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime is part of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council’s (LEDAC) list of 20 priority measures and is one of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s priority bills.
“This is just the first step. We can be a major player in this global economy in terms of mineral production. We just have to realize it with the right policies,” Finance Assistant Secretary Karlo Fermin S. Adriano said.
Sought for comment, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (CoMP) Chairman Michael T. Toledo said the proposed four-tier royalty rate will result in an increase in the annual effective tax rate to 60.6% from the 59.6% under HB 8937. This would be higher than those in Indonesia, Chile, Peru, South Africa, and Canada.
“The DoF proposal, therefore, will make the mining tax structure even more uncompetitive,” Mr. Toledo said in a Viber message.
The CoMP also proposes a four-tier regime, but one that starts at 1%. Mr. Toledo said this would make it easier for the BIR to implement without affecting the country’s competitiveness as a mining investment destination.
Meanwhile, Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said the DoF proposal could make the Philippines more attractive to mining investments.
“But it depends on how many firms can benefit from 1% versus 1.5% and whether they meet the minimum (income margin) to be entitled to it,” he said in a Viber message.
