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Epstein accuser says Prince Andrew groped her, documents show

WIKIPEDIA

NEW YORK — A woman who has said she was victimized by late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein said Britain’s Prince Andrew put his hand on her breast at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2001, according to court documents from a civil lawsuit unsealed on Wednesday.

The incident, which has been previously reported by other media outlets and Andrew has denied, was among the details described in an initial trove of previously redacted documents that otherwise revealed few new details about the extent of Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking activities.

More documents are expected to be unsealed or unredacted in the coming days.

Prince Andrew could not immediately be reached for comment.

Epstein socialized with Wall Street titans, royalty and celebrities before pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. He took his own life in 2019 at age 66 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Dozens of women have accused Epstein of forcing them to provide sexual services to him and his guests at his private Caribbean island and homes he owned in New York, Florida and New Mexico.

The names of more than 150 people mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, were kept under seal for years until a federal judge ruled last month that there was no legal justification to keep them private.

In a deposition, Ms. Giuffre said she had sex with several politicians and financial leaders.

Ms. Giuffre’s deposition named several prominent figures who have previously denied her allegations, including hedge-fund owner Glenn Dubin, billionaire US businessman Tom Pritzker and the late New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

She said she also had sex with other political leaders whose names she could not remember.

Mr. Dubin could not immediately reached for comment. A spokesperson for Mr. Pritzker said the businessman “continues to vehemently deny” the allegation.

Sigrid McCawley, Ms. Giuffre’s lawyer, said some questions about who enabled Epstein have still not been answered.

“The unsealing of these documents gets us closer to that goal,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.

In a separate deposition, Epstein accuser Johanna Sjoberg said Prince Andrew put his hand on her breast to pose for a photo with Epstein, Ms. Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend.

Ms. Sjoberg said the photo also included a puppet that said “Prince Andrew” on it.

This allegation was previously reported by the Mirror in 2020.

Prince Andrew has been stripped of most of his royal titles due to his association with Epstein.

He settled a civil lawsuit with Giuffre in 2022 for an undisclosed sum, and has denied wrongdoing.

The list stems from a long-settled defamation lawsuit that Giuffre filed against Maxwell.

Ms. Maxwell, the daughter of British media mogul Robert Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for recruiting underage girls for Epstein. She is appealing her conviction.

Ms. Giuffre accused Maxwell of recruiting her when she was underage for Epstein to abuse.

US District Judge Loretta Preska, who is overseeing the case, ruled that some names would remain confidential, including those of people who were underage when Epstein abused them. — Reuters

Hezbollah, Israel appear to signal no desire for spread of Gaza war

TAYLOR BRANDON-UNSPLASH

BEIRUT/CAIRO/GAZA — Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Israeli army made statements suggesting the two avowed enemies wanted to avoid risking the further spread of war beyond the Gaza Strip after a drone strike killed a Palestinian Hamas deputy leader in Beirut.

In a speech in Beirut on Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed that his powerful Iran-backed Shi’ite militia “cannot be silent” following the killing of Hamas deputy Saleh al-Arouri on Tuesday.

Mr. Nasrallah said his heavily armed forces would fight to the finish if Israel chose to extend the war to Lebanon, but he made no concrete threats to act against Israel in support of Hamas, Hezbollah’s ally also backed by Iran.

Israel neither confirmed nor denied assassinating Mr. Arouri but has promised to annihilate Hamas, which rules Gaza, following the group’s Oct. 7 cross-border assault in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and some 240 abducted.

Israel launched a ground and aerial blitz of Gaza in response, and the total recorded Palestinian death toll had reached 22,313 by Wednesday — almost 1% of its 2.3 million population, the Gaza health ministry said.

Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, when asked what Israel was doing to prepare for a potential Hezbollah response, told a reporter: “I won’t respond to what you just mentioned. We are focused on the fight against Hamas.”

White House spokesperson John Kirby, asked about Mr. Nasrallah’s speech, told reporters: “We haven’t seen Hezbollah jump in with both feet to come to Hamas’ aid and assistance.”

Another US official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, suggested neither Hezbollah nor Israel wanted a war.

“From everything that we can tell, there is no clear desire for Hezbollah to go to war with Israel and vice versa,” said the official.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will depart on Thursday for the Middle East, including a stop in Israel, as the United States continues diplomatic consultations on the Israel-Gaza conflict, a senior US official said on Wednesday.

The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said US diplomatic envoy Amos Hochstein will also travel to Israel to work to soothe tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

Arouri’s killing was a further sign of the potential the nearly three-month-old war might spread well beyond Gaza, drawing in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Hezbollah forces on the Lebanon-Israel border and Red Sea shipping lanes.

Mr. Arouri, 57, who lived in Beirut, was the first senior Hamas political leader to be assassinated outside Palestinian territories since Israel began its offensive against the Palestinian Islamist group following the Oct. 7 assault.

Hezbollah has been embroiled in nearly daily exchanges of shelling with Israel across Lebanon’s southern border since the Gaza war began. On Wednesday, a local Hezbollah official and three other members were killed in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, two security sources told Reuters.

More than 120 Hezbollah fighters and two dozen civilians have been killed on Lebanese territory, as well as at least nine Israeli soldiers in Israel.

Mr. Nasrallah said there would be “no ceilings” and “no rules” to Hezbollah’s fighting if Israel launched a full war on Lebanon.

Mr. Arouri’s death removes a big name from Israel’s most-wanted list of top Islamist foes, and could drive Hamas’ exiled leaders deeper into hiding, hampering efforts to negotiate further Gaza ceasefires and hostage releases.

Israel had long accused him of orchestrating attacks on its citizens. But a Hamas official said he was also “at the heart of negotiations” conducted by Qatar and Egypt over the outcome of the Gaza war and the release of Hamas-held Israeli hostages.

Mr. Nasrallah spoke to commemorate four years since the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards top commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Iraq.

Two explosions on Wednesday during a memorial ceremony at a cemetery in southeastern Iran where Soleimani is buried killed nearly 100 people, at a time of high tension between arch-enemies Iran and Israel.

AERIAL, GROUND BLITZ
Israeli forces meanwhile kept up their aerial and ground blitz against Hamas militants, targeting the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis and Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Israeli bombardments have flattened much of the densely populated enclave, wreaking a humanitarian disaster. Most Gazans have been left homeless, crammed into shrinking areas in hope of rudimentary shelter, with food shortages threatening famine.

The Israeli military says it tries to avoid harm to civilians and blames Hamas for embedding fighters within residential areas, a charge the group denies.

The Israeli military said the number of its soldiers killed since its first ground incursion on Oct. 20 had reached 177. — Reuters

Russian hackers were inside Ukraine telecoms giant for months — cyber spy chief

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LONDON — Russian hackers were inside Ukrainian telecoms giant Kyivstar’s system from at least May last year in a cyberattack that should serve as a “big warning” to the West, Ukraine’s cyber spy chief told Reuters.

The hack, one of the most dramatic since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly two years ago, knocked out services provided by Ukraine’s biggest telecoms operator for some 24 million users for days from Dec. 12.

In an interview, Illia Vitiuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s (SBU) cybersecurity department, disclosed exclusive details about the hack, which he said caused “disastrous” destruction and aimed to land a psychological blow and gather intelligence.

“This attack is a big message, a big warning, not only to Ukraine, but for the whole Western world to understand that no one is actually untouchable,” he said. He noted Kyivstar was a wealthy, private company that invested a lot in cybersecurity.

The attack wiped “almost everything”, including thousands of virtual servers and PCs, he said, describing it as probably the first example of a destructive cyberattack that “completely destroyed the core of a telecoms operator.”

During its investigation, the SBU found the hackers probably attempted to penetrate Kyivstar in March or earlier, he said in a Zoom interview on Dec. 27.

“For now, we can say securely, that they were in the system at least since May 2023,” he said. “I cannot say right now, since what time they had … full access: probably at least since November.”

The SBU assessed the hackers would have been able to steal personal information, understand the locations of phones, intercept SMS-messages and perhaps steal Telegram accounts with the level of access they gained, he said.

A Kyivstar spokesperson said the company was working closely with the SBU to investigate the attack and would take all necessary steps to eliminate future risks, adding: “No facts of leakage of personal and subscriber data have been revealed.”

Mr. Vitiuk said the SBU helped Kyivstar restore its systems within days and to repel new cyber attacks.

“After the major break there were a number of new attempts aimed at dealing more damage to the operator,” he said.

Kyivstar is the biggest of Ukraine’s three main telecoms operators and there are some 1.1 million Ukrainians who live in small towns and villages where there are no other providers, Mr. Vitiuk said.

People rushed to buy other SIM cards because of the attack, creating large queues. ATMs using Kyivstar SIM cards for the internet ceased to work and the air-raid siren – used during missile and drone attacks – did not function properly in some regions, he said.

He said the attack had no big impact on Ukraine’s military, which did not rely on telecoms operators and made use of what he described as “different algorithms and protocols”.

“Speaking about drone detection, speaking about missile detection, luckily, no, this situation didn’t affect us strongly,” he said.

RUSSIAN SANDWORM
Investigating the attack is harder because of the wiping of Kyivstar’s infrastructure.

Mr. Vitiuk said he was “pretty sure” it was carried out by Sandworm, a Russian military intelligence cyberwarfare unit that has been linked to cyberattacks in Ukraine and elsewhere.

A year ago, Sandworm penetrated a Ukrainian telecoms operator, but was detected by Kyiv because the SBU had itself been inside Russian systems, Mr.. Vitiuk said, declining to identify the company. The earlier hack has not been previously reported.

Russia’s defense ministry did not respond to a written request for comment on Vitiuk’s remarks.

Mr. Vitiuk said the pattern of behavior suggested telecoms operators could remain a target of Russian hackers. The SBU thwarted over 4,500 major cyberattacks on Ukrainian governmental bodies and critical infrastructure last year, he said.

A group called Solntsepyok, believed by the SBU to be affiliated with Sandworm, said it was responsible for the attack.

Nr. Vitiuk said SBU investigators were still working to establish how Kyivstar was penetrated or what type of trojan horse malware could have been used to break in, adding that it could have been phishing, someone helping on the inside or something else.

If it was an inside job, the insider who helped the hackers did not have a high level of clearance in the company, as the hackers made use of malware used to steal hashes of passwords, he said.

Samples of that malware have been recovered and are being analyzed, he added.

Kyivstar’s CEO, Oleksandr Komarov, said on Dec. 20 that all the company’s services had been fully restored throughout the country. Mr. Vitiuk praised the SBU’s incident response effort to safely restore the systems.

The attack on Kyivstar may have been made easier because of similarities between it and Russian mobile operator Beeline, which was built with similar infrastructure, Mr. Vitiuk said.

The sheer size of Kyivstar’s infrastructure would have been easier to navigate with expert guidance, he added.

The destruction at Kyivstar began at around 5:00 a.m. local time while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in Washington, pressing the West to continue supplying aid.

Mr. Vitiuk said the attack was not accompanied by a major missile and drone strike at a time when people were having communication difficulties, limiting its impact while also relinquishing a powerful intelligence-gathering tool.

Why the hackers chose Dec. 12 was unclear, he said, adding: “Maybe some colonel wanted to become a general.” — Reuters

Australia struggles to ditch SUV habit even as electric vehicle sales hit record

STOCK PHOTO: Image by Andreas Riedelmeier from Pixabay

SYDNEY — Electric vehicle (EV) sales in Australia hit an all-time high in 2023, according to the country’s automotive association, however light vehicle sales remained dominated by emissions-intensive trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUVs).

Battery-electric vehicles were 7.2% of all vehicles sold last year, more than double the 3.1% recorded in 2022, according to data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) on Thursday.

The sales share for 2023 rises to 16.2% of all new vehicle sales once hybrids and plug-in hybrids are included, almost one in every five vehicles.

After a decade under conservative governments that opposed EV adoption, the current center-left Labor government, which won power in 2022, has launched a national EV strategy and provided hundreds of millions for clean transport.

Transport is one of Australia’s largest sources of emissions and the growing adoption of electric vehicles bolsters the government’s pledge to cut emissions by 43% by 2030.

However, Australian’s continue to prefer SUVs or light commercial vehicles, models which usually come with higher emissions when fossil fueled. The two categories accounted for 78.4% of all new vehicle sales last year.

The Ford Ranger and Toyota Hi-Lux, the two most popular vehicles and a tenth of all those sold in 2023, tend to emit more carbon dioxide than average.

Efforts to increase the take-up of electric vehicles have long been plagued by shortages, a limited number of models and sparse and sometimes faulty charging equipment.

As a result adoption for many years lagged countries like the US or Britain, where sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids hit 7.7% and 23%, respectively in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said in November the government would soon release details of its long-awaited fuel efficiency standards, a policy that advocates say will spur manufacturers to send more EVs to Australia and further boost adoption. — Reuters

Paris hotels triple prices for Olympics opening night – study

A MAN rides a bicycle along a bike path on the Pont de Bir-Hakeim bridge near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, Jan. 19, 2023. — REUTERS

PARIS – Paris hotels are tripling their prices to more than 1,000 euros ($1,092) on average for the opening night of the 2024 Olympic games, according to a consumer organization study.

UFC-Que Choisir said a late-December poll of 80 three- and four-star hotels showed that on the night of July 26, the day of the Olympics’ opening ceremony on the banks of the Seine river, a double room will cost 1,033 euros ($1,128) on average, compared to 317 euros two weeks earlier on the night of July 12.

It also said 50% of these hotels reported being already fully booked that night, while 30% required a minimum booking of at least two nights and some as many as five nights.

The average required minimum stay was 3.4 days, for an average cost of 867 euros per night, UFC added.

“Olympic room rates! Paris hotels are not holding back, their room rates are on fire,” UFC said.

It said one three-star hotel had hiked its price for a double room to 2,083 euros compared to 304 euros two weeks earlier, while one four-star hotel required a minimum booking of four nights at 2,095 euros per night.

Paris’s tourism office expects some 16 million people to visit the wider Paris region for the Olympics and Paralympics, putting pressure on every level of the housing and hotel market.

Airbnb has called on Parisians to put up their homes for rent during the games in order to keep prices down.

North of Paris, in the Seine-Saint-Denis area where the Olympic Village is under construction, thousands of migrants, asylum seekers and Roma squatting empty buildings have been evicted, aggravating the city’s homelessness problem.

The games will run from July 26 to Aug. 11. — Reuters

China conducts patrols in South China Sea amid ongoing run-ins

CARLOS DE SOUZA-UNSPLASH

BEIJING – China’s military will conduct routine patrols with its naval and air forces in the South China Sea from Wednesday to Thursday, the military’s Southern Theater Command said, as ongoing tensions simmer in the region over disputed territories.

China’s military did not say where exactly the patrols would be held but they were announced as the Philippines and the United States were carrying out a two-day joint patrol in the highly strategic waterway, a move that likely irked Beijing.

The maritime exercises between Manila and Washington which began on Wednesday are the second in less than two months, and follow Beijing’s warning to the Philippines that any miscalculation in their escalating dispute in the South China Sea would bring a resolute response.

“What we are witnessing is the U.S. and China engaging each other in a dangerous game of shadowboxing in the South China Sea,” international studies professor Renato de Castro said.

China’s military said troops in the area will be on high alert at all times, and will defend national sovereignty, security and maritime rights.

The patrols also aim to deter activities that disrupt the South China Sea and create “hot spots,” the military said on its Southern Theater Command’s Wechat account.

Beijing and Manila have traded sharp accusations in recent months over several run-ins in the South China Sea, including charges that China rammed a ship earlier this month carrying the Philippine armed forces chief of staff.

“Chinese actions are pushing (the Philippines) further to U.S. arms. China has no one to blame for closer U.S.-Philippine security relations but itself,” De Castro added.

The Philippine military said on Wednesday their second joint patrol this week involves four vessels from the Philippine navy and four ships from the U.S. Indo-Pacific command that include an aircraft carrier, a cruiser and two destroyers.

Last week, the Philippines said it was not provoking conflict in the South China Sea, responding to China’s accusation that Manila was encroaching on Beijing’s territory.

China has repeatedly warned the Philippines of breaching areas of the South China Sea it considers its territory. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, while the Philippines refers to the part of South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone as the West Philippines Sea.

China said the Philippines has relied on U.S. support to continually provoke China.

The Philippines and the U.S. first launched joint patrols in November, and security engagements between the treaty allies soared last year amid growing tensions in the South China Sea. — Reuters

Debt pile rises to record P14.5 trillion

BW FILE PHOTO

By Keisha B. Ta-asan, Reporter

THE NATIONAL Government’s (NG) total outstanding debt hit a fresh high of P14.51 trillion as of end-November, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said on Wednesday.   

The outstanding debt inched up by 0.2% from P14.48 trillion as of end-October, data from the BTr showed.

“NG’s debt stock increased by P27.92 billion or 0.2% month over month, primarily due to the net issuance of domestic securities,” the BTr said in a press release.

National Government outstanding debtYear on year, the debt stock rose by 6.3% from P13.64 trillion.

Outstanding debt went up by 8.1% from P13.42 trillion as of end-December 2022.

More than two-thirds or 69.1% of total outstanding debt as of end-November came from domestic sources.

As of end-November, domestic debt increased by 1.2% to P10.02 trillion from P9.9 trillion a month earlier due to the net issuance of government securities.

Domestic debt also rose by 6.3% from P9.43 trillion in the same period a year prior.

“New domestic debt issued during the month totaled P171.091 billion while principal redemption amounted to P45.14 billion, underlying a net issuance of P125.95 billion,” the BTr said.

“The increase was partially offset by the P3.87-billion effect of peso appreciation on foreign currency-denominated domestic securities,” it added.

Data from the Treasury department showed the peso closed at P55.451 against the dollar as of end-November, strengthening by P1.357 or 2.4% from P56.808 as of end-October.

Meanwhile, external debt, which accounted for 31% of the total, slipped by 2.1% to P4.48 trillion as of end-November from P4.58 trillion as of end-October.

However, external debt rose by 6.4% from P4.22 trillion a year ago.

“For November, the lower level of external debt was due to the net repayment of foreign loans amounting to P1.08 billion and favorable foreign exchange movements, wherein the P109.37 billion reduction attributed to peso appreciation against the US dollar far exceeded the upward adjustment linked to third-currency appreciation of P16.3 billion,” the BTr said.

Broken down, external borrowings consisted of P2.06 trillion in loans and P2.42 trillion in global bonds.

As of end November, the NG’s overall guaranteed obligations slid by 12.2% to P353.14 billion from P361 billion as of end-October.

Year on year, guaranteed debt declined by 8.9% from P388 billion.

“The decline in the level of guaranteed debt was attributed to the net repayment of both domestic and external guarantees amounting to P1.21 billion and P3.5 billion, respectively,” the BTr said.

“In addition, the peso appreciation against the US dollar further trimmed P4.07 billion (from guaranteed debt). These more than offset the P0.92-billion effect of third currency appreciation on similarly denominated guarantees,” it added.

China Banking Corp. Chief Economist Domini S. Velasquez said the government incurred more debt to support budget financing.

“The increase in government debt was likely driven by the financing needs of government projects and programs. However, this growth was likely limited by lower market interest rates and the appreciation of the peso during the month,” she said.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the record high NG debt was due to new borrowings to fund the budget deficit.

For 2023, the government has set a budget deficit ceiling of P1.499 trillion, equivalent to 6.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

“Looking ahead to 2024, we expect the government to increase its borrowings to fund the 2024 budget which is 9.5% higher than that of last year,” Ms. Velasquez said.

“On a positive note, the expected downtrend in market yields and further strengthening of the peso will help moderate debt growth. However, we think that the proposed tax reforms are crucial to ensure that the budget deficit and government debt remain at manageable levels,” she added.

Mr. Ricafort said the government’s outstanding debt could still increase in the coming months due to the maiden issuance of Sukuk bonds worth $1 billion last December.

“Continued budget deficits, though narrower from year ago levels, could still lead to additional borrowings/debt by the national government,” he said.

For 2023, the government plans to borrow P2.207 trillion, consisting of P1.654 trillion from domestic sources and P553.5 billion from foreign sources.

MUFG sees PHL economy growing by 5.6% this year

A vendor waits for customers at Divisoria market, Dec. 30, 2023. — PHILIPPINE STAR/WALTER BOLLOZOS

THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY may grow by 5.6% this year as easing inflation could help boost consumption, MUFG Global Markets Research said.

In a report, MUFG Global Markets said the Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to expand by 5.6% this year, picking up from the likely 4.8% GDP growth in 2023.

However, the growth forecast is below the Philippine government’s 6.5% to 7.5% growth target for 2024.

“We think that headwinds to domestic demand from elevated food and energy prices should gradually fade over time, but the growth rebound will probably be more evident from the second half of 2024 onwards, assuming no further food supply shocks,” it said.

Philippine GDP growth accelerated to 5.9% in the third quarter, mainly driven by faster government spending, while private consumption slowed. This brought the nine-month GDP growth average to 5.5%, still below the government’s 6-7% full-year target.

“The more stable external environment, coupled with stable USDPHP (US dollar-Philippine peso exchange rate), should also help Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) keep rates on hold through the next few months, and to start the rate-cutting cycle from the second half of 2024, as such helping investment and private consumption activity,” the research firm said.

MUFG Global Markets Research expects the BSP to cut interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) this year. This would bring the benchmark rate to 6% by end-2024, from the current 16-year high of 6.5%.

The Monetary Board has raised borrowing costs by a cumulative 450 basis points (bps) from May 2022 to October 2023 to tame inflation.

“We think the Philippine central bank will remain cautious for now, even as it looks more likely now that the Fed will start its rate-cutting cycle in 2024, together with the recent progress in bringing inflation down. This is also because upside risks to inflation are still present,” the research firm said.

Markets are anticipating the US Federal Reserve will begin cutting rates this year as inflation eases. At its December meeting, the Fed had forecast 75 bps in rate cuts for 2024.

“We think the Philippines’ central bank would prefer to take its lead from the Fed and wait for the US rate-cutting cycle to be clearly underway, before commencing its rate cuts,” it said.

For this year, MUFG Global Markets Research said Philippine inflation is seen to slowly return to the upper end of the BSP’s 2-4% target band if there are no more supply shocks.

“We expect the Philippines’ CPI (consumer price index) to fall into the central bank’s upper half of the inflation target by the first quarter 2024, and to stay around that range through the course of 2024… There are nonetheless still upside risks to inflation stemming from food supply shocks, possible transport fare hikes, and minimum wage increases,” it added.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said last month the central bank will likely keep benchmark interest rates higher for longer until inflation settles at around 3%.

MUFG Global Markets Research said the Philippine peso will likely underperform in 2024, as the current account deficit is seen at -3% of GDP and the central bank beefs up its foreign exchange reserves.

It expects the peso to end at P55.40 per dollar by the first quarter of 2024, and by P55 per dollar by yearend.

“Our forecasts imply some underperformance in PHP against other Asian FX (foreign exchange), but to a lesser extent than before, with lower global oil prices and fading of domestic food supply shocks helping to contain both inflation pressures and the current account deficit,” it said. — AMCS

Renewables seen to offset the rise in electricity prices

PHILIPPINE STAR/KRIZ JOHN ROSALES

By Sheldeen Joy Talavera, Reporter

THE PRICE AND SUPPLY of electricity in the Philippines are seen to be challenged this year due to warm weather but may be offset by the power capacity expansion from renewables.

Jose M. Layug, Jr., president of Developers of Renewable Energy Advancement, Inc., said he is anticipating supply challenges, especially during the summer months.

“No matter how we tried to maintain all these coal-fired plants, the point is they are already old so you should expect these power plants to break down very often and that’s why we need new capacities,” he said in a virtual interview.

“Otherwise, we will have an issue on supply, and we will be placing yellow alerts,” he added, referring to the warning when reserves fall below a designated safety margin.

In 2023, the Philippines was placed under yellow and red alerts several times due to sudden plant outages. The Department of Energy (DoE) had expected 12 yellow alerts last year. Red alerts are raised when the supply-demand balance deteriorates further, signaling the possibility of rotational brownouts.

For 2024, the DoE has so far not projected any potential yellow and red alerts as it banks on new solar power plants that will be coming in, which it said will be “favorable” under an El Niño scenario.

Latest data from the state weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration showed that a moderate El Niño would continue to persist and intensify in the coming months.

Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla is expecting a favorable status in electricity supply this year as he anticipates the completion of power transmission projects.

“We did manage to contain the weakness in 2023, and 2024 promises to be better. But of course, from the supply side, and we hope that by 2024, we shall also finish a number of major transmission connections, but of course, there remain threats,” he told reporters in an interview last month.

Privately owned National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) holds the sole and exclusive concession and franchise for the operation of the country’s power transmission network, which links power generators and distribution utilities to deliver electricity nationwide.

NGCP has already energized some of its transmission projects such as the P10.2-billion Hermosa-San Jose 500-kilovolt transmission line. It is currently working on the full completion of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP).

Majah-Leah V. Ravago, an energy economist from the Ateneo de Manila University, said increasing power generation means investing in transmission projects.

“You cannot address the problem that you’re just looking at generation because the consumption of electricity is a whole system in itself,” she said in a virtual interview.

“You cannot look at increasing generation without accompanying investment in transmission and distribution. We have many cases like that,” she added.

Two decades after the Electric Power Industry Reform Act was passed, electricity rates in the Philippines are still one of the highest in the region as there are still a lot of inefficiencies in the system.

The Philippines’ per capita consumption of electricity is low relative to its neighbors due to high power prices brought on by inefficiency and reliability issues, according to Ms. Ravago.

Citing data from the World Bank and the United Nations, she said that the country’s per capita consumption was at 975.61 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2022.

This is relatively lower compared with the country’s peers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) such as Singapore (9,168.82 per kWh), Malaysia (5,318.78 per kWh), Indonesia (2,662.31 per kWh), and Thailand (1,210.67 per kWh).

Electricity consumption in the country is expected to grow by nearly four times the 2018 level by 2040, Ms. Ravago said.

“If we are to meet that growth by 2040, it means that electricity consumption has to grow. It means demand is growing, it has to be met by supply. Otherwise, we would have electricity price increases,” she said.

To meet the demand, she said that the government should address regulatory bottlenecks both for generation and transmission.

Since power generation is privately led in the Philippines — which attracts investments — the government should instead focus on facilitating these capital inflows, easing regulatory burdens, and expanding transmission, Ms. Ravago said.

“We just need to make sure that the other related infrastructure, transmission lines, and ports are also upgraded in time of these projects going online,” Mr. Layug said.

Data from the DoE showed that wind, natural gas, and solar dominated most of the indicative projects, or those currently in the pre-development stage, as of August 2023 with a capacity of 34,080.50 megawatts (MW), 7,987.60 MW, and 7,811.86 MW, respectively.

‘THE WAY TO GO’
Renewables are seen to be able to offset a rise in electricity prices and mitigate the high prices of oil and coal.

“This year… the private sector is happy about how the government, particularly the DoE, has convinced and has signaled to the private sector that renewables are the way to go,” Mr. Layug said.

As of end-2022, the share of renewable energy (RE) in the country’s power generation mix was about 22%. The government has set a target of increasing this to 35% by 2030, then 50% by 2040.

“We all know that the cost of RE is now more optimal, more affordable especially for the consumers, so we’re happy with that and we hope the government continues its forward-looking planning of the energy sector in the Philippines by continuously pushing for renewable as part of the energy mix,” Mr. Layug said.

Within RE technologies, solar and wind energy are seen to drive the growth of renewables.

“In the next three years, I still see solar onshore and onshore wind to dominate. With, hopefully, waste-to-energy [projects] catching up a little bit,” Mr. Layug said. “We hope to see floating solar and offshore wind to dominate.”

As of October, the DoE has awarded around 1,300 RE contracts, promising a total potential capacity of about 130,000 MW.

Of the total, 225 wind energy contracts have been awarded with the highest combined capacity of 83,079.3 MW. This was followed by 356 solar energy projects with 27,889 MW and 430 hydropower projects with a capacity of 18,924.4 MW.

“We are in a good position to implement reforms necessary to energy transition,” Ms. Ravago said, citing the moratorium on new greenfield coal power plants and the liberalization of the RE sector.

DBM chief issues national budget call for 2025

BUDGET SECRETARY AMENAH F. PANGANDAMAN — PHILIPPINE STAR/KRIZ JOHN ROSALES

THE 2025 national budget will focus on keeping inflation under control, addressing the economic scarring from the pandemic, boosting infrastructure investments, and adapting global trends in digital transformation, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.

Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman last week issued the National Budget Call in a memorandum, asking government agencies to begin preparing their budget proposals for 2025.

The proposed 2025 national budget is set at P6.12 trillion, according to the Development Budget Coordination Committee. This is 6.1% higher than the P5.768-trillion national budget for 2024.

“The Fiscal Year 2025 budget aims to continuously address the socioeconomic issues our country has been facing, e.g., high food prices, increasing fuel prices, and the scars that the pandemic has left, among others,” the DBM said.

The government is targeting 6.5-7.5% gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year, but the outlook is clouded by risks to inflation, tight borrowing costs, and a global slowdown.

To tame inflation, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has tightened interest rates by 450 basis points from May 2022 to October 2023, bringing the key rate to a 16-year high of 6.5%.

Aside from addressing economic issues, the 2025 spending plan will also support infrastructure investments, with emphasis on flagship infrastructure projects approved by the National Economic and Development Authority.

“However, increased infrastructure spending will not, in any way, detract from the full support provided to the poorest, lagging, climate change and disaster risk vulnerable areas nor the social sector, and basic public services,” the DBM said.

The government also seeks to adopt emerging global trends on digital transformation to boost and foster efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of service delivery.

The 2025 budget will also include funds for capacity-building programs for local government units (LGUs) such as competency-enhancing interventions, resource generation, public financial management, leadership and development planning, among others.

This is aimed at helping LGUs in assuming the devolved functions and services from the National Government, as mandated by the Supreme Court’s Mandanas-Garcia ruling.

The DBM said the proposed 2025 budget and its priorities will be anchored on the government’s commitment to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“With six years remaining until the 2030 Agenda, there is a need to accelerate the progress or reverse the negative trends to achieve the global goals of establishing a transformative vision towards economic, social, and environmental sustainability,” it said.

The 2025 budget proposals should include the priorities and policy directions of the Marcos administration, citing the government’s medium-term fiscal framework, the eight-point socioeconomic agenda and the Philippine Development Plan for 2023-2028.

However, due to the impact of the country’s debt burden and competing demands from government agencies, the budget allocation for 2025 will be optimized.

“As part of the evaluation process, the government will consider how the agencies utilized their previous year budget and the implementation progress of their mandated programs and projects to ensure that only those agency proposals, which are implementation-ready, are included in the budget,” the DBM said.

The DBM said agencies should provide the necessary supporting documents such as concrete program plans and designs that outline procurement and implementation milestones.

The budget should also ensure regional plans are in line with national priorities “to achieve equitable regional investment opportunities and growth,” it added.

“In particular, the National Government’s 2025 budget shall provide funds for agencies’ regional programs which are responsive to the needs of the poorest, disadvantaged and lagging LGUs,” the Budget department added.

According to the DBM memorandum, government agencies should submit their signed hard copies of the 2025 budget proposals between March 25 and April 22.

The proposed 2025 national budget will be submitted to Congress on July 22. — Keisha B. Ta-asan

Airlines may sustain growth amid travel pickup

Passengers wait inside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City, Oct. 29, 2022. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

By Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter

AIRLINE companies in the Philippines are expected to sustain their gains this year as airport investments including the rehabilitation of the country’s major gateway drive investor sentiment, analysts said.

“It is a positive sign that major airlines are investing in fleet and network buildup,” Juan Paolo E. Colet, managing director at China Bank Capital Corp., said in a Viber message on Wednesday. “In addition, airport investments and efficiencies, such as through the privatization and rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), will help create more favorable conditions for the airline industry.”

The Department of Transportation has set the signing of the concession agreement for the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of NAIA by March after attracting four bidders for the upgrade project.

Easing inflation and growing travel demand are also expected to drive the profitability of local airlines this year, Mr. Colet said.

The Philippines recorded 5.45-million international visitors in 2023, surpassing its 4.8-million target, the Tourism department said. This year, the agency is targeting 7.7 million visitors.

“Airlines saw a recovery last year given normalizing travel conditions and revenge travel,” Rastine Mackie D. Mercado, research director at China Bank Securities, said in an e-mail. “We expect continued improvements this year, with the International Air Transport Association expecting Asia-Pacific international passenger volumes to surpass 2019 levels.”

The attributable net income of PAL Holdings, Inc., the listed operator of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), climbed by 33.3% to P4.28 billion in the third quarter from a year earlier. Consolidated revenue rose by 16.7% to P47.13 billion.

Its nine-month attributable net income more than doubled to P15.16 billion.

Cebu Air, Inc., had P1.28 billion in attributable net income in the third quarter, reversing a net loss of P2.54 billion a year earlier. Revenue rose by 38.5% to P23.34 billion.

For the nine months to September, Cebu Air posted an attributable net income of P5.03 billion, reversing a net loss of P12.05 billion a year ago.

Airlines are expected to post modest gains due to the challenging economic environment, Toby Allan C. Arce, head of sales trading at Globalinks Securities and Stocks, Inc. said.

“At the global level, net profitability is anticipated to remain well below the cost of capital in both years,” he said in a Viber message. “While the airline industry’s profits in 2024 are expected to show a slight improvement over 2023, the return on invested capital is projected to lag behind the cost of capital in both 2023 and 2024.”

Airline revenues are expected to outpace expenses, Mr. Arce said, adding that while operating expenses would increase, profits might rise slowly as further interest rate cuts seem unlikely.

Meanwhile, some operational challenges might continue this year, pulling down optimism on the demand side, Mr. Mercado said.

“Some operational challenges are seen to persist into 2024 as the backlog in aircraft maintenance for some widely used aircraft may weigh on capacity,” he said.

Cebu Air earlier said it would cut fleet growth this year as engine maker Pratt & Whitney (P&W) inspects A320/321 NEO aircraft engines worldwide after suspected issues.

The company said it expects a number of its aircraft to be affected in 2024, adding that inspections would ensure the safe operation of its P&W-powered fleet.

“The major issues for airlines, as they look to ramp up capacity, have been the supply chain slowdown, delivery delays and engine problems that have caused aircraft to be grounded,” Mr. Arce said.

Maynilad to build P2.8-B reservoirs in 3 cities

PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN

By Sheldeen Joy Talavera, Reporter

MAYNILAD Water Services, Inc. on Wednesday said it would build four reservoirs worth P2.8 billion that will add 211 million liters (ML) of water to its storage capacity by 2026.

The four reservoirs will be built in Quezon City, Valenzuela, and Muntinlupa, it said in a statement.

“Households in elevated areas are typically affected by low water pressure whenever the demand goes up,” Maynilad Chief Operating Officer Randolph T. Estrellado said. “Having more reservoirs will help to maintain supply availability despite strong water withdrawals from households in low-lying areas, so we’re building more of these storage facilities in strategic locations.”

The projects form part of Maynilad’s P220-billion service enhancement program for 2023 to 2027.

Some Maynilad customers have had to endure low water pressure to no water due to the company’s repair and maintenance activities, including two scheduled shutdowns last year at its Putatan treatment plant in Muntinlupa City.

In January 2023, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System ordered Maynilad to rebate P27.48 million to customers in areas served by its Putatan facility.

The company has 37 operational reservoirs that can store 751 ML of treated water supply. This increased from 10 reservoirs with 400 ML storage capacity after it rehabilitated 13 reservoirs and built 14 new ones since 2007.

“With the construction of four new reservoirs until 2026, the company’s total combined water-storage capacity will reach 962 ML,” Maynilad said.

Maynilad is seeking a 10-year extension of its concession deal with MWSS to Jan. 21, 2047, to coincide with its 25-year legislative franchise.

Maynilad serves Manila, except portions of San Andres and Sta. Ana. It also supplies water in Quezon City, Makati, Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, and Malabon.

The utility also supplies water to the cities of Cavite, Bacoor, and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario, all in Cavite province.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which has a majority stake in Maynilad, is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Meanwhile, Manila Water Co., Inc. said it had ended a 25-year bulk water supply deal with Pangasinan.

In a stock exchange filing, the east zone concessionaire said unit Manila Water Philippine Ventures, Inc. (MWPV) ended the deal effective Dec. 31 after the province failed to fulfill some conditions, which it did not detail.

Jeric T. Sevilla, head of Manila Water’s corporate strategic affairs group, and corporate communications head Dittie L. Galang did not immediately reply to separate Viber messages seeking comment.

In January 2022, the parties signed a concession agreement for the project with a capital expenditure of about P8 billion. It was supposed to give Pangasinan 200 million liters per day (MLD) more of water.

Last month, Manila Water said unit Cebu Manila Water Development, Inc. had terminated its water supply contract with the Metropolitan Cebu Water District after more than a decade.

Cebu Manila Water is a joint venture of Manila Water Consortium, Inc., which is owned by MWPV, and the provincial government of Cebu.

The parties entered into a joint investment agreement in 2012 for the development, operation and maintenance of a bulk water system that will supply at least 35 MLD of potable water.

Shares of Manila Water gained 1.97% or 36 centavos to close at P18.64 each.

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