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Creative and Innovation Hub targeted for 2024 completion

TOPDRAWANIMATION.COM

By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it hopes to complete the Creative and Innovation Hub this year, after obtaining P100 million in funding from the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2024.

“The funds will be used to finish the construction of the Creative and Innovation Hub, which will serve as a platform to support the growth and development of creative startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),” DTI Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Innovation Group Rafaelita M. Aldaba said in a Viber message.

Ms. Aldaba said that the department’s timeline for completion is the end of 2024, by which time it hopes to serve over 500 startups and MSMEs.

“We are aiming to finish it within 2024; we are maximizing the resources that we have as we address the needs of stakeholders. This is in Marikina where our DTI National Capital Region office is located,” she said.

The Creative and Innovation Hub will also be connected to the National Innovation Gateway that the department is planning to build in Manila.

The gateway is expected to house advanced technology centers and one-stop government solutions for businesses and investors.

Last year, the DTI said it is in talks with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to raise as much as $400 million in funding for the innovation gateway.

The loan program it is negotiating with the ADB is called the Promoting Research and Innovation to Strengthen Transformation of Industries and Enterprises Project which is meant to support DTI’s flagship programs.

Expected to start construction in 2025, the innovation gateway is expected to “strengthen startup incubation, accelerate the ecosystem, and support new technology adoption in key industries.”

The Creative and Innovation hub is a component of DTI programs funded by the GAA 2024. Its other projects include the Go Lokal, Malikhaing Pinoy program, and Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa program.

This year the creative industry is expected to post 13-15% growth in gross value added and 6-8% growth in exports.

PHL-Indonesia energy agreement should focus on RE — think tank

REUTERS

ENHANCED energy cooperation between the Philippines and Indonesia should focus on exploring for renewable energy (RE), an energy think tank said.

“Both countries have high potential for renewable energy and would be served better by a renewable energy MoU (memorandum of understanding) that would facilitate cooperation to tap these clean energy sources instead of extending the current fossil fuel-dominated energy sector,” Gerry C. Arances, executive director for Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development, said in a Viber message.

On Wednesday, the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia signed an MoU to facilitate the flow of coal and gas during supply shocks.

“On the part of the Philippines, it is an offshoot of our President’s effort to achieve higher energy security through energy diplomacy,” Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said.

According to the DoE, the MoU also covered “potential benefits across economic, environmental and geopolitical dimensions on energy transition, renewable energy, demand-side management, electric vehicles, and alternative fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia, and biofuels.”

Mr. Arances said that the MoU “is not a cause for celebration but instead a cause for reflection.”

“Why is our own government ignoring our 1,511-gigawatt renewable energy potential, enough to power the country’s grid many times over, to pursue costly and destructive fossil fuels?,” he asked.

RE accounted for about 22% of the Philippines’ energy mix, with coal-fired power plants generating nearly 60% of energy needs in 2022.

The government is aiming to increase the RE share of the Philippine energy mix to 35% by 2030 and to 50% by 2040.

Terry L. Ridon, a public investment analyst and convenor of think tank InfraWatch PH said Jakarta should make “an unqualified commitment of unimpeded coal exports to the Philippines, respecting supply commitments to recipient coal-fired power plants around the country.” 

“This ensures, more than sufficiency of supply, certainty of pricing, which will prevent a repeat of escalating coal prices in the past,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

In September, Mr. Lotilla said the Philippines has received assurances from Indonesia of continued access to the latter’s coal exports.

The DoE estimated that the Philippines imported 30.51 million metric tons of coal in 2021, accounting for about 98% of its demand. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

ADB: Invest more in healthcare system resilience

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

THE Asia and the Pacific (APAC) region must enhance and further invest in its healthcare workforce amid risks like labor shortages, climate change impacts and changing population dynamics, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

In a brief “Proceed with Care: Meeting the Human Resources Needs for Health and Aged Care in Asia and the Pacific,” the ADB said that the region supplies many healthcare professionals to the rest of the world.

“In particular, India and the Philippines have collectively trained some 330,000 nurses currently working in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries,” it said.

Investments in human resources for health also have the effect of boosting the economy, the ADB said.

“Not only is a healthier population more productive — health improvements accounted for one-quarter of economic growth in low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2011 — but the health sector is also a key economic sector and job generator in its own right,” it said.

“The creation of jobs in the health sector has a multiplier effect across the economy, with two supporting jobs for every worker trained in a health occupation,” it added.

However, the ADB said healthcare is facing various risks, like labor shortages.

“Human resources for health and aged care in Asia and the Pacific face absolute shortages, compounded by a maldistribution of the workforce and a misalignment of skills to needs,” it said.

The brief noted that migration within the region was picking up as middle-income countries seek to replace the human resources that have relocated to high-income countries.

“For example, Fijians who move to the Marshall Islands and Palau are replaced at home by immigrants from the Philippines and elsewhere,” the bank added.

Skilled workers are forced to emigrate due to inadequate wages or lack of employment opportunities, it said.

“This loss of skilled and senior workers from low-resource settings also impacts on the quality of supervision and training for workers who remain, as those with the best skills are the ones most likely to migrate,” it added.

Demand for healthcare workers is expected to hit 80 million by 2030 but supply is only projected at 65 million, with the bulk coming from low- and lower-middle income countries.

“The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the gravity of this shortfall, as staffing shortages emerged as the most common reason that health services were severely disrupted during that time,” the ADB said.

“Death and burnout rates exacerbated these shortages in many settings. Indeed, the high burnout rates underlined the importance of taking healthcare workers’ well-being into account in workforce planning and management, including retention strategies,” it said.

In Asia and the Pacific, the shortage is also more evident for long-term and aged care, it added.

Climate change impacts such as pollution, rising sea levels and degradation of the environment, have also pointed to the need to make the health sector more resilient.

“The health sector also urgently needs to reduce its contribution to climate change — which is more than 5% of net global emissions — by implementing low- or zero-emissions facilities, operations, and supply chains. This requires new types of skills and roles in health systems,” it added. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

Indigenous communities eyed for dairy farms

PHILIPPINE STAR/ ANDY ZAPATA JR.

THE National Dairy Authority (NDA) said it is considering the establishment of more dairy farms in indigenous communities.

In a statement, the NDA said it entered into a partnership with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to establish facilities to breed dairy animals.

The development of a pilot facility will begin this year after the signing of a memorandum of agreement, the NDA said in a Viber message.

“Our goal of 5% milk sufficiency by 2028 requires a large volume of milk production. This program allows and welcomes participation. There is room for everyone, including our Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples (ICCs and IPs),” NDA Administrator Gabriel L. Lagamayo said.

The NDA said that the stock farms will breed animals and process dairy products.

“ICCs and IPs will be (organized) into dairy cooperatives to qualify as recipients of dairy animals,” it added.

Mr. Lagamayo said that under the Dairy Development Project, IPs will be trained in dairy farm management and be supplied with animal feed like corn silage and forage.

“We can provide them livelihood opportunities while furthering our goal of achieving a 5% increase in milk sufficiency through operational expansion,” he added.

He said the facilities will comply with standards set by the NCIP, including respect for sacred ancestral land, environmental norms, and traditional protocols.

“The project will undergo rigorous validation processes to uphold the best interests of ICCs/IPs (to) ensure alignment with the Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) of Indigenous Cultural Communities,” the NDA said.

It added that beginning with a given farm’s second year of operation, the ICCs and IPs will receive 10% of the farm’s dairy output. — Adrian H. Halili

PHL shares rebound on World Bank GDP outlook

BW FILE PHOTO

PHILIPPINE SHARES bounced back on Thursday after the World Bank said it expects the country to be among the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia this year and ahead of the release of latest US consumer inflation data.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained by 67.62 points or 1.03% to close at 6,613.73 on Thursday, while the broader all shares climbed by 26.12 points or 0.75% to end at 3,495.76.

“The World Bank’s projection that the Philippines will be one of the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia this 2024 was cheered by many,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research and Engagement Officer Mikhail Philippe Q. Plopenio said in a Viber message.

In its latest Global Economic Prospects, the multilateral lender projected Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 5.8% in 2024, same as its forecast in December.

The projection is the fastest among Southeast Asian economies, tied with Cambodia (5.8%), and ahead of Vietnam (5.5%), Indonesia (4.9%), Malaysia (4.3%), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (4.1%), Timor-Leste (3.5%), Thailand (3.2%), and Myanmar (2%).

However, this is below the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s 6.5-7.5% growth target for 2024.

The Philippine Statistics Authority will release fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 GDP figures on Jan. 31.

“This Thursday, the local market rose… due to positive cues from Wall Street overnight as investors positioned ahead of the December US inflation report,” Mr. Plopenio added.

“Philippine shares settled higher as investors made bets ahead of the US December inflation reading,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan likewise said in a Viber message.

December US consumer price index data were set to be released overnight.

Back home, the majority of sectoral indices closed higher on Thursday except for services, which dropped by 9.02 points or 0.55% to 1,606.15.

Meanwhile, financials rose by 50.47 points or 2.81% to 1,843.91; industrials climbed by 111.54 points or 1.23% to 9,180.52; mining and oil increased by 73.88 points or 0.77% to 9,558.56; holding firms went up by 40.19 points or 0.64% to 6,301.29; and property gained by 9.03 points or 0.31% to end at 2,891.56.

“Among the index members, Jollibee Foods Corp. was at the top, climbing 3.92% to P259.80. JG Summit Holdings, Inc. lost the most, dropping 1.71% to P40.20,” Mr. Plopenio said.

Value turnover declined to P5.27 billion on Thursday with 346.84 million issues changing hands from the P11.57 billion with 518.12 million shares seen the prior day.

Advancers outnumbered decliners, 100 to 67, while 51 names closed unchanged.   

Net foreign buying increased to P648.31 million on Thursday from P557.38 million on Wednesday. — R.M.D. Ochave

Peso returns to P55-per-dollar level before US inflation data release

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MIGUEL DE GUZMAN

THE PESO bounced back against the dollar on Thursday on expectations of softer US consumer inflation data.

The local unit closed at P55.95 per dollar on Thursday, strengthening by 32.5 centavos from its P56.275 finish on Wednesday, based on Bankers Association of the Philippines data.

The peso opened Thursday’s session slightly stronger at P56.20 against the dollar. Its intraday best was at P55.93, while its worst showing was at P56.22 versus the greenback.

Dollars exchanged declined to $1.91 billion on Thursday from $2.55 billion on Wednesday.

The peso appreciated against the dollar amid expectations of a weaker US consumer inflation report, Security Bank Corp. Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces said in a Viber message.

“The peso rebounded strongly at the P55 level amid expectations of weaker US consumer inflation reports,” a trader likewise said in an e-mail.

The dollar drifted lower in Asia on Thursday as traders waited on US inflation data to see whether bets on as many as five US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year were justified, Reuters reported.

The dollar index fell 0.1% to 102.23.

Market attention has zeroed in on the US consumer price index report (CPI) due later on Thursday. Core CPI is forecast to remain unchanged at 0.3% from the month before, while year-on-year inflation is expected to slow to 3.8% from November’s 4%, a Reuters poll showed.

For Friday, the trader expects the peso to move between P55.85 and P56.10 per dollar, while Mr. Roces said the local currency could be mostly range-bound. — A.M.C. Sy with Reuters

Philippines and Germany agree to boost South China Sea cooperation

Coastguard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan welcome German Federal Foreign Minister H.E. Annalena Baerbock during a courtesy visit at the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Fleet at Pier 13, Port Area, Manila, Jan. 11, 2024. — PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN/PHOTO

By John Victor D. Ordoñez and Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporters

THE PHILIPPINES and Germany have agreed to boost maritime cooperation in the South China Sea and ensure international law is upheld amid tensions with China, according to their top envoys.

“It is important to set up mechanisms and we plan on cooperating with the Philippines and the Association of South Asian Nations (ASEAN) to solve tensions in a peaceful way,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Charlotte A. Baerbock told a news briefing in German after meeting with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo on Thursday.

“We want to be clear that freedom of navigation is essential to international trade, and it is important that we take a very clear stance on exclusive economic zones for each and every country,” she added.

Ms. Baerbock was also set to visit the Philippine Coast Guard to discuss potential joint maritime training programs.

In June last year, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told a security conference Germany would send a frigate to the Indo-Pacific region this year to ensure a “rules-based international order” is observed in the Mediterranean Sea, Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea.

A German warship had sailed in the South China Sea for the first time in almost 20 years over alarms of China’s territorial expansion in the waterway.

“We discussed enhancing defense cooperation and support of Germany for capacity-building in the Philippine Coast Guard,” Mr. Manalo said. “Emphasizing the importance of rules-based security, Minister Baerbock and I reaffirmed our shared commitment to championing the rules-based international world.”

On Tuesday, Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno L.P. Marsudi said Indonesia is ready to work with the Philippines and other ASEAN states to finalize a code of conduct for the South China Sea.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. earlier said he had approached neighbors such as Malaysia and Vietnam to discuss crafting a code of conduct, citing limited progress on a broader regional pact with China.

“China speaks positively of the progress made in the consultations on the code of conduct in the South China Sea, and hopes that all parties will maintain firm confidence, steer clear of disruptions… so as to build the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation,” the Chinese Embassy in Manila told BusinessWorld in a Viber message on Tuesday.

A United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 said China’s claim to nearly the entire South China Sea has no legal basis, but Beijing has largely ignored the ruling and continued its island building activities.

Meanwhile, political analysts said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Dec. 30 statement urging a peaceful resolution of sea disputes raises expectations for the regional bloc to address rising tensions in the South China Sea.

While the ASEAN Foreign ministers did not name China or the Philippines, “it is the first standalone statement that ASEAN has issued regarding tensions in the South China Sea,” Aushaz Irfan, an intelligence analyst at United Kingdom-based risk management firm Healix said in an e-mail.

“In the last few years, ASEAN has increasingly attracted criticism for its perceived failure to respond to rising tensions in the South China Sea,” he said. “In that sense, despite not specifically naming any of the involved parties, it is more than what ASEAN has done in response to previous incidents in the South China Sea, which makes the statement significant and unprecedented.”

“Notably, this statement can set a precedent, raising the expectation for ASEAN to respond to similar incidents in the South China Sea in the future,” he added.

The ASEAN earlier said disputes in the South China should be resolved “without resorting to the threat or use of force” and according to international law including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

‘LITTLE WEIGHT’
“We reiterate the importance of peaceful dialogue that contributes constructively to the promotion of regional stability and cooperation in the maritime domain,” it said. It also welcomed the recent maritime dialogue between China and the United States in Beijing and the meeting between US President Joseph R. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the APEC Leaders’ Meeting in California.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have worsened amid Chinese efforts to block Philippine resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal.

The tensions threaten regional peace, the ASEAN Foreign ministers said, as it sought freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.

Mr. Irfan said the reluctance of ASEAN member-states to get involved in a dispute in which they have no direct stake has been a recurrent theme. “The recent statement is even more pertinent considering the constant obstacles facing the bloc in building a consensus-based response to ongoing tensions.”

Mr. Irfan said there might be discussions on a proposed code of conduct in the South China Sea this year, but “such efforts are very unlikely to materialize into an effective one at this point due to the intensity of the recent escalations in the South China Sea.”

Joshua Bernard B. Espeña, who teaches international relations at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, said it’s notable that the ASEAN had recognized the US as a key player in the region.

“This parries repeated Chinese narratives that only Beijing and claimant states have the legitimacy to be involved,” he said via Messenger chat. ASEAN ministers likely thought bringing the US in could lead to a balance of power and genuine stability in the region, he added.

“In effect, the statement is much more nuanced — it sends a message to China that the US is also an equally weighty player,” Mr. Espeña said. “Moreover, it sends a message to the rest that it is a Southeast Asian backyard, thereby resolving to strengthen ASEAN centrality.”

Mr. Irfan said most ASEAN states have viewed the US as an important actor in the region in terms of maintaining the power balance.

“The ASEAN statement clearly underscores the importance attached by the member states to continued dialogue between the US and China and the role of such dialogue in advancing stability in the region, especially the South China Sea,” he said.

Raymond M. Powell, a fellow at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, said until ASEAN is willing to say that Beijing “routinely and flagrantly violates” international law, “its statements will continue to carry little weight.”

“The problem with the ASEAN statement is that it does not define the precise terms under which peace, security, stability and prosperity should be pursued,” he said in an X message. “Beijing also trumpets the need for these principles but requires them to be attained under its sovereignty and jurisdiction within its preposterously vast nine-dash line claim.”

US Embassy says ship’s fuel deliveries to Subic Bay aboveboard

VESSEL FINDER/NIKOS PALAMARIS

THE UNITED States Embassy in Manila on Thursday said a US vessel’s shipment of fuel to a US military facility in Subic Bay was aboveboard, after a Philippine senator questioned the lack of transparency in the transaction.

In a statement, embassy spokesman Kanishka Gangopadhyay said the Yosemite Trader, a US-registered tanker, is in the Philippines to transfer clean fuel from a US military facility in Red Hill, Pearl Harbor to Subic Bay.

“This is one of multiple shipments of safe, clean fuel from the Red Hill facility to other locations in the Pacific,” he said.

“All arrangements for the transfer and storage of this fuel were made through the proper channels, using established logistics contracts with Philippine commercial entities.”

Senator Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos on Wednesday urged the US and Philippine Defense department to explain why it had not announced the shipment of about 39 million gallons of fuel to Subic Bay.

“This is not just an issue of foreign policy, but of Philippine sovereignty, even environmental safety,” she said in a statement.

Ms. Marcos said silence from both the Philippine and US governments on the fuel transfer raises suspicions on a prepositioning of military supplies in the Philippines amid Washington’s conflict with China over Taiwan.

The US-tanker loaded oil cargo at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 20 and entered Philippine territory on Tuesday, she said, citing data from international shipping trackers.

Taiwan has been independent from China since 1949, but Beijing still claims the island is part of its territory and views Taiwan as a “renegade province.”

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., Ms. Marcos’ brother, gave the US access to four more military bases on top of five existing sites under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the US.

“Subic is not an EDCA site. Where in Philippine territory are the gallons of oil going to be kept?” Ms. Marcos said in Filipino.

Three of the four new EDCA sites are in northern Philippines — Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta. Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo Airport, also in Cagayan; and Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela. Cagayan is about 1,000 kilometers away from self-ruled Taiwan.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have worsened amid Beijing’s continued attempts to bock Philippine resupply missions at Second Thomas Shoal.

Last year, a group of congressmen asked the government to stop “stockpiling” defense equipment under the 2014 military pact.

Party-list Rep. France L. Castro has said the presence of US military forces and their activities could fuel tensions in the region, citing reports of covert military planes in Philippine territory last year. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

DoE: 13 NGCP projects in Western Visayas got delayed

NGCP.PH

AT LEAST 13 power transmission projects in the Western Visayas region in central Philippines have been delayed, the Department of Energy (DoE) said on Thursday, citing right-of-way and permit issues.

“If you have a strong backbone but your substations are not upgraded, then it will not be maximized,” Energy Undersecretary Sharon S. Garin told the House of Representatives energy committee.

She said the projects, which are being built by National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), have been delayed by four or five times.

But in the DoE’s last meeting with NGCP officials and other agencies last month, there were no more permitting or right-of-way issues, Ms. Garin said. “It’s a matter of NGCP completing the construction.”

“If the grid continues to be weak and vulnerable, the blackout will happen as a matter of natural course,” Iloilo Governor Arthur R. Defensor, Jr. told the committee.

Iloilo has suffered economic losses worth P3.8 billion because of the blackout, he said on Wednesday.

Clark N. Agustin, NGCP officer-in-charge, told congressmen the bus voltage values on Panay Island were “within the normal range” between 2 and 2:19 p.m. on Jan. 2, when the power failures happened.

By 2:19 pm, several plants supplying power to the island suffered an “unplanned shutdown,” with 292 megawatts (MW) of the plants tripping, he said. This left Panay with no power generation so plants in Luzon had to supply electricity to the Visayas, he added.

The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Studies said NGCP could have limited the demand to prevent an island-wide blackout.

“Had NGCP implemented manual load dropping in the two-hour window, to which the red alert status should have been declared on the whole island, rotating power outages could have significantly reduced the load demand requirements in Panay,” it said in a statement.

It added that the island should have a distributed power generation instead of “few centralized coal-fired power plants.”

“Through distributed generation, power generation becomes more resilient, less susceptible to single-point failures and adaptable to variable demand conditions,” it said. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

BARMM, Cotabato airports set for upgrades

MLANG.GOV.PH

By John Felix M. Unson and Maya M. Padillo, Correspondents

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro region is gearing up for a new era of modern, efficient, and reliable air transport facilities with significant developments in two key airports in the region, along with the Central Mindanao Airport (CMA) in M’lang, Cotabato province.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MoTC) is constructing plush passenger lounges at the Sanga-Sanga and Awang airports in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, and Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, respectively.

This initiative, complementing the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) focuses on essential infrastructure projects, aims to boost investment prospects in this part of the Southern Philippines.

Funded through grants from the Transitional Development Impact Fund, allocated by regional lawmakers Baintan A. Ampatuan, Amilbahar S. Mawallil, and Jose I. Lorena, each passenger lounge building costs at least P5 million.

MoTC Minister Paisalin P. Tago said the completion of the lounges is expected in less than three months from the launching of the twin projects last Dec. 18 and Ronald Halid D. Torres, chairman of the Bangsamoro Business Council, told BusinessWorld on Thursday that his group welcomes the development.

Tawi-Tawi Governor Esmael Sali expressed gratitude to the regional parliament and the MoTC, citing the projects’ positive impact on his province’s status as a new investment hub in the BARMM.

Meanwhile, Cotabato Governor Emmylou “Lala” Taliño-Mendoza announced that the Central Mindanao Airport in Barangay Tawan-Tawan, M’lang is among the 22 airports funded by the national government in 2024, receiving around P300 million.

The funds will be used for the construction of the administrative building, powerhouse, control tower, water supply system, and rehabilitation of the fire station.

Cotabato Rep. Ma. Alana Samantha T. Santos and Deputy Speaker Raymond D. Mendoza teamed up to secure additional funding for the CMA, which was acknowledged by Ms. Taliño-Mendoza. 

NEA loaned P1B to co-ops in 2023

THE NATIONAL Electrification Administration (NEA) said on Thursday that it has extended about P1 billion in loans to 28 electric cooperatives (ECs) as of yearend 2023.

The year’s total loans were lower than the NEA recorded for 2022 which was about P1.2 billion, extended to 35 ECs.

Of the latest total loans, 19 ECs had access to capital expenditure loans at P474.69 million, the NEA said in a statement.

These include ECs in Basilan, Bohol, Bukidnon, Camotes Islands, Davao del Sur, Iloilo, Laguna, Leyte, Misamis Oriental, Negros Occidental, Northern Samar, Quezon Province, Siargao, Siasi, Sorsogon, South Cotabato, Surigao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, and Zamboanga del Norte.

Loans used for working capital stood at P465 million which was used by 11 ECs operating in Antique, Aurora, Batanes, Bohol, Camiguin, Central Pangasinan, Laguna, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Negros Oriental, and Zamboanga del Sur.

The NEA said that its Accounts Management and Guarantee Department (AMGD) processed an additional P27 million worth of loans in December, mostly to fund the working capital of ECs.

In AMGD’s report, about P12.85 million was lent to the Misamis Oriental I Rural Electric Service Cooperative, Inc. for its modular generator and to Lanao del Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc. for a P50-million short-term credit facility.

“The NEA processed the aforementioned loans using the funds earmarked for its Enhanced Lending Program,” the agency said.

The AMGD said that the total loans released exceeded its 2023 target of P700 million.

The government is targeting to achieve full electrification by 2028.

Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 tasks the NEA with overseeing missionary electrification and providing financial, institutional and technical assistance to electric cooperatives.

The Department of Energy (DoE) has identified 285 unserved areas and 122 underserved areas in off-grid locations that will be prioritized for tender to private sector investments through a competitive selection process (CSP).

In the first CSP for micro grid service provider conducted in December 2023, only the Maharlika Consortium, a group of three companies, submitted complete bid proposals out of nine pre-qualified bidders.

The consortium includes Clean Power Holdings, Inc., Singapore-based CleanGrid Partners, and Singapore-based renewable energy company WEnergy Global.

The CSP covered 98 unserved and underserved areas clustered into 49 lots.

Republic Act No. 11646 or the Microgrid Systems Act mandates the DoE to conduct a CSP for potential concessionaires seeking to serve off-grid areas. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

AMLC freezes ‘terrorist’ assets

UNSPLASH

THE ANTI-MONEY Laundering Council (AMLC) has ordered covered financial institutions and government agencies to carry out freeze orders on the accounts and assets of one individual, who was recently designated as a terrorist by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC).

Through AMLC Resolution No. TF-52, Series of 2023 and posted on its website, the “dirty money” watchdog said the orders should be implemented immediately against the woman tagged as a terrorist by virtue of ATC Resolution No. 52 dated Oct. 25, 2023.

Under the AMLC resolution, financial institutions will freeze the property or funds owned or controlled by the individual. This is not limited to those assets that can be tied to a particular terrorist act, plot, or threat.

Assets that are wholly or jointly owned by the designated person and those generated from their funds are also expected to be frozen.

Relevant government agencies such as the Land Transportation Office, Land Registration Authority, Maritime Industry Authority, and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines were alerted of the freeze order.

Covered institutions and government agencies were directed to submit a written return for freezing the funds and assets of the designated individual to the AMLC.

This is consistent with the Philippines’ international obligations to comply with terrorism-related resolutions, including the United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution No. 1373 pursuant to Article 41 of the UN Charter.

Property or funds of persons and entities that are acting with the direction of designated individual are likewise covered by the freeze order.

“All covered institutions are mandated to submit as Suspicious Transaction Report all previous transactions of the designated person within five days from effectivity of the Sanctions Freeze Order,” the AMLC said.

It added that persons, organizations, associations or groups of the person whose assets have been frozen may avail of the remedies under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which provided for the creation of the ATC, is meant to strengthen the country’s measures against terrorist financing and dirty money. — Keisha B. Ta-asan

 

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