Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube
Home Blog Page 5310

Data sharing for food security and resiliency

CARLOS MUZA-UNSPLASH

The Philippines is one of the countries in the world facing challenges in food security. To at least ensure food availability, the Philippine government has adopted food importation as a strategy such that in 2021, the country’s Food Balance Sheet recorded an import dependency ratio of 25.1% according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Hence, despite being blessed with arable lands and marine resources, the country has been considered as the second largest importer of rice in the world, registering $1.2 billion worth of rice imports, and is the 8th largest importer of fish and crustaceans in Asia worth $625.66 million in the year 2021.

The farmers are usually at the receiving end of the food security debacle blame game. They are usually accused of not possessing the necessary knowledge, technology, and information. All these indeed contribute to low productivity resulting in low if not unpredictable food supply. Blaming farmers, even ridiculing them, is exemplified by Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban’s statement in a radio interview on the “oversupply” of garlic and cabbage sometime in 2022. He said that the Filipino farmers are planting without thinking as to where to sell their crops.

Businessmen are likewise blamed for our country’s food security problem — those who are engaged in hoarding and price manipulation. Smugglers, for doing illegal and reprehensible acts, are easy and visible targets. They flood the markets with imported agricultural produce. But when government restricts imports at a time of severe shortage, smuggling becomes lucrative. Like it or not, smuggled products (abetted by misguided government policy) helps alleviate the shortage.

In that case, government is also blameworthy for perpetuating policies that worsen the country’s food security.

The tear-jerker tale of onion prices skyrocketing from P50 to P700 per kilo illustrates the problem. Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista blamed the traders for the spike in the farmgate price of onions, which reached between P550 and P670 per kilo in December trades. The Food Terminal, Inc., a government-owned and -controlled corporation, was dragged into the controversy as it procured onions at a high price but sold them at much lower prices in Kadiwa stores. The tragic part is that consumers and taxpayers are shouldering the high onion farmgate price even as our farmers remain impoverished.

The blame game and the food security debacle, however, could be traced to the systemic problem of low farm productivity and output leading to perennial supply problems. The situation becomes a crisis when shocks suddenly appear.

Notwithstanding the systemic problems, the Department of Agriculture (DA) could have still anticipated supply shocks if it had been actively utilizing, promoting, and sharing agricultural data. With readily available and accessible data, flip-flopping decisions on sugar and onion importation, for example, could have been avoided and the supply of the goods could have been smoothly managed.

The same could have guided the DA to come up with evidence-based agriculture policies, not just in addressing supply gaps but, more importantly, in increasing the efficiency and productivity of agriculture and farmers. The DA will know what agricultural inputs and technologies to provide, to whom, and to where. Making the information publicly available can also strengthen anti-corruption mechanisms and eliminate schemes similar to the liquid fertilizer scandals.

Data is an empowering tool. With readily available and accessible data, farmers will be guided on what to plant, when, and how much, to avoid overproduction of one agricultural product and underproduction on others. They will also have a basis in asking the government, particularly the local government units (LGUs), for the support they need. Otherwise, as Inso Ubalde, the municipal administrator of Irosin in Sorsogon province, told us: “Lacking information makes us in the LGUs in a bind on what to provide the farmers. Worse, addressing the requests for agricultural inputs is not met on time because of the [obsolete] procurement process. Hence, we really need a system where everybody can have a look on a timely and reliable data.”

Real-time data can also help traders and logistics service providers locate and move overconcentrated agricultural produce to where they are needed most. For the government, real time data can eradicate unnecessary layers in the food supply chain, including price speculation and manipulation, and discourage the entry of unscrupulous traders. This can also put to good use the intelligence fund of the nation’s Chief Executive who is also the concurrent Agriculture Secretary, as available data can provide clues on possible cases of hoarding and price manipulation.

Unfortunately, the undeniable reality is that agriculture data are outdated and hardly accessible, and if available, they need to be re-encoded to make them available to the public. In addition, the different local interpretations on agricultural data-sharing policies vary from one regional field office to another.

Only some regional offices allow access to the Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) — an electronic database containing basic information of farmers and fisherfolks, and members of DA-accredited farmer organizations. The provinces of Romblon and Leyte have passed Sangguniang Panlalawigan resolutions urging the DA to share anonymized RSBSA datasets, but it looks like that these resolutions have yet to be tabled for discussion.

Problems on data availability and access are the major obstacles of LGUs trying to create data-sharing platforms for their farmers and markets. Instead of directly focusing on platform development, LGUs still have to problematize where and how to source the data, and where to source funds for re-encoding or cleaning. Such is the experience of the LGUs of Mina in Iloilo and Irosin in Sorsogon as they continue to develop the Municipal Agriculture Information System, Farmers Agriculture Resource Management System (MAIS-FARMS) and the Integrated Management of Agri-fishery Production and Market for the Development of Irosin (IMAProMDI), respectively. Both systems attempt to provide real-time agricultural production and marketing information in order to link farmers and their produce directly to premium markets and direct buyers while at the same time arm the LGUs with information on the appropriate intervention they need to provide and prioritize.

Simply put, by making data available and accessible, the DA will be strategically equipped to realize its vision of a food-secure and resilient Philippines with empowered and prosperous farmers and fishers.

But will the DA under President Bongbong Marcos, who is the concurrent Agriculture Secretary, open the gates for information and data sharing?

 

Jay A. Carizo is a local governance specialist working with the Galing Pook Foundation that has partnered with Action for Economic Reforms in the COLLABDev Project, a data-driven development program. He has conducted a number of studies on food security and nutrition with a special focus on the food supply chain.

ERRATUM

Mistake in smoking prevalence figures

Two recent Yellow Pad columns used a wrong figure for the smoking prevalence in 2009. The correct figure for smoking prevalence in 2009 is 29.7%, not 28.3%.

The columns were by Pia Rodrigo (“10 years since the signing of the sin tax law,” Jan. 15, 2023) and Filomeno Sta. Ana III (“Ten years after,” Jan. 29, 2023).

The figures have been corrected in the online versions of the columns (https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2023/01/15/498372/10-years-since-the-signing-of-the-sin-tax-law/ and https://www.bworldonline.com/opinion/2023/01/29/501634/ten-years-after/).

National Debt and the misleading family metaphor: A message to the economic managers and to journalists

TIMIS ALEXANDRA-UNSPLASH

A RECENT ARTICLE in the prestigious British newspaper The Guardian (“Bad economics at the BBC enabled Tory austerity and its aftermath — and it knows as much,” James Meadway, Jan. 31, 2023, The Guardian) claimed that bad economics by the British Broadcasting Co. (BBC), the reputable British television company, enabled Tory austerity and its aftermath. A BBC internal review noted that too many journalists don’t get “basic economics,” with a negative effect on UK politics. The review refers to taxation, public spending, government borrowing, and debt output. Poor information is particularly serious when it comes to reporting on the central political issue of government debt, with some journalists apparently instinctively believing that all debt to be inherently bad. The result is that journalists very often frame policy choices, such as making cuts to spending, as if they were decisions of necessity.

Several recent articles in the Philippines have reported that national debt reached P13.4 trillion at the end of 2022 (as reported by the Bureau of the Treasury). This represents 60.9% of GDP. Total debt is broken down into P9.21 trillion in domestic debt and P4.21 trillion in external debt. The tone of these articles reflects also a negative view toward public debt. The government is aiming at a debt-to-GDP ratio of less than 60% by 2025 and 51.1% by 2028, seemingly coinciding with what some commentators say that if the Philippines’ debt stays above 60% of GDP, the country might be subject to a credit downgrade, which would increase the cost of additional borrowing. Hence the need to reduce/improve the debt-to-GDP ratio to below the 60% international threshold.

The reality of so-called national debt is very different from how it is reported and assessed on TV and newspapers, and even by some economists and members of the government. The review of the BBC’s reporting on government spending and debt is welcome because it serves as an example to other countries.

Government debt manifests itself as pieces of paper that are freely purchased by the private sector. It is fundamental to differentiate between debt in domestic currency and debt in foreign currency. The first one does not pose a solvency problem (unless the government willingly chooses not to service it), while the second one could be a headache for developing countries, as these need to earn foreign currency by exporting or by attracting foreign investment. There are several fundamental misunderstandings about how governments spend and what debt is, that are worth clarifying.

Governments do not have currency (dollars, pesos, rupees, euros, pounds….) and do not print it. They spend by data entry on their own spreadsheet, and by crediting bank accounts. And even if they spent by using cash, it would be the same thing: data entry but written on a piece of paper rather than entered into a spreadsheet. When governments spend, the funds do not come from anywhere. It is fiat money.

Governments, when they spend, credit bank accounts and private banks’ reserves. Reserves are just a form of government currency used by banks to make payments to one another and to the government. If you later want cash, your bank lets you withdraw it. It uses its vault cash. And if it does not have enough, it calls the Central Bank, which delivers paper money and debits the bank’s reserves.

The US government has run deficits for over 200 years. Can your family do it? Do you have unlimited power to credit accounts electronically? The household analogy most often used is totally wrong. A sovereign government does not face solvency risk in domestic currency: Governments cannot go broke and their checks do not bounce. Yes, many impose artificial constraints on themselves (people should know they are self-imposed). This does not mean that they are financially constrained like you and me. The fact that governments are not financially constrained like you and me (and hence the standard idea of a government budget constraint should also be reconsidered) does not mean that they can spend at will and on anything they want to. The limit is inflation, and not the fallacy “the government does not have money.”

The standard argument is that in order to sustain government spending, the government must issue securities. The reality is that securities (debt) are issued as a result of unwarranted cash balances that appear as excess reserves in the banking system, i.e., excess liquidity in the banking system. Reserves have to be drained because, otherwise, the interest rate set by the Central Bank would go down to zero.

This means that, contrary to what is often preached, government deficits put downward pressure on the Central Bank’s overnight interest rate. Excess reserves are dried up by issuing bonds. This is what the Central Bank and Treasury effectively do, although they think they are “financing” the deficit. Naturally, the “crowding out” argument (of the private sector) is also incorrect, as the latter is based on the misleading idea that there is a fixed pool of money in the market and that public and private sectors fight for it in such a way that government deficits lead to increases in interest rates. This cannot be further from the truth. In fact, it is the opposite.

Note that a government deficit means that government spending (by crediting accounts, not by using taxes) is higher than tax collection from the public at large. Why is this necessarily bad? A surplus, on the other hand, takes away spending power from consumers. Why would anybody want fiscal surpluses? Does this mean a more efficient government? Are surpluses saved to pay for things “tomorrow”? Budget surpluses are, most often, deflationary (yes, at times a surplus might be needed to cool the economy). I insist that this does not imply that the government should spend as if there is no tomorrow. It simply means that government spending should be reconsidered and presented as what it is: a transfer to the private sector that plays an important role in the economy, in particular, in that of a developing country.

National debt is the sum of past government deficits (minus cancellations). As noted above, government debt is, in practice, pieces of paper (IOUs) where the private sector willingly parks its excess liquidity. Why? Because the government always pays back (in its own currency). How? Naturally, by crediting accounts; not to mention that states don’t tend to retire or die, or pay off their debts entirely. And naturally, government spending at any point in time does not affect future generations, no matter how many Treasury securities are outstanding. Government debt is wealth in the hands of the private sector; interest payments are payments to the generation that receives them; and the government services bonds by crediting bank accounts.

All Treasury securities do is to offset operating factors at the Central Bank. Nothing to do with saving and investment. A deficit exactly equals the total net increase in the holdings of financial assets of the non-government sector (business and households, residents and non-residents). Deficits add to national savings (of the non-government sector): (i) Government sells P100 Treasuries (which becomes wealth of the private sector); (ii) Government spends the P100 it received from the selling of Treasuries. The result? The non-government sector now has P100 of bank accounts and P100 in new securities. Surpluses, instead, subtract savings as they are a net decrease in non-government savings of financial assets. An economy cannot have a budget surplus with private savings increasing (including non-resident savings of the country’s financial assets). Watch out for reductions in budget deficits that will reduce the injection into the economy and, worse, surpluses: households will have to sell securities so that they can pay for their taxes. Their net financial assets and savings go down by the amount of the surplus.

Reporting on government spending and debt through the family metaphor is very misleading. Indeed, the conceptual leap from government financing to household borrowing distorts the truth. While it is important to monitor debt, it is even more important to understand what the government spends on and how this benefits the economy. That some of this spending might be labeled “inefficient” does not imply that debt has to be controlled so as not to go over 60% of GDP. The nation’s economic managers need to use government spending to achieve the national goals. This requires awareness of the fact that issuing securities (debt) is an operation to offset operating factors at the Central Bank, not borrowing as commonly discussed (i.e., a matter of necessity). The 60% debt threshold is an invention. It might be true though that rating agencies could downgrade the Philippines. This is unfortunate (poor understanding) as it is what would harm the country.

 

Jesus Felipe is a distinguished professor of Economics and director of the Angelo King Institute, De La Salle University.

A Valentine’s message

PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN

“I love you, Over!” She heard him, loud and clear, above the whirring static of the radio patch from where he was — in a tent that was the detachment headquarters of his infantry battalion in Jolo. “Ten-four,” she hurriedly replied — meaning “message received.” The subdued hooting and thumping of the eavesdropping troops bivouacked for the night playfully teased the couple whose carefully controlled emotions were expressed over the open channels. They were cheering their commander.

He was their hero — a valiant knight in shining armor leading them in battle. His young wife waiting back home completed the romantic ideal of the gallant soldier sacrificing family for the call of duty to defend the country.

That last “I love you, Over” echoed like flying shrapnel in the painful memory of the bereaved battalion as they wept for themselves and the orphaned wife and child of their commander. He was killed in action in the encounter with rebels in the foothills of Patikul, Jolo, the stronghold of insurgents against the government.

“Why did he have to be physically at the front of battle? He was Battalion Commander. He could have directed operations from the safety of his secret position, talking to his lieutenants on the ‘over-over’ (the military two-way field radio), as most commanders do,” a truly regretful comrade-officer said. “Sayang, he could have been a general, had he lived a full 30-year career in the armed forces,” a sympathetic officer’s wife said as she consoled the widow. He was only 34 years old when he died a hero for the country, 47 years ago. Never to be a general.

Sayang talaga. At the Libingan ng mga Bayani, the heroes’ cemetery, the widow glanced at the separate and exclusive area where departed generals and VIPs were buried, exalted in polished marble plaques to their honor. Eyes blurry with tears, she turned to the surrealistic sea of close to 50,000 plain cement crosses that marked the ordinary soldiers’ graves, like her late husband’s 9’x 4’ grass plot under the shade of a gnarled acacia tree on a small interior road. But he did not die for personal fame and glory. He died for the country. He sacrificed Life so others may live.

To transcend the limitations of self-centered definitions of the guiding principles of “Courage, Loyalty, and Integrity” learned in the military academy, the young officer chose active combat duty — ready to fight selflessly in the battlefield that stripped away justifications of self-preservation with compromises on principles.

On his first three-day furlough after two straight months in Jolo, he was a changed man. His young wife wondered fearfully why he was so silent and detached. He was pitifully not even able to explode pent up emotions and raging hormones in the marital bed. Until he broke down in hot tears — “I saw my soldier running for help towards me with his intestines spilled out into his hands. The young private first class (PFC) was shot at close range in the encounter. We do not even know if we had been infiltrated by the rebels,” he said. She took him into her embrace and nursed him with knowing silence. Battle shock?

He was all the more resolved to be with his men at encounters, to show them that he was ready to risk life and limb with the same level of commitment and exposure as they had. “One for all, and all for one,” as in the classic motto of equal responsibility and cooperation in battle from Alexander Dumas’ familiar The Three Musketeers. But the battle cry was soon blown away by the piercing gunshot in that early morning of yet another day of defensive engagement with the rebels. (The young wife was notified of the incident and was allowed to hitch a ride on the C-130 plane bound for Zamboanga the following morning.)

At the canvas tent that served as a makeshift clinic for the wounded, the steely silence was pierced by the wailing and sobbing of the widow when her beloved husband closed his eyes and breathed his last.

Outside the tent, the soldiers stood crying in the rain, soaking their camouflaged olive drabs and combat boots. They learned true love of country from their commander’s heroic death. At grandstand ceremonies on AFP Day two weeks later, then-President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. pinned on the widow posthumous medals for valor and wounded soldiers’ awards for the slain commander.

There are, of course, more glowing stories of love of country and fellowmen than that of this obscure battalion commander who was killed in action in Jolo, and heroes much more towering than he who have made lasting impacts on the rights of the Filipino people. In 1986, the Filipino people themselves were the heroes in the peaceful EDSA People Power Revolution that restored democracy to the country. “The Filipino is worth dying for.” The statement, which reverberated throughout the land, was a firm resolve despite the deteriorated moral values and principles that had corrupted the collective body and soul of the people.

Thirty-seven years after EDSA I — has the collective conscience kept its resolution for positive change in the values and principles, the ethics and mores of the people? Has respect for human rights been truly ingrained in belief and action, in individual and particular relationships, and more so, in society and government? Are fairness and founded judgment the bases for resolution of differences? Compromise of principles must not be made for the advancement of power, influence, and wealth.

Transparency International ranked the Philippines 116th (64th most corrupt) among 180 countries and territories globally. The country had ranked 111th in 2020, 101st in 2019, and 108th in 2018. The 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) showed that the Philippines scored 33 out of 100, below the global average of 43. Transparency International defined the scale as zero meaning “highly corrupt” and 100 as “very clean.” In its 2021 index, the Berlin-based watchdog reported that the Philippines saw “a sharp decline in freedom of association and freedom of expression, making it harder to speak up about corruption” (CNN Philippines, Feb. 1, 2023). Last year, the Philippines was again included in the list of countries identified as “significant decliners” in the Asia-Pacific region, with its score dropping five points from 38 — the country’s highest score — in 2014, when it rose to 85th out of 175 (The Philippine Star, Feb. 1, 2023).

“It does not look too good for our people,” the widow whispered to her late husband as she pulled out the weeds growing on his plot at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. “Is this the country you died for?”

The annual homecoming at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) is coming up on Feb. 18. There the alumni, the “Cavaliers” as they call themselves, will be reminded of the PMA values of “Courage, Loyalty, and Integrity” as they pay silent tribute to their comrades who died for the country. Heroes live on in the hearts and minds of the people as their ideals of what they want the country and the people to be. There will be a groundswell to affirm and reinforce faltering values and principles if the scattered efforts of the truly nationalistic and God-fearing citizens to change the system will not be enough. The Filipino is worth dying for.

The widow rose from her reverie and looked towards the edge of the open field — where at every visit at his grave, she would imagine her beloved in his camouflage uniform appearing and walking towards her.

“I love you, Over,” he shouted above the static of cicadas buzzing in the darkening sky. “Ten-four,” she replied. The falling leaves from the eavesdropping acacias applauded, teasing the love birds.

 

Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.

ahcylagan@yahoo.com

Writer, activist Lualhati Bautista, 77  

FACEBOOK/LUALHATI BAUTISTA

Writer, novelist, and activist Lualhati Bautista passed away at the age of 77 on Sunday morning.     

“Sad news for our Torres Clan, our first cousin Lualhati Bautista died at 77 years old this morning,” the late writer’s cousin Sonny Ross Samonte said in a Facebook post on Feb. 12.     

Born in Tondo, Manila on Dec. 2, 1945, Ms. Bautista studied journalism at the Lyceum of the Philippines. The publication of her first short story “Katugon ng Damdamin” in Liwayway Magazine launched her writing career.     

Ms. Bautista is best known for her novels Dekada ’70 (1983); Bata, Bata, Pa’no Ka Ginawa? (1984); and Gapo (1980) – all titles which earned Carlos Palanca Memorial for Literature awards.    

Apart from being a novelist, Ms. Bautista also wrote screenplays for film and television. The film Bulaklak sa City Jail won Best Story and Best Screenplay at the Metro Manila Film Festival in 1984, while the 2002 film adaptation of her novel Dekada ’70 also earned Best Story and Best Screenplay recognition from the Urian Awards and Young Critics Circle. The series Isang Kabanata sa Libro ng Buhay ni Leilani Cruzaldo won Best Drama Story for TV at the Catholic Mass Media Awards in 1987.    

Ms. Bautista also served as vice-president of the Screenwriters Guild of the Philippines and as chair of the Kapisanan ng mga Manunulat ng Nobelang Popular. She was a founding member of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines Women’s Desk and Writers in Cultural and Creative Alternatives.     

In 1986, Ms. Bautista became a national fellow for fiction by the University of the Philippines (UP) Creative Writing Center. She also received the Diwata Award for best writer at the 16th International Women’s Film Festival of the UP Film Center in 2006.   

Ms. Bautista was also an activist who criticized the sociopolitical system in the country – issues and topics were evident in her writing.   

Among her last published titles were Bayan Ko, an anthology of short stories, in 2019; and Alitaptap sa Gabing Madilim, a poetry collection, in 2020. — MAPS

US fighter jet shoots down unidentified cylindrical object over Canada

STOCK PHOTO | Image from Pixabay

WASHINGTON/OTTAWA — A US F-22 fighter jet shot down an unidentified cylindrical object over Canada on Saturday, the second such instance in as many days, as North America appeared on edge following a week-long Chinese spying balloon saga that drew the global spotlight.

Separately, the US military also scrambled fighter jets in Montana to investigate a radar anomaly that triggered a brief federal closure of airspace.

“Those aircraft did not identify any object to correlate the radar hits,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced Saturday’s shootdown over the northern Yukon territory, saying Canadian forces would recover and analyze the wreckage.

Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand declined to speculate about the origin of the object, which she said was cylindrical in shape.

She stopped short of calling it a balloon but said it was smaller than the Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina’s coast a week ago, though similar in appearance.

Aloft at 40,000 feet (12,200 meters), it posed a risk to civilian air traffic and was shot down at 3:41 EST (2041 GMT), she added.

“There is no reason to believe that the impact of the object in Canadian territory is of any public concern,” Ms. Anand told a news conference.

The Pentagon said NORAD detected the object over Alaska late on Friday.

US fighter jets from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, monitored the object as it crossed over into Canadian airspace, where Canadian CF-18 and CP-140 aircraft joined the formation.

“A US F-22 shot down the object in Canadian territory, using an AIM 9X missile following close co-ordination between US and Canadian authorities,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement.

US President Joseph R. Biden authorized the US military to work with Canada to take down the high-altitude craft after a call between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trudeau, the Pentagon said.

The White House said Mr. Biden and Mr. Trudeau agreed to continue close coordination to “defend our airspace.”

“The leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin,” it said in a statement.

A day earlier, Mr. Biden ordered another shootdown of an unidentified flying object near Deadhorse, Alaska.

On Saturday, the US military remained tight-lipped about what, if anything, it had learned as recovery efforts were underway on the Alaskan sea ice.

On Friday, the Pentagon offered only a few details, such as that the object was the size of a small car, was flying at about 40,000 feet (12,200 m), could not maneuver and appeared to be unmanned.

US officials have been trying to learn about the object since it was first spotted on Thursday.

“We have no further details at this time about the object, including its capabilities, purpose, or origin,” Northern Command said on Saturday.

It mentioned difficult Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow, and limited daylight that can hinder search and recovery.

“Personnel will adjust recovery operations to maintain safety,” it added.

On Feb. 4, a US F-22 fighter jet brought down what the US government called a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina following its week-long journey across the United States and portions of Canada.

China has said it was a civilian research vessel.

Some US lawmakers criticized Mr. Biden for not shooting down the Chinese balloon sooner. The US military had recommended waiting until it was over the ocean, for fear of injuries from falling debris.

US personnel have been scouring the ocean to recover debris and the undercarriage of electronic gadgetry since the shootdown of the 200-foot (60-meter) -tall Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon.

The Pentagon has said a significant amount of the balloon had already been recovered or located, suggesting American officials may soon have more information about any Chinese espionage capabilities aboard.

Sea conditions on Feb. 10 “permitted dive and underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) activities and the retrieval of additional debris from the sea floor,” Northern Command said.

“The public may see US Navy vessels moving to and from the site as they conduct offload and resupply activities.” — Reuters

Looting and hygiene worries add to rescuers’ burden in Turkey

PEOPLE inspect the damage as rescuers search for survivors in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 8. — REUTERS

ANTAKYA, Turkey — Volunteers struggling to find ever fewer survivors in the quake-hit Turkish city of Antakya said on Saturday ransacking and hygiene problems were adding to their daunting task.

One resident, searching for a colleague buried in a collapsed building, said he witnessed looting in the first days after Monday’s quake before leaving the city for a village.

“People were smashing the windows and fences of shops and cars,” said Mehmet Bok, 26, now back in Antakya and searching for a work colleague in a collapsed building.

German aid organizations suspended rescue operations in the quake region on Saturday, citing security problems and reports of clashes between groups of people and gunfire.

Turkish authorities have not commented on any unrest, but President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday the government would deal firmly with looters and other criminal behavior, noting that a state of emergency had been declared.

The death toll has surpassed 25,300 in Turkey and Syria.

Another rescuer, Gizem from the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, said she had also seen looters in the four days she had been in Antakya.

“We cannot intervene much as most of the looters carry knives. They caught a looter today, people chased after him,” she said in the city where there was a heavy police and military presence directing traffic, helping rescuers and handing out food.

She described Antakya as a place of death and destruction when she arrived. “We could not hold back our tears,” she said as ambulance sirens wailed in the background.

“If people don’t die here under the rubble, they’ll die from injuries, if not they will die from infection. There is no toilet here. It is a big problem,” she said, adding that there were not enough body bags for all the dead.

“The bodies are all over the roads, with only blankets on them.”

Townsfolk were wearing masks to cover the smell of death.

Others echoed concerns about hygiene, especially insufficient numbers of working lavatories.

There were long lines at temporary mobile toilets but many people said they were simply finding a hidden spot, leading to complaints about stench.

“I think right now what’s needed most is hygiene products. We have toilet problems, I am scared that some disease will spread,” said one man, who declined to give his name and who traveled from Antalya to help in rescue operations.

He said there was little coordination, with everyone doing what they can to save lives and some collapsed buildings still untouched in side streets.

“We are digging for hours and hours,” he said, describing pulling alive from the rubble overnight a 56-year old woman, her face covered with dust, who had fallen into the stairwell of an apartment building.

“We’ve pulled out some 150-200 dead bodies.” — Reuters

Bolsonaro mulls return to Brazil in coming weeks

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

MEXICO CITY — Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday he plans to return to Brazil “in the coming weeks,” after having spent more than a month in the United States.

Mr. Bolsonaro flew to Florida two days before incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as the new president on Jan. 1, and later applied for a six-month tourist visa to continue his stay in the United States.

“There is no place like home … We know Brazil is a fantastic country,” Mr. Bolsonaro told a gathering of Brazilians in Boca Raton, a video posted online by broadcaster CNN showed.

“I also want to return to Brazil. I intend to return to Brazil in the coming weeks.”

A swift return to Brazil could pose risks for Mr. Bolsonaro, who is accused of instigating a violent election denial movement in his home country.

Brazil’s Supreme Court has agreed to open an investigation into Mr. Bolsonaro for allegedly encouraging anti-democratic protests that ended in the storming of government buildings by his supporters in Brasilia.

His plans to return were put in question after his lawyer told Reuters last month the former president would like to “enjoy being a tourist in the United States for a few months before deciding what his next step will be.”

Still, a US official with knowledge of the situation told Reuters this week that officials believe Mr. Bolsonaro will return to Brazil after the carnival festival, which ends on Feb. 22. — Reuters

Office cake culture lives on in Britain despite health warning

AMIRALI MIRHASHEMIAN-UNSPLASH

LONDON — When Katie Mulligan baked a beetroot cake for her colleagues at a London advertising agency, she was focused on getting the recipe right rather than whether it was acceptable to bring treats into the office.

But office cake culture has recently been challenged by the head of Britain’s food regulator, Susan Jebb, who grabbed headlines last month by comparing it to passive smoking.

“I just don’t think there’s a real equivalence there,” Ms. Mulligan, 30, said at her north London home. “With cakes, it’s up to you whether you eat it.”

With a passion to bake and cook, Ms. Mulligan says her cakes help colleagues beat the afternoon slump — and beetroot is a relatively healthy option.

Ms. Jebb, however, believes cakes in the office are an example of a society that is promoting unhealthy food choices.

“If nobody brought in cakes into the office, I would not eat cakes in the day,” Ms. Jebb told The Times newspaper.

“But because people do bring cakes in, I eat them. Now, OK, I have made a choice, but people were making a choice to go into a smoky pub.”

Ms. Jebb, who was not speaking on behalf of the Food Standards Agency, made the comment days after parliament published a report that said 25.9% of adults in England were obese and a further 37.9% were overweight, citing a 2021 survey.

The United States ranked highest in the world for obesity levels with 43%, the report added citing OECD Health Statistics, while Britain as a whole, not just England, was at 28%.

The trend in the UK is “only going to get worse,” said Katharine Jenner, director of Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition of over 40 organizations that tackle obesity by influencing government policy.

Obesity is costing Britain’s National Health Service and the wider society something like 60 billion pounds ($72.63 billion) a year, she said.

The country needs to change its broader food culture and soon.

“I reckon we’re about in the (19)60s’ equivalent of sugar and diet-related ill health compared to smoking. So, we’ve got a long way to go,” she said.

At Ms. Mulligan’s office, enjoying the beetroot cake and its edible flower garnishes, while striking up conversations, provides a welcome break for her colleagues and lightens up office life.

“It helps build friendships. It creates a really lovely atmosphere,” said advertising strategist Bish Morgan, 26.

“As long as people are sensible and strike the right balance then yeah, I still think it’s a lovely thing to do in the office.” — Reuters

Citicore prepares for IPO, to invest $4B in renewable energy

Citicore Renewable Energy Corp., one of the Philippines’ biggest solar power producers, is planning to go public this year to fund a $4 billion investment in new solar projects over the next five years, its chief executive officer said on Friday.

“For a country such as ours with limited oil and coal but have abundant sun, wind and water, it is imperative we deploy capital investment into renewable energy,” Citicore President and CEO Oliver Y. Tan told reporters.

Citicore will file documents for an initial public offering in the second quarter and complete its listing within the year, Mr. Tan said, adding it will be large enough to attract foreign investors for an international tranche.

Fresh capital from the listing will allow Citicore, which has an installed capacity of 241 megawatts via solar panels, to invest $800 million this year to increase output to 1 gigawatt (GW), and around $4 billion to reach 5 GW within five years, Mr. Tan said.

The Philippines, an archipelagic country among the most vulnerable to climate change, aims to increase renewables in its power mix to 35% by 2030, from 21% in 2020, and to 50% by 2040. Coal accounted for nearly 60% in 2020.

Citicore is also pursuing seven offshore wind projects with a total capacity of 3 GW.

Citicore is the parent firm of Citicore Energy REIT Corp. and is a sister company of Megawide Construction Corp.

Citicore REIT on Friday listed its maiden ASEAN Green Bond in the Philippines’ fixed income trading platform. It raised 4.5 billion pesos ($82.6 million) from its bond sale to fund acquisition of land for its renewable energy portfolio. — Reuters

FDI net inflows drop to $793M in November

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

By Keisha B. Ta-asan, Reporter

FOREIGN DIRECT investments (FDI) in the Philippines plummeted 43.6% in November to $793 million and 13.4% to $8.43 billion in the 11-month period, suggesting a weaker global economic outlook.

FDI net inflows also fell 14.1% from the $923-million inflows in October, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Friday showed.

The November figure was the lowest monthly FDI inflow since the $626 million in September 2022.

Net Foreign Direct Investment (November 2022)“This resulted from the drop in non-residents’ net investments in debt instruments and reinvestment of earnings. Meanwhile, net placements of equity capital rose year-on-year for the third consecutive month,” the central bank said in a statement.

Non-residents’ net investments in debt instruments of local affiliates dropped 55.2% to $540 million in November, from $1.21 billion in the same month in 2021.

Reinvestment of earnings also decreased 12.6% year on year to $73 million in November.

Meanwhile, investments in equity and investment fund shares rose 25.1% to $253 million in November, from $202 million a year earlier.

Non-residents’ net investments in equity capital (other than reinvestment of earnings) increased 51.8% to $180 million in November, from $118 million in the same month a year prior.

Broken down, equity capital placements grew 47.3% to $195 million, while withdrawals increased 8.8% to $15 million.

The equity placements were mainly from Japan, Singapore, and the United States, and invested mostly in manufacturing, information and communication, and real estate industries.

The decrease in FDI net inflows is likely driven by the weaker global economic outlook for 2023, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in a Viber message.

“Although these were 2022 numbers, it may be possible that global firms have already started factoring in the said outlook already even before moving into the new year,” he said.

“The backdrop of higher interest rates and the uncertainty of monetary policy brought about by elevated inflation,” he added.

In the country alone, the Monetary Board raised borrowing costs by 75 basis points (bps) on Nov. 17 last year, bringing the overnight reverse repurchase rate to 5% in order to curb red-hot inflation and mirror the US Federal Reserve’s tightening.

Headline inflation rose to 8% in November from the 7.7% in October and 3.7% in November 2021.

The year-on-year decline in FDI net inflows is also due to higher base effects, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

FDI net inflows stood at $1.41 billion in November 2021, which was one of the largest net inflows in the country since the pandemic started, he said.

“The slowdown in the net FDI data may also have to do with higher short-term interest rates and the peak in long-term interest rates in the US…(and a) risk of recession in the US, which is the world’s largest economy,” Mr. Ricafort added.

The US Federal Reserve at its Nov. 1-2 2022 meeting hiked interest rates by 75 bps, which brought the key rate to 3.75-4% at that time.

YEAR TO DATE

For the first 11 months of 2022, FDI net inflows fell 13.4% to $8.43 billion from $9.74 billion in the comparable year-ago period.

“By component, non-residents’ net investment in debt instruments and reinvestment of earnings declined while their net placements of equity capital increased during the period,” the BSP said.

BSP data showed foreign investments in debt instruments declined 17.7% year on year to $5.90 billion in the January-to-November period.

Reinvestment of earnings fell by 8% to $1.08 billion in the 11 months through November 2022.

Investments in equity and investment fund shares also declined 1.4% to $2.53 billion in the 11-month period.

Meanwhile, net foreign investments in equity capital grew 4.2% to $1.44 billion.

Most of these placements were also from Japan, Singapore, and the United States.

The BSP expects FDI net inflows at $8.5 billion by end-2022 and at $11 billion by end-2023.

The country is still on track to hit the government’s projection for 2022, according to Mr. Ricafort.

“Market sentiment had improved since November 2022 when US inflation/consumer price index data eased further and long-term interest rates started to ease, thereby leading to some easing of long-term borrowing costs/financing costs for investments/FDIs,” he said.

France doesn’t rule out fighter jets for Ukraine, but says more immediate firepower needed

MEMBERS of the Honor Guard attend a rising ceremony of Ukraine's biggest national flag to mark the Day of the State Flag, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug. 23. — UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/REUTERS

KYIV – French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday he did not rule out sending fighter jets to Ukraine at some point, but that Kyiv was in need of more immediate military firepower, as Ukrainian officials said a fresh Russian offensive was underway.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has long urged Ukraine’s allies to send jet fighters and on Thursday said that several European leaders were ready to supply aircraft.

“Europe will be with us until our victory. I’ve heard it from a number of European leaders…about the readiness to give us the necessary weapons and support, including the aircraft,” Zelenskiy told a news conference in Brussels, where he attended a European Union summit.

Such a move would be one of the biggest shifts yet in Western support and Moscow has warned it would escalate and prolong the conflict.

“I exclude absolutely nothing,” Macron said when asked about the possibility of sending jets at the end of a summit of EU leaders.

But Macron said the current priority was to help Ukraine in the weeks and months ahead, and fighter jets could not be delivered in that timeframe and it would take time to train Ukrainian pilots to fly them.

Macron said the priority should be on items such as artillery, which had proven to be effective and on which Ukrainian forces were already trained. He said it might be necessary to intensify delivery of such items and Ukraine’s allies would examine this possibility in coming days.

As the anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches on Feb. 24, Kyiv has predicted an aggressive onslaught from Moscow aimed at notching territorial gains it can trumpet at the one-year mark, after months of little movement.

Asked on Ukrainian television if he agreed that the Russian offensive had already begun, Pavlo Krylenko, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, said on Thursday: “Yes, definitely.”

Around eastern towns like Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Vuhledar that have witnessed some of the bloodiest battles of the war, “the enemy’s forces and means are escalating there with daily intensity, he said.

According to Oleg Zhdanov, a Ukrainian military analyst, defenders in Bakhmut were still being supplied from the west, but were under pressure from three sides, with Russian forces entering two northern districts of the city two days ago.

“In the Avdiivka sector, Russian troops are trying to bring in reserves in order to take control of the centre of the contested town of Marinka,” Zhdanov said in his regular roundup of developments in conflict delivered on YouTube.

He said Ukrainian forces still controlled the centre of Marinka, contrary to Russian media reports that mopping up operations were underway.

The wider Donbas area of the east, comprised of Donetsk and Luhansk, has been one of Russia’s major objectives, and the Kremlin declared them in the autumn to be among four annexed territories after referendums decried as shams by the West.

“Over the past week to 10 days, the frequency of shelling has increased. The daily number of attacks has increased,” Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai told Ukrainian Radio NV on Thursday.

He said there was a major new Russian assault around Kreminna, along a northern stretch of the eastern front, but that Moscow’s forces were “having no significant success.”

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.

KYIV EXPECTS WEAPONS, AIRCRAFT

Western countries that have provided Ukraine with arms have so far refused to send fighter jets or long-range weapons capable of striking deep inside Russia for fear of being drawn further into the conflict.

Zelenskiy began a European tour on Wednesday with a meeting in London with Britain’s Rishi Sunak and dinner in Paris with France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz.

Sunak promised to train Ukrainian pilots to fly advanced NATO fighter jets. He stopped short of offering to supply the planes, but said nothing was off the table.

Zelenskiy said that some of what he had been promised in Paris by Macron and Scholz was still secret.

MOSCOW WARNS WEST AGAINST ESCALATION

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it would be Ukrainians who suffered if Britain or other Western countries supplied fighter jets to Kyiv, and that the line between indirect and direct Western involvement in the war was disappearing.

Russian forces have been advancing recently for the first time in half a year, fortified with tens of thousands of freshly mobilized recruits, in relentless winter battles that both sides describe as some of the bloodiest of the war.

At least 17 Russian missiles hit the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia in an hour on Friday morning, its acting mayor, Anatolii Kurtiev, said. The attacks targeted energy infrastructure, he said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that information was being collected on damage and casualties.

Russian forces also launched a series of overnight strikes that knocked out power supplies in parts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, local officials said on Friday. There was no word on casualties.

“The occupiers hit critical infrastructure. There were about 10 explosions,” Kharkiv governor Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram. “In some regions, there are power cuts. Emergency services are on site.”

Russia launched the war it calls a “special military operation” to combat what it describes as a security threat from Ukraine’s ties to the West. Ukraine and the West say Russia’s invasion is an unprovoked land grab. — Reuters

EU leaders agree targeted, temporary support for green industry

THE MAIN entrance of the European Union Commission headquarters is seen in Brussels July 1, 2013. — REUTERS

BRUSSELS – European Union leaders agreed on Friday they should allow “targeted, temporary and proportionate” support to ensure Europe’s future as a manufacturing base for green tech products and counter US and Chinese competition.

The European Commission has proposed loosening rules on state aid for investments in renewable energy, decarbonizing industry, hydrogen or zero-emission vehicles, partly in response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

EU leaders have expressed concern that local content requirements of much of the $369 billion of subsidies in the IRA have will encourage companies to abandon Europe for the United States.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was confident that talks between the transatlantic partners could limit discrimination against companies based in Europe.

“When we are looking at our competitiveness, we need to do our own homework and do everything to ensure that we do not have an international subsidy race,” he told a news conference at the end of the leaders’ summit in Brussels.

The International Energy Agency estimates the global market for mass-produced clean energy technologies will triple to $650 billion a year by 2030.

Europe wants a piece of the action, but sectors from solar panels to wind turbine blades and vehicle batteries are dominated by China, with well over 50% of the market.

The Commission is set to propose a Net-Zero Industry Act to speed up permits for green projects and a Critical Raw Materials Act to boost recycling and diversify sourcing to be less reliant on Chinese processors.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said they would be presented before the next time EU leaders meet on March 22-23.

Funding is proving the most controversial element of the plan.

There is widespread resistance to joint borrowing and some concern that looser state aid rules would unsettle the EU internal market because subsidies in the two largest economies, Germany and France, would dwarf offerings elsewhere.

Countries such as the Netherlands, Ireland, the Czechs and the Nordics have expressed concern this could lead to excessive non-targeted subsidies and say work to improve the EU single market would be more effective. — Reuters

1...5,3095,3105,311...14,278Page 5,310 of 14,278
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube