Auto sales
VEHICLE sales for April improved by 40.9% year on year to 25,149 units on the back of improved consumer demand, according to a joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released on Thursday. Read the full story.
Bucks cancel Game Seven watch party after shootings
THE REIGNING NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks said on Saturday they have cancelled plans to have a watch party for their series-deciding game against the Boston Celtics after three separate shootings in the city’s downtown left 21 people injured.
The shootings occurred on Friday near a Milwaukee entertainment district where thousands of fans had been watching as the Bucks lost Game Six of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
The Bucks said the decision to cancel the watch party for Game Seven, which will be played in Boston on Sunday afternoon, was made so law enforcement can devote the necessary resources to the investigation of the shootings.
“The shootings that happened in downtown Milwaukee last night were horrific and we condemn this devastating violence,” the Bucks said in a statement.
“We are grateful to local law enforcement for its valiant efforts to try to contain what was a dangerous and fluid situation.”
The Bucks said all business in the so-called Deer District that surrounds their home arena will remain open as usual. — Reuters
Djokovic bags 1,000th career win to reach Italian Open final
WORLD number one Novak Djokovic earned his 1,000th tour-level victory by beating Casper Ruud 6-4 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Italian Open final.
Djokovic will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the title clash on Sunday, with the Serbian playing in the final in Rome for the fourth straight time and 12th overall.
It will be a repeat of last year’s French Open final, which Djokovic won after fighting back from two sets down.
“Again, another final against him in one of the biggest tournaments we have in the world,” Djokovic told reporters.
“He’s definitely in form. I can expect a big battle, but I’m ready for it.”
The 34-year-old is only the fifth man in the Open Era to reach the 1,000 wins milestone after Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Rafa Nadal.
“I’ve seen Roger and Rafa celebrate those milestones in the last couple years. I was looking forward to get to that thousand myself,” Djokovic said.
“It’s been a long time, ever since I played my first match, ever since I won my first match on the tour. Hopefully, I can keep going.”
Playing under the lights, Djokovic broke Norwegian Ruud’s service twice to earn a commanding 4-0 lead as the top seed made a fast start.
Ruud broke Djokovic at 5-3 down and held his serve but the 20-times major winner closed out the set.
In the second set, Ruud saved three break points in the seventh game before Djokovic broke for a 4-3 lead.
Djokovic broke Ruud again as he wrapped up victory in one hour 42 minutes and the Serbian will seek a record-extending 38th ATP Masters 1000 title in Sunday’s final.
Earlier, world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the Rome final for the first time after the Greek rallied to defeat Alexander Zverev 4-6 6-3 6-3.
Tsitsipas, who will rise to fourth in the ATP rankings next week, will be bidding for his third Masters 1000 title on Sunday.
In the third claycourt Masters 1000 semi-final between the pair this season, Tsitsipas overcame Zverev as he stayed consistent from the baseline and strong on serve.
“Battle of the serves,” Tsitsipas said. “Battle of being able to take that first shot after the serve and really put quite a lot of pressure to it, which I think I was able to do really well in the third set.
“I was able to return a few on the third a bit more than him, get the ball in play, stay in those rallies, not give away much.
“I was really trying to stay there as long as possible and make every single one count.”
Zverev was clinical in the opening set with his first serve working like clockwork, but the German dropped a set for the first time in this year’s tournament as Tsitsipas raised his own level in the second.
Tsitsipas struck first in the decider, earning a break to lead 3-2 when Zverev sent a forehand into the net.
Tsitsipas broke the Zverev serve again to claim a comfortable victory and he now has a Tour-leading 31 match wins this year and leads his head-to-head against Zverev 8-4.
Zverev is yet to win a title this season. — Reuters
Quadruple still possible as Liverpool edge Chelsea in FA Cup final
LONDON — Juergen Klopp’s relentless Liverpool beat Chelsea 6-5 on penalties in a fluctuating English FA Cup final on Saturday to stay on course for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies.
An absorbing Wembley showpiece had somehow ended 0-0 after extra time despite a raft of chances and near misses for both sides with fine performances from the two goalkeepers.
Substitute Kostas Tsimikas slotted the winning penalty after Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta’s had hit the post and Alisson had saved Mason Mount’s effort.
Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy had kept his side alive when he saved Senegal team mate Sadio Mane’s penalty but it proved to no avail as Liverpool lifted the trophy for the first time since 2006.
It was a carbon copy of the League Cup final in February, which Liverpool won 11-10 on penalties after that game also finished goalless.
“I’m really proud of my boys,” Liverpool manager Klopp said. “We are mentality monsters but there were mentality monsters in Chelsea colours as well — it was one penalty.
“Chelsea played outstanding but in the end there must be one winner and that was us today.”
Saturday’s win means Liverpool have won 50% of their target for the season.
They are three points behind Manchester City in the Premier League race with two games to go and meet Real Madrid in the Champions League final on May 28.
“This is something that will give us even more confidence to keep on going in the Premier League and also for the Champions League final,” Alisson, who made a crucial save from Marcos Alonso in the first half, said.
For Chelsea it meant an unwelcome record of becoming the first side to lose three FA Cup finals in a row, after losing to Arsenal in 2020 and Leicester City last year.
Liverpool had the best of a pulsating first half with Luis Diaz close several times, before Chelsea came back in the second, with Alonso rattling the crossbar.
Klopp’s Liverpool enjoyed the greater possession and finished the 90 minutes on top, Diaz and Andrew Robertson both hitting the post in the final 10 minutes and the indefatigable Diaz whistling a shot just wide in the 90th.
Tired legs on a warm day contributed to a rather anticlimactic extra time with both sides appearing to have decided to take their chances in a shootout.
Sadly for Chelsea, as in February, it was a case of so near yet so far although manager Thomas Tuchel had no regrets.
“Like in the last final, the League Cup, no regrets. I told the team I was proud,” he told reporters. “We played 240 minutes in two finals against maybe the most dangerous attacking team in the world and it’s 0-0.”
“I was sure during the match the momentum was on our side but unfortunately I was not right.”
The only blot on another memorable day for Liverpool was striker Mohamed Salah being withdrawn in the first half with an injury.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was handed the Cup by Prince William to roars from the Liverpool fans while the Chelsea end had largely emptied.
“It’s a big moment for us, we haven’t been in this final for some time so to win it was special,” Henderson said.
The win was Liverpool’s eighth in the 150-year history of the FA Cup, drawing them level with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal have won the most with 14. — Reuters
Bad luck
This time last week, Jayson Tatum was fresh off a horrid outing that saw him post a mere 10 points on a four-of-19 clip from the field, including no makes in six tries beyond the arc. The Celtics lost, of course, and with his anemic output that included a single rebound in 41 minutes on the court came blowback questioning his status as one of the National Basketball Association’s finest. He supposedly cemented it with a sterling showing in the previous series against the Nets, during which he outperformed future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant. In his post-mortem, he acknowledged his frailties, and promised to do better moving forward.
That the Celtics will be hosting Game Seven of the conference semifinals against the Bucks today speaks to how well he has lived up to his word. In the three matches since his clunker, he has been nothing but spectacular, norming a whopping 37 markers and 9.3 caroms. And, yes, he was otherworldly in the immediate past contest, a do-or-die affair that didn’t just have him putting up 46, nine, and four; he kept the defending champions at bay with an array of clutch shots that prevented yet another late-game collapse.
Indeed, Tatum was so on point the other day that he made no less than 14 contested baskets, all but negating acknowledged best-of-the-best Giannis Antetokounmpo’s third 40-point, 10-rebound effort in the series. And, make no mistake, against the experienced Bucks, the Celtics needed them all. Needless to say, all the criticism levied against him for his pathetic play last week has been forgotten and replaced by praise. For all the negatives of a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately mindset, it nonetheless underscores the importance of marquee names earning their keep every single time out.
It’s fair to contend that Tatum will again need to be at his sharpest if the Celtics are to extend their postseason run. After all, the resilient Bucks — starring the consistently dominant Antetokounmpo — stand in his way. The good news is that, unlike last week, he’ll be ready and willing. Whether or not he’s also able will determine the fate of the green and white.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
Analysts eye smooth sailing for Marcos policies
By Alyssa Nicole O. Tan, Reporter
and John Victor D. Ordoñez
THE INCOMING Senate is expected to support the policies of presumptive President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos — including controversial ones — with most of its members either coming from his political party or are presumed to support him, analysts said.
“I would characterize the incoming Senate as composed of members who are collectively less likely to challenge the presumptive president on his more controversial policy decisions,” Herman Joseph S. Kraft, who heads the University of the Philippines (UP) Department of Political Science, said in a Viber message.
Nine of the 12 incoming senators are politically connected to Mr. Marcos, who is headed for a landslide victory after the May 9 presidential election. He will be the first Philippine president to win an election majority after his father’s two-decade rule.
These lawmakers are naturally expected to go along with his agenda, UP Assistant Professor of Political Theory Jan Robert R. Go said.
The passage of legislation against political dynasties is doubtful, while there’s a question whether the Marcos government would continue to use dole-outs for the poor amid a coronavirus pandemic, he added.
“The bigger challenge for the incoming Senate and congress as a whole is to enact laws that will substantively improve the lives of Filipinos amid the continuing pandemic,” Mr. Go said.
Two of the 12 incoming sentors are independent candidates — Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter S. Cayetano and TV journalist Rafael “Raffy” T. Tulfo — and one, reelection Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel is from the opposition.
Mr. Cayetano, who lost in the 2016 vice-presidential race, was President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s running mate. The tough-talking leader’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio who is Mr. Marcos’ running mate, is also headed for a landslide win in the vice-presidential race.
Among the 12 sitting senators, three are members of the Nacionalista Party and related to some of the senatorial frontrunners: Senator Pia S. Cayetano, sister of Mr. Cayetano; Senator Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos, sister of Mr. Marcos; and Senator Cynthia A. Villar, mother of former Public Works Secretary Mark Villar.
Three are members of the ruling PDP-Laban — Senators Ronald M. dela Rosa, Aquilino Martin L. Pimentel III and Senator Francis N. Tolentino. Senator Mary Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares won as an independent candidate in 2019.
Sitting Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara is from the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, while Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy S. Binay is under the United Nationalist party. Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” T. Go is from the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan and is Mr. Duterte’s former aide and friend, while Senator Manuel “Lito” M. Lapid is from the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. is a member of the Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats, the party of Ms. Carpio.
Mr. Kraft said Mr. Marcos’ legislative agenda remains unclear because he never really spoke much about his plans during his campaign.
“The lack of clear policy directions on the part of the presumptive president means that currently sitting and those who are newly elected have yet to understand what is the likely legislative policies of the incoming administration,” he said.
There would probably be a period of alignment for both the Executive and Senate. “A key aspect of this alignment is who will be leading the Senate.”
No clues have been given as to who the next senate president will be. Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III told reporters on Friday the next Senate leader “must possess a mastery of parliamentary rules and procedures, a consensus builder, independent-minded and stern but compassionate.”
The Senate president should be “always present and never late,” he added.
Reelectionist Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian has expressed interest in vying for Senate president, as did Ms. Villar and reelectionist Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri.
As of Sunday morning, 68% or 117 of 173 election certificates and returns for president and vice-president have been transmitted to the Senate from various provinces in the Philippines and overseas. The chamber has also received certificates containing the votes cast by prisoners and inmates.
The Senate on Saturday took delivery of local certificates and returns from the provinces of Romblon, Pampanga, Samar, Davao Occidental, Zamboanga Sibugay, Camariñes Sur, Northern Samar, Cebu City, Zamboanga del Norte, Negros Oriental, Davao del Sur, Davao de Oro, Davao Oriental, Maguindanao, Misamis Occidental, Bulacan, Basilan, South Cotabato, Iloilo, Caloocan City and Palawan.
Overseas absentee voting certificates from Taiwan, Qatar, Bahrain, Singapore, London, Thailand and Canada have also arrived.
The Senate and House of Representatives are expected to start a joint session on May 24 to canvass the votes for this year’s presidential and vice-presidential elections.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) expects to proclaim winning senators for this year’s elections by Tuesday, spokesman John Rex C. Laudiangco told a news briefing on Sunday.
“We are on track to proclaim the winning senators by Monday or Tuesday,” he said. Comelec has processed about 86% of certificates of canvass for Senate and party-list positions, he added.
As of Sunday noon, Comelec had validated 149 of the 173 certificates of canvass containing 237 election results.
The Comelec full court as the National Board of Canvassers is on its seventh day of validating precinct results that will be part of the official results for the Senate and party-list race.
Results from several overseas precincts and from villages in Lanao del Sur in southern Philippines have yet to be transmitted to the election body.
Mr. Laudiangco said 19 of the 24 remaining certificates of canvass are manual overseas ballots that take longer to deliver.
Last week, Comelec said it would hold special elections in some areas in Lanao del Sur, a province under the Bangsamoro region, after a failure of elections was declared in several municipalities due to reports of violence and irregularities.
Mr. Laudiangco said Comelec plans to hold the elections on May 24.
Leni pushes humanitarian movement after election defeat
By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter
VICE-PRESIDENT Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo could still be a leading opposition figure after her presidential defeat, political analysts said at the weekend.
Her nearly 15 million supporters have committed to reach out to more people and hold the government to account, said Maria Ela L. Atienza, who teaches political science at the University of the Philippines.
“Despite losing based on unofficial counts, the group, which is composed of nearly 15 million supporters and which has a creative, more grassroots orientation core, can transition into a full-fledged movement that is active even beyond electoral cycles,” she said in a Viber message.
“Robredo has a more committed core of people working for good governance and inclusive development,” she added. “The more than double number of Marcos-Duterte voters may include fanatics but many may not be able to commit to advocacy and developmental work beyond elections.”
Ms. Robredo on Friday night said she would transform her anti-poverty alleviation platform into a nongovernment group after her six-year term ends in June, as she rallied supporters to do more after the campaign period.
“We already have a template for this,” she said at a thanksgiving rally at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City attended by thousands of supporters. “We’ve done it already at the Office of the Vice-President even with limited funding and machinery.”
Ms. Robredo said she seeks to make the civic group the largest network of volunteers in the Philippines.
“We connected those who were ready to help to those who needed help,” she said. “We’re more organized now — there are many people’s councils and various groups that were formed among our ranks. We’ve shown that things are possible to be achieved if we all contribute.”
Political observers said no other losing candidate in the past had attracted thousands of people for a post-election activity.
Kenneth Requilman, a 22-year-old voter who joined the thanksgiving rally for the opposition tandem, said he would continue to “stand for the right and organize for change.”
“With our movement’s commitment to continue our efforts, we will be able to educate more people,” he said in an interview.
Ms. Atienza said the opposition would not be “the usual traditional opposition” that is only active during elections. “It will be active in all phases of politics, within and outside the formal institutions of power.”
“It can capitalize on its broad multisectoral networking and help empower sectors and communities currently mired in poverty and marginalization,” she said. “It will probably also actively monitor the performance of public officials.”
She said younger leaders who would emerge from the new civic movement might give the opposition a new political narrative and challenge the resurgence of authoritarian nostalgia.
Senator Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel is set to win her reelection bid with more than 15 million votes as of May 13, making her the only opposition candidate to get a Senate seat.
“If Risa is the only winnable oppositionist inside, the coalitions that surrounded the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem have to decide and strategize if she’ll take the position of offense head-on or not,” said Hansley A. Juliano, a former political science professor studying at Nagoya University’s Graduate School of International Development in Japan.
“In 1968, that’s the position the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino took — offense is the best defense,” he said in a Messenger chat. “To some extent, Ninoy got enough traction even with persistent onslaught of attacks.”
But the opposition would not be dealing “with the kind of disinformation environment we’re in now,” Mr. Juliano said. “Our opposition needs to take stock of what has happened since 1986.”
He said that the ideological differences and policy debates within the emerging opposition could afffect its consolidation and expansion efforts.
“There are ideological, policy and even personal rifts that have caused them to grow apart and mobilize separately,” he said. “They all need to take stock of that, perhaps engineer reconciliations and affirm new alliances, and do coordinated engagements with each other’s demands.”
Mr. Juliano said the opposition should recalibrate its strategies and adopt a more compelling campaign narrative that could adjust to the country’s personality-driven politics.
‘TRANSFORMATIVE’
“They can no longer simply throw the dismissive labels ‘bobotante,’ (dumb voter) ‘bayad’ (bribed) and ‘nagpapaloko’ (fooled) because this is not how the Marcos-Duterte voters see themselves,” he said. “It’s like you’re selling by bullying with that messaging.”
Temario C. Rivera, who heads the Center for People Empowerment in Governance, said Ms. Robredo should clarify in the coming days “whether she just seeks an NGO type organization or a political movement to contest political power.”
“If she aims to build a political movement, this also provides her the opportunity to build a real political party committed to a clear platform of government,” he said in a Messenger chat.
“Such a project requires a transformative leadership and Robredo must be prepared to face the attacks from traditional politicians and allies who only seek short-term, opportunistic goals.”
The opposition must be humble enough to go back to the drawing board “and study how they can create and articulate a more compelling message,” said Robin Michael U. Garcia, a political economy professor at the University of Asia and the Pacific.
“Galvanizing the support base towards 2025 or 2028 is the first step, but the task is to grow that base,” he said in a Messenger chat.
“Should Robredo decide to lead once more, the opposition might have a real chance in the 2025 midterms,” he said. “In the meantime, console supporters and give them continued hope.”
The analysts, meanwhile, warned that a massive disinformation campaign would be a major threat to the opposition’s consolidation efforts.
Just a day after Ms. Robredo announced her plans to form a volunteer group anchored on her flagship anti-poverty program, supporters flagged a dubious Facebook group with a name similar to the vice-president’s program that had attracted more than 40,000 members as of Saturday.
The Facebook group aims to “mislead and spy” and destroy the plan even before it gets off the ground, Zach Yanzon, a Robredo supporter, said in a Facebook post that became viral.
Experts seek Comelec overhaul after breakdown of vote machines
THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) should have an administrative revamp to cut technical mishaps in future elections, political analysts said at the weekend.
“Comelec has been steadily incompetent and would be ripe for an administrative overhaul,” Gerardo V. Eusebio, a political science professor at De La Salle University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “It has always been marked by suspicions of anomalies and such but has remained standing with legs wobbling.”
Election watchdog Kontra Daya said last week incidents of malfunctioning vote-counting machines on May 9 could cast doubt on the accuracy of election results.
The watchdog’s election observers reported almost 600 machine failures that caused long queues and delayed voting on election day.
“There should be an IT department within Comelec that’s made up of competent and qualified personnel,” Dennis C. Corronacion, who heads the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Political Science Department, said in a Viber message.
Kontra Daya said the election body should replace the automated election system with one that is more transparent and locally made to allow public scrutiny.
Election Commissioner George Erwin M. Garcia told reporters in a Viber message last week 1,867 machines encountered “common issues” that were promptly resolved.
He said these issues included paper jams, rejected ballots and machines not printing returns properly.
Comelec replaced more than 900 defective vote-counting machines, while 469 SD cards were regenerated on election day, it said last Tuesday.
Mr. Coronacion noted that the machines used in last week’s elections are outdated and were the same ones used in the 2010 elections.
“If we’re going to count the number of years and the number of elections that we have had using the automated election system, these glitches, which resulted in the disenfranchisement of a significant number of voters, speaks a lot about the incompetence of Comelec as well as their ignorance about computer technology,” he said.
Election Commissioner Marlon S. Casquejo last week said Comelec would replace the vote-counting machines before the 2025 mid-term elections.
He noted that the election body is aware of the dwindling lifespan of the vote-counting machines that led to the technical blunders.
Comelec should also find more credible contractors than their current partner, Smartmatic SGO, and logistics partner F2 Logistics, Marlon M. Villarin, who also teaches political science at UST, said in a Viber message.
The private contractor last month was accused of negligence after a data breach was reported when a former Smartmatic employee downloaded potentially sensitive information from a company laptop.
“Comelec has yet to announce the extent of the damage done by these glitches,” Mr. Coronacion said. “If the number of the disenfranchised Filipinos reach millions, it’s going to cast a doubt on the integrity of our electoral process as well as the legitimacy of the candidates who were recently proclaimed as winners.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez
Lawmaker asks PhilHealth to defer premium hike
THE PHILIPPINE Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) should defer the premium increase that is set to take effect in June amid rising consumer prices, according to a lawmaker.
“The deferment of the higher PhilHealth premium is even more necessary at this point amid the successive rounds of price hikes since January, and the still unresolved controversies in the state insurer,” Party-list Rep. Arlene D. Brosas in a statement at the weekend.
This comes after the state insurer said the increase in contributions starting June would be retroactive from January, meaning other than the contributions taken from an employee’s salary, an additional premium of 1% will be deducted for January to May.
The premium rate collected will be at 4% beginning June, PhilHealth earlier said. It was initially scheduled to increase to 3.5% from 3% in January last year but was postponed amid a coronavirus pandemic.
“The new wage cut is P400 to P3,200, and it will only swallow the additional wage of P33 per day in the National Capital Region,” Ms. Brosas said. “It will bring more hardship to the people immediately after the elections. This is cruel.”
She said she would ensure the passage of a House resolution suspending any PhilHealth premium increases and changes to the Universal Health Care Act in the next Congress to remove automatic increases.
Under the law, the premium rate should increase by 0.5% yearly starting from 3% in 2020 until it hits 5%.
The country’s insurance-based healthcare system should be revamped so that Filipinos don’t have to foot the bill, Ms. Brosas said.
“Philhealth contributions are basically income deductions that could have been spent by workers on food and other necessities,” she said.
“Healthcare should be primarily shouldered by the National Government through sufficient state funding in the public health system,” she added. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
Tourism, agro-processing seen as critical for post-pandemic growth
THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) said five industries are candidates to become growth drivers after the pandemic — tourism, agro-processing, electronics, garments, and digital trade.
At a webinar organized by the bank and the research office, ADB Senior Economist James P. Villafuerte said the recovery in these industries will depend on cooperation within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as their major trading partners Japan, China, and South Korea.
He said tourism all over the region took a major hit during the pandemic, with the Philippines seeing visitor arrivals declining 84% in 2020.
“Therefore, to rebuild the industry, it is essential that governments in the region work together to restore tourism demand, through strong marketing and information campaign(s),” Mr. Villafuerte said. “They have also to focus to make travel safer with clear health and entry protocols.”
The agro-processing sector, on the other hand, is overly reliant on simple processing methods, with low utilization of automation and technology.
To this end, Mr. Villafuerte recommended “…harmonizing food standards within the region, creating more transparent and efficient supply chains, adopting technologies and improving processes to enhance product quality.”
“Electronics is very important to Southeast Asia… in the Philippines, electronics comprised about 53% of its exports,” Mr. Villafuerte said.
However, countries need to upgrade from low-value electronics, involving mostly assembly, to higher-value segments, which include “innovation and product design.”
Digital trade is a new area for growth in the region, comprising about 5.4% of exports, but 89% of Filipino business process outsourcing (BPO) workers are at risk of automation, which would lead to a loss of jobs. Internet speeds in the Philippines are also among the lowest in the region, at an average of 49.5 mbps.
Mr. Villafuerte said that “In the Philippines, e-commerce exports are relatively small, but we think that they could expand.”
“We think it is important to really enhance digital connectivity in the region,” he added. “I think one of the most important (jobs) is to rethink regulations that protect consumers, particularly in terms of identity and cybersecurity.”
Upgrading the garments sector, which employs a large number of female workers, is also critical.
“We suggest improving competitiveness in the garments sector, through simplified business regulations, faster digital technology adoption, stronger research and development,” Mr. Villafuerte said, adding that there should be “a greater focus on culture-related garments.”
AMRO Group Head and Lead Economist Ling Hui Tan said that “the biggest threat is the fact that the pandemic support and stimulus packages of the past two years have consumed a lot of fiscal resources and these could have been used for public investment.”
Loans raised by the Philippines as of Jan. 14 for pandemic response totaled P1.31 trillion, helping swell the government’s indebtedness at the end of March to P12.68 trillion.
“So the first step for rebuilding fiscal space will be to unwind emergency support measures that were put in place.”
However, she cautioned that withdrawing these policies too soon may cause a rebound effect, stressing that this process should be done selectively, keeping the most essential policies first.
Meanwhile, economists said that household consumption as the economy reopens will remain the main growth driver going into the second quarter.
“I still think that continuing the reopening (of the economy) would be the biggest driver,” Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, Chief Economist of the Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc., said.
“Another important factor is being able to control inflation, and this is where the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) comes in (with) the timely raising of key interest rates to help cool down inflation on the demand side.”
BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno earlier signaled the intention to raise policy rates sometime in June, a departure from the previous rate hike stance, though the latest inflation data may have led the monetary authorities to act sooner rather than later.
The central bank’s Monetary Board will meet on Thursday.
Mr. Asuncion also cautioned that while resuming face-to-face classes was important, aggressive vaccination efforts and minimum health standards should still be followed.
“The growth drivers may remain those we saw in the first quarter of 2022 — private consumption and capital formation,” Security Bank Corp. Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces said. “Rebounding consumption will remain the key factor on the back of improved mobility amid sustained looser curbs.”
He added that looser restrictions are dependent on whether or not the country is able to manage its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases as new variants emerge. — Tobias Jared Tomas
Building permit approvals growth slows to 5.7%
APPROVED building permit applications picked up by 5.7% year on year to 38,263 in the fourth quarter, according to Philippine Statistics Authority.
The growth rate in permit issuances represents a turnaround from the 7.8% contraction from a year earlier, though it eased from the 6.5% growth rate posted in the third quarter of 2021.
The building projects covered by the permits issued during the period were equivalent to 7.915 million square meters (sq.m.) of floor area valued at P90.897 billion. Floor area and value totals were up 21.3% and 24.8%, respectively, from a year earlier.
Permits for residential projects, which accounted for 73.2% of the total, increased by 8.1% to 27,998. These projects were valued at P48.40 billion with a floor area of 4.440 million sq.m.
Single homes made up 82.7% of all residential projects, declining 0.6% year on year to 23,152 permits.
Non-residential projects tallied 5,816 approved construction permits during the period, up 11%.
Commercial construction accounted for 3,831 approved permits (up 18.5%); agricultural, 209 (up 5.0%); and other non-residential, 203 (up 35.3%).
Institutional building permits declined by 0.6% to 1,070, while industrial projects fell by 13% to 503.
Permits for additions to existing structures rose by 91.8% to 1,051 in the fourth quarter, while alteration and repair permits declined by 24.7% to 3,398.
The Calabarzon region — composed of provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon — accounted for 25.6% of all approved building permits in the fourth quarter with 9,811, followed by Central Luzon with 14% or 5,371 and Central Visayas with 11.6% or 4,432.
By value, construction projects in the National Capital Region (NCR) amounted to P20.018 billion. This was followed by Calabarzon with P18.788 billion, and Central Luzon with P13.938 billion.
In a text message, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the period’s performance was influenced by the coronavirus surge fueled by the Delta variant and the rising global prices of commodities.
“The slowdown in growth could be attributed to the Delta variant surge that led to tighter restrictions that spilled over until the early part of the fourth quarter,” he said.
“Some pick up in the prices of global commodity prices that led to higher prices of construction materials also partly contributed to the slower growth,” he added.
Metro Manila and nearby provinces were placed under Alert Level 3 in October, in the middle of the strictness range of quarantine settings.
Mr. Ricafort expressed optimism in the growth of construction sector as the economy heads to recovery with Metro Manila and other provinces now under Alert Level 1 — the most permissive quarantine setting.
“Offsetting risk factors include the Russia-Ukraine war that led to higher cost of construction materials amid the sharp increase in oil or energy, metals, and other global commodities that led to higher overall inflation, thereby raising the cost production,” he added.
In February, Russia invaded Ukraine, causing global oil prices to spike on concern over sanctions on Russia, a major energy producer. — Mariedel Irish U. Catilogo