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Biden administration proceeding with $23 billion weapon sales to UAE

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has told Congress it is proceeding with more than $23 billion in weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates, including advanced F-35 aircraft, armed drones and other equipment, congressional aides said on Tuesday.

A State Department spokesperson said the administration would move forward with the proposed sales to the UAE, “even as we continue reviewing details and consulting with Emirati officials” related to the use of the weapons.

The Democratic president’s administration had paused the deals agreed to by former Republican President Donald Trump in order to review them. The sales to the Gulf nation were finalized right before Trump left office.

The Trump administration told Congress in November it had approved the U.S. sale to the UAE as a side deal to the Abraham Accords, a U.S.-brokered agreement in September in which the UAE agreed to normalize relations with Israel.

In the last months of the Trump administration, Israel reached deals with the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco as part of the accords.

The $23.37 billion package contained products from General Atomics, Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Technologies Corp, including 50 F-35 Lighting II aircraft, up to 18 MQ-9B Unmanned Aerial Systems and a package of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.

 

YEMEN CONFLICT

Some U.S. lawmakers have criticized the UAE for its involvement in the war in Yemen, a conflict considered one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, and worried that the weapons transfers might violate U.S. guarantees that Israel will retain a military advantage in the region.

Israel said it did not object to the sales.

A legislative effort to stop the sales failed in December, as Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress backed his plans.

The Trump administration then finalized the massive sale to the UAE on Jan. 20, about an hour before Biden was sworn in as president.

The Biden administration announced the review in late January and the UAE said then it had anticipated the review and welcomed joint efforts to de-escalate tensions and for renewed regional dialogue.

The State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday the estimated delivery dates on the UAE sales, if implemented, were for after 2025 or later.

The government anticipated “a robust and sustained dialogue with the UAE” to ensure a stronger security partnership, the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

“We will also continue to reinforce with the UAE and all recipients of U.S. defense articles and services that U.S.-origin defense equipment must be adequately secured and used in a manner that respects human rights and fully complies with the laws of armed conflict,” the statement said.

The Biden administration is also reviewing its policy for military sales to Saudi Arabia, including some Trump-era weapons deals, in light of the Saudi involvement in Yemen and other human rights concerns.

It has not released the results of that review. In February, U.S. officials told Reuters the administration was considering cancelling past deals that posed human rights concerns and limiting future sales to “defensive” weapons. – Reuters

Level up your gaming experience with vivo Y20s [G]

Games provoke various sensations in every stage. During the challenges, players participate with full of excitement and energy. Then marvelous feels would arise when they achieve victory.

Yet in the virtual arena, the electronic device would also have a large impact on the gaming experience. Thus, players expect them to match their abilities for a great sensation in both competing and winning.

Focusing on helping the users take part in different games through an affordable device, global technology company vivo launches the vivo Y20s [G]. This new smartphone is now available for purchase for only P9,999 in select vivo stores and kiosks nationwide and at vivo’s official Lazada and Shopee stores.

Aside from being able to go through the notable gaming features firsthand, customers who will purchase the vivo Y20s [G] until April 15 will get a free True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earphones worth P2,499, which can accompany the users with a good audio experience during the game.

Among the gaming necessities added in vivo Y20s [G], the most advantageous is the inclusion of the MediaTek Helio G80 octa-core gaming processor. It is an ideal feature for mobile gamers since it ensures sustained performance and longer gameplay. 

Moreover, the MediaTek Helio G80 improves several types of gaming by creating a highly responsive user experience, fast artificial intelligence performance, great accuracy in engine positioning, and boosted connectivity for an increased speed response between the smartphone and cell tower.

Users can also have a better game in vivo Y20s [G] with the assistance of Multi-Turbo 3.0. Remarkably, this feature can foresee the system abnormalities caused by third-party applications and solve these problems even before they take place.

Since there is an obvious anticipation of active gaming in this new smartphone, vivo prepared it with HyperEngine Game Technology. It is responsible for accelerating the game load times and fixing latency issues by managing multiple networks.

Additionally, vivo already expected the installations of various gaming programs. Hence, gamers may not find this an issue in vivo Y20s [G]. The smartphone has a capacity of 6GB and 128 GB RAM + ROM to accommodate several digital needs of a gamer.

Speed improvements and generous storage of mobile phones are not the only features that matter in mobile games. The players also look forward to having a prolonged gaming time with good visual quality. Hence, vivo Y20s [G] contains a battery of 5000mAh and 18W fast charging features for an extensive playing time. Also made with a 6.51-inch HD+ display, this smartphone can show an excellent view of the game.

Developed with the gamers in mind, the vivo Y20s [G] can thus provide an efficient virtual involvement in the game. Its distinctive features allow the users to constantly sense the thrill from the start of the game, during the challenges, until the finish line.

To have that optimum gaming experience, along with the free TWS earphones, avail of the vivo Y20s [G] in vivo stores and kiosks nationwide now. Y20s [G] is also available for purchase at vivo’s official Lazada and Shopee stores.

For more details about the vivo Y20s [G], visit www.vivo.com/ph or follow vivo Philippines on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

New Zealand to end livestock exports due to animal welfare concerns

WELLINGTON – New Zealand said on Wednesday it will stop the export of livestock by sea following a transition period of up to two years, citing animal welfare concerns for a decision that will affect major trading partners including Australia and China.

The ban was welcomed by animal welfare groups, but the peak farming industry body said it was caught by surprise and was unaware of any breaches of standards.

Live exports by sea represent about 0.2% of New Zealand’s primary sector exports revenue since 2015 has averaged around NZ$60 million ($42.32 million) per year from 2015 to 2019. New Zealand exported 113,285 cattle by sea last year.

“We have not been able to guarantee the safety of these animals at sea and that’s an unacceptable risk for New Zealand,”

Agriculture minister Damien O’Connor told reporters, adding that key trading partners were informed of the decision.

“I recognise the importance of our trade relationships with our international partners and we’re committed to working with them as we transition away from the shipment of livestock,” he said.

Asked if there were concerns the move would upset China, a top importer of live cattle, Mr. O’Connor said: “This is not about China. It’s about animal welfare and our reputation.”

Simone Clarke, executive director of World Animal Protection New Zealand, said the decision was a “significant moment in our history for animals, one which other governments around the world must now follow.”

However, Wayne Langford, a spokesman for Federated Farmers of New Zealand, said the industry body “has no information about any breaches of the high standards relating to livestock exports.”

New Zealand said last year it was reviewing live exports when it introduced interim measures following the capsizing of a ship bound for China that killed nearly 6,000 cows and 41 of the 43 crew members.

Mr. O’Connor said despite improvements to processes, the long sea voyages to northern hemisphere markets continued to pose animal welfare challenges. – Reuters

TikTok founder’s $60 billion fortune places him among world’s richest people

Just last year, the world’s most valuable startup, ByteDance Ltd., was being squeezed from all sides.

The Trump administration wanted the Chinese firm, which owns the ubiquitous TikTok video-sharing platform, to get rid of assets. Beijing was cracking down on tech businesses, and India blacklisted some of its social-media apps.

For all the obstacles, ByteDance kept growing. Now its founder, 38-year-old Zhang Yiming, is among the world’s richest people — a distinction that lately has carried increased risks in China.

Shares of the company trade in the private market at a valuation of more than $250 billion, people familiar with the dealings have said. At that level, Zhang, who owns about a quarter of ByteDance, could be worth more than $60 billion, placing him alongside Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Pony Ma, bottled-water king Zhong Shanshan and members of the Walton and Koch families in the U.S., according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

ByteDance, famous for its short-video apps and news aggregator Toutiao, more than doubled revenue last year after expanding beyond its core advertising business into areas such as e-commerce and online gaming. It’s now weighing options for the initial public offering of some businesses.

“Zhang is someone who’s known for thinking long-term and not easily dissuaded by short-term setbacks,” said Ma Rui, partner at venture-capital firm Synaptic Ventures. “He is set on building an enduring, global business.”

During its last fundraising round, ByteDance reached a $180 billion valuation, a person with knowledge of the matter said. That’s up from $20 billion about three years ago, according to CB Insights. But in the private market, some investors recently were asking for the equivalent of a $350 billion valuation to part with their shares, people familiar have said. The company’s value for private-equity investors is approaching $400 billion, the South China Morning Post reported. That would mean an even bigger fortune for Zhang.

ByteDance representatives didn’t respond to requests for comment.

It’s a tough time to be wealthy in China as the government seeks to rein in the country’s most powerful corporations and their billionaire founders. Just ask Jack Ma: After opening an antitrust probe, regulators fined Alibaba a record $2.8 billion and the central bank ordered an overhaul of his Ant Group Co. fintech empire so it’d be supervised more like a bank. On Tuesday, China ordered 34 internet companies to rectify their anti-competitive practices in the coming month.

While ByteDance hasn’t been singled out as a target, its dominance in social media and war chest for deal-making are sensitive areas the government is looking into.

“There are no more silly games in the U.S. with Trump and potential bans or forced asset sales,” said Kirk Boodry, founder of investment research firm Redex Holdings. “But the pressure on tech-share prices and China in particular might make $250 billion a tough sell,” he added, referring to ByteDance’s value in private transactions.

Born in the southern Chinese city of Longyan, Zhang, the only son of civil servants, studied programming at Tianjin’s Nankai University, where he built a following on the school’s online forum by fixing classmates’ computers. He joined Microsoft Corp. for a brief stint after graduating, later calling the job so boring he often “worked half of the day and read books in the other half,” according to an interview with Chinese media. He went on to develop several ventures, including a real estate search portal.

His breakthrough came in 2012, when working in a four-bedroom apartment in Beijing he created ByteDance’s first hit — a joke-sharing app later shut down by censors. It then turned to news aggregation before winning over more than 1 billion global users with its short-video platforms TikTok and Chinese twin app, Douyin. In the process, it attracted big-name investors such as SoftBank Group Corp., Sequoia Capital and proprietary-trading firm Susquehanna International Group, making it a rarity among Chinese internet startups that usually get absorbed into the wider ecosystems of Tencent and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

NOVEL CONCEPT
One of Zhang’s earliest supporters, Susquehanna has become ByteDance’s largest outside backer with a 15% stake, according to a Wall Street Journal story in October. The initial bet was made at the start of 2012, when ByteDance’s news app Toutiao was just a concept that Zhang had drawn up on napkins, according to a 2016 blog post by Joan Wang, who led that investment for Susquehanna’s Chinese venture-capital unit.

With TikTok facing scrutiny in the U.S. and India, Zhang has put more effort into ByteDance’s nascent and fast-growing Chinese businesses, which range from gaming to education to e-commerce. That helped it increase sales to about $35 billion last year and operating profit to $7 billion, a person familiar with the results said.

Investors are eyeing the IPO of some of ByteDance’s businesses after Chinese competitor Kuaishou Technology raised $5.4 billion in February in the biggest internet listing since Uber Technologies Inc., with its market value now nearing $140 billion. Last month, ByteDance hired former Xiaomi Corp. executive Chew Shou Zi as its chief financial officer, filling a long vacant position that will be crucial for its eventual market offering.

But for Zhang, it’s not all about immediate payoffs. The affable founder is known for his business philosophy of “delaying satisfactions” as he puts the focus on long-term growth — a message he stressed again during his spiel to employees at the company’s ninth anniversary celebration last month.

“Keep an ordinary mind, that’s something that sounds easy but important to do,” he said. “Put in the plainest words, when hungry, eat, when tired, sleep.” — Bloomberg

Taiwan says its chip firms will adhere to new US rules blacklisting China supercomputing entities

STOCK PHOTO

TAIPEI – Taiwan said on Wednesday its chip companies will adhere to U.S. rules after Washington added seven Chinese supercomputing entities last week to an economic blacklist and after a Taipei-based chipmaker halted orders from one of the entities named.

The U.S. Commerce Department said the seven Chinese entities were “involved with building supercomputers used by China’s military actors, its destabilizing military modernisation efforts, and/or weapons of mass destruction programs.”

Companies or others listed on the U.S. Entity List are required to apply for licenses from the Commerce Department that face tough scrutiny when they seek permission to receive items from U.S. suppliers.

Tech-powerhouse Taiwan’s firms are major suppliers of semiconductors globally, and Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said they would follow Taiwanese and U.S. rules.

“Our companies, whether producers or exporters, must accord with our country’s rules. Of course the United States has new rules, and our companies will pay attention and accord with the key criteria of the U.S. rules,” she told reporters.

The U.S. move came amid its rising tensions with China over Taiwan. China has never renounced the use of force to bring the democratically ruled island under its control.

It also came amid a global shortage of semiconductors that has thrust Taiwan centre-stage into the technology supply-chain.

On Tuesday, Taiwan’s Alchip Technologies Ltd said it had stopped production for all products related to Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, which is on the new U.S. list.

Alchip, which said 39% of its revenue last year came from Phytium, added that it was collecting “detailed documents for our U.S. counsel to determine if the products are subject to EAR (Export Administration Regulations)”.

A U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security “permit will be obtained for Phytium’s products if necessary”, it added.

Its shares tumbled 9.9% on Wednesday, bringing losses to more than a third of their value since the Commerce Department’s announcement last week.

Separately, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Co Ltd (TSMC) , the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has suspended new orders from Phytium.

TSMC said it could not confirm the report, and declined further comment.

TSMC shares were down 0.5% on Wednesday, outperforming a 1.1% fall in the broader Taiwanese stock market. – Reuters

Philippines may miss growth target as COVID cases surge

By Michael Varcas, The Philippine Star

The Philippines may miss its target of at least 6.5% economic growth this year after a resurgence of COVID-19 infections forced the capital into a two-week lockdown, Economic Planning Secretary Karl Chua said.

“We were a healthy economy before COVID. Now, we’re struggling,” Chua said in an interview Tuesday. “We were too risk averse: We shut down a big part of the economy when other countries didn’t need to do that.”

The Philippines, which implemented one of the world’s longest and strictest lockdowns last year, suffered its worst-ever recession in 2020, prompting a push for a sustained reopening. First-quarter gross domestic product performance may be close to zero compared to a year earlier, but will be a lot better than the final three months of 2020, when the economy contracted 8.3%, Chua said.

Metro Manila and the adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal — the engine of the nation’s economy — were placed back in lockdown for two weeks from late March as daily cases surged to a record. Data due next month should guide economic managers in reviewing their full-year targets, Chua said.

The economy can still recover in coming months by reopening areas with fewer infections, accelerating government spending and speeding up vaccinations for front-line staff in sectors like transportation, tourism and manufacturing, Chua said.

“We will recover because we know the medicine and the dosage that will allow us to do so, and we will pursue that immediately,” the economic planning chief said. Movement restrictions this time are less stringent than the curbs imposed last year at the beginning of the pandemic, as public transport is now open and most employees can go to work, he said.

In December, economic managers projected that Philippine GDP would grow 6.5% to 7.5% this year, following last year’s record slump. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno, in a Bloomberg Television interview on April 8, said he estimates that the economy will grow 6%-7% this year.

The strict movement curbs in Manila and surrounding areas, which were eased starting April 12, could shave 0.8 percentage points off of full-year GDP and leave some 250,000 people jobless. A looser lockdown, where more businesses can open, is in place in the capital region and nearby provinces until the end of April. — Bloomberg

February NPL ratio highest in 11 years

BW FILE PHOTO

By Luz Wendy T. Noble, Reporter

LENDERS’ bad loans rose for the second straight month in February, bringing the nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio to its highest since 2009 as borrowers had difficulty making payments amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Bad loans are expected to peak by the second half of this year, according to S&P Global Ratings. However, it noted that improvements in borrowers’ capacity to pay remain clouded by the pace of economic recovery which depends on the successful handling of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the mass vaccination drive. 

Gross NPLs held by banks surged 80% to P431.266 billion in February from P239.902 billion a year earlier, based on preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). It also increased by 9.05% from the P395.465 billion in January.

This brought the NPL ratio to 4.08% in February, from 2.2% logged a year ago. This is the highest since the 4.09% NPL ratio recorded in October 2009.

“With borrowers now no longer able to rely on the cover provided by the loan moratorium, we will begin to see the pickup in this ratio quicken to some extent,” ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in an e-mail.

Loans are deemed nonperforming once they are left unpaid at least 30 days beyond the due date. They are considered as risk to lenders’ asset quality as these have high risk of default.

Analysts said the worst is not over for lenders as asset quality is likely to further deteriorate in the coming months, showing the fuller impact of the pandemic on borrowers. A 60-day loan moratorium provided for under Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act has already expired.

“The industry’s NPL ratio will likely increase to 6% in 2021,” Nikita Anand, an analyst at S&P Global Ratings,  said in an e-mail to BusinessWorld.

Ms. Anand said banks’ consumer, and small business loan portfolios will continue to see high new NPL formation, as renewed lockdown measures are expected to hurt borrowers.

“Many small businesses have had to shut shop as revenues plunged with the lockdowns. Household incomes have been disrupted due to job losses and salary cuts. Most new NPLs since COVID-19 have come from the consumer segment, reflecting the loss of household incomes from the sharp economic contraction,” she said.

As nonperforming loans edged up, lenders’ total loan portfolio contracted by 3% to P10.579 trillion from P10.91 trillion from a year ago and by 0.37% from the P10.618 trillion in January.

Past due loans in February reached P551.472 billion, climbing by 71.3% from the P321.862 billion last year. This brought the ratio to 5.21% from 2.95% in the same month of 2020.

Restructured loans also surged by more than six times (346%) to P200.986 billion from P45.045 billion a year earlier. With this, its ratio reached 1.9%, up from the 0.41% in February last year.

As NPLs increased, banks beefed up loan loss reserves by 70% to P373.631 billion from P218.785 billion a year ago.

Meanwhile, banks’ NPL coverage ratio, which measures the allowance for potential losses due to bad loans, dropped to 86.64% from 91.2% in February 2020.

For Ms. Anand, the bad loan pileup scenario may only peak by the second half of this year, under a base case of renewed economic activity. This, together with low interest rates could improve debt servicing ability of borrowers by 2022.

However, she cautioned that a weaker-than-anticipated recovery due to a prolonged pandemic and slow vaccination could be a downside risk to this view.

S&P downgraded its outlook for Philippine growth this year to 7.9% (from 9.6%) as the inflation spike is seen to weigh down on the country’s consumption-driven economy.

“If the economic recovery was delayed, the private sector will face renewed pressure, particularly among corporate sectors hit hardest by the pandemic. Such strains would mean weaker companies may have to restructure their debt and even go out of business, and that would ultimately impinge on their lenders,” she said.

The S&P analyst warned that continued weakness in the economy may also affect corporate credit quality which has remained “steady thus far.” In this scenario, debt servicing of corporates in pandemic-hit sectors such as lodging and food services, retail, transportation, and entertainment and recreation will be more challenged.

Ms. Anand also said that banks will stand to benefit from the recently enacted Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Law by giving them a chance to focus more on growth opportunities rather than spending resources on recovering loans. However, she said the success of the measure will still depend on its execution and lenders’ willingness to sell their bad assets.

“FIST could prove effective for small and midsize banks, as typically their resolution and recovery mechanisms are underdeveloped compared to larger banks,” she said.

Republic Act No. 11523 gives tax incentives for banks that will sell their nonperforming assets to FIST Corporations. BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno has said banks are expected to offload at least P152 billion in nonperforming assets through the measure.

Mr. Mapa said that while the FIST Law may ease NPL buildup, the root cause of the bad loans remains tied to the weak economic environment.

Duterte certifies three economic bills as urgent

A bill that aims to lower the required paid-up capital for foreign retail enterprises under the Retail Trade Liberalization Act is still pending at the Senate.

By Beatrice M. Laforga, Reporter

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte certified as urgent three bills aimed at easing foreign investment restrictions in the country.

Mr. Duterte sent a letter to Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III on Monday, certifying the necessity of enacting the bills amending the Public Service Act (PSA), Foreign Investments Act (FIA) and the Retail Trade Liberalization (RTL) Act.

Mr. Duterte said the three measures, which are all still pending at the Senate, are needed “to address the immediate and continuing need for legislative reforms to provide a more conducive investment climate, increase job opportunities, foster more competition and further support the country’s economic growth.”

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III provided a copy of the letter to reporters on Tuesday.

Amendments to the PSA, FIA and RTL are part of the list of priority measures identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to be passed before the Duterte administration ends in mid-2022.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua, who also heads LEDAC secretariat, said the council expects the bills to be passed before Congress adjourns in June.

“These are crucial bills to aid in our recovery by attracting more investments and jobs,” he said in a Viber message on Tuesday.

Congress is currently in recess and will resume session on May 17 until June 4.

Mr. Sotto said on Tuesday that there is “no word yet” on a possible special session, while Malacañang did not respond to the same query as of press time.

The bill amending the PSA will allow full foreign ownership in the public service sector, including transportation and communications.

Senate Bill (SB) 1840 is now up for second reading, while its counterpart measure House Bill (HB) 78 was passed by the House in March 2020.

Meanwhile, the measure amending the FIA relaxes restrictions on foreign companies, by removing the provision of “practice of professions” from the Foreign Investment Negative List, and lowering the number of direct local hires required for foreign firms.

SB 1156 is now pending on second reading, while the House approved HB 300 in September 2019.

Meanwhile, SB 1840 that aims to lower the required paid-up capital for foreign retail enterprises under the RTL Act is still up for second reading at the Senate. Its counterpart bill HB 59 was approved in March 2020.

An urgent certification from the President means these bills can be passed on the third reading immediately after the second reading.

For other LEDAC priority bills, Mr. Chua said the council will also request the President for an urgent certification once committee reports are already available.

Albay Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda, who also chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, said the three economic bills will open up the country to more foreign investments after being the “most closed economy” in Southeast Asia to date.

“The Philippines has locked itself out of significant foreign investments, and therefore job creation. We have spent hundreds of billions of pesos in foregone revenue for tax incentives, when we have not tried a simpler, cheaper solution: opening industries in need of capital to foreign investment through legislative action,” Mr. Salceda said in a statement on Tuesday.

Car sales surge in March

PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS
The auto industry sold 20,702 vehicles in March, up 88% from a year ago. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

AUTO SALES in March surged by almost 88% compared with a year earlier as the industry recovers from the impact of the strict lockdown implemented last year.

The auto industry sold 20,702 vehicles in March compared with just 11,029 in the same month last year, a joint report from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released on Tuesday showed.

Vehicle sales in March 2020 were severely affected by closure of nearly all businesses after the government placed Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

March and Q1 2021 car sales

Month on month, car sales also slumped by 21.1%, which the industry attributed to the imposition of provisional safeguard duties on imports and the renewed lockdown restrictions.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) imposed 200-day provisional safeguard duties on imported cars to protect local jobs after it found a link between a decline in local industry employment and an import surge, based on a petition from an auto parts labor group. Car companies have started collecting deposits for imported cars while the Tariff Commission conducts its own investigation.

“The auto industry felt the slowdown in sales due to the reluctance of buyers with the additional deposit for some imported vehicles because of the provisional safeguard duty. The lockdown also forced dealers to close operations that badly hit the already struggling auto industry,” CAMPI President Rommel R. Gutierrez said in a statement.

The stricter lockdown for Metro Manila and nearby regions was put in place from March 29 to April 11.

For the first quarter, auto sales went up 8.9% to 70,312 units compared with the same period last year.

Commercial vehicle sales, which account for 68% of the market, increased by 78.2% to 14,041 units in March.

Broken down, March sales of light commercial vehicles rose by 79% to 10,629, while light truck sales soared 167% to 470 units. Asian utility vehicle sales jumped 60% to 2,511 units.

Passenger vehicle sales, on the other hand, more than doubled to 6,661 units.

Year to date, commercial vehicle sales increased by 3.6% to 48,457 units, while passenger car sales were up 22.9% to 21,855 units.

Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. (TMP) continued to have the largest market share at 44.44% in March after selling 9,201 vehicles. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. followed with 3,198 units sold at 15.45% market share, while Ford Motor Co. Philippines, Inc. sold 1,705 units, with 8.24% market share.

Strict lockdown restrictions affected last year’s car sales, which fell by 39.5% to 223,793 units.

Mr. Gutierrez in a recent interview said that he expects the car industry to recover to pre-pandemic sales as late as 2023. Recovery would be achievable, he said, if there are certainties in the market, consistent government policies, and widespread inoculation against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The best-case scenario for the industry in 2021, he said, is a 30-35% sales growth, but the provisional duties could lower growth to 20-25% compared with last year’s figure.

The Safeguard Measures Act or Republic Act No. 8800 allows domestic producers to ask the government to conduct an investigation into their import competitors if they claim to have been injured by excessive imports. — Jenina P. Ibañez

LGUs directed to set up electronic business one-stop shops by June

By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs) will be required to move their entire business permit application processes online by mid-June, the Anti Red Tape Authority (ARTA) said.

ARTA and other government agencies on Tuesday signed a joint memorandum circular (JMC) to standardize the online business registration process that would slash the number of required application forms to just one.

Under the circular, all LGUs have to set up the electronic business one-stop shop or automate their business processing and licensing systems by June 17.

Local governments that have fully put up an online business registration service must cut the number of steps to one. Those transitioning to a fully automated system must have a maximum of four steps under a hybrid manual and digital process.

Business registration must be processed within three business days, while the number of signatories on permits must be reduced to three people.

“We are expecting that by June, LGUs, at least the highly urbanized cities (HUC) and the cities — which is 147 of them — should already have their electronic business one- stop shops,” ARTA Director General Jeremiah B. Belgica said at an online briefing on Tuesday.

“Kasi kung hindi nakakapag-automate ’yung mga HUCs o ’yung mga cities (If the big cities have not automated), all the more the municipalities would be having questions: bakit kami tinutulak eh ’yung mga mas malalaki hindi pa nag-automate (Then why were we pushed to automate when the bigger cities have not done so)?”

All cities, Mr. Belgica added, already have at least some measure of automation.

“What the JMC is calling for is end-to-end automation. Ibig sabihin po, hindi lang automated sa submission, automated sa payment, o sa release. But even the backend of which should also be automated.”

Local governments were given three years from the implementation of the Ease of Doing Business Law signed in 2018 to set up an online business registration system.

Mr. Belgica said that ARTA will assess LGUs that cannot meet the June 17 deadline.

“If there is a very apparent disregard in the provisions of the law or of the JMC… then definitely it would lead to an investigation and even filing of a case for disregard of duty, pero we are hoping na ’di na umabot sa ganoon.”

The JMC was signed by representatives from ARTA, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“This JMC will guide local government units on implementing a zero-contact policy envisioned to reduce corruption through the use of online portals,” DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said.

ARTA also plans to issue a circular addressing complaints on fees imposed by local government units on the goods being transported to or through their areas.

Duterte creates new agency to tackle red tape

PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/ KING RODRIGUEZ

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Tuesday signed an executive order creating a separate agency tasked to streamline government processes. 

Mr. Duterte created the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Streamlining of Government Processes under Executive Order No. 129. 

The agency shall be headed by a presidential adviser “who shall have the rank and emoluments of a Cabinet Secretary,” the executive order said. He shall be assisted by an undersecretary and an assistant secretary. 

The Presidential Adviser on Streamlining of Government Processes shall recommend to the President or the Anti-Red Tape Authority evidence-based policies and programs that would cut red tape in the Executive branch and local government units to expedite the delivery of services to Filipinos, the order read.

He shall also initiate review of existing government mechanisms and the “ongoing harmonization” of inter-related agency processes in critical sectors to boost business environment and reduce uncertainty in government transactions “using the best, most innovative and least burdensome means allowed by law for accomplishing regulatory objectives,” it added.

The agency is also tasked to set up an effective mechanism to act on strategic and immediate concerns or directives of the President requiring immediate action from relevant government agencies, local government units, government-owned and -controlled corporations and government financial institutions, the order said.

The President also tasked the adviser to coordinate and consult national and local officials, experts in relevant disciplines, and affected stakeholders in both the private and public sectors on matters pertaining to streamlining of government processes and ease of doing business. 

The funds to support the operations of the new agency shall be sourced from the existing budget of the Office of the President. 

The order took effect on April 13.

Congress last year granted Mr. Duterte special powers to address red tape in times of national emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic.

The President in February warned government officials not to hinder the delivery and rollout of coronavirus vaccines. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Fear of flying

…and other challenges overcome by the women in Fearless Filipinas

WHILE waiting to start a job in a bank, the young Jessie Sincioco entered her aunt’s mango cake recipe in The Maya Cookfest, a popular cooking contest organized by The Maya Kitchen. After unexpectedly winning the grand prize in the baking category, she let go of the bank job, instead going on a 10-day cultural exchange trip in Japan which was part of the prize. Her win also led to an offer to join the Hotel Intercontinental’s staff as a kitchen trainee. She wore a pink blouse, a miniskirt, and three-inch wedge shoes on her first day — not the most practical outfit to wear in a commercial kitchen. The unfortunate wardrobe choice did not hold her back though.

“There was no girl in the kitchen. When I started training, I felt that it was where I belong. I had to prove to myself that I could be part of the male dominated [job]…,” said Ms. Sincioco, who went on to establish her own group of restaurants and is now president of The Manna Cuisine Corp.

Born and raised in Arizona, USA, Jessica Cox ate her meals, wrote, and drew with her feet. She freed herself from using prosthetic arms as a teenager despite having used them since age three. As an adult who had learned how to drive, surf, and type on a keyboard — all without arms — Ms. Cox still felt anxious when faced with the challenge of flying a plane. But this did not stop her.

“There are very few women in aviation. I think at that point in time, [aviation] was less than 6% composed of women,” said Ms. Cox, who is the world’s first licensed armless pilot, and also a motivational speaker.

Elda Rotor told her father over the phone of her decision to shift from her pre-med program to pursue a degree in English. Skeptical, he reminded his daughter that no one in the family and none of their friends had any connections in the publishing industry. Still, she persisted. After university, she found it challenging to enter the industry — but one day she received a phone call from an unknown number. The voice on the opposite end of the line was that of Elizabeth Maguire, executive editor of the Oxford University Press. She offered Rotor a job as an editorial assistant. Ms. Rotor is now the Vice-President and Publisher of Penguin Classics.

INSPIRING STORIES
Ms. Sincioco, Ms. Cox, and Ms. Rotor’s stories are among the 12 success stories featured in Fearless Filipinas: 12 Women Who Dared to Be Different. The book is the latest publication from online bookstore Bookshelf PH, which specializes in business books and other non-fiction titles.

The other Filipinas profiled in the book are film and television actress Angel Locsin; Princeton PhD Dr. Reina Reyes who confirmed Einstein’s theory of relativity; Kim Lato, the founder and CEO of Kimstore; Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, Kaizen Dela Serna; physicist and founder of Asian Institute of Management’s Master of Science in Data Science program, Erika Legara; the first Filipina American Principal Dancer of the American Ballet Theater, Stella Abrera; co-founder of the Beach Volleyball Republic and a Southeast Asian Games (SEA) beach volleyball bronze medalist, Dzi Gervacio; Asia Jackson, the Hollywood actress who started the #MagandangMorenx movement; and chief creative officer of Dentsu Jayme Syfu, Merlee Jayme.

Written by Monica Padillo, Pancho Dizon, and Mica Magsanoc, the book also includes informative illustrations related to each of the featured personalities’ fields such as the hierarchy in a commercial kitchen, the ranks in a ballet company, how a prosthetic arm works, the SEA Games course, and sample headlines of the Matilda effect in broadsheets. (The Matilda effect is a theory about sexist discrimination where the achievements of women scientists are attributed to their male colleagues.)

“Often when young girls see CEOs or actresses or artists in [such] high positions, [they] find that to be unattainable, sometimes because they only see them at the peak of their career and they don’t see the journey it took them to get there,” co-author Monica Padillo said during the online book launch at the tailend of Women’s Month.

“[I think] the biggest lesson this book can teach young readers is that your beginnings don’t have to determine your endings. If you’re struggling now, you don’t have to be struggling forever…,” she added.

ADVICE TO YOUNG WOMEN
Mses. Sincioco, Cox, and Rotor were among the women who participated in a discussion during the book launch, sharing their advice for young women.

“The whole world can be your playground, just know your parameters. Continue learning, improving, and developing your talent because opportunities are endless,” Ms. Sincioco said.

“You have to try to find people who can build that spark that you’re feeling inside,” Ms. Rotor said of the importance of mentorship. “I just feel like it’s our duty to be scaffolding for future generations to build themselves up, and I hope that I can be a small part of that.”

Ms. Cox relates being in a position of vulnerability as a strength when it comes to her profession as a motivational speaker.

“When you connect with your audience, coming from a position of vulnerability is a lot more powerful than coming from an empowered position,” she said. “You have to be okay to even be in front of thousands of people and be your vulnerable self. But it will be the most powerful version of yourself.”

“The moment I found out there was another woman who lived life without arms, and was successful at life, it changed my life. They transformed my life and believing that I could do anything…,” Ms. Cox said. “I became a pilot, because I was terrified of flying and it was my greatest fear and I wanted to overcome that, to help others, overcome their own fears and whatever holds them back from achieving greatness.”

Fearless Filipinas is available on Bookshelf PH (https://bookshelf.com.ph/) and is priced at P799. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

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