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ASEAN chief justices to share knowledge on judgements, court processes

THE chief justices of the 10-member Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have committed to further strengthen knowledge-sharing on court processes, enforcement of judgements in both civil and commercial cases, and handling disputes of international interest.

The Council of ASEAN Chief Justices (CACJ) on Thursday signed the Hanoi Declaration, an agreement on judicial cooperation through the conduct of a masterclass for ASEAN judges and judicial officers on Hague conventions concerning the taking of evidence abroad in civil or commercial matters, and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements in civil or commercial matters.

Under the declaration, the chief justices also agreed to create a working group to study the current legal framework within each ASEAN jurisdiction governing the taking of evidence for foreign proceedings and develop a model rule.

The signatories were Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta of the Philippines, Chief Justice Steven Chong Wan Oon of Brunei Darussalam, Vice President You Ottara as representative of the President of the Supreme Court of Kingdom of Cambodia, Chief Justice Muhammad Syarifuddin of Indonesia, Vice President Bounkhouang Thavisack as representative of the President of the People’s Supreme Court of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat of Malaysia, Chief Justice Htun Htun Oo of Myanmar, Judge Lee Seiu Kin as representative of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Singapore, Metinee Chalodhorn as President of the Supreme Court of Thailand, and Chief Justice Nguyen Hoa Binh of Vietnam.

In a statement on Friday, the Supreme Court Public Information Office said the declaration complements the high court’s approval of the guidelines on the implementation of the Hague Service Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters, which is expected to address court delays and simplify the serving of summons and other documents in a foreign jurisdiction.

“The Guidelines shall govern the operation and implementation of the Hague Service Convention in the country, insofar as they concern judicial documents in civil or commercial matters,” the information office said.

The CACJ acknowledged that the “the Working Group on Cross-Border Disputes Involving Children has (a) began to explore the possibility of developing a common set of values, aspirations and principles for ASEAN Judiciaries in cases of cross-border child disputes within ASEAN; and (b) agreed to explore holding the 3rd ASEAN Family Judges Forum in conjunction with the 2022 HCCH Judicial Roundtable on the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the 1996 Hague Convention on Parental Responsibility and Protection of Children.” During the gathering hosted by the Judiciary of Vietnam, Mr. Peralta shared the Philippine Judiciary’s reduction of bail and granting recognizance for indigent persons deprived of liberty, which addresses the need to further decongest overcrowded jails and detention facilities to further prevent the spread of the lethal coronavirus.

Mr. Peralta also shared that the local judiciary already allowed the online filing of complaints or criminal information as well as posting of bail, and started the pilot testing of hearings of criminal cases through video conferencing.

The 9th CACJ meeting will be hosted next year by the Judiciary of Indonesia. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

Second tranche of COVID-19 cash aid from DoLE to benefit 800,000 workers

THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said 800,000 will benefit from its next tranche of cash assistance for formal sector workers affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.

Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique R. Tutay said in an online briefing on Friday that P4.7 billion was set aside for the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) out of the DoLE’s P13-billion allotment under Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.

“Meron tayong nilaan na pondo diyan na P4.7 billion out of P13 billion (We have allocated P4.7 billion out of P13 billion for the program),” she said.

“Tinataya po natin na 800,000 na magbebenefit sa P4.7 billion (We expect that some 800,000 will benefit from the P4.7 billion),” she added.

The DoLE said applicants for the first round of CAMP aid who were not served will be prioritized in this second tranche.

Almost one million applicants for its first tranche of CAMP were not served due to the DoLE’s limited budget for the one-time cash assistance for affected establishments and workers.

Ms. Tutay said of this number, 260,000 were accommodated under the Department of Finance’s Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS). Those who availed of the SBWS will not be qualified for the second round of CAMP.

She added that they hope to finish the distribution of aid to the beneficiaries by mid-December.

The DoLE said in a statement on Friday that workers who are interested to apply for the second tranche of CAMP can register online at https://reports.dole.gov.ph.

“DOLE advises the following steps to complete the transaction: Select the ‘Apply for CAMP Financial Assistance’ and choose the preferred application such as 1) Apply as Establishment; 2) Apply as DOT Accredited Establishment; and 3) Displaced and Temporarily Laid-off Workers,” it said. — G.M. Cortez

More than 3 million start national ID registration process

MORE THAN 3 million Filipinos have already finished the initial step of the registration process for the country’s national ID system.

“We reached 3.3 million on Day 21 (Nov. 4) for national ID registration step one,” Socioeconomic Planning Acting Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said in a text message to reporters.

The government targets to have five million low income families go through the first step of the registration process, wherein they will be given an appointment slip to visit registration centers near their homes to complete the process. This step also includes gathering the demographic information of the applicant and securing their consent to give out their bank details, if applicable.

Based on figures sent by Mr. Chua, 88.6% of those who participated in the first step were unbanked.

The most frequent identification presented by registrants were voter’s IDs (429,174). Meanwhile, more than 175,000 did not have any form of identification.

He said the government is on track in 30 out of the 32 provinces targeted to go through the process this year.

Republic Act No. 11055 or the Philippine Identification System Act signed August 2018 provides for a single identification system for all citizens. This is seen to ease the know your customer process of banks as it can be used as the sole ID to open an account.

Only 29% of Filipino adults had accounts in financial institutions in 2019, leaving some 51.2 million still unbanked, central bank data showed. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas wants at least 70% of the Filipino adult population to be financially included by 2023.

The government expects to complete the registration and issuance of national IDs for all Filipinos by June 2022. — LWTN

Damage to power facilities hit by Typhoon Rolly now at P327.91M

THE DAMAGE to power distribution facilities affected by Typhoon Rolly (international name: Goni) has climbed to P327.91 million, with Bicol electric cooperatives (ECs) hit the most, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said on Friday.

The First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative in Catanduanes suffered P133.06-million worth of damage, followed by Camarines Sur III Electric Cooperative at P82.30 million and Camarines Sur IV Electric Cooperative, Inc. at P39.38 million.

The damage was initially estimated at some P30.5 million earlier this week.

The NEA also reported ECs have restored power to 54.73% or about 1.12 million customers in households in the Bicol region and portions of Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Eastern Visayas.

OIL SUPPLY

In a separate advisory on Friday afternoon, the Department of Energy (DoE) said areas hit by the typhoon have adequate supply of petroleum products, following earlier reports of disruptions in Catanduanes.

The DoE said Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi has been in contact with downstream oil companies to ensure they are following the agency’s minimum inventory requirement of 15 days’ worth of petroleum product supply.

Daily monitoring reports submitted by downstream oil facilities based in Catanduanes showed that “all liquid fuel retail outlets in Virac are operational”, the DoE said. — Angelica Y. Yang

BSP mulls framework on publication of bank offenses

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is considering a framework on publicizing criminal offenses made by supervised financial institutions and their officials as well as the corresponding enforcement actions in a bid to promote prudent banking management, sound risk management, and good corporate governance.

In a policy exposure draft dated Nov. 3, the central bank said the regulatory relief measures made available to BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) should “not be viewed as a relaxation” of supervisory rules from the BSP.

The BSP emphasized it will observe due process as an integral part of its enforcement action.

“The BSFI, and/or its concerned DOEs (directors, officers and employees) are afforded fair and reasonable opportunity to explain their side and to submit evidence in support thereof. Such explanation and documentation are given due consideration in the determination of the appropriate enforcement actions that will be imposed by the BSP,” it said.

Stakeholders are given until Nov. 18 to send their feedback to the central bank with regards to the framework.

Based on the proposals, enforcement action from the BSP’s Financial Supervision Section on BSFIs with finality will be published as press releases on the central bank website.

Offenses under the jurisdiction of the BSP’s Office of the General Counsel and Legal Services include administrative cases filed by the BSP against delinquent DOEs of BSFIs will be published, based on the proposed framework.

Criminal cases filed against DOEs that were already filed with the Department of Justice as well as those already determined to have probable cause in trial courts will also be published. The BSP said it will also publish court convictions of accused DOEs regardless of the finality of the judgment.

Certain laws such as Republic Acts No. 11211 (New Central Bank Act as amended), 7653 (New Central Bank Act), and 8791 (General Banking Law of 2000) gave the BSP the mandate to impose enforcement actions on financial institutions.

The central bank already publishes circular letters on BSFIs that are prohibited from doing business in the Philippines.

It has also already published press releases on its website regarding administrative enforcement actions on cases which are deemed to impair public trust in the banking systems as well as court-issued convictions of bank officials in relation to complaints filed by the BSP.

Other financial regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Insurance Commission also disclose their enforcement actions and cases under their watch through press releases in their respective websites. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Typhoons cut 2% of Q4 palay harvest

By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter

The Agriculture department estimated the palay production loss due to recent typhoons reached 165,000 metric tons (MT), or two percent of the projected 8.4 million MT fourth quarter harvest this year.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) in a statement Friday said farmers in the major rice-producing regions were able to harvest a week or two early because of weather advisories. This saved P7.66 billion of palay and P1.31 billion worth of corn during Typhoon Quinta, and saved P16.99 worth of palay and P579 million worth of corn from Typhoon Rolly.

The 1.6 million MT of palay saved is 7% of the target total for 2020.

The department earlier this year had a target palay production of 20.34 million MT for 2020, based on its regular national rice program, rice competitiveness enhancement fund program, and rice resiliency project.

“With a two-percent loss in palay harvest, we could still realize a record output of about 20.175 million metric tons, which is seven percent more than our 2019 yield of 18.81 MMT,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said.

Typhoon Rolly made landfall in Catanduanes in Bicol Region on Nov. 1, the region with the highest fatality rate. Typhoon Quinta had previously passed through Southern Luzon, including Bicol.

Agricultural damage for both typhoons cost over P5.51 billion in losses, DA reported Thursday.

Agriculture Undersecretary Rodolfo V. Vicerra said that subtracting losses from typhoons, palay harvest for 2020 would be projected at 13.1 million MT . This means there would be 91.5% rice adequacy level based on per capita consumption of 118.6 kilograms.

“Based on the trend over the past three quarters, we are confident that we will hit our palay production target this fourth quarter, thus increasing our rice adequacy from last year’s 87 percent,” he said.

He said that the country will have 90-days worth of rice inventory by year end.

Gov’t urged to lower tariffs on pork imports

Meat importers are asking the government to reduce tariffs on imported pork to stabilize prices in the market.

The Meat Traders and Importers Association on Thursday wrote a letter to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), asking that the Most Favored Nation Rates of pork meat be reduced by 50%.

Most Favored Nation rates are tariffs imposed on members of the World Trade Organization.

Pork products are also under a tariff rate quota, which means that imports exceeding a certain quantity are taxed at a higher out-quota rate.

“We suggest reducing the duty on In Quota Pork from 30% to 10% and Out Quota Pork from 40% to 20%,” the importers said in a press release on Friday.

The group said that pork retail prices have climbed to as much as P500 per kilogram, from P300 per kilogram in October.

The Agriculture Department last week raised suggested retail prices for various cuts of pork sold in Metro Manila wet market and supermarkets due to shortages caused by the outbreak of African Swine Fever in some parts of the country.

The department said that the new SRP for pork shoulder, known as kasim, is at P260 per kilogram, from the previous P230.

The SRP for pork belly, or liempo, was set at P280 per kilogram, from P250.

The Agriculture department last week also said it is working with the hog industry to increase live hog and pork shipments from Visayas and Mindanao to increase Luzon supply and bring down prices.

The importers said that live hogs from Visayas and Mindanao are being traded at high prices and low weights.

“Additionally hogs are diverted to Luzon by reducing volume to the locality thereby depriving its very own consumers. These hogs cannot satisfy the demand of Luzon and whatever volume brought to Luzon would not be sustainable both in price and volume,” the group said.

The import industry group added that duties reduction on meat has precedents in the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration, adding that a reduction in import duties could help citizens affected by the pandemic by lowering prices.

“At the same time, the hog producers can rebuild their business into a globally competitive industry and the Philippines can consider venturing into the export of pork meat.” — Jenina P. Ibañez

Senate eyes CREATE, FIST approval before yearend

The Senate will tackle two priority measures, the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill and the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) bill, once the 2021 national budget is approved.

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III on Friday said they would be able to pass the two bills, which were already approved on final reading at the House of Representatives, before the year ends.

“There are lulls while budget bicam is ongoing, we might be able to get it through,” Mr. Sotto told reporters.

The top priority remains the passage of the P4.5-trillion national budget. The Senate will begin plenary debates on the budget once session resumes on Nov. 9.

The CREATE bill is the revised version of the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA), which now provides for the immediate reduction of the corporate income tax to 25% from the current 30%. This will further be reduced by 1 percentage point annually beginning 2023 until 2027. The tax reductions were accelerated due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The FIST bill, on the other hand, seeks to encourage local financial institutions to sell their non-performing assets to asset management companies to cushion the impact of the pandemic on their finances.

Senate and House leaders met on Thursday to craft a common legislative agenda for the remaining 20 months of the 18th Congress in accordance with the administration’s priority legislation.

“We consider the senators as vital partners, allies and friends, and we thank the Senate leadership for this productive meeting,” House Speaker Lord Allan Q. Velasco said in a statement Thursday. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

BSP makes full award of 28-day securities

THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) fully awarded P60 billion in short-term securities on Friday as investors asked for lower yields following a downward correction in rates of benchmark tenors.

The 29-day bills auctioned off by the BSP on Friday were oversubscribed as demand reached P121.725 billion. This is also slightly more than the P120.55 billion in tenders logged the previous week.

The central bank has made full awards of its weekly offer of bills for eight consecutive weeks or since it started to issue its own securities in mid-September.

Accepted rates ranged from 1.98% to 2%, a slightly lower margin than the 1.99% to 2.075% band logged on Oct. 30. This caused its average rate to settle at 1.9922%, 4.45 basis points lower than the 2.0367% seen a week ago.

“Amid sustained strong demand and lower offer volume, majority of the bids received shifted to the low end of the accepted yields following the results of last week’s auction wherein most of the bids were cut off,” BSP Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila, Jr. said in a statement.

The short-term securities are among the central bank’s tools to shore up excess liquidity and better guide short-term interest rates.

The lower yields fetched for the BSP bills followed the trend seen in US and local bond rates, said Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort.

“The 10-year US government bond yield eased to 0.76%,…down from a high of 0.94% on Nov. 4 as the US presidential election between [Joseph R.] Biden and [President Donald J.] Trump turned out to be tight, thereby reducing the odds of a larger US stimulus as advocated by the Democrats,” Mr. Ricafort said in a text message. — LWTN

Peso extends climb on partial US election results

THE PESO continued to rise versus the dollar on Friday as the Democratic Party maintained its lead in the United States election.

The local unit closed at P48.22 versus the dollar on Friday, rising by nine centavos from its P48.31 finish on Thursday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.

The peso opened Friday’s session stronger at P48.27 versus the dollar. It hit a low of P48.30 but closed at its intraday high.

Dollars traded rose to $779 million on Friday from $661.78 million the previous day.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the peso strengthened on the partial results of the US presidential election showing a continued lead for Democrat candidate Joseph R. Biden, Jr. over incumbent President Donald J. Trump, a Republican.

“Victory by Mr. Biden is expected to be good for the Philippines and the rest of Asia with less US-China trade war that increases trade and economic growth,” Mr. Ricafort said in a text message.

Meanwhile, a trader said the weaker safe-haven demand amid expectations of a victory for Mr. Biden pushed the peso up. — KKTJ

InLife launches P1-billion fund

INSULAR LIFE Assurance Co. Ltd. (InLife) launched a P1-billion investment portfolio that it targets to grow by 25% within five years, banking on gains from stocks and improved economic prospects.

The Recovery Equity Fund portfolio is available through InLife’s Solid Fund Builder variable unit-linked product, which has a minimum capital requirement of P100,000, and will only be sold until Nov. 23 or until the pooled money reaches the maximum P2 billion, whichever comes first.

“After months of suffering economic contraction due to the pandemic, we are confident that Philippine economy will bounce back soon. Through our latest equity fund offering, we aim to take advantage of the current discounted prices of stock companies traded in the Philippine Stock Exchange,” InLife Chief Marketing Officer Gae L. Martinez was quoted as saying.

The product also provides life insurance coverage, InLife said.

“So that whatever happens to the investor while this policy is in force, his or her family is financially secured up to 125% of the capital investment,” Mr. Martinez said.

Investors in the fund can also withdraw as soon as the 25% growth target is achieved, even before its five-year maturity.

Stocks climb further on sustained buying

THE BENCHMARK Philippine Stock Exchange (PSEi) index rallied for the fifth consecutive day on Friday as investors continued buying shares.

The main index climbed by 40.92 points or 0.61% to finish at 6,685.69 on Friday. The broader shares index likewise rose by 25.41 points or 0.64% to close at 3,944.72.

“Investors in the Philippine market continued the buying momentum on hopes the winner of the US presidential election would soon be determined, with shares of major index names leading the gains,” Regina Capital Development Corp’s Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

“In the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Jerome Powell and his colleagues left rates near zero and made no change to asset purchases, as expected,” Mr. Limlingan added.

The US Federal Reserve kept its loose monetary policy intact on Thursday and pledged again to do whatever it can in the coming months to sustain a US economic recovery losing speed amid a spreading coronavirus pandemic and facing uncertainty over a still-undecided presidential election, Reuters reported.

The economy is still growing but “I would not say that anybody is feeling comfortable about this,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a news conference after the Fed’s latest two-day policy meeting. “We’ve gotten through the first five, six months of the expansion better than expected … But we have to be humble where we are relative to this disease. It has not gone away.”

The short-term outlook is also clouded by doubts about where fiscal policy may be headed in coming weeks, or how smooth a possible transition would be between an incoming Democratic administration led by Joe Biden and a lame-duck administration led by Republican President Donald Trump that will still hold sway over upcoming decisions on funding the government and extending the US central bank’s emergency programs.

Results from Tuesday’s US election were still being tabulated in a few key states, though Mr. Biden was near the minimum 270 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College needed to win the White House.

Back home, almost all sectoral indices ended Friday’s session with gains. Services grew by 32.68 points or 2.20% to 1,512.14; mining and oil rose 135.53 points or 1.74% to 7,904.01; holding firms climbed by 66.08 points or 0.94% to 7,042.73; property increased by 10.81 points or 0.33% to 3,195.28; and industrials inched up by 26.42 points or 0.29% to 8,860.33.

Meanwhile, financials lost 13.02 points or 1% to end at 1,280.17.

Value turnover stood at P10.08 billion with 4.08 billion issues switching hands, down from the previous session’s P10.18 billion with 5 billion issues.

Advancers led versus decliners, 109 against 92, while 57 names closed unchanged.

Net foreign buying continued and stood at P453.57 million on Friday, lower than the previous session’s net inflow of P623.88 million. — Angelica Y. Yang with Reuters

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