THE COUNTRY’S TOP 1,000 corporations saw their combined gross revenue grow at its slowest pace in four years in 2019, providing a baseline for how these firms were doing before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Read the full story.
STOCKS ended higher on Thursday after the government laid out more details on its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination plans.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 83.99 points or 1.29% to end at 6,581 on Thursday, while the all shares index improved by 41.9 points or 1.06% to 3,976.83.
“The market has been rallying since the status of vaccine rollout and deliveries was presented,” AB Capital Securities, Inc. Junior Equity Analyst Lance U. Soledad said in a Viber message on Thursday.
The Philippines has procured COVID-19 vaccines from China’ Sinovac Biotech Ltd., British firm AstraZeneca, Plc. through the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility, the United States’ Moderna, and Sputnik V from Russia.
The chief of the country’s pandemic plan, Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., also detailed the schedule of the arrival of the vaccines as well as the vaccination.
The government has received delivery of 1.125 million donated doses of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines, Reuters reported.
It plans to roll out 140.5 million shots by December, to inoculate 70 million adults as it seeks to achieve herd immunity.
Meanwhile, Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financial, Inc., said the market posted gains on hopes the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas would keep policy rates unchanged at its meeting, which wrapped up after the market’s close on Thursday.
“Keeping the policy rates at accommodative levels is seen to provide support to the economy as it fights its way out of the pandemic-induced recession,” Mr. Tantiangco said in a separate Viber message.
All sectoral indices closed in the green on Thursday except for financials, which declined by 3.09 points or 0.21% to finish at 1,412.19.
Meanwhile, mining and oil rose by 225.99 points or 2.74% to 8,456.72; holding firms improved by 145.76 or 2.23% to 6,663.74; property gained 40.13 points or 1.24% to close at 3,273.53; industrials went up by 78.09 points or 0.91% to 8,571.05; and services inched up by 5.03 points or 0.34% to end at 1,445.21.
Value turnover slumped to P6.10 billion with 2.49 billion shares switching hands from P21.32 billion with 9.27 billion issues traded on Wednesday.
Advancers outnumbered decliners, 136 versus 62, while 50 names closed unchanged.
Foreigners turned sellers, with net outflows logged at P783.51 million from the P371.67 million in net inflows seen on Wednesday.
“Value for this week has been thin averaging just P5.6 billion, which suggests that investors remain cautious amid the steep increase in daily COVID-19 cases,” AB Capital Securities’ Mr. Soledad said.
Mr. Soledad expects the benchmark index to move sideways on Friday with a resistance of 6,600, citing “lackluster trading” this week. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte
THE PESO closed stronger against the dollar on Thursday amid positive developments offshore and ahead of the Monetary Board’s policy meeting.
The local currency ended at P48.58 per dollar on Thursday, appreciating by 8.5 centavos from its previous close of P48.68 on Wednesday, based on data published on the Bankers Association of the Philippines’ website.
The peso opened the trading session at P48.66 per dollar, which was also its weakest showing for the day. Its intraday best was at P48.56.
Dollars that changed hands went up to $691.29 million yesterday from $649.75 million on Wednesday.
“The peso strengthened following dovish hints from BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) Governor (Benjamin E.) Diokno ahead of the BSP policy meeting today that prematurely ending accommodative policy is still unwarranted. The local currency might weaken from safe-haven demand after the BSP revised its inflation projections,” a trader said in an email on Thursday.
The BSP said after the market closed that the Monetary Board kept the overnight reverse repurchase rate at an all-time low of 2%, as expected. The rates on the lending and deposit facilities were also maintained at 2.5% and 1.5%, respectively.
Meanwhile, it raised its inflation forecast for 2021 to 4.2% from the 4% given in February, while the 2022 outlook was hiked to 2.8% from 2.7% previously, BSP Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila, Jr. said yesterday.
“The peso was also stronger versus the US dollar after global oil prices eased to three-week lows and the benchmark 10-year US government bond yield eased to the lowest in more than a week,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.
Global oil prices fell by over two percent on Thursday on growing fears over renewed lockdowns abroad, Reuters reported. Brent crude went down by $1.33 to $63.08 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasuries edged down to 1.62% on Wednesday, slightly down from 1.63% the day before.
Other positive local news may have also pushed the peso higher, including the gains in the stock market and arrival of more coronavirus vaccines, Mr. Ricafort said.
Investors anticipating the signing of a law that will bring down corporate income tax also contributed to the stronger peso, he added. The bill will lapse into law on Saturday, March 27.
For Friday, Mr. Ricafort expects the peso to range from P48.50 to P48.60 per dollar, while the trader gave a higher forecast range of P48.55 to P48.75. — B.M. Laforga
By Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporters
THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 8,773 coronavirus infections on Thursday, the highest daily tally since the pandemic started last year.
Thursday’s tally surpassed the 8,019 infections reported on Monday, bringing the total to 693,048, it said in a bulletin.
The death toll rose to 13,095 after 56 more patients died, while recoveries increased by 574 to 580,062.
There were 99,891 active cases, 95% of which were mild, 3% did not show symptoms, 0.8% were critical, 0.8% were severe and 0.44% were moderate.
The agency said 36 duplicates had been removed from the tally, while seven recovered cases were reclassified as deaths. Six laboratories failed to submit data on Mar. 24.
About 9.2 million Filipinos have been tested for the coronavirus as of Mar. 23, according to DoH’s tracker website.
The coronavirus has sickened about 125.5 million and killed almost 2.8 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.
About 101.3 million people have recovered, it said.
Coronavirus infections in the capital region have reached 216,755 as of Mar. 23, Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Benjamin D. Abalos told a separate televised news briefing on Thursday.
Almost 4,000 swab tests were being conducted daily amid a fresh surge in cases, he said. More than 23,500 Filipinos in the National Capital Region were swabbed from Mar. 15 to 20.
Mr. Abalos said more than 160 granular lockdowns had been implemented in several cities in the capital region to contain the pandemic.
He said the Education department had approved the use of public school buildings in Metro Manila as isolation facilities after the occupancy rate in hotel isolation facilities reached 91%.
CHECKPOINTS
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police has installed more than 60 quarantine checkpoints in Metro Manila and nearby provinces after the areas were placed under a travel corridor.
National police chief Debold M. Sinas told a televised meeting with President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Wednesday night 3,652 cops had been deployed at quarantine points.
Police had recorded 27,513 curfew violations in Metro Manila from Mar. 15 to 23, he added.
More than 1.5 million violations of minimum health protocols were recorded from Aug. 20, 2020 to Mar. 23 this year, he said.
Metro Manila had the highest number of violations at 260,253, followed by Central Luzon at 52,211 and Southern Tagalog at 34,859.
Most of the violations involved failure to wear face masks, Mr. Sinas said.
Meanwhile, Nina G. Gloriani, former dean of University of the Philippines-Manila College of Medicine, cited the potential for the coronavirus to mutate further as the infection rate soars.
She said some mutated viruses were more contagious and more resistant to vaccines.
“Virus variants can be controlled if enough people — we put this at 70-80% of the population — are vaccinated and become immune to the virus,” she told an online news briefing.
“This way, we can achieve herd or community immunity,” she said, citing the need to comply with health protocols.
Also on Thursday, presidential spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. said people who jumped the coronavirus vaccination queue should be allowed to get the second shot so as not to waste vaccines.
During his public address on Wednesday night, Mr. Duterte named a number of mayors who got vaccinated even if they were not on the priority list.
He said the Interior and Local Government department had asked them to explain why and how they got the shots.
CHARGES
The President said it was difficult to tell whether the mayors should be held liable since several of them had made the excuse that they wanted to encourage people hesitant of getting the shots.
The World Health Organization earlier said the country risked losing hundreds of thousands of vaccines under a global initiative for equal access if it fails to follow prioritization requirements.
While it was wrong for anybody to skip the vaccination line, officials would not necessarily be removed from their posts, Mr. Roque said.
Officials who violated the protocol face charges of violating the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, he said. Mr. Roque said there has to be a law that punishes people who skip the priority list.
Mr. Roque said there had been a “quick substitution list” in the government’s vaccination program that allows non-healthcare workers to get inoculated.
The list was created to avoid wastage of vaccines once they were opened, Mr. Roque said.
A local chief in Metro Manila earlier explained that he allowed an actor to be vaccinated because he has comorbidities that qualified him to skip the line. Mr. Duterte has ordered the Health department to investigate the case.
Interior Undersecretary Epimaco V. Densing II said Undersecretary Jonathan E. Malaya, the agency’s spokesman who publicly got vaccinated on Mar. 2, had also been asked to explain.
Mr. Roque earlier said Mr. Malaya’s vaccination was done “in good faith” since he was supposedly not aware of the rule that all first shipments of vaccines must be used for medical frontliners.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Thursday urged the government to hold those who skipped the line accountable.
“An effective national vaccination strategy is a vital component of an efficient national health care program, and is an important component of the equitable distribution of vaccines,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the government is processing payments for the COVID-19 vaccines after it signed two loans worth $900 million from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), Finance Undersecretary Mark Dennis Y.C. Joven said in a mobile phone message.
The AIIB had also approved a $300-million co-financing deal to buy vaccines for the Philippines, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a Viber message.
The loan will complete the government’s target to borrow $1.2 billion from multilateral partners to fund the vaccination drive. — with Beatrice M. Laforga
THE PHILIPPINES expects Chinese vessels moored at a reef it claims in the South China Sea to leave the area soon, according to the presidential palace.
“There is no controversy because they are not fighting to stay there,” presidential spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. told an online news briefing in Filipino on Thursday, citing strong relations between the two countries.
“In the spirit of friendship, we expect them not to remain there for long,” he added.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has filed a diplomatic protest against China after more than 200 vessels, believed to be Chinese militia, moored at Whitsun Reef.
DFA this week demanded that China withdraw its fishing vessels and maritime assets at the reef that it calls Julian Felipe, accusing it of infringing on Philippine sovereignty.
It urged China to order its fishing vessels to stop environmentally destructive activities at the reef, which it said is within the Philippine exclusive economic zone.
The Philippine government earlier said it was concerned that the Chinese militia vessels had massed at the reef with no actual fishing activities.
They had their full white lights turned on during night time, a national task force overseeing border disputes with Beijing said in a statement at the weekend, citing the Philippine Coast Guard.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Monday said the reef, which it calls Niu’e Jiao, is part of China’s Nansha Qundao.
It said some Chinese fishing vessels had taken shelter near Niu’e Jiao due to rough sea conditions.
The Chinese Embassy said the vessels there were not Chinese militia, adding that speculations cause “unnecessary irritation.”
Mr. Roque said the Philippines stands by a United Nations ruling in 2016 invalidating China’s claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea based on a nine-dash line map.
“We stand by the arbitral award,” he said. “The President’s stance has not changed.”
Meanwhile, former Supreme Court Justice Antonio T. Carpio on Wednesday said there was no storm when the vessels moored at the reef.
“It’s possible that China is encroaching on our maritime zone but softening it by sending us vaccines,” he told the ABS-CBN News Channel. “It’s part of their PR effort to soften the blow but we should not fall for that.”
The Philippines on Wednesday took delivery of about 400,000 vaccine doses donated by China. The shipment was on top of 600,000 doses that it donated and that arrived last month. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
ONE OF President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s staunchest critics who was jailed on drug trafficking charges has asked a Muntinlupa judge to inhibit from her case, citing bias.
In a 49-page motion, Senator Leila M. de Lima also accused Judge Liezel A. Aquiatan of committing “blatant errors” in her recent orders.
The magistrate in February rejected the lawmaker’s plea to dismiss the case for lack of evidence.
Ms. Aquiatan disregarded the fact that “there was no evidence offered to prove the drug traded, its quantity, the identity of the buyer and seller, and the consideration of the illegal drug sale,” Ms. De Lima said.
She also accused Ms. Aquiatan of validating inadmissible evidence presented by government prosecutors, cherry-picking parts of the testimonies by witnesses and disregarding the testimonies of defense witnesses.
The judge had also added “her own versions of the narrative which were never even testified on by the incredible witnesses she chose to believe,” the senator said.
Ms. Aquiatan earlier said the evidence of Ms. De Lima’s guilt was strong.
Ms. De Lima is on trial for allegedly abetting the illegal drug trade in the country’s jails when she was still Justice secretary. She was accused of extorting millions of pesos from a drug lord that she allegedly used to finance her senatorial campaign in 2016.
She has been jailed at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame since February 2017. Several witnesses against Ms. De Lima were drug convicts serving time at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago
CHIEF Justice Diosdado M. Peralta has ordered the closure of all courts and offices in Metro Manila and nearby provinces on Mar. 25 to 26 amid a surge in coronavirus infections.
Court hearings were also suspended except on urgent matters including petitions for bail and habeas corpus and promulgation of judgments of acquittals, the tribunal said in a statement on Thursday.
Exceptions also apply to reliefs for those who may get arrested and detained during the period. The public may contact the courts via hotlines and e-mail, it added..
Court spokesman Brian Keith F. Hosaka said the suspension was only until Mar. 26 since Mr. Peralta’s retirement takes effect the day after. It’s not yet clear whether the closure would be extended, he added.
Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe will be acting chief justice if the presidential palace does not announce a new one, Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez said. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago
JUSTICE Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said on Thursday that the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) probe on smuggled coronavirus vaccines indicated that the vials did not go through Customs check and “might have been brought in, in convenient packages.” Mr. Guevarra explained that convenient packages refer to “luggage, carry-on bag, etc… maybe through a private flight too, but the NBI has not specified these.” Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana reported in Dec. 2020 that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines were smuggled into the country from China, before these were given authority for use and entry by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration. It was President Rodrigo R. Duterte himself who announced in one of his regular public briefings that members of his Presidential Security Group have been inoculated. In Feb. 2021, former special envoy to China and broadcaster Ramon T. Tulfo, Jr. also admitted to having received shots of the smuggled COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by China’s Sinopharm. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has partnered with Impact Hub Manila, a network supporting startup ecosystems, for an online platform that will make voter registration easier. The online tool, launched Wednesday, will help voters register, reactivate their registration, or update their information for the national and local elections on May 9, 2022. Comelec has set a Sept. 30 deadline for the registration period. During the launch, Impact Hub Manila Chief Executive Officer Ces Rondario introduced Vote Pilipinas, Impact Hub’s non-profit and non-partisan project, which is now the official voter registration information campaign partner of Comelec. The project aims to increase the number of registered voters in the country by 10% to seven million from 61.8 million in 2019. The tool can be accessed at votepilipinas.com. Comelec offices nationwide are open for registration or reactivation from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Mondays to Thursdays. “If you want to make change happen, you have to show up; you have to be part of the process,” Comelec Spokesman James B. Jimenez said at the launching event. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago
THE proposed housing rental subsidy for informal settler families passed final reading in the lower house. The House of Representatives on Thursday approved Bill 8736 or the proposed Rental Housing Subsidy Program Act. If enacted into law, the bill will provide a P3,500 monthly rent subsidy to informal sector families for temporary housing before they are transferred to a designated permanent resettlement area. Families may also avail of the subsidy if they can afford to partially pay for their own permanent home. The bill is among 18 proposed measures that aim to address the housing crisis in the country. — Gillian M. Cortez
A SENATOR on Wednesday filed a bill that will impose a punishment of 10-year imprisonment on government officials who commit red-tagging or linking groups or individuals to communist terrorist groups without legal evidence. Under the measure filed by Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, government officials who commit red-tagging will also be disqualified from holding public office. Red-tagging is the act of labeling, vilifying, branding, naming, accusing, harassing, persecuting, stereotyping, or caricaturing individuals, groups, or organizations as state enemies, left-leaning, subversives, communists, or terrorists as part of a counter-insurgency or anti-terrorism strategy or program by any state actor, according to the bill. Mr. Drilon said there are no available legal remedies for victims of red-tagging, forcing them to file “seemingly-appropriate-but-not-quite cases, like libel and grave threats.” The explanatory note of the bill reads, “The gravamenes of these offenses, however, are far from the essence of red-tagging. Libel, or grave threats, is not appropriate where a state agent vilifies a person as an enemy of the state thereby impinging on the rights of that individual.” Mr. Drilon added that the “continuing governmental public branding” threatens the life, liberty, and security of the victims, including lawyers. The passage of the bill “will reverse the ‘increasingly institutionalization and normalization of human rights violations’ and put a stop on the attacks against the members of the legal profession,” he said. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
THE House of Representatives on Thursday approved on final reading a measure that will enhance the private security industry. House Bill 8783, or the proposed Private Security Act, will repeal the 51-year old Republic Act No. 5487 or the The Private Security Agency Law. The proposed law underscores the requirements and limitations for those who can engage in the private security profession. It also provides that licenses in the security profession will be valid for five years. The measure also spells out that private security agencies must not be used as private armies nor provide services to any illegal enterprise. — Gillian M. Cortez
THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has launched a digital feedback system to speed up the reporting process on complaints and alleged corrupt practices by agency officials and workers. BI Chief Jaime H. Morente, in an e-mailed statement Thursday, said the “improved feedback mechanism is very timely in the wake of the corruption issues that hound the Bureau… It would allow the public to immediately report any malpractice that they encounter.” The agency has been hounded by controversies on the illegal entry of Chinese nationals and more recently, involvement in human trafficking. BI Committee on Good Governance chief Rey Arvin D. Sevilla said the system will initially be implemented at the BI head office in Intramuros, and at immigration sites within the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. “This would allow us to gain much needed immediate feedback from the public, as well as eliminate the use of pen and paper, which can contribute to the spread of COVID-19,” Mr. Sevilla said. The system allows the public to scan a QR code that links to the Bureau’s feedback form. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago
HOG farmers in the Davao Region called on the government to tighten biosecurity measures at air and sea ports to ensure no further entry of the virus that causes the African Swine Fever (ASF) and avoid another massive outbreak. “If you look at the history, we were ASF-free here in the Philippines, when the first case of ASF in Asia was in Vietnam and China coming all the way from Europe. But the problem is the Philippines is very lax on biosecurity on borders,” Eduard So, president of Hog Farmers Association of Davao Region, Inc., said during the 22nd Davao Agri Trade Expo Webinar Series on Biosecurity Measures and Farm Management System on Mar. 24. He said the government’s strategy of stopping backyard raisers from swill feeding, or giving food scraps and other waste materials to pigs, could not be easily implemented. “To be honest, it’s a long shot. We just cannot say that you stop swill feeding,” he said. “Right now we are jumping to the farm level… but we are still allowing imported meat and with the rising prices of these meat, it’s the smugglers who are taking advantage of this,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino. Mr. So said on top of stricter measures at the ports of entry, the government must show that smugglers of meat, which could be the source of ASF, are punished. “Example, we still see a lot of imported meat coming from infected countries, they are here, on display. The (government) issued penalties on infected meat for local producers but I don’t see any penalties or smugglers that’s been arrested,” he said. The ASF outbreak in the country, which started in mid-2019, mainly affected the northern mainland Luzon, but infections have also been recorded in parts of Eastern Visayas and several regions in Mindanao in the south. Department of Agriculture data show more than three million pigs have died or were culled since the virus was first detected. — Maya M. Padillo
THE House of Representatives on Thursday approved on final reading a bill that will create the Metropolitan Davao Development Authority (MDDA), which will coordinate growth plans and programs for an urban cluster in the region. Lawmakers approved on Thursday’s plenary session House Bill 8930 that will establish the MDDA, an agency similar to the capital region’s Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. The proposed Metro Davao area covers Davao City; the cities of Panabo, Tagum and Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte; Digos City, Davao del Sur; Mati City, Davao Oriental; and the municipalities of Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur, Carmen in Davao del Norte, Maco in Davao de Oro, and Malita in Davao Occidental. The MDDA will be tasked to provide development planning, transport management, public safety, urban zoning, and other services in coordination with the local government units. — Gillian M. Cortez
A SUBSIDIARY of Citicore Power, Inc. and Netherlands-based firm Agriterra inked a deal with the United States Agency for International Development for a two-year project that aims to expand livelihood opportunities for rural households in Negros Occidental. The project, called Generating Rural Opportunities by Working with Cooperatives (GROW-Coop), will directly benefit over 300 upland households in the province. Citicore, in a statement on Thursday, said its unit Citicore-Candlewick Bioenergy, Inc. will take on the role of local resource organization (LRO) in the project. “LROs are organizations that are trusted by other local organizations and are seen as ‘hubs’ for ideas and resources… They are capable of supporting other local organizations to better serve communities,” Citicore said. Last year, Agriterra said on its website that it is training the agri-based Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative to serve as an LRO in the GROW Coop project. — Angelica Y. Yang
CASH REMITTANCES are expected to rebound with growth of 4% this year after an 0.8% contraction in 2020 as overseas workers’ host countries make progress on their vaccine rollouts and economic reopenings, a senior Security Bank Corp. executive said.
Cash remittances are expected to come in at $31 billion in 2021, representing a strong rebound after the 2020 contraction proved to be much milder than expected, according to Noel S. Reyes, Security Bank’s chief investment officer.
“Full year remittance growth only decreased by 0.8% year on year (in 2020). The performance was even better than the central bank’s revised forecast of minus 2% and an earlier forecast of minus 5% during the peak of the pandemic. This was also better than the World Bank’s projection of minus 13% during the second quarter of 2020. With vaccination programs underway, this will continue to improve,” Mr. Reyes said in a statement.
Cash remittances coursed through banks fell to $29.903 billion last year from $30.133 in 2019 as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were thrown out of work due to the pandemic, according to the central bank.
The contraction continued in January, when cash inflows fell 1.7% year on year to $2.603 billion.
Cash sent home by OFWs is a major driver of household consumption in a consumer-centric economy.
Since 2020, 489,451 OFWs have been repatriated as of March 22, of which 20% returned home this year, according to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Effective vaccination programs will boost consumer confidence and help economies bounce back faster, Security Bank President and CEO Sanjiv Vohra said.
“Once more countries are able to roll out mass inoculations and prevent new infections, we will see consumer confidence go up gradually and we will see sequencing of recovery. However, recovery will not be the same for everyone. We will see some industries recover faster than others,” Mr. Vohra said.
The bank also expects the recently-signed Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) law and upcoming reforms that will lower the corporate income tax will provide impetus to the economic rebound.
The Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill is now awaiting President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s signature. If he does not sign, the bill will lapse into law on March 27. — Beatrice M. Laforga
AYALA-CONTROLLED Manila Water Co., Inc. has completed its discussions with the government on a “new and better” water concession contract, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra told reporters Thursday.
“The agreement is expected to be signed within this month,” he added.
Details of the contract revision cannot be disclosed “until the new agreement has been executed,” Mr. Guevarra said in a mobile message.
“One thing (is) sure, though: it’s fair and equitable, transparent, fosters better governance, and reduces government liability,” he added.
In November, President Duterte tasked the Department of Justice (DoJ) to revise the concession contracts of Metro Manila’s two water providers, Manila Water Co., Inc. and Maynilad Water Services, Inc.
According to Mr. Guevarra, negotiations were actually led by the Department of Finance.
The President’s directive to the DoJ follows an international arbitral ruling that the government must pay Maynilad P3.4 billion and Manila Water P7.4 billion for losses incurred after the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System rejected their request for an increase in water rates.
The two companies opted not to enforce the award, and agreed to review the terms of their concession agreements.
Mr. Guevarra also said negotiations with Maynilad will start soon. — Bianca Angelica A. Añago
BOTH HOUSES of Congress ratified the bicameral conference committee report on a bill authorizing the President to defer any scheduled increases in the Social Security System (SSS) contribution rate during calamities.
The Senate in its last plenary session on Wednesday approved the report harmonizing Senate Bill No. 2027 and House Bill No. 8512 which amended Republic Act No. 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2018, which outlines the timetable for increasing the contribution rate.
The House of Representatives approved the report in its last plenary session on Thursday. Congress will resume session on May 17.
The amendment authorizes the President to suspend the increase in contribution rates on the recommendation of the Social Security Commission, after due consultation.
Monthly contributions are set to increase by one percentage to 13% in 2021, according to the SSS law.
A one percentage-point increase is scheduled every other year starting in 2019 until the rate hits 15% in 2025.
Senator Richard J. Gordon, the sponsor of the bill, said last month when the Senate bill was approved on third and final reading that the scheduled contribution increase was “not timely because of the continuing hardship brought about by COVID-19 to the people and to the business sector.”
The state of calamity for the pandemic runs until Sept. 12, 2021. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
