THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 2,630 new coronavirus caseson Friday, bringing the country’s total to 299,361.
Of the total, 87% are mild cases, 9% asymptomatic, 2.8% critical, and 1.2% severe.
The DoH recorded an additional 494 recoveries, putting the tally at 232,399.
There were 69 deaths added, placing the total at 5,196.
The National Capital Region logged the highest number of cases on Friday with 1,091. This was followed by the following provinces: Cavite with 196; Laguna, 171; Negros Occidental, 142; and Rizal, 141.
In terms of health facilities’ availability, the DoH reported the following: 52% out of 1,900 ICU beds; 58% of 14,100 isolation beds; 55% of 5,700 ward beds; and 76% of 2,100 ventilators. — Gillian M. Cortez
MEMBERS of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives called on government agencies to launch “independent investigations” into the alleged involvement of the country’s police and military in the creation of fake social media accounts.
“We cannot rely on the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police), nothing will happen to their own investigation,” BayanMuna Rep. Ferdinand R. Gaite said in an online briefing on Friday.
Mr. Gaite said the Office of the Ombudsman, Department of Information and Communications Technology, and National Bureau of Investigation, among others, must conduct their own probes into the involvement of security forces as reported by Facebook’s management.
Facebook recently took down 57 accounts, 31 pages, and 20 Instagram accounts linked to the AFP and PNP.
The social media giant said these fake profiles were created to “evade enforcement, post content, comment and manage pages.
The PNP has denied links to the accounts and directed an internal investigation.
AFP’s spokesperson, Major General Edgard A. Arevalo, said the clampdown that included somelegitimate accounts would affect their operations against communist insurgency and terrorism.
“In taking down these accounts, it seems that (Facebook) favors the recruitment of communist-terrorist groups,” he said in a Palace briefing Friday.
Facebook also shut down 155 accounts, 11 pages, nine groups, and six Instagram accounts that originated in China with posts expressing strong support for the leadership of President Rodrigo R. Duterteand his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who is rumored to possibly run the in the 2022 presidential elections.
House Deputy Minority Speaker and BayanMuna Rep. Carlos I. Zarate said fake accounts would be a threat to the 2022 national and local elections.
“It will really undermine the democratic processes. It is possible that some (politicians) are elected because the public are being misled,” Mr. Zarate said in mixed English and Filipino in an online breifing.
He said foreign entities, specifically China, might interfere in the 2022 polls. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
HUMAN RIGHTS organization Amnesty International pushed for action from global agencies to prevent further extra-judicial killings allegedly carried out under President Rodrigo R. Duterte’sdrug war.
In its latest human rights report, the United kingdom-based organization called for stronger measures from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and International Criminal Court to end human rights violationsin the Philippines and “provide reparations for thousands of families of victims, and hold those responsible to account.”
“It’s obvious the Duterte administration has no intention of delivering justice to thousands of bereaved families, all while the President repeatedly incites violence and promises to protect perpetrators,” Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Amnesty International’s Philippine researcher, said in a statement.
The report noted that human rights violations continue even during the coronavirus pandemic, including attacks on the media and activists.
Amnesty International further said the current administration cannot investigate itself for the abuses it incited.
“All we know of this panel is it will include the very same agencies responsible for the killings, the attacks, and the harassment which they are supposed to investigate. This is a clear example of being both judge and party,” Ms. Howard said, referring to an inter-agency investigation team established by the government.
Justice Secretary Menardo I. Gueverra, in a meeting with UNHRC in July this year, said the inter-agency panel will review more than 5,600 cases of killings during police-led operations.
Amnesty International said the timing and circumstances of such an announcement was designed to shield the government from scrutiny.
“It now falls to the Human Rights Council to mandate a strong, independent investigative body – all while honouring the High Commissioner’s repeated calls to continue monitoring the Philippines’ human rights crisis,” Ms. Howard said. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
A SENATOR on Friday said President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s “long-overdue” assertion of the country’s ownership of the West Philippine Sea is mere “lip service” without corresponding actions against China.
“It is unacceptable that four years on, this administration still cannot simply favor the Philippines’ interest. This only makes the president’s pronouncement look like lip service to the idea of sovereignty,” Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said in a webinar.
Mr. Duterte, in his speech before the 75th United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, invoked for the first time the Philippines’ legal victory over the disputed waters.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, however, said on Thursday that the Duterte administration will “will move on matters that we could move forward” such as trade and investment deals with China.
“Saying that we recognize the arbitral ruling is not enough. This should be followed by concrete actions,” Ms. Hontiveros-Baraquel said in the online forum organized by the International Development Security Cooperation, WR Numero Research, and Analyzing War.
The senator said the government must take steps such as protecting Filipino fishermen and beefing up military presence in the country’s exclusive zone.
“We must resume operations against the poaching in our Exclusive Economic Zone, escort and protect our fishing vessels, reinforce our presence and facilities on the features we occupy, join joint patrols with other nations in the West Philippine Sea,” she said.
The United States in July announced an “updated policy” on the South China Sea, expressing strong rejection of Beijing’s claim.
US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, in a statement on Aug. 26, further said, “In July, I announced an updated policy regarding Beijing’s unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea and emphasized that the United States was prepared to take firm action to oppose Beijing’s campaign of bullying.”
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have also submitted a joint Note Verbale to the United Nations challenging the legality of China’s claims in the disputed waters.
China claims about 90% of theSouth China Sea, a major shipping route and potentially oil-rich.
Aside from the Philippines, other claimants include Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
A P2 BILLION fund will be allocated for assisting more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the coronavirus global pandemic under the Bayanihan 2 law, according to Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac.
In a briefing Friday, Mr. Cacdac said the budget under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act will benefit 200,000 OFWs with a one-time cash aid of P10,000 each.
“Baka Oktubre na po ito (This might be ready by October),” he said.
The assistance is under the Department of Labor and Employment’s Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program.
Under the first Bayanihan law, more than 280,000 OFWs have so far received help under the AKAP program. — Gillian M. Cortez
ILOILO CITY has been placed under a stricter quarantine level from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9 due to the spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in recent days that mostly local transmissions.
The COVID-19 national inter-agency task force issued the directive late Thursday following an “appeal of the local government unit.”
Earlier on Thursday, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas already released an executive order for stricter protocols while awaiting the official declaration from the national task force.
With the MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine) level, restrictions include a total liquor ban, curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., no social gatherings, and no operations for such businesses as gyms and salons.
Public transportation will continue to operate with prescribed health measures.
Several barangays, where there are clustering of COVID-19 cases, have also been placed under total lockdown. — Gillian M. Cortez
The Philippines reported a balance of payments (BOP) surplus for the seventh month in a row in August, mainly due to the government’s foreign borrowings for its pandemic response.
Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the $657 million surplus booked in August was 33% up from the surplus of $493 million logged a year ago, and significantly higher than the $8 million surfeit in July. This is also the highest surplus since May’s $2.431 billion.
“The BoP surplus in August reflected mainly the inflows from the BSP’s foreign exchange operations and income from its investments abroad,” the central bank said.
The BoP shows the country’s economic transactions with the rest of the world within a given period.
Year-to-date, the BoP posted a surplus of $4.774 billion, 13.6% lower than the $5.529 billion surfeit in the January to August 2019 period.
“The current BOP surplus was supported mainly by foreign borrowings by the National Government along with lower net deficit in merchandise trade.1 These outcomes offset fully the impact of higher net outflows of foreign portfolio investments, and lower net inflows from foreign direct investments, trade in services, and personal remittances,” the central bank said.
Government borrowings from January to July reached P1.857 billion, surging by 121% from the P839.7 seen in the same period of 2019, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed. In July alone, borrowings reached P135 billion, of which P67.7 billion came from external lenders.
By end-2020, the BSP expects the BoP position at a surplus of $600 million which is equivalent to 0.2% of the country’s gross domestic product.
The latest BoP position also reflects a final record high gross international reserves of $98.95 billion as of end-August, higher by 15% against the $86.031 billion a year ago and by 0.35% from the $98.6 billion seen as of end-July.
“This is equivalent to 9.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. Moreover, it is also about 9 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.4 times based on residual maturity,” the BSP said.
The sustained slowdown in imports will likely contribute to a possible surplus in the BOP in the coming months, said Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort.
In July, trade deficit stood at $1.827 billion, lower than the $3.641-billion gap in the same month last year, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed. In the first seven months of the year, trade balance stood at a deficit of $12.501 billion, slimmer than the $24.066-billion trade gap in 2019’s comparable seven months.
The import bill declined by 28.1% year on year to $46.636 billion in the January to July 2020 period.
“Sustained recovery in OFW remittances, exports, as well as in business process outsourcing revenues would also help sustain BoP surpluses in the coming months,” Mr. Ricafort added.
Cash remittances have been recovering since June after the slump seen from March to May due to the pandemic crisis. In July, cash remittances rose 7.8% to $2.783 billion from $2.581 billion. However, inflows year-to-date were still down by 2.4% to $16.802 billion from $17.219 billion.
“The next months until the end of the year, I expect more of the same for the BOP until the veil of the pandemic is finally lifted,” UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in a text message. — Luz Wendy T. Noble
THE COUNTRY’s external merchandise exports and imports fell by a quarter in the first half of 2020, revised trade data by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
The country’s total external trade in goods — defined as the sum of export and import goods — was $67.64 billion in the first half, 24.5% down year on year compared to the 1.8% growth in the first half of 2019.
Broken down, merchandise exports shrank by 17.6% to $28.48 billion in January-June 2020 from $34.58 billion in the same six months in 2019. This marked a turnaround from a flat 0.5% growth recorded in the first half of last year.
Meanwhile, the merchandise import bill dropped 28.8% to $39.16 billion in the first half from a 2.6% expansion last year.
These figures exceed the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s revised forecast of 16% and 18% contraction for exports and imports, respectively, for this year.
Trade balance in the first half amounted to a $10.67-billion deficit, 47.7% narrower than the $20.42-billion trade gap in the 2019’s first half.
The value of manufactured goods exports declined by 19.7% to $22.83 billion. Likewise, agro-based products slipped by 6.7% (to $2.46 billion), forest products by 30.5% ($118.22 million), and mineral products by two percent ($2.42 billion).
On the other hand, petroleum products grew by 83.2% to $161.93 million.
Electronic products, which made up more than half of total exports, shrank by 14.9% to $16.09 billion.
On the import side, all major commodity groups likewise recorded year on year declines with mineral fuels, lubricant and related materials posting the biggest drop with 46.4% (to $3.56 billion), followed by consumer goods (-29.3% to $6.51 billion), capital goods (-28.2% to $12.98 billion), and raw materials and intermediate goods (-23.5% to $15.75 billion).
“With the world forced to hunker down, the global economy entered a recession with the move of goods, services and even people slowed to a standstill. Demand for Philippine exports suffered as a response with the entire world economy on the downtrend,” ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in an e-mail.
“[D]emand for imported consumer, fuel, capital and raw materials fell off significantly, with the economy at the brink of a depression style downturn,” he added.
The Philippine economy entered a recession after posting a record 16.5% contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) in the April to June period and a 0.7% drop in the first quarter as the lockdown halted economic activity. For the first half, GDP decline averaged by nine percent, lower compared to the government’s initial expected contraction of 2%-3.4% this year, as well as the revised 5.5% decline.
“In the coming months, we expect these trends to continue, with trade weighed down by poor demand for our exports while our imports revert to 2016 levels as consumers cut back on spending and corporations hold back on making new investments with the recession in full effect,” Mr. Mapa said.
In a separate email, Asian Institute of Management economist John Paolo R. Rivera offers a positive outlook.
“This should improve in the coming months given the relaxing of quarantine policies and resumption of consumption, production, and many economic activities. As we eventually manage and contain the pandemic, the economy is expected to bounce back. The speed of recovery is dependent on how soon we can manage, contain, or co-exist with the coronavirus,” he said.
Home prices surged by a record 27% in the second quarter, driven by strong demand for high-end residential projects and an uptick in costs amid the pandemic-induced lockdown, the central bank said.
The Residential Real Estate Price Index (RREPI) jumped 27.1% year on year in the April to June period, the highest annual growth recorded since the series started in 2016. This was also quicker than the 12.4% hike in the first three months of 2020 and the 0.4% rise in the April to June 2019 period.
The index gauges the average change in home prices across building types and locations and provides the BSP an insight into the property market, bank exposure to which is regulated.
“Banks cited the following reasons for the uptick in real estate prices in Q2 2020: higher demand for high-end projects, which drove the average price per square meter (sq.m) upwards; and rising prices of construction materials, labor costs and other indirect costs, e.g., higher marketing costs of appraised premium properties,” the BSP said.
The biggest contributor to the rise in housing prices were loans for the purchase of condominium units, particularly in Metro Manila.
Condominium units recorded the fastest price uptick at 30.1% in the April to June period, while prices of single detached/attached houses jumped by 24.1%, reversing the 4.2% decrease last year.
Prices of townhomes and duplexes also increased by 10.8% and 0.8%, respectively in the April to June period.
In Metro Manila, prices of residential homes rose 34.9% with the fastest growth seen in single detached/attached houses (70%), followed by condominium units (36.4%), and town houses (5%).
In the provinces, residential property prices also rose by 18% with the uptick led by single/detached homes (21.1%), followed by townhouses (13.2%), duplexes (5.2%), and condominium units (3.1%).
Residential home prices increased by an average of 6.08% in 2019 against a 2.95% rise in 2018.
LOANS DROPPED
As Metro Manila remained under lockdown for most of the second quarter, residential real estate loans granted by banks dropped 55.2% from a year ago.
Based on the type of housing units, 62.7% of the loans were granted for the purchase of condominium units, followed by single detached/attached houses (32.1%) and townhouses (4.8%).
A less dismal outlook for remittance inflows and the slight improvement in the labor market is seen to have a positive impact on the real estate market, said Colliers Philippines Research Manager Joey Roi H. Bondoc.
“Note that OFWs partly drive the demand for mid-income residential units in the country. House and lot projects in urban areas outside Metro Manila also continue to post a decent take up from OFW investors,” Mr. Bondoc said in a note.
Cash remittances rose 7.8% year on year to $2.783 billion in July, marking the second straight month of growth after the slump caused by the pandemic.
Year-to-date, inflows dropped 2.4% to $16.802 billion. The BSP expects cash remittances to decline by 5% this year due to the coronavirus crisis.
Meanwhile, the jobless rate stood at 10% in July, easing from the record 17.7% in April but still higher than the 5.4% a year ago. The July unemployment rate represents 4.571 million jobless Filipinos, lower than 7.254 million in April, but higher than 2.437 million in July last year.
In August, the central bank eased the real estate loan limit of big banks to 25% from 20% in a move to provide added liquidity for lending to the sector and to lift the economy during the crisis. — Luz Wendy T. Noble
Short-term foreign portfolio investments continued to flee the Philippine financial system for the sixth consecutive month in August, although this was the smallest outflow since June, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
In a statement, the BSP said net outflows of “hot money” — called as such due to the ease by which these funds enter and leave an economy – reached $126.76 million in August. Hot money has yielded a net outflow since March.
Despite this, the August figure is smaller by 67% compared to the net outflow of $391.74 million a year ago and by 72% against the $453.17 million in July. It is also the smallest outflow since June’s $235 million.
For the first eight months, hot money yielded a net outflow of $3.889 billion, surging by 254.1% from the $1.098 billion net outflow during the same period a year ago.
This year, the BSP projects foreign portfolio investments to record a $2.4 billion net inflow, much lower than the $8.2-billion net inflow forecast it gave in November 2019 before the pandemic.
Investor confidence continued to be affected by the uncertainties caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Earlier this year, geopolitical trade tensions as well as issues related to local water concessionaires also worried investors, the BSP said.
In August, inflows of foreign portfolio investments shrank 45.08% to $666.51 million from $1.213 billion a year ago. It also dropped by 7.31% from the $719.11 million in July.
Outflows declined 50.58% to $793.27 million from $1.605 billion in August 2019. It also sank by nearly a third (32.33%) from the $1.172 billion the prior month.
“The United Kingdom, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong and Luxembourg were the top five investor countries for the month, with combined share to total at 82.6%,” the BSP said.
During the month, about 84.3% of the investments went into the stock market, specifically in securities of holding firms, property companies, banks, food, retail, and telecommunications. The remaining 15.7% flowed into government securities.
Bond issuances both from the government and the private firms may have caused the smaller net outflow during the month, said Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort.
“The record RTB (retail Treasury bond) issuance and various corporate bond issuances/fund-raising activities may have entailed some foreign investments, thereby may have helped in improving the latest available net foreign portfolio investments data,” Mr. Ricafort said in a text message.
The RTB offer period ran for three weeks from mid-July until August. The Bureau of the Treasury raised a record P488.5 billion in fresh funds through the five-year RTBs while P27.8 billion were from switch subscriptions.
Investor sentiment may have been dampened by the pandemic as well as political risks in the Philippines such as corruption and project delays, according to Asian Institute of Management economist John Paolo R. Rivera.
“This situation calls for our attention in improving the Philippine image. If we can project more stable economic prospects and contain the pandemic, we can expect an improvement in hot money’s trend,” Mr. Rivera said in a text message.
Best Practices, Innovative Ideas from Other Countries Can Make Philippine Agriculture More Progressive and Innovative, SaysVillar
Senator Cynthia Villar has maximized the benefits from her travels in various parts of the world to better perform her mandate, duties and responsibilities as a legislator and as the managing director of her family’s foundation, the Villar Social Institute of Poverty Alleviation and Governance or Villar SIPAG.
“As a public official, I get invitations to attend events and to visit cities or projects abroad. I use these travel opportunities to study the best practices of communities, cities and even companies abroad. This helps me in putting together bills or legislations and implementing projects for my advocacies,” said Villar. These educational tours with local government officials is not financed by government but by Senator Villar’s private money.
Farm Tourism Development (France, Taiwan & Thailand/2015 & 2016)
For instance in 2015, while in the process of drafting a bill to encourage agricultural tourism in the country, Senator Villar visited not only farm tourism sites in various parts of the Philippines, but she also made it a point to check out those in other countries such as in Taiwan, Thailand and France. Villar’s first visit in France in July 2015 was upon the invitation of an association of farm schools there. The senator was surprised to know that there are thousands of farm schools in the First World country.
Rungis International Food Market – France
Villar is the primary author and sponsor of Republic Act No. 10816 or the Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016 that is widely praised and credited for boosting agriculture-related tourism in the country. The said law paved the way for an increasing number of farmers, farm owners and farming communities to enjoy the benefits of converting their farms into farm tourism sites. They have multiplied their earning sources—from their crops, from the tourists’ who visit their farm and buy products as well as from the tuition fees of the trainees in their farm schools.
“In the last four years, since the law was passed, there has been a huge increase in farm tourism destinations all over the country. We published a book (Directory of Farm Schools, Tourist Farms and Learning Sites in the Philippines), from a list of only 386 in its first edition, the number has reached over 2,367in the fifth edition and many are not listed yet,” said Villar.
Among the sites she visited in Taiwan are the Golden Town Leisure Farm Zone, Young Lake Resort, Da-hu Strawberry Winery, Flying Cow Ranch, Taomi Eco-Village, Paper Dome, and Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation.
She also met with Master Cheng Yen, regarded as the “Mother Teresa of Asia” who founded the international humanitarian organization Tzu Chi Foundation. Villar personally thanked her for their help to victims of typhoons Ondoy and Yolanda. Tzu Chi Foundation taught us how to make boats from waste family size pet bottles used to clean the Las Pinas-Zapote River.
with Master Cheng Yen of Tzu Chi Foundation in Haulien, Taiwan
“After visiting all the big farm tourism sites, we also went to a small village, the only attraction of the village there are its butterflies and small restaurants, but tourists go there. So it goes to show, that the site can be simple but successful,” says Villar.
LGU officials thankful to VIllar
Villar also makes it a point to bring along with her a group composed mostly of mayors, governors, congressmen and others who are interested in agriculture and will benefit from the study trip. Many of whom have credited the senator for the turnaround in the agriculture sector in their city or province. For instance, Albay Governor Al Francis Bichara profusely thanked Villar when the province recently won TESDA’s National Kabalikat Award. The governor said in 2017, Villar brought him along with other government officials to tour the best and most modern and state-of-the-art agricultural farm technologies in Israel. He said the trip inspired him “to innovate and adapt, to think global yet local.” He said Albay Farmers’ Bounty Village Farm Schools and Assessment Center was patterned after Israeli ingenuity but Filipino designed. Located in Camalig, Albay, it helps improve the lives of the Albayano food producers through entrepreneurship and farm enterprise capacity-building.
Agri Hydroponics Technology (Israel, 2017)
Villar considers the said trip to Israel as one of the most insightful and memorable too since it made them realize that ingenuity and innovation coupled with technology are just as important as land and water in agriculture. “Israel is mostly desert, they lack water. They have desalination plants in order to have potable water. They don’t have agricultural land. And yet agriculture is thriving, in fact, they export vegetables. It’s about technology. They grow plants using aquaponics or hydroponicsand use desalinated water. Since desalinated water is expensive they use water by droplets, the water controlled by a computer”. Villar has an urban aquaponics project in a poor community in Las Pinas.
Agri Hydroponics / Dairy – Israel
Cacao (France, 2017/Indonesia, 2018)
In 2017, Villar was part of a Philippine delegation to France, where she visited the headquarters and factory of French chocolate manufacturer Valrhona in Tainl’Hermitage (600 kms from Paris). At the end of the visit, Villar invited the Valrhona officials to visit the Philippines and to source cacao from the country. Valrhona sources cacao from eighteen countries and the Philippines can be one of them.
Valrhona Chocolates Factory – France
She also studied the cacao industry in Indonesia during her visit there in July 2018. Villar really believes that the country has what it takes be at the forefront in cacao. The Philippines started cacao farming in Asia, it was here where first cacao in the region was planted in 1670 and the country already has commercial production as early as the 1950s. She included cacao planting as intercrop to coconut in the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act (Senate Bill No. 1052) to be financed by the coco levy fund
Cacao Buying Center of Cargill – Indonesia
“We have to work harder because we cannot even meet our local consumption requirement of 50,000 metric tons. Local supply is only about 12,000 metric tons. Why do we still import cacao and cacao products to serve the local demand? When in fact we are in the best position to fill the supply gap in the world cacao market, because we are a coconut producing country and cacao is intercropping to coconut” cited Villar. According to the roadmap of the Philippine Cacao Industry Council, the goal is to produce 100,000 MT of cacao beans in 2022, both for export and domestic market. Villar also learned about the sector in her Indonesia trip in Jakarta and Sulawesi. She saw a very good working model there when she visited a cacao farm owned by a smallholder farmer being trained by a European NGO. “We also visited the office of American company Cargill in village, where they have a buying station for cacao. Beside the buying station is a Bri bank (Bank Rakyat Indonesia) representative where farmers deposit the proceeds of sales and they borrow from Bri bank. Bribank (Bank Rakyat Indonesia) is the biggest bank in Indonesia, government owned and their portfolio is 80% for small, medium & micro enterprise and yet most profitable.
Bri bank (Bank Rayat Indonesia) Beside the Cacao Buying Center of Cargill
According to Villar, a mere 10 percent share in the world supply can provide a profitable income to the country’s cacao producers. The global demand for cacao products is expected to have reached between 4.7 million to 5 million MT by this year. Meanwhile, the cacao global shortage is predicted at one million metric tons.
Natural ( Organic) Farming France, 2017
Villar also visited the Ferme de la Bourdaisière, a permaculture micro-farm in Montigny-sur-Loire, located on a 1.4-hectare plot behind the Chateau de la Bourdaisière. The farm uses sustainable farming practices. It does not use pesticides or chemical and synthetic fertilizers, has a zero-waste policy, and low energy consumption. Villar said such type of farm could be adapted to the Philippines with farmers having small plots of land and little capital. She now incorporates the said sustainable principles in Villar SIPAG farms and farm schools in Las Pinas, Bulacan, Iloilo and Davao City. It will also solve our problem of 38% degraded Philippine soil and the solution is we compost organic wastes and bring them back to the soil according to UN FAO.
Ferme de la Bourdaisière – France
The senator also visited a 100-hectare wheat farm outside of Paris that left an impression on her because of how it was run by its owner. “It is owned by a young man who runs on his own without any help because his farm is fully mechanized. The farm was from his parents, His other siblings moved to Paris to become a lawyer and an accountant. He runs the farm and takes care of his parents there, too,” recalled Villar, who has been encouraging the Filipino youth to make a career in agriculture since Filipino farmers are already growing old, with age averaging over 57 years old.
Dairy (India 2018/Israel 2017/Thailand 2016)
In India, Villar and her entourage studied the dairy sector since it is the biggest dairy producers in the world. Dairy centers and farms there are mostly run by smallholder farmers and cooperatives. The senator urged the Department of Agriculture through the Philippine Carabao Center and the National Dairy Authority to increase milk production which up to now is at a dismal level of less than one percent of demand.They have two processing plants one owned by the government being supplied by farmers and one owned by dairy cooperative earning billions of dollar.
Dairy Farm – India
In Thailand, the senator was able to see a farm tourism site with a dairy farm. “It’s a 400-hectare farm that has many areas—souvenir stores and restaurants in front a processing area where they make various milk-based products such as milk, popsicles, ice cream etc.; then there’s the farm area where the cows are kept and cared for and then there’s a grass plantation area for the cows’ feeds. It is a one-stop site, fully functional and sustainable. Something that our very own Philippine Carabao Center can be,” said Villar.
Israel where each cow produces 40 liters of milk everyday because of better quality of cows and better quality of cows food.
“So much to learn out there”
“There is really still so much to learn out there, from other places and people. We can adopt the best practices of others and recalibrate them for our own requirements or circumstances. That is a winning strategy of many successful leaders and businesses, so we can do the same in developing our country’s agriculture. We have all the natural resources, we just have to better utilize them to fulfil our people’s needs and aspirations,” says Villar.
Some of the other best practices and programs that Villar and the other local government officials that travel with her have studied and learned from their trips are as follows:
Farmers’ Market: In Japan, they learned about a good model for the so-called farmers’ market where the owner provides the building and the farmers provide all the goods for selling. The owner just gets a percentage of the sale and gives the rest to the farmers;
Conference – Japan
Hybrid Rice: In Hunan, China, they show the research station –Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center of Hybrid Rice with Hybrid Rice Expert,Prof Yuan Longping.Yuan Longping (Chinese: 袁隆平; born September 7, 1930) is a Chinese agronomist, known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s.Hybrid rice has since been grown in dozens of countries in Africa, America, and Asia—providing a robust food source in areas with a high risk of famine. For his contributions, Yuan is always called the “Father of Hybrid Rice” by the Chinese media.
Hybrid Rice – China
Bamboo: In China, they studied about all things bamboo and how they produce so many items, products and materials out of them. They have 20,000 hectares bamboo shoots plantation with bamboo processing beside it. They have state-of-the-art bamboo processing factories. It inspired Villar to put a bamboo processing factory in Las Pinas to help spur the bamboo industry’s growth. Villar also filed Senate Bill 716 or the Bamboo Industry Act to institutionalize the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Program and strengthen the government’s efforts in encouraging bamboo plantation, research on its development and utilization. Bamboo, she cites, is a good cash crop for Filipino farmers and source of livelihood in poor communities.
Bamboo Plantation in China
Wetland Protection: In Hong Kong and China back in 2016, they visited the Hong Kong Wetland Park & Museum, and China/Xixi Wetland Park,Hangzhou, China among others. It served as an inspiration and basis of comparison for the Wetland Park that is now almost completed at the Las PinasParanaque Wetland, located off Manila Bay, which Villar saved from being reclaimed.
Wetland Parks in Hongkong and China
Green School: In another trip to Indonesia in 2017, they learned about environmental sustainability in a so-called Green School in Bali. The Senator, in her capacity as the chairperson of the Senate Committee for Environment and Natural Resources, toured the school for benchmarking on how to instil a deeper sense of environmental stewardship among Filipinos and on practices pertaining to the proper conservation of natural resources and waste management.
Green School in Bali Indonesia
Food Fair: In Germany, Villar attended the Anuga Food Fair in Cologne where she noticed that coco sugar and coco water were the most popular products in the expo, but from other countries and not from the Philippines. Thus, she continues to support the coconut industry through various programs and legislation, so they can produce and market products from coconuts.
AnugaFair – Cologne, Germany
Food Security: Villar also attended the World Food Day celebration in Milan, Italy and the 40 th Plenary Session of the Committee on Food Security of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization or FAO in Rome where she presented the status of the agriculture and food security in the Philippines.
UN FAO Rome, Italy
Plastic Recycling: In Mexico, in December 2019, Villartoured Coca Cola’s PETSTAR Recycling Plant Facility in Toluca, Estado de Mexico to study the best practices and benefits of operating a successful bottle-to-bottle recycling system as a viable and strategic solution to address the plastic waste problems.
Coca Cola Plastic Recycling in Mexico
Villar’s committee is working on amendments to the Solid Waste Management Act of 2010 to institutionalize the practice of Extended Producers Responsibility or EPR, especially in industries that generate plastic wastes. She also established the Villar SIPAG Waste Plastics Factory in Las Pinas for Luzon, San Miguel,Iloilo for Visayas and Cagayan de Oro City for Mindanao, which turn waste plastics into chairs that are donated to public schools and farms schools all over the country.
Rates for the fully-awarded short-term debt instruments of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) slightly rose on Friday, following the trend set by Treasury papers.
Total demand for the P20-billion securities hit P69 billion, going beyond the P30 billion up for grabs, and the P43.36 billion in bids last week for the P20 billion maiden offering.
The BSP fully-awarded the 28-day bills at 1.83% to 1.85%, a narrower band compared to the 1.75% to 1.86% seen in the previous auction. Average rate stood at 1.8422%, higher by 0.67 basis point from the 1.8355 seen last week.
Investors have opted to park their funds in the central bank’s securities, as well as its term deposit facilities, overnight deposit facility, and the Treasury bills amid the lack of good outlets for excess liquidity, according to ING Bank-NV Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa.
“The slight uptick in yields was not substantial and may have simply reacted to the developments in the market with the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) opting to reject longer dated auctions while still awarding shorter dates,” Mr. Mapa said in an e-mail.
The BTr rejected all bids for its reissued 10-year Treasury bonds with the market eyeing higher yields due to their expectations the BSP will likely keep rates steady next week.
The rates for the BSP securities will likely continue to follow the rates for T-bills and other BSP deposit facilities. The market will also pick up cues from the policy meeting of the Monetary Board on Oct. 1, he added.
BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno has previously hinted the policy stance may remain unchanged for the next few quarters given that they have already acted in anticipation of the crisis. Earlier this week, he said they will continue to be accommodative for at least the next two years amid uncertainties due to the pandemic.
The Monetary Board kept the overnight reverse repurchase, lending, and deposit facilities to record lows of 2.25%, 2.75%, and 1.75%, respectively in its previous policy meeting held in August after cutting rates by a total of 175 basis points earlier this year.
The BSP has said it will gradually increase its bill offering based on market response and the liquidity situation in the market.
