Peso rebounds vs dollar on oil price correction, gov’t offer of euro bonds
THE PESO rebounded versus the greenback on Thursday as oil prices corrected and after the government raised €2.1 billion from its offer of euro-denominated bonds.
The local unit closed at P48.41 per dollar on Thursday, appreciating by four centavos from its P48.45 finish on Wednesday, based on data published on the Bankers Association of the Philippines’ website.
The peso opened the session at P48.43 per dollar, which was also its weakest showing for the day. Meanwhile, its intraday best was at P48.38 against the greenback.
Dollars traded dropped to $595.5 million on Thursday from $797.4 million on Wednesday.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort attributed the peso’s appreciation to the downward correction in oil prices.
Reuters reported that oil prices declined on Wednesday amid cautious sentiment as COVID-19 cases went up in many countries, particularly India. The price of US crude dropped 2.11% to $61.35 per barrel, while Brent was down 1.86% to $65.33.
Mr. Ricafort said sentiment was also supported by the euro-denominated bond sale of the Bureau of the Treasury.
The government raised €2.1 billion (P122.4 billion) through its offer of euro-denominated bonds in tenors of four years, 12 years, and 20 years.
Meanwhile, a trader said the peso appreciated versus the dollar on expectations of lower weekly initial US jobless claims. The data was set to be released later in the day.
For Friday, Mr. Ricafort gave a forecast range of P48.35 to P48.45 per dollar, while the trader expects the local unit to move within P48.30 to P48.50 — LWTN with Reuters
Local shares decline as foreigners exit market
PHILIPPINE shares closed in the red on Thursday as investors pocketed their gains and as foreigners exited the market amid lingering concerns on the economy’s prospects.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell by 23.86 points or 0.37% to close at 6,415.53 on Thursday, while the broader all shares index declined by 16.93 points or 0.42% to 3,947.41.
COL Financial Group, Inc. Chief Technical Analyst Juanis G. Barredo said the benchmark index went down amid “pressure due to foreign selling, worries over longer term impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) and the lack of fresh catalysts.”
“The mining sector worked in a heavy correction today due to profit taking after seeing a large pick up into the last week or so stemming from the government’s announcement to reopen the sector,” Mr. Barredo added.
For his part, China Bank Securities Corp. Research Head Rastine Mackie D. Mercado said the PSEi declined “as more index issues showed signs of capitulation.”
“Trading volumes also remained lackluster and foreigners remained net sellers in today’s session,” Mr. Mercado said via e-mail on Thursday. “Investors also continued to take profit on mining issues after their recent rallies.”
All sectoral indices closed in the red on Thursday. Mining and oil lost 317.51 points or 3.45% to close at 8,872.65; financials went down by 9.57 points or 0.68% to 1,382.03; industrials declined by 51.69 points or 0.59% to 8,638.67; services slumped by 5.69 points or 0.39% to 1,445.71; holding firms fell by 19.84 points or 0.3% to 6,506.74; and property gave up 6.40 points or 0.2% to finish at 3,129.71.
Value turnover went up to P5.65 billion with 3.66 billion shares switching hands on Thursday from the P5.37 billion with 3.46 billion shares seen on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, net foreign selling ballooned to P1.12 billion on Thursday from the P776.80 million logged in the previous trading day.
Decliners outnumbered advancers, 127 versus 71, while 46 names closed unchanged on Thursday.
Mr. Mercado said he expects the market “to remain in limbo” due to the lack of near-term catalysts.
“Possible developments to watch out for over the coming weeks include the release of firms’ first-quarter financial results, government report on the first quarter gross domestic product figures, and the arrival of second quarter vaccine shipments,” he said.
“We may see the index test the support at 6,330 over the coming days, as it traverses the 6,330 to 6,650 range,” Mr. Mercado said.
“The index now stands at a crucial spot of support, close to 6,400, as a break of this may drive a further slip towards 6,200 to 6,100,” COL Financial Group’s Mr. Barredo added. — K.C.G. Valmonte
Government eyes more than 5M vaccine doses in second quarter
THE PHILIPPINES expects to take delivery of more than five million doses of coronavirus vaccines this quarter as it tries to fast-track the rollout amid a fresh surge in infections, according to the government’s vaccine czar.
Half-a-million doses of CoronaVac made by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. was expected to arrive on Thursday, and 15,000 more doses would come on April 25, Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., chief implementer of the country’s pandemic plan, told a televised news briefing on Thursday.
The government would also take delivery of about 500,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine made by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology on April 29, he said.
About 195,000 doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer, Inc. will arrive at the end of the month, Mr. Galvez said.
By May, the country will take delivery of about two million doses of CoronaVac, as many as two million doses of Sputnik V, and 194,000 doses of the vaccine made by Moderna, Inc. As many as two million doses of Pfizer, Inc. will have arrived by then, he said.
The Department of Health (DoH) reported 8,767 coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the total to 971,049.
The death toll rose by 105 to 16,370, while recoveries increased by 17,138 to 846,691, it said in a bulletin.
There were 107,988 active cases, 96.6% of which were mild, 1.3% did not show symptoms, 0.7% were critical, 0.9% were severe and 0.55% were moderate.
The DoH on April 2 reported the highest daily tally of 15,310 cases since the pandemic started last year.
The agency said 25 duplicates had been removed from the tally and 43 recovered cases were reclassified as deaths. One laboratory was closed on April 20, while five laboratories failed to submit data.
About 10.6 million Filipinos have been tested for the coronavirus as of April 20, according to DoH’s tracker website.
The coronavirus has sickened about 144.5 million and killed 3.1 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization. About 122.7 million people have recovered, it said.
Mr. Galvez said almost 1.4 million Filipinos have been vaccinated against the coronavirus as of April 21.
Of the total, more than one million were health workers, while 184,200 were seniors. More than 210,880 people with health complications were also vaccinated, he added.
Mr. Galvez said the government had been vaccinating as many 70,000 Filipinos daily in the previous weeks. About 120,000 Filipinos are expected to be inoculated daily by June, he added.
Also on Thursday, testing czar Vivencio B. Dizon said the country’s coronavirus testing laboratories have been conducting at least 55,000 tests daily in the past week. It peaked at 65,000 daily, he told the same briefing.
Mr. Dizon, deputy chief implementer of the country’s pandemic plan, said about 200,000 more antigen test kits had been deployed to Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite and Batangas, where there had been a recent surge in infections.
Health facilities have committed to put up 175 more intensive care unit (ICU) beds and 1,000 ward beds for coronavirus patients in these areas.
Presidential spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. said 65% of ICU beds for coronavirus patients in the country have been used. Half of isolation beds have been used and 55% of ward beds were already occupied, he told the briefing.
About 45% of ventilators for coronavirus patients had been used.
Mr. Roque said more than 82% of ICU beds in Metro Manila have been used. He added that about 61% of isolation beds and 70% of ward beds in the region were already occupied. About 60% of ventilators in the capital region have been used.
Meanwhile, Mr. Roque said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration may run out of funds by mid-May for quarantine facilities of returning Filipino migrant workers. The agency only has about P1.4 billion left in its budget.
Mr. Dizon said the government spends about P4.5 million daily to quarantine migrant workers. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Vann Marlo M. Villegas
President Duterte to skip ASEAN summit in Jakarta — Palace
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo R. Duterte won’t attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders’ Meeting in Jakarta this weekend so he could attend to “pressing domestic concerns,” according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
He would send the country’s top envoy to the meeting instead, it said in a statement on Thursday.
“The President has decided to remain in the country to attend to pressing domestic concerns in light of the surge in COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases,” DFA said.
Mr. Duterte might join the meeting virtually, his spokesperson Herminio “Harry” L. Roque, Jr. told a televised news briefing. “The Philippines strongly supported the convening of the meeting even without the full attendance of all ASEAN leaders,” DFA said.
The meeting would address urgent matters in the region including pandemic recovery efforts, community building programs, Myanmar’s governance crisis, and other regional and international issues, it added.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. “will also express the Philippines’ strong support to the initiative of Brunei Darussalam and the secretary-general of ASEAN to use their good offices, in accordance with the ASEAN charter, to visit Myanmar and spearhead ASEAN’s response to the crisis” there.
In February, Myanmar’s military overthrew the country’s democratically installed government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, resulting in a massive uprising that triggered a violent crackdown on state dissenters.
More than 500 people in Myanmar have been killed by military forces since the popular revolt began, according to a report by human rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
While a number of countries around the world have spoken against military rule in Myanmar, the Philippines and neighboring countries have only given a tepid response to the crisis..
The palace earlier said the crisis in Myanmar was an internal issue that Manila would rather not interfere with. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
Senators want task force stripped of funds on red-tagging
Several senators on Thursday sought to deprive a national task force against communism of its budget after an official linked an organizer of community pantries to Maoist rebels.
“We should move to defund the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict in the next budget,” Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva tweeted late Wednesday. “The people’s money will just go to waste.”
He said the agency’s P19-billion budget should instead be used as cash aid to poor Filipinos affected by a coronavirus pandemic.
“I agree,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian replied in a tweet. “If these are the kind of people who will spend hard earned taxpayer’s money, then it’s not worth it.”
Agency spokesman Antonio G. Parlade, Jr. on Tuesday likened in a Cignal TV interview the community pantry efforts of organizer Ana Patricia Non to Satan tempting Eve with the forbidden fruit.
A community pantry offers free food such as rice, noodles and canned goods for free to the poor, while accepting donations from those who can afford these.
Ms. Non in a Facebook post on Tuesday said the community pantry that she started would be closed that day after they were linked to communist rebels.
In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Villanueva said his call for the realignment of the agency’s budget “conforms to the existing budget practice of realigning scarce funds to where these are more needed.”
“It is also not giving comfort to the armed enemies. It is simply giving aid to our hungry people,” he said.
Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel supported the call, noting that they have tried to cut its budget during hearings last year.
“And if there are already calls from the rest of the Senate not to fund them, I will gladly support that again,” she told an online news briefing.
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III rejected the call. “Defunding it would give back the gains of the government to the rebels,” he said in a Viber group message.
“We should not be hasty in blaming a good program because of irresponsible statements from some officials. Replace the officials instead.”
Ms. Hontiveros on Thursday also filed a resolution condemning the red-tagging of community pantries by government officials.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said the task force’s budget should be given to the poor instead.
He also sought the passage of the bill he filed seeking to penalize red-tagging with a 10-year jail term.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said police collecting personal data of community pantry organizers could face charges of violating the Data Privacy Act.
He also said a person who solicits funds for charity but fails to account for it and later ends the activity is not liable for any offense “unless fraud was employed.”
Also on Thursday, Mr. Guevarra said he had met with the families of the Southern Tagalog raids victims and with the wife of slain labor rights activist Dandy Miguel.
He said he assured the victims’ families that they would get to the bottom of the killings.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Secretary-General Renato M. Reyes, who came with the families, said they “found the meeting very encouraging as the process of investigation as well as the participation of witnesses was clarified.”
“The survivors and witnesses also expressed fear for their safety as their communities are militarized. This should be addressed in the course of the investigation,” he said.
Police killed nine activists during a March 7 raid in Southern Tagalog. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Bianca Angelica D. Añago
Agri dep’t offers market linkages to assist community pantries
THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture (DA) is offering its fish market linkage program to individuals and groups that want to donate to community pantries in Metro Manila.
Agriculture Undersecretary Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero said in a radio interview on Thursday that donors to the give-and-take food aid drive can tap the “Oplan Isda” of the DA’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
“Producers are linked directly to retailers. Fish products sold under the initiative will not be far from the farmgate price. Bangus (milkfish) can be sold at P110 to P120 per kilogram, and tilapia at P85 to P95 per kilogram,” Ms. Caballero said.
“We are also offering other fish products such as galunggong (roundscad), alumahan, and shellfish, among others,” she added. The project is undergoing a test run in Valenzuela City and Quezon City.
“There are two cooperatives that the BFAR is coordinating with, since it is the one buying fisheries produce in bulk and will be distributed to sellers or donors who wish to distribute to community pantries,” she said.
Meanwhile, the DA official also said the country has extensive supply for fish products amid food sufficiency concerns arising from Chinese presence in the West Philippine Sea.
“The country has enough fish supply. In terms of the West Philippine Sea issue, fishing is a right of every Filipino especially within the country’s exclusive economic zone. And the government will continue to establish that and protect its constituents,” she said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
Pharma industry cites red tape for over 1,500 of pending registration
THE PHARMACEUTICAL sector called on the government to address the red tape in processing medicine registrations, citing more than 1,500 pending applications at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with some filed over seven years ago.
In a House of Representatives panel hearing on Thursday, Philippine Chamber for Pharmaceutical Industries (PCPI) Technical Director Frances Evelyn P. Robles said the total is based on data from among its member companies.
For certificates for product registrations that are low risk to no risk, there are 479 pending applications since 2013.
For high risk applications, Ms. Robles said 1,025 are pending based on data provided by 30 of its member companies.
In terms of new applications or applications for a license to operate, 50 have been pending since 2018.
The PCPI was among various pharmaceutical stakeholders invited to the House committee on good government’s motu propio inquiry regarding guidelines of the FDA and Department of Health in product registration.
Philippine Pharmaceutical Manufacturers President Higinio Porte, Jr. said the Philippines should adopt drug registration practices from other Asian countries, which enjoy drug self-sufficiency.
“In the Philippines almost all government procurement of medicines are imported. The share of locally-produced pharma medicines is down to 32% from 36%,” he said.
House Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera-Dy, who filed the House Resolution on the probe, said red tape is a “grave sin” in a time of pandemic, noting that it discourages local production.
“If we use our local pharma, we will have more supply and it could be cheaper and medicines will be more accessible,” she said in Filipino during the hearing. — Gillian M. Cortez
Palace downplays Manila’s latest decline in World Press Freedom
THE Presidential Palace on Thursday downplayed Manila’s latest spot in the World Press Freedom Index, saying the factors that might have contributed to the country’s two-point decline in the ranking were debatable.
The Philippines slipped two notches in the index released by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, ranking 138th among 180 countries this year.
“Unang-una, dalawang position lang po yan (First of all, that is just two spots. Two positions lower… walang masyadong ibig sabihin (doesn’t mean much),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in an online briefing. “We see nothing wrong with it.”
Mr. Roque noted that the Philippines ranked fourth among the 10 Southeast Asian countries in the press freedom index. He said the country was ahead of Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei, Singapore, Laos and Vietnam.
This is the fourth consecutive year that the country fell in the ranking.
Evaluating the level of freedom given to the Philippine press, the report said the government of Mr. Duterte led a “grotesque judicial harassment campaign” against news outfit Rappler, Inc. It also cited the Congress’ denial of a new franchise for broadcast giant ABS-CBN Corp.
Communist-tagging and online harassment of journalists were also carried out by “troll armies” supporting the government, it added.
While the Duterte administration sees “nothing wrong with it,” Mr. Roque said it disputes the ranking because the Paris-based media organization considered as affronts to press freedom the issues faced by Rappler and ABS-CBN. “We also dispute that these two issues should not have led to our decline in our ranking,” he said.
Congress last year rejected the franchise application of ABS-CBN, which has been critical of the Duterte government. Mr. Duterte said he would bar the broadcasting firm from using free TV and radio frequencies even if it gets a new franchise.
Mr. Duterte had also slammed the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Rappler, among other outfits, for criticizing his government, particularly his war on drugs that has killed thousands of suspected pushers. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
Government can buy back land to turn into green spaces — DoF
THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) on Thursday said the national and local government units have the option to buy back land to help turn congested cities into walkable and pedestrian-friendly communities. “We can… help buy back land to create green spaces for our urban dwellers,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said on Thursday during the launching ceremony of the Green EDSA Movement that is pushing to make the main thoroughfare a tree-lined and landscaped highway. “The local governments of our most congested cities have a key role to play here,” Mr. Dominguez added. The Green EDSA Movement aims to bring together the private and public sectors to pursue their vision of a “green” EDSA, which should have “wide sidewalks conducive to walking.” They advocate the adoption of aesthetic and environment-friendly design construction of public and private infrastructure projects that allow space for people mobility, growth of trees and greenery, exposure to natural lighting and air circulation. “I wish this Movement success in this brave effort to make EDSA a greener and therefore a kinder place for our people. May this be a shining example of an empowered people’s initiative to build a sustainable and healthier future for our country,” Mr. Dominguez said. — Arjay L. Balinbin
Drone, private plane deployed in continued search for crew members of wrecked cargo ship in Surigao del Norte
SEARCH and rescue operations are continuing for nine more crew members of a cargo ship that ran aground in Surigao del Norte, a province in the southeastern part of the country, on April 19 amid the onslaught of typhoon Bising (international name: Surigae). The Philippine Coast Guard said teams are out at sea and monitoring along the coast, while the Surigao del Norte provincial disaster management office deployed a drone and the shipowner sent out a private plane for aerial survey. Four of the 20 crew members died and their bodies were found along shorelines. Seven others have been rescued and given medical treatment. The vessel LCT Cebu Great Ocean ran aground along the shoreline of Barangay Cantapoy in the town of Malimono at around 3:40 p.m. on Monday. The vessel was loaded with nickel ore and contained about 2,000 liters of diesel on board. Apart from the shipwreck fatalities, four others were confirmed to have died due to the typhoon while 13 others were injured, according to the national disaster management office’s report as of April 22. The Department of Social Welfare and Development, in a statement on Thursday, said 4,511 families composed of 18,603 individuals were still in evacuation centers. Almost 44,400 families were preemptively evacuated. Typhoon Bising, which did not make landfall but brought strong winds and heavy rains in the eastern side of the country, has weakened as of Thursday and is expected to exit the Philippine area by Saturday evening or Sunday morning, according to state weather bureau PAGASA. — MSJ
Skyway Stage 3’s Nagtahan exit ramps now open
THE NAGTAHAN northbound and southbound exit ramps of the Skyway Stage 3 elevated expressway in Metro Manila opened to motorists on April 22, proponent San Miguel Corporation (SMC) announced. SMC president Ramon S. Ang, in a statement, said the opening of the Nagtahan exit ramps further cuts travel time to Manila, particularly Sta. Mesa and nearby areas. Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said the company has been ramping up construction work with the dry season. “The concessionaire is taking advantage of the dry season to fast-track the completion of ramps as we want more motorists to reap the benefits of additional interchanges in between Buendia and NLEX (North Luzon Expressway),” Mr. Villar is quoted in the SMC statement. Mr. Ang said next in line for opening include ramps in Quirino, E. Rodriguez, Sgt. Rivera, and A. Bonifacio.