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Palace says Chinese vessels moored at reef may leave soon

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

De Lima asks judge to inhibit from her illegal drug case

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

Trial courts ordered closed amid virus surge

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

Nationwide round-up (03/25/21)

Justice chief says smuggled vaccines must have been hand-carried

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 

Comelec partners with Impact Hub Manila to step up voter registration campaign

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

House OK’s rent subsidy bill on final reading

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

Drilon files bill criminalizing red-tagging

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

Bill to enhance private security industry hurdles House plenary

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

Immigration bureau launches digital feedback system vs corruption

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

Regional Updates (03/25/21)

Davao hog raisers call for tighter biosecurity measures at international ports to keep ASF virus out

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

House approves creation of Metro Davao agency

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

Citicore-Agriterra-USAID partner for livelihood program in Negros Occidental

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

Remittances seen at $31 billion in 2021, up 4%

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

Gov’t, Manila Water complete talks on revised water contract

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

Bicam report on bill suspending contribution hikes for SSS approved

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

PPA 2020 net income falls 16%, pays 56% gov’t dividend

THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said Thursday that net income in 2020 was P6.138 billion, down 16%, mainly due to the impact of the public health crisis on its operations.

“The amount is above the (net income) target of P5.557 billion,” the agency said in a statement.

The PPA said 56% of its net income will be remitted to the National Government to help with its pandemic containment efforts, over and above the legal requirement for government-owned and -controlled corporations to pay a 50% dividend.

“The PPA Board has approved the initiative to give 56% of its net income for 2020 to the national coffers to assist the government in its COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) response,” the ports regulator said.

PPA General Manager Jay Daniel R. Santiago said the agency expects the pandemic containment effort to be a “long and winding road.”

“As a response, we are increasing our dividend to P3.541 billion representing 56% of PPA’s 2020 net income to help (the) government,” he said.

Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said the dividend should help in the procurement of the coronavirus vaccines and in providing aid and financial support to the most vulnerable members of society.

“It is in this light that I am calling on government agencies under the Department of Transportation to help the government sustain the momentum in its fight against COVID-19 by properly remitting their dividends to the national treasury,” Mr. Tugade added. — Arjay L. Balinbin

DoE fines Semirara over coal trading violations, decides against suspension

THE DEPARTMENT of Energy (DoE) has fined Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) P610,000 for violating coal trading accreditation and end-user registration rules, SMPC said in a disclosure.

The fine was determined in a resolution dated March 16. SMPC said it had received a copy of the resolution Thursday.

The DoE ruled that SMPC violated Section 3 of a department circular detailing the procedure for accrediting coal traders and registering coal end-users.

The department also said that it is “removing the penalty of one-month suspension of SMPC’s coal trader accreditation, with a warning that it should exercise more prudence and care in conducting its coal trading.”

The resolution was modified from one issued two years ago, which initially sought to suspend the company for a month after SMPC engaged in unauthorized coal trading in transacting with stevedoring and arrastre services which did not have permits to trade coal.

The earlier DoE resolution, dated Oct. 15, 2019, also prescribed a fine of P1.74 million to SMPC for “unabated and continuous coal trading despite suspension of its accreditation.”

SMPC had sought reconsideration of this earlier resolution.

“No person shall transport, convey, deliver, or otherwise move coal from one place to another without a valid CTP (coal transport permit) or STP (special transport permit) issued by the DoE,” the DoE said in its department circular detailing the guidelines.

Coal traders who do not follow the rules are subject to a fine of P10,000 for first offenses and P25,000 for succeeding offenses, according to the department circular.

“The DoE may further recommend the suspension or revocation of the business permit and/or closure of business establishment,” the department said.

SMPC told BusinessWorld Thursday that the firm “respects, and will abide by the decision of DoE.”

“After careful review of our accreditation process, we implemented the necessary measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again,” SMPC said in an e-mail sent through DMCI Holdings, Inc. Vice-President and Corporate Communications Officer Cherubim O. Mojica.

DMCI owns 56% of SMPC. — Angelica Y. Yang

Napocor, TransCo expect to bring power to 30,000 more households  

THE National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) expect their expansion activities this year to bring power to 30,000 more households, the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a statement on Thursday.

Napocor and TransCo have a combined target of adding 45.31 megawatts to the capacity they can deliver, via the addition of 71.3 circuit kilometers of transmission lines, and the construction of 45 MVA substations this year, the DoF said, citing a report from the two companies.

The two companies have a mandate to provide electricity to underserved areas.

Napocor’s Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) also plans to install 11 plants to provide continuous power to unserved areas as part of its missionary electrification activities this year.

An estimated 1,080,242 households with access to electricity were allied in missionary areas last year, with 473,845 households still lacking access.

Napocor said it hopes to give 28,972 households access to electricity this year, and reduce the number of households with no power in unserved areas to 444,873.

Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 tasks Napocor with providing power to off-grid islands, or areas not connected to any power distribution network, through SPUG operations.

The same law created TransCo, which has been designated the operator of off-grid power systems with two or more power suppliers.

TransCo was also tasked with completing a power development plan (PDP) for the interconnection of unserved and underserved island municipalities this year, particularly the PDPs for the Palawan island grid and that of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.

Poultry import bans from minor producers still seen worsening supply

MULTIPLE POULTRY import bans imposed even on countries accounting for a small share of the Philippine market have reduced import volumes by more than half, meat importers said.

Jesus C. Cham, president of the Meat Importers and Traders Association, said in a mobile phone message that despite affecting minor supplier countries, the totality of the import bans have added up.

“Normally the effect of these bans would have been small. But combined with all the current bans, these have removed (over) half of the supply, so the impact is magnified,” Mr. Cham said.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) issued import bans on March 23 on poultry products from Sweden, France, and Denmark after reported outbreaks of the H5N8 and H5N5 strains of highly pathogenic avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu.

The DA also suspended imports of pork products from Malaysia due to an African Swine Fever outbreak. However, Mr. Cham said the Malaysian ban is not expected to have an effect on domestic supply.

The Philippines also has outstanding poultry import bans on the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany.

“We strongly urge the DA to abide by scientific guidelines of the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) and apply regionalized bans instead of countrywide bans,” Mr. Cham added, saying that excessive risk management “penalizes the economy and consumers unnecessarily.”

“If the DA maintains the countrywide bans, then we have to wait for the disease to abate in the summer months. But it will be very tough for meat processors since they have lost more than half of their supply,” he added.

As of Feb. 28, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) estimates that poultry imports, including duck products, amounted to 34.96 million kilograms, down 57.2% year on year.

Imports from France, including duck products, accounted for 1.31% or 456,500 kilograms of poultry imports, while Danish imports of chicken accounted for 0.08% or 28,000 kilograms.

The BAI tallies zero poultry imports from Sweden, with no data available on pork imports from Malaysia. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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