THE PHILIPPINES was ranked towards the lower half of a 90-country study on digital infrastructure quality, according to a study conducted by Tufts University in Massachusetts and Mastercard, Inc. Read the full story.
Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.
THE PESO depreciated against the dollar on Tuesday due to cautious investor sentiment ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.
The local unit finished trading at P48.063 versus the dollar yesterday, weakening by 1.30 centavo from its P48.05 close on Monday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines showed.
The peso opened the session at P48.06 per dollar. Its weakest showing was at P48.08 while its strongest was at P48.05 against the greenback.
Dollars exchanged amounted to $490.65 from $358.8 million on Monday.
A trader said in an email that the peso weakened versus the dollar as investors were treading with caution ahead of the policy meetings of the Fed and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas this week.
The Federal Open Market Committee will have its last meeting for the year from Wednesday to Thursday where it is widely expected to keep the key policy rate.
Meanwhile, the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will also have its final policy setting on Thursday, Dec. 17. All 15 analysts polled by BusinessWorld last week said rates may be unchanged due to the recent uptick in inflation and to give time for previous moves to be fully absorbed by the financial system.
The central bank has already slashed rates by a total of 200 basis points this year, bringing the reverse repurchase, lending, and deposit facilities to record lows of 2%, 2.5%, and 1.5%, respectively.
Another downside risk to market sentiment on Tuesday was the continued rise of coronavirus disease 2019 infections and mortalities in the US, said Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort.
This Wednesday, Mr. Ricafort expects the peso to move within the P48.01 to P48.11 per dollar band while the trader expects the local unit to play around the P48.00 to P48.10 range. — L.W.T. Noble
By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter
STOCKS ended their three-day rally, finishing in red territory on Tuesday, as market sentiment was affected by rising coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases globally.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped 53.62 points or 0.73% to end at 7,227.73, while the broader all shares index fell 17.5 points or 0.4% to close at 4,321.01.
Timson Securities, Inc. Head of Online Trading Darren Blaine T. Pangan said in a mobile phone message that the local bourse fell as investors were “spooked” by the sudden increase of COVID-19 cases around the world.
More than 71.69 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,617,065 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
“Locally, market participants may be expressing some concern that the COVID-19 transmission rate may increase over the upcoming holidays,” Mr. Pangan said. The Health department reported that as of Monday, the country’s total COVID-19 case count was at 450,733.
Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said the local market was affected by the return of other countries to firmer lockdown measures.
“The negative sentiment caused by the surging COVID-19 cases around the world and the return to strict lockdowns primarily in the US and in England have also contributed to Tuesday’s decline,” Mr. Tantiagco said in a mobile phone message.
London is set to move into England’s highest tier of COVID-19 restrictions, while Canada began its inoculation drive to become the third nation to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine after the UK and the United States (US), Reuters reported.
Daily new cases in South Korea also continued to hover at unprecedented levels, with the country’s prime minister pleading with residents to abide by social distancing rules to avoid greater restrictions.
Back home, among sectoral indices, financials was the only gainer on Tuesday, rising 0.72 point or 0.04% to close at 1,511.02.
Meanwhile, holding firms went down 84.79 points or 1.13% to 7,408.52; services declined 13.74 points or 0.89% to 1,528.56; industrials shrank 62.82 points or 0.66% to 9,459.14; property retreated 13 points or 0.35% to 3,677.96; and mining and oil decreased 8.84 points or 0.09% to 9,402.09.
Decliners outpaced advancers, 128 versus 95, while 49 names ended unchanged.
Value turnover on Tuesday reached P10.13 billion with 63.91 billion switching hands, higher than the P8.93 billion with 46.02 billion issues during the previous session.
Net foreign selling amounted to P615.94 million on Tuesday, down from the P816.66 million in net outflows seen in the previous session.
“Immediate resistance may still be drawn at 7,500, while nearest support is pegged at 6,700,” Timson Securities’ Mr. Pangan said.
THERE IS reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity had been committed in connection with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s deadly war on drugs, according to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor.
Those crimes including murder, torture, infliction of serious physical injury and mental harm took place between July 1, 2016 and March 16, 2019, Fatou Bensouda’s office said in its annual report released on Tuesday.
The ICC prosecutor started a preliminary probe into the killings of thousands of suspected drug users and peddlers in the Philippines in February 2018. Some of these were killed by police for allegedly resisting arrest or gunned down by law enforcers disguised as vigilantes.
A final decision on a formal ICC probe could come in the first half of next year, according to the report.
The presidential palace dismissed the report, saying the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the Philippines after it withdrew from the body last year.
“We don’t recognize the jurisdiction and decision of the ICC,” presidential spokesman Harry L. Roque told an online news briefing in Filipino.
He also said the ICC won’t waste the time of its officials on cases that won’t prosper because there is no cooperation from the country being investigated.
The report cited allegations that some people had been subject to “serious ill-treatment and abuses” before being killed by authorities and other unidentified assailants.
Most of the victims of the alleged crimes had been suspected drug pushers from poor neighborhoods, it said.
The ICC said there had been a “limited number” of investigations and prosecutions initiated in connection to the war on drugs. The prosecutor noted that one case had led to the conviction of three police officers in connection to the killing of a minor in 2018.
Progressive groups welcomed the ICC report.
‘RAY OF HOPE’
“With the recent intensified red-tagging, arrests and extrajudicial killings of critics of the administration and the political opposition, we are relieved that the ICC has voiced its concern on the issue,” BayanMuna Party-list said in a statement.
“To the violators of human rights, you have been forewarned. Nothing is forever, not even impunity,” it added.
Mr. Duterte, who assumed office in 2016, had promised a relentless war against drugs, making it a major campaign platform.
In 2017, he told police officers to “shoot and kill” drug suspects. “I will kill more if only to get rid of drugs,” he said at that time.
The Commission on Human Rights in 2019 placed the death toll from the drug war at more than 27,000.
Human Rights Watch earlier said killings in police anti-drug operations rose by 50% during the coronavirus pandemic. Police killed 155 people from April to July 2020, compared with 103 people from December 2019 to March 2020, it said in a report.
As the ICC moves to an investigation phase, human rights group Karapatan said the day of reckoning is “coming nearer for Duterte’s reign of terror.”
“As we await the decision of the Office of the Prosecutor, we press our calls for justice for the Duterte administration’s brutal crimes against the Filipino people,” it said in a statement.
Karapatan called on other human rights bodies such as the United Nations Human Rights Council to pursue its investigation of the human rights crisis in the Philippines. “We strongly hope that accountability can be achieved as soon as possible.”
During a meeting with the UN council in July, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Gueverra said the government had created an inter-agency panel to review more than 5,600 cases of killings during police-led operations. The panel, however, failed to release an initial report targeted for November.
Edre U. Olalia, president of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, said “rays of hope have peeked out of the pitch dark clouds of impunity” because of the ICC report.
“Our government and law enforcers must take this seriously and get the message loud and clear,” he said in a statement.
Data from Karapatan showed that at least 188 human rights defenders have been killed under the Duterte administration, while 426 activists and community organizers were arrested.
The Council of Global Unions (CGU) this week called on the UN Human Rights Council and International Labour Organization to consider as an emergency “the deteriorating human rights condition in the Philippines.”
A journalist and six union organizers were arrested in separate operations over alleged possession of firearms and explosives — the common charges against activists — on the commemoration of International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10.
The Philippines in March 2019 quit the ICC, but the world’s only permanent war crime tribunal pledged to pursue its investigation of illegal killings in Mr. Duterte’s anti-drug war. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas, Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Gillian M. Cortez
THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 1,135 coronavirus infections on Tuesday, bringing the total to 451,839.
The death toll rose by 56 to 8,812, while recoveries increased by 173 to 418,867, it said in a bulletin.
There were 24,160 active cases, 84.7% of which were mild, 6.4% did not show symptoms, 5.7% were critical, 2.9% were severe and 0.3% were moderate.
Rizal province reported the highest number of new cases at 117, Bulacan at 84, Quezon City at 71, Isabela at 39 and Laguna at 38.
DoH said 29 duplicates had been removed from the tally, while 20 cases tagged as recovered were reclassified as deaths. Thirteen laboratories failed to submit their data on Dec. 14.
The coronavirus has sickened about 73.2 million and killed 1.6 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
About 51.4 million people have recovered, it said.
Carlito Galvez, Jr., the chief enforcer of anti-COVID-19 efforts, this week said the government was expected to finalize this week a procurement deal for coronavirus vaccines with Chinese drug maker Sinovac Biotech Ltd. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
SENATOR Leila M. de Lima on Monday asked a Muntinlupa trial court for the third time that she be allowed to post bail, citing weak evidence in her drug trafficking case.
In a 62-page motion, the lawmaker said “it remains unclear” when and how exactly she had conspired to commit drug trafficking.
Testimonies from prosecution witnesses only pointed that jail convicts had allegedly given money for Ms. de Lima’s senatorial campaign.
She also said the prosecution would want the case to fall under the law against illegal drugs without proving the existence of a single gram of illegal drugs in relation to the case.
Ms. de Lima, one of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s staunchest critics, said the testimonies “have questionable probative value and/or are irrelevant, incredible, biased, self-serving and based on hearsay.”
In the four years of trial, the prosecution had only presented five witnesses, she added. Ms. de Lima also said she was not a flight risk
The senator said her continued detention makes her unable to attend Senate sessions and other important meetings.
“This is a disservice to the Filipino people who gave her the mandate to represent them in the Senate, especially during these trying times.”
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 (PNP) 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.
The European Union (EU) Parliament earlier adopted a resolution urging the Philippines to free Ms. Lima and look at extrajudicial killings in Mr. Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.
The EU lawmakers also asked the European Commission to revoke tax perks enjoyed by the country if the state fails to address human rights violations.
An Anti-Money Laundering Council investigator also said investigations found no money flowed from the bank accounts of the senator and her co-accused. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
RAPPLER Chief Executive Officer Maria A. Ressa declined to enter a plea on her conditional arraignment for a second cyberlibel case.
A Makati trial court entered a not guilty plea on her behalf, her lawyer Theodore O. Te told an online news briefing on Tuesday.
Since the arraignment is conditional, Ms. Ressa did not waive her motion to quash the case, which had been submitted for resolution, he added.
Her arraignment came as a condition of the prosecution for her request to travel abroad to visit her parents in the US on Dec. 19, which the court granted.
Ms. Ressa told the same briefing she still had to seek permission from other courts where she has pending cases.
The second cyberlibel case was filed by businessman Wilfredo D. Keng over a social media post containing a screenshot of an article about Mr. Keng’s alleged involvement in illegal activities.
Ms. Ressa and a former Rappler researcher were convicted in June for cyberlibel in a lawsuit also filed by the businessman. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
THE HOUSE of Representatives approves on final reading bill taxing off-site betting on cockfights, other electronic gambling.
The House on Tuesday approved on final reading a measure seeking to tax off-site betting involving cockfights and other electronic gambling to fund the government’s pandemic response.
With 215 positive votes, 1 negative and zero abstention, lawmakers approved House Bill 7919, which will change the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 to clarify the tax treatment for off-site betting.
The measure imposes a 5% tax on gross revenues derived from off-site betting activities on locally licensed online games, aside from taxes required by local governments and regulatory fees imposed by government agencies.
Albay Rep. Jose Maria Clemente S. Salceda, who authored the bill, earlier said the government had been unable to maximize the revenue potential from online cockfight and other electronic gambling “because the regulatory framework” for such activities has not been clarified. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
A SENATOR on Tuesday asked the government to create a post-vaccination plan for the coronavirus over concerns that inoculated people could still spread the virus.
“Vaccination is not the magic bullet to putting an end to the pandemic,” Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said in a statement on Tuesday. “We must create sustainable strategies for safely co-existing with COVID-19 while we roll out vaccination.”
Vaccinated people could still infect others, the lawmaker said, citing an editorial published in the Nature Journal last month.
“To my layperson’s ears, it means you can be protected from COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) but you can pass it on to others,” Ms. Baraquel said. “I imagine that there are specific populations that cannot be vaccinated, like the very young.”
She questioned the capability of the national task force on COVID-19 and the Department of Health (DoH) in delivering vaccines to isolated and disadvantaged areas.
Senator Francis N. Pangilinan on Monday pushed the Senate to convene the committee of the whole to tackle funding for COVID-19 vaccines and other concerns such as logistical support, private sector mobilization and digital infrastructure. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
THE FOOD and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday said it had released the rules on the emergency approval of coronavirus vaccines.
At least three vaccine makers have inquired on the emergency application, FDA Director General Rolando Enrique C. Domingo told an online news briefing.
The requirement would be “country specific” and the approval of vaccines that got the nod of established food and drug regulatory boards from other countries would be targeted, he added.
“They will need some time to build the documents for each and every country they have applied in,” Mr. Domingo said.
The President issued Executive Order 121 this month allowing the FDA to approve emergency use for COVID-19 drugs and vaccines.
Mr. Domingo said the authorization is not a certificate of product registration or a marketing authorization, which means EUA-approved products can’t be sold in the market since they are still under trial.
He said Sinovac Biotech Ltd., AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer, Inc. have emailed the FDA regarding the applications but had not formally applied for emergency use. — Gillian M. Cortez
THE INTER-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on Tuesday issued an order for the mandatory use of face shields and masks outside their homes.
“All persons are mandated to wear full-coverage face shields together with face masks, earloop masks, indigenous, reusable, or do-it-yourself masks, or other facial protective equipment,” according to a resolution.
Most establishments including malls have required face shields even before the IATF order. The task force said it would be up to local governments to impose penalties on violators.
The body also approved face-to-face examinations of insurance agents.
“Insurance agents’ qualifying examinations shall be allowed to resume in areas under general community quarantine following the health and safety protocols as may be prescribed by the Insurance Commission,” it said. — Gillian M. Cortez
A MEASURE seeking to outlaw communist groups in the Philippines has been filed at the House of Representatives.
Duterte Youth Party-list Rep. Ducielle Suarez-Cardema filed House Bill 8231, which seeks to criminalize membership in the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), New People’s Army (NPA) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), which had represented rebels in past peace talks.
“If we want peace in this country, we must finally destroy the entire capability of the CPP-NPA-NDF to wage war on all fronts, against our government and our people,” the lawmaker said in a statement on Tuesday.
The bill outlaws legal organizations and criminalizes support for the maoist group in their recruitment, operations and financial transactions.
Violators will be jailed for as long as 12 years and disqualified from holding public office. The properties of those found guilty of being affiliated with rebel groups will be seized.
The measure also bans people and groups from preparing documents or publications promoting subversive objectives. The measure “will not address the root causes of armed conflict,” Party-list Rep. Arlene G. Brosas said in a statement on Tuesday. “It will only intensify the state-funded red-tagging campaign.”
She said the measure is a “push back against historical gains made by the peoples’ movement.”
The Duterte Youth Party-list “comes again by being the mouthpiece of the Duterte agenda” by pushing the draconian legislation, Party-list Rep. France C. Castro said in a statement.
“From its name to its game, it’s very obvious that Duterte Youth merely acts as the tentacles of the Duterte administration in Congress.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
Isabela back to general lockdownTHE PROVINCE of Isabela will revert to a general community quarantine (GCQ) from a more lax lockdown until year-end after it reported a fresh surge in coronavirus cases.
“The imposition of a general community quarantine in the province is without prejudice to the imposition of a localized enhanced community quarantine in areas of special concern,” according to an inter-agency task force (IATF) order dated Dec.14.
Santiago City will be excluded from the general lockdown.
Last weekend, Isabela officials sought a modified enhanced community quarantine but a general quarantine was instead declared due to economic concerns. — Gillian M. Cortez
THE DEPARTMENT of Education (DepEd) will choose pilot schools for face-to-face classes by the end of the month, presidential spokesman Harry L. Roque said on Tuesday.
Before the selection, the agency’s regional directors will nominate the schools that will take part in the program, he told an online news briefing.
Early next month, schools will be oriented before the pilot classes start on Jan. 11. This will be monitored by the DepEd and National Task Force Against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Findings and recommendations on the pilot run will be submitted to President Rodrigo R. Duterte after.
The President in June said he would not allow physical classes in the absence of a coronavirus vaccine. — Gillian M. Cortez
REAL HONEY can cost up to P500 per 500 grams, beekeepers said, warning that anything priced significantly lower should be treated as suspicious, after the market was roiled by a government study that found up to 82% of domestic honey to be fake.
In a television interview Tuesday, Analinda M. Fajardo, research committee head of the Beekeepers Network Philippines Foundation, Inc., said real honey is heavy and typically costs P1 per gram.
“In Manila… a half kilogram of honey is (worth) P500,” Ms. Fajardo said.
Ms. Fajardo said retail prices as low as P125 are not likely to be real honey.
“If consumers see honey products priced like that, it is suspicious because real honey costs more,” Ms. Fajardo said.
Ms. Fajardo said real honey is a “complete food” with beneficial nutrients, unlike fake or adulterated products that could consist mostly of sugar syrup.
“One of honey’s characteristics, which is high viscosity… and (it can kill) microorganisms,” Ms. Fajardo said.
Ms. Fajardo said interest in beekeeping, or apiculture, has grown during the pandemic.
“In our group alone, the active members are around 500 people. It is a welcome sight,” Ms. Fajardo said.
Asked to comment, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Kristine Y. Evangelista said the Department of Agriculture will consult with the Food and Drug Administration on labelling measures for honey sellers.
“This is a way to guide our consumers if they want to buy pure honey, which is more expensive, compared to those with sugar,” Ms. Evangelista said during a virtual briefing Tuesday.
Researchers from the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute recently declared 62 out of 76 domestic products brands to be composed of up to 95% C4 sugar syrup.
They also found that 75% or 12 out of 16 Philippine honey products sold in groceries or souvenir shops were adulterated.
The study determined honey composition using stable carbon isotope ratio analysis, which matches the carbon isotopes in real honey with those found in bees and flowering plants. The signatures of sugarcane and corn were detected in many of the samples.
The researchers estimated that the honey industry is losing P200 million a year due to the proliferation of fakes. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
OFFICE VACANCIES following the departure of online gaming firms could be filled by expanding IT-Business Processing Manufacturing (IT-BPM) companies, making the industry a key barometer for a real estate recovery, Leechiu Property Consultants said in a report.
At a virtual briefing Tuesday, Leechiu Property Chief Executive Officer David T. Leechiu said companies involved in IT-BPM, an umbrella term for an activity also known as business process outsourcing (BPO), are expected to take up as much as 56% of the office vacancies, making BPOs once more the main market driver.
The industry’s expansion is expected to be fueled by global businesses restructuring their office arrangements during the pandemic and assigning more work to the outsourcing industry.
“By the fourth quarter, vacated spaces registered at 540,000 square meters (sq.m.), with 51% or 277,000 sq.m. attributable to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and 33% or 179,000 sq.m. (to) other players struggling to recover from COVID losses,” the company said in its report.
“Pipeline demand for 2021 or total live requirements is estimated at 300,000 sq.m.,” it added.
Overall, it said Philippine prime office demand was 381,000 sq.m. in 2020, with 69% of the total demand in Metro Manila. The remainder was in Iloilo and Cebu.
Of this total Mr. Leechiu said the IT-BPM industry accounted for 182,000 sq.m., marking the industry as one of the few viable markets for property developers.
According to the report, POGO-related vacancies led to foregone revenue of about P1.4 billion in markets like Makati, Quezon City, Ortigas, and Mandaluyong.
He said 82% of the vacant space is in Metro Manila, the preferred location for BPO firms.
“Developments in the last two quarters have created compelling opportunities for IT-BPM players. We are thus confident that they will continue expanding in the country which remains a leading outsourcing arena for global businesses now seeking to cut costs and recover from COVID losses,” Mr. Leechiu said.
Mr. Leechiu said Iloilo City has been attracting many IT-BPM firms, adding that it accounted for the largest share of new office transactions outside of Metro Manila in 2020, at 50,000 sq.m.
Meanwhile, the study also found signs of a recovery in the retail market.
It said 76% of ground-floor retail space to be occupied in the food and services industry.
The firm found that condominium units in Metro Manila are still in demand despite the pandemic.
“In 2020, 42,500 units were sold and another 12,000 units launched. With the news of the vaccine and a sustainable low-interest rate environment, developers look forward to more launches and a more active residential market,” it said.
The study also found that prices of lots in Tali Beach, Kawayan Cove, and Peninsula de Punta Fuego, all in Batangas, have increased between 20% and 71% since the pandemic, while demand for Tagaytay homes has also risen.
It projected the tourism recovery to be gradual, starting in destinations that are accessible by road from major markets, followed by those reachable by domestic air travel, and then those heavily patronized by international tourists.
“We have every confidence that the rollout of the vaccine in 2021 will create unprecedented market euphoria that will dramatically benefit the real estate industry,” Mr. Leechiu said.
“A confluence of factors — from record-low, long-term interest rates, to the country’s fantastic fiscal fundamentals that have resulted in good credit ratings, to newfound mobility and tourism opportunities from a massive injection of infrastructure projects — will ensure that,” he added. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said caregiver job opportunities are opening up in central and eastern Europe, while markets like Israel and Japan have indicated a preference for workers from the Philippines.
In a briefing Tuesday, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said thousands of openings are available to workers seeking jobs in healthcare and caregiving.
“The countries with the demand now… are the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, and Germany. Especially Germany; they have been demanding and writing to me through their Ambassador,” Mr. Bello said in Filipino.
He added the UK is also seeking guest workers but DoLE has been cautious about deploying workers there because of its return to lockdown. — Gillian M. Cortez
