THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has granted Germany and the US two-year accreditations to export frozen beef and poultry to the Philippines.
“Through the Department Order No. 1, Series of 2020 issued on 15 January, Germany has been granted a system accreditation to export beef and poultry meat to the country which will be valid until November 12, 2022,” DA said in a statement. Accreditation was authorized by Accreditation Review Body Resolution No. 2019-007 dated No. 21, 2019.
In a separate order, the US was also accredited to export pork and beef to the country as per Accreditation Review Body Resolution No. 2019-008 dated Nov. 21, 2019.
“Through the Department Order No. 2, Series of 2020 issued on 15 January, the US has been granted a system accreditation to export beef and poultry meat to the country which will be valid until Nov. 12, 2022,” the DA said.
The DA noted that representative foreign meat establishments in both countries “were inspected and audited by the DA Inspection Mission (DAIM) and were found to comply with the Philippine quarantine and meat inspection systems procedures.”
Both were also found to be compliant with the requirements under the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
The DA earlier accredited Sweden to export chilled pork meat to the Philippines until Oct. 7, 2022. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
A BILL that will consolidate all measures seeking to amend the Customs Modernization and Tariffication Act (CMTA) will be completed within the week, House Committee Chairman on Ways and Means Jose Maria Clemente S. Salceda said.
“I think within this week, the Committee will be able to finalize since…iilan lang naman ’yung malalaki eh (there are only a few major issues)” Mr. Salceda told reporters on Monday.
According to Mr. Salceda, main amendments to the CMTA are the mandatory inspection at the cargos’ point of origin and the mandatory inclusion of the transaction value in shipping documents.
“Kasi sa mga shipping documents walang transaction value. So ngayon, ginagawang mandatory na yung mga shipping documents should bear the transaction value and, kung kaya pa, yung CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight). So therefore, kung may diperensya po siya sa declaration nung importer sa atin eh kung plus or minus ten yung variance, ma-sa-subject po siya sa examination. So basically these are to improve the CMTA (Shipping documents currently have no transaction values; the amendments will seek to make transaction value mandatory, and CIF if possible. The intent is to require inspections for any variance of plus or minus 10% on importer declarations),” Mr. Salceda said.
Rep. Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon expressed his support for the Bureau of Customs’ (BoC) recommendation to make Customs brokerage courses be more available in schools.
“We have schools which offer Customs-broker courses. (Ideally, those schools should be the sources of) Customs officers because they underwent specialized education” Mr. Biazon told reporters Monday.
Mr. Biazon also added that there should be a provision which mandates that all Customs officers be graduates of Customs brokerage courses.
“(We need to declare that) we will only hire Customs employees who are graduates of Customs brokerage courses. So we might not have to put in resources to physically build a Customs academy, set up the academy. (Maybe the law) will be a good solution for us” Mr. Biazon said.
There are currently six bills seeking to amend the CMTA: House Bills (HB) 783, 784, 800, 2591, 5278 and 5548.
All bills propose to impose stricter administrative sanctions, specifically on the supervision and regulation of third parties, to curb corruption, enhance trade facilitation and improve the efficiency of revenue collection by the BoC.
CMTA was signed into law in May 2016 to modernize procedures for “faster trade, reduce opportunities for corruption, improve customs service delivery and improve supply chain.”
Since enactment, the Philippines’ trade facilitation rate hit 80.65% in 2019 from 69.89% in 2017, according to the 2019 United Nations Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation. — Genshen L. Espedido
Sunday was the Feast of the Sto. Niño or the Child Jesus. While attending Sunday mass, we were reminded to be obedient like a child to be more worthy of the kingdom of God. Obey the rules and you will be rewarded.
Without question, the same is also very much true when availing of income tax incentives. Currently, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and Board of Investments (BoI)-registered enterprises have compliance requirements to verify their entitlement to income tax incentives. Together with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), these investment promotion agencies (IPAs) want to ensure that only those entitled can enjoy the incentives.
For PEZA-registered enterprises entitled to income tax holiday (ITH) and/or the 5% gross income tax (GIT) incentive, they are required to secure from PEZA, on an annual basis, a certification that the enterprise is a bona fide PEZA-registered enterprise entitled to ITH and/or the 5% GIT incentive. Based on PEZA’s implementing rules, the registered enterprise will only be issued the certification once it has complied with all the PEZA reportorial requirements, such as the Economic Zone Monthly Performance Report (EZMPR) and Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (TIMTA) reports. To avoid issues in securing the certificate of incentives, the enterprise must ensure that it has complied with all the reportorial requirements.
BoI-registered enterprises are required to secure a Certificate of ITH Entitlement (CoE). For both PEZA and BoI-registered enterprises, such certifications are required to be attached in the annual income tax return (ITR).
In addition, PEZA-registered enterprises are required to submit to PEZA a copy of their BIR-received annual ITRs, together with the Audited Financial Statements (AFS) within 30 days from filing of the annual ITR.
For BoI-registered enterprises, a copy of the BIR-received annual ITR and AFS are required to be attached to BoI Form S-1 (Annual Report on Actual Operations). The form is required to be filed within four months after the end of the taxable year or April 30 for enterprises that follow the calendar year.
Based on the BIR-received AFS and ITR, BoI and PEZA shall validate, on a per registered activity/project basis, that the period covered by the annual ITRs is covered by the ITH/5% GIT incentive. These IPAs shall also determine the income that should not be covered by ITH/5% GIT, if any. To determine if the enterprises complied with the minimum/maximum sales requirement, they shall also validate the actual percentage of export sales for export oriented enterprise, low-cost housing sales for real estate companies, and other sales requirement as agreed per their registration terms and conditions.
So, what if, based on the IPA’s evaluation, the enterprise actually failed to comply with the conditions for the income tax incentive? Can the BIR assess the enterprises based solely on PEZA or BoI’s evaluation?
In a recent case decided by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), CTA Case No. 9553, the CTA ruled that the BIR cannot simply proceed to issue assessment notices based solely on the evaluation done by PEZA or BoI. The enterprise’s books of account and other accounting records must be independently investigated and considered by the BIR.
According to the ruling, the BoI-registered enterprise is required to have at least 20% of the total subdivision area or total subdivision project cost allocated and developed for socialized housing within one year from the date of registration. Otherwise, its ITH incentive for the taxable year will be forfeited.
Based on the BoI’s evaluation, the enterprise failed to comply with the 20% socialized housing requirement. Thus, in several letters to the BIR, the BoI declared that the grant of ITH incentives to the BoI-registered enterprise has been denied.
Relying only on the forfeiture of the ITH incentive by the BoI, the BIR issued a Preliminary Assessment Notice (PAN) and Formal Letter of Demand (FLD) assessing the BoI-registered enterprise deficiency income tax and penalties. The BIR no longer issued a Letter of Authority (LoA) to assess. The BIR did not also conduct its own tax investigation.
Since no LoA providing the revenue officers/examiners with the authority to examine the BoI-registered enterprise and to recommend an assessment was issued, the assessment was considered null and void. Though it may be clear from the BoI’s evaluation that the BoI-registered enterprise was not entitled to ITH incentives for the taxable year, the BIR should have also conducted its own investigation to verify the facts for its assessment to be valid.
Nonetheless, though the assessment in this case was considered invalid, PEZA or BoI’s results of validation of income tax incentives may still be a basis for the BIR to initiate/conduct its own investigation. Thus, every taxpayer enjoying income tax incentives must always ensure that it complies with the PEZA/BoI’s conditions for the grant of incentives. It must also ensure compliance with PEZA, BoI, and BIR reporting requirements, as discussed above. It must obey rules like a child to ensure that it fully enjoys the rewards and benefits of the tax incentives it was granted.
Let’s Talk Tax is a weekly newspaper column of P&A Grant Thornton that aims to keep the public informed of various developments in taxation. This article is not intended to be a substitute for competent professional advice.
Ma. Lourdes Politado-Aclan is a Director of Tax Advisory & Compliance division of P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.
THE MAIN INDEX took a nosedive on Monday due to the slump in Ayala-owned stocks, which followed remarks from the Office of the President regarding one of the company’s properties in University of the Philippines Diliman.
The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) dropped 169.98 points or 2.20% to close at 7,552.60 during yesterday’s session. The broader all shares index likewise plummeted by 76.92 points or 1.69% to 4,474.27.
“Market was affected by the negative statements made by the President on the water concessionaires together with the investigation of the low rental rates given to Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) at Technohub,” Diversified Securities, Inc. Equity Trader Aniceto K. Pangan said in a text message.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a radio interview Sunday he wants to “probe” the lease rates of ALI at UP-Ayala Technohub, alleging that the company is paying less than P20 per square meter for 25 years.
ALI is the property arm of the Ayala group, which is already tied in a conflict with the government since December, but through its water arm Manila Water Co., Inc. (MWC).
“The PSEi was Asia’s worst performer today with four Ayala companies ending up on our top losers as the government has expressed the intent to probe other businesses owned by the conglomerate,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in an e-mail on Monday.
Aside from MWC and ALI, listed parent Ayala Corp. and AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp. joined yesterday’s list of top 20 losers, shedding 7.06%, 7.003%, 6.60% and 5.30%, respectively.
Other Asian markets performed better on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix indices gained 0.18% and 0.50%, respectively, while China’s Shanghai SE Composite index increased 0.66% and South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.54%.
All sectoral indices at the PSE also ended in red territory. Property gave up 156.49 points or 3.87% to 3,879.29; holding firms dropped 164.70 points or 2.20% to 7,310.89; mining and oil went down 98.29 points or 1.20% to 8,045.24; industrials declined by 111.09 points or 1.17% to 9,366.33; financials sank 21.17 points or 1.14% to 1,825.74; and services gave up 10.24 points or 0.65% to 1,553.78.
Value turnover stood at P6.28 billion with 913.66 million issues changing hands, from Friday’s P6.27 billion with 1.22 billion issues.
Foreign investors continued to book outflows, with net foreign selling at P512.90 million, bigger than Friday’s net outflow worth P196.07 million.
“Any optimism that investors had vanished today as fears of a natural disaster and of the government’s crusade against oligarchs send prices much lower. The strategy is to look for opportunities in companies that do not correlate with the PSEi’s movement,” Mr. Mangun said on Monday. — Denise A. Valdez
THE peso weakened on Monday amid declines in the local stock market and as worries over oil prices arose amid tensions in the Middle East.
The local unit closed at P50.975 on Monday, weakening by 8.40 centavos from its Friday finish of P50.891 a dollar.
The peso opened at P50.93 against the greenback. Its weakest showing was at P51.04 while its intraday best was at P50.83 per dollar. Dollars traded climbed to $1.559 billion from $1.3 billion on Friday.
A trader attributed the peso’s slump to the decline in the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi).
“PSE composition was down 2.2%. We saw that as an outflow of investment which triggered dollar buying most likely foreign selling…,” the trader said in a phone call.
Meanwhile, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said the peso’s depreciation may be due to the brewing tensions between Libya and Iraq.
“The peso may have taken cue from the increasing Middle East unrest (Iraq and Libya). Oil prices have jumped immediately due to potential supply impact,” Mr. Asuncion said in a text message.
Reuters reported that two major oilfields in southwest Libya were closed on Sunday after forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar shut down a pipeline, potentially reducing national output to a fraction of its normal level.
In December, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia agreed to end a five-year dispute over their shared Neutral Zone in a deal that will boost production by the resumption of the operation of two oilfields that can pump up to 0.5% of the world’s oil supply
For today, the trader sees the peso ranging from P50.80-P51.10, while Mr. Asuncion thinks the local unit will fare around the P50.80 to P51.10 level against the dollar.
Meanwhile, most Asian currencies ticked higher on Monday, with China’s yuan leading the pack on a firm midpoint rate fix by the central bank and robust demand ahead of a week-long New Year holiday, according to a Reuters report.
The onshore yuan gained 0.2% to 6.85 against the dollar, its strongest since early July. — LWTN withReuters
This piece is a slightly shortened version of the Inaugural Speech of Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) President Francisco Ed. Lim.
ICONICBESTIARY / FREEPIK
Dear friends, data is staring us in the face. For the past three years, foreign direct investments have consistently gone down, from $10.3 billion in 2017 to $9.8 billion in 2018, and are projected to fall further to $6.9 billion in 2019, or 33% decrease from the 2017 level. Indeed, our $6.9 billion 2019 FDIs will only be about one-third of Vietnam’s $20.4 billion and nearly one-fourth less than Indonesia’s $24 billion foreign investments in 2019.
The message from the world is clear — unless we in the Philippines shape up, foreign investors will continue to view us as an unworthy investment destination and they might rather put their money in our ASEAN neighbors. Events of the recent past have exacerbated this perception.
But these challenges cannot scare us into retreating from MAP’s tradition of leadership in progressive management thinking. On the contrary, this must inspire and urge us to step up and be leaders for change. For one, we have government officials like our guest speaker, Secretary [Ramon] Lopez, who not only have their hearts in the right places, but who also work hard day and night in attracting investments into the country. Our most recent performance under the World-Bank Ease of Doing Report and the bold initiatives being undertaken by the Administration of President [Rodrigo] Duterte are, indeed, very admirable and encouraging.
But my friends, government cannot do it alone. To paraphrase the great John F. Kennedy, ask not what our government can do for business but ask what we in business, together with the government, can do for our country.
There is, indeed, a clarion call for the public and private sectors to work together.
Driven by this need, it is thus appropriate that our Board approved our battle cry for 2020, “LEAD for a Competitive Tomorrow.” My call is basically a continuation of President Riza [Mantaring]’s theme of “Shaping a Competitive Future.” Indeed, it is, in no small way, a restatement of the themes of several past MAP Presidents.
But why LEAD in the first place? MAP is in many ways a unique organization. Indeed, as I speak before you today, MAP has 1,034 members representing 40 of the top 100 corporations in the Philippines. Around 74% of our members are either the chairman, CEO, president, managing director/partner, and country head of these companies. We have in our fold 72 listed companies whose combined capitalization is P9.3 trillion, representing around 60% of our stock market’s total market capitalization.
We are the movers of Philippine business and the numbers alone dictate that our organization, together with the other business groups, can lead the business sector in helping government bring about positive change for our country… And LEAD we shall!
Now, what does the acronym “LEAD” stand for? It stands for the four-point agenda that will guide our presidency, namely:
• Level up by enhancing Ease of Doing Business. We shall support the various initiatives of the government on Ease of Doing Business under the recently amended Republic Act No. (RA) 11032, more popularly called the “EODB Act.” This includes our active participation in “PROJECT REPEAL: The Philippine Red Tape Challenge,” an initiative to repeal laws and regulations which are unnecessary, outdated and burdensome to businesses.
Philippine Competition Commission Chairman Arsenio Balisacan has also accepted our invitation to speak before our membership in May on ensuring a level playing field for all businesses as a means of promoting a more competitive environment in the country.
In coordination with the Judicial Reform Initiative, we shall continue to work with the Supreme Court on promoting integrity and simplifying court procedures. The new Chief Justice has graciously granted us an audience on Jan. 27 to pursue this initiative.
But Ease of Doing Business must be addressed not only at the national level but, equally important, at the local level. To highlight the importance of this matter, we are signing today a Memorandum of Agreement with Secretary Lopez to participate in “Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), a very laudable Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) program that awards annually Philippine cities and municipalities based on Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, and Resiliency. The program is envisioned as a tool for enhancing Ease of Doing Business in the Philippines and raise the overall competitiveness of the country.
This initiative will be coupled with a dialogue or dialogues with our mayors in Metro Manila where most of our members do business.
• Embrace Environmental, Social Responsibility and Governance (ESG) for sustainability. A fairly recent phenomenon is the increasing number of socially conscious investors. These investors consider, as part of their decision-making process for investing, a wide spectrum of issues that include how corporations respond to climate change, how good they are with water management, how their health and safety policies are [aimed at] the protection against accidents, how they manage their supply chains, how they treat their workers and whether they have a corporate culture that builds trust and fosters innovation.
In a publication last December, it was reported that ESG investing grew to more than $30 trillion in 2018 and was estimated to reach $50 trillion over the next two decades. Whether we like it or not, socially conscious investors believe that ESG supports a company’s long-term performance and sustainability.
We shall conduct activities that are meant to help our members appreciate this all-important development. We already lined up a speaker of note who will share their experiences on how they reconfigured their business model to respond to ESG and how the reconfiguration has benefited them.
My friends, we have to embrace ESG, lest we miss the boat — again.
• Accelerate best management practices. Accelerating best practices in management calls on our senior membership to be selfless and to think of country above self, by unselfishly sharing their insights and wisdom from years of experience with the other MAP members.
We shall strengthen and enhance the MAP CEO Academy to serve as the umbrella brand for all of MAP’s educational activities for the continuing education of our members.
We shall continue holding the MAP Teachers Training Program which brings together management practitioners and teachers to harmonize what students are taught vis-à-vis what employers need from future managers.
The efforts on this agenda item are designed to lead us to our final goal, which is to:
• Deepen the bench for future business leaders. This fourth thrust of our theme is, quite frankly, closest to my heart as a father, teacher, and mentor.
In my almost 40 years of practicing law and business that includes my stint as president of the Philippine Stock Exchange, I have come to realize that the infusion of young blood and fresh perspectives is one of the greatest life lessons. It is the audacity of the young to push boundaries tempered by wisdom from experience that will bring meaningful change in our society.
In an article I recently published on Rappler, I ruminated on how our young — yes, the “millennials” — have stepped into the limelight and shaken the world as we know it with their big dreams and bold attitudes.
It is inspiring to see our young generation taking an active role in shaping our communities and in building our nation. They have not only decided to demand more from their elders; they have taken it upon themselves to be the change in their own communities.
Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Larry Page of Google, who launched their businesses at ages 19 and 25, are powerful examples of how our young generation can change the world.
As the rest of the world continues to evolve and modernize — oftentimes faster than our ability to adapt — it is imperative for us to hone and elevate the professional and leadership skills of our young men and women to help build a better Philippines.
To this end, your board has targeted that no less than 20% of our membership should be 50 years old or younger. More importantly, your board created the NextGen Committee not only as a platform for new ideas from our younger members but, even more importantly, as a breeding ground for future business leaders.
In closing, let me assure our government of our fullest cooperation and support. We are not asking anything in return. All that we ask is to treat business with fairness and reason. Make our environment more conducive to doing business. We will do the rest.
Ladies and gentlemen, change and success do not happen overnight. But the steps we take today will shape the contours of our tomorrow. Together, as one MAP, I am confident we can make this happen!
Francisco Ed. Lim is Senior Partner and ExCom Member of ACCRALAW.
Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) survey last December revealed that 76% of Filipinos see many human rights abuses in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs. The SWS report prompted Philippine Star columnist Boo Chanco to ask on Facebook if people are turning a blind eye to these human rights abuses when they give President Duterte a high rating.
Many netizens have also expressed in social media their befuddlement over the President’s high satisfaction rating in SWS surveys given the high cost of food, joblessness, and widespread criminality, issues that have an impact on the daily lives of the great majority of the population. The same SWS December survey also revealed that 78% of Filipino adults believe the accusation that there are “ninja cops” among members of the police force.
A previous survey found that those who feel it is wrong to do nothing about the Chinese infrastructures and military presence in the West Philippine Sea now comprise 93% of the adult population, a 6% increase from 2018. In reaction to the call for him to take stronger action to assert the Philippines’ ownership of the West Philippine Sea, Mr. Duterte has said, “We cannot afford a war. We cannot win a battle against China. I would only lose maybe thousands of my troops and policemen.”
The President himself has admitted that he was wrong to assume that he could eliminate the illegal drug trade in three to six months, that he might not even eliminate it before the end of his term in spite of the avowal he made in his 3rd State of the Nation Address that his war against illegal drugs would be “relentless and chilling.” He has also intimated that he cannot eradicate corruption.
He has also become defeatist when faced with the challenges to his administration. Fed up with the unsuccessful attempts to solve the traffic gridlock on EDSA, he blurted, “Let EDSA rot.” About the Pasig River, he said, “That Pasig, you can no longer clean it because we don’t have any zoning (regulations). Over the years, the waste of factories and houses all go into the Pasig River. How can you clean that?” To the jeepney operators or owners who cannot afford the modern jeepneys, the President angrily told them: “If you can’t modernize that, leave. You’re poor? Son of a bitch, go ahead, suffer in poverty and hunger, I don’t care.”
In spite of all this, the satisfaction rating of the President remains high. No, the people do not turn a blind eye on those human rights abuses, they just don’t set their eyes on those abuses, just as they don’t set their eyes on other issues that impact on their daily lives.
We cannot tell what those who find the President’s performance satisfactory base their assessment on as they are not asked why they are satisfied with President Duterte’s performance. The usual wording of the question asked in surveys about the President’s performance is as follows: “Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, undecided if satisfied or dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, very dissatisfied, or you have not ever heard or read anything about Rodrigo Duterte?”
Each respondent interprets the question from his own viewpoint. One respondent’s understanding of the word “performance” may be different from another respondent’s understanding of the same word, and much more so from that of political commentators.
So when adult Filipinos are asked if they are satisfied or dissatisfied with the performance of the President, their frame of reference could be the performance of something unrelated to governance, like his long speeches spiced with racy adlibs or his expletive-laden tirades against his detractors and Catholic Church dignitaries. Respondents could also be referring to the President’s abandonment of the formalities, traditions, and protocol long established in Malacañang in favor of the ways of the common tao (person).
The 2004 presidential elections can give us an idea of how the majority of the voting or adult population see the highest position of the land. Almost 12 million votes were cast for Fernando Poe, Jr., who did not have the formal education nor the experience in governance that would have prepared him for the position.
Two other candidates with better credentials in government service — Panfilo Lacson and Raul Roco — got much fewer votes than Mr. Poe. Mr. Lacson, a Philippine Military Academy graduate, holder of a master’s degree in Government Management, former Philippine National Police chief, and sitting senator in 2004, got 3.5 million votes, while Mr. Roco, who earned a master’s degree in Law from the University of Pennsylvania, was a nine-year senator, and former secretary of Education got only 2.1 million votes.
The other factor could be the lack of competence of the respondents to answer the questions. The 1,200 respondents are supposed to be representative of all sub-groups of the adult population of the Philippines. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippine population breaks down into 1% AB, 9% C, 60% D, and 30% E. That means only 12 respondents come from the socio-economic class AB, 108 from Class C, and 1,080 from among those belonging to the socio-economic classes D and E.
SWS refers to the D class as the Lower Class who basically live a hand-to-mouth existence, and the E class as the Extremely Lower Class who face great difficulties in meeting their survival needs. They would be too preoccupied with earning a living to be interested in the performance of the president and therefore be competent to pass judgment on President Duterte’s performance.
So as not to appear an ignoramus to the interviewer, a respondent belonging to the Economic Class DE picks one of the possible answers presented to him. To play it safe, he gives the answer which he thinks would please the hypersensitive President.
It would be interesting to know what the respondents’ answers would be if, after having been asked if they are satisfied or not with the President’s performance, they are subsequently asked, “Why do you feel the way you do about President Duterte’s performance?” Based on my experience in public opinion polling, the lack of awareness on the part of the citizenry of the issues of national implication will be blatantly exposed.
In cognizance of the lack of competence of the great majority of voters to vote intelligently, many Catholic bishops waged in last year’s elections a vigorous campaign to “educate” the voters in their dioceses. They exhorted their flock to vote for persons of conscience, who are capable of governing, and who are committed to work for the common good.
Then there is the fear factor in the seeming contradiction between the President’s popularity and his actual performance. As he has shown a disdain for criticism and opposition, as evidenced by the fates of Senator Leila de Lima, former Senator Antonio Trillanes, Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno, journalist Maria Ressa, and media organizations Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN, survey respondents could also be afraid to say something not favorable to him and his policies and programs.
Interviews are conducted face-to-face. The respondent’s name and address are written down in the interview sheet. The interviewer is a total stranger to the respondent. The latter may have reservations about the true purpose of the interviewer, given the prevailing political climate.
Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a retired corporate executive, business consultant, and management professor. He has been a politicized citizen since his college days in the late 1950s.
Philippine universities do not seem to fare well even compared to many of their ASEAN neighbors. The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world university ranking is a good annual report, its scoring is based on six indicators: Academic peer review, 40%; Faculty/Student ratio; 20%, Citations per faculty; 20%, Employer reputation; 10%, and International student ratio and International staff ratio, 5% each.
I checked the QS ranking of 2020 — many Asian universities have improved their global ranking from the 2015 to 2020 reports. The University of the Philippines (UP) ranked only #356 and the three next famous schools in the country ranked 600+ or lower (see Table 1).
Then I checked details of the top universities in the ASEAN. In terms of research output, they have high to very high output while the four Philippine universities have either medium or low output (see Table 2).
Clearly there is problem in the quality of Philippine universities, especially the other state universities and colleges (SUCs), taxpayer-funded with a budget of P51 billion (excluding UP) in 2019 and none of them in the global top 1,000.
For UP in particular, it seems to be spreading out thinly. UP’s 38,000+ students are the total in its many campuses: Diliman, Manila, BGC, Los Baños, Baguio, Clark, Cebu, Iloilo, Mindanao, and the Open University.
Now there is a big issue in UP Diliman (UPD), the main campus in the UP System. In February, the UP Board of Regents (BOR) will choose the next UPD Chancellor, the highest official in the campus. There are only two candidates and they seem to be worlds apart in terms of academic achievements.
Dr. Fidel Nemenzo is a Professor of Mathematics and currently UPD Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development. He got his BS Math degree from UP, his MS and PhD Math from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in pure mathematics. He is well-respected in mathematical academic circles here and abroad. Nemenzo was also a former President of the Mathematical Society of the Philippines, and the Southeast Asian Mathematical Society and has received awards in his discipline such as the Achievement Award in Mathematics from the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP).
The other candidate is Prof. Ferdinand Manegdeg, current Dean of the UP College of Engineering, the largest college in the university in terms of faculty and student population. He has a masters degree from the University of Leeds, but has no PhD, unlike many in his faculty. In the top universities in the region and the world, a PhD is the minimum requirement for acceptance into the faculty.
The campus Chancellor has two main functions — to further advance academic excellence, and address various community issues. UPD hosts the College of Science disciplines — Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, Geology, etc. — that provide the basic theories behind continuing technological modernization like the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIRe), artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics.
So someone with expertise in the basic science and math and not just applied science, someone with higher regional and global academic exposure and leadership, is the most appropriate to head UPD.
I hope the BOR will choose Dr. Nemenzo as the next UPD Chancellor. As he envisioned, UPD will become an inter-disciplinary hub working with other government agencies, industry, and civil society, and become a strong graduate university especially in the basic sciences.
There is too much politics and government intervention in many sectors of our country. I hope the selection and appointment of UPD Chancellor will be guided by academic leadership and not by more politics.
Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers.
THE PHRASE “low maintenance” is usually applied to landscaping gardens. It is an option offered to a homeowner who can’t be bothered with too much work tending the greenery. It is ideal for some to have a garden that can be left pretty much alone for long periods and requiring little attention. Such daily chores as watering, pruning, and spraying of insecticides are seldom required if at all.
Low maintenance plants include cacti, succulents, and, yes, olive trees that practically just need to be planted and then left alone. Pebbles and rocks need even less attention, ready to be trampled on and otherwise buffeted by the elements without losing their aesthetic appeal. Rock gardens then typify the low-maintenance landscape. They can even be brought indoors as they don’t attract bugs with more than two legs.
The garden as metaphor for relationships is often invoked. How many wedding homilies have alluded to this imagery — that love requires constant care like a garden, that one cannot leave it alone for weeds (temptations) and caterpillars (more temptations) to choke and slowly destroy? The daily care applied to plants must characterize a relationship. Pruning is not mentioned in this context.
The parable of the sower tossing seeds that fall on rocky or fertile ground is a variation of the garden image. In this parable though, we are the recipients of divine teachings and counsel. The one doing the pruning and eventually consigning the weeds to eternal fire is the Constant Gardener.
In the corporate world, those who require little maintenance (or direction) tend to be overlooked. The rule that “the squeaky wheel gets the oil” prevails. So, a non-squeaker tends to be bypassed for promotion and often becomes the victim of credit grabbers. It is the high flyer who advertises all his (and other people’s) achievements that gets noticed and moved up.
The team player and low-maintenance worker is considered dependable. He stays to finish his work and even comes to work on Saturdays. When his name comes up for a possible promotion the usual comments revolve around his being, well, boring. Does he have the star power for big-time presentations with major clients? Is he passionate about his job? Does he bring charisma to his team and push it to surpass its goals?
A low profile that does not scream for applause is often confused with someone lacking passion. Isn’t the ability to deliver within the deadline and the quiet acceptance of limits of budget, time, resources, and manpower attention-grabbing enough? Just because a person is not whining doesn’t mean he is not facing challenges.
The low-maintenance lifestyle depends on the proper start-up investment. The buyer of a second-hand car appreciates the rule that low cost at the start doesn’t really mean long-term savings. The cheap car may in fact require higher maintenance costs later on and longer downtimes with frequent breakdown.
Low maintenance sometimes entails an initially higher investment. The expensive car leads to fewer headaches in the future. The low-maintenance worker has already invested experience and hard work in previous jobs so that his expectations are more realistic and his ability to handle crisis already well-honed.
Going back to our garden metaphor, isn’t the low maintenance landscape as appealing as the care-thirsty orchid corner? The rock garden with its natural pebbles promotes serenity and beauty in the Zen culture. One can gaze at the lone tree (or driftwood) sending ripples of stone to achieve tranquility of spirit. There is the need to arrange the stones, making sure they are always properly aligned and moss free, and that no mud seeps too much between them. They exude the flow of yin and yang and invite the urge to write a haiku.
Low maintenance is not the same as no maintenance, which is absolute neglect. Even stable relationships exhibit moments of passion, only not part of a job description or routinely expected.
Ideally, the garden (or person) that does not need to be constantly stroked and watered (metaphorically speaking) grows quietly to provide tranquility even in a crisis.
Still, keeping a low profile and going about one’s business under the radar doesn’t always ensure being left alone. There is always the unexpected typhoon coming out of the sky wreaking havoc. Afterwards, dead leaves and debris must be cleaned up and the plants replaced… by a new gardener.
RECENTLY, the Department of Energy (DoE) called for comments on the draft Qualified Third Party (QTP) Service Contract and Eligibility Requirement as per Department Circular No. DC2019-11-0015 “Prescribing Revised Guidelines for Qualified Third Party.” These draft issuances are supplemental documents to support the QTP Revised Guideline Policy which the DoE released on November 2019. The QTP Guideline Policy is an initiative that was prescribed in Republic Act No. 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, which shall assist the Distribution Utilities (DU) in ensuring and accelerating the total electrification of the country.
In the Philippines, based on data from the National Electrification Administration (NEA), as of September 2019 about 2 million households or about 10 million Filipinos still lack access to electricity, mostly in poor, remote, island locations considered unviable for electricity service by most DUs. Filipinos in these areas are deprived of further development of their quality of life partly because of the lack of electricity.
The Qualified Third-Party Policy is one of the initiatives which can help achieve the goal of total electrification in the country. As stated in the Policy, the provision of electric service in remote and unviable areas which DUs are unable to provide services for any reason shall be opened to qualified third parties. QTPs are private corporations which aim to assist the government attain 100% national electrification.
The QTP Guidelines Policy was originally issued in 2004 and 2005, but as of 2018, based from the NEA statements, only 11 areas out of the 995 areas opened for alternative service providers have QTP takers. This number is rather alarming, and this just means that private entities are either not interested in serving those areas or they are finding it hard to apply for participation.
Before the QTP Revised Guideline issuances of the DoE last November, the DoE was the mandated entity to declare, assess, and select the QTPs to serve a particular area. In all those years that the Policy had been in place, very few private corporations were enticed to engage and help assist the government in electrifying neglected areas. This implies that there may be issues that private corporations are facing or holding them back from pursuing this endeavor.
Existing and prospective QTPs have voiced their concerns during the public hearing and consultations conducted by either the Senate Committee on Energy, the DoE, or other government bodies on why they were not able to assist in electrifying the whole country. Most of the issues, as stated by the QTPs, are about the existing processes, procedures, and the those which the existing guidelines failed to provide. Private corporations are risk-takers, but such risks must be leveled and protected by government issuances. Putting all the risk on private corporations is rather unfair, given that total electrification targets are government goals.
As such, we must ensure that appropriate guidelines are in place to ensure that the Filipino people are not deprived of their right to access to electricity, and, at the same time, protect the private corporations. In the recent issuance and draft supplemental documents that the DoE released, there are still a lot of questions that must be answered.
First is the need for complete and clear guidelines with regards to the turn-over of operations of the QTPs after the contract term. In the signed policy and draft supplemental service contract released by the DoE, they were not able to provide clear guidelines on what will happen at the end of the contract term and the transitory activities. These additional guidelines are very relevant since they will dictate if the QTP, before the end of the contract term, will continue to develop the area, or hold its development since there are no clear guidelines on if they will still be paid for such development, will be able to extend the contract in order to fully develop the area, or what will happen to the people that they have employed. Also, since there is a possibility that their facilities will be turned over to the DU, which is highly regulated, it creates more risk for the QTP given that payment and its schedule may still be subject to approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Those uncertainties might have been holding back private corporations from becoming QTPs.
The second concern that must be resolved is the penalties and fees that the DU may get from non-compliance by the QTP with its contract. The concern here is that DUs who have waived the QTP areas and left its plans to the QTP, may possibly get money from this agreement because of possible failures of the QTP. In this scenario, DUs will not suffer from the failure of the QTP to deliver — it is the Filipinos who live in the unserved areas. Given this, it must be ensured that penalties or fees received by the DU as a result of non-compliance of the QTP with the service contract be declared by the DU, to either the DoE or the ERC, and be used for the benefit of the end-users under the QTP area. This amount can either be used to lower electricity tariffs or as a refund to the affected end-users in the QTP area.
Lastly, with the open and competitive approach of the process for selecting the private corporation which will become the QTP, mandatory compliance must be set by the government in order to prevent any delay to the total electrification and prevent any monopolies holding QTP areas. Any events for termination as set forth in the contracts signed by the parties involved must be implemented with utmost diligence. We must ensure that incompetence will be dealt with, and that no possible corruption will happen.
With the urgency of ensuring that every Filipino has access to electricity and that they are lifted from energy poverty, we must urge the Government to ensure that appropriate, clear, and fair policies are released. This will benefit the people to pursue socio-economic development, poverty eradication, and improving their access to education, health services, and livelihood opportunities.
Cezar John A. Estrada is with Policy Research and Development of WeGen Distributed Energy Philippines, Ortigas Center.
HAVING won practically everything there is to win in the Philippine Basketball Association, Tim Cone cannot be faulted if he decides to already take it slow. But the league’s winningest coach has signified he is anything but done, more so since he is coaching the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings.
Notched his 22nd championship in the PBA after guiding the Kings to the 2019–20 Governors’ Cup title over the Meralco Bolts in five games of their best-of-seven finals joust, Mr. Cone reiterated that now is not the time to slow down for him as he still enjoys the process of setting goals and achieving them.
“Winning never gets old. To watch our guys get excited and to push hard for something and to achieve it, and being part of that, is a really great feeling,” said Mr. Cone following their 105-93 title-clinching win over Bolts in Game Five on Friday.
It was the fourth time that Mr. Cone handed a title to the Gin Kings since moving to Barangay Ginebra in 2015, adding to the 2016 and 2017 Governors’ Cup titles and the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup title.
Prior to taking the head-coaching duties with the Kings, Mr. Cone, 62, won 13 titles with the Alaska franchise and five with the San Mig Coffee and B-Meg (now Magnolia) franchise. In both franchises he won a league grand slam — Alaska (1996) and San Mig (2013-14).
Coaching Barangay Ginebra, Mr. Cone said, provides a feeling all its own, something that keeps him going well into his third decade of coaching in Asia’s first play-for-pay league.
“The idea of coaching Ginebra is just a different feeling. It’s a great honor coaching Ginebra. It’s like coaching the national team. I’ve been coaching in the PBA for 30 years and coaching this team really reinvigorated me as a coach. All the attention from the fans, it really keeps you going and there is no time to slow down,” he said.
Immediate goal for Mr. Cone and the Kings is winning the All-Filipino title, something the team has not achieved under his watch.
He said they will use the momentum they got from their latest title conquest and bank on, and sharpen, the tools that they have at their disposal.
As for how long he will be coaching, Mr. Cone said that as long as he is enjoying it and his services are still needed he will continue.
“I’m enjoying it. My mentor Tex Winter (of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers) coached until he was 86. You’ll never know. I want to coach until that age. I doubt it if it will happen, but you’ll never know,” Mr. Cone said.
LOS ANGELES — Raheem Mostert rushed for four touchdowns as the San Francisco 49ers beat Green Bay 37-20 to book a spot in the Super Bowl where they will face Kansas City, who advanced to the NFL championship game for the first time in 50 seasons with a 35-24 win over Tennessee on Sunday.
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was instrumental in their victory in the American Football Conference championship game, breaking the Titans’ backs with a dazzling 27-yard first-half touchdown run as the Chiefs overcame a 10-0 deficit.
Mahomes, who also threw three touchdown passes, gave the Chiefs their first lead at 21-17 with the tackle-breaking run with 11 seconds left in the opening half.
They went on to dominate the second half, chalking up their eight consecutive win to earn a berth in Feb. 2 Super Bowl to be played in Miami.
Kansas City has not been to the title game since January 1970 when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in the fourth Super Bowl.
“It’s amazing. It really is,” Mahomes said.
“To be here, to be a part of Chiefs Kingdom and to be able to do it here at Arrowhead, these people deserve it. And, we’re not done yet. We are going to get it (the Super Bowl title).”
Tennessee, the surprise package of the playoffs with a sixth seed, scored the game’s first 10 points on a field goal and Derrick Henry’s four-yard run.
But the Chiefs, as they had in overcoming the Houston Texans’ 24-0 advantage last weekend, rallied behind their quarterback.
Mahomes’ toss to wide receiver Tyreek Hill on a jet sweep brought the Chiefs within 10-7 before Tennessee scored on a one-yard pass from Ryan Tannehill to massive tackle Dennis Kelly.
The Chiefs rolled for the next 28 points.
Hill caught 20-yard pass from Mahomes and the quarterback added his key touchdown run, tiptoeing along the sidelines at times.
“When they are getting double-teamed and there are only three men rushing, and our line are blocking, it gives me room where I can run,” Mahomes said.
Damien Williams then rushed into the end zone on a three-run and Mahomes threw his third touchdown of the game on a 60-yard play to Sammy Watkins. Tennessee finally showed signs of life on Tannehill’s 22-yard pass to Anthony Firkser with four minutes left, but it was too late for the Titans.
In the National Football Conference championship game in San Francisco, the 49ers relied on the running game to build a 27-0 lead and took a 34-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
Mostert became the first NFL player with four rushing touchdowns in a conference championship game as he scored on runs of 36, nine, 18 and 22 yards, running for 220 yards in total.
Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who had 326 yards passing but was intercepted twice and lost a fumble, rallied the Packers to within 34-20 as they scored twice to open the fourth.
But Robbie Gould’s third field goal for San Francisco ended the scoring.
MOSTERT, 49ERS RUN ALL OVER PACKERS
Raheem Mostert rushed for a franchise-record 220 yards and scored four touchdowns, and the San Francisco 49ers pummeled the Green Bay Packers on both sides of the ball to notch a 37-20 victory on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game at Santa Clara, Calif.
Mostert’s historic showing was part of a dominating performance, as San Francisco reached the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2012 season and the seventh time overall. The 49ers will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV in Miami on Feb. 2.
Mostert’s rushing output, which came on 29 carries, is the second highest in NFL postseason history behind Eric Dickerson (248 in the 1985 postseason). The four rushing scores ties with LeGarrette Blount (2013) for second, one behind record-holder Ricky Watters of the 49ers (1993).
Aaron Rodgers completed 31 of 39 passes for 326 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Packers. Aaron Jones scored two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving), and Davante Adams caught nine passes for 138 yards.
It was the second time the 49ers easily handled the Packers this season. San Francisco won 37-8, also at home, on Nov. 24.
Mostert rushed for 160 yards and three touchdown on 14 first-half carries — helping the 49ers to a 27-0 lead — en route to becoming just the eighth player to rush for 200 or more yards in a playoff game. His yardage was the highest ever by a San Francisco player, regular season and postseason (Frank Gore, 212 in 2006).
His load only increased after Tevin Coleman was carted off the field with a right shoulder injury during the second quarter and didn’t return.
Mostert began the scoring with 5:55 left in the first quarter when he exploded through a huge hole on third-and-8 and headed to the left for a 36-yard touchdown run. Robbie Gould kicked a 54-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter to make it 10-0.
Mostert added a 9-yard scoring run to extend the lead to 17 with 9:12 left in the half. The Packers turned the ball over on their next possession when center Corey Linsley never got the snap to Rodgers, and San Francisco’s DeForest Buckner recovered at the 49ers’ 25-yard line. The ensuing drive was capped by Gould’s 27-yard field goal to make it 20-0 with 1:57 left.
Emmanuel Moseley intercepted Rodgers with 1:01 left in the half, and San Francisco cashed in when Mostert again raced through a big hole to score from 18 yards out with 45 seconds remaining.
Green Bay got on the board when Rodgers connected with Jones on a 9-yard scoring pass with 8:44 left in the third quarter.
Mostert was back at it less than four minutes later, as he darted 22 yards to the left for a touchdown to make it 34-7 before the Packers attempted to rally.
A 42-yard pass from Rodgers to Jimmy Graham set up Jones’ 1-yard scoring run 25 seconds into the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion pass failed. Rodgers connected with Adams on a 65-yard play to lead to a 8-yard touchdown throw to Jace Sternberger with 8:13 left.
Gould booted a 42-yard field goal with 3:31 left to make it a three-score game, and Richard Sherman later intercepted Rodgers as the 49ers finished off the victory.
San Francisco is 5-1 in its previous Super Bowl appearances. The defeat came in its most recent appearance, after the 2012 season.
