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Barangay Ginebra back as king of the PBA Governors’ Cup

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

THE Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings are once again Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup champions after closing out their best-of-seven finals series with the Meralco Bolts with a 105-93 victory in Game Five on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Having more to give especially in the second half, the Kings outlasted the Bolts to take the series, 4-1, and win the season-ending PBA tournament for the third time in the last four years.

It was also the 12th title for Barangay Ginebra in the PBA just as it continued its domination of Meralco in the league finals, having beaten the latter in each of the three championship series they have met.

Game Five played a game of runs in the opening quarter.

Barangay Ginebra got early traction, building a 14-8 advantage at the 6:48 mark of the first quarter with import Justin Brownlee and guard Stanley Pringle leading the way.

The Bolts though would regroup, with reinforcement Allen Durham and Baser Amer on the lead, going on an 8-0 run in the next two minutes to go ahead, 16-14.

They would pick up on the momentum shift after to race to a 26-19 lead at the conclusion of the opening frame.

The teams continued to jostle to begin the second frame but Meralco continued to hold sway, 34-24, at the 8:03 mark.

Barangay Ginebra kept pressing it on Meralco as the quarter progressed, only to find a Bolts crew able to hold on and stay ahead, 46-40, at the break.

The Kings opened the third canto strong, outscoring the Bolts, 12-7, to come to within a point, 53-52, in the first four minutes.

Meralco was able to regain its footing, racking up six straight points after to create further separation, 59-52, at the 6:14 mark of the quarter.

The Kings stayed the comeback course, eventually taking the lead, 61-60, with 3:40 to go after an LA Tenorio triple.

Barangay Ginebra stayed ahead, 70-64, heading into the fourth quarter.

With their season on the line, the Bolts began the fourth aggressively.

Allein Maliksi and Mr. Amer helped their team pull even at 77-all with 8:46 remaining, forcing the Kings to sue for time.

It was a timeout Barangay Ginebra put into good use as off it they scored seven straight points to make it an 84-77 count after a minute and a half of play.

Five quick points from Mr. Durham and Chris Newsome pushed the Bolts to within two, 84-82, by the halfway point of the quarter.

But it proved to be the last hurrah for Meralco as from there the Kings started to pull away.

Japeth Aguilar, Scottie Thompson and Mr. Brownlee propelled their team to a ferocious 19-6 run to take a 103-88 lead with 1:30 left in the match.

By then it was all over except the shouting.

Mr. Aguilar led the Kings with 25 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. He was later named finals most valuable player.

Mr. Brownlee finished with 24 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds while Mr. Pringle had 17 points and eight assists.

Mr. Thompson had 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists, with Mr. Tenorio adding 12 points for Barangay Ginebra.

For Meralco it was Mr. Durham who top-scored with 29 points, to go along with 21 rebounds and eight assists.

Mr. Amer had had 17 points while Mr. Newsome had 13 for the Bolts, who played without big man Raymond Almazan because of knee injury.

“The push late in the second quarter played a huge difference for us. Meralco did a good job in making adjustments for this game. But credit to the players for stepping up in the second half, allowing us to win,” said Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who with the win notched his 22nd league title.

BSP has space to ease monetary policy — Diokno

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno

By Luz Wendy T. Noble

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has enough “monetary space” amid easing by central banks around the world, BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said on Friday.

“I just came from Basel and the consensus is that interest rates globally will be low for a long time,” he told reporters. “In reality, we still have a lot of monetary space.”

Inflation is likely to remain stable despite the the risk of an uptick from the eruption of Taal Volcano in Batangas province, Mr Diokno said.

“The BSP expects inflation to stay on course in 2020,” the governor said. The central bank expects inflation to average “near the midpoint of the target band at 2.9%” for this year and in 2021, he said.

The government has set an inflation target of 2-4% for 2020 until 2022.

The Philippine central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points (bps) last year to help support the economy after raising it by a total of 175 bps in 2018.

The government is forecasting economic growth of 6.5% to 7.5% this year after the economy was estimated to have grown by 6% to 6.5% last year.

Mr. Diokno said the central bank is on track, based on its “forward guidance,” to cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks to a single digit, in line with the regional level.

“Then we have a lot of possibilities, we have a lot of monetary space to reflect some change,” he said.

After 400 bps of cuts last year, the reserve ratio for universal and commercial banks now stand at 14%, while those for thrift and rural banks are at 5% and 3%, respectively.

Mr. Diokno said the central bank would assess the effect of Taal Volcano’s eruption on both inflation and economic growth.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III this week said that the National Capital Region and Calabargon — made up of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon — contributed 36% and 17%, respectively to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018.

‘GRADUAL UPTICK’
Mr. Dominguez has also said the eruption’s effect on inflation would be minimal and manageable.

The combined effects of typhoons in December and the Taal eruption could cause inflation to spike to 3% at the start of the year, Philippine National Bank (PNB) economist Jun Trinidad said in a note on Friday.

Aside from the Taal Volcano eruption, inflation risks include increased volatility in oil prices after escalating tensions in the Middle East paired with the continued impact of the African Swine Fever outbreak, Mr. Diokno said.

There could be a “gradual uptick” in Inflation in the early part of the year because the base effects from 2018 have been diminishing, said Dennis D. Lapid, director of the BSP’s Department of Economic Research.

But slower economic growth paired with unclear trade policies in major economies could “weigh down on global economic activity and thus mitigate upward pressures on commodity prices,” he said.

Inflation in December was at 2.5% after an uptick in consumer demand during the holiday season and typhoons, among other things.

This was well within the central bank’s 2-4% target. Average inflation last year slowed to 2.5% from 5.2% in 2018.

Also on Friday, Mr. Diokno said the country is poised to achieve a “credit rating A” within two years after the government put in place structural reforms.

“Our target is to get it within two years,” he said. “And to me, the key there is structural reform,” he added, referring to tax changes and amendments to the central bank charter, among other things.

In May, S&P Global Ratings raised the country’s long-term sovereign credit rating to BBB+ from BBB, bringing it one notch away from an A-level rating.

Damage from Taal hits P3 billion; fisheries most affected

DAMAGE from the eruption of Taal Volcano has reached P3 billion, with the fishery sector suffering the most devastation, the Agriculture department said on Friday.

Thousands of people have left their homes after the volcano spewed a column of ash 14 kilometers into the air on Sunday. The ashfall reached as far as cities near the capital, forcing financial markets to suspend trading and the Manila airport to close.

Taal Volcano, one of the world’s smallest and active volcanoes, continues to spew ash and an explosive eruption could happen in days, according to the nation’s volcanology agency.

The second-highest alert status remains hoisted there and a 14-kilometer danger zone from the volcano remained off limits to people.

The Agriculture department said in a bulletin on Thursday evening damage has reached P3.06 billion, affecting 15,790 hectares of land and 1,923 animals.

Coffee, cacao, pineapple, vegetables, rice and coconut were among the damaged crops. Fisheries has suffered P1.6 billion in damages, particularly for tilapia and milkfish, it said.

Taal Lake, the country’s third-biggest lake that fills the Taal Caldera — a large volcanic caldera formed by very large eruptions — contains tilapia, milkfish and the endemic freshwater sardine tawilis, among other fish.

The Calabarzon region — made up of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon — accounted for 41% of the country’s inland fishery production in 2018 at 164,200 metric tons (MT), according to Philippine Statistics Authority data.

Marine fisheries accounted for 3.93% or 1.89 million MT, while agriculture had a 6.58% share or 2.304 million MT.

Marine fisheries accounted for 3.93% or 1.89 MT, while agriculture had a 6.58% share or 2.304 million MT.

Fish from the lake are not safe to eat because of their high sulfur content, Agriculture officials said earlier.

The Bureau of Animal Industry delivered 20 bags of animal feeds and medicine for rescued livestock, while the Philippine Carabao Center and National Dairy Authority gave 2.5 tons of roughages that will be delivered to Batanagas province on Saturday.

The Agriculture department’s regional field office in Cagayan Valley and Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal will donate 10 tons of assorted vegetables that will arrive in Lipa City on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the League of Associations, which consists of 11 associations of vegetable farmers and traders in La Trinidad, Benguet, will be giving three to four tons of assorted vegetables. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

Jollibee raises $600M from offshore debut

JOLLIBEE Foods Corp. (JFC) raised $600 million from a landmark sale of perpetual securities in its offshore capital market debut, restocking its chest after buying the company behind US specialty chain Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL).

It was the first time for the Philippine fast-food giant to issue perpetual bonds and the first time to tap offshore capital markets since it was listed in 1993. “This issuance is one of the first by an Asian restaurant company,” it said in a stock exchange filing on Friday.

The transaction was oversubscribed by almost 10 times the original issue amount of $400 million, allowing the company to increase the transaction to $600 million and tighten final pricing by 35 basis points to 3.9%, Jollibee said.

It added that the issuance marks the lowest pricing for a five-year perpetual bond issued by a Philippine company, “reflecting the strong demand for a JFC bond and the reputable credit standing of the company.”

The company said it would use the proceeds of the bond sale for general corporate purposes and to repay short-term debt after it bought International Coffee and Tea, LLC, the company behind The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

The securities will be accounted for as equity.

The Regulation S dollar-denominated issuance will have an initial distribution rate of 3.9%, non-callable for five years, and payable semi-annually. “Reg S” securities are available only for offers and sales outside the US.

Jollibee unit Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. will issue the securities, which are unrated and will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.

“The objective of management for this issuance is to further strengthen the balance sheet of JFC to build a stronger foundation for accelerating its growth in order to achieve its vision to become one of the top five restaurant companies in the world,” the company said.

Jollibee shares closed 6.27% or P12.60 higher at P213.60 each on Friday. — Victor V. Saulon

Duterte bans worker deployment to Kuwait

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has approved a total deployment ban of overseas Filipino workers to Kuwait after a Filipina housemaid there died allegedly in the hands of her employer.

The “total deployment ban” will cover both skilled and household workers, as recommended by Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, the presidential palace said on Friday.

It will stay until a memorandum of agreement on labor standards between the the Philippines and Kuwait is fully implemented, presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) earlier endorsed the total ban after the National Bureau of Investigation’s autopsy report showed Filipino housemaid Jeanelyn Villavende had been physically and sexually abused.

Mr. Panelo accused the Kuwaiti government of “attempting to hide the said circumstance when it gave us a general autopsy report that the cause of death was trauma and bruises all over her body.”

He said the total ban would remain in effect until Kuwait stops confiscating the passports and mobile phones of Filipino workers there.

The Philippines imposed a total deployment ban for Kuwait in 2018 that lasted four months over the murder of domestic helper Joanna Demafelis.

In May 2019, it sought a review of its memorandum of understanding with the Kuwaiti government after the killing of another Filipina, Constancia Dayag.

Meanwhile, more than 100 sick Filipinos benefited from the medical assistance provided by the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait last year, the Foreign Affairs department said on Friday.

The embassy helped 108 Filipinos with medical conditions, such as stroke, cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes, the agency said in a statement.

The embassy also facilitated the medical repatriation of 27 Filipinos, it said.

“The embassy’s Medical Response Team is here to provide any assistance needed by Filipinos in Kuwait, such as medical referrals to hospitals and clinics and regular hospital visits,” Chargé d’Affaires Noordin Pendosina N. Lomondot said in the statement. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Duterte names new police chief

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Friday said he would appoint officer-in-charge Lieutenant General Archie Gamboa as his next police chief, ABS-CBN News reported.

Mr. Duterte would formally put Mr. Gamboa in charge of the police after they meet with Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año, according to the news website, citing his speech in Davao City.

The President had asked Mr. Año to supervise the institution until he names its new chief.

“We will have a long, long talk first,” he said.

Mr. Gamboa was named officer-in-charge after former chief Oscar D. Albayalde went on leave in October, weeks before his retirement.

A Senate investigation found that Mr.. Albayalde had tried to protect rogue cops accused of recycling illegal drugs seized in legitimate police raids in 2013 when he was still Pampanga police chief.

Government prosecutors this week endorsed his indictment for corruption at the Office of the Ombudsman. Mr. Albayalde has denied any wrongdoing. — NPA

Care of kids affected by Taal eruption sought

ABOUT 21,000 children living within Taal Volcano’s 14-kilometer danger zone were affected by its eruption, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

More than eight million children from almost 8,000 schools were also affected after classes were suspended due to ashfall that enveloped cities around Metro Manila, the UN body said, citing an Education department report.

The government has ordered public schools in the Calabarzon region — made up of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon — to accommodate displaced students.

About 180 schools were being used as evacuation centers.

“Children are not just little adults,” Alberto T. Muyot, chief executive officer at Save the Children Philippines which the UN cited, said on its website. “They require specific support to meet their emotional and psychological needs. Infants, toddlers, and children require special care and supplies during and after natural disasters,” according to the civic group

Unless this support is provided quickly, children are likely to suffer long-term developmental, physical and psychological setbacks, Mr. Muyot said.

“Authorities need to coordinate with parents and caregivers to prepare for children’s unique needs at times of disaster,” he added.

Meanwhile, a senator said both Houses of Congress had factored in unused funds from last year, resulting in a lower budget for calamities this year, a senator said on Friday.

Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, who heads the finance committee, cited unused funds from agencies worth P700 billion after the 2019 national budget was passed late. Another P7 billion in calamity funds from last year was not used, he told reporters in a group message.

This year’s national budget provided P16 billion to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management fund, which is P4 billion lower than last year.

Some lawyers earlier cited the need to pass a supplemental budget amid Taal Volcano’s continued eruption.

“Billions lodged in various agencies were not used so that was a consideration in setting 2020 levels,” Mr. Angara said. “Incidentally, much of those funds are still available and if declared by the executive as savings, can be spent to help the victims of the eruption and other calamities,.” — Genshen L. Espedido and Charmaine A. Tadalan

Solicitor general told to let Congress handle ABS-CBN issue

A CONGRESSMAN on Friday urged the Office of the Solicitor General not to question the franchise of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. at the Supreme Court, saying this could be seen as “government harassment.”

“It would be seen as the government’s harassment of ABS-CBN and certainly a clear assault on press freedom as enshrined in our Constitution,” Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez said in a statement.

The congressman said the franchise issue involving the network is best handled by Congress.

“This will likewise encroach on the powers of the legislative branch and will violate the separation of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the government,” he added. — Gensen L. Espedido

Coronavirus strain found in Japan

JAPAN has detected a new strain of coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, days after Thailand confirmed its first case of infection, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The virus, in the same family as the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), has killed one patient and sickened dozens in China.

In a statement, WHO said the source of the new virus was still unknown.

“Not enough is known about 2019-nCoV to draw definitive conclusions about how it is transmitted, clinical features of the disease, or the extent to which it has spread,” it added. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

BSP’s Diokno dismisses banking-sector risk from POGOs

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno dismissed the risks to the banking system posed by online gaming firms, adding to his long-standing position that the Philippines can easily do without the industry.

Mr. Diokno, speaking at the first GBED (Gvernor Benjamin E. Diokno) Talks at the central bank Friday, said, “Of course there is a risk… that’s not going to upset the economy,” he told reporters.

Fitch Ratings said in a report that the property price hikes fueled by the online gaming sector, known as Philipine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) may pose a risk to the banking industry because their demand for office space and residences for their workers are pushing property prices higher.

Fitch noted that speculative activity associated with the industry “could affect market stability if unchecked”.

Mr. Diokno said that the central bank is monitoring developments related to the sector and has so far not seen any major risk concerns from POGOs.

“We have a group here which is responsible for looking at the financial stability. At the moment they don’t see it as a major risk,” he said.

He also added that major risks to the banking industry are unlikely, as big banks “are conservative” and have provisioned appropriately for risks associated with the sector.

In October. Mr. Diokno told Reuters that he would prefer that POGOs exited the Philippine market, citing their minimal contribution to the tax base and the money-laundering risk that comes with the industry.

According to Lyn I. Javier, the BSP’s Managing Director for Policy and Specialized Supervision, the central bank has imposed guidelines for banks for assessing such risks.

“We set out credit risk management guidelines as early as 2014. So what’s important is that lending to these real estate companies (hosting) POGOs, are anchored on some credit underwriting,” she told reporters.

“We (also) use stress tests (on the) exposure of banks to the real estate industry and assess whether their capital can actually absorb potential losses to these exposures. We’re satisfied with the results of these stress tests,” she added.

In December, a report from real estate services firm Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) said that POGOs have dethroned the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) sector to become the single biggest users of office space.

In 2019, POGOs accounted for 44% or about 738,000 square meters (sq m) of Metro Manila office space, up sharply from 443,00 sq m in 2018.

In turn, the influx of Chinese nationals working in the sector translated to robust demand for residential space, particularly condominiums in key areas where POGOs operate — Makati City, Alabang, Quezon City and the so-called Bay Area. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

TIEZA backs ‘rationalizing’ travel tax after DoF threat

THE Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) said it accepts the need to “rationalize” the travel tax a day after the Department of Finance threatened to take it away due to alleged underspending by the agency.

In a statement, it said it supports the rationalization of the travel tax, including the simplification of the current two-tier charge to a flat rate.

TIEZA issued the statement late Thursday evening in response to Finance Carlos G. Dominguez III’s threat to eliminate travel taxes if the agency does not spend faster after it accumulated about P14 billion from the tax.

“It is high time to revisit and rationalize the Philippine Travel Tax System and come up with a win-win solution. TIEZA supports House Bill (HB) No. 5369 filed by Tourism Committee Chairperson, Rep. Sol Aragones, reducing the current fee to a flat rate and reallocating its use towards a tourism development fund,” TIEZA said.

TIEZA said ithe P14 billion cited by Mr. Dominguez has been allocated, including P7.95 billion for board-approved projects between 2009 to 2018, P5.2 billion for projects approved last year and the remaining P2.12 billion for scheduled payables.

“The travel tax is in place and definitely we will look at its elimination… In fact, I had a meeting with the TIEZA people recently and I noted that they have P14 billion in their account. And I told them if they don’t spend it, I will take it away,” Mr. Dominguez said Thursday.

Since 2017, TIEZA said its board approved P8 billion worth of projects, including the Boracay Water Drainage Program Phase II, the rehabilitation of Burnham Park in Baguio City, the construction of a sewage treatment plant in Coron, Palawan and master plans for key tourism sites.

It said its annual budget allocation for infrastructure projects continued to increase yearly. “From P969.6 million in 2017, it has increased to P1.85 billion in 2018 and surged to P5.2 billion in 2019,” it said.

The agency said the implementation of some projects has been delayed due to “government ownership of project site, issues on right of way, non-liquidation of initial funding/tranches (and) changes in leadership, etc. which are being addressed internally by the authority and its board.”

Ms. Aragones filed HB No. 5369, which seeks to abolish the travel tax, and insread create a tourism development fund that will be funded through “tourism fees”. The measure is has been pending at the House of Representatives since November.

According to TIEZA’s website, travel tax rates for economy and business class flights are at P1,620 currently while first class flights are taxed P2,700.

The agency receives half of the total revenue collected from travel tax while the Commission on Higher Education receives 40% while 10% goes to the National Commission for Culture and Arts. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Residential sector leads decline in construction starts

CONSTRUCTION starts, as measured by approved building permits, fell 3.1% year-on-year in the third quarter, dampened by reduced applications to build residences, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.

Citing preliminary result, the PSA said building permits issued during the period totaled 40,795, down from 42,111 a year earlier.

The approved projects cover 9.849 million square meters valued at P114.9 billion, up 9.6% from a year earlier.

Approved applications to build residences, which accounted for 71% of total building permits issued, fell 5.4% year-on-year to 28,975 permits in the three months to September, from 30,638 a year earlier.

Among the various residential categories, declines were recorded in apartments/accessorias (-21.6%); “other residential” construction (-8.8%); residential condominiums (-8.5%); and single-type houses (-5.6%). Approved permits for duplexes/quadruplexes rose 153.7% to 1,243 permits.

Permits for non-residential construction rose 10.1% to 6,586.

Permits issued to build commercial structures grew 12.3% to 4,077, followed by institutional buildings (11.9% to 1,488); industrial buildings (5.4% to 645); and “other non-residential” buildings (0.6% to 163).

Permits for agricultural buildings totaled 213, down 14.5% from a year earlier.

Permits for residential construction were valued at P49.2 billion while non-residential projects were worth P57.6 billion.

Permits for additions to existing structures grew 6.2% to 1,537, valued at P1.4 billion. The number of permits for alterations and repairs of existing structures dropped 8.6% to 3,697, worth a combined P6.7 billion.

Permits issued in the National Capital Region (NCR) amounted to P33.5 billion or 29.2% of the total value. Region IV-A (CALABARZON) accounted for P19.6 billion.

CALABARZON accounted for the most construction starts with 10,212 permits or 25% of the total. Central Luzon had 5,614 permits or 13.8% followed by Central Visayas (11.5%), the NCR (7.8%), and the Ilocos Region (6.5%). — Marissa Mae M. Ramos

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