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DMCI, RLC team up for Las Piñas condo

CONSUNJI-LED DMCI Homes and Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land Corp. are teaming up for a three-building condominium project in Las Piñas City.

In a statement, the real estate arm of listed DMCI Holdings, Inc. announced its joint venture with Robinsons Land to build Sonora Garden Residences, a condominium that promises a resort-living experience within the metro.

The development will stand on a 1.45-hectare land near Alabang-Zapote road, which will have access to the Robinsons Place Las Piñas Mall.

The three buildings comprising the project are the 15-story Stellan, 40-story Cadence and 41-story Liran, which will have one-, two- and three-bedroom units with sizes ranging from 28 square meters (sq.m.) to 83.5 sq.m.

DMCI Homes said 70% of the land area for the project will be dedicated to open spaces and resort-inspired amenities.

“We envisioned Sonora Garden Residences to be a prime living destination for those who are craving for the pleasures of residing in a resort-like atmosphere and at the same time enjoying the convenience of having easy access to everything in southern Metro Manila,” DMCI Homes Assistant Vice-President for Project Development Dennis O. Yap said in the statement.

Aside from mall access, the development is located near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and several entertainment hubs, schools, government institutions and hospitals.

Within the gates of Sonora Garden Residences, residents can also enjoy indoor amenities such as an entertainment room, Sky Promenade, a game area and a fitness gym. Its outdoor facilities also include a lap pool, a kiddie pool, a leisure pool, a basketball court, a play area for kids, a pool deck, a jogging path and an open lounge.

The property is scheduled for turnover by December 2023. DMCI Homes and Robinsons Land have started pre-selling units at the 40-story Cadence building for P3.99 million and above. — Denise A. Valdez

Sangley Airport expansion to break ground mid-Feb.

CAVITE’S Sangley Airport expansion project is targeted to break ground in the middle of next month after the completion of a technical assessment, the provincial governor said.

In a phone message on Sunday, Cavite Governor Juanito Victor C. Remulla said the local government was looking at Feb. 15 to start the project and that it was scheduled to make an announcement.

He said the bid of MacroAsia Corp. and China Communications Construction Corp. (CCCC) to upgrade and expand the Sangley Airport was still undergoing a technical evaluation. The Cavite government will then make an announcement on the results of the assessment on Wednesday, he added.

Mr. Remulla was reported as saying in December last year that the provincial government targets to award the project contract by Jan. 15.

Before it was repurposed for general aviation, Sangley was formally known as Danilo Atienza Air Base. Its location on Sangley Point, a narrow peninsula which served as a naval facility during the Spanish occupation, is surrounded by navigable waters that require extensive reclamation.

Cavite’s government and its joint venture partner plan to build a $10-billion airport out of the existing small airport.

The proposed airport will have four runways — or double the two runways of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport — and a terminal that can handle 100 million passengers annually.

The project has been structured to isolate the costly reclamation portion from the airport-building component, and to ease compliance with procurement rules.

Mr. Remulla had said that the airport would be operational by 2023, and the fourth runway to be opened after six years.

In December last year, the Cavite government announced that MacroAsia-CCCC was the sole bidder for the project.

A month earlier, Mr. Remulla said that apart from MacroAsia and CCCC, the other buyers of bid documents were Metro Pacific Investments Corp.; Prime Asset Ventures, Inc.; Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions, Inc.; Langham Properties, Inc.; and Mosveldtt Law Offices. — Arjay L. Balinbin

A good shared experience

River City Girls
Sony PlayStation 4

WHEN Nekketsu koha Kunio-kun (roughly translated as “Hot Blood Tough Guy Kunio”) made its way to arcades in 1986, not even its biggest fans thought it would have legs. Even as developer Technos Japan had high hopes for it (going so far as to name its principal protagonist after company president Kunio Taki), it seemed to carry a one-off vibe. After all, it was a side-scrolling beat-em-‘up that, for the first time, employed four-direction movement and required multiple hits to dispatch enemies. It turned out to be a commercial smash, prompting the release of a port to the Nintendo Family Computer the next year and serving as the kickoff point of an immensely popular franchise.

That the Kunio-kun series is still alive and kicking three decades and three years later despite one industry challenge after another speaks volumes of both the loyalty it has engendered and the quality for which it stands. Now owned by Arc System Works, titles in the intellectual property — which has branched out into seemingly disparate genres, including a variety of sports — boast of outstanding technical and artistic polish, uniquely quirky plots and premises, and engrossing gameplay designed to generate high replay value.

River City Girls is no exception. Featuring a lush color palette and rock music consistent with its retro sensibilities, it turns the hero narrative upside down by having familiar high-school characters Misako and Kyoko do the heavy lifting vice usual leads Kunio and Riki. After learning of their boyfriends’ kidnapping, they’re spurred to action — from detention, no less, in an obvious nod to their kickass predilections — out of Nekketsu High School, and deep within River City. The result is a rollicking ride that never feels fabricated or forced. To this end cutscenes and interactions laced with humor propel the narrative and help the presentation forge ahead.

Combat mechanics are excellent, in no small measure complemented by easy-to-master and lag-free controls. Difficulty ramps up over time, but never unfairly, and with an eye towards encouraging gamers to collect experience points and currency (earned from encounters) for use by Misako and Kyoko in raising stats, learning new moves, and purchasing battle-purpose gear and equipment. And while River City Girls has a clear end (Save Kunio and Riki!), it’s far from linear; side-quests abound, and the attainment of their objectives yields accessories that provide percentage boosts to abilities and skills. It even has collectibles by way of Sabu statues and cats; finding all will net more bonuses, not to mention unlock the real final boss fight.

For all the open-world options, River City Girls isn’t overly long. In single-player mode, it should be good for around 10 hours or so. That said, it earns its keep in cooperative mode. As with every other classic beat-em-‘up title, it finds itself reaching new heights when enjoyed by two gamers who band together in beating up all the bad guys on screen. The shared experience can likewise smoothen any rough edges produced by grinding, and by the occasionally uneven pace. In any case, it proves well worth its $20.99 price tag. Highly recommended.

THE GOOD:

• Outstanding audio-visual presentation reminiscent of classic beat-‘em-ups

• Deep and engrossing non-linear gameplay

• Superb cooperative mode

• Solid addition to the Kunio-kun franchise

THE BAD:

• Uneven pace

• Grinding required

• Side-quests can lead to time-consuming backtracking

RATING: 8.5/10

POSTSCRIPT: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint picks up from where Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands left off. In fact, it’s a lot like its predecessor — a tactical shooter in an open-world setting, but bigger. In its development, Ubisoft Paris clearly set out to make it a superior version. And the hard work shows in its presentation: As gamers explore Auroa, a fictional chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, they are treated to an extremely vast and varied playing field that further underscores the importance of choice. The effort is especially significant in light of a sustained initiative to beef up the narrative; even side missions, and the conversations therein, serve to enrich the backdrop, thereby adding gravitas to the action.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint follows the exploits of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony “Nomad” Perryman. This time, he investigates military contractor Skell Technology on behalf of the United States Special Operation Forces. Soon enough, he gets to the bottom of the conflict: Disillusioned by the outcome of a mission in Bolivia, former Ghost operative Cole Walker has turned, and is bent on using cutting-edge drone technology to seek retribution for perceived sins. In his effort to set things right, he gains the assistance of former US Marine Mads Schulz, leader of the Homesteaders (island farmers forced to seek shelter in the Erehwon cave system), tech libertarian Jace Skell, Skell Tech Artificial Intelligence Program head Christina Cromwell, and mathematician Maurice Fox.

En route to meeting the ultimate objective, gamers are treated to edge-of-seat interplay. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint makes sure to stay fair while presenting a bevy of alternatives, whether in solo or multiplayer mode. Player-versus-player scenarios can be a technical challenge for online shooters; in this case, however, Ubisoft manages to rely on knowledge gained from Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands to make the experience run as smoothly as possible. Three months removed from the day it first reached store shelves, it’s a polished title that rewards patience and investment; to facilitate progress and ensure competitiveness, for instance, it imposes loot-level caps that normalize damage.

All told, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint figures to keep both loyalists and newbies to the series going back for more. Forget about the initial middling reviews and underwhelming sales figures. It runs extremely well on the PlayStation 4 Pro, and continual improvements have made it a release worthy of the Ubisoft name. (8/10)

THE LAST WORD: The Azur Lane: Crosswave microsite at ideafintl.com has been updated to include new character profiles. Initially downloadable as a mobile app in China and Japan, the three-dimensional action shooter proved to be a critical hit. It likewise met with success commercially, reaching five million players after four months in the market. Its PlayStation 4 and personal computer (via Steam) versions, developed using the Unreal engine, will be available next month.

Meanwhile, Disgaea 4 Complete+ has an update that introduces the Ranking Shop. The new patch allows gamers to connect online and complete challenges to earn points for items not available in the base game.

It’s only going to get wilder for Hong Kong dollar traders

THE HONG KONG dollar’s movement is signifying tight liquidity. — REUTERS

ONE ASSESSMENT of the Hong Kong dollar’s dramatic turnaround in recent months is that it’s a sign of things to come.

The moves reveal structural tightness in the city’s liquidity conditions, according to Morgan Stanley. Hong Kong banks have far less idle cash on hand, after the amount of funds on loan soared to the highest since 2002 relative to deposits. Throw in a diminished pool of interbank liquidity and potentially high demand for the currency, and wild moves in local short-term rates are likely to occur more often.

Volatility in the city’s interbank rates has been especially acute since mid December, stoking a nearly 0.8% gain for the Hong Kong dollar in a month — a big move for a pegged currency. While analysts initially blamed the sudden strength on seasonal demand for cash and an unwind of short positions, the Hong Kong dollar has continued to gain in January. It rose to the strongest level since early 2017 last week, only months after flirting with the weak end of its trading band with the greenback.

“The currency will likely fluctuate around 7.8 per greenback and stay mostly on the strong half of the trading range,” said Becky Liu, head of China macro strategy at Standard Chartered Bank (HK) Ltd. “Interest rates will be volatile. Any large demand for cash will result in significant moves in borrowing costs when the pool of liquidity is so small.”

Liquidity in Hong Kong’s financial system was so tight last month that banks had to resort to authorities more often for short-term cash. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) — the city’s de-facto central bank — loaned out the most money in more than a year on Dec. 31 through its discount window. Borrowing costs, known as Hibor, have edged lower since then but remained higher than the interest rates on the US dollar.

Another sign of tighter liquidity is the small aggregate balance — a gauge of interbank cash supply. It’s down 70% over the past two years, near the lowest since the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The HKMA spent most of that money defending the currency peg as the Hong Kong dollar was repeatedly pushed to 7.85 per greenback, the weakest it can technically trade.

Making matters worse is that Hong Kong lenders’ loan-to-deposit ratio soared over recent years to 90% in November, close to the highest since March 2002, according to official data. This came as local currency savings posted the smallest increase in more than a decade in 2019, as prolonged anti-government protests threw the economy into recession.

The HKMA has previously said that financial markets remain stable.

The Hong Kong dollar’s surge since December is what happens when the city’s dwindling pool of cash meets increasing demand for the currency. Mainland investors have to buy the Hong Kong dollar to fund their purchases of the city’s stocks — something they’ve been doing for 41 straight days. And after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s November share sale in the city, which temporarily locked up funds, more Chinese companies considering following suit.

Some Chinese corporates may also now prefer to hold the city’s dollars rather than the greenback for fear that trade tensions could escalate again, Standard Chartered’s Ms. Liu said. Hong Kong is seeing “structural changes” in liquidity, she added.

Tighter liquidity and wilder swings in the front-end borrowing costs will translate to the Hong Kong dollar moving “in a more volatile and less predictable pattern,” said Chun Him Cheung, a strategist at Morgan Stanley.

Demand for the Hong Kong dollar will probably increase ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays later this month, according to Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. That could briefly push the currency to the strong end of its band, he added — which would be the first time since 2016.

The market is already expecting further strength. On Friday, the Hong Kong dollar’s overnight Hibor surged the most in more than a week, while the one-month tenor climbed for the first time in eight sessions. The currency rose to the strongest level since March 2017, its fifth weekly gain. It weakened 0.01% to 7.7673 per dollar as of 9:35 a.m. Monday.

The volatility in front-end Hibor is “now structurally higher” given the smaller aggregate balance, Morgan Stanley’s Cheung wrote in a note last week. “Until the aggregate balance is replenished, volatility in short-term Hibor would likely increase with each passing quarter.” — Bloomberg

Robinsons Malls to host bonsai shows

ROBINSONS Malls has partnered with Bonsai and Suiseki Alliance of the Philippines (BSAPI) to host bonsai shows throughout the country.

In a statement, Robinsons Malls said it signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the country’s biggest bonsai club and its partners.

“This partnership aims to help promote the awareness campaign for nature conservation and sustainable environmental practices which involves tree planting events in denuded mountains, deputization of forest guardian volunteers, pro-earth livelihood programs (bonsai farming, pot making, woodcrafts, wire arts, etc); fruit seeds collection campaign; and other developmental projects,” the company said.

Robinsons Malls will host a series of bonsai and suiseki (viewing stones) shows nationwide.

BSAPI has 68 affiliated provincial, city and town bonsai clubs and five partner national clubs — Bonsai Institute of the Philippines, Philippine Alliance of Bonsai and Suiseki Clubs, Inc., BonScience (Bonsai Science Research Group), Philippine Alliance of Viewing Stones Collectors, and Pinoy Tropical Bonsai.

How does the Philippines compare with its regional peers in reducing the share of the urban population living in slums?

How does the Philippines compare with its regional peers in reducing the share of the urban population living in slums?

Over 27,000 households in Batangas have no power

THE National Electrification Administration (NEA) said Monday that 57 barangays with 27,179 households under the franchise of Batangas II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Batelec II) are without power due to ashfall from Taal Volcano.

In a statement, NEA said the affected villages are spread over the municipalities of Laurel, Talisay, and Tanauan City.

“Roads leading to those areas are already closed due to ashfalls,” Batelec II General Manager Octavious Mendoza told the NEA’s disaster risk reduction and management office in a message sent early on Monday.

The power situation in the towns of Balete and Malvar is normal, according to the electric cooperative.

“We will wait for the situation to improve before we do our ocular inspections to assess the extent of damage brought by this eruption,” Mr. Mendoza said.

Batelec I also reported that the municipalities of San Nicolas and Agoncillo were on forced shutdown as of 9 a.m. on Monday due to the volcanic activity. NEA said it was closely monitoring the accumulation of ashfall over its power distribution facilities along the Lemery-Taal-San Luis area.

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DoE) said the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) had normalized the delivery of electricity services to its customers. It also said that no power plants went on forced outage in the Luzon grid due to the eruption.

The DoE said Manila Electric Co. and the two Batangas electric cooperatives were “working to restore the electricity services to areas surrounding the Taal Lake.”

“An estimate of 150,000 customers are affected with power interruptions which will continue to go down as a result of the Taal Volcano eruption. This number will continue to go down as the linemen and the other field personnel continue to clean and restore the electricity services,” the department said.

The DoE said a state of calamity had been raised in the province of Batangas, which entails a price freeze for household liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene products in the area, which will be in effect for 15 days. — Victor V. Saulon

Taal not yet significantly affecting agriculture, Dar says

AGRICULTURE Secretary William D. Dar said that the ongoing eruption of Taal volcano is not expected to have a significant effect on the performance of the agriculture sector in 2020.

“Not significant. We can recover,” he said in a text message.

Residents living near Taal volcano started evacuating after the volcano spewed ash Sunday. The alert level is currently at 4, which is the second-highest on a scale of zero to 5. A 4-level alert signifies “intensifying unrest characterized by earthquake swarms and volcanic tremor… (and) lava dome growth and/or (increased) lava flow,” according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

The volcano’s ash cloud has traveled as far north as Central Luzon.

The National Food Authority (NFA) said the affected areas have sufficient stocks of rice.

In a statement, the agency said that Region IV has 1.93 million bags of rice in inventory; the National Capital Region (NCR) has 197,000 bags; and Region III has 1.963 million bags.

In a bulletin, the DA (Department of Agriculture) said that has instructed its Region IV offices to prepare to extend loan assistance.

The department said that the Survival and Recovery Assistance (SURE Aid) program allows for loan assistance of P25,000, without interest and payable in three years. Affected farmers and fisherfolk can also avail of higher loan amounts under the Micro and Small Agribusiness program.

BFAR National Director Eduardo B. Gongona said that the agency is still not able to assess conditions at Taal Lake due to the forced evacuation being implemented in the area.

“We are expecting na magkakaroon talaga ng (there will be a) fishkill later on due to increased acidity, turbidity and temperature,” he noted.

The Taal Lake fishery includes farmed tilapia and endangered tawilis, a delicacy unique to the area.

Tawilis is a species of freshwater sardine that migrated to the area when Taal was still accessible to the sea.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the CALABARZON region, which is composed of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon, accounted for 41.02% of inland fishery production in 2018 at 164,200 metric tons (MT).

Asked to comment, Rolando T. Dy, executive director of Center for Food and Agri-Business of University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), said that the eruption’s impact is manageable so far.

“Manageable impact. Other regions can (fill the gap) but Central Luzon and CALABARZON account for a significant (proportion) of the national total,” he said in a text message.

“(It) has effect on hogs, poultry producers and standing crops in Central Luzon and CALABARZON. Fish pens in Taal lake and similar areas will definitely be affected. Transport of agriculture goods will also suffer,” he noted.

Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Research Fellow Roehlano M. Briones concurred that the impact is not yet significant.

“So far, (its is) alert level 4, I don’t anticipate any harmful effects to agriculture,” he said in a phone interview, and added that if the alert level reaches 5 the damage could be more significant.

“It all depends if it will worsen and what kind of material is emitted and what volume,” he added.

Phivolcs describes alert level 5 as “magmatic eruption characterized by explosive production of tall ash-laden eruption columns, or by massive collapses of summit lava dome. Generation of deadly pyroclastic flows, surges and/or lateral blasts and widespread ashfall.” — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

Work starts on four Metro Iloilo flyovers worth P1.2 billion

By Emme Rose S. Santiagudo
Correspondent

ILOILO CITY — The construction of four flyovers in the Metro Iloilo area, at a total cost of P1.2 billion, starts this week with completion targets of the end of 2021, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The first to be built is the 453.70-meter Ungka II flyover, located at the junction of Sen. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Avenue and Iloilo Circumferential Road in Pavia, northeast of Iloilo City.

“For Ungka, we will be mobilizing on Monday our heavy equipment. The contractors will put up barricades, signage, and solar blinkers in the area,” DPWH-Western Visayas Assistant Director Jose Al V. Fruto said in a news conference Friday.

The second lined up is the Aganan flyover at the junction of Sen. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Avenue and Felix Gorriceta, Jr. Avenue, also in Pavia.

Funding for the two projects, at P480 million for Ungka II and P560 million for Aganan, comes from the 2019 and 2020 budgets, Mr. Fruto said.

The two other flyovers, Hibao-an and Buhang, are in Iloilo City with an initial estimated cost of P100 million and P80 million, respectively.

Mr. Fruto said the agency is finalizing costing for the two, but hopes to commence construction work within the year.

“We target to finish the construction of the four flyovers by 2021,” he said, adding that the goal is to have infrastructure that will keep up with or get ahead of economic development in Iloilo.

“It seems that we are being overtaken by the overwhelming progress of Iloilo. We must (move) with it and at least be at par with it,” he said.

The Metro Iloilo area, also referred to as Metro Iloilo-Guimaras, covers Iloilo City, the neighboring towns of Pavia, Oton, Leganes, Santa Barbara, Cabatuan and San Miguel, and the neighboring island province of Guimaras.

With the construction of the first two flyovers, Mr. Fruto said the goal is the uninterrupted flow of traffic between Iloilo City and the Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan.

He added that the projection is for an increase in the number of vehicles upon completion of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Interisland Bridge, which has received final approval from the national government.

Iloilo City’s Public Safety Transportation and Management Office head, Jeck D. Conlu, meanwhile, said a traffic management plan is ready for implementation in the areas that will be affected by the construction, particularly in Barangay Sambag in Jaro district and the intersection of Ungka.

Motorists are also advised to use alternate routes such as the Iloilo-Sta. Barbara road, and the Oton-San Miguel-Sta. Barbara road.

“We are really asking for consideration from our road users, motorists, drivers, and commuters that our projects will entail traffic congestion. It is part of the birthing pains of the project but once we finish it, we will all benefit from it,” Mr. Fruto said.

Taal expected to add more ‘urgency’ to legislation creating disaster resiliency dep’t

LEGISLATORS described as “urgent” the bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience, citing the ongoing activity at Taal Volcano.

“The occurrence of these unpredictable natural disasters make it more urgent for Congress to pass the measure creating the Department of Disaster Resilience which will be in charge of providing emergency response to natural disasters such (as) earthquakes, typhoons, floods and volcanic eruptions” Speaker Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in a press statement last Sunday.

Deputy Speaker Michael L. Romero called for a special session to tackle the disaster resilience bills and authorize additional funding for disaster response measures.

According to Mr. Romero, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund currently has P16 billion, adding that local government units have their own funds for disaster resilience.

“This Taal Volcano eruption is just the first of many disasters this year. P16 billion may not be enough until December. Many of the people affected in the Mindanao earthquakes and by the typhoons that struck Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Mindoro and Western Visayas have yet to rebuild their homes” Mr. Romero said.

The House Committees on Government Reorganization and Disaster Management approved on Nov. 20 the still-unnumbered substitute bill consolidating all measures establishing the Department of Disaster Resilience.

Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez also called on the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to expedite the use of its P221-million budget this year for capital spending on detection and early-warning equipment.

“We do not fault Phivolcs for the lack of adequate warnings on the impact of the phreatic explosion. We are aware that it is really difficult to predict the occurrence of volcanic eruptions and related disasters. But this is precisely the reason why Congress included more than P221.48-million capital outlays in the P588.12-million total budget of Phivolcs for 2020. We need to upgrade the country’s monitoring and warning program for volcanic eruption, earthquake and tsunami” Mr. Romualdez said.

Representatives Alfredo A. Garbin, Jr. of AKO Bicol Party List and Lawrence H. Fortun of Agusan Del Norte said that there should be no-build zones in the permanent danger zones around active volcanoes.

“Permanent and absolute no-build zones must be established fast as adaptation to climate and disaster hazards, as well as to protect ancestral lands, farms, and nature preserves and habitats on land and out at sea,” Mr. Fortun said.

Phivolcs raised Alert Level 4 over Taal Volcano late Sunday, the second-highest alert level on a scale of 0 to 5, signifying activity that can “progress into a highly hazardous eruption.”

Phivolcs recommended the total evacuation of Taal Volcano Island and the surrounding area up to a 14-kilometer radius from the main crater.

Mr. Fortun said the Taal alert is “a stark reminder of the urgent need for a national land and water use law with strong provisions on permanent and absolute no-build zones.”

He such a law, as well as a sustainable forest management law, will allow coastal towns and cities to adapt to higher sea levels that threaten to submerge their land.

“A sustainable forest management law is the natural tandem of a national land and water use law. Both of these our country still does not have despite the fact that the 1987 Constitution foresaw this need. After over 30 years, Congress has failed to approve such laws” Mr. Fortun said.

A national land use act has been pending in Congress for two decades, even after former President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III certified the bill as urgent in 2013.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte also asked Congress to pass a national land use law during his 2019 State of the Nation Address (SONA). — Genshen L. Espedido

China says Kaliwa Dam deal conforms to international practice

THE CHINESE EMBASSY in Manila said Monday that the Kaliwa Dam project loan agreement is consistent with international practice and Philippine law, contrary to claims that it includes terms that are onerous for the Philippines.

“The loan agreement was reached by both sides through consultation on equal and voluntary basis,” the Embassy said in a statement.

“The terms and conditions of the agreement are general and standardized requirements in accordance with both international practice and Philippine laws,” it added, noting it had the approval of the Department of Finance (DoF) and the Department of Justice, among other government agencies.

The Kaliwa Dam project, which is expected to supply 600 million liters of water per day, is funded through a $211-million loan agreement between the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and the Export-Import Bank of China. The loan deal was signed on Nov. 20, 2018.

“Once completed, the Kaliwa Dam project will fundamentally alleviate the severe challenge of the water shortage in Metro Manila,” the Embassy added.

“China will continue to work with the Philippines to ensure early implementation of the Kaliwa Dam Project for the benefit of the local people,” the Embassy added.

Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani T. Zarate had earlier pointed out “onerous” provisions contained in the agreement, citing, among others, the waiver of sovereign immunity.

The agreement also had dispute-resolution terms such as the interpretation of the contract according to Chinese law and the designation of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre as the venue for hearing disputes.

The DoF later clarified these are standard provisions on loan agreements entered into by the Philippines. The Department noted that similar terms are contained in loan deals with Japan, South Korea, and France.

Malacañang has said that President Rodrigo R. Duterte is willing to review the agreement if onerous provisions are found. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Valenzuela extends period for availing of tax relief

VALENZUELA CITY Mayor Rexlon T. Gatchalian has approved an ordinance extending the tax relief period on real property taxes by three months to the end of the first quarter.

Ordinance No. 641 amended Ordinance No. 586, S. 2019 by extending the grant of tax relief to March 31. The grant of tax relief under the previous ordinance expired on Dec. 31.

“There is a need to extend the Real Property Tax Relief to encourage bringing citizens into compliance with law rather than further burdening them with interest on their tax due,” according to the ordinance.

The ordinance was passed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Dec. 16 last year and takes effect immediately upon signing.

The Commission of Audit-Valenzuela City Field Office had recommended the extension as well as the payment of real property taxes for delinquency of five years and current tax due to encourage payment.

The ordinance deems tax relief eligibility to have been waived upon failure to settle delinquencies by March 31.

“They shall be deemed to have waived their rights under this Ordinance,” it stated. “And the total amount due including its interest from the time of their delinquencies before the amnesty shall become automatically due.”

Meanwhile, the computation of market value for undeclared properties that will be declared for the first time will be based on the existing ordinance at the time of the approval of Ordinance No. 586, S. 2019.

The Valenzuela City government first issued Ordinance No. 586, allowing delinquent taxpayers to settle property taxes including interest from 2014 up to the date of application. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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