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Beware of China giving gifts: The risk of joint development of the South China Sea resources

A few weeks after his fifth visit to China, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte claimed that Chinese President Xi Jingping offered him a controlling stake in a proposed joint energy exploration in the West Philippine Sea if the Philippines would set aside the 2016 United Nation Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) award that invalidated China’s historic claim in the South China Sea. According to President Duterte, his Chinese counter-part advised him to “Set aside the arbitral ruling — set aside your claim then allow everybody connected with the Chinese companies, they want to explore. If there is something, we will be gracious enough to give you 60%, only 40% will be theirs (Chinese companies).”

President Duterte did not say whether or not he had accepted President Xi’s seemingly sincere and generous offer for the joint exploration of the West Philippine Sea. However, Associate Justice Antonio Carpio claimed that Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr.’s timely intervention prevented President Duterte from making a “unilateral declaration” to set aside the 2016 UNCLOS award to the Philippines. According to Justice Carpio, the foreign secretary’s clarification that the Philippines was not setting aside or abandoning the award before China could accept President Duterte’s unilateral declaration setting aside the award, prevented the Philippines from being bound by the chief executive’s unilateral declaration. This incident showed the perils of absolute acceptance of China’s Trojan Horse in the South China Sea dispute — joint development of the disputed waters’ resources.

One of the most popular yet untried approaches in the resolution of the South China Sea dispute is the joint development of the South China Sea resources by the claimant states. The prospect for joint development, however, is hampered by claimant states’ distrust of each other. The claimant states’ determination (especially China) to apply force and coercion to assert their territorial claims undermines any prospect for fostering trust and more cooperation in resource sharing. This situation is further complicated by China’s heavy-handedness in enforcing its territorial claims over the South China Sea on its terms. As a result, while all parties in the dispute agree on cooperative development in principle, they fail to translate it broadly in practice.

It is frequently suggested that claimant states put aside their territorial claims and instead, engage in the exploration and exploitation of oil, gas, hydrocarbon, and fishery resources. Interestingly, however, there has been no progress in this area because the other claimant states are also wary of China’s formula for joint development based on the late Deng Xiaoping’s exhortation: “Sovereignty is ours, set aside disputes, pursue joint development.” China’s offer of joint development includes a caveat — “that the other claimant state would have to accept China’s indisputable claim on the South China Sea even before the negotiation for a joint development will take place.”

Another issue against joint development is that China has used it as part of its Salami tactic against the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This tactic involves offering each claimant state a joint development venture as a means of resolving the South China Sea dispute. China was able to apply this tactic when it convinced the Philippines and Vietnam to join a Joint Maritime Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) in the South China Sea.

However, by joining the JMSU, the Philippines and Vietnam became complicit in China’s tactic for two reasons: 1.) the agreement undercuts the position of two ASEAN member states, Malaysia and Brunei, since it tacitly lends validity to China’s extreme claims to islands and maritime space in the South China Sea; and 2.) by signing a trilateral deal, the Philippines and Vietnam derogated the united front that ASEAN had successfully formed to deal with China in the South China Sea dispute in the aftermath of the Mischief Reef Incident in the mid-1990s.

NOT A BAD IDEA
Joint development of resources in a disputed area is not a bad idea. However, joint exploration of natural resources in the South China Sea should not be seen as a means to circumvent the territorial disputes or as a prerequisite for cooperative political relations among the claimant states. Rather, it should be considered as the result of improving relations among the disputing states that can further enhance reconciliation among them. Claimant states and private companies expect the territorial dispute to be resolved first, before starting oil exploration and drilling operations to prevent harassment or armed confrontation.

Any progress towards any cooperative activities in the disputed waters will only occur if China makes unilateral accommodation to the other claimant states by accepting the July 12, 2016 UNCLOS award to the Philippines. This will be followed by reciprocal restraint by the small claimant states that will involve accepting China’s growing naval presence in Southeast Asian waters and the holding of confidence-building measures between their respective navies and the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy. These developments will set clear maritime demarcations, and generate norms on joint resource exploration and development.

This will also convince external powers to limit the deployment and operations of their naval forces since the littoral states have learned to cooperate in managing their disputes in the South China Sea.

Cooperative joint development ventures involve domestic bureaucracies, private companies, ordinary citizens, and other interest groups in the process of conflict resolution. Private companies will seize the opportunity to cooperate by increasing trade and investments that will foster integration among the disputing states’ civil societies as their citizens interact with their counterparts from the other claimant states through business contacts, tourism, scientific, and cultural links, and academic exchanges. Joint development ventures in the South China Sea will create powerful constituencies among the claimant states that will have vested interests in peace and will lobby within their countries for policies of reciprocal restraint and economic integration between China and the other claimant states.

 

Dr. Renato Cruz De Castro is a Trustee and Convenor of the National Security and East Asian Affairs Program, Stratbase ADR Institute.

Giving our farmers the ‘credit’ due them

When a farmer needs credit, and whose only asset is the land under patent which he tills, where does he go?

Previously, landowners were prohibited under CA (Commonwealth Act) No. 141 from selling or mortgaging their lands for the first five years from the grant of free patent. These lands could not also be held liable for the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the expiration of the period. And, even if sold beyond the five-year period, the landowner, his widow, or legal heirs, were still granted by law the right to redeem or repurchase the same within five years from the date of sale.

The public policy objective of these free patent restrictions is sound, that is, to provide a home and decent living to small independent landowners, and to give them every chance to preserve for themselves and their families the land that the State had graciously given them as a reward for their labor in cultivating the same.

These restrictions, however, unduly limit our farmers’ access to credit, as their lands, which are almost always their only assets, cannot be used as collateral for loans. This effectively limits their opportunity to create capital and make investments to modernize and increase farm productivity. In fact, despite the lapse of the five-year prohibitory period, lands under patent remain unattractive to banking institutions, considering the landowner’s right of redemption for another five years, which conflicts with banks’ interest at quickly disposing of their hard assets to maintain their solvency and liquidity.

With the passage of RA No. 11231 or the Agricultural Free Patent Reform Act, signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Feb. 22, lands acquired under a free patent are no longer subject to the restrictions previously imposed under CA No. 141. Thus, free patents shall now be considered as titles in fee simple, granting landowners full and unrestricted ownership rights. Further, free patents issued before the effectivity of RA No. 11231 also benefit from the law, as it applies retroactively, such that all restrictions previously imposed shall be removed and immediately lifted, but without prejudice to the right of redemption for transactions made in good faith prior to the law’s effectivity.

Indeed, for decades, these lands had been “dead capital,” miring our farmers into deeper poverty, and hindering the country’s economic growth in the process. But with this new law, lands covered by free patents become immediately tradeable and bankable, granting farmers ready access to credit which they can use for whatever purpose they deem best for their lands, consistent with the law’s declared policy to allow efficient and effective utilization of said lands in order to contribute to wealth creation, entrepreneurship, and economic development.

Truly, this law not only breathes life into dead capital, but also empowers our farmers, promotes agricultural entrepreneurship, alleviates poverty, and boosts development in the agricultural sector, all while spurring the country’s economic growth.

But while this law brings so much promise, we can only hope that our farmers will not simply barter away their lands for easy cash, forcing them back where they originally were — without lands and homes.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. This article is for general informational and educational purposes, and not offered as, and does not constitute, legal advice or legal opinion.

 

Tanya D. Ibañez is an Associate of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALAW), Cebu Branch.

(6332) 231-4223

tdibanez@accralaw.com

Gone malling

By Tony Samson

THE REPLY, “malling,” to the question on what one is planning to do on a weekend needs no elaboration. There is no follow-up question, “what will you do there?” The mall has become a destination as a leisure activity. Maybe the only obligatory part which can serve as a purpose for going to that air-conditioned symbol of consumerism (buying things you don’t really need) is dining. Here the choices need to be discussed as if embarking on a trip — do you feel like sushi? It is after this lunch that malling really starts.

There is a reason why designers of a mall place the escalators not necessarily in one column going through the different floors. That will be too convenient. Instead, the escalators move randomly from one side to the other, the better for the consumer to be exposed to more shop windows and feel an itch in the pocket where the credit cards are kept. The layout of malls and shops has become a science.

Paco Underhill in his three books on the topic (like Call of the Mall in 2004) describes himself as a “retail anthropologist” and treats shoppers as a distinct tribe. His observations in the early aughts however refer to on-site shoppers, before the rise of e-commerce changed consumer behavior altogether. His observations are still worth noting, especially for our environment where e-commerce is only in single digits. And even those, also shop at malls.

Underhill uses trackers who inconspicuously trail shoppers to observe and mark down behavior from entrance to exit. These firsthand observations are supplemented by hidden cameras throughout a store — but not in the fitting rooms. The research is intended to increase store sales for clients and improve their conversion ratio from browser (window shopping) to shopper (swiping a card at the cashier).

Underhill makes some interesting observations on the American consumer.

Men who fit clothes are more likely to buy them (65%) than women who do the same (25%). Women have not yet made a purchasing decision when they bring clothes to the fitting room. They want to check how the color suits them and how they look in this design. (Does the frilly overlay cover the bulges?) Men just want to check if the pants fit, with all the buttons secured, and the ability to breathe unhampered.

Women with other women stay in the shop longer (eight minutes and 15 seconds) than women with men (four minutes and 41 seconds). It’s not true that only women nag. Men even send text messages (Have you fainted in there?) and dropped calls to hurry up.

Stores then need to distract the male companions from looking at their watches (or, if wandering somewhere else to meet up later, sending text messages — I’m already here at the watch shop) and leave the wife alone so she can buy more. What does he do after two cups of coffee and one chocolate chip cookie?

Maybe our retail anthropologist can learn a few tricks from the local mall designers. Seating areas that only provide relief and no commercial payout have been reduced, if not abolished. One can sit at the food court and look like he is waiting for a partner to bring in the tray of burgers, or at the rim of a fountain in the center of the atrium, beyond the water’s spray radius.

Chairs are generally provided only for diners and those who are fitting shoes to buy. They serve a commercial purpose. Non-revenue seating tends to attract nappers and those waiting for wives to finish fitting clothes. The free rocking chairs (a total of four) in some malls are always occupied.

Walking the mall, even one that is too familiar from being visited religiously each week, is a form of exercise, not just to raise stamina and reduce weight but to test willpower struggling with bank balances.

But has it also become a favorite place for walking the dogs? That’s an unforeseen development by the retail architects, as well as the toilet designs that now need to accommodate political statements.

Still, malling is an accepted leisure activity in an economy where consumption is over 70% of GDP. Clearly, not all are just window shopping. Those inward remittances are quickly put to work.

 

Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda.

ar.samson@yahoo.com

Mind your senses, mold your personality

By Raju Mandhyan

PEOPLE TALK about changing character traits by changing habits. Habits change by changing daily behavior.

How does behavior change?

Yes, of course changes by choice and repeated practice. Repeated practice of managing the five senses. You would like to give up smoking, you need to manage and control your sense of smell and taste. If you have to lessen your sugar consumption, then you need to control the sense of taste. You would like lessen your obsession towards another person, you need to fine tune your kinesthetic senses. You would like to become a better thinker, a better artist, and a leader then you need to manage and tune all your five senses in a disciplined and a consistent manner.

In his classic book, How to Think like Leonardo Da Vinci, Michael Gelb talks about Artescienza — the art and science of improving the quality of our thinking. Gelb suggests we improve vision by studying art, landscapes and beautiful sights. He recommends listening to classical music, sounds of nature, inspiring speeches and creative stories to sharpen our sense of hearing and our minds. To improve our sense of taste, smell, and touch, he encourages activities that alternatingly soothe and stretch these senses, thus strengthening and sharpening them.

Stronger and sharper senses improve our ability to think and we become more aware and sensitive to other people and to our surroundings; therefore, improving our ability to better impact our worlds.

Most successful people know this at an intuitive and cognitive level. Perhaps they cannot explain what they do but they are living examples of this acute awareness and practice.

Here are five practices to enhance your sensory acuities, heighten your awareness and improve your ability to live in the moment;

• Start with a clean state of mind. If any recent visual, auditory, or kinesthetic experience is on your mind — perhaps an unappealing sight you have just witnessed, a toxic conversation still buzzing in the back of your mind, or the scent of pungent food — then consciously let go of the experience. Consciously make an effort to erase those experiences from your mind.

• Enhance visual acuity. Whenever you see an object, ponder a bit more on its shape, size, and color. Think of it as visually studying something in detail. You can also practice this when observing human facial expressions. Increasing visual acuity towards people’s expressions gives us insights into their emotional states.

• Enhance auditory acuity. Listen to music and distinguish the sounds of the different instruments involved. Make an effort to mentally dissect the high notes and the low notes of the piece. Do this when listening to another person. Listen for pitch, power, percussion, pauses, and the parlance. It will help you better discern messages they may not be actually verbalizing.

• Enhance your kinesthetic acuity. When for example, you carry a puppy; feel his weight, his fur, his paws, his bones, and all the features that make up a puppy. Feel his body temperature, the moisture or the coarseness of his fur. When with others, take note of their presence, skin-tone, scent, and how all this impacts your feelings and opinions about this person. You might have heard the statement, “there’s something fishy about him.” It doesn’t mean he smells like a fish. It means his presence, behavior, and communication gives you an uneasy, suspicious feeling.

• Integrate the data gathered from all sensory inputs when dealing with others. When talking to strangers, notice how their appearance and the quality of their voice make an impact on you. Observe, carefully and precisely, how this affects your emotions. Watch and feel your emotions objectively. Tally all the data from all these sources, study and sense them before making judgmental and hasty decisions about people.

Enhancing sensory acuity is, firstly, about becoming conscious of all the inputs and noting their impact on our three brains (head, heart, and guts), and secondly, about cognitively segregating the useful from the non-useful data. Sensory acuity can store up good knowledge and wisdom in the triune brain. High quality cognitive knowledge and empathetic wisdom will turn us into a better version of ourselves and a person of subtle influence and power.

Mind your senses, mind your behavior. Mind your behavior, mind your habits and mold a personality that you, yourself can look up to.

 

Raju Mandhyan author, coach and facilitator

www.mandhyan.com

Freed murderers and rapists face re-arrest without warrant

POLICE will re-arrest without a warrant more than 1,000 felons who were illegally released for good conduct if they fail to surrender by Sept. 19, according to the Justice department.

The prisoners, who were convicted of various heinous crimes, are effectively evading sentence, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said at a briefing yesterday.

“Each minute, each hour, each day that you refuse to turn yourselves in is a commission — it’s a continuing commission of an offense,” he said. “And for that reason law enforcement agencies may arrest you without a warrant.”

Mr. Guevarra issued the statement during the signing of the revised rules implementing the law on the early release of inmates for good conduct. The law disqualifies convicts of heinous crimes from early release, but the prisoners were freed in the absence of a counterpart provision in the old implementing rules.

Under the new rules, all recidivists, escapees, habitual delinquents and convicts of heinous crimes are excluded from the program. Heinous crimes include murder, rape, destructive arson, parricide, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, and violations of certain provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte fired Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor E. Faeldon after he allowed the illegal release of the felons. The president also ordered an investigation of prison officials by the Ombudsman for corruption.

The Ombudsman has ordered the suspension of about 30 jail officials in connection with the botched release of ineligible prisoners.

Mr. Faeldon headed the Bureau of Customs but was forced to resign at the height of a controversy involving the shipment of billions of pesos worth of crystal meth from China. He was reappointed to the Office of Civil Defense before heading the BuCor in 2018.

Opposition Senator Franklin M. Drilon earlier said Mr. Faeldon was not only incompetent but also lied under oath to evade accountability for the planned early release of ex-Calauan Mayor Antonio L. Sanchez.

The release of the former politician, who was sentenced to seven life terms in 1995 for the rape and murder of two University of the Philippines students in 1993, was suspended after a public outcry and a Senate investigation of the plan.

Mr. Guevarra has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to probe the reported sale of hospital passes to inmates at the Bureau of Corrections.

The Justice chief had also ordered a separate probe of corruption at the bureau after reports that parole grants have become for sale.

During a Senate hearing early this month, a witness accused some prison officials of promising families of convicts to release them earlier for a fee. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Chongqing seeks sisterhood deal with Davao

ANOTHER Chinese city has proposed a sisterhood agreement with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s hometown of Davao City, which the latter expects to spur investments from China.

The planned sisterhood deal with Chongqing, a major manufacturing hub in China, may attract Chinese manufacturers who want to expand their markets, April Marie C. Dayap, head of the Davao City Investment Promotion Center, said at the weekend.

Chongqing is known for car manufacturing and other technology products such as mobile phones.

Chen Min’Er, Communist Party secretary of Chongqing, an interior region governed as a municipality, headed the delegation of Chinese politicians and traders who visited Mr. Duterte’s hometown.

“We are ready to accept them and look for possibilities for more cooperation,” Ms. Dayap said. “This is for the mutual benefit of Davao and Chongqing.”

Davao will also invite the Chinese to invest in tourism and agriculture, she said.

The city government will push for direct flights between Davao and Chongqing once the sisterhood deal is signed, Ms. Dayap said. Davao City has sisterhood deals with Jinjiang and Nanning. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

Mindanao agency pushes organic rice

THE Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) will partner with a seed company and a farmers’ cooperative to push a shift to organic premium rice production.

In a statement, the agency cited the benefits of organic brown and black rice and premium quality rice varieties for export.

MinDA Chairman Emmanuel F. Piñol wants to support farmers who have been affected by declining local prices due to the Rice Liberalization Law.

Mr. Piñol earlier said one way to mitigate the impact of low rice prices is for farmers to find alternatives to increase their income such as growing premium varieties that foreign markets are looking for.

Mr. Piñol earlier this month went to Papua New Guinea to sign a memorandum of understanding for agricultural cooperation between Mindanao and the country, which would pave the way for more premium rice exports from the Philippines.

Under the deal, MinDA will help Mindanao rice farmers in exporting about 5,000 metric tons of rice. Local farmers will also help their counterparts develop their agricultural sector.

MinDA is also looking at other markets such as the US and Middle East for its premium rice varieties. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

Green group asks salary for forest rangers

AN environmental group wants Davao City to absorb as employees farmers who volunteer as forest rangers and pay them with a monthly salary instead of just an honorarium.

Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) said guarding forests is an important job that few people are willing to do, the group said. So-called “Bantay Bukid” volunteers are a critical human resource needed to protect the city’s natural resources, it added.

The P2,500 allowance that volunteers get monthly is not enough, IDIS Executive Director Chinkee P. Golle said in an interview.

Seventy-one volunteers conducted biodiversity monitoring in the first quarter, resulting in an increased number of species recorded from a year earlier.

Forest rangers planted more than 800 seedlings in the riverbanks and monitored previously planted areas to replace seedling mortality due to El Niño. They also collected as many as 110 kilos of garbage from the rivers, according to the environmental group. — Maya M. Padillo

Nationwide round-up

New BuCor chief named

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has designated Gerald Quitaleg Bantag as the new director-general of the Bureau of Corrections, replacing fired former prison chief Nicanor E. Faeldon, Malacañang said yesterday.

Mr. Bantag’s designation was “based on his professional competence and honesty,” presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said.

“The Palace is behind the President’s decision and is confident that DG Bantag will continue the administration’s campaign against corruption as he spearheads reform initiatives in the Bureau,” he said. — ALB

Duterte meets with Chinese leaders

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte met with officials of the Communist Party of China in a courtesy call at the presidential palace on Monday, Malacañang said.

The president received Chongqing party chief Chen Min’Er, a protégé of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and other members of the party, the palace said in a statement late Monday.

“The President welcomed Chen and the CPC members in a tête-à-tête at the Palace’s music room,” it said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Court rejects Yasay plea

THE Court of Appeals (CA) denied the motion for reconsideration of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr. seeking to lift the arrest warrant issued against him for violation of banking laws.

In a three-page resolution, the court said Mr. Yasay should wait for a Manila regional trial court’s decision on a similar motion that he filed. That court had ordered his arrest on March 8.

“The premature invocation of the intervention of the court while said motions are still unresolved is fatal to the instant petition,” the appellate court said.

Police arrested Mr. Yasay on Aug. 22 based on a charge that he conspired with five other officials of the shuttered Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank to get an anomalous loan worth P350 million for a company. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

DoH to finish universal health care rules

THE Department of Health will finish the guidelines on universal health care next month even if it has insufficient funds to fully enforce the program next year, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said at a Senate hearing yesterday.

The law mandates that all Filipinos become members of the state-owned Philippine Health Insurance Corp. It was enacted on Feb. 20 and the agency was given six months to complete the implementing rules.

Mr. Duque said the DoH’s proposed budget of P160 billion for next year would not be enough, noting that enforcing universal health care would cost about P287 billion. — Gillian M. Cortez

TWG on OFW dep’t to be formed

SPEAKER Alan Peter S. Cayetano on Tuesday said that there is a proposal to form a joint technical working group by both chambers of Congress in the creation of a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers.

Mr. Cayetano said he met with Senate officials on Monday. He expects the bill to be passed on final reading by December.

AFP defends telecom deal

THE Armed Forces of the Philippines said it had not bypassed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in the signing of an agreement allowing a China-linked local telecommunication company to set up towers inside military camps.

“The MOAs have to be approved by the secretary of defense but before the secretary of the defense signs the MOA, I have to sign it,” AFP Chief of Staff General Benjamin Madrigal told reporters yesterday.

He said that Mr. Lorenzana can revoke the deal with Mislatel consortium’s Dito Telecommunity Corp. (DTC) if needed. Mr. Lorenzana earlier said that he was traveling when the deal between AFP and Dito was signed. — MWCP

Duterte meets with Chinese Maoist leaders

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte met with officials of the Communist Party of China in a courtesy call at the presidential palace on Monday, Malacañang said.

The president received Chongqing party chief Chen Min’Er, a protégé of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and other members of the party, the palace said in a statement late Monday.

“The President welcomed Chen and the CPC members in a tête-à-tête at the Palace’s music room,” it said.

Mr. Chen is seen as a “rising political star” in China, and he became the Communist Party Secretary of Chongqing two years ago and joined the 25-member Politburo, the CPC’s top decision-making body, according to the palace.

Chongqing is one of China’s leading cities and is typically lead by a party secretary from the Chinese Politburo, it said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Court rejects Yasay plea

THE Court of Appeals (CA) denied the motion for reconsideration of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr. seeking to lift the arrest warrant issued against him for violation of banking laws.

In a three-page resolution, the court said Mr. Yasay should wait for a Manila regional trial court’s decision on a similar motion that he filed. That court had ordered his arrest on March 8.

“The premature invocation of the intervention of the court while said motions are still unresolved is fatal to the instant petition,” the appellate court said.

Police arrested Mr. Yasay on Aug. 22 based on a charge that he conspired with five other officials of the shuttered Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank to get an anomalous loan worth P350 million for a company, according to a police report. He posted a P300,000 bail the next day. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

DoH to finish universal health care rules

THE Department of Health will finish the guidelines on universal health care next month even if it has insufficient funds to fully enforce the program next year, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said at a Senate hearing yesterday.

The law mandates that all Filipinos become members of the state-owned Philippine Health Insurance Corp. It was enacted on Feb. 20 and the agency was given six months to complete the implementing rules.

Mr. Duque said the DoH’s proposed budget of P160 billion for next year would not be enough, noting that enforcing universal health care would cost about P287 billion. — Gillian M. Cortez

TWG on OFW dep’t to be formed

SPEAKER Alan Peter S. Cayetano on Tuesday said that there is a proposal to form a joint technical working group by both chambers of Congress in the creation of a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers.

Mr. Cayetano said he met with Senate officials on Monday. He expects the bill to be passed on final reading by December.

AFP defends telecom deal

THE Armed Forces of the Philippines said it had not bypassed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in the signing of an agreement allowing a China-linked local telecommunication company to set up towers inside military camps.

“The MOAs have to be approved by the secretary of defense but before the secretary of the defense signs the MOA, I have to sign it,” AFP Chief of Staff General Benjamin Madrigal told reporters yesterday.

He said that Mr. Lorenzana can revoke the deal with Mislatel consortium’s Dito Telecommunity Corp. (DTC) if needed.

Mr. Lorenzana earlier said that he was traveling when the deal between AFP and Dito was signed. — MWCP

New BuCor chief named

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has appointed Gerald Quitaleg Bantag as the new director-general of the Bureau of Corrections, replacing fired former prison chief Nicanor E. Faeldon, Malacañang said yesterday.

Mr. Bantag’s appointment was “based on his professional competence and honesty,” presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said

“The Palace is behind the President’s decision and is confident that DG Bantag will continue the administration’s campaign against corruption as he spearheads reform initiatives in the Bureau,” he said. — ALB

NHA resettlement subsidy out

THE Budget department has released P212.9 million worth of subsidy to the National Housing Authority (NHA) for its resettlement program.

“The NHA resettlement program provides new settlements for families occupying danger areas such as waterways/riverbanks, railroad tracks, sidewalks, etc., and those displaced from sites earmarked for government infrastructure projects,” it said in a statement.

The agency also released P55.9 million for the program last July 30. — BML

Peso inches higher on US-Japan deal, FOMC

THE PESO rose slightly on Tuesday amid optimism on the United States and Japan’s trade pact and ahead of the policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve.

The local unit ended at P52.26 against the greenback on Tuesday, appreciating by two centavos from its P52.28-to-a-dollar close on Monday.

The peso opened at P52.33 versus the dollar. It traded sideways, with its weakest point recorded at P52.395, while its intraday best was at P52.23 against the greenback.

Dollars traded on Tuesday grew to $1.140 billion against the $1.325 billion seen on Monday.

“The peso’s performance could be attributed to the optimism arising from the US-Japan initial agreement on tariffs. The market is also preparing for the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) which would trigger a somehow weaker dollar,” one trader said, noting the market is positive that the Fed will cut rates.

Another trader said the FOMC meeting also boosted the peso.

“Market participants anticipate dovish guidance from the US Federal Reserve policy meeting this week,” the trader said.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday Washington had struck trade agreements with Tokyo that could be implemented without congressional approval, but stopped short of assuring Japan that new tariffs would not be slapped on vital auto exports.

In a letter to the US Congress released by the White House, Mr. Trump said that he intends to enter into the agreements on tariff barriers and digital trade “in the coming weeks” and was notifying lawmakers that the tariff deal would be made under a trade law provision allowing the US president to make reciprocal tariff reductions by proclamation.

On a critical issue to Japan, Mr. Trump’s announcement left unclear whether he has agreed not to impose threatened national security tariffs on Japanese vehicles and auto parts. Avoiding the “Section 232” tariffs of up to 25% was a major motivating factor for Tokyo in negotiating with Washington on trade.

“At the finishing stage, we plan to reconfirm that 232 won’t be imposed,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan’s lead negotiator, told a regular news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Taro Aso said the deal won’t contain any provision on currencies — another worry for Tokyo. Japan wants to avoid any agreement hindering its ability to intervene in the foreign-exchange markets in the event of a spike in the yen, or to expand the Bank of Japan’s massive monetary stimulus.

For today, the first trader expects the peso to move at around P52.00 to P52.35 against the dollar.

“The local currency might appreciate further prior to the Fed policy meeting and on expectations that the August Eurozone inflation reports are expected to remain firm from earlier estimates. Exchange rates might move within the P51.15 and P51.35 range,” the second trader said. — L.W.T. Noble with Reuters

Shares yield to fear over Saudi attack’s impact

LOCAL SHARES fell on Tuesday, as the attack on key Saudi oil facilities last Saturday is now expected to prod Philippine inflation through higher oil prices.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged 0.81% or 64.67 points to close at 7,932.23, ending back-to-back gains since Friday. The broader all shares index similarly lost 0.59% or 28.85 points to finish at 4,794.20.

“Geopolitical risks related to the recent attack on Saudi Aramco, which also led to US markets closing in the red last night, prevented the PSEi from inching past the 8,000 mark today,” Papa Securities Corp. Sales Associate Gabriel Jose F. Perez said in an e-mail.

Two major oil facilities of Saudi Arabian firm Aramco were attacked on Saturday morning, halving output of the world’s biggest oil producer and knocking out about 5.7 million barrels a day or five percent of global output.

Oil prices have since soared to their highest levels in more than three decades.

“The Saudi attacks have resulted in a drastic drop in oil supply and consequently pushed oil prices up. As a heavy importer of oil, the Philippines will have to bear the brunt of these higher prices which will push our CPI (consumer price index) up,” PNB Securities, Inc. President Manuel Antonio G. Lisbona said via text.

Bloomberg reported that Aramco believes less than half of the plant’s capacity can be restored quickly, but analysts say full resumption could be “weeks or even months away.”

The PSEi joined overall negativity abroad in the wake of the Saudi attacks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite index lost 0.52%, 0.31% and 0.28%, respectively.

In Asia, the Shanghai SE Composite, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and India’s S&P BSE Sensex index gave up 1.74%, 1.23% and 1.57%, respectively.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix indices, however, climbed 0.06% and 0.29%, respectively, while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.01%.

Back home, the industrial counter was the lone sectoral index that gained, adding 0.08% or 9.72 points to close 11,061.65.

The rest declined, led by financials which dumped 2.27% or 41.7 points to 1,787.87. Mining and oil dropped 2.17% or 208.23 points to 9,385.40, services went down 0.94% or 15.37 points to 1,606.90, holding firms shed 0.64% or 51.33 points to 7,855.57, while property slipped 0.29% or 12.06 points to 4,056.10.

Turnover remained thin at 720.068 million shares worth P5.21 billion, compared to the previous session’s 942.23 million worth P4.97 billion.

Stocks that lost trumped those that gained 126 to 73, while 45 names ended flat. Foreign investors turned net sellers at P214.15 million, against Monday’s net purchases of P130.40 million.

Fourteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in negative territory, including Phinma Energy, Corp. (down 6.69%), Nickel Asia Corp. (down 4.43%) and BDO Unibank, Inc. (down 3.51%). — Arra B. Francia

UST Growling Tigers go for back-to-back wins anew

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

HAD THEIR University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 82 win streak halted in two games early on, the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers seek to win back-to-back games anew when they return to action today at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Currently second-running in the race with a 3-1 record, the Tigers are coming off a gutsy 87-74 overtime victory over the National University Bulldogs last time around and are looking to build on it when they face off with the Adamson Soaring Falcons in the scheduled 12:30 p.m. contest.

Also seeing action today are the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons (2-1) against NU (0-3) at 10:30 a.m. and Far Eastern University Tamaraws (1-2) versus the De La Salle Green Archers (1-2) at 4 p.m.

In its last game, UST had a dogfight with NU, eventually outlasting the latter in extra period to swing back to winning in the ongoing season of the UAAP.

Rookie sensation Rhenz Abando exploded for the Tigers in the dying seconds of regulation and in OT, including draining two triples in extra time to help his team build enough cushion on their way to the hard-earned victory.

The high-flying forward finished with 21 points, six rebounds and two assists in the win.

Soulemane Chabi Yo top-scored for UST with 23 points to go along with 20 rebounds and four assists while Sherwin Concepcion had 13 points and six boards.

Making a good account of themselves in four games so far in the season, UST coach Aldin Ayo said he is happy with where they are right now but underscored the need for them to continue working and improving.

“We are still in the learning process. We still have to learn to a lot of things to be where we want to be,” said Mr. Ayo, who is in his second year of coaching the Tigers.

Against Adamson, Mr. Ayo said they are expecting a grind of a match since the Falcons are very competitive.

“They may have changed players but it is the same tough Adamson team with their system in place. They would continue to compete,” the UST coach said.

On the part of Adamson, the team is looking to bounce back after finishing on the raw end of an 83-82 overtime match against UP on Sept. 15.

The Falcons had their chances to book their third straight win in the season but just could not hold off a ferocious charge back by the Maroons in overtime to slump to the defeat.

Val Chauca led Adamson with 21 markers while AP Manlapaz added 17 points in a losing cause.

WARRIORS’ SUERTE
Meanwhile, University of the East one-and-done Rey Suerte is the UAAP player of the week for stepping up big for the Red Warriors in their 89-88 breakthrough win over La Salle on Sept. 14.

Suerte, a three-time champion and two-time most valuable player back in Cebu while playing for the University of the Visayas, dropped a UAAP career-high 31 points, including what turned out to be the game-winning triple in the dying seconds of the match.

In winning the weekly award, handed out by media covering the league, Suerte bested UST’s Abando and Chabi Yo, Ateneo’s Angelo Kouame and UP’s Kobe Paras.

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