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Batangas danger zone not eligible for funds to repair damaged homes

BATANGAS will deny home repair funding support for all people residing within the Taal Volcano permanent danger zone, Governor Hermilando I. Mandanas said Thursday.

Mr. Mandanas was speaking at a briefing streamed on social media. He was discussing the forms of aid available, including home repair funds, when he made an exception of residents within the volcano’s danger zone.

“Bibigyan natin hindi lamang pagkain, bibigyan pa rin natin ng cash, para mabilis ang pag re-repair ng bahay. Bibigyan lang natin ng pang repair eh syempre yung mga taong outside of the permanent danger zone. Pag namigay tayo ng cash para sa pagpapagawa ng kanilang bahay ano, ay pag pumutok yan, eh di sira na ulit (We will give out food and cash for speedy home repairs. Of course we will give out home-repair money to those outside the permanent danger zone. If we give out cash for home repairs and the volcano erupts, then these homes will be wrecked again),” Mr. Mandanas said.

Taal’s permanent danger zone includes the entire Volcano Island, according to the website of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

More than 124,000 families in Batangas, Quezon, Laguna and Cavite were affected by the Taal Volcano’s ejection of ash starting Jan. 12, disaster managers said in their daily report.

About 19,000 families are taking temporary shelter in 415 evacuation centers while 60,538 are being served outside these centers, they said.

Taal Volcano continues to emit “white to dirty white steam-laden plumes” which rose as high as 500 meters, Phivolcs said in its 8 a.m. update Thursday.

Sulfur dioxide emissions are currently at levels which are “below instrumental detection.”

Phivolcs also recorded 763 earthquakes since the Jan. 12 eruption, 177 of which were measured at intensities of between 1 and 5.

Taal was downgraded to Alert Level 3 on Jan. 26, signifying a “decreased tendency towards hazardous eruption.” The previous alert level was 4, indicating the possibility of an imminent hazardous eruption.

The Philippine National Police said it is winding down its emergency deployments to the Taal region on President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s orders.

The PNP’s spokesman, Bernard M. Banac, a Brigadier General, said Wednesday in a briefing streamed on social media: “Sila ngayon ay nakabalik na sa ating headquarters dito sa Kampo Krame (The deployed personnel have returned to the Camp Crame headquarters).”

He said the deployed PNP personnel were from the Reactionary Standby Support Force (RSSF), and will undergo medical examination for lung conditions. — Genshen L. Espedido

Measure calls for DA/DTI livelihood plan for Taal

A MEASURE pending in the Senate Committee on Local Government will require the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to prepare livelihood plans for those affected by the Taal volcanic eruption.

Senator Francis N. Tolentino said in a briefing that among the Committee’s recommendations would be for the “DTI and the DA to prepare a more sustainable livelihood plan.”

The Committee was tackling Senate Resolution No. 297, which called on government agencies to develop a sustainable and Taal Volcano Resettlement and Rehabilitation Program.

The measure will also appoint the Department of Housing and Urban Development as the lead agency and put in place mechanism that will allow participation of the private sector.

Mr. Tolentino said the panel will recommend a consultative role for local government units (LGUs), particularly in terms of resettlement.

“Ang nakikita ko d’yan bukod sa option na magkaroon ng permanent resettlement area, bigyan din ng option ’yung LGU na dalhin dun sa safe na lugar sa kanila (Apart from the option to create permanent resettlement areas, we need to give the LGU the option to bring people to safe places),” he said.

“‘Yung gagastusin na gagamitin dun sa pagpapatayo ng resettlement area… tustusin dun sa sariling munisipyo (the municipality will fund the cost of building a resettlement area).”

He added the Committee may also consider allowing residents within the danger zone to lease or sell their property. “Ganun na nga siguro ang mangyayari, magkakaroon sila ng just compensation kung aalisin mo sila doon (It will have the effect of compensating them if they are permanently evacuated).” — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Government softens on PPPs as private sector angles for bigger role

By Beatrice M. Laforga
Reporter

MIDWAY through the government’s term, the list of key infrastructure flagship programs has been revised, signalling a rethinking of priorities, not the least of which is a politically-driven decision to complete a significant number of works by the time the President steps down in 2022.

The revision also features more public-private partnerships (PPPs), which were initially shunned as too slow off the bat, perhaps an acknowledgement that the private sector must have a bigger role or cannot be held back from proposing projects the government did not conceive of. Or perhaps the government is running up against the limits of projects it can finance with aid or its newfound fiscal strength.

The revision of the flagship list in October raised questions and drew out opposition allegations that as few as nine key projects are under way. The revamp of the list sounds like a good occasion to take stock of a government that staked its reputation on closing the infrastructure gap.

In 2016, President Rodrigo R. Duterte promised a “golden age of infrastructure” by unveiling an P8-trillion “Build, Build, Build” program, with 75 big-ticket works designated flagship projects.

The initial list has since been upgraded to 100 projects, with some dropped for being unworkable and others added to give the government a better completion average by 2022.

In a letter sent to Representative Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda of the second district of Albay, Vivencio B. Dizon, the presidential adviser for flagship infrastructure projects, said that projects deemed unfeasible were put on hold after they failed to satisfy the economic internal rate of return (EIRR) criteria prescribed by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Mr. Dizon, who is also the president and CEO of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), said that the “evolving list” will continue to be updated as more projects are rolled out and evaluated for various parts of the country, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao.

NEDA Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia has assured that the process of reviewing and updating project lists is normal.

In an interview, Mr. Pernia said all plans, including those that involve infrastructure development, will have to be reviewed from time to time and are always subject to revision.

“Any plan always undergoes an update at some time during the planning period because no plan, especially infrastructure projects, is cast in stone. They are always subject to change,” Mr. Pernia said.

The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 is also being updated midway through the term, along with its accompanying document, the 2017-2022 Public Investment Program (PIP), which contains the rolling list of priority programs and projects to be implemented within the plan period of 2017-2022.

Mr. Dizon called the list an evolving document that will be presented to the public at regular intervals to ensure everyone has an accurate picture of the progress.

“A good exercise for us with the media is to put everything on the board, what projects are you interested in… the best is to do it that way so there’s no room for misrepresentation,” he said

The business sector took the news positively.

“Business stays positive. We understand and in fact applaud government for reviewing and proceeding with caution in approving infra projects as these are imbued with so much public interest. Those that are not viable at the moment should be deferred,” Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) President Alegria Sibal-Limjoco said.

PPPs
One of the topics of interest when the revised list was first announced was that it included more projects funded through PPP.

The list now has 29 PPP-funded projects out of 100, up from the nine projects on the previous list of 75.

Economic managers were quick to assure that they will be more cautious on the matter of state guarantees, subsidies and material adverse government action (MAGA) clauses in evaluating PPP agreements.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III has said his main concerns are that negotiations with the private sector not take long, and to keep the state’s exposure to contingent liabilities to a minimum.

In the early years of the government, PPP took a back seat in favor of official development assistance (ODA) and internal funding.

The initial backlash against PPPs stemmed from contracts from the past administrations that featured automatic rate increases, non-compete clauses, commitments of non-interference, judicial intervention in the form of temporary restraining orders, and concessionaire-required government guarantees, according to Finance Undersecretary Karen G. Singson.

James Su, an infrastructure analyst for Fitch Solutions, said well-executed PPP projects are generally implemented faster compared to those funded through foreign loans “as it is in the best interest for private entities to minimize disruptions and delays to avoid cost overruns.”

“The shift in policy back to a heavier reliance on PPPs is likely to be positive news for the private sector, but potential investors may still be deterred due to the presence of other risks in the Philippine construction market,” Mr. Su said.

SOURCES OF FUNDING
The 100 projects under the revised list are estimated to cost around P4.25 trillion, significantly larger than the P2.41 trillion costing of the original list of 75.

Of the 100, 49 projects will be funded through ODA loans worth P2.31 trillion, followed by the 29 PPP-funded projects worth P1.77 trillion. The remaining 22 projects will be funded out of the national budget and are worth P167.95 billion.

Some 56 of the list of 100 have been set completion targets of 2022 or earlier. Mr. Dizon said all projects will be started before the government steps down. His own estimate is that about 35 projects will be completed before the President steps down in mid-2022.

“In the new list, 35 are already ongoing, meaning shovels and equipment are on the ground, 32 will commence construction in six to eight months, 21 are at the advanced stages of approval, and 12 are at the advanced stages of feasibility studies,” he said in his letter to Mr. Salceda.

The projects fall under five categories: transport and mobility, power, water, information and communications technology, and urban development and renewal, he added.

Among the projects that were scrapped from the initial list were some proposed bridges since they were deemed not doable due to lack of appropriate technology.

This includes the proposed bridge from Matnog, Sorsogon to Allen, Samar as well as the proposed bridge linking Leyte to Surigao.

The transportation works that were added to the new list were the P1.4-billion Sangley Airport project, the P10-billion Light Rail Transit West Extension, the P9.73-billion EDSA Greenways as well as the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge which is now in the advanced feasibility study stage.

Some PPP-funded projects that were included are the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan, and the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

PCCI’s Ms. Limjoco said the chamber expects the approved projects to break ground as soon as possible to meet the targeted completion dates.

European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) President Nabil Francis said prompt execution of projects is the most important part of the drive to develop infrastructure but “when it comes to flagship projects, continuity is key from one administration to another.”

Mr. Dizon said with input from economic managers and the implementing agencies, projects that made it to the flagship list are deemed urgent with the highest possible impact on their potential users.

“The advantage there is the entire structure of the NEDA Infrastructure Committee (INFRACOM) and Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) all rallies behind these projects because they are the most urgent and they are the most important projects so we want to be able to move them as fast as possible in order to build momentum. That’s the advantage,” he said.

The “Build, Build, Build” program, Mr. Pernia said, seeks to highlight projects with the highest impact on people’s quality of life, especially in the outlying regions.

He said the project list was geared towards the most feasible and doable with the best chances of being completed within the administration’s term.

ONE: Fire & Fury unleashed

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

ONE Championship’s first live event in the Philippines for 2020 happens today with “ONE: Fire & Fury” at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Part of a packed schedule for Asia’s largest sports media property this year, Fire & Fury is bannered by the ONE world strawweight title clash between reigning champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio of the Philippines and challenger and former champ Alex “Little Rock” Silva.

Finished 2019 strong, Mr. Pacio (16-3) looks to continue his ascent in the new year, beginning with his fight with Mr. Silva (9-4), who is angling to get back to the top of the division.

Mr. Pacio lost his title at the start of 2019 to Japanese Yosuke Saruta, but regained it three months later. He then finished the year with a successful defense against compatriot Rene Catalan in November.

The 24-year-old Team Lakay member seeks to follow up on his two previous fights to fortify his standing in the strawweight class of ONE Championship.

“Last year was a great year for me. Despite losing my title, I was able to gain it back and also put in some great wins against tough opponents. I feel very comfortable fighting here at home in the Philippines,” said Mr. Pacio in the lead-up, underscoring as well the support he is getting from the hometown fans.

“It’s a huge privilege to face such a great competitor in Alex Silva. He’s a former world champion and has excellent Brazilian jiu-jitsu, so this will be a huge challenge for me. I’m ready to face it,” he furthered.

For challenger Silva, 37, while he welcomes fighting in Manila anew and respects the Filipino fans, he made his intentions clear that he is out to get back the title he once held.

“First of all, I would like to say I really appreciate the support and respect the fans have given me here in the Philippines, even if I am going to face your hometown hero, Joshua Pacio. One thing you can expect from me is that I will put my whole heart into this match and give a good performance for all the Filipinos,” said Mr. Silva, who has won back-to-back matches after losing three straight previously.

“It has been a long two-year journey for me to get back into title contention, and I’m happy to be given another shot. For me, the harder the path the better because it helps me improve as a fighter. Joshua is a young and well-rounded athlete, and I have a lot of respect for him. But I believe this is my time now,” the Brazilian added.

Serving as co-main event is the lightweight battle between former champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang and Dutch Pieter “The Archangel” Buist.

It is a fight that Filipino fighter Folayang (22-8) is determined to get as he intends to use it as a springboard to become a champion again for the third time.

“This is an important match and I want to give a good performance. My motivation is to be champion once again. The division is deeper now but it will be a wonderful narrative and huge accomplishment if I become champion again,” said Mr. Folayang, 35, who is coming off a technical decision win in his last fight in November.

Out to frustrate Mr. Folayang is replacement opponent Buist (14-4), who has not lost in his first two fights in ONE.

Mr. Buist, 31, took the place of Ahmed “The Wolverine” Mujtaba of Pakistan.

The change in opponent posted problems to their training camp, Mr. Folayang admitted, but he nonetheless expressed readiness to take the challenge come fight day.

Other Filipinos fighting at Fire & Fury are Messrs. Pacio and Folayang’s Team Lakay stable mates Danny Kingad, Lito Adiwang and Gina Iniong, and Jomary Torres.

Gates to the event open at 5:30 p.m. and it will broadcast live over S+A and iWant.

Kenin breaks Australian hearts, faces Spain’s Muguruza in final

MELBOURNE — Sofia Kenin sent world number one Ash Barty spinning out of the Melbourne Park semifinals 7-6(6) 7-5 on Thursday, crushing Australian hopes of a first home-grown champion at the Grand Slam in 42 years.

Barty came into the match with a 4-1 record against the American and had the 14th seed on the back foot for most of the opening set with a combination of big forehands and backhand slices.

The 21-year-old Kenin showed her frustration at times, throwing her racquet on court, but managed to hang in and saved three breakpoints to hold for 3-3 and eventually force a tiebreaker.

With temperatures soaring to 38 degrees Celsius (100F), the American saved two set points and then converted her first to take the opening stanza and stun the crowd into silence.

But the fans soon found their voice again, belting out chants of, “Let’s go Barty, let’s go,” as the home favorite broke Kenin early in the second set to go up 2-1.

Barty, who was bidding to become the first local woman to progress to an Australian Open final since Wendy Turnbull in 1980, was in the driving seat serving at 5-4 and with two setpoints but Kenin broke to bring the set back on serve.

The American then held before converting on her second match point on Barty’s serve to book her place in the final against Garbiné Muguruza of Spain, who defeat Simone Halep of Romania in the second semifinal.

Kenin paid tribute to Barty after her win.

“She’s such a tough player, she’s playing really amazing and I knew I really needed to find a way to win,” said the American.

“She came up with some really great shots, it was really tough … There’s a reason why she’s world number one … I’m just so thankful for this.”

Spain’s Garbiné Muguruza in superb tennis action during her match against Romania’s Simona Halep. — REUTERS

MUGURUZA BATTLES PAST HALEP
Garbiné Muguruza Blanco prevailed 7-6(8) 7-5 in a battle of attrition against world number three Simona Halep to reach her first Australian Open final on Thursday.

The unseeded Spaniard arrived at Melbourne Park with low expectations but will now face American 14th seed Sofia Kenin bidding to win her third major title after emerging from a period in the Grand Slam wilderness.

With the temperature nudging a scorching 40 degrees Celsius (104F) at Rod Laver Arena, Muguruza was dragged into a see-sawing scrap by Halep, a former finalist at Melbourne Park.

The Spaniard had to break back from 5-4 down in the second set and then held firm to claim the win on a second match point when Romanian Halep failed to clear the net on an attempted passing shot.

The 26-year-old Muguruza would not have been on many lists of pre-tournament contenders but the class and fighting spirit that propelled her to the 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon titles has come flooding back in Australia.

“You start day by day, that’s what I was doing,” she said.

“Very excited to be in the final, it’s a long way to go. I have one more match on Saturday.

“I wasn’t thinking I was down. I was thinking, ‘keep going and at some point you’re going to have your opportunity.’

“I know I was facing Simona so it was going to be a hard match. So I was just hanging in there and fighting with all the energy I had.” — Reuters

Qatar Airways officially a Philippine Football League title sponsor

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

AFTER a long wait, Qatar Airways was finally introduced as official title sponsor of the Philippines Football League (PFL).

This, after the airline and the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) inked the three-year deal that will see Qatar Airways be a sponsor and airline partner of the local football league that will enter its fourth season beginning in March.

Signing for the PFF was its General Secretary Edwin Gastanes while for Qatar Airways it was group Chief Executive His Excellency Akbar Al Baker in ceremonies held in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday, Jan. 26.

It was late last year that news circulated that Qatar Airways was to throw its support behind the PFL, something stakeholders were excited about, seeing how the support would give the league more flexibility in enhancing its offering and how it is presented.

“We thank Qatar Airways for their willingness to help bolster Philippine football by establishing a partnership with PFF as Airline Partner and Title Sponsor of the PFL,” said PFF president Mariano Araneta, Jr. in a statement as he welcomed the newly forged partnership.

“The PFF, together with Qatar Airways, will pave the way in forging the sustainability of professional club football in the country,” added the PFF president, who was given a fresh term in elections held in November.

Long before supporting the PFF and PFL, Qatar Airways was already a staunch backer of the sport of football, signing agreements with world-governing body FIFA as partner for FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019.

It is a sponsor as well of professional football clubs AS Roma, CA Boca Juniors, and FC Bayern Munich.

The PFL, for its part, was established in 2017, aimed at fostering a vibrant professional league where players can showcase what they are capable of for possible consideration for the national team as well as make a career from.

Clubs playing in the league adhere to the PFF Club Licensing Regulations.

In the first three seasons of the PFL, Bacolod-based Ceres-Negros FC was crowned champion.

Ceres reclaims position as top ASEAN club in AFC rankings

FRESH off its impressive qualifying run in AFC Champions League, Philippines Football League champion Ceres-Negros FC reclaimed its position as the No. 1 football club in Southeast Asia in the latest AFC club rankings.

The Busmen are seeing action in the second-tier AFC Cup starting Feb. 11, after reaching the final playoff round of the Champions League where it lost to FC Tokyo, 0-2, last Tuesday.

Still, the club owned by Bacolod-based businessman Leo Rey Yanson picked up enough points from their first two qualifying matches to overtake Thai giants Buriram United, which also fell short in its playoff match against Shanghai Shenhua last Tuesday.

Coach Risto Vidakovic’s charges slipped past Shan United of Myanmar, 3-2, in the first phase, before pulling off a 1-0 win over Thai powerhouse Port FC in the only upset of the second phase of qualifying.

The twin victories gave Ceres 5.5 ranking points, which pushed its tally to 40.75, edging past Buriram that has 40.67 after picking up only three points so far this year.

The advantage is expected to get bigger for Ceres with its AFC Cup stint, while Buriram, with no continental competition for the remainder of the year, will retain its output.

“The (top) ranking is really a reward for the hard work and sacrifices of the players and coaching staff,” said Mr. Yanson, whose club has ruled the PFL the last three years.

“Our last three matches — even against FC Tokyo — showed that the level of the Philippines is improving. But Ceres would not have reached this position if not for the clubs in the PFL, the Philippine Football Federation and the people who have made sure that the league continues to run so we share this honor with all of them. It’s also a call for everyone to support the league and Philippine football.”

Mr. Yanson said the Busmen will reinforce their ranking with a strong performance in the AFC Cup.

Ceres has been bunched with Indonesian champions Bali United, Than Quang Ninh of Vietnam and Cambodia’s Svey Rieng in Group G of the ASEAN zone. Ceres hosts Svey Rieng in their AFC Cup opener on Feb. 11 at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

“The club has gone through so much in the past year, but the coaches and the players have shown a lot of character to keep going,” said Mr. Yanson. “We are hoping for another successful campaign in the AFC Cup this year.”

Peso weakens further on virus

THE PESO weakened further on Thursday as the spread of the coronavirus continues to escalate, with already one confirmed case in the country.

The local unit finished trading at P50.96 per dollar on Thursday, weakening by 13 centavos from its P50.83 close on Wednesday.

The peso opened at P50.89 against the greenback. Its weakest showing was at P51 while its intraday best was at P50.83 versus the dollar.

Dollars traded inched up to $948.5 million from $884.5 million on Wednesday.

An analyst and a trader attributed the peso’s depreciation to the worries caused by the escalation of the coronavirus epidemic.

“The peso depreciated anew as local participants remain cautious from the recent developments over the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus,” a trader said in an e-mail.

The virus has caused the depreciation of other Asian currencies as well, according to UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion.

“This slight decline may have been factoring in the virus scare as other Asian currencies, particularly the yuan, has weakened. Peso is expected to continue its steady depreciation as the virus scares continue to develop,” Mr. Asuncion said in a text message.

Reuters reported that the Department of Health has confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the Philippines.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque said in a news conference that a 38-year-old Chinese woman who arrived in the country from Wuhan on Jan. 21 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The patient is currently admitted in a government hospital in Manila, Mr. Duque added.

As of Thursday, the virus has already killed 170 people in China and has infected 7,800 people across the world.

For today, the trader sees the local unit moving around P50.85-P51.05 against the dollar, while Mr. Asuncion gave a forecast range of P50.85 to P51.25.

Other Asian currencies also weakened on Thursday, with the Thai baht sliding to a more than seven-month low, hard hit by worries over the rapid spread of a new virus from China and its economic impact.

Mounting death toll from the novel pneumonia-like virus has prompted the World Health Organization to reconvene a meeting later in the day to decide if the outbreak now constitutes a global emergency. — LWTN with Reuters

PSE index drops to 7,300 level as virus spreads

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

THE MAIN INDEX fell to the 7,300 level on its fourth consecutive day of decline on Thursday as investor worries on the novel coronavirus continued to drag the local market.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gave up 69.63 points or 0.93% to hit 7,392.68 yesterday. The broader all shares index also fell 32.51 points or 0.73% to 4,392.55.

“The local bourse plunged to its lowest in 13 months, down by nearly a percent due to the increasing number of coronavirus death toll, particularly in China,” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Claire T. Alviar said in a text message Thursday.

“The decline was along with our regional peers as investors fear the impact of 2019-nCoV on the economy,” she added, referring to the name of the new virus.

The number of deaths due to the Novel Coronavirus has grown to 170 in China, Reuters reported yesterday. Some 7,711 people in China were also infected, on top of the 104 confirmed cases in other countries: Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Macau, Australia, Malaysia, United States, France, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Canada, Vietnam, Nepal, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Finland.

The Philippines likewise reported yesterday its first case of coronavirus found in a 38-year old woman confined in Manila. The Health department said in a briefing late afternoon that the patient is from Wuhan, China and arrived in the country on Jan. 21.

Aside from the Philippines, other Asian markets continued suffering on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix indices each lost 1.72% and 1.48% respectively, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sank 2.62%, South Korea’s Kospi index fell 1.71% and Malaysia’s Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 0.30%.

Southeast Asian stock markets also fell on Thursday as concerns over the rapid spread of a virus from China prompted the World Health Organization to reconsider the severity of the outbreak.

At the PSE, all sectoral indices ended lower at the close of trading: holding firms by 100.30 points or 1.40% to 7,060.19; services by 17.17 points or 1.13% to 1,501.69; mining and oil by 77.28 points or 1.01% to 7,516.98; industrials by 65.04 points or 0.69% to 9,291.53; financials by 11.02 points or 0.61% to 1,786.63; and property by 8.39 points or 0.21% to 3,917.96.

Value turnover increased to P5.45 billion with 562.84 million issues switching hands from Wednesday’s P4.96-billion worth of 496 million issues.

The session ended with 123 stocks declining, 61 increasing and 51 unchanged.

Net foreign outflows grew to P513.05 million from the P350.99 million seen on Wednesday.

“In January, value turnover has slowed to 70 percent-or-so of the same periods in the last five years. We’re expecting negative sentiment to continue and further weigh on the market,” Ms. Alviar said. — with Reuters

The international is local

President Rodrigo Duterte’s making the cancellation of the US visa of the former enforcer of his murderous “war on drugs” the basis for the revocation of the Philippines’ Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States may be as absurd and as mindless as the rest of his so-called policies. But among its unintended consequences is the opportunity it provides for the country to seriously look into its foreign relations as a domestic concern. The public attention Mr. Duterte’s unashamed decision to make the interest of one person the basis of the Philippines’ dealings with another country will hopefully also knock some sense into his stubborn constituency and encourage the engagement in the debate over public issues of some of the uninformed millions who make up the majority in this benighted land.

Ratified by the Philippine Senate as a treaty in May 1999, but regarded by the United States Senate as only an executive agreement, the VFA allows US troops to come to the Philippines so they can hold joint military exercises with their local counterparts and help train them. Among its implications is the possibility of US involvement in the ongoing political and armed conflicts in this country, while the “temporary” deployment of its troops here mocks the Constitutional provision prohibiting the presence of foreign military personnel in Philippine territory. In 2014, the Aquino III administration ratified the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) to supplement the VFA. EDCA allows US forces the use of Philippine military bases to house them and their equipment, which is a roundabout way of turning these bases into their own facilities.

The Constitutionality of both agreements has been challenged for, among others, their once more allowing the basing of foreign troops on Philippine soil a scant nine years after the Senate rejected, in 1990, the treaty that would have extended the lease of US military bases. The VFA restores US’ extra-territorial rights by giving it jurisdiction over its troops who commit crimes while in the country, thus exempting them from being tried by Philippine courts unless those crimes are “of particular importance” to the Philippines. The agreement also exempts US troops from Philippine visa and passport requirements.

In at least two instances did the behavior of US troops while in the Philippines demonstrate how problematic these agreements can be. In 2006, a Filipina complained that she was raped by a US Marine during a night out in Subic. Although found guilty by a Philippine court, in addition to being clandestinely taken out of prison and into the US Embassy with the connivance of Philippine authorities, Lance Corporal Daniel Smith was also eventually spirited out of the country.

Enraged by the discovery that Jennifer Laude, a Filipina that he had sex with, was a transsexual, in 2014 US Marine Joseph Pemberton beat and strangled her in an Olongapo motel. Pemberton was found guilty of homicide rather than murder by a Philippine court, which cited as a mitigating circumstance his outrage when he discovered that Laude was transgender. The ruling in effect justified Pemberton’s committing the hate crime, and provoked protests from the gay, lesbian, and transgender community.

Evident in the first instance is that despite a provision in the VFA that enables the Philippine government to declare that it wants custody of US troopers accused of committing crimes, it was the collaboration of Philippine officials with US authorities that prevented it. Both agreements are also a reminder that the rights of this country and its people have historically been compromised, as in the present instance, by the colonial mindset, treachery, and double standards (one for foreigners, another for Filipinos) of its own officials. In any case, it has been argued that abrogating both agreements would better serve Philippine interests as well as its relations with the US by once more removing the irritants that such agreements have historically troubled those relations. Rapes and other crimes for which US military personnel were not tried in Philippine courts were among such irritants when the US controlled several military bases in the Philippines.

Early into his term, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the Philippines’ “separation” from the United States. If he was serious, the country’s “separation” from its former colonizer would necessarily put an end not only to the two agreements but also to the decades-old Mutual Defense Treaty. But it soon became clear that Mr. Duterte did not really mean what he said and would do nothing of the sort. What was even worse, he was also allowing his Chinese patrons to undermine Philippine sovereignty over its Exclusive Economic Zone, militarize the West Philippine Sea, harass, steal from, and harm Filipino fisher folk, and turn the country into China’s offshore haven for its shadier citizens. A tidal wave of such ne’er-do-wells has thus engulfed these isles as overstaying tourists and overpaid online gaming workers while Filipinos fly to other countries in search of jobs.

After months and months of this state of affairs — and the holding of the joint US-Philippine military exercises that he had earlier said he would put an end to — Mr. Duterte threatened last week to revoke the VFA. But it was not because it is detrimental to Philippine interests, but because of the US’ cancellation of the visa of former Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General, now Senator, Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa.

De la Rosa has apparently made the US State Department list of Filipino officials barred from entering the US because of their role in the arrest and continuing detention of the opposition’s Senator Leila de Lima. Mr. Duterte had earlier barred from the Philippines US Senators Richard Durbin and Patrick Leahy, who were mostly responsible for including in the US 2020 budget act instructions to the State Department not only to prevent human rights violators and the likes of De la Rosa from entering the US, but also to freeze their assets there.

Messers. Duterte and De la Rosa’s reaction to the cancellation of the latter’s US visa invites the suspicion that it’s not just because they won’t be able to watch the future fights of Manny Pacquiao. It’s certainly not because both are thinking of Philippine interests and sovereignty despite their loud claims to that effect. Could it be because, like many of their fellow bureaucrat capitalists, they’ve stashed part, some, or most of their assets in the US, hence their alarm over being included in the US State Department list?

That distinct possibility invites the making of investigative journalism reports to establish whether or not it is indeed the case, and to sustain the discussion. Beyond that challenge to Filipino journalists, however, is the need to add to the current attention on the VFA and other agreements rational public discourse on the state of US-Philippine relations, the country’s foreign policy as a whole, and the imperative of making the defense and enhancement of its sovereignty its core principle.

Foreign relations cannot be based on personal interests or on pique and tantrums over one’s accomplices’ visa problems, but on their impact on the lives and wellbeing of the people of this unfortunate country. It is in this sense that the international is local. In the face of the current absurdity, the making of a truly independent foreign policy should be part of media and citizen discourse, together with such other domestic issues as human rights, press freedom and free expression, the culture of impunity, disaster mitigation, and government accountability.

 

Luis V. Teodoro is on Facebook and Twitter (@luisteodoro).

www.luisteodoro.com

Why are we really withdrawing from the VFA?

It’s a bit baffling when you think about it. By this is meant the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which the present Administration is stridently threatening to terminate. But how would walking away from that Agreement (actually two Agreements, the so-called VFA 1 and VFA 2 — the counterpart agreement) benefit the Philippines, even as a bargaining chip, is quite unclear.

It’s not the VFA that provides for our security arrangement with the US nor authorize US troops to conduct exercises within our territory. That’s the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT; specifically Article II: “In order more effectively to achieve the objective of this Treaty, the Parties separately and jointly by self-help and mutual aid will maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack”) and the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA; also Article II: “joint and combined training activities”).

And the termination of the VFA does not end the MDT or the EDCA — the VFA merely supplements the MDT and the EDCA proceeds from the MDT.

Much has been made of the US treating the VFA as an “executive agreement.” But frankly, it is an executive agreement. If it weren’t for our Constitution, we would have treated the VFA the same way.

That we classify the VFA a treaty is because the Constitution’s Article XVIII.25 stated that having foreign “troops… in the Philippines” is only possible through a treaty concurred in by the Senate. That opaque provision was unfortunately interpreted by the Supreme Court as making no distinction between troops merely visiting or here on a more regular basis.

But in the end it doesn’t really matter: whether the agreement is a treaty or executive agreement (although the question is still to be decided by our Supreme Court), our Philippine president (just like the US president) should reasonably be able to take his country out of any international agreement without need of Senate concurrence.

Hence, what then is the VFA’s real import? Visa free entry? Article III.2 says that US “military personnel shall be exempt from passport and visa regulations upon entering and departing the Philippines.” Yet such is really pointless considering US citizens are visa exempt anyway for stays of 30 days or less. Furthermore, the EDCA Article X.3 allows for “implementing arrangements [that] may address additional details.”

The core provision is actually Article V:

“1.(a) Philippine authorities shall have jurisdiction over United States personnel with respect to offenses committed within the Philippines and punishable under the law of the Philippines.”

2.(a) Philippine authorities exercise exclusive jurisdiction over United States personnel with respect to offenses, including offenses relating to the security of the Philippines, punishable under the laws of the Philippines, but not under the laws of the United States.”

Thus, US servicemen violating Philippine laws are subject to Philippine criminal jurisdiction. That’s why the Daniel Smith and Joseph Pemberton cases were tried before Philippine courts.

But does removing the VFA change jurisdictional powers and relationships between the Philippines and the US? It does in the sense that it will make the matter more vulnerable to political factors and power equations.

If the VFA is terminated, general international law will kick in, which provides lesser jurisdictional power for the Philippines: US military servicemen will be considered foreign State officials who, if are present here with Philippine consent, have immunity for actions considered “acts of State.” Philippine criminal jurisdiction will arguably only apply outside US servicemen’s “functional immunity.”

University of Exeter’s Aurel Sari points out that visiting foreign military personnel are “representatives of their sending State, entitled to be treated as such as a matter of general international law.” Yet, here is a crucial point: without the VFA, general international law leaves the door open for “the existence of special considerations, such as the legitimacy of more extensive exemptions from local jurisdiction in more demanding operational environments.” (The Status of Armed Forces in Public International Law: Jurisdiction and Immunity, 2015)

Netherlands Defence Academy’s Joop Voetelink puts it another way: yes, there is “no exception for military personnel with respect to the rule that state officials enjoy immunity for acts performed in an official capacity.”

Yet, while conceding that “when an act is punishable under both sending state law and host state law the prescriptive jurisdiction of both the sending state and the host state is concurrent,” quite significantly Voetelink also proffers (like Sari) that even for matters outside “acts of State,” the sending State (in our discussion, the US) can still assert jurisdiction using “a hybrid form” of it, based on “active nationality and the protection principle.” (Status of Forces: Criminal Jurisdiction over Military Personnel Abroad, 2015; also, Status of Forces and Criminal Jurisdiction, 2013).

So again: what exactly is to be gained with the VFA’s termination? Considering, aside from the jurisdictional issues, that political, diplomatic, economic, and security complications may ensue, a clearer expressed rationale for Philippine withdrawal from the VFA surely is a necessity.

 

Jemy Gatdula is a Senior Fellow of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations and a Philippine Judicial Academy law lecturer for constitutional philosophy and jurisprudence.

https://www.facebook.com/jigatdula/

Twitter @jemygatdula

Quadricula HOCUS II: history in art

“Art is long but life is short. In the long history of art, from the time man painted on the caves up to the present, this is the first time that art was created by two men in the manner of the HOCUS paintings,” historian-curator Gemma Cruz Araneta remarked.

The acronym HOCUS combines the names of intellectual lawyer-historian Saul Hofileña and artist-church conservator Guy Custodio. Mr. Custodio paints what is in Mr. Hofileña’s mind through the medium of oil on canvas.

Mr. Hofileña thinks of the images and brings old books that contain the images that he selects to the artist who “writes the story of each painting before paint hits the canvas,” Ms. Araneta explained.

The paintings are referred to as collaborative works. The two creators disagree. Mr. Hofileña and Mr. Custodio revealed that a collaborative work is one in which both artist who can paint and draw, create an artwork on one single canvas.

HOCUS is different.

Mr. Hofileña admits that he cannot draw a straight line even if his life depends on it. “He says, without batting an eyelid, that he is completely ignorant of drawing,” Ms. Araneta said.

There is a character, Anghel de Cuyacuy, the HOCUS angel who is depicted reading a book and sitting on a bench. Anghel tells the stories.

After the first exhibit HOCUS, Mr. Hofileña’s tormented visions of our colonial history have proliferated. Quadricula is the second HOCUS collection.

The Spanish Quadricula, the principal painting (oil on canvas, 3×5 ft.), is very interesting because it explains the layout of a pueblo or town.

The quadricula is the grid pattern used by the Spanish colonial government when they established a town that would attract the natives who were living in their own communities. The center is the plaza mayor and around it is the church and government offices. Intramuros is a fine example of the grid pattern.

In this painting, a conquistador and friar are shown laying out the grid pattern aided by angels bearing the symbols of Spanish conquest: the sash inscribed with the names of Legazpi, Salcedo, Goiti, and Lavesares who were the pillars of the conquest; the Crown, Sword and Sea lion; the uniquely Spanish letter “Ñ”: the emblems of the Franciscan, Jesuit, Recollect and Dominican Orders.

“The historical/satirical provocations presented by Quadricula cannot be understated. Quadricula (‘grid’ in Spanish) is part II of Hofileña and Custodio’s unique collaboration called HOCUS. Such provocations are there to tickle or stimulate us, while subverting our whole inherited colonial education. Quadricula launches us into a Rabelaisian walking tour (and hide-and-seek in Filipino carnivalesque) of the labyrinth of our colonial memory,” poet Marne L. Kilates commented.

“The synergy was extraordinary. It seemed like the ideas and thoughts of historian Saul Hofileña were directly transmitted to the hand of painter Guy Custodio when depicting a personality and a historical event. You can see the people and costumes. The style is clean and clear,” art collector and retired diplomat Deanna Ongpin-Recto remarked.

Ms. Araneta followed a historical timeline. “The conquest with the Cross and Sword, the point of cintacy or how the natives reacted to the conquest and new religion. There was confusion and subjugation.

“There are paintings about the eternal battle between Moros y Cristianos; forced labor, the KKK, death of Rizal and the Revolution,” she said.

Mr. Hofileña explained, “I am a historian, but I am still a lawyer. The HOCUS paintings are my evidence. Evidence is the means sanctioned by law to ascertain in judicial proceedings the truth regarding a matter of fact. There is documentary evidence which I used to give meaning to the HOCUS paintings.”

The painting Lashes in the name of God (oil on canvas, 3×5 ft.) shows a native woman tied to the communion rail of a church while a man lashes her back upon orders of a friar standing in the pulpit. Town folk are the witnesses who must learn the painful lesson.

During the colonial times, the lashing scene happened. The evidence is primary sources such as the account of French traveler Guillaume Le Gentil who visited the Philippines in the 17th century, and Englishman John Foreman who wrote a book about the Philippines. He said that the natives went to church out of custom or habit but they refused to go if they had no clean clothes to wear. They were lashed not only for missing Mass but also for being vain. The gobernadorcillos and village chiefs had to be seen in church on Sundays and holy days. The penalty would be heavy fines or lashing.

The Quadricula HOCUS II exhibit is definitely worth a visit. It is on view at Galleries 27 and 28 of the National Museum of Fine Arts. (It opened last September and will be on view until March). There are regular lectures by historians, heritage conservators, artists and scientists.

Six paintings are now on permanent exhibit. The rest will be distributed to other museums in the Philippines.

 

Maria Victoria Rufino is an artist, writer and businesswoman. She is president and executive producer of Maverick Productions.

mavrufino@gmail.com

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